65. OVERCOMING SATAN'S ATTACKSWhat did Satan want Jesus to do?
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Most people believe in the existence of Satan and that he does evil in our world. Less clear in people's minds is why Satan does evil things. What is his motive? What purpose does he hope to accomplish by doing evil? These are questions that we want to answer so that we have an understanding of the issues in the battle between good and evil. This lesson will reinforce what we have already learned about Satan's work and also add a dimension to it that we haven't seen before. To introduce our topic, let's look at a story from the history of Anatolia.
Pergamum is a city about a two-hour's drive north of Izmir. Some think that people eeing the destruction of Troy settled ancient Pergamum. In any case, by the time of Alexander the Great the city was in the hands of the Greeks. When Alexander died one of his generals Lysimachus took control of Pergamum. Do you remember our lesson on Daniel 7(23) where there was a leopard with four heads? Well that leopard represented the kingdom of Greece led by Alexander. When he died his kingdom was divided into four parts governed by one of his four generals. Lysimachus was king of one of those four kingdoms.
After Lysimachus died, Pergamum expanded into a kingdom under the Attalid dynasty. The kingdom did well and was independent
of Rome. But in 133 B.C. the last king, Attalus III, died without an heir and willed the kingdom to Rome. Rome wasn't very quick to intervene in the situation and a man named Aristonicus came forward with an interesting claim. He said he was the half-brother of Attalus III and heir to the throne!
Aristonicus said that Eumenes II, the father of Attalus III, was also his father. He was obviously not in favor of Pergamum going into the hands of the Romans. So, he started a revolt and made himself king. Although he tried to exert his control over various cities like Izmir and Ephesus, he was not successful. Aristonicus was losing his grip on Pergamum, so he tried to gain the support of the people through an interesting offer.
He promised economic and social opportunity to the poor and freedom to the slaves in return for their allegiance. Well, his kingdom didn't last very long. The cities of Pergamum, assisted by kings from Bithynia (in the area of today's Iznik and Sakarya) and Cappadocia (near today's Nevşehir) rebelled against him. When ve ambassadors and the armies from Rome came they captured Aristonicus and took him prisoner. According to the historian Strabo he committed suicide in a Roman prison.
With this story in mind, let's see how Satan approached Jesus while he was in the wilderness after being baptized by John. To understand the event it is important to remember that John the Baptist’s mission was to "prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
"24 John understood that it was none other than the Lord who was coming. You will remember that Jesus was born of a virgin and it was prophesied that his name would be Emmanuel, which means "God with us."25 Then after baptizing Jesus, John heard a voice from heaven saying,
"You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."26
We learned in a previous lesson that Jesus carries the unique title of “Son of God.”27 Of course, Jesus is not the biological Son of God in the same way that Ataturk is not the biological father of the Turkish people. But Jesus has such a unique relationship with God that God calls him "son". It is very important to keep this in mind as we do this lesson because Satan challenged Jesus on this very issue. Let’s start by reading Matthew chapter 4 verses 1-4:
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "
Did you see what Satan did? He questioned Jesus’ identity by saying, "If you are the Son of God."
In other words,
“Prove you are who God claims you are.”
When Jesus was baptized, he heard God declare that he was His son. After 40 days of fasting, what was the rst thing Satan tried to do? He tried to make Jesus doubt his identity and that the title of "Son" was real. Why would Satan be concerned with Jesus being called the Son of God? Perhaps because it is more than just a title! The word son suggests an identity, a relationship. If Satan can get Jesus to doubt his identity and how God feels about him, he can get Jesus to doubt the mission that God gave him. In other words, Satan is trying to tempt Jesus into not believing what God said. This is exactly how Satan deceived Adam and Eve.
Satan had said to Eve, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"28
The words Satan said were not true and the way he asked the question and the insinuation in his voice cast doubt about God's honesty. Satan tried to convince Eve that God’s love and compassion for man could not be real because He would not allow them to eat such a beautiful, delicious looking fruit. Using the same technique, Satan suggested that God's love and affirmation for Jesus wasn't real. After all, if Jesus really were God's Son why would Jesus be alone in the desert with wild beasts? Why would he be hungry to the point of death? Satan was trying to lure Jesus into disbelieving what God said about his identity. Disbelief in God's word is what brought sin into the world and Jesus is being tempted on this very point. Satan wanted Jesus to doubt God's word and fall into sin so that he would be overcome just like Adam and Eve. Quite simply, Jesus would come under Satan's power. Why would that be so important to Satan?
