Blessed Are the Meek — Tim Conway

You can open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5 once again, Sermon on the Mount. We are right at the beginning of a series on one of our Lord's longest sermons. A sermon that is very often misunderstood.

And it will be misunderstood if indeed, careful note, is not taken of the Beatitudes with which it begins. Beatitude. You may have heard of the beatific vision. Basically, the B-E-A-T comes from the Latin.

In the Latin Vulgate, you would see something like Beati, which basically is blessed. That's where it comes from. We are going to look at the third Beatitude today. Meek. Blessed are the meek. Verse 5.

Blessed Are the Meek

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. So that's what we want to deal with. And in the future, I'm not going to promise you that I'm always just going to deal with one Beatitude per Sunday.

But that is the way it's happened thus far. And I make no apologies for just dealing with this today. Because I think it's necessary. Meekness. Let's pray before we dive into it. Father, I want to handle your word with faithfulness.

I pray that your Spirit would cause even revelation on my feet. I mean, show us, Lord. Show us. Even if it doesn't come from my mouth, maybe it's a thought that will occur to somebody here. Something about these passages that the Spirit of God will communicate to us that will be profitable for our spiritual health.

That's what I desire, Lord. Not just simply to do our preaching thing and get it past us. Lord, we're diving into the word of God. Your word. The word before which you would have us to tremble. And Lord, you are the God who says it's living and abiding.

Lord, without you, it's a dead letter on a page of paper. It's just ink and paper. But you can cause this to come alive. Come alive in people's minds and hearts. And it can be transforming. Lord, you can cause our eyeballs to actually see certain arrangements of this ink on a page.

So that sentences are formed and paragraphs and thoughts. And they can be processed in our minds. And we can be affected. We can be moved. We can be transformed. Even entirely regenerated through this word of God.

That's what the word of God itself says. And I pray, Lord, that you do supernatural things through your word. I pray that in Christ's name. Amen. So I'm going to dare. Hopefully one of these times they don't put alcohol in here or something.

Rubbing alcohol. Anthrax or something. Okay. Now. Meekness. Blessed. You see it. Verse 5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now, I would ask you. Just instantaneously when you hear the word meek.

What pops into your mind? I mean, we all have some image. Because I'm imagining the vast majority of you, you've read Matthew 5 .5 before. The vast majority of you, you're not strangers to Scripture. You've heard the term meek.

You've come across it in Scripture. What pops into your mind? You've got some image. I mean, when we hear words. Words produce some kind of thought pattern. Some kind of imagery in our minds. Meek. The reality is that aside from Christianity, I doubt people use this word.

You don't see it in advertising. I doubt. I mean, I don't know what all the advertising is in this country. But I highly doubt you see it on billboards. I highly doubt you see it in magazines. It's not a word that is used.

And the truth is, I'm afraid we don't know this term. Even those of us that maybe had some kind of thought, pop into our mind. I wonder how accurate it actually is. What is meek? We don't use the term.

We don't know the term. If you look at the passage, the verb in our English translations in the first half of this is not there in the original. Literally, what you have are two adjectives and a particle.

So basically it says, blessed, that's an adjective. The meek, that's an adjective. With an article in between them. And then in the second part, like I said before, there's no commandment. This is just a statement of fact.

Jesus asserts, the meek will inherit the earth. And He's not talking about out here. He's not talking about you'll inherit this field next door here. He's not talking about this passing world. Because look, let's look right in the context.

Go down to 518. Right here in the context. 518. Assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away. Now look, God is not giving His children an inheritance that is passing away. Our inheritance is incorruptible.

So there is an earth that's passing away. But it's going to be replaced by an earth that doesn't pass away. Again, look at Matthew 6 .19. You see, earth gets used different ways. Even right here in the Sermon on the Mount.

In verse 19 of chapter 6. Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Where moth, rust, destroy. Where thieves break in and steal. You see again, it's passing away. That's why you don't want to lay it up here.

Things wear out here. Things get destroyed here. Things get stolen here. Things corrupt here. This is a corrupting place. This is a place that's passing away. And in fact, you know what Peter says. Peter very specifically talks about the fact that both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

But then he comes around and he says this. Here's our expectation and here's our hope. We look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. So that's what he's talking about. When he talks about the meek shall inherit the earth.

