Elul 22 (4 September 2026) The KING is in the FIELD! AWAKEN the BELIEVERS! CONGREGATION…
THE GOSPELS: THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: BEATITUDE 5, BLESSED are those who SHOW MERCY for they will be SHOWN MERCY
12 June 2026
Good day everyone, We are proceeding to study the SERMON of YESHUA on the MOUNT.
We are mainly reading from the Complete Jewish Study Bible – insight for Jews and Christians. We use the Hebrew letters for the name of God, YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) where the word LORD in English is indicated in capital letters in the Scriptures. The reason being that the Jewish writers removed the vowels in God’s name out of fear of transgressing the third Commandment of taking His Name in vain. And today there is a lot of controversy about the pronunciation of His Name. We also refer to Him as Abba Father and use the Hebrew Name Yeshua the Messiah instead of the English Name Jesus Christ translated from the Greek.
We are studying the fifth BEATITUDE in Matthew 5:7 where Yeshua our Messiah taught: “How BLESSED (meaning happy and fortunate) are those who show MERCY! For they will be shown MERCY.”
So it is clear that in order to RECEIVE MERCY, we must GIVE MERCY to other people, again we therefore see the SOW-REAP-principle of God here, as Yeshua told us in Matthew 7:12 ”Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and the Prophets.” We all NEED GOD the FATHER’s MERCY and therefore it is critical that we SHOW MERCY to others. Therefore, let’s explore what the WORD teaches us on what MERCY entails and how we are expected to show it.
MERCY is defined as God’s undeserved kindness and compassion towards humanity. GRACE is defined as God’s undeserved FAVOR. Mercy and Grace are therefore closely related but distinct in that MERCY withholds the punishment that we deserves as sinful human beings and God’s GRACE gives us the GOOD that we do not deserves The Nelson’s Foundational Bible Dictionary explains mankind needs both MERCY and GRACE in order to BE SAVED. Logically, MERCY precedes GRACE but from a human perspective GRACE precedes MERCY, because we must accept God’s GRACE through FAITH before we can have our misery removed. Likewise, GRACE always precedes PEACE. We cannot have PEACE until we have experienced the FORGIVENESS of our sins through God’s unmerited FAVOR on us.
So let’s begin our study on MERCY by looking at GOD’s MERCIFUL CHARACTER.
In Exodus 34:1-4 God told Moses to cut two tablets of stone like the first ones and He (God) will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which Moses broke when he saw the sins of the people who worshipped the golden calf. Moses had to ascend in the morning to Mount Sinai and present himself on the top of the mountain. Moses did as God told him and we then read in verses 5-6 God descended in the cloud, stood with him there and PRONOUNCED HIS NAME, He passed before Moses and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh is God, MERCIFUL and COMPASSIONATE, slow to anger, rich in GRACE and TRUTH; showing GRACE to the thousandth generation, FORGIVING offences, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating (pardoning) the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren, and even by the third and fourth generations.” We also read in Exodus 20:5-7 “I, YHVH your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me (therefore those who do not OBEY HIS WORD), but I display GRACE to the thousandth generation of those who LOVE ME and OBEY MY mitzvoth (COMMANDMENTS). REMEMBER we serve a RIGHTEOUSS and MERCIFUL God.
