Mat 5:5 Blessed [are] the meek...
Mat 5:5 Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Alternative: Fortunate are the tame, for they shall acquire the earth.
This statement was both a promise and a miraculous prediction of the future that we have seen come true during our own lifetime.
The meek (praos in Greek) are those who are humble, gentle, with mild dispositions, but it also means those who tame things. A bridle is described as praos, that is, taming. This statement says that the earth will go to those who tame it rather than those who fight over it.
This is a powerful prophecy. For all of human history leading until Christ's time, the warlike had dominated the earth. The Roman Empire was both the most successful and most warlike of all cultures until that time. When Christ made this prediction, it must have seemed foolish. Even Christ's own followers in the early church must have certainly thought that Christ was referring to a time after the Last Judgment, because they didn't see a world in which the meek triumphed.
However, over the longer term, what has happened? The Roman Empire dissolved after it had come to be dominated by Christ's church. While wars still occurred in the Christian world, each era became more gentle by historical standards. While the tools of war grow most terrible in the every passing era, the most warlike of people have not come to dominate. In our own era, the Germans and Japanese made a religion of war and they lost. They were defeated by those who make a religion out of voluntary exchange, that is commerce.
While today's pacifists complain about America's violence, the fact is that the world today is much less violent today because America's success in war. America does not control the countries it conquers. Instead, it gives them freedom. America's wealth does not come from conquest by from people who work peacefully together in commerce, through a world-wide system of voluntary exchange. As Ben Johnson said, "Men are never so harmlessly occupied as when they engage in commerce." China has realized that to be competitive as a nation, they don't need a competitive military but a competitive economy. This is a miraculous change and one that only Christ could have foreseen.
Today we see that those who are successful are those who work to tame nature, not fight amongst themselves.This prediction always us to foresee the future. Who are the warlike and violent today? The Islamic militant preaches violence. Does anyone think that they will dominate the earth? They are destined to fail because Christ changed the rules 2,000 years ago.
"Blessed" is from makarios (makarios) which means "blessed," "happy," and "fortunate."
"Meek" is from praos (prays), which means "mild," "soft," "gentle," "meek," "making mild," and "taming."
"Inherit" is from klêronomeô (kleronomeo), which means "inherit," "acquire," and "to be an heir."
"Earth" is from gê (ge), which means "the element of earth," "land (country)," "arable land," "the ground," and "the world" as the opposite of the sky.