This is what he means. And you know, we could spend a lot of time. I don't want to get so much in this. There is a real eschatological weightiness to this verse. You know, one of the things that dispensationalism likes to really emphasize is there's got to be something coming with the Jews because of how much promise was made to the Jews concerning the land.

You know what? Basically, this could be translated, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the land. That's the idea here. Folks, what you have to recognize is that when physical Israel had a physical inheritance of physical land over in physical Palestine, that was all a shadow.

It was a shadow of what the meek are going to inherit. You know what? We will come to wrong conclusions all the time if we take the shadows for the substance. Anyway, I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on that.

Here's a question that I would... You see, what we want to do, what I really want to do when we go forth from here today, is I want you to have a really good idea of what meekness is. Because, here's the thing.

You know what Jesus has basically done here, and what He's doing through all these bad beatitudes, is He's saying this. Look, if you're genuine, this is going to characterize your life. Again, we all have to deal with this Sermon on the Mount.

This isn't something any of us can just be casual about. Because what He's saying is, listen, you either inherit the earth or you don't. You either are going to have part in this new earth or you miss it altogether.

So this is life and death. This is in or out. There's no middle ground with regards to this. And so what I really want to have happen is, I want us to go forth from here with a really good idea about what meekness is, so that we can all be confronted by the reality of what meekness is.

Because the reality is that if it's void and absent, then you're not in the category of the blessed. That's the real issue. And that's a major issue. So, one thing we cannot determine from Matthew 5 .5 is what meekness means.

There's just not enough information. But, Hermeneutics 101, we compare Scripture with Scripture. But here's a question I want to ask you before we compare Scripture with Scripture. What can we learn about chapter 5, verse 5?

I mean, look at it. Though it doesn't define meekness for us, it does make several things very clear. For one, it makes this clear. Every individual who receives the inheritance of this new earth. It's basically the paradise.

This is where we're headed. The new earth, you understand what this is all about. Adam lost something. Adam lost paradise. You heard about paradise restored. That's where this thing is headed. And it's going to be life abundantly.

And it's altogether called an eternal weight of glory. This thing is so great, you don't want to miss this at all. But the thing is that every single individual that will inhabit the new earth will be meek.

And there's absolutely no exceptions. Here's one of the things that's going to be true. In the new earth, when we look around, do you know what you're going to see everybody robed with? This beautiful adornment of meekness.

And we'll all see it. We'll all see it in one another. That's the world. The new earth is a world of meekness. There's no getting away from that. But here's another thing. Think about life here. That's life there.

Life there, everyone is meek. And we'll all see it and we'll all know it. We'll all be adorned with it. We'll all be robed with it. But the reality is every individual here in this world who genuinely has meekness is an inheritor.

They enter an heir of that coming world. Now if I had a lens. If say this was the meekness glass. And if I looked through it at you, you somehow showed up a certain color here. If there was genuine meekness.

Only those who had it show up in them are going to inherit. This is life and death. This is a genuine Christianity tester is what it is. So, you know what? If this is characteristic of your life, Jesus says you're blessed.

And you know what it means if you're not in that category. To not be in the category of the blessed is to be in the category of the cursed. Now, let's move out from here. Let's ask some questions about meekness in the broader scope of Scripture.

I know this for a fact. Moses had meekness. Because Scripture says so. You don't have to turn here, but just listen to this. This is the ESV rendering of Numbers chapter 12 verse 3. Now the man Moses was very meek.

More than all the people who were on the face of the earth. So our Greek term for meekness is found right here in the Septuagint. In the Greek Old Testament. The same word. So we know he possessed it.

And so what I'm going to do in a little bit is I'm going to actually look at some incidents in the life of Moses. Because if Moses possessed meekness, then if we really want to know what it is, let's look at him.

Because I'll tell you this. There are only two men in the Bible that are very specifically said to have meekness. And you know who they are, right? Who are they? Moses and who? Christ. Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ.

And you probably are very familiar with these verses as well. Jesus said, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek. That's a King James rendering. Meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls.

