I should hardly have to write about the connection to the Hebrew scriptures in Matthew chapter 4, because Matthew recorded them for us regarding the testing of Yeshua in the wilderness. But what if there was more than meets the eye that took place?
Matthw 4:1-2 says, Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights,
he was hungry.
Nerd note: the Greek word for tempted is the same word as
tested. The Blue Letter Bible says it this way: To make trial of, for the
purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave
himself.
Immediately, we have a connection to the nation of Israel as
they were led out of Egypt and into the wilderness. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 makes a spiritual connection
to Moses: Our fathers were all under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the
same spiritual drink. For they drank from
the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Messiah.
Yeshua was identifying with His people by reenacting the
Exodus, being led (actually driven) by the Spirit into the wilderness and then
fasting for 40 days and 40 nights – a symbolic picture of the Israelites' 40
years in the wilderness following their baptism through the Red Sea. But as we
will see, the Messiah passed the time of testing, unlike the Israelites who
failed many times while in the wilderness (and if I had been there, I’d have failed
as well. I would have been the loudest whiner when hungry and thirsty).
Satan wasted no time to come at the Lord, who was hungry
after 40 foodless days. If you are the Son of God, command these stones to
become loaves of bread. If? Who is the devil kidding? He knows exactly who Yeshua is. Yeshua quoted
Deuteronomy 8:3, that man should not live by bread alone but by every word that
comes from the mouth of God.
Side note: In the Lord’s prayer, we are told to ask for our
daily bread. I don’t believe that Yeshua
meant physical food, since a few verses later we are told not to worry about
what we will eat. He meant the daily bread
of the Word of God.
In this test, we are also shown a connection between rocks and bread. Messiah is our spiritual rock. He provided the bread (manna) to the Israelites while they were in the wilderness, as well as water that gushed out of a rock. Satan pointed out that Yeshua could have turned those wilderness rocks into bread. (Another scripture just popped into my head: Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? But that's a few chapters away yet).
Moving on to the next test, the devil took Yeshua to the pinnacle of the temple, quoting Psalm 91:11-12 out of context – For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
Satan was trying to get Yeshua to take a shortcut to His
kingdom, by suggesting that His angels supernaturally carry Him from the top of
the temple to the midst of His people, to become their king. Yeshua knew that the shortcut would not work,
because He first had to suffer, die, and rise so He could free them from their sin.
But the temptation to bypass that suffering had to have been real for Him.
However, Yeshua rebuked the devil with Deuteronomy 6:16 – You shall not put the
Lord your God to the test. (Did you
catch that Yeshua equaled Himself to God here?)
The shortcut that the devil offered to Yeshua was similar to
the shortcut that Israel could have taken after their deliverance from Egypt. In Exodus
13, the Lord would not allow the Israelites to take that shortcut to the
promised land. They were not ready for
warfare, being newly freed slaves, and their time of testing in the wilderness would
not be bypassed.
Satan gave one last effort and took Yeshua to a high mountain
and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world.
All Yeshua had to do was bow down and worship the devil. The ultimate
test… you don’t have to go through all that suffering! Just put me in charge and I’ll give you all these
kingdoms. Of course, the father of lies
was lying. The whole world would have been lost forever had Yeshua succumbed to
this final temptation.
Good things come to those who wait. Revelation 11:15 tells us, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he shall reign forever and ever. Can you imagine? His perfect kingdom, here on earth. No nonsense, no turmoil, no elections every four years! I can hardly wait!
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| The Millennial Kingdom - I don't know what it will look like, but I know where it will be. Jerusalem. |
Some commentators have compared the three temptations to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life as stated in 1 John 2:16. Food for thought.
Having passed the time of testing, Yeshua was now ready to
begin His ministry. That will be the subject of my next post.
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