You Shall Not Tempt the Lord Your God Matthew 4:7

Matthew shared how John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river and telling them about the one who was coming. He then wrote about Jesus being “baptized” and shared, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said unto him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone”, and in chapter four and verse seven of his book, Matthew shares how, “Jesus said unto him … you shall not tempt the Lord your God” where we read:

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

The verse reads, “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, ...” Matthew began with the word, “Jesus” which means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate “said” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed” “unto him” which means “to the devil”, “It is written” which means “it is delineated or formed in letters on a tablet, parchment, paper or other material” “again” or “in turn, furthermore and once more”. Matthew shared how Jesus referred to the scriptures again as He began to refute the “devil's” temptation.

The verse continues, “... you shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Matthew added the words, “you shall not tempt” which means “no one is to test, prove thoroughly or put to proof” “the Lord” or “the One whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah” “your God” which means “the person's Godhead and trinity”. Jesus quoted scripture that gave instruction that no one was to “test thoroughly or prove” God Himself.

When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus once again referred to the Old Testament scripture, “You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah.” (Deuteronomy 6:16) God is not to be “tested” by anyone, and when the “devil” attempted to have Jesus “cast” himself “down” from the pinnacle of the temple, Jesus refuted him by the “word of God”. We notice this verse also came from chapter six in Deuteronomy for Jesus' first resistance to temptation. Jesus knew the word, and because He did, He was able to “resist” “Satan's” temptation to be “proud” and receive “the glory” of men. God desires to have a relationship with everyone, and all who believe and trust in Him and His word shall be equipped to withstand the temptation of “pride” and “glory” from men.

Next time Matthew shares how the “devil took” Jesus, “up into an exceeding high mountain” so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.