We have in the Bible examples of persons who were very patient and meek. One of these examples is Moses. We read of him: “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth)” (Numbers 12:3).

But Moses had not always been like that. When he was a military officer in Egypt, his character was not that of a meek man. The Bible informs us what took place in the life of Moses:

“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand” (Exodus 2:11, 12).

Because of that act, lacking self-control, Moses had to flee from Egypt to the desert of Midian, where he had to do a humble work of shepherding the sheep and lambs. There he had to unlearn many things he had learned in Egypt, and learn other things which he had not learned before. The word of inspiration gives us an account about this servant of God:

“Moses was naturally of an impetuous spirit. In Egypt a successful military leader and a favorite with the king and the nation, he had been accustomed to receiving praise and flattery. He had attracted the people to himself. He hoped to accomplish by his own powers the work of delivering Israel. Far different were the lessons he had to learn as God’s representative. As he led his flocks through the wilds of the mountains and into the green pastures of the valleys, he learned faith and meekness, patience, humility, and self-forgetfulness. He learned to care for the weak, to nurse the sick, to seek after the straying, to bear with the unruly, to tend the lambs, and to nurture the old and the feeble.”2

There, in the wilderness, Moses learned meekness by tending the sheep. And he received blessings to share with us. There, in that isolation, he wrote the book of Genesis, which gives us an account of the origin of heaven and earth. This book is invaluable because it describes the beginning of human life, the fall of Adam and Eve, and the promise of a Redeemer. While shepherding the flocks of his father-in-law, Moses also wrote the book of Job, whose patience and meekness are exemplary.

“The long years amid desert solitudes were not lost. Not only was Moses gaining a preparation for the great work before him, but during this time, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the book of Genesis and also the book of Job, which would be read with the deepest interest by the people of God until the close of time.”3

“How long did it take Moses to learn the lesson of meekness, and become fitted to be a general to lead the armies of Israel out of Egypt? He went through a long discipline. For forty years he tended sheep in the land of Midian, learning how to be a good shepherd to the flock. In his position of shepherd he was called upon to care for the weak, to guide the wayward, to seek for the wandering. This was an essential training for him who was to be the leader of Israel; for in the care of the flock of God he would be called upon to nourish the weak, to instruct the wayward, and to bring the lost one back to the fold.”4

The lessons Moses had learned in Midian were very valuable for him as he had to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. It was not an easy task to lead a rebellious, mixed multitude of people. They accused Moses many times, blaming him for the hardships they had to go through in the wilderness. But Moses now was a different person, and he would not retaliate or take any vengeance against that stubborn people.

“Consider the life of Moses. Meekness in the midst of murmuring, reproach, and provocation constituted the brightest trait in his character.”5

“In the school of nature, with Christ Himself for teacher, [Moses] contemplated and learned lessons of humility, meekness, faith, and trust, and of a humble manner of living, all of which bound his soul closer to God.”6

“It was the grace of Christ that made Moses the meekest man on earth. As we learn of the divine Master, we shall manifest this precious attribute.”7

The meekness of a sheep is noticed when she is sheared. Very often the shearer, in the hurry to finish his work, jerks some pieces of her flesh as he shaves off the wool, yet the sheep does not cry. Even when she is to be slain, a sheep will not open her mouth. I have personally seen the killing of a lamb, and as the poor creature realized that she was going to die, tears ran down her cheeks, but no one could hear any wailing or groaning. The prophet Isaiah says about Jesus: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

Are we naturally meek, patient, mild, and humble? Are we ready to keep silence before our accusers and those that ill-treat us? Let us honestly admit that we are far from being meek. But just as Moses learned meekness, we can also learn it. He learned from the lambs in the desert to be patient, loving, caring, and meek. In a similar way, we can learn from the Lamb of God His divine attributes.

“Let the impulsive, the self-sufficient, the revengeful, behold the meek and lowly One, led as a lamb to the slaughter, unretaliating as a sheep dumb before her shearers. Let them look upon Him whom our sins have pierced and our sorrows burdened, and they will learn to endure, to forbear, and to forgive.”8

“When the sinner has a realization of his sin, he is in a condition to be drawn to Christ by the amazing love that has been shown for him on the cross of Calvary. When he is humble and penitent, he does not look for pardon to the law which he has broken, but he looks to God, who has provided forgiveness and sanctification through His well-beloved Son. As he beholds the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world, he grows to love Him, and by beholding he becomes changed into His image.”9

If we are ever to enter the heavenly bliss, we must become meek by taking upon ourselves the yoke of Jesus and learning of Him. He extends to us an invitation:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Before we can become meek, we have to take upon ourselves the yoke of Jesus.

To plow the ground, two oxen were yoked together. A young, untrained bullock was positioned next to an older, trained ox. A one-piece yoke was put upon the neck of both. At first, the stubborn bullock did not know how to keep pace with the tamed ox, and most of the time his movements were disorderly and uncoordinated. When they were to pull the plow, the younger one stopped. And then, as the older one kept pulling, the younger one would suddenly run ahead and sometimes even cross the furrow ahead of his companion. Then the trained ox had to hold back the untrained bullock. It went on like this for some time, until the young, restless bullock finally learned to keep pace with the older ox.

Jesus invites us to take His yoke upon ourselves. Very often we, too, want to run ahead, when we should wait, or stubbornly stay behind when we should move on.

