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.

7231. Since these verses consist of mere names detailed explanation can be dispensed with, especially as it has been shown already what Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Aaron, and Moses represent, and their sons and grandsons who are named here are simply further generations descending from those things they represent.

'Reuben' represents faith present in the understanding, see 3861, 3866, 4731, 4734, 4761.

'Simeon' represents faith present in the will and expressed in action, 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5482, 5626, 5630.

'Levi' represents charity, 3875, 3877, 4497, 4503.

'Aaron' represents the teachings of the Church, 6998, 7009, 7089.

'Moses' represents the law from God, 6771, 6827.

The reason why Reuben, Simeon, Levi and their sons are mentioned here, and not the remaining fathers of the tribes together with their sons in their proper order, cannot be known except from the internal sense. One can see that the list of names has been provided in this chapter to make known the matter of Aaron and Moses' parentage and birth. Yet the genealogy of Levi would have been sufficient to do this, for nothing whatever about Reuben and Simeon, or about their sons, helps to make that matter known. But the reason why these are mentioned, which is evident only from the internal sense, is that the spiritual Church, which is represented by 'the children of Israel', is the subject.

[2] That Church is brought into being with a person through faith present within what he knows and then within his understanding, the kind of faith that is represented by 'Reuben and his sons'. After this, when the Church with the person grows, that faith passes into his will, and from will into action. At this point the person has the truth of faith in his will and puts it into practice because it is what has been commanded in the Word. This phase of faith is represented by 'Simeon'. Finally within his will, that is, his new will, an affection characteristic of charity is perceptible, so that his wish to do what is good is motivated not by faith, as it was previously, but by charity towards the neighbour. For when a person's regeneration has come that far he is a member of the spiritual Church, since he now has that Church within him. This charity and the affection belonging to it is what' Levi' represents.

This then explains why the families of Reuben and also of Simeon are listed, and finally the family of Levi, who, as has been stated, represents charity, which is what gives the Church its spiritual character. 'Aaron' represents the external dimension of that Church, and 'Moses' the internal dimension. The internal dimension of the Church is referred to as the law from God, the external dimension as teachings derived from it. The law from God - the internal dimension of the Church - is also the Word in its internal sense, and the teachings derived from it are the Word in its external sense. For Moses and Aaron's representation of these, see 7089.