Thurs.’s Devo - The Temptation of Jesus

Read: Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21 God takes promises and vows very seriously. He never breaks his promise with us and we should value our word like he does his. But, God made concessions for our flesh in case we make a promise presumptuously and can’t keep it. *** A woman can have her vow annulled by her father or her husband, when they hear it. I think of all the silly things I have said flippantly, not meaning them like, “I’m dying to…” or “break a leg.” I don’t really mean it, but Satan who is the legal adversary heard it and if the Lord, as my Father and Jesus, as my husband hadn’t have stepped in and annulled my words, I would have been dead years ago. So these laws are God’s mercy and kindness to protect us in our ignorance and immaturity. *** God told Moses to round up an army and revenge the Lord against the Midanites who led their people into idolatry under Balaam’s advice. This would be the last thing Moses did before he died. *** They chose 1,000 men from each tribe and went to war. Eleazar, the high priest led them into battle and they had complete success. They brought back the plunder and the women and children. God was most upset that they allowed the women who were the ones who led them into idolatry in the first place. They ended up killing all the women who were not virgins and the boys. They dividing the plunder giving half of it to the warriors and the other half to the people. Of the warriors half, they were to give 5% to Eleazar as a gift to the Lord. Of the half given to the people they were to take 2% and give to the Lord’s Tabernacle. *** When the generals and captains realized that of all their men, not one of them had died in the battle, they gave all their items of gold to the Lord to purify their lives. What a testimony of how God cares for and blesses his people when they obey him. *** In Luke, when Jesus was baptized by John, he was also baptized by God with the Holy Spirit. He was then equipped to go into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. He ate nothing during that time and became very hungry. The devil came to him and told him that IF he was the Son of God he could tell the stone to become bread. Jesus answered him according to the scripture and told him that man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every word of God. In scripture, stone represents God’s Word. The law was written on tablets of stone. Jesus was the Word who became flesh. So Jesus was saying that man doesn’t live by the natural food only, but by God’s food which is his word. *** Next, Satan took Jesus up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the earth. He told him that he would give him authority over all of them IF he would worship him. Jesus told him the Scripture says, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” *** Then the devil took him to Jerusalem to the pinnacle of the Temple and told him IF he was the Son of God he would jump off and anger would catch him and he would not be hurt. Satan quoted Psalm 91:1-2. Jesus told him that the Scriptures say that you must not tempt the Lord. The devil gave up at that time and waited for another opportunity. *** All of the temptations that satan gave Jesus were promises that God had for Jesus when he rose from the dead. Jesus would be the Bread of life to the world. Jesus would be given all the kingdoms of the earth. Jesus would fall to the ground and be lifted up to heaven. Satan always tempts us to get our promises in him before God’s timing. If we wait on the Lord, we will see our promises fulfilled and they will be from him and they will be perfect. We have to remember that life comes from death. *** Satan went away defeated and Jesus went away full of the Holy Spirit’s power. He quickly received recognition and taught in the synagogues. Jesus went home to Nazareth and taught on the Sabbath. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” He rolled up the scroll and told them that that Scripture has been fulfilled in this day. The people had a hard time seeing Jesus as any one than the boy who had grown up among them. They understood that he was really saying that he was the Messiah and they couldn’t believe that. Jesus told them that no prophet was accepted in his own home town. *** Then he told them that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time that were dying because of the famine, but Elijah was not sent to them. Instead, he was sent to a foreigner in Zarephath, in the land of Sidon. And many in Israel had leprosy at the time of Elisha, but the only one God healed was Naaman, who was a Syrian. *** When they heard these stories they were so mad they wanted to kill him because he had said that against the Jews. Jesus was saying, that God not only loved those in his own family, but he also loved the Gentiles. The Jews would reject him just as they were and he would expand his ministry to the Gentiles. *** Lord, may we never get proud in our relationship with you, but may we remain grateful and humble. Thank you for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear. May we remain teachable.