The Beatitudes are descriptive of those within the kingdom of heaven. Jesus had gone about all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. (Matt. 4:23.) He was preparing people for the coming of the kingdom. Therefore, his enumeration of these blessings was to demonstrate the kind of people within his coming kingdom. I have touched on the first three (poor in spirit, mourn and meek). All of these beatitudes are interrelated. They build on each other. So, it naturally follows that the fourth beatitude is: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matt. 5:6.)
Probably no one who reads these lines has ever experienced real hunger or thirst. We have seen pictures of those in Third World countries who are starving. We have read accounts of hunger pangs having been so that people would eat their own offspring (Deut. 28 53-57; 2 Kings 6:26-29; Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book V, Chapter III.) I saw a documentary a few days ago of women in Haiti making mud cookies. They would mix a little bit of grain into the mud, make cookies and set them out to dry in the sun. After they dried, they would sell these cookies which had little nutritional value but filled the recipient’s stomachs. We really do not know what hunger is. And we should never complain about the food we eat.
How many of us have really been thirsty? Moses, Elijah, and Jesus probably knew what it was like to be thirsty. They went forty days without water. Moses did it twice. We can go longer without food than we can water. Eddie Rickenbacker and his airplane crew went 24 days on the Pacific Ocean, having crashed during WWII. They were dying for fresh water. They had to catch rain water while they were floating on the salty Pacific. Louis Zamperini and two others with him experienced a similar fate. One of the survivors from the plane crash died; Zamperini and the pilot continued to float on the Pacific Ocean. They were adrift for 47 days. Fresh water was a precious commodity which they were only able to catch when it rained.
This beatitude is not about physical hunger or thirst, but spiritual hunger and thirst. It is a hunger for righteousness; it is a thirst for righteousness. So, what is “righteousness”? To put it in simple terms, it is right doing. The Psalmist wrote, “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.” (Psa.119:172.) A Christian is one who craves to do right. This involves a mindset which is singularly focused on doing right. But how does one know what is right? One cannot go by the mores or customs of society. For what might be right in one place, may not be so in another, according to that reasoning. Parents may or may not be good standards for right and wrong. Jeremiah wrote, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jer.10:23.) The Wise man wrote, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12.)
Some have the mistaken notion that knowing right from wrong is innate. They talk about “moral oughtness.” No doubt God has given man the capacity to know right from wrong; however, he must be taught what is right and what is wrong (Eph. 6:4.) It is true that children are capable of learning what “No” means very early. Yet Moses wrote, “Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.” (Deut. 1:39.) G. K. Wallace would tell about his grandson saying to him something like, “Grandpa, tell me all the bad words so I won’t say them.” Paul said, “…Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” (Romans 7:7.)
The only true standard of right and wrong is the Bible. The Psalmist sang, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”(Psalms 19:7-9.) We must desire to read and study it. Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:2-3.) We are to crave or long for the pure, unadulterated, uncontaminated word of God. But how does one instill or inculcate this appetite? One who craves the word of God will not only read and study it, but he will obey it. Why? Because he longs to do right. He hungers and thirsts after doing what is right. He hates and opposes that which is wrong.
How does one obtain a hunger for what is right? This is a difficult question. There are surely many factors which would help. Parents must begin with children when they are very young. They must instill in them the importance of doing right, avoid the wrong. Children learn as much or more by what they see as opposed to what they hear. A godly example is a great influence for good. Attending all the services of the church, reading the Bible on one’s own, regular prayers – all of these factor in to one’s desire to partake of the word. If children hear their parents talking about the profitable Bible study at the services of the church, or the good singing and preaching that was heard, these things will encourage children as well as others.
When one hungers and thirsts after righteousness, he will be filled. That is, he will be satisfied. Those who pursue right doing will find true satisfaction in their actions. They will be full. To be full carries the idea of contentment and peace. The Psalmist wrote, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (Ps 119:165.) Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12.) There are not many who do not like to eat, yet Job said that he esteemed the Bible more than he did eating food necessary to sustain him. When I was a young man, I would just as soon play basketball as to eat. That is how much I loved the game. That kind of love needs to be transferred to the digesting of the word of God. Do you love to read the Bible?
MY BIBLE AND I
We’ve traveled together,
My Bible and I,
Through all kinds of weather,
With smile or with sigh!
In sorrow or sunshine,
In tempest or calm!
Thy friendship unchanging,
My lamp and my psalm.
We’ve traveled together,
My Bible and I,
When life had grown weary,
And death e’en was nigh!
But all through the darkness
Of mist or of wrong,
I found there a solace,
A prayer and a song.
So now who shall part us,
My Bible and I?
Shall “isms” and schisms,
Or “new lights” who try?
Shall shadow for substance,
Or stone for good bread,
Supplant thy sound wisdom,
Give folly instead?
Ah, no, my dear Bible,
Exponent of light!
Thou sword of the Spirit,
Put error to flight!
And still through life’s journey,
Until my last sigh,
We’ll travel together,
My Bible and I.
Author Unknown
THE INFORMER
October 18, 2015