Prompt: Inheritance

Someone said, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth." I'm certain I am not the only one who is aware of this statement, because if I have heard it, not once but numerous times, it has got to be in pretty wide circulation, if not ubiquitous. And, upon hearing it I've often thought, what does this sentence mean, exactly? Since I'm not one to read the ancient texts, I don't have much context for it and so have pondered the phrase as a stand alone idea. I'm aware that those in the know will chuckle at my ignorance, but I prefer not knowing the entire story. It gives me a chance to figure it out on my own terms. Lately, for instance, I've wondered if this statement is a prophesy. Again, there are probably multitudes who would respond with, "well, of course it is." Regardless, I still have questions, many of which can be distilled down to this: assuming we are not the meek in question, why is it that we, the non-meek, have insisted on our opposite-of-meek ways for well over two millenia when our non-meekness is so obviously counter-productive if not outright, literally, by inference, self-destructive?