The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth - Matt 5:5 anyone? (page 5)

PSacramento

The notion of paradise on Earth comes from Revelation and a few passages in the OT.

GLTirebiter

IMHO Jesus was rather quoting from Psalms.

Yes, this reflects Psalm 37:10-11...

A little while longer, and the wicked will be no more,

search his place well, he will not be there;

but the humble shall have the land for their own

to enjoy untroubled peace.

..and also Proverbs 2:20-22

So you will pursue the way of good men,

persisting in the in the paths of the viruous.

For the land will be for honest men to live in,

the innocent will have it for their home;

while the wicked will be cut off from the land,

and the faithless rooted out of it.

Nothing there about "paradise earth", nor mention of any special "class" to rule over the land. This theme recurs in Matthew 23:12-13, from another point of view. Instead of solace for the downtrodden, this version is a warning to their oppressors:

Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.

Alas to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, neither going in yourself nor allowing others to go in who want to.

ProdigalSon

nobleheart: The term "Paradise earth" never appears in the Bible.

No, but Isaiah 11 comes pretty darn close. That was probably the biggest reason I got sucked into the Watchtower.

Nobleheart

@ ProdigalSon.

I totally understand. That was a very attractive idea for me too, along with never growing old and dying... I'm sure for others as well.

punkofnice

@Prodiga & Noble

Isaiah 11:3+ from NIV

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling [a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

I see what you mean.

It's the pet lion in paradise thing.

How do you guys translate the REAL meaning of this?

THE GLADIATOR

Damn it to hell and back. It would appear that it's better to be righteous than wicked, which counts me out.

Shame Godrulz couldn't conquer this board but at least he will inherit the earth. He will probably call paradise - Godzone.

Concerned JW

Paradise is a descriptive term and yes it does appear in the bible other than those three places in greek scriptures if you go back to original languages and etymology.

Pardes ( a persian word) meaning "garden", is used in the septuagint OT 30 times and when used refered to the Garden of Eden and the conditions in the garden. Exek 28:13 36:35 talks about Eden being restored.

Adam and eve were expelled from pardes/paradise/garden/Eden

The word paradise that we use is derived from Pardes

Paradise also denotes paradise conditions literally Edenic conditions promised.

Heaven has already been been restored how do we know this?

Matt 6:10 your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Rev 21 :3-4 promises an end to death, pain illness

punkofnice

@concernedJW =

Heaven has already been been restored how do we know this?

Matt 6:10 your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Rev 21 :3-4 promises an end to death, pain illness

Sorry. I don't quite understand what you are saying about heaven being 'restored' then alluding to Earth. Maybe it's just me.

Matt 6:10 your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I can't see 'paradise Earth' in the future in this scripture. It just doesn't say that.

Rev 21 :3-4 promises an end to death, pain illness

Nor this one.

What do you make of Rev 19:1? The great crowd in HEAVEN. Even the Revelation Climax book avoids this scripture.

Concerned JW

I'm sorry I should have been clearer. As stated previously paradise/pardis in the bible refers to many specific promises given to mankind from adam onwards regarding the earth as being our inheritance/given to us psalm 115:16 and a restored Pardes/garden/Eden/paradise being promised through various prophets Ezek chapter 34. One non-negotiable fact is the earth has been established permanently psalm 104:5 earth established "to time indefinite even forever" and God will bring to ruin those "ruining the earth".

We then goto the Prophecies in Revelation 21:1-4 we get the promise of a new heaven and earth and the doing away in verse 4 of death, pain, mourning. so these things happen when we get the "new earth". Jesus in Matt 6:10 is showing the fact God's will is to happen on both heaven and earth and we must pray for this to happen on the earth.

("new earth" doesn't mean a literal new earth for many reasons but 2 peter 3 is the clearest way of showing why. Verse 6 talks about an ancient world/earth being destroyed in a deluge flood and verse 7 "by the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and being reserved to the day of judgement and of the destruction of ungodly men" Noah's flood is the direct example used and despite many wicked people dying, the Earth itself wasn't destroyed and so this shows it won't be again. It clarifies that it is the ungodly that are destroyed.)

The main point is what is Jehovah's stated will for the earth in the bible?

psalm 37:29 "The righteous themselves shall possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it."

sd-7

Well, the Bible does speak of a new heavens and a new earth. But exactly what that would entail, well, you'd have to wait and see. (Hypothetically speaking.) Still, the New Testament really doesn't give a lot of details on what earthly life would be like if there were a paradise, which is very telling in itself. Since the great crowd isn't actually an earthly class, as I've come to learn from closer examination and Bible research, that would create further problems for using Matt. 5:5 as a proof text.

Clearly Jesus' Sermon on the Mount uses a lot of word pictures that we probably wouldn't take as entirely literal; if we did, JWs would have grounds for divorce if they catch hubby looking at a porno, as that means he's already committed adultery. It's clear that Jesus wasn't laying down some specific doctrinal point about a paradise earth in this sermon, just because, well, he never elaborated on what such an earth would be like in the Gospel record. He told his disciples he'd be coming back to bring them to heaven with him and the Father. We might add that it was always the 'kingdom of the heavens' rather than the 'kingdom over the earth'.

God's will taking place on earth as it is in heaven is not a proof for paradise, either, given that Satan and the demons were all in heaven at the time Jesus said that. Unless he wants us to pray for the demons to come down here and cause warfare as they do in heaven, that is. I'll be sure to include that in my prayers next century.

I think it's possible the earth was part of a grand plan, but the New Testament doesn't give us an image of pet lions and riding on tigers and etc. So if there was such a hope, it wasn't really the hope Christians have ever held onto as their hope was to be in heaven with Christ. I kind of figured that there could be like a communing with God, such that earth and heaven were both places you could visit/live in if you wanted.

See how apostasy leads to such doctrinal confusion?? How we rejoice that unlike those in spiritual darkness, WE HAVE THE TRUTH! [Applause]

--sd-7

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth - Matt 5:5 anyone?

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