So long as we place our confidence entirely in the Lord, His guidance is with us. He holds us back when we want to run ahead and pulls us forward when we want to stay behind. He tells us that we should learn of Him. He is meek and lowly in heart. As we keep pace with Jesus, day after day, we become trained and will imitate His life, His character, will move together, and become fitted to do service for Him.

“Our precious Saviour invites us to join ourselves to Him, to unite our weakness to His strength, our ignorance to His wisdom, our unworthiness to His merits. God’s providence is the school in which we are to learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus.”10

“We are to enter the school of Christ, to learn from Him meekness and lowliness.”11

We may try to overcome our evil traits of character and attempt to become meek and patient. But unless we submit ourselves and put our neck under the yoke of Jesus we will never succeed, never learn the lesson that Moses learned.

“Men may acquire all the knowledge possible to be imparted by the human teacher, but God requires of them still greater wisdom. Like Moses, they must learn meekness, lowliness of heart, and distrust of self.”12

“Meekness and lowliness of heart will lead men to desire counsel at every step. And the Lord will say, ‘Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.’ It is our privilege to learn of Jesus. But when men, full of self-confidence, think that it is their place to give counsel instead of desiring to be counseled by their experienced brethren, they will listen to voices that will lead them in strange paths.”13

Sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words, as Mary did, we will learn of Him. We will admire His life, His character, His love, His condescension to become man in order to save humanity from their sins. We will learn how meek and lowly of heart He is.

“It is the Holy Spirit that will enable us to overcome, that will lead us to sit at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary, and learn His meekness and lowliness of heart.”14

“The lessons of Christlike meekness, lowliness of heart, reverence for sacred things, are taught nowhere effectively except in the school of Christ.”15

The yoke of Jesus is light, not heavy, burdensome, grave, or grievous. The apostle John tells us that the commandments of God are not heavy, not grievous - but light, and easy to bear. If we would try to carry that yoke alone, we would not be able to; we would succumb immediately. But Jesus is carrying the heavier part of it, and invites us to be coworkers with Him.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3).

“The yoke is an instrument of service. Cattle are yoked for labor, and the yoke is essential that they may labor effectually. By this illustration Christ teaches us that we are called to service as long as life shall last. We are to take upon us His yoke, that we may be coworkers with Him.

“The yoke that binds to service is the law of God. The great law of love revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai, and in the new covenant written in the heart, is that which binds the human worker to the will of God. If we were left to follow our own inclinations, to go just where our will would lead us, we should fall into Satan’s ranks and become possessors of his attributes. Therefore God confines us to His will, which is high, and noble, and elevating. He desires that we shall patiently and wisely take up the duties of service. The yoke of service Christ Himself has borne in humanity.”16

In the Bible we are promised that the meek shall be saved and will inherit the earth made new, and dwell therein throughout eternity. Here are some of the promises, both in the Old and New Testaments:

“The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:11).

“The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever” (Psalm 37:29).

“For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

A reversal of this Scripture would read: “Cursed are the ruthless, for they shall not inherit the earth.”

“All haughtiness, all self-exaltation must be put away from us, and we learn the meekness and lowliness of Christ, or we shall find no place in the kingdom of God.”17

“Among the peculiarities which should distinguish God’s people from the world in these last days, is their humility and meekness.”18

“If we have Christ abiding with us, we shall be Christians at home as well as abroad. He who is a Christian will have kind words for his relatives and associates. He will be kind, courteous, loving, sympathetic, and will be educating himself for an abode with the family above. If he is a member of the royal family, he will represent the kingdom to which he is going. He will speak with gentleness to his children, for he will realize that they, too, are heirs of God, members of the heavenly court. Among the children of God no spirit of harshness dwells; for ‘the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.’ The spirit that is cherished in the home is the spirit that will be manifested in the church. Oh, we must educate the soul to be pitiful, gentle, tender, full of forgiveness and compassion. While we lay aside all vanity, all foolish talking, jesting, and joking, we are not to become cold, unsympathetic, and unsocial. The Spirit of the Lord is to rest upon you until you shall be like a fragrant flower from the garden of God. You are to keep talking of the light, of Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, until you shall change from glory to glory, from character to character, going on from strength to strength, and reflecting more and more of the precious image of Jesus. When you do this, the Lord will write in the books of heaven, ‘Well done,’ because you represent Jesus.

“Christians should not be hard-hearted, unapproachable; Jesus is to be reflected in our deportment, and we are to have a character beautiful with the graces of heaven. The presence of God is to be an abiding presence with us; and wherever we are, we are to carry light to the world. Those around you are to realize that the atmosphere of heaven surrounds you.

“But many of you say, ‘How can I help sinning? I have tried to overcome, but I do not make advancement.’ You never can in your own strength, you will fail; but help is laid upon One who is mighty. In His strength you may be more than conqueror. You should arise and say, ‘Through the grace of God, I will be an overcomer.’ Put your will on the side of God’s will, and with your eye fixed upon Him who is the Author and Finisher of your faith, you may make straight paths for your feet. When you are tempted, say, ‘Jesus is my Saviour, I love him, because He has first loved me.’ Show that you trust Him. As you walk the streets, as you work about your house, you can communicate with your Lord. Lay hold upon Him by living faith, and believe the word of God to the letter.”19