Temptation is hard.  Satan is alluring, charismatic, and tenacious.  This is nothing new — he’s been seeking to undermine God since he first rebelled against him.  Many scholars believe that Satan likely convinced a third of the angels to follow him in rebellion against God (Ezekiel 28:16-17; Revelation 12:4). We also know that Satan successfully convinced mankind to rebel against God — both historically in the Garden of Eden and throughout time.  So it’s not surprising that he tried to convince the Son of God to do the same, is it.  Praise God that Satan was unsuccessful in his attempts on Jesus!

It makes me wonder — was this the first time Satan had tried to lure Jesus to turn against His Father?  Or was this another attempt in a line of multiple attacks?  When Satan led the rebellion in the heavenly realm, did he try to convince Jesus to follow him then?  Perhaps he thought Jesus would be more susceptible once He was in His human form…so many details we aren’t told but are still interesting to consider.

Regardless, Satan sought to tempt Jesus when He was in the wilderness for 40 days without food — isolated and vulnerable.  In fact, Satan is referred to in the Matthew 4 passage as “the tempter” — his goal couldn’t be more clear!  He knew Jesus was sent to redeem mankind…to pay the ransom and set us free from our enslavement to sin.  Everything rested on the success of the Savior.  If Satan could appeal to Jesus’ humanity and trip Him up, then He would no longer be the perfect sacrificial lamb. 

So Satan went after him in multiple ways.  Notice that in two of the three attempts, Satan tried to get Jesus to “prove” that He was the Son of God.  This was right after John the Baptist had baptized Jesus in the Jordon, as described in Matthew 3:16-17: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.  At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”

It’s only been 40 days since that miraculous experience and Satan is already trying to undermine what God has spoken as truth.  God said “this is my Son” — now Satan tempts Jesus by saying, “If you are the Son of God…” then do this…

How often does Satan try to do the same thing to each of us?  God declares that we are fearfully and wonderfully made…in His image…that He loves us…that a has plans for us…and more!  God has spoken truth about your identity — the question is, whose voice are you listening to?  The voice of truth or the voice of lies?

Satan tried to get Jesus to “prove” His claim as the Son of God by performing a miracle for Himself rather than being dependent on God.  When Jesus refused, Satan flipped the temptation around — this time He tried to get Jesus to force God’s hand to supernaturally protect Jesus.  And ultimately, Satan tried to get Jesus to worship him instead of God — yikes!

1 John 2:16 refers to these three temptations as the “lust of the flesh,” the “lust of the eyes,” and the “pride of life.”  Dr. Tony Evans explains these worldly temptations well in his Bible commentary: “What does the world offer you? First, it promises to satisfy legitimate desires in illegitimate ways (the lust of the flesh).  Eating is legitimate; gluttony is worldly.  Sex is legitimate; immorality is worldly.  Second, the world tempts your mind through what your eyes see (the lust of the eyes).  The biblical word for this is covetousness, which is desiring and pursuing that which is not legitimate for you to have.  Third, there is the pride in one’s possessions (2:16)—that is, living to impress others. …What those in love with the world forget, however, is that the world with its lust is passing away.  Worldliness makes the ‘now’ more important than eternity.  But you are passing through, and the world is passing by.  It’s transient.  Only the one who does the will of God remains forever (2:17).”  Satan tried to get Jesus to make decisions for the “now” without regard for eternity, and he does the same thing to us.  Keeping an eternal perspective is vital to successfully confronting Satan’s temptations.

In addition, don’t miss the significance of Satan offering the “easy way” to dominion on earth — but at the high price of worshipping Satan.  You see, his offer looked easy in the moment (no suffering, no cross, and no death), but it came with eternal strings. 

In contrast, God’s path for Jesus (which will ultimately lead to Jesus establishing His kingdom here on earth someday) included the painful path of the cross…of redemption…of salvation.  Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we would not be able to share in the resurrection and ultimately in eternity in heaven. There was a greater purpose to Jesus’ suffering.  Jesus knew that He would someday reign in His Kingdom, but that it would be an unfolding of God’s perfect will and timing — and Satan would have no authority in that day.

