{"id":923,"date":"2019-05-19T00:31:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T05:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/?p=923"},"modified":"2025-01-13T09:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T15:16:10","slug":"temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe world’s concept of temptation is quite well understood. We should not be surprised to learn,\u00a0 however, that he way God sees temptation, is very different. For God, temptation is not about worldly, fleshly things like sex, food, money, or power. It relates very specifically to his unique idea of sin as we see in this well-known Bible story about the temptations of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Here we find the devil quoting the literal scripture to tempt Jesus. In each temptation the devil implies that Jesus would\u00a0receive a reward<\/a>\u00a0if he would interpret scripture literally and apply it literally in his life. Jesus, of course, understood the temptations and counters the devil’s literal interpretations of scripture with the spiritual meaning. He never yields to the temptation to\u00a0apply scripture literally<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matthew 4:1-11:<\/a>\u00a0Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.\u00a0<\/span>2<\/span>\u00a0And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.\u00a0<\/span>3<\/span>\u00a0And the tempter came and said to him, \u201cIf you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>4<\/span>\u00a0But he answered, \u201cIt is written, \u2018Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

INTERPRETATION: Correct interpretation of this story hinges on understanding that the devil is not real but is symbolic of all religious leaders (i.e. False Prophets<\/a>) who tempt people to become religious. The story, therefore, is a simple, symbolic representation of the process by which people are tempted by religious leaders to become religious. See Serpent, Devil, Satan, Adversary, Demons, Evil Spirits and Anti-Christs,\u00a0<\/a>Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, Apostles, Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Overseers, Popes, Missionaries and Evangelists, <\/a>Demons, devils, satans, evil spirits and antichrists:\u00a0Part 1,<\/a> Demons, devils, satans, evil spirits and antichrists:\u00a0Part 2<\/a> and\u00a0Demons, devils, satans, evil spirits and antichrists: Part 3.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the first temptation, the devil (i.e. religious leader) does not quote a specific scripture but makes a general reference to Jesus as the Son of God with the suggestion that he, being like God, has the same creative ability that God has. Since there are no scriptural references to God creating natural bread from stone, the creation story<\/a> is the basis for the implication that Jesus can create something out of nothing or at least transform a physical stone to physical bread. That would be a physical miracle which God does not do. God does only one kind of miracle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jesus of course would not try to perform any kind of miracle (physical or spiritual) on demand. First, he does not consider that equality with God is something he can grasped. <\/a>He understood clearly that he was only a servant\u00a0sent by <\/a>God and\u00a0anointed by God to\u00a0speak for God<\/a>. He knew that God uses his creative power for only one purpose: Change evil, impure hearts to clean, pure hearts.<\/a> And, knowing that only God has that kind of power, he was not tempted to try to demonstrate that he also had that kind of power.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, because Jesus knew that God does not alter his\u00a0natural laws just to demonstrate that he has the power to do so<\/a>. To do so would be against\u00a0his own character and his laws which do not change<\/a>. The only reason for doing that would be to make a name for himself<\/a> as a miracle worker which he would never do.<\/p>\n

Jesus also knows that God is very comfortable being invisible (i.e. spiritual) and has no need or desire to display his power through physical miracles that appeal to man\u2019s desire to see physical\u00a0signs and wonders<\/a>.\u00a0Jesus, therefore, has no need or desire to independently perform a miracle that would bring\u00a0glory to himself.<\/a>\u00a0He only does\u00a0what he sees the father doing.\u00a0<\/a>That means Jesus does not do what the father does not do, and he does not try to do what only his father can do (i.e.\u00a0change the hearts of people<\/a>). He therefore resists the temptation to do what the devil suggests,<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Jesus knows that the devil\u2019s\u00a0oblique<\/a>\u00a0reference to creation as a physical event is a deceptive temptation to be religious. Jesus knows that the\u00a0creation story is about spiritual re-creation \u2014 not physical creation.<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/span>\u00a0Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,\u00a0<\/span>6<\/span>\u00a0and said to him, \u201cIf you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, \u2018He will give his angels charge of you,\u2019 and \u2018On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’\u201d\u00a0<\/span>7<\/span>\u00a0Jesus said to him, \u201cAgain it is written, \u2018You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’\u201d\u00a0<\/span>8<\/span>\u00a0Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;\u00a0<\/span>9<\/span>and he said to him, \u201cAll these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>10<\/span>\u00a0Then Jesus said to him, \u201cBegone, Satan! for it is written, \u2018You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’\u201d\u00a0<\/span>11<\/span>\u00a0Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the third temptation, the devil demonstrates his authority over religious\u00a0kingdoms. If he did not have that authority, he could not promise to give that authority to Jesus. The devil does not quote a particular scripture in this temptation, but he is challenging Jesus to violate the\u00a0First Commandment regarding worship of other gods.<\/a><\/p>\n

In all three temptations Jesus counters literal scripture with his paraphrased interpretations of\u00a0Deuteronomy 6:13-18:<\/a><\/p>\n

You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him, and swear by his name.\u00a0<\/span>14<\/span>\u00a0You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you;\u00a0<\/span>15<\/span>\u00a0for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.\u00a0<\/span>16<\/span>\u00a0\u201cYou shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.\u00a0<\/span>17<\/span>You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.\u00a0<\/span>18<\/span>\u00a0And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land which the LORD swore to give to your father.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his responses to the devil and his quoting of\u00a0Deuteronomy 6:13-18<\/a>, Jesus makes two important points about interpreting scripture:<\/p>\n

First, he does not agree with the devil\u2019s (i.e. religious leader’s) literal interpretation. Second, he interprets the written word with the correct spiritual understanding. He does this by introducing subtleties and nuances that cannot be found in the literal words. These subtleties and nuances can be understood only when the law is written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples. They are spiritually discerned<\/a>. They are possible only when there is a level of intimacy that allows knowing God to face to face (i.e. spirit to spirit, or heart to heart because God does not have a physical face). This is the essence of being created in God\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

In making these interpretations, Jesus shows by example the serious problems people face when they interpret the law literally. Basically, what happens is that they end up worshiping the Devil who has tempted them to adopt a literal interpretation of the\u00a0written word of the Bible instead of listening to God\u2019s spoken voice<\/a>. In practical terms, they end up following religious laws based on the literal words of the Bible.<\/p>\n

The story of Jesus\u2019 temptation is a parable for what happens in religion. The\u00a0devil is a type of religious leader<\/a>\u00a0who insists on\u00a0interpreting the Bible literally.\u00a0<\/a>The devil is an example of a\u00a0Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil\u00a0<\/a>who leads people to sin. Jesus is an example of a\u00a0New Covenant disciple<\/a>\u00a0who resists the temptation to sin because he\u00a0listens to God\u2019s spoken <\/a>voice and\u00a0is not\u00a0deceived<\/a>\u00a0by false prophets who promise rewards to people who follow their teachings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK The world’s concept of temptation is quite well understood. We should not be surprised to learn,\u00a0 however, that he way God sees temptation, is very different. For God, temptation is not about worldly, fleshly …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to-interpret"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":955,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}