Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Luke 6:21a Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.

Psalm 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

Psalm 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Luke 6:25a Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger.

Proverbs 27:7 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

 

MEMORY VERSE: And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. —Revelation 22:17

 

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who continually hunger and thirst for righteousness and a woe on those who are full—spiritually stuffed with the things of this world that do not satisfy, but lull the mind into a dangerous, false security. For those who recognize their need and earnestly seek Him, He promises true satisfaction.

 

WORD DEFINITIONS

 

Matthew 5:6 “Hunger”: to be needy; famish; pine; to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire. “Thirst”: to desire earnestly; to painfully feel the want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened. (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). “Righteousness”: justice; justness; divine approval. “What is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes” (HELPS Word Studies). “Filled”: satisfied; supplied with food in abundance.

Psalm 36:8 “Abundantly satisfied”: saturated; drenched; soaked. “Fatness”: abundance; luxuriance; figurative of spiritual blessing. “River”: torrent; rushing stream. “Thy Pleasures”: dainties; delights; the Hebrew word is eden.

Psalm 107:9 “Satisfieth”: sated; have one’s fill. “Goodness”: pleasant; beautiful, agreeable to the senses.

Luke 6:25 “Full”: satiated; satisfied; there is also a reference to being inflamed or swollen.

Proverbs 27:7 “Loatheth”: reject; trample; tread down. “Honeycomb”: dripping, flowing honey from the comb.

 

LESSON BACKGROUND

 

Throughout the scriptures the contrasts between these two opposites, full and hungry, are often given. Israel was warned by God in Moses’ last message (Deuteronomy 8:10) that after being prosperous in the Canaan land they would become so full that they would forget the Lord. Also (Deuteronomy 32:15), He described their rejection of Him because of worldly fullness, or fatness, as someone literally kicking Him away. In the Psalms we often read of the men of this world who were prosperous, had more than the heart could wish; men who had their portion in this life (chapters 10, 17, and 73). The writer in Proverbs 30 requests to be neither poor nor rich. When rich—full—he feared he would deny the Lord and question His existence. Ezekiel spoke of one of the sins of Sodom being fullness of bread (Ezekiel 16:49). The idea of being full always goes hand in hand with pride, scornfulness, unbelief, and merciless abuse of the “poor.”

To the contrary, as we have learned in previous lessons, the man or woman to whom God would draw near is the one who is poor and needy in his or her own estimation; a person who follows that sense of loss or need with tears of repentance and mournful seeking. People who humble their hearts to meekly accept whatever comes from God’s hand, sweet or bitter. And in this verse, they actively hunger, which expresses itself in ardent desire and earnest seeking.

To these souls the Lord promises full satisfaction. We have included different scriptures from the Old and New Testaments to give a word picture of the full extent of that satisfaction; words like fatness, torrents, Eden, delights, beautiful, sated, abundantly satisfied.

The verse from Isaiah offers a clue as to the source of this river of satisfaction: “I will pour my spirit.” The promises in the previous beatitudes have been all about God’s comfort and His kingdom—righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; and the land of conquest— victory and rest through the life of the Spirit. It is no surprise then that the answer to our hunger and thirst for righteousness is to be found right here. In the Holy Spirit. “In thy presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

–Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. Thirsty: Tell what are we to hunger and thirst for and give its definition.

2. Filled: Share your favorite Scripture promise that guarantees this experience.

3. Full: What are the things that would make us so full we would reject the Lord’s abundance?

 

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

 

“That which satisfieth not.” Can it be that we would actually spend our time, labor and resources seeking for that which does not really satisfy our souls? And what would the “woe” be to those of us who are “full”? Who laugh now? Who are rich? Jesus said that our consolation would only be for now. Earthly, temporal, fleeting. He said we would hunger— later. When it’s too late. When our chance is gone. He said we would weep. Oh, and with the weeping accompanied by gnashing of teeth for eternity!

What if we did hunger and thirst for righteousness—for Divine approval—as people do who hunger for worldly fame and recognition, or to be beautiful, or stylish, or cool! What if we sought after it as earnestly as people do who have financial security as their goal in life? Or a certain exotic car, a home to “wow” their guests, a luxury vacation?

I’ve often wondered just how far into the heights and depths of God we would go if we went at it just like that. I do know this. The more I hunger and seek, the dearer and richer salvation, the presence of God, the Word of God becomes.

I don’t want to eke out an existence at the side of a stagnant, muddy pond when Jesus promises I can be filled by floods—TORRENTS—of the living water of righteousness.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

 

REFLECTIONS

 

Scanning through the grocery store aisle, one can find many choices of power foods to eat: whey powders to increase strength, nutrient bars to sustain energy levels, protein shakes to curb appetites and the list goes on. One is reminded of the wonderful manna that the Lord provided to the children of Israel for forty years. This manna was the perfect food for the multitude. It contained the exact amount of calories, vitamins and minerals that the people of God needed. This was a power food that kept the body healthy and disease free.

Over time, however, the children of Israel became a discontented and complaining lot and desired meat. The Lord sent them their desires (quail three feet deep!) and it caused sickness in their bodies and ultimate death.

In John 6:31, Jesus explained to His disciples that He was that manna come down from heaven. What a blessing to be daily fed by the Word of God—the sustaining food for our soul! We need never be sick, as this manna has the perfect amount of nutrients to bring health to our soul. But sadly, there is a spirit of discontent, just as in the days of the Israelites. The gluttony of souls who lust after the things of the world bring on spiritual affliction and eventual death.

Let us be challenged to find delight in the daily spiritual manna given by the hand of God. It will sustain us, it will strengthen us and it will keep us from harm. May we too say, as the disciples did, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.”

—Sis. LaDawna Adams