Thursday: Devil Worship
In Matthew’s version, while the first temptation focused on appetite and the second on manipulating God, the third was a direct challenge to Christ Himself, to His kingship and to His ultimate mission on earth.
Read Matthew 4:8-10, Deuteronomy 34:1-4, and Revelation 21:10. What is the significance of the “exceeding high mountain” that Satan took Jesus to?
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Judging by the way the Bible uses the theme of going up to the top of a very high mountain to view nations, we can see that Jesus’ trip was no sightseeing tour. There is prophetic vision attached to this scenario. From a mountaintop, Moses sees the Promised Land as it would later be, and John later sees the future New Jerusalem. Similarly, Jesus sees more than just the countries of the ancient Roman world. Notice that Satan shows off everything in its best light. He shows the riches and the glamour, not the crime, suffering, and injustice.
Satan then says: “‘all these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me'” (Matt. 4:9, NKJV). In the same way that Satan fooled Adam and Eve into wanting to become like God (when they already were in His image), Satan pretended that he was God, and that the ownership of the nations of the world was exclusively his and that, for a little homage, he could easily give it all to Jesus (see Luke 4:6; compare Ps. 2:7-8).
This test focused on loyalty. Who should the human race give ultimate loyalty to? In Eden, when Adam and Eve gave in to the serpent, they were really giving Satan their first loyalty, and that infection spread quickly through each successive generation. Without direct divine intervention, the great controversy would have been decided in favor of Satan. The human race, and maybe even life on earth, could not have continued. The stakes were that high.
Notice that Jesus, like Joseph with Potiphar’s wife, did not permit evil to stay near Him. Jesus commanded Satan to go away. Joseph could not do that, so he removed himself from the scene of potential evil (Gen. 39:11-12). What a simple lesson for us, as well.
In all three of these temptations, Jesus used Scripture as His defense. What does that mean to us in practical terms? That is, how can we, when faced with temptation, use Scripture in order to have the same kind of victories?
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Praise God that as we stand on His Word we are safe from harm. All the power in the Word is accessible to us as we claim it by faith and trust in, and complete heart submission to, God. May God help us meditate more on His Word.
The only way we can overcome temptation is thru a total dependent on the law of God. Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Does each temptation have the 3 aspects?
1- being put in a situation of need (wether we put ourselves there or God testing us) then the temptation becomes dependence on ourselves vs on God.
2- the Trust factor: Challenging God (you promised you would do this but can you or will you , plant of doubt. 3-Our choice: Who do we serve, God or mammon? Promise of riches something better if we compromise. We have to choose our allegence and become more powerful, "like God"i.e. Independence
if we are on Gods side we will always have the power to overcome. 1 Corithnians 10;13
Jesus not only quoted (some people chant as a talisman) Scripture, but believed and had faith in it. Perhaps He validated its power? The sword of the Spirit is the Word. That's part of the whole armor of God. Jesus gave us this example. Bless His holy name.
it is so strange today how we still fall for the same devices Satan used in tempting Jesus story, what is most significant is that the son of God Jesus still find the need for the scriptures.
More and more we see in the bible where the experience are for our benefits today. Along with the plan of salvation, Jesus had given us enough resources to take on the daily challenges that life throw at us. God knows that the devil will not stop in the great controversy until he is totally wipe out. But only if we could realize these resources and top into them.
let it be our prayer that God gives us power to flee away from scenes of potential temptations,just like joseph did.its not by our own ability but only the holy spirit can help us.
When the Devil offered Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world" (Matt 4:8), those kingdoms were, in a sense, his to give. What a great advantage it would be in His work! He [and His people] would not have to contend with Imperial or civil opposition. No persecution! This would mean that the door would be open [wide open] for the proclamation of the Gospel.
But all the kingdoms were offered on the condition that Jesus would [just once] "fall down and worship" the Devil. Tempting? It is difficult to imagine that this would have been anything other than repulsive to the Son of Man. But for a moment there must have been something tempting to that hugely unselfish Man. The "worship" would not need to continue... and a "token gesture" would suffice. But would Jesus entertain any such thoughts! Absolutely not!
Years later the Devil brought [in effect] the same temptation to the young church at Rome, and little by little, the church succumbed to it. The kingdoms and all their glory were given into her hand. Initially, she imagined that she was doing God a service, and that she possessed the kingdoms of the world "by Divine right".
Step by step she was able to weave her "universal" faith into the civil legislation of many States. But what a monster she created! And unbeknown to her, she worshiped the Devil when she imagined that she was worshiping the God of heaven.
The temptation to blend Church and State has been, and continues to be, a strong temptation for many professed Christians.
There WILL be a time when "the kingdoms of this world [will] become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ" (Rev 11:15), but that time has not yet come.
It is true that the devil uses our weakness to achieve his mission therefore, let us atand film in jesus to ovecome the devil,let continue being praying without ceasing for the wholly spirit