Let's review briefly what we know about the fall of Satan, who was once called Lucifer.29 In Fate Changer Book 3 lesson 11, we learned that Satan was once a covering cherub.30 A covering cherub is one of the angels who stand next to God. He became proud of his beauty and desired to take God's place on the throne of the universe.31 Later, Satan came to the Garden of Eden32 and said to Eve,
"You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."33
Satan suggested to Eve that God was selfishly withholding good things from her and exalted himself by saying she could have it.
In the book of Job Satan said to God,
"Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"34
The implication of Satan's words call into question the very foundation of God’s government, which God declares to be unselfish love. Satan claimed that Job’s loyalty is based on the physical benefits he receives from God. In other words, his allegiance to God was not based on love, but on selfish gain.
Satan established his rebellion against the kingdom of God by accusing Him of oppression and selfishness. Interestingly, God gave dominion of the earth to Adam and Eve. If He were selfish, why would He allow Adam and Eve to reign over the earth? Nonetheless, when they sinned they surrendered their dominion over the earth to Satan. Fortunate for humanity, God said that the dominion Satan usurped would be broken. In the Garden of Eden God said to Satan,
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel." 35
Satan remembered those words. So he worked against the Messiah, the seed of Eve, who was prophesied to come. Satan knew that Jesus, carrying the given title "Son," had a special relationship with God. That title signifies that Jesus has the power to overthrow Satan's dominion of the world. Jesus is intricately tied into God's plan to save people from their sins and Satan is trying his best to thwart it.
Let's continue by reading Matthew chapter 4 verses 5-7:
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' " 7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "
Again Satan is challenging Jesus on his unique status as "Son". The son of a king is above the other subjects of the kingdom. Satan wanted to sit on God's throne and be the king. But Jesus, who has a status higher than Satan, was in his way. We see Satan literally trying to kill Jesus by trickery and eliminate his competition.
Satan quotes scripture but his interpretation is not only misleading, it is in incomplete. Satan said,
"For He shall give His angels charge over you."
But he omitted the words,
"To keep you in all your ways."36
This second part is important because “your ways” means the ways of the Lord. We are not to put ourselves in a position where it will require God's miracles to save us in order to test God's delity. The counterfeit of true faith is presumption.
Satan said to Jesus, "Throw yourself down."
Satan can tempt us to sin but he cannot force us. It is only by our consent that we sin.
The added dimension that we see in Satan's anger and rebellion against God is that it is also ercely directed toward Jesus. In Satan's third and nal temptation of Jesus, we see this issue more clearly. Let’s see what happened next in Matthew chapter 4 verses 8-10:
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
By offering to give all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, Satan claimed to have the authority to do it. Jesus did not dispute Satan's claim. Why? Because when Adam sinned, he yielded the dominion of the world to Satan and Satan took control of it to some extent. But like the rebel Aristonicus of Pergamum Satan is not the real owner of the kingdom. He is a usurper. Aristonicus promised greater freedom to the citizens if he were in power instead of Rome. Likewise, Satan tells people as he suggested to Eve,
"If you support me as the ruler, I will give you greater freedoms than God. You will be as gods."
Satan wants worship. He comes right out and says it. If Jesus bowed down and worshiped Satan, he would have stolen Jesus' special title and authority; just like he stole Adam’s. If Jesus obeyed Satan, he would be yielding the dominion given to him by God to someone else. We are servants to whom we obey. Just as Aristonicus claimed to be the son of the king and rightful heir to the throne, Satan is falsely claiming his right to sit on the throne of the universe.
There is a power struggle going on between Christ and Satan. God says that Jesus is Son. Jesus has a higher status than Satan. Satan wants to be worshiped like God, but he can't obtain that while there is someone greater than himself. So he tries to place himself above Jesus.
Satan tried to tempt Jesus to step outside of God's will in three different ways. Three times Jesus quoted from the Old Testament to rebuke Satan's insinuations. We too have a special weapon against temptation; it is called the word of God.
God had said,
"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”37
We are dependent on God for our daily bread. In the wilderness, God showed the Israelites that without Him they would die of hunger. But that does not solve the problem of eternal death. God showed them, and he also shows us, that if we trust in God and obey His word we will not be forsaken either in this life or for eternal life.
