"Great Is Your Reward in Heaven"?

What did the Messiah mean when he told his disciples, "Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great"? (Matthew 5: 12.) And why -- only a few verses before -- did the Messiah say, "How blessed are the meek! for they shall inherit the Land"? (Verse 5, Jewish New Testament) Do some of the saved -- "the persecuted" (verses 11-12) -- go to heaven to collect their reward, while others -- "the meek" -- inherit the earth (Land)? Or did Yeshua the Messiah contradict himself in his very next breath?

The Apostle Peter was inspired to write, "Praised be God, Father of our lord Yeshua the Messiah, who, in keeping with his great mercy, has caused us, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to be born again to a living hope, to an inheritance that cannot decay, spoil or fade, kept safe for you in heaven" (I Peter 1 :3-4, JNT). Notice it! The reward of the saved -- the inheritance of true Christians -- is reserved in heaven. That is where it is kept at this present time.

But do Christians go to heaven to receive their reward? Yeshua the Messiah explained it in the Book of Revelation: "'Pay attention!' says Yeshua, 'I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done" (Revelation 22: 12). When the Messiah returns from heaven he will bring the reward of the saved with him! Though now temporarily reserved in heaven, Yeshua will bring the reward of the saints (true Christians) to this earth!

Daniel wrote, "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him" (Daniel 7:27).

The Messiah did not say Christians will inherit their reward IN heaven. Rather, the reward -- authority, an office of power in the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God -- is being temporarily reserved in heaven because that is where Yeshua now is. But it will be brought to the earth, where YEHOVAH God will reward His saints, in the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God, with positions of rulership and authority over the nations.

Hope of Israel Ministries
P.O. Box 853
Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A.
www.hope-of-israel.org