Gtcotr/ws111914
Luke
4
1
¶ Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2
being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate
nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3
And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command
this stone to become bread."
4
But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, ’Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’"
5
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6
And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You,
and their glory; for this
has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
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"Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."
8
And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For
it is written, ’You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only
you shall serve.’"
9
Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw
Yourself down from here.
10
"For it is written: ’He shall give His angels charge over
you, To keep you,’
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"and, ’In their
hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a
stone.’"
12
And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, ’You
shall not tempt the LORD your God.’"
13
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him
until an opportune time.
Jesus
was tempted in all points like as we yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
1 John
2:16 says - All that is in the world, (_), is not of God but the
world.
- The lust of the flesh
- The lust of the eyes
- The pride of life
The
passage in Luke 4 tells us that Jesus was tempted in three basic
ways:
The
Temptations of Christ
- Physical Temptation(Body)
- Forty days fasting and was hungry
- Turn stone into bread
- Answered His temptation with the Word of God
- Mental Temptation (Soul)
- Jesus had knowledge of His destiny
- You can become King of all the kingdoms now without a cross
- Jesus met and defeated the temptation with the Word
- Spiritual Temptation (Spirit)
- Jesus knew, respected and obeyed the Word of God
- The devil quoted the Word of God to his own advantage
- Jesus knew He could not violate the Word to prove the Word
The
devil did not make a misquotation but rather a misapplication of the
Holy Scriptures.
To use truth to manipulate or to gain personal advantage or to prove
one’s own stance, doctrine or defense as it lays outside of the one
truth of the whole counsel of God or as it opposes the will of God is
to stand in the error of misapplication and be termed a heretic and
charlatan.
We are
created like God, in His image, Spirit, Soul and Body. It is no
wonder that the devil comes to tempt us physically, mentally and
spiritually.
All
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life are enemies of God. Temptations come to us in every
one of these areas. We must meet each temptation with the Word of
God.
Let’s
consider why Jesus’ journey ended on the Temple Mount, at the House
of God. (BTW – When in need we too should go to Church)
I
believe this is the place Jesus was always headed and the devil only
accompanied Jesus on His way to Church so as to tempt Him by trying
to distort the Word of God. It was from the pinnacle of the temple
that satan attempted his most devilish temptation. The word
‘pinnacle’ means wing and was commonly referred to as a turret
like structure. Later pinnacle came to mean highest point. Some
archeological discoveries have found the Southwest corner of the
Temple Mount to be the place of trumpeting.
The
Temple Mount was designed and built as a flat stone platform sitting
on the naturally contoured top and sloping southeastern portion of
Mount Moriah. Stone arches were designed and built one after the
other to hold the false platform which sits partly on the naturally
higher solid rock foundation of northern end of the mountain and then
as the mountain slopes off to the east into the Kidron Valley and
South into the Hinnom Valley, those stone arches become the raised
support underneath the temple mount platform to keep the temple
platform flat and level.
Because
of the natural slope of Mount Moriah, one of the highest points above
ground for the Temple Mount platform is easily observed to be the
southwestern corner of the Temple Mount wall. This was the place of
trumpeting to announce feasts and daily prayer times. Although some
believe it to be the southwestern corner, either way, it was
definitely along this short wall Jesus would have been standing when
satan tried his last and his best attempt to deceive Jesus in that
season and trick Him to sin.
Standing
on the pinnacle of the temple one could turn to see a panoramic view
of the old City of Jerusalem, a Garden Tomb, Golgotha, the Pools of
Bethesda, Herod’s Temple, the Eastern Gate, the Garden of
Gethsemane, the Kidron Valley, Mount of Olives, the City of David,
David’s Palace, the Hills of Bethlehem, the Hinnom Valley, Mount
Zion and the Upper Room.
The
devil still sits on the pinnacle of this Temple Mount today tempting
others and distorting the Word of God with the same message. This
same Temple Mount, the very geographical location from which Jesus
was tempted, is now considered the third holiest place in Islam. The
Al’Aqsa Mosque sits on the top along the southern end of the temple
mount platform and occupies and claims ownership of the pinnacle of
the temple.
- Just because someone gets the words right does not mean they have gotten The Word right.
- Don’t be fooled by scripture quoting devils.
- The Word of God is only the Word of God when it is the Word of God.
