Blessed—Happy—Are the Pure in Heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8, NKJV)

The Amblified Bible adds interesting expansions to Matthew 5:8: “Blessed—happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous [that is, possessing the happiness produced by experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions]—are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!” And reading from Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible, the verse is stated: “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” Jesus taught in this Beatitude that it is possible for the pure in heart to see God. We expect to see God when we reach heaven, but is it possible to see God in this present life? When God talked to Moses on Mt. Sinai and wanted to see God in all His glory, the Lord said to him, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me, and live.” God provided a place for Moses to stand in the cleft of the rock and He passed by in all His glory, but Moses did not look upon God’s face. “In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1). In Psalm 24:3-5 we get a strong clue as to who can see and know God: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

“The pure in heart are the profoundly sincere and honest. Such shall ‘see God.’ “(Master Study Bible, Holman, 1981, p. 1674). The commentator might have added those who profoundly, honestly and sincerely seek to know God and His Word, who shun evil and walk in God’s ways will experience Him. “He calls us from the worship of a God remote and beyond us into a reverence that finds God everywhere.” (ibid., p. 1674). I think this was the idea Peterson expressed in his translation of this beatitude. If our mind and heart are right and focused on God, then we will see God at work in persons, things, events all around us. We need the right attitude to see God, the right spirit to seek Him out. The Greek word used for “pure” is “katharos.” It means unmixed, unadulterated, without alloy, cleansed thoroughly. What are our motives behind our service to the Lord? Are they pure and done from our love and dedication to Him? Or do we like men’s praise, a sense on our part that we are doing a good job? Dr. William Barclay gives this paraphrase of the sixth beatitude: “O the bliss of the man whose motives are absolutely pure, for that man will some day be able to see God!” (Daily Study Bible: Matthew. Westminster, 1956, p. 103). It takes constant diligence to attain toward a pure mind and to see God.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, September 18, 2010

No Stealing

“Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15, KJV).

We don’t have to be reminded that stealing is illegally taking that which belongs to another. In a day when one’s property was limited and sustenance often depended on flocks or tools with which to work, a law on taking the property of another was included in the Decalogue. Stability in a society was (and is) dependent upon security of life, home and property. To take property from someone is a violation of their personhood and a sin against God who is ultimately the Owner of all that we have and are. Commandment eight needs to be heeded in this modern day.

Dr. B. Davie Napier, in his book Exodus (John Knox Press, 1963, p. 88) notes: “In the biblical faith, which in multiple ways affirms that ‘the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof’ (Psalm 24:1) and which understands community finally in terms of the God-man-man relationship, to take what is another’s—be it life, person, or property—is, of course to take what is Another’s: it is to violate God.”

There are other subtle ways of stealing than just taking property that belongs to another. We can “steal” the reputation of a good person by casting innuendoes on their character, or bearing false gossip about them. We can steal by not offering a “day’s work for a day’s wage.” Too many breaks at work can infringe on time allotted to and necessary for good job performance. Or otherwise loitering or using work time for personal pursuits is certainly a form of stealing. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:28 the antidote for stealing and also gave sound advice about helping others: “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.”

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, August 12, 2010