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.

6959. 'And Jehovah said further to him' means foresight of what those who belonged to the spiritual Church were going to be like if they were not in possession of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah said' as foresight, as above in 6946. The reason it means that this future was foreseen - what those who belonged to the spiritual Church would be like if they were not in possession of faith - lies in the words that immediately follow. These deal with members of the spiritual Church, represented by 'the children of Israel', describing what they were going to be like if they did not possess faith, that they would become profaners of truth. For the first miracle in which the rod became a serpent means their state, a state in which they would become wholly sensory- and bodily-minded; the present miracle in which Moses' hand became leprous means profanation since this would come next if that Church continued to be devoid of faith.

[2] In childhood, and after that in adolescence, those who belong to the spiritual Church possess faith in the things taught by their Church. But during those years the faith they possess is obtained from parents and teachers, not by their own efforts. If therefore they subsequently give up that faith they can profane truth only to a small extent, and Divine means can be used to remove that profanation, thereby freeing a person from guilt on account of it. But if a person possesses faith in what the Church teaches and in the Word as a result of his own efforts, that is, he confirms for himself what he has been taught, but after that gives it up and refuses to accept what he has previously believed - and especially if he leads a life that goes against the truth he has confirmed for himself, and either explains it to suit himself or totally rejects it - he renders truth profane. The reason why is that within himself he mixes up and joins together truth and falsity. Because people like this have scarcely any remnants of what is true and good they come at length in the next life to be like skeletons, having as little life left as one's bones possess in comparison with the organic life of the flesh. A more direful lot however awaits those who render good profane than those who render truth profane. Those belonging to the spiritual Church are able to profane truth, but they are less able to do the same thing to good.

[3] Since 'leprosy' means the profanation of truth and is referred to in what follows next, please see first what has been stated and shown already about profanation:

Those within the Church are capable of profaning holy things, but not those outside it, 2051, 3399.

Holy things cannot be profaned except by those who first acknowledge them, 3398.

People who do not know holy things, and also those who do not acknowledge them, cannot profane them, 1008, 1010, 1059, 3398, 4289.

It is also profanation when one acknowledges and believes truths and forms of good and yet leads a life that goes against them, 4601.

A person is withheld as far as is possible from profanation, 301-303, 1327, 1328, 3398, 3402.

The lot awaiting profaners is the worst of all in the next life, 6348.