Satan’s temptations to us also look appealing and easy in the short term — and they, too, come with strings attached.  We don’t always see them in advance, but they are always in keeping with his nature of seeking to steal, kill, and destroy!  We must not fall for his schemes, no matter how tempting and appealing they may appear in the moment.  We need to pray for wisdom and discernment to make choices that are in keeping with God’s will (Romans 12:1-2; James 1:5-8).

The Life Application Study Bible points out that “Sometimes what we are tempted to do isn’t wrong in itself. Turning stones into bread wasn’t necessarily bad.  The sin was not in the act but in the reason behind it.  The devil was trying to get Jesus to take a shortcut to solve Jesus’ immediate problem at the expense of his long-range goals, to seek comfort at the sacrifice of his discipline.  Satan often works that way—persuading us to take action, even right action, for the wrong reason or at the wrong time….Many people sin by attempting to fulfill legitimate desires outside of God’s will or ahead of his timetable.”

Each temptation by Satan was immediately deflected with verses from Deuteronomy.  As a side-note, it’s been said before that we would all likely be in trouble if we had to rely on our knowledge of Deuteronomy to successfully engage in spiritual warfare.  Most of us couldn’t quote a single verse from that book — yet Jesus chose to quote three!

In Ephesians 6:17, we’re told to take up “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Greek term Paul uses here to refer to the Bible is “Rhema” not “Logos.”  Interestingly, this is the image NOT of a massive mid-evil sword but of a small dagger — precise & quick; good for close combat.  The “Logos” is the Bible as a whole, but “Rhema” are the individual Scriptures used to fight in specific battles; it’s a customized weapon. 

This is exactly what Jesus demonstrated in the wilderness — with each temptation spouted by Satan, Jesus drew His dagger and dashed Satan’s attempts to undermine His authority.  It’s why it’s so critical that we know God’s Word and how to apply it.  

With that in mind, I’ve attached an exercise from my Engage Bible Study workbook to help you identify key truths in the Bible that specifically deflect Satan’s arrows.  I encourage you to complete the exercise and review these truths regularly.  The empty boxes at the bottom of the chart are for you to add your own examples of some of the darts that Satan sends your way.   Next to his lie, write down the Bible verses you can draw on as the Rhema of God to engage the enemy and be victorious.  Challenge yourself to memorize some of these Scriptures to strengthen you for battle!

Something to keep in mind — recall from previous devotionals that even the angels did not directly rebuke Satan.  They spoke against his lies by calling on the Lord to rebuke him.  So don’t be flippant when you pull your daggers and take a stand — do so only under the protection and authority of Jesus Christ, the Living Word.

So how do we clothe ourselves with the armor of God?  As told in Romans 13:12-14, we do it by clothing ourselves with Christ, the armor of light! 

• He is the belt of truth we buckle around us, anchoring the rest of our armor on His Word.
• He is the righteousness we put on like a breastplate to guard our heart.
• He is the Prince of Peace, and His gospel message prepares our feet to be ready for battle.
• We take up the shield of faith in Him as our Savior.
• We put on the helmet of salvation to protect our minds and be transformed by Jesus who is to us the wisdom of God.
• And lastly, we pick up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God!

Taking these steps prepares us to Engage in battle and strengthens us to stand firm. 

Remember the beautiful and empowering truths found in John 14:30 which reads, “I [meaning Jesus] will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming.  He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”  Jesus wasn’t defeated when Satan was allowed to kill Him.  Rather, the cross served to fulfill God’s great plan for the redemption of mankind!  What a mighty God we serve!

The Sword of the Spirit — the Rhema of God — is our last piece of spiritual armament.  Our next devotional will be the final act of preparation to engage in battle — learning to pray like a warrior!  I look forward to this powerful conclusion of our time together armoring up!