"Blessed are the pure in heart..."
We talked about this verse last night at our Thursday night Bible study at the Blackfords'. There were some great ideas being tossed around and discussed. Nicole Blackford had even done a word study on what it meant to "see God" (the second part of the verse).
What are the key words? (observation)
What is the context? (observation)
- Key words would include blessed, pure, heart, and see.
- Context has been heart issues that are blessed by God both in the present as well as in the future (to an even fuller extent).
What does it mean to be pure in heart? (interpretation)
Is this a characteristic? (interpretation)
Is this simple external actions? (interpretation)
Does "heart" refer to the Jewish understanding of what the "heart" meant, or the Greek understanding? (interpretation)
- Pure: undefiled, determined, dedicated, whole
- Heart (to a Jew): the seat of reasoning (motivation), not emotion
- Heart (to a Greek): the seat of emotion
- Pure in heart: undefiled and determined motivation
- That answers the question whether it is just external actions or a characteristic as we see the meaning of "pure in heart."
What does it take for me, personally, to be pure in heart? (application)
- a
"...for they shall see God."
What are the rewards of being pure in heart? (observation)
What does the word "see" mean? (observation)
What does it mean to "see God"? (interpretation)
Does it refer to present life or future? (interpretation)
- The reward is being able to "see God"
- As per Nicole's word study, "see" refers to experiencing, viewing, understanding
- 1 Corinthians 13.12 "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face..."
- We see God through experience, deepening faith, and the understanding of His Word
- We, therefore, do get part of the blessing now, as when we are motivated purely to glorify Him here on earth, we do get to experience His presence, provision, and protection, and, therefore, get to know Him more
- But here on earth, I only catch a glimpse of His glory, as Abraham did as he hid in the cleft of the rock and God's glory passed by him
- If I look into a mirror, but the image is dark, I can still kind of make out the image, maybe even some detail, but to truly realize the real thing, not just the image, it takes turning around and looking into the face of the subject of the image
- We will realize the full impact of His glory only when we see Him face to face on His return or our death; anything we experience now, even with how incredible it is, is but a slight glimpse of His true majesty which we, believers, will get to experience one day
