Posted on 01/12/2019 6:02:53 AM PST by metmom
“And the tempter came and said to Him . . .” (Matthew 4:3).
It is not popular today to believe in a literal, personal devil, even among professing Christians. The devil is increasingly seen as being somewhere between a figment of our imagination and a useful device to coerce obedience.
Yet in addition to the name used here (“tempter”), the New Testament gives Satan many other names: “ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11); “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2); “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4); “Abaddon” and “Apollyon,” both of which mean “destroyer” (Rev. 9:11); and “the serpent of old” (Rev. 12:9).
With these and many other references to the devil in God’s infallible Scripture—all of which assume a real, supernatural person—it’s clear that Satan does exist. And he never made himself more personally manifest than when he confronted Jesus in the wilderness. The Lord’s opponent was an actual, personal foe in every sense of that expression.
Since the Fall, Satan has directed his full attention and fury against God and His kingdom work. While Christ was on earth, that opposition was particularly intense against the Son and His redemptive mission, beginning at the very outset of His ministry. Yet all the forces of hell continue to present us with real challenges as we endeavor to advance God’s kingdom. Thus all believers must remain ever vigilant and prayerful against a genuine spiritual foe.
Ask Yourself
Have you grown lax in guarding yourself from the “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8) who actively seeks to devour you? He is not to be feared, for your God is triumphant, but he is definitely in need of accounting for. Ask the Lord to make you wise and wary of the enemy’s presence.
Studying God’s Word ping
“The devil you say.”
What would have been the point of tempting Jesus in the desert? No one witnessed it, and the devil would have known that to try God would have been fruitless anyway.
It doesn’t matter if anyone saw it.
But after being alone and fasting in the desert for 40 days, then food would have looked pretty good, don’t you think?
The devil is a liar and the father of lies. He doesn’t know everything and I suspect that God could even blind him to the futility of tempting Jesus.
Besides, in order to fully identify with man in his humanity, Jesus needed to experience the temptation that we all face. There’s no other way of conquering it.
Good answer.
My take though, respectfully, is that there's plenty of evidence for God from the universe itself. However there is none whatsoever for the tempter until the mind of man begins to abstract information from his environment. I believe the serpent in the garden was God Himself, testing His creation. It fell short, and thus is human, imperfect. This imperfection is our challenge. Each of us must rise to it as individuals, or turn from God.
There is nothing in Scripture that alludes to that so I'd be really careful with going there.
God allowed it, but I do not believe for one minute that it was God.
It goes against other passages of Scripture that state that God does not tempt us with evil
And if satan could have gotten Jesus to win the plan of redemption would be forever in ruins and satan would have won. Worth taking a chance on despite the futility for satan. As Paul says we have a Savior who was tempted in every way and can totally identify with us yet remained sinless
Parallel verses.
https://www.biblehub.com/isaiah/45-7.htm
https://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/45-7.htm
The Hebrew word for *evil* in that passage is *ra’ * meaning *adversity*.
Strong’s has these words:
adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displeasure, distress
Now, if you want to go there and claim that God is the source of evil, as in Satan, and that which is the antithesis of Himself, or if you want to imply that God Himself tempted Adam and Eve through the serpent, and that it wasn’t the devil, then have at it, but I’m not joining you in it.
Well met.
Thanks so much though, for your time.
God be with You and Yours.
It’s just further confirmation that He, and He alone, was without Sin and could not be made to sin.
Which makes Him the One and Only Perfect Messiah (sinless, I mean).
A Lamb Without Spot or Blemish.
Matthew 15:11...
Did Jesus yet know about microbial pathogens? Evidently not. Historically, no one else yet did either. Though for that reason, as well as for ritual, hand-washing before eating turned out to be a very good idea.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” —Deuteronomy 6:4
Best....
Given that He is actually the Word of God, I’m guessing He knows everything.
:)
Though not yet being in an historical era in which it could be revealed, I’d suspect both he and his disciples got sick a lot.
I’m not looking for trouble, but one must not drop logic in looking at history.
Personally, I feel much closer to Jesus’ brother James and the Nazarene movement, in which Jesus was viewed as a messianic - though NOT a divine figure - than to Paul’s later cosmic Christ.
May God be with You and Yours.
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