These verses, the opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount, hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. Part of its beauty, though, lies in the fact that the meaning is not quite clear. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? What does it mean to “inherit the earth” or to be called “the children of God.” The fact that there are many possibilities causes us to linger over the phrases, pondering them.

Understood in the internal sense, these blessings show the spiritual states of the various people who could be receptive of the Lord and the new church he was launching. On a deeper level it shows that states within ourselves that can lead each of us to the Lord and to a deeper understanding of His truth today.

The “poor in spirit” are those who know little about spiritual things, but want to learn. Those that “mourn” are those who want to be good, but see no desire for good in their church. The “meek” are those who love to care for and serve others. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” shows a desire to rise up, to learn about what’s good and to come to desire it.

The “merciful” are those who love their fellow people. The “pure in heart” are those who love only what is good. “Peacemakers” are those who are in harmony with the Lord, gaining knowledge from Him and wanting what He wants. And to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” means acting out of love and care for others, even though you are condemned by others for it.

There’s something of a progression there, from those who simply want to learn to those who actively want to be good people to those who actually are good and acting out of love for others. None of it, though, describes those who are learned in the Jewish traditions, or even necessarily observant in terms of ritual; they are, rather, those who sense that it is possible to be a good person and are willing to make the effort.

And they are promised their rewards! The “kingdom of heaven” is the understanding the angels have of the Lord; “comfort” represents ideas that lead to the good of life; “inheriting the earth” is a state of loving others and being loved by them in return. The overall message is simple: If we truly wish to be good people, and are willing to let the Lord teach us how to be good people, we will end up filled with love and wisdom from Him. And that’s what we need to focus on: The desire to be good, and openness to ideas from the Lord. It’s not about ritual and intellectual “correctness”; it’s about ideas that lead us to be good.

But what of being reviled and persecuted? This depicts temptation, when the hells attack our newborn good desires and true understanding. They cause us to doubt our ability to be truly good and question the ideas that are leading us. And they can do it in many ways, reminding us of the fun we’ll be missing or reminding us of all the bad things we’ve ever done to render us hopeless. They will even attack the Bible and the ideas that come to us through it from the Lord; that’s represented by the idea that people also attacked the prophets.

These states, however, are blessed in their own way; only by battling these evils, which are rooted inside us, can we finally fully embrace the good life we have been striving for. That’s why it is pictured last, and that's why it leads to the “great reward” in heaven.

384. And there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill, signifies the deprivation of every good and thence of every truth from the Word, and in consequence in the doctrine of their church from the Word. This is evident from the signification of "power," as being effect, since to be able means to effect; from the signification of "to kill" or "to slay," as being to deprive of good and truth (of which above, n. 366; from the signification of "fourth part," as being every good and thence every truth (of which presently); and from the signification of "earth," as being the church and everything thereof (of which above, n. 29, 304). And as a church is a church from doctrine there, and from life according to it, and as every doctrine of the church must be from the Word, so the doctrine of the church from the Word is at the same time signified. From this it can be seen that "there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth to kill" signifies the deprivation of every good and thus of every truth from the Word, and in consequence in the doctrine of the church from the Word. It is said that "power was given unto them," meaning to evils and to falsities therefrom, and these are signified also by "death and hell." That those who are in evils and falsities deprive themselves of all the perception of good and the understanding of truth from the Word, and in consequence in the doctrine of their church from the Word, is clearly evident in the case of those who are in falsities of doctrine from evils of life. Such, although they read the Word, either do not see the truths that are in it or they falsify them by applying them to the falsities of their own opinions and to the evils of their own loves; for the sense of the letter of the Word is such that those who are in good see truths in it, and those who are in evil see falsities, for the sense of the letter is according to the apprehension of little children, boys, and the simple, and is therefore according to appearance; but still in that sense truths lie hidden that are not seen by any except those who are in good, those who are in evil not wishing to see them, but they draw all things by perverse interpretations to the evils of their loves and to the falsities of their opinions, as is plainly evident from so many heresies existing within the church, especially the heinous Babylonian heresy, and also from the Jewish heresy.

[2] "A fourth part" signifies every good and thence every truth, because the number "four" signifies the conjunction of good and truth, and therefore "a fourth part" or "a fourth" signifies everything of conjunction. In the Word "a third part" and also "a fourth part" are often mentioned, and those who do not know that all numbers signify things may believe that "a third part" means a third part, and "a fourth part" a fourth part, or that they signify some portion; but "a third part" signifies all truth, and "a fourth part" all good; and as all truth is from good, "a fourth part" signifies all good and the truth therefrom, here the deprivation of these, because it is said "there was given to them power over the fourth part of the earth to kill." That "three" and thence "a third part" are predicated of truths, will be seen hereafter, where that number is mentioned. But "four" and thence "a fourth part" are predicated of goods and the truths therefrom, because they signify the conjunction of good and truth. This has been made evident to me by much experience from the spiritual world; for when angels spoke there of the conjunction of good and truth, or of love and faith, and their speech was determined into numbers, the number four was exhibited, and sometimes also the number two, or the number eight, or the number sixteen, because these numbers have a like signification, for numbers multiplied or divided by themselves have a like signification as the numbers with which they are multiplied or divided (See Arcana Coelestia 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). That angelic speech falls also into numbers, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 263). That "four" signifies the conjunction of good and truth has its origin from the four quarters in heaven, in two of which, namely, in the east and the west, those dwell who are in the good of love, and in the other two, namely, in the south and the north, those who are in truths therefrom (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 141-153). Consequently "the four quarters," or "the four winds," signify all good and the truth therefrom, and "four" their conjunction. "A fourth part" signifies everything of conjunction of good and truth, because here "a fourth" constitutes all, and "a fourth" is significative of conjunction; therefore "killing a fourth part" signifies all of conjunction, consequently every good and truth; for where no conjunction of good and truth exists, there they are not; for there can be no good without truth, nor truth without good; they are in their essence one, since truth is of good, and good is of truth (as can be seen from what is said, and the passages cited respecting good and truth in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 11-27).