Law and Beatitudes Part I

Also Lord He spoke, all these words to these saying: Exodus 20:1(JWET)
God speaks from the mountain.

And opening His mouth He was teaching them saying: Matthew 5:2(JWET)
Jesus speaks from the mountain.

There is a clear comparison between the Deity’s meeting with Moses and Aaron on Mount Sinai and Jesus' meeting with the Twelve Disciples on the Mount of the Beatitudes. In the first instance the Lord spoke the law of the Mosaic Covenant; in the second instance the Lord spoke a clarification so the Law could be fully observed.

Let us compare what God said in Exodus 20 with what He said in Matthew 5.
They will not be for you other gods except Me.Ex 20:3 JWET

God-Yahweh Himself codified monotheism-the belief that there is one supreme all-powerful deity through His message to the freed Hebrew slaves at Mount Sinai. The “Ten Words” that He spoke to the descendants of Israel begins with the injunction against polytheism and is the premiere of the “commands” that followed.

This was an idea that the Hebrews quickly agreed to observe but likewise quickly rejected. This back and forth backsliding and repentance went on for over 600 years until the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity. During the 70 years of exile in Babylon the monarchy lost its dominance allowing the priesthood to became the authority for all things Jewish.

One would believe that this tenacious monotheistic-Yahwehism would have meant a spiritual awakening and real relationship between Israel and their God, such as Abraham the "Friend of God” had enjoyed. Regrettably this was not the case. Instead a Priests-Scribes-Pharisees-Sadducees caste developed into the rigid self-righteous monotheistic cult that Jesus found and confronted.

Jesus spoke to those unrighteous “righteous” leaders who thought that the strict adherence to God’s laws would guarantee they satisfied God. Jesus Christ-Savior the Anointed One, taught the proper view of the law by clarifying or fulfilling the first commandment in teaching:
Worthy ones, those beggars having the Spirit, in that theirs is heavens' kingdom. Mt 5:3 JWET
• Those beggars having the Spirit, worthy ones in that theirs is heavens' kingdom.
This would have staggered His hearers on a couple of fronts:

1.Beggars having the Spirit.

Those of the elite class (Priests-Scribes-Pharisees-Sadducees) looked on beggars as rejected by God as evidenced by their obvious condition. Therefore, when Jesus said they could have the Spirit, He was making a non-sense statement. It was totally illogical to say that ungodly people were full of the Spirit!

Some who are reading this are thinking that “... poor in spirit…” is a better translation;
a. because of grammatical reasons I choose to translate ptokoi to pneumati (πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι) “…beggars having the Spirit…” as a dative of possession.
b. some might suggest that because Jesus had not yet been crucified the Spirit had not been given. It is forgotten that the giving of the Spirit was related to the Day of Pentecost also called the Baptism of Jesus/Baptism with the Spirit and not the separate event of the Baptism of the Spirit/Salvation extended to every person of faith in God. Salvation-Yeshua’-Jesus always was, is and always will be.
2. Jesus followed up with an equally as shocking—the “Beggars having the Spirit also have heavens’ kingdom!” Heavens’ Kingdom is God’s Kingdom. The “teaching” of the Priests-Scribes-Pharisees-Sadducees was that the beggars/uneducated were effectively locked out of that Kingdom.

Monotheism, as necessary as it is, is not a guarantee of salvation and having the Spirit. Jesus’ intent in announcing the Beatitudes was to clarify His initial intent when issuing the Law as conditions of the covenant. “Do not consider that I have arrived to dissolve the law or the prophets, I have not come to overturn on the other hand to have them fully observed.” Matthew 5:17 JWET