Meekness as the Fruit of the Spirit

So, let me give you another truth. It's this one. Meekness is found in the fruit of the Spirit. Now that's key. You know this verse. This is the King James rendering of Galatians 5 .22. The fruit of the Spirit.

Love. Joy. Peace. You know these. Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness. The very first word found in Galatians 5 .23 is meekness. And I recognize if you don't have the King James Bible, it may be translated a different way.

But it's our word. Temperance. Against such there is no law. Now, here's the point. Meekness is not a natural quality. That's my point in pulling that verse out. This is not something you're born with.

This is not something natural to the sons and daughters of Adam. It simply is not in that category. It's not a natural disposition. None of our children are born with it. It's not native. What's native to us is sin and pride and unbelief.

Not meekness. Now, we heard this verse. Let's put these two thoughts together. We heard this in Romans 8. If I do not possess the Spirit, I do not belong to Christ. If I belong to Christ, I possess the Spirit.

If I possess the Spirit, that Spirit will work the fruit of the Spirit in every individual where he resides. And so the reality is this. Look, I recognize this. We all may be at different places in our Christianity.

There may be different levels of maturity. I recognize that any of us can have bad weeks. I recognize there are fluctuations in the Christian life. But I also know this. The Spirit of God is stronger than sin.

That's why we heard what we heard. If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. How can Paul be so dogmatic? Because he knows full well this reality.

The Spirit of God is stronger than sin. The Spirit of God is stronger than the flesh. The Spirit of God is stronger than the devil. Every single time. The Spirit of God sanctifies the people of God. There's no question about it.

If there is no process of sanctification in your life, you don't know the Lord. Because that's what the Spirit does. He's a sanctifying Spirit. He's a Holy Spirit. And He's responsible for the new man.

And the new man, true righteousness and holiness. That's the reality. That's what Scripture teaches. There's no getting away from it. Sin will no longer have dominion over us. I'm not saying we run around in some glorious perfection in this life.

But you know these truths. And I'm saying this. Every genuine inheritor of this coming paradise of a new world. You can tell them by this characteristic. There is meekness. And it wasn't born into them.

It is something that at some point in their life, where they look to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. This point in life where they became possessors of the Spirit of God. Where He began to do this work.

Where He breathed life into them. They were regenerated. This Spirit goes to work to produce a meekness. So that's my major point right here. That this is not naturally inbred into us. And this is important.

And it's important for this reason. There are people who appear meek. But it's not meekness at all. There are counterfeits. And by counterfeit, I'm not saying it's something necessarily ugly or bad. Listen.

A person can be nice. Lost people can be nice. And I'm not saying that's necessarily bad. But it's not meekness. And we don't want to confuse the two. The fact is that it may not be meekness at all. You know what?

You can have a person who's just agreeable. You get around people like that? You ever been around somebody like that? They're just very agreeable. You can get around people who don't know the Lord at all.

Who are just, they're man pleasers. They don't want problems with anybody. They don't want conflict. They're just friendly. There are people, you know, different. And this is native. This is natural. Just different personalities.

People can be easy going. The fact is, you can have people that are just cowards. They're afraid of conflict with anybody. And so they just avoid it. That is not meekness. We don't want to confuse those things.

There are people that are born nice and it's just purely biological. And I was thinking about our dog. You know, God brought us a dog. He's nice. He's got a good disposition. But that's not meekness. That's not from the Holy Spirit.

I know God created him and he created him with that personality. But it's not meekness. And you all know that. Meekness is a quality that is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. It is part and parcel of what the Spirit of God will work in an individual.

It grows in the Lord's garden. And it doesn't grow anywhere else. Meekness. Meekness. Think with me. Meekness is not weakness. You never want to confuse those two. Ever. Put weakness right out of your mind.

It's not the person who fears conflict and just acquiesces to everyone. It's not that person. Some people want peace at all costs. No controversy. No arguments. Everything nice, peaceful, happy. And that's not meekness.

Now listen. What is typically considered to be the best scholarly Greek lexicon today is Bauer, Denker, Art, and Gingrich lexicon. They give this definition. And I think it's a good one. Now listen to it carefully.