This is confirmed and explained in the beautiful Psalm 103 of David saying: “Bless YHVH, my soul!…He FORGIVES all your offenses, He HEALS all your diseases, He REDEEMS your life from the pit, He SURROUNDS you with GRACE and COMPASSION, He CONTENTS you with GOOD as long as you live, (He therefore RESTORES the whole person), YHVH BRINGS VINDICATION (JUSTIFICATION) and JUSTICE to all who are oppressed. He made HIS WAYS known to Moses (alluding to the Torah, Genesis to Deuteronomy, summed up in the Ten Commandments), His MIGHTY DEEDS to ISRAEL. YHVH is MERCIFUL (compassionate, kind-hearted, forgiving), slow to anger and rich in GRACE…He has not treated us as our sins deserve or paid us back for our offences, because HIS MERCY toward those who fear Him is as far above earth as heaven. He has REMOVED our sins form us as far as the east is from the west. Just as a father has COMPASSION on his children, YHVH has COMPASSION on those who fear Him (this fear means we choose to obey Him and will not intentionally sin against Him). For He understands how we are made, He remembers that we are dust. Yes, a human being’s days are like grass, he sprouts like a flower in the countryside – but when the wind sweeps over, its gone; and its place knows it no more. But the MERCY of YHVH on those who fear Him is from ETERNITY past to ETERNITY future, and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS extends to his children’s children provided they KEEP HIS COVENANT and remember to FOLLOW HIS PRECEPTS (laws, principles, guidelines, instructions)…” As we also read in Exodus 20:5-6 and Exodus 34:7. Also read Psalm 111:4 and James 5:11.
In Deuteronomy chapter 4 ISRAEL (at that stage all TWELVE TRIBES, including Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh who had an Egyptian mother, and the multitude of other people who went with them out of Egypt into the desert according to Exodus 12:38) is seriously warned in Deuteronomy 4:1-2 “Now ISRAEL, listen to the LAWS and RULINGS I am teaching you, in order to FOLLOW them, so that you will LIVE; then you will go in and take possession of the land that YHVH, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In order to OBEY the mitzvoth (the COMMANDMENTS) of YHVH your God which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and DO not subtract from it. And in verse 8 we read: “What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire TORAH (Genesis to Deuteronomy) which I am setting before you today? This serious warning of not adding or removing any elements of God’s instructions in His Word is very serious and reiterated in Proverbs 30:6, Ecclesiastes 3:14, 12:12-13 as well as in the last chapter of the Word in Revelation 22:18-19.
And ISRAEL is then warned in Deuteronomy 4:23-28 “Watch out for yourselves, so that you won’t forget the COVENANT of YHVH your God, which He made with you, and make yourself a carved image, a representation of anything forbidden to you by YHVH your God. For YHVH your God is a CONSUMING FIRE, a jealous God. (We tend to think here of ancient idols of wood and stone, but if we think of it carefully, it might as well refer to our modern day electronic carved images today we call the television. laptops and cell phones casting all sorts of forbidden images to us during many hours of each every day which is probably equating to worshipping carved images). When you have had children and grandchildren, lived a long time in the land, become corrupt (immoral/ wicked, depraved, dishonest) and made a carved image, a representation (picture, symbol, image) of something, and thus DONE what is evil (sinful) in the sight of YHVH your God and provoked Him. I call on the sky and the earth to WITNESS against you TODAY that you will quickly disappear from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not prolong your days there but will be COMPLETELY DESTROYED. YHVH will scatter you among the peoples; and among the nations to which YHVH will lead you away, you will be left few in number (and we know this is exactly what happened to the TWELVE TRIBES including Ephraim and Manasseh and the mixed multitude of people who was with them up to this day, only the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin today known as the Jews, is still recognizable). ”
And then we read in Deuteronomy 4:29-31 “However, from there you will SEEK YHVH your God; and you WILL FIND HIM if you SEARCH after HIM with ALL your HEART and BEING (your soul, meaning your mind, emotions and free will). In your distress, when all these things have come upon you, in the acharit-hayamim (the END of DAYS), you WILL RETURN to YHVH your God and LISTEN to what He says; for YHVH your God is a MERCIFUL (compassionate, kind-hearted, forgiving) GOD. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the COVENANT with your ancestors which He swore to them.”
2nd Samuel 24:14 David indicated that he would rather fall into the hand of YHVH, because HIS MERCIES (compassion, kindness, understanding) ARE GREAT, than falling into the hand of man.
