Bible Study on Matthew 4, verses 1 to 11, part 2, the Devil and Christ in the wilderness

 

Satan wishes to have Jesus take the Crown before the Cross and subvert His mission as Saviour of the world. He uses His human hunger to begin demanding that He turn stones to bread but Jesus answers with Scripture.

 

Deuteronomy 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest 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 proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

 

Then, Satan tempts Him with power and the glory of the kingdoms of the world. God has given those over to Satan and the lowest of men rule over nations through him as the god of this world system (2Corinthians 4:4). He demands worship.

 

Daniel 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

 

One day Jesus will seize these kingdoms.

 

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

 

Christ replies with Biblical truth.

 

Deuteronomy 6:13  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

 

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.

 

Satan then tries to tempt Him with presuming on God, to his sense of self-preservation and tries to create a sense of needing to prove at this time His relationship with God the Father. He quotes:

 

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.

 

Jesus replies by alluding to this Scripture.

 

Deuteronomy 6:16  Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

 

In these things, Satan tempted Christ with the lust of the flesh regarding hunger [see Deuteronomy 12:15 for lust and hunger], the lust of the eyes regarding power and glory of man’s kingdom, and the pride of life with the temptation to display His supernatural power.

 

These are types of the temptation that disobedience to God put in the hearts and minds, the spirits, of Adam and Eve.

 

Genesis 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

It is what the Christian must face and oppose to truly love and serve God.

 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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.

 

On a note of personal opinion I think these passages teach us that it is inconsistent with being a Christian to be constantly employed with seeking to satisfy our physical desires, to seek political power for self-glorification, or to presume on God’s mercy and love for us.

 

Satan, who understood the prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament certainly better than the Jews or us, having failed in his desire to subvert Christ’s mission, leaves Him.”

 

We don’t know who these angels were who ministered to Christ. We don’t know who they represented. Would these be the angels of Old Testament prophets whose physical existence was in Heaven? We don’t know but I suspect we’ll find out.