Satan will come to each person and create a situation where they cannot serve God and carry on their normal activities. Perhaps it appears that obedience to God's word will cut off their means of support. Satan will suggest that it is necessary to break God's commandments to survive. But Jesus showed by example that it is better to suffer than to depart from the will of God. Our question should be,
"What is God's command, what is His promise?"
Then we should do the will of God and leave the results to God. Let us finish the story by reading Matthew chapter 4 verse 11:
When you are tempted to do wrong, what do you do? Do you pray to God for help? That is the right thing to do. You can also strengthen your soul against temptation by repeating the commands and promises found in God's word. Memorizing scripture is so important for these types of situations.
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
We notice that angels ministered to Jesus after Satan tempted him in the wilderness. Angels do play a part in the events that happen here in this world. We cannot see them. But there are obviously evil angels on the side of Satan and good angels on the side of Christ.
Christ’s angels minister to us, protect us, and sometimes even save our lives. In the conflict with sin and evil God has not left us alone. Though we may not see them, angels help true believers.
In this lesson, we saw that Satan’s rebellion against God reached a new dimension when he attacked Jesus with his lies. Satan challenged Jesus' title of "Son." He tried to entice Jesus to worship him. Let's look at an example of how jealousy and self-exaltation motivates someone to do evil.
Uçar Bey was a doctor in a hospital trauma unit. One day, he had to leave the ward for a meeting. He said to the nurses,
"I'm leaving Tunç Bey in charge. If there are any questions, ask him."
Namik Bey, however, was one of the other doctors in the trauma unit and he wanted to be in charge. So he began to give orders to
the nurses. When the nurses objected he said,
"Uçar Bey left me in charge. I am a doctor. You do what you are told."
The nurses were naturally scared to disobey the doctor. But they were uncomfortable with his rebellion against Uçar Bey’s decision and disrespect to Tunç Bey’s authority. They hesitated to accept Namik Bey’s claim. Namik Bey, seeing that his authority was in question, decided to discredit Tunç Bey in front of everyone. Namik thought that if he could get Tunç Bey to make a mistake, he would be in charge.
Namik Bey suggested to Tunç Bey,
"Look, you can dismiss this patient. He doesn't need 24-hour observation with just a single intracranial bleed. It is less than 5 mm and he has no history of a clotting disorder, no intoxication, and no multiple associated injuries. We have other patients coming and we need the bed."
Tunç Bey knew that the risk of releasing the patient was very low under such circumstances. Yet he also knew that the hospital protocol for such situations was 24-hour observation. Tunç Bey refused to break protocol. He knew it would require more work for him and the other staff. They would indeed have to make room for more patients.
When Uçar Bey returned and learned of the situation, he commended Tunç Bey for his decision and extra work.
"Our protocols are there for a reason. I see that I can trust you to do what is right when I am not here."
Namik Bey's suggestion to Tunç Bey was not for the bene t of the patients. He was jealous and wanted to see Tunç Bey fall from his superior rank. He sought to exalt himself by tearing someone else down.
Satan tried to usurp Jesus’ position as the Messiah and "Son" by causing Jesus to doubt God's word. But Jesus didn’t listen. He remained faithful to God and His commandments. Jesus relied on the promises of scripture to counteract the insinuations of Satan. When Satan looked at Jesus, he saw the "seed of the woman" that would destroy him. When Jesus looked at Satan he saw a snake that needed to be crushed. Although Jesus didn’t crush Satan’s head this time, his time is coming!
Discussion Questions
1. Read back through the verses. Who was it that led Jesus into the wilderness?
2. When you come into dif cult circumstances, through no fault of your own, how can Jesus' experience in the wilderness encourage
your faith?
3. Think of a time when you saw jealousy at work. What was the end result?
4. Satan was clearly working to destroy Jesus. Satan is at work today as well. How does he work and what is he hoping to accomplish?