In 2 Chronicles chapter 30 Hezekiah (he 13th king of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, consisting only of Judah and Benjamin known as the Jews today) returned to God and instructed all the people (including the Northern kingdom, consisting of the Ten Tribes under Ephraim, known as ISRAEL) to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem (Feast Season 1, consisting of Feast 1-3 of YHVH, as instructed in Leviticus 23:5-14, Numbers 28:16-25 and Deuteronomy 16:1-8). And we read in 2 Chronicles 30:7-9, Hezekiah said to the people through a letter that was distributed through runners (messengers) to them: “Don’t be like your ancestors, or like your kinsmen (families) who sinned against YHVH the God of their ancestors, with the result that He allowed them to become and object of horror, as you see. Don’t be stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) now, as your ancestors were. Instead yield yourselves to YHVH; enter His sanctuary, which He has made holy forever; and SERVE YHVH your God; so that His fierce anger will turn away from you. For if you TURN BACK to YHVH, your kinsmen (families) and children will find that those who took them captive will have COMPASSION on them, and they will come back to this land. YHVH your God is a COMPASSIONATE and MERCIFUL (kind, forgiving) GOD; He will not turn His face (His presence) away from you, if you RETURN to Him.”
In the Book of Nehemiah we read about the history of Babylon leading Judah (the Southern Kingdom, consisting of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, known as the Jews in the New Testament) into captivity in three successive stages in 605, 587 and 539 BC. After Persia (modern day Iran) then conquers Babylon in 538 BC, the Persian king Cyrus issuing a decree that they can return back to the their homeland (Israel) and around 456 BC Ezra, the priest returns to teach the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy, summed up in the Ten Commandments) and leads the people of Judah (the Southern Kingdom, including Benjamin) into a REVIVAL and sometime between 445 and 444 BC, Nehemiah, the governor arrives in Jerusalem. So we read in Nehemiah chapter 8, Ezra reads the TORAH to the people and they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles again (Feast Seven of YHVH, as indicated in Leviticus 23:23-36) and Nehemiah supported him and we read in chapter 9 they assembled for a fast, confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors and read the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and they remembered their exodus from Egypt as we read in Nehemiah 8:17-20 despite the peoples rebellion God did not abandon them because He is “…a God of FORGIVENESS, MERCIFUL, full of COMPASSION, slow to anger and full of GRACE.“ They made a metal calf saying it was their god that brought them up form Egypt and committing other gross provocations, “still, you in your GREAT COMPASSION, did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud did not leave them by day; it kept leading them along the way. By night the column of fire kept showing them LIGHT and the PATH to TAKE. You also GAVE them YOUR GOOD (HOLY) SPIRIT to TEACH them, did not withhold manna from their mouths and provided water to quench their thirst. Yes, forty years You sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing – their clothes did not wear out; their feet did not swell up. You GAVE them kingdoms and peoples; You even GAVE them extra land…You GAVE them children as numerous as the countless stars in the sky.”
We read in Isaiah 30:1 and 18: “Woe (despair, misery) to the rebellious children, says YHVH. They make plans, but the plans are not mine; they develop allegiances, but not from My Spirit, in order to pile sin upon sin. …Yet YHVH is just WAITING to show FAVOR, He will have pity on you form high; for YHVH is a God of JUSTICE; happy are all who wait for Him!” And Paul later says similar words in Romans 2:4-8 “…perhaps you despise the riches of His KINDNESS (COMPASSION), FORBEARNACE and PATIENCE; because you don’t realize that God’s KNDNESS is intended to lead you to TURN from your sins. But by your stubbornness, by your unrepentant heart, you are storing up anger for yourself on the Day of Anger, when God’s RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT will be revealed, for He will pay back each one according to his deeds. To those who seek glory, honor and immortality by perseverance in doing good, he will pay back ETERNAL LIFE. But to those who are self-seeking, who DISOBEY the TRUTH, and obey evil, He will pay back wrath and anger.” As Peter reminds us in 2nd Peter 3:9 “The Master (Yeshua) is not slow in keeping His promise (alluding to His Second Coming), as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, He is PATIENT with you; for it is not His purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but everyone should TURN from his sins.”
In the time of the prophet Jonah, King Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom (the Ten Tribes under Ephraim called Israel) succeeds in restoring the border of ISRAEL southward to the Dead Sea (read 2nd Kings 14:25 and he recovers lands to the northeast that have been among the territories of Israel before the split into two kingdoms (read 2nd Chronicles 8:3-4). Jeroboam II however continues the idolatrous practices of Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel (read 2nd Kings 14:24). The spiritual decline in ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom) was so evident that God called both the prophets Hosea and Amos to prophesy to and warn the Northern Kingdom. During this time Assyria was the major gentile power and threat to ISRAEL (the Northern Kingdom) which possibly explains why Jonah was so reluctant to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. And God’s MERCY is illustrated not only for ISRAEL but also the gentile nations (people not from the Twelve Tribes of Israel). Jonah had to warn Nineveh of their sins and call them to repentance otherwise they would be overthrown in forty days. And they BELIEVED the message of God and proclaimed a fast and even the king of Nineveh proclaimed the fast throughout Nineveh for the people as well as the animals and they cried out to God with all their might – let each of them turn from his evil way and from the violence they practice. Then maybe God will change His mind, relent and turn from His fierce anger and they won’t perish. “And when God saw their deeds that they have TURNED from their evil way, HE relented and did not bring on them the punishment He had threatened (read Jonah 3:1-10)
And we read in Jonah 4:2, Jonah was angry and he accuses God saying “I knew you were a God who is MERCIFUL and COMPASSIONATE, slow to anger and rich in GRACE, and that You relent (mitigate) from inflicting punishment. Therefore, YHVH, please, just take my life away from me; it’s better for me to be dead than alive.” And “YHVH asked, Is it right for you to be so angry? Jonah did not answer but he left the city and made himself a shelter and sat down under it, in its shade, to see what happen to Nineveh. And God prepared a castor-bean plant and made it grow up over Jonah to shade his head and relieve his discomfort. So Jonah was delighted. But at dawn the next day God prepared a worm, which attacked the castor-bean plant so that it dried up. Then when the sun rose, God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so hard that he grew faint and again begged to die. We therefore see the patience and MERCY of God when He teaches Jonah through letting Him experience difficulty. And God then asked Jonah in verses 9-11: “Is it right for you to be so angry about the castor-bean plant? He answered, yes, its right for me to be so angry that I could die! (And take note, this is the same Jonah whom God saved by preparing a huge fish to keep him from drowning when he was thrown overboard in the sea and) YHVH said, you’re concerned over the castor-bean plant, which cost you no effort; you didn’t make it grow; it came up in a night and perished in a night. So shouldn’t I be concerned about the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than 120,000 people who don’t know their right hand form their left – not to mention all the animals?” So, God therefore explains with great patience to the selfish Jonah that He cares deeply about ALL HIS CREATION.
In Isaiah 53 we read a prophecy about the crucifixion of Yeshua our Messiah who died in our place for the sins we have committed against God. And in Isaiah 54 we read a PROMISE of the RESTORATION of Jerusalem and in verse 5 and 10 God says: “For your HUSBAND is your MAKER, YHVH-Tzvaot (YHVH, the God of Heavens Armies) is His Name. The HOLY ONE of ISRAEL is your REDEEMER (SAVIOUR, RESCUER). He will be called the GOD of ALL the earth. For the mountains may leave and the hills be removed, but MY GRACE will never leave you, and MY COVENANT of PEACE will not be removed, says YHVH, who has COMPASSION on you.” (Also read Jeremiah 3:12-15, Revelation 19:6-8, Psalm 46:1-3 and Jeremiah 51:5).
In Micah 7:18 we read: “Who is a GOD like YOU, pardoning the sin and overlooking the crimes of the REMNANT of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because HE DELIGHTS IN GRACE. ”
Paul says to the believers in 2nd Corinthians 1:3-5 “praised be God, Father of our Master Yeshua the Messiah, COMPASSIONATE Father, God of all encouragement and comfort; who encourages us in all our trials, so that we can encourage others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the encouragement we ourselves received from God.”