This year we are covering the four Gospel Accounts together in chronological order.
In the previous post, we covered Luke 4:3-4 & Matthew 4:3-4. Here was the conclusion:
Jesus successfully responded to the devil's first temptation (which involved food) by quoting God's Word.
Matthew 4
"5 Then the devil taketh him into the holy city; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple,"
(The devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and set Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple. This clearly referenced a "bodily translation": Jesus went from the wilderness to the top of the temple.)
"6 and saith unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone."
(We have looked at this passage in detail in the post titled, Matthew 4:1-11. Here is the excerpt...)
(Again, the devil tempted Jesus with an IF. However, this time the devil used the Tanakh! Specifically Psalm 91:11-12
"11 For he will 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.)
(Remember, girls memorized the Book of Psalms. Boys older than twelve years old attempted to memorize the Tanakh.)
(Notice, Matthew quoted the devil as quoting TWO scriptures. This was denoted by the "and" in verse 6. If you look closely at the first scripture the devil quoted, it lacked the phrase at the end of Psalm 91:11 "in all thy ways". Was this a misquoting of scripture? Was it merely leaving out words that didn't change the meaning of the quoted scripture? What was the difference between God giving charge concerning the angels AND God giving charge concerning the angels in all thy ways? Whatever conclusion YOU draw from this, YOU need to be consistent with it in YOUR life. If you don't quote scripture EXACTLY correct (according to the original language), you would be doing EXACTLY what the devil did. If you left off part of a scripture for ANY REASON, even if you didn't think it added anything, you would be doing EXACTLY what the devil did. The second scripture looked like the word "haply" was added. Was this an example of the Word of God being quoted with a Wrong HOW? Again, the same questions apply. When you quote the Word of God at someone, what do you believe you are doing?)
(In the links provided above, this point is stressed: The devil quoted The Word of God! People who think that quoting The Word of God AUTOMATICALLY make themselves right, are ACTUALLY deceived like the devil! The Word of God is a Right WHAT (FACT). If the Word of God is used with a Right HOW/WHY, it is TRUTH and the result is creation/Profitability. If The Word of God is used with a Wrong (OR NO) HOW/WHY, it is DECEPTION and the result is destruction/Unprofitability. When people quote The Word of God and can't give the Right HOW/WHY, they are ACTUALLY following the devil's example.)
"7 Jesus said unto him, Again it is written, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God."
(As we saw with the first temptation, Jesus responded by quoting the Word of God. Here it was Deuteronomy 6:16 "16 Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.")
(In Luke's Gospel Account, this temptation was presented third...)
Luke 4
"9 And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:"
(Luke's explanation was the same as Matthew's...)
"10 for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to guard thee:"
(Luke's Gospel Account added "to guard thee".)
"11 and, On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone."
(For the second scripture, Luke's Gospel Account was the same as Matthew's Gospel Account.)
"12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God."
(The devil tempted Jesus to make trial of the Lord thy God by questioning how much Jesus was willing to have faith in God the Father. Adam didn't trust God...he trusted Eve. Jesus (the Second Adam) succeeded in this temptation by not tempting God and spending the rest of His Ministry having faith in God the Father.)
CONCLUSION
Jesus successfully responded to the devil's second temptation (which involved having faith in God) by quoting God's Word.
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