5. Are there people today who challenge Jesus’ title of "Son"? How do you think Jesus would respond to that?
23 Fate Changer Book 3 lesson 17
24 Mark 1:3
25 Matthew 1:23
26 Mark 1:11
27 Fate Changer Book 4 lesson 3
28 Genesis 3:1
29 Isaiah 14:12
30 Ezekiel 28:14
31 Isaiah 14:13 and Ezekiel 28:17
32 Ezekiel 28:13
33 Genesis 3:4,5
34 Job 1:9-11
35 Genesis 3:15
36 Psalm 91:11
37 Deut. 8:2, 3
Pergamum is a city about a two-hour's drive north of Izmir. Some think that people eeing the destruction of Troy settled ancient Pergamum. In any case, by the time of Alexander the Great the city was in the hands of the Greeks. When Alexander died one of his generals Lysimachus took control of Pergamum. Do you remember our lesson on Daniel 7(23) where there was a leopard with four heads? Well that leopard represented the kingdom of Greece led by Alexander. When he died his kingdom was divided into four parts governed by one of his four generals. Lysimachus was king of one of those four kingdoms.
After Lysimachus died, Pergamum expanded into a kingdom under the Attalid dynasty. The kingdom did well and was independent
of Rome. But in 133 B.C. the last king, Attalus III, died without an heir and willed the kingdom to Rome. Rome wasn't very quick to intervene in the situation and a man named Aristonicus came forward with an interesting claim. He said he was the half-brother of Attalus III and heir to the throne!
Aristonicus said that Eumenes II, the father of Attalus III, was also his father. He was obviously not in favor of Pergamum going into the hands of the Romans. So, he started a revolt and made himself king. Although he tried to exert his control over various cities like Izmir and Ephesus, he was not successful. Aristonicus was losing his grip on Pergamum, so he tried to gain the support of the people through an interesting offer.
He promised economic and social opportunity to the poor and freedom to the slaves in return for their allegiance. Well, his kingdom didn't last very long. The cities of Pergamum, assisted by kings from Bithynia (in the area of today's Iznik and Sakarya) and Cappadocia (near today's Nevşehir) rebelled against him. When ve ambassadors and the armies from Rome came they captured Aristonicus and took him prisoner. According to the historian Strabo he committed suicide in a Roman prison.
With this story in mind, let's see how Satan approached Jesus while he was in the wilderness after being baptized by John. To understand the event it is important to remember that John the Baptist’s mission was to "prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
"24 John understood that it was none other than the Lord who was coming. You will remember that Jesus was born of a virgin and it was prophesied that his name would be Emmanuel, which means "God with us."25 Then after baptizing Jesus, John heard a voice from heaven saying,
"You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."26
We learned in a previous lesson that Jesus carries the unique title of “Son of God.”27 Of course, Jesus is not the biological Son of God in the same way that Ataturk is not the biological father of the Turkish people. But Jesus has such a unique relationship with God that God calls him "son". It is very important to keep this in mind as we do this lesson because Satan challenged Jesus on this very issue. Let’s start by reading Matthew chapter 4 verses 1-4:
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "
Did you see what Satan did? He questioned Jesus’ identity by saying, "If you are the Son of God."
In other words,
“Prove you are who God claims you are.”
When Jesus was baptized, he heard God declare that he was His son. After 40 days of fasting, what was the rst thing Satan tried to do? He tried to make Jesus doubt his identity and that the title of "Son" was real. Why would Satan be concerned with Jesus being called the Son of God? Perhaps because it is more than just a title! The word son suggests an identity, a relationship. If Satan can get Jesus to doubt his identity and how God feels about him, he can get Jesus to doubt the mission that God gave him. In other words, Satan is trying to tempt Jesus into not believing what God said. This is exactly how Satan deceived Adam and Eve.
Satan had said to Eve, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"28
The words Satan said were not true and the way he asked the question and the insinuation in his voice cast doubt about God's honesty. Satan tried to convince Eve that God’s love and compassion for man could not be real because He would not allow them to eat such a beautiful, delicious looking fruit. Using the same technique, Satan suggested that God's love and affirmation for Jesus wasn't real. After all, if Jesus really were God's Son why would Jesus be alone in the desert with wild beasts? Why would he be hungry to the point of death? Satan was trying to lure Jesus into disbelieving what God said about his identity. Disbelief in God's word is what brought sin into the world and Jesus is being tempted on this very point. Satan wanted Jesus to doubt God's word and fall into sin so that he would be overcome just like Adam and Eve. Quite simply, Jesus would come under Satan's power. Why would that be so important to Satan?
