What's Your Take on This Scripture? "The righteious themselves

by adelmaal 11 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  adelmaal

  ..will possess the earth and they will reside forever upon it" (Ps. 37:29 NWT sorry, that's the only Bible I have at work )

  I don't know what I believe in this area... Earthly hope? Heavenly hope? Millenial reign? Rapture?

  I know I can't believe that God will kill all humans that are not part of a particular religion but what's your take on this scripture and what do you think the Bible teaches as far as a hope for us and a hope for the earth?

  I'm really curious. I once thought I would go to heaven when I die. I later thought I'd live forever on earth. Now I have no blippen clue!
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  LittleToe

  Ps.37:11 has it that the meek shall inherit the land [/earth].
  This is echoed in Matt.5:5, by Jesus.

  My understranding is that the word "meek" has connotations of "power under control", an example of which is a domesticated horse.

  You could possibly roughly translate it as "the strong shall conquer" or "the Lord looks after those who look after themselves", if you wanted to take the Gumby Interpretive Translation (GIT)
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  Gopher

  This psalm is listed as a Psalm of David. He had conquered Jerusalem from the former inhabitants (the Jebusites), according to the Hebrew chronicles. His nation was still menaced by enemies like the Philistines.

  The verse you listed has been translated, "The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever."

  In the good-versus-evil context of this psalm, it seems (to me) to refer to the eventual clearing out of enemies of the psalmist's people.

  He wasn't referring to individuals themselves having endless life.
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  Leolaia

  This is one of those passages that is always read out of context. Why not read the whole psalm to see what it's about?

  It contrasts the wicked with the righteous, and declares that the wicked will perish while the righteous will be blessed: "Trust in Yahweh and do what is good, make your home in the land and live in peace; make Yahweh your only joy and he will give you what your heart desires ... Those he blesses will have a land for their own, those he curses will be expelled" (Psalm 37:3-4, 22). This passage has no eschatological orientation and no concept of an individual "earthly hope" in which the meek will be given the planet earth to dwell for eternity. It simply says that in the here and now "Yahweh takes care of good men's lives, and their heritage will last forever" (37:18). This is no concept of an earthly paradise, for famines still come and "bad times" still come (v. 19). Rather than inheriting a paradise earth, the text simply states that "the humble shall have a land for their own to enjoy untroubled peace" (v. 11), and rather than referring to individuals living forever, the text plainly refers to the posterity and "descendents" of the righteous who will prosper and not "be wiped out" (v. 28, 37-38).

  The Society has put a spin on the passage to make it into a prophecy of a future paradise earth, but that is reading into the text what is not there. And it fits well with Jesus' message in the Beatitudes -- as he declares that God will take care of those who live righteously.
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  kes152

  Dearest ade, May peace be with you. The earthly hope that Jehovah's Witnesses teach is not the true hope that God has called out to all mankind. In Psalms 37:29 it is true that "The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it." Here is how it will happen: In Revelation 2:7 Jesus through holy spirit says, "Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations: To him that conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.?" Here Jesus offers to anyone who conquers that they may eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God. Now in Revelation 22:14 John hears, "Happy are those who wash their robes, that the authority [to go] to the trees of life may be theirs and that they may gain entrance into the city by its gates." Those who have 'washed their robes' have the authority to enter the heavenly city by its gates and eat of the tree of life that is in the Paradise of God. Now as regards this holy city, John says, "I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." This is the 'home' that God has prepared for us. It is the holy city, New Jerusalem, that will come down out of heaven from God. All those who have 'washed their robes' and made them white in the blood of the Lamb are "righteous." And to them it will be granted authority to enter the heavenly city by its gates. Then... the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, will "come down OUT of heaven" and it will 'reside FOREVER upon the earth.' And in this way "the righteous themselves will possess the earth" and they will reside forever upon it and find exquisite DELIGHT in the abundance of peace. Those "outside" the city will be the 'dogs and those who practice spiritism and the fornicators and the murderers, etc.' (Revelation 22:15)
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  A Paduan

  They shall inherit the land - "it is not a land like you have known"

  Between the waters from above (whoever drinks the water that I shall give) and the waters below, seeped deep into the earth (clay/dust) but for which one can dig a well ( penance - fasting/meditation ), and yet amidst the water around ( the sea of man).

  the land which you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven

  When you come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and then say, `I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me'

  ie. Christ, reign with him, and like him come into the region of Caesarea Philippi ( Caesarea: possession of the prince, you, - and Philippi: friend of horses/spirits which work for you when kept, not run wild in pride), and it is like a thousand years. The 'region' is the source of the Jor-dan ( stream of judgement ).

  • it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God
  • I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (it's the other way round)
  • It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.
  • But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual.

  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it, says the LORD

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  because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. "Know therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness

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  I don't know what I believe in this area...

  Personally, I don't see belief as a task - you do or you don't - only you can figure it out - know yourself.

  paduan
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  Kenneson

  For a look at the Promised Land and the Jerusalem the Old Testament meek looked forward to inheriting see Hebrews 11:13-16, Gal. 4:26, Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10. Even the meek Jesus chose not to live here on earth forever. See John 14:2 and Rev. 14:1 and Heb. 12:22
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  wednesday

  Leolaia,

  that was a very simple and believable explanation of those scriptures that refer to living forever on a paradise earth. that has troubled me quite a bit and I am glad someone asked this question .

  weds
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  Carmel

  Other exigetical renderings have the term "earth" meaning the things man desires, while "heavens" represent their spiritual orientation. Leolia's contextual rendering is spot on. Many of the terms in the bible cannot be taken literally hence Daniel was told the books were sealed, meaning they could not be understood, until the one "like unto the son of man" (mind you not Thee Son of man) would come and explain their meaning (unseal the books).

  carmel
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  peacefulpete

  carmel, Daniel closes with the directive to seal up the book until 'the end of days' because it was intended to be read by the 2nd century BC audience and believed to have been from an earlier period. The "close and seal the book" offered an expalnation as to why they had never heard of it before.