Not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance. Now you want to get that. Not being overly impressed with your sense of your own self-importance. Now you can see this is very closely related to humility because obviously people that think they're very self-important, that is an aspect of pride.

And there's no question. There's no question that humility and lowliness, they're close synonyms of meekness. But listen to meekness. It is not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance.

Now I'm not so interested in what the BDAG lexicon has to say because where I'm going to take you is to Scripture. And the two men we know for certainty have meekness. I want you to see this in action.

But I want you to see that what these guys are saying really hits the nail on the head. And one of the things you want to remember too is this. These beatitudes are not just in any random order. There's a real pattern to them.

One of the things that you want to recognize is that meekness flows out of the first two beatitudes because you know what those are. Poverty of spirit. When somebody recognizes that they are bankrupt, that's the first thing.

And then the second thing is they mourn over their bankruptcy. They mourn over their sin. You know when you have somebody that really recognizes the Spirit of God has opened their eyes, caused them to recognize they are nothing, they deserve hell, and shows them their sin.

You know what happens? That breaks a person. It breaks a man. It breaks a woman. It breaks their pride. And so they're not demanding things for themselves. Go back to the BDAG definition. Not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance.

You know what happens when you recognize you are a sinner? You deserve hell. You've been a rebel against God. You don't deserve the least of His kindness. You're like the prodigal where you're just pleading mercy.

Father, please, I'm not worthy to be... You see the fight's gone out of him. That's what's happening. It flows out of those two. You're not demanding for yourself anymore. You're not protecting self. You're no longer thinking about how wonderful you are.

And, oh, I've got to stand up for my rights. But now listen. Meek people will stand up. You see, that's one of the places where we go wrong. When we just simply kind of put meekness over in this category of weakness and kind of effeminate and even gentle is just...

I know there's a place for that word, but... You know what? The man or the woman who is truly meek, they will stand up for certain... Not for themselves. Not for their own rights. Not because they think of how wonderful they are.

But precisely because they're so amazed at the fact that God has dealt with them with such kindness. The very fact that God has given them so much. So much does a man come to the place where he has an appreciation for God.

He has a recognition of God's glory. He has something in him now wants to fight for God's glory. And I'll tell you, you see that in Moses and you see that in Christ. Christ would make a whip and clear people out.

That is not inconsistent with meekness. But I'm afraid oftentimes we have that idea. Well, that's not meek. I mean, if you took snapshots of Moses when he's like leading the Levites to put a sword in his fellow Israelites, that doesn't look so meek.

But I'll tell you what, in both those cases they're not defending themselves and they're not defending their own status and their own rights they're not arguing for. And so we need to recognize here that meekness is not in any way at odds with zeal.

Not any. Meekness doesn't consume itself with its own interest. It's not defensive. You know what a great indication of pride and the opposite of meekness is just self-pity. If you ever really think about it and you begin to dissect what self-pity is, it is a horrific demonstration of pride and self-absorption.

Because you know what happens when you get the first two beatitudes? The self-pity goes out the window because you're no longer walking through life moping around woe is me. Because if you really come to the place of bankruptcy in your life and poverty of spirit and you mourn over that, you recognize all you deserve is hell.

So now everything is looking up because everything is good because anything that you get is mercy. And the thing is, blessed are the poor in spirit because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You've got to realize what you're getting out of this package.

You're getting the kingdom of heaven. Those who mourn they'll be comforted. Those who are meek, they inherit this coming new earth in which righteousness dwells. You have to recognize what's happening.

This person who comes to this point of bankruptcy because God has opened his eyes to see factually what he really is or what she really is, suddenly you're not all walking around pulling your tie tight, stiff-necked or with your chin lifted high thinking you're some great God's gift to this world.

I mean, suddenly you recognize everything for what it is. You recognize what I really deserve and what I've gotten. I mean, what I really deserve is way over there. What I got is way over there. And you see, you're no longer in a place to go around and strut your stuff all the time.

That's the issue. A man who's meek, he's finished with just living for self, intrumpeting self. The Spirit of God breaks that. I mean, that's what spiritual poverty does. I mean, true being poor in spirit.

