- Dec 11, 2006
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"I wanted to share a study I did awhile back. It has to do with the temptations of Christ in the wilderness for 40 days and how our Lord overcame them. Most of us are taught that there are only 3 temptations which are documented in Luke 4 and Matt 4. While they do appear similar, they are not listed in the same order when comparing each book, they are given at different times and are under different circumstances. So when coming to this conclusion, we have the first three temptations given in Luke and the last three in Matthew, totaling six. And before we dig into this any further. What do the biblical numeric's of three and six mean? Three means resurrection, divine completeness and perfection. While six means weakness of man, evils of Satan, manifestation of sin.The 1st Temptation:Luke 4:3-43 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.Notice here that the words “this stone” (singular) is used and not “these stones” (plural) as used in Matt 4:3.The 2nd Temptation:Luke 4:5-85 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.A few things to note here. There is nothing said about Satan taking Christ to “an exceeding high mountain” as in Matt 4:8. Also, Christ did not say here “get thee hence“, as is in Matt 4:10. Here Satan continues with yet another temptation. A very important note here also is the translation for “world” . This word means the world as inhabited, and more specifically the Roman Empire. Which would give Christ power only over this and nothing beyond it. Here is the complete Strong’s definition for reference:NT:3625oikoumene (oy-kou-men'-ay); feminine participle present passive of NT:3611 (as noun, by implication of NT:1093); land, i.e. the (terrene part of the) globe; specifically, the Roman empire:KJV - earth, world.The 3rd Temptation:Luke 4:9-129 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.Luke 4:1313 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.Here Satan miss- quotes Psalms 91:11-12 by leaving out the words “in all thy ways“. Also note that in Matt 4:6 there is nothing said about “to keep them."Another important fact is that Satan then ends the first three of six temptations and departs on his own for a season. Christ did not command him to leave. The 4th Temptation:Matt 4:3-43 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.Here we have “these stones” (plural), and not “this stone” (singular) as in Luke 4:3. This makes a clear definition to being a different temptation from Luke 4:3. Also, he is not called the devil, but the tempter. As if he earned this name by the three previous temptations.The 5th Temptation:Matt 4:5-75 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,6 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.7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.Here Satan took Christ to the “pinnacle of the temple“. This being the second temptation in the book of Matt, it is actually the fifth. This cannot be seen as the same as in Luke 4:5. Since the second temptation in Luke took place on “an high mountain“. Also to reiterate, in Matt 4:6 there is nothing said about “to keep thee” as in Luke 4:10. Just as in Luke, Satan again miss-quotes Psalms 91:11-12 (doing what he does best- twisting the Word ever so slightly) and adds the words “at any time” here in Matt. The 6th Temptation:Matt 4:8-108 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.10 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.In verse 8 the scripture says “again” which implies that they had done this before, previously in Luke 4:5 on “an high mountain“. In verse 9 Satan says, “fall down and worship me”. This is different from Luke 4:7 in that Satan only says “worship me”. Also, very important in this final temptation, “world” is translated kosmos, not oikoumene. This word means the world as created, ordered and arranged. This temptation is on a much larger scale than in Luke 4:5-8. Again here is the complete Strong’s definition for reference:NT:2889kosmos (kos'-mos); probably from the base of NT:2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]):KJV - adorning, world.Also, notice here in Matt 4:10 Christ does tell Satan to “get thee hence” and Satan has to leave on Christ’s terms, unlike at the end of the 3rd temptation in which Satan departs on his own."*This study was written by Dave, a good friend of mine. He is one of the members of the Wednesday evening Bible study I am a part of.
