“Happy are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of the heavens is concerning them” (Matthew 5:3). The term “poor” means to lack, and it is not inherently a reference to financial poverty (cf. Galatians 4:9—“the weak and poor elements of the world system”). Therefore, what is lacking must be understood from the literal meaning of the sentence and its context. Those who are described as happy are poor in spirit. The spirit refers to the rational, logical faculty within a person (1 Corinthians 2:11).
The prophet Daniel spoke of a time when the Messiah would come and then be cut off for a brief period (Daniel 9:26). After He is cut off, the man of lawlessness sets himself up as God in the temple of God, breaking a seven-year peace covenant with Israel (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Ezekiel wrote concerning Israel’s future time in the wilderness (Ezekiel 20:35–38). This places the time Jesus refers to in the opening portion of the Sermon on the Mount during the second half of the Tribulation period, when Israel is scattered into the wilderness (Revelation 12:6, 13–14). They will be happy because of their lack of understanding regarding what the man of lawlessness is doing in the temple.
In contrast to being poor in spirit, the grace believer is instructed to be wise, prudent, and understanding (Ephesians 1:17). Paul states in Romans 1:9 that he serves God with his spirit in the gospel of His Son. A grace believer is to be spiritually minded, not focused on the desires or things of the flesh (Romans 8:6). Grace believers are to govern their lives according to the desires produced by the Holy Spirit—something made possible through salvation, in which they are made alive to God in their spirits, thereby restoring a rational and logical relationship with Him (Galatians 5:16; 1 Corinthians 6:17). Thus, being poor in spirit stands in contradiction to the instructions given to the Church.
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