Everybody has a poverty innately, but men don't realize it. They're righteous in their own eyes. So, let's look at these living examples because we have two of them. Turn now back in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 12.

Moses: Meekness Under Personal Attack

I mean, if there was any chapter in our Bibles calculated to help us define meekness, it's this one. Because the amazing thing is the Lord doesn't just tell us in a vacuum that Moses is meek. He actually tells us that Moses is meek right in a series of events where his meekness is being demonstrated.

So it's just so helpful. And let's look at it. Numbers 12. So first, here's the account. You may remember this. You know, different people came against Moses. At one time, he's up on the mountain and they're like, it's for this man that led us out of Egypt.

We don't know what's happened with him. Aaron, make us a god! I mean, you've got different people. Korah leading this rebellion. They're constantly griping against Moses. They're complaining against Moses.

Moses, who do you think you are? We're all holy in God's sight. Who do you make yourself out to be leading? Well, you know, there was actually a day when the two closest to him, here it is, Miriam and Aaron, they spoke against Moses.

This is the first thing. I'll tell you what, it's in this context that God is going to say he's the meekest guy on the face of the earth. And you're going to see it from the meek reaction. Now, here's the thing.

You really want to test your meekness right at this point when somebody attacks you, when somebody persecutes you, when somebody speaks against you, when you've got somebody against you. Now, listen. You see in the Sermon on the Mount, you know one of the things that you're going to be called to do?

Love your enemies. You see, it falls right in this category. You will never... Again, you have to recognize what the Sermon on the Mount is. It is a declaration of what's true in all the Beatitudes. And it's with that kind of reality in your life that now when Jesus comes over to actually go into the imperatives in the Sermon on the Mount, that we even have any hope.

You've got to have this kind of thing happen in your life by way of the Spirit of God if you have any hope of living this kind of life. Now, look. They're speaking against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married.

Then you go to verse 2. They said, "...Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?". You see, they're attacking Him. You know what's very interesting? People attack God all the time, but they don't admit it.

They attack God's servant. And then they feel like, well, I'm not attacking God. I'm attacking this guy, and I have a right to do that. That's very often what happens. It's interesting how often the people are attacking Moses or Moses and Aaron.

They don't directly come out and say they're attacking the Lord. It takes the Lord to stand up and say, you know, when they attack you, Moses, they're attacking me. But, "...Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?".

Okay, now here you get it. Now, the man Moses, verse 3, was very, and yours may say, humble. The King James Version and the English Standards say meek. More than all the men who were on the face of the earth.

So we know Moses is meek, because Scripture itself tells us. Now let's watch the meekness in real life. We know he's been attacked. Now, notice verse 3. Because this is such a part of meekness. Brethren, you have to recognize that we very much, as Christians, are in the same kind of place where Moses is.

You know what's being said here, basically, in verses 5 through 8? Is that Moses is a favorite. Well, you know what, if we're Christians, we are privileged. We are among the privileged on the face of the earth.

But notice what's said. The Lord came down, verse 5, in a pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle and called Aaron and Miriam. They both went forward. Then he said, Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make myself known to him in a vision.

I speak to him in a dream. Not so my servant Moses. You see, Moses is on another level. He's faithful in all my house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings. He sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? Now this is very interesting. Because you know what? You know what lost people do? If lost people have a place of privilege and you attack them, if they've got money, they've got power, they've got some kind of credibility in this world, they've got some kind of notoriety, they've got some kind of position, and you attack them, you know what they're going to do?

They're going to use their position to take you out. That's what the world does. He is in a favored position, and he's been attacked. Now here's where the meekness is going to really be displayed. Verse 9, So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and he departed.

And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous. So there's judgment on those attacking Moses. Now you might think Moses would be like, yeah, she had that coming.

You attack me, see if she ever does that again. Nothing like that is coming from him. Verse 13, Just the opposite. Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, Please heal her, O God, I pray. You see, this is something entirely opposed to everything the world thinks.

You know what the world says? Just look at its movies. Blessed are those who get vengeance. I mean, that's it. Blessed is the one who protects his reputation at all costs. The world thinks in terms of what?

Strength, power, ability, aggressiveness, getting even, making them pay. Can you imagine? He's pleading with the Lord. She's attacked Moses. God brings swift judgment on her, and now Moses is the one pleading.

