SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/11/2020 8:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “3rd Temptation “Worshiping Satan”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 4:8-10
Message of the verses: “8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, ’YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’’”
This is the final temptation that Satan gives to Jesus as it seems to me that the others were all leading up to this temptation, something that Satan has desired since he fell himself as seen in the OT books of Ezekiel and Isaiah. Satan was created to be the highest of all the created angels, and yet he was the first being that sinned against God and took one third of the created beings with him, and eventually caused mankind to also fall in the garden when similar temptations were given to the first Adam that are now given to the Second Adam, only the Second Adam while in the wilderness did not and could not fall to Satan’s temptations.
We are not told where this high mountain was, but perhaps it was Mt. Harmon, and that is just a guess on my part. Wherever it was there must have been from this location a vast view of the earth. However the view extended far beyond what physical vision could be seen from any vantage point no matter where it was. There had to be a supernatural accommodation that the devil showed Jesus the glories of perhaps Egypt with its pyramids, temples libraries and all its vast treasures. Perhaps some of the other kingdoms were shown to Jesus like Babylon, Persia, Greece and even Rome along with perhaps the second Roman Empire described in the books of Daniel and Revelation, but again we are not sure of exactly what the devil showed Jesus except it must have been spectacular, as he shown Him “all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.”
Once again we must think about what God promised His Son as seen in the 2nd Psalm and all of the kingdoms were promised to Him. “8 ’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.” Satan in reality was saying to Jesus “You deserve this since You are the Son of God, and if I give them to You, You will be able to bypass the cross.
John MacArthur writes “Satan always comes at us in that way (his own corrupt way). He suggests that the world of business, the world of politics, the world of fame, or the world of whatever our hearts desire can be—If only…! We can get what we want; we can fulfill our lusts and our fantasies; we can be somebody. All we must do to get those things of the world is to go after them in the way of the world—which is Satan’s way.
“That, in essence, is what the tempter always promises. He promised Eve that by eating the forbidden fruit she would not die as God has warned, but that, in fact, she would become a god herself. ‘For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be God’ (Genesis 3:4-5). He tempts each of us in the same way. ‘Why set your standards so high? What’s the use? You can get what you want by cutting a coroner here and shading the truth there. Why wait for heavenly reward, when you can have what you want now?’ When we set our hearts on money, prestige, popularity, power, or selfish happiness, we are doing exactly what Satan wanted Jesus to do—put self first and God last. Self-will is Satan’s will and is therefore by definition the opposite of God’s will, which is for us to ‘seek first His kingdom and His righteousness’ (Matt. 6:33). Abraham sought what God promised his own self-styled act with Hagar, and tragedy resulted. It always does.”
Satan is a counterfeiter as he seems to offer the same thing that God is offering, and sometimes it is hard to understand if something is coming from God or from Satan. I remember when my son was in his first year of college and he really liked his school and what he was studying. The place where I was working had not hired anyone new for many years and they were about to hire some new people. They decided to do a lottery and so I put my son’s name into this lottery. His name was drawn and he was very upset about this because he did not want to leave college and go to work. I had heard a sermon around this time where I learned from it that there are times when Satan offers you something before God does and what Satan offers you is not good, as it never is. After hearing this sermon I wrote to my son and told him that he could stay right there in college which he did and later on he graduated just like he believed was what God wanted him to do.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have to victorious over those temptations that Satan brings about in my life, and doing like Jesus did is the only way to have victory.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to give me victory over any temptations that Satan gives to me. Continue to learn humility, and continue to pray for joy as I study the Word of God.
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