Let's review briefly what we know about the fall of Satan, who was once called Lucifer.29 In Fate Changer Book 3 lesson 11, we learned that Satan was once a covering cherub.30 A covering cherub is one of the angels who stand next to God. He became proud of his beauty and desired to take God's place on the throne of the universe.31 Later, Satan came to the Garden of Eden32 and said to Eve,
"You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."33
Satan suggested to Eve that God was selfishly withholding good things from her and exalted himself by saying she could have it.
In the book of Job Satan said to God,
"Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"34
The implication of Satan's words call into question the very foundation of God’s government, which God declares to be unselfish love. Satan claimed that Job’s loyalty is based on the physical benefits he receives from God. In other words, his allegiance to God was not based on love, but on selfish gain.
Satan established his rebellion against the kingdom of God by accusing Him of oppression and selfishness. Interestingly, God gave dominion of the earth to Adam and Eve. If He were selfish, why would He allow Adam and Eve to reign over the earth? Nonetheless, when they sinned they surrendered their dominion over the earth to Satan. Fortunate for humanity, God said that the dominion Satan usurped would be broken. In the Garden of Eden God said to Satan,
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel." 35
Satan remembered those words. So he worked against the Messiah, the seed of Eve, who was prophesied to come. Satan knew that Jesus, carrying the given title "Son," had a special relationship with God. That title signifies that Jesus has the power to overthrow Satan's dominion of the world. Jesus is intricately tied into God's plan to save people from their sins and Satan is trying his best to thwart it.
Let's continue by reading Matthew chapter 4 verses 5-7:
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' " 7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "
Again Satan is challenging Jesus on his unique status as "Son". The son of a king is above the other subjects of the kingdom. Satan wanted to sit on God's throne and be the king. But Jesus, who has a status higher than Satan, was in his way. We see Satan literally trying to kill Jesus by trickery and eliminate his competition.
Satan quotes scripture but his interpretation is not only misleading, it is in incomplete. Satan said,
"For He shall give His angels charge over you."
But he omitted the words,
"To keep you in all your ways."36
This second part is important because “your ways” means the ways of the Lord. We are not to put ourselves in a position where it will require God's miracles to save us in order to test God's delity. The counterfeit of true faith is presumption.
Satan said to Jesus, "Throw yourself down."
Satan can tempt us to sin but he cannot force us. It is only by our consent that we sin.
The added dimension that we see in Satan's anger and rebellion against God is that it is also ercely directed toward Jesus. In Satan's third and nal temptation of Jesus, we see this issue more clearly. Let’s see what happened next in Matthew chapter 4 verses 8-10:
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
By offering to give all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, Satan claimed to have the authority to do it. Jesus did not dispute Satan's claim. Why? Because when Adam sinned, he yielded the dominion of the world to Satan and Satan took control of it to some extent. But like the rebel Aristonicus of Pergamum Satan is not the real owner of the kingdom. He is a usurper. Aristonicus promised greater freedom to the citizens if he were in power instead of Rome. Likewise, Satan tells people as he suggested to Eve,
"If you support me as the ruler, I will give you greater freedoms than God. You will be as gods."
Satan wants worship. He comes right out and says it. If Jesus bowed down and worshiped Satan, he would have stolen Jesus' special title and authority; just like he stole Adam’s. If Jesus obeyed Satan, he would be yielding the dominion given to him by God to someone else. We are servants to whom we obey. Just as Aristonicus claimed to be the son of the king and rightful heir to the throne, Satan is falsely claiming his right to sit on the throne of the universe.
There is a power struggle going on between Christ and Satan. God says that Jesus is Son. Jesus has a higher status than Satan. Satan wants to be worshiped like God, but he can't obtain that while there is someone greater than himself. So he tries to place himself above Jesus.
Satan tried to tempt Jesus to step outside of God's will in three different ways. Three times Jesus quoted from the Old Testament to rebuke Satan's insinuations. We too have a special weapon against temptation; it is called the word of God.
God had said,
"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”37
We are dependent on God for our daily bread. In the wilderness, God showed the Israelites that without Him they would die of hunger. But that does not solve the problem of eternal death. God showed them, and he also shows us, that if we trust in God and obey His word we will not be forsaken either in this life or for eternal life.
