Daily Bible Study

Tweet

Day 4 Matthew 4:1-11 Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Everyone is tempted, no exceptions. We are all sinners, in need of a Savior. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (KJV) Romans 5:8 But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for one purpose, to be tempted by the devil. These temptations are significant. The first, appealed to his hunger. The second appealed to pride, and the third appealed to power. John gave three areas where all of us are tempted on a regular basis: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (KJV) The first place we see all three in action is in Genesis when Satan tempted the woman with the fruit of the tree. It was when Adam and Eve took the fruit of the tree and ate it, that Satan was given authority over everyone on earth, and we have come under temptation since. You see the evidence of his authority over everyone, when Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. They wouldn’t have been his to give, if Adam and Eve had not sinned in the Garden of Eden. Jesus was also tempted for forty days and nights, one day for each year the children of Israel were in the wilderness. One day for each day Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God. Forty is the number for testing and trials. Satan is tricky. However, Jesus was in the flesh and he wanted to be certain Jesus was the Son of God. The last time he had seen Jesus was in heaven before he had been cast out; when Jesus was in his glorious state, as we will see him when we go to heaven to be with him. Therefore, Satan said, IF thou be the Son of God. He wanted to be certain he had the right person. Jesus told his disciples he saw Satan fall from heaven. Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (KJV) Satan doesn’t have that problem with you or me. He knows we are sinners, and he knows how to appeal to our weaknesses. Jesus answered each temptation, with scripture, showing it is possible to withstand Satan’s temptations. James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (KJV) Satan used scripture against Jesus. Satan knows the Word of God, even better than you or me, so we need to be careful when we are tempted, because it might come masked as something from God. However, Jesus was able to uncover the lie in each use of Scripture. The first concerned hunger. Jesus told him, It is written. Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Jesus also told the woman at the well, that out of her belly would flow streams of living water. John 4:5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then said the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to thee, Give me to drink; thou would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman said unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. As Christians, you have a never-ending supply of living water, the Word of God, and when you use the Word against Satan it rises up to meet your need and keep you from temptation. When Satan saw Jesus was using Scripture against him, he also used it in the other two temptations. He told Jesus the angels would make certain he wouldn’t be hurt if he threw himself off the high mountain. His use of Scripture wasn’t complete. Jesus responded with the full Scripture referenced by Satan. Psalm 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. (KJV) God provides his angels to protect us from all danger. They aren’t there to respond to our foolishness. Which is what Satan intimated by telling Jesus to cast himself down. Jesus’ reply to Satan was swift, telling him It is written he should not tempt the Lord his God. Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. (KJV) Massah was a city in the wilderness where Israel came against God because they didn’t have any water, and God provided water from the rock. Satan found he couldn’t use Scripture against Jesus and made one last vain attempt by showing him all the kingdoms of the earth and telling him they would be his if he would bow down and worship him. Jesus answer was swift again. Man was to worship only God. Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. (KJV) Deuteronomy 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. (KJV) When you resist Satan with Scripture, he will leave you alone, just as he left Jesus when he realized he could not tempt him with anything, as he did Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (KJV) Let’s pray: Father, help me use Scripture against Satan when he tempts me with my weaknesses. Let your Word be strong in my life. Hidden in my heart, to keep me from sinning against you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 22 April 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay