The Mount of Beatitudes is situated serenely near the northwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee. It is about the only definable mountain in close proximity to the "Evangelical Triangle," that area in which Yeshua (Jesus) conducted most of His ministry.

The Triangle was the area falling between the cities of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida (Matt. 11:20-24). The Mount of Beatitudes is thus the likely spot where Yeshua sat down and gave the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12. Today, the mount is adorned with a lovely Roman Catholic church built in 1937. The church grounds have an abundance of beautiful flowers and a breathtaking view of the Sea of Galilee as well. Scattered around the church are plaques reminding the visitor of each Beatitude.

It has often been pointed out by scholars and Bible teachers how Yeshua, the giver of the Beatitudes, was like Moses. As a child He was pursued by an evil king, just as Moses was. He gave the law like Moses, although it was more of an application and fulfillment of the old law. He delivered the people and fed them miraculously like Moses. He ascended a mountain and taught the people like Moses did. Indeed, Moses actually spoke of one like himself who would come in the future: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear" (Dt. 18:15).

At the same time, there were some differences in their ministries. The old Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, makes reference to one of these differences. He says that in Moses' day "... the people were ordered to keep their distance; now (in Yeshua's day) they are invited to draw near: a blessed change!...." (Logos electronic Bible) Perhaps the prophet, Malachi, pictured Yeshua sitting and giving the Beatitudes when he spoke these words: "He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness" (Mal. 3:3).

The Beatitudes and the whole Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7 seem to be a giving, or perhaps a re-emphasizing, of the law of God. Today, some feel that Christ is the end of the law and that we should not concern ourselves with law any longer. These folks often quote Romans 10:4 saying, "For Christ is the end of the law..." The complete verse reads "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Thus, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, but not the end of the law. Instead, Christ says in His Sermon on the Mount, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Mat. 5:17). However, it is certainly not within us as Christians to fulfill or keep the law. In Philippians 2:13, Paul says, "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." It is Yeshua who fulfills the law within us, not we ourselves.

The Law Written on the Heart

It was always God's intent to write the law on the hearts of His people. In Deuteronomy 6:6, we read: "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." Jeremiah speaks of a day when this will become a reality: "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jer. 31:33). The writing of the law on the heart is thus finally accomplished by the New Covenant.

Christians claim a right in the New Covenant by adoption through Yeshua and the resulting engrafting into the olive tree of Israel. Now we must ask what is involved in this covenant. What is involved in having the law written on our hearts? Is it just for show? Is God just doing some unusual exercise in calligraphy?

All indications are that the law is written on the mind and in the heart for a purpose. The divine intention is that the law would be perfectly fulfilled in each individual life. The purpose is that God's people should do what the law says. James exhorts us: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (Jas. 1:22). Clearly, those who only hear the law are deceived. Obviously those who spurn the law are equally deceived.

God wills that our lives should be lawful, law-abiding and not lawless. However, we are living in an exceedingly lawless age. Today, Christians without knowing it, are being swept along with the tide of this age and are becoming more and more lawless. Therefore, let us consider what it means to have the law on the heart.

Examples from the Beatitudes

For centuries Christians have said that the Beatitudes are only an ideal and not reality. However, the Beatitudes are reality. They are the marks and characteristics of God's men and women. Let us consider a few of them.

1. The poor in spirit - the law of humility written on the heart. It is a lowly and humble spirit rather than a spirit of pride and self-sufficiency. In that great passage of Micah 6:8, the prophet states: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" It is strange that poverty in spirit would be listed first among the graces. The philosophers and worldly wise men certainly have not regarded it so. Yeshua thus gives us a new and radically different view of reality.

2. The mourners - sorrow at lawlessness written on the heart. We must learn to cry at our own sins and the sins and abominations of our lawless age. In Ezekiel 9:4, the Lord said to His messenger, "...Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." In this case, the order was given to slay those who were not found mourning. We also read this admonition in Eccl. 7:4: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." Those who mourn have this comfort. At the end of this lawless age, the Master Himself will wipe away the tears from their eyes (Rev. 21:4).

3. The meek - submission written on the heart. The meek have learned to be like their Master. The Bible says of Him in Matthew 11:29, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart..." Meekness has often been described as strength under control. Moses was called the meekest man on earth (Num. 12:3). This must not be confused with weakness. Moses in his righteous indignation could fling the tablets of the law to the ground and break them to pieces. For these gentle, lowly and God-led souls, we have this promise: "But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Ps. 37:11).

4. The merciful - kindness written on the heart. In the Bible, we see that mercy is the very name of God, for He is "...merciful and gracious..." (Ex. 34:6). God's original idea was that mercy be written on the tablet of our hearts and that we wear it as a necklace (Prov. 3:3). From Matthew 23:23, we learn that mercy is a "weightier matter" of the law. There are many pictures of mercy in the Older Testament. In Deuteronomy 22:8, the Israelites were instructed to make a parapet on the roof to avoid needless injury or death.

This was an added expense in building a house, but it was also a necessary act of mercy. The command to not boil a kid in its mother's milk (Ex. 23:19) and the sparing of the mother bird when the young are taken (Dt. 22:6-7) are obvious acts of mercy. Today, we see many supposedly wise people who shun mercy, but the Bible informs us that the wisdom that comes from above is full of mercy (Jas. 3:17).

5. Pure in heart - holiness written on the heart. There is a lot more involved here than the avoidance of sin. The heart is our center of being. Yeshua describes it in Mark 7:21-23, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." Also, from within, springs that holy desire to pursue God and be like Him. We have a choice.

Someone once said that purity of heart is to will one thing: to hunger for God alone and seek Him with all the heart, soul, mind and strength. Thus, this is without a doubt the most comprehensive of all the beatitudes. The pure in heart shall see God and this is the greatest promise in the Bible. In reflecting on this promise, the Psalmist exclaims: "As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness" (Ps. 17:15).

There is not space to discuss the remaining beatitudes, but they, too, amount to the law of God written on the heart of man. It is a greatly misunderstood way of life that Yeshua has ordained for His disciples. Today, the beautiful and placid Mount of Beatitudes stands in the Galilee as a reminder of the new Sinai where God no longer writes on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of the heart.

With appreciation from: