Matthew 4:6-10

 

Mat 4:6 (KJB)

And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

 

Once again Satan is basically daring Him by saying, “If you are who you claim you are then…” Then Satan requests that Jesus cast Himself off the edge and if he was the Son of God, he would not have been hurt because the angels would have protected Him and helped Him land safely without a scratch. Here Satan tries to use the same tactic Jesus did and that is the use of Scripture. However, in this case Satan had quoted Psalm 91:11-12 but conveniently omitted a part. (Psa 91:11-12 KJV) 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. He omitted the phrase, “to keep thee in all thy ways.” What Satan tried to do was to divert the trust of Jesus from the Father to angels. It was another attempt by Satan to come between Jesus and His Father. It was also a plan to try and disrupt the mission of Jesus with a miracle that would be of no value to anyone.

 

Mat 4:7 (KJB)

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

 

Once again Jesus does not stand there and debate Satan, instead He returns to the book of Deuteronomy and responds to Satan with scripture. (Deu 6:16 KJV) Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. The word “tempt” carries with it the understanding of “putting one to the test.” Jesus is telling him that he must never put the Lord to the test. When Deuteronomy 6:16 was penned it was at a time when Israel had questioned as to whether God was with them or not unless they saw a supernatural miracle. Satan’s tactic did not change in 1500 years. He was tempting Jesus in the same way, that if God was truly with Him, then nothing would happen to Him. This is a lesson for every Christian. Just because we do not see miraculous things happening in our lives, it does not mean that God is not watching over us and working on our behalf, if we are walking according to His will.

 

Mat 4:8 (KJB)

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

 

Now this third temptation may have been one of a spiritual nature. There are no exceedingly high mountains in the area of Israel. This temptation may have been a vision. He took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. This could only have been accomplished through a vision because the whole world was in view along with the individual kingdoms and the glory associated with them. What Satan failed to realize was that the whole world was given to Jesus by right. (Psa 2:8 KJV) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. The true Gospel would eventually go out to the whole world and when the last one becomes saved, then comes the end, and a new Heaven and new Earth will be created and Jesus will reign in both of these places.

 

Mat 4:9 (KJB)

And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

 

Satan had made the fatal mistake believing that just because he was able to deceive Eve, that he would have been able to do the same thing to Jesus. By means of deceiving Adam and Eve, he had become the prince of this world, that is, the world system and all its evil. God had planned to give all authority in this world to Jesus, especially in the area of salvation where Satan could no longer hinder anyone from becoming saved. What Satan was doing was usurping the place of God believing that he had the authority to dole out kingdoms of the world at his pleasure. Satan wanted Jesus to actually bow down and worship him, desiring to prove that He was just a man who would jump at the opportunity to rule kingdoms of the earth. Satan knew that if Jesus continued in His plans, then He would eventually go to the cross and that would mean Satan’s doom. To this day, Satan hates the cross and makes all the attempts to divert people from it, to reject it, or make it an empty symbol which is ineffectual in anyone’s life. Whenever a Christians sins, they are, in essence, bowing and worshipping Satan. That is why he so busy trying to deceive everyone in the world.

 

Mat 4:10 (KJB)

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

 

Then when the third temptation was completed, Jesus commands Satan to leave. “Get thee hence” is in the Imperative mood in the Greek thus making it a command. So here is Satan trying to tempt Jesus and then Jesus gives him one command to flee and then quotes Deuteronomy again. (Deu 6:13 KJV) Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. The Lord will establish a world rule, not by succumbing to Satan’s temptations but by becoming victorious over him, plus it was not yet time for Jesus to establish world rule because the Elect must all be saved. (2 Pet 3:9 KJV) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Then the New Heaven and Earth will be ruled by Jesus in total righteousness and never again will sin ever be seen or felt.

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