It's not Miriam pleading. It's not Aaron pleading to the Lord. Aaron pleads with Moses, I recognize, but this is meekness. Now, what I want you to do now is I want you to think of another incident that took place in the life of Moses.

Moses Defends God’s Glory at the Golden Calf

Turn over to Exodus 32. In Exodus 32, this is where the people I already mentioned, where the people said, we don't know what's become of this man, God that led us out of Egypt. Aaron, fashion us a god.

Aaron says, out popped a golden calf. Listen to what God says to Moses. Now, you have to remember this. Moses is still up on the mountain. You remember, Moses is up there. He's got the first tablets of the Ten Commandments.

He has not come down yet, and God says to him, Moses, they're stiff-necked. They've broken My laws. So Moses is still up there on the mountain. He's hearing this. God is basically informing him. Now, let's dive in about verse 10.

Exodus 32 verse 10. Listen to this. Therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them. And notice this, I will make of you a great nation. Wow. Okay, now you put yourself in Moses' place.

Yeah, these people, you know, they're wondering what happened to me. They just call me that man who let us out. Such disrespect. God will wipe them all out. He's going to make a great nation out of me.

The average lost person, they're all over that. Do you know primarily why Moses is not all over that? Because you know what meekness is brother to all the time? A zeal for the glory of God. And you need to feel this.

Look, individually, by nature, we, I'm not speaking just about we know this, we're made of this stock by nature. The reality is this, individually each person in this world, man, women, children, they just naturally assume without even hardly a thought about it, that they are the center of the universe.

And you know it's true. And something, undoubtedly, we're all still fighting. I mean, as the Spirit of God works meekness in His children, this is something that has to die 10 ,000 deaths. But you know, that's just the mindset of the world.

I am the center of the universe. And so when God comes along and says, I'll wipe them all out and make a nation out of you. You know, the average guy in the world, they're like, yeah, I'm all over that.

Let's do that Lord. Notice this, he doesn't even think. Do you notice? Moses has zero dialogue with God about that thought. When Moses responds, it's like, it's not even in the discussion that you're going to make a nation out of me.

Not at all. You see, what he cares about is God's glory. Notice verse 11. Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, Why does your wrath burn hot against your people? Now I'm not saying Moses is not driven by a desire for mercy to be shown to his Israelite brethren according to the flesh, even like Paul did in Romans 9.

But I'll tell you his primary concern is God's glory. And you see it right here. These are your people. Lord, these are your people. Because you know what God had just said to him up on that mountain?

Your people, Moses. They did this. Well, Moses comes back and says to him, They're your people. And Lord, you led them out of Egypt. And you did that in the eyes of the Egyptians and the nations around.

And they all saw it. And if you bring them out here into the wilderness and you drop them all dead, you know what they're going to say? They're going to say bad things about you. That's exactly what's happening here.

That's why he's pleading. Your people you've brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. Why should the Egyptians speak and say he brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, to consume them from the face of the earth?

Turn from your fierce wrath. Relent from this harm to your people. Your people again. Remember, see, he's going to plead with him now. You are God who makes promises. And you made a promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and said to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens.

And all this land that I have spoken I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. And then here's the thing. Here's what you need to recognize. When he now comes off the mountain, notice what happens in verse 19.

See why he's up there? He's pleading. But you know what? When he sees the wickedness firsthand, and he sees God being dishonored firsthand, two things happen that I think are very noteworthy. One, he smashes those two tablets of the Ten Commandments.

And he does it in anger. He's fierce at these people. Notice verse 19. So when he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, so Moses' anger became hot. He cast the tablets out of his hands, broke them at the foot of the mountain.

But then you've jumped forward to verse 26. You see, this is not incompatible with meekness. You know what the next thing is he does? Verse 26, Moses stood in the entrance of the camp and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, come to me.

And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him, and he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Let every man put his sword on his side, go in and out from the entrance to entrance throughout the camp.

Let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, every man his neighbor. There's no weakness. But you see the death to self all the way through this. See, meekness does not defend self, but it will defend others, and it will defend God especially.