the devil and his lies

the devil and his lies

Hi there,

in the bible we have an account of the devil tempting Jesus in the desert.

In that account it says that the devil said to Jesus that all the world's empires and kingdom had been given to him.

Is that the truth, or is that a lie? I ask, because in the NT epistles, particularly in those from Paul, great emphasis is given that public servants and kings and officials of government are all instituted by God.

Jesus also says that the devil is a liar and a murderer.

So what I'm asking is, when the devil is tempting Jesus, is he using half truths, or complete lies that contain no truth whatsoever?
 
First of all I would like to put that temptation here for all to read .

Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'
7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.
11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
 
Of course satan is a lier and deciever and we have seen it so many times in the Bible . This time , I think satan already knew who Jesus was but still wanted to temp him to see if He were truly the Son of God .

Concordance :: Satan
Means "adversary." Satan is the enemy of God. He wants to destroy everything God has created. He is also called "the devil" (James 4:7), "the evil one" (1 John 5:18-19), "the prince of this world" (John 14:30) and "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan brought evil into the world.
 
"The temptation of Christ, the "last Adam" I Corinthians 15:45 is best understood when contrasted with that of the "first man Adam." Adam was tempted in his place of lord of creation, a lordship with but one reservation, the knowledge of good and evil Gen 1:26 Gen 2:16-17. Through the woman he was tempted to add that also to his dominion. Falling, he lost all. But Christ had taken the place of a lowly Servant, acting only from and in obedience to the Father. Philippians 2:5-8 Jn 5:19 Jn 6:57 Jn 8:28 Jn 8:54 See Scofield Note: " Isa 41:8 " that He might redeem a fallen race and a creation under the curse Gen 3:17-19 Rom 8:19-23. Satan's one object in the threefold temptation was to induce Christ to act from Himself, in independency of His Father. The first two temptations were a challenge to Christ from the god of this world to prove Himself indeed the Son of God ( Matthew 4:3 , Matthew 4:6 ). The third was the offer of the usurping prince of this world to divest himself of that which rightfully belonged to Christ as Son of man and Son of David, on the condition that He accept the sceptre on Satan's world-principles (cf. Jn 18:36). See Scofield Note: " Rev 13:8 ". Christ defeated Satan by a means open to His humblest follower, the intelligent use of the word of God ( Matthew 4:4-7). In his second temptation Satan also used Scripture, but a promise available only to one in the path of obedience. The scene give emphasis to the vital importance of "rightly dividing the word of truth" II Tim 2:15." Scofield
http://biblecommenter.com/matthew/4-1.htm

also liked the Matthew Henry's
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

God bless,
 
No, in this case satan was not speaking a lie. If he had been, Jesus would certainly have called him out on it. The fact that Jesus said nothing about the offer, but only addressed the terms of the offer ("if You will bow down and worship me") says that the offer was valid.

To understand this, we need to go back to the beginning. Adam and Eve were given a mandate to fill, subdue and rule over the world. In other words, they were to be God's vice-regents on earth. God would still be the ultimate king, but they were to rule on His behalf. Included in the world that they were to subdue and rule over was the serpent.

Instead, the serpent came to them with the temptation that "you shall be as gods." This was not saying just that they would be like God - they were already like God, for He had made them in His image and likeness. Rather, the temptation was that they would be gods in their own right - not subject to God's laws, and not ruling on His behalf, but making their own rules, as kings themselves. Tragically, they listened to this lie, obeyed what satan was asking, and in the process handed to him the rulership they had been given over the world. What they could not do, however, was to give him God's rulership over the world, because that was never theirs to give.

So the earth became a rebel state within God's Kingdom. God is, always was, and always will be the ultimate King. But Adam and Eve had given satan the legal right to rule in this world, the same right that God had originally given to them.

Jesus came to restore the Kingdom - to bring the earth fully under the rule of God. The only way He could legally do that was by taking back what Adam and Eve had handed to satan. That meant that, as the Last Adam, He had to undo what they had done. Where they had obeyed satan, he had to remain obedient to the Father, even at the cost of His life.

Satan's temptation to Him was to shortcut the process. The lie was that worshipping him would do that. In fact, if Jesus had given in to the temptation and worshipped satan, He would have been doing exactly what Adam and Eve did. Instead of restoring the Kingdom, He would have handed it forever to the rule of the evil one. In fact, there was even more involved. Satan's desire was to rule in God's place. If Jesus (who was God in human form) had bowed to him, it would have placed him above God. Not only the earth, but the whole of creation, would have been brought under his rule.

blessings,

Lynn
 
Satan offered Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world", but if our Lord had accepted that offer he would have become a world leader for his own ends. Later in Matt.28:18 we read "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. He did not gain his position through pacts with Satan, but the Father gave it to him.

Perhaps from this we should learn that manipulation may get us what we want, but this is not God's way. If we seek to increase our own status by manipulation we shall never feel secure in that status because we will worry that someone will come and steal our status from us. It is only when God gives us our authority/status/position in this world or in the Church that we can feel secure.

One of the greatest temptations I believe in the Church is that of gaining Status. May God give us the grace to resist.

God bless us all as we learn together
 
How could satan give Jesus something that already belonged to him?...

Exactly.

That was the trick. Everything already belonged to Jesus, Satan just tried to tempt Him by offering it all right away if He served Satan. No long journeys and being killed. Just submit. Easy way out.
 
How could satan give Jesus something that already belonged to him?...


If you had read revlynn's post ... she told you in there.

So the earth became a rebel state within God's Kingdom. God is, always was, and always will be the ultimate King. But Adam and Eve had given satan the legal right to rule in this world, the same right that God had originally given to them.

Satan has the right of this world until Jesus comes back again and then he will be bound forever.
 
Hi there,

in the bible we have an account of the devil tempting Jesus in the desert.

In that account it says that the devil said to Jesus that all the world's empires and kingdom had been given to him.

Is that the truth, or is that a lie? I ask, because in the NT epistles, particularly in those from Paul, great emphasis is given that public servants and kings and officials of government are all instituted by God.

Jesus also says that the devil is a liar and a murderer.

So what I'm asking is, when the devil is tempting Jesus, is he using half truths, or complete lies that contain no truth whatsoever?

I don't think satan was lieing on that account. The book of Job shows that satan is given authority over Job to an extent up to the point but not including the point of killing him.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days
 
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