Satan will come to each person and create a situation where they cannot serve God and carry on their normal activities. Perhaps it appears that obedience to God's word will cut off their means of support. Satan will suggest that it is necessary to break God's commandments to survive. But Jesus showed by example that it is better to suffer than to depart from the will of God. Our question should be,
"What is God's command, what is His promise?"
Then we should do the will of God and leave the results to God. Let us finish the story by reading Matthew chapter 4 verse 11:
When you are tempted to do wrong, what do you do? Do you pray to God for help? That is the right thing to do. You can also strengthen your soul against temptation by repeating the commands and promises found in God's word. Memorizing scripture is so important for these types of situations.
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
We notice that angels ministered to Jesus after Satan tempted him in the wilderness. Angels do play a part in the events that happen here in this world. We cannot see them. But there are obviously evil angels on the side of Satan and good angels on the side of Christ.
Christ’s angels minister to us, protect us, and sometimes even save our lives. In the conflict with sin and evil God has not left us alone. Though we may not see them, angels help true believers.
In this lesson, we saw that Satan’s rebellion against God reached a new dimension when he attacked Jesus with his lies. Satan challenged Jesus' title of "Son." He tried to entice Jesus to worship him. Let's look at an example of how jealousy and self-exaltation motivates someone to do evil.
Uçar Bey was a doctor in a hospital trauma unit. One day, he had to leave the ward for a meeting. He said to the nurses,
"I'm leaving Tunç Bey in charge. If there are any questions, ask him."
Namik Bey, however, was one of the other doctors in the trauma unit and he wanted to be in charge. So he began to give orders to
the nurses. When the nurses objected he said,
"Uçar Bey left me in charge. I am a doctor. You do what you are told."
The nurses were naturally scared to disobey the doctor. But they were uncomfortable with his rebellion against Uçar Bey’s decision and disrespect to Tunç Bey’s authority. They hesitated to accept Namik Bey’s claim. Namik Bey, seeing that his authority was in question, decided to discredit Tunç Bey in front of everyone. Namik thought that if he could get Tunç Bey to make a mistake, he would be in charge.
Namik Bey suggested to Tunç Bey,
"Look, you can dismiss this patient. He doesn't need 24-hour observation with just a single intracranial bleed. It is less than 5 mm and he has no history of a clotting disorder, no intoxication, and no multiple associated injuries. We have other patients coming and we need the bed."
Tunç Bey knew that the risk of releasing the patient was very low under such circumstances. Yet he also knew that the hospital protocol for such situations was 24-hour observation. Tunç Bey refused to break protocol. He knew it would require more work for him and the other staff. They would indeed have to make room for more patients.
When Uçar Bey returned and learned of the situation, he commended Tunç Bey for his decision and extra work.
"Our protocols are there for a reason. I see that I can trust you to do what is right when I am not here."
Namik Bey's suggestion to Tunç Bey was not for the bene t of the patients. He was jealous and wanted to see Tunç Bey fall from his superior rank. He sought to exalt himself by tearing someone else down.
Satan tried to usurp Jesus’ position as the Messiah and "Son" by causing Jesus to doubt God's word. But Jesus didn’t listen. He remained faithful to God and His commandments. Jesus relied on the promises of scripture to counteract the insinuations of Satan. When Satan looked at Jesus, he saw the "seed of the woman" that would destroy him. When Jesus looked at Satan he saw a snake that needed to be crushed. Although Jesus didn’t crush Satan’s head this time, his time is coming!
Discussion Questions
1. Read back through the verses. Who was it that led Jesus into the wilderness?
2. When you come into dif cult circumstances, through no fault of your own, how can Jesus' experience in the wilderness encourage
your faith?
3. Think of a time when you saw jealousy at work. What was the end result?
4. Satan was clearly working to destroy Jesus. Satan is at work today as well. How does he work and what is he hoping to accomplish?
5. Are there people today who challenge Jesus’ title of "Son"? How do you think Jesus would respond to that?
23 Fate Changer Book 3 lesson 17
24 Mark 1:3
25 Matthew 1:23
26 Mark 1:11
27 Fate Changer Book 4 lesson 3
28 Genesis 3:1
29 Isaiah 14:12
30 Ezekiel 28:14
31 Isaiah 14:13 and Ezekiel 28:17
32 Ezekiel 28:13
33 Genesis 3:4,5
34 Job 1:9-11
35 Genesis 3:15
36 Psalm 91:11
37 Deut. 8:2, 3