And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Luke 4:8 (KJV)

In the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus 40 days in the wilderness and temptation by Satan are discussed. There is a lot in this section that we can learn from.

Luke 4:1-13 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” ⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” ⁹ Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ ¹¹ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” ¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” ¹³ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

I would like to look at each of these temptations of the enemy separately:

1. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” . Now Jesus had been without food and was hungry. He is the Son of God and the creator of everything, yet Satan focuses on the one thing he knows Jesus probably desires/needs. So, he attempts to get Jesus to turn stones to bread, so that Jesus is no longer seeking God’s will, but His own. Instead of giving in, Jesus uses the word of God to rebuke him, specifically Deuteronomy 8:3 “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

Remember when Satan used food the last time?

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1-6.

He used food to tempt Adam and Eve as well and Eve sought control and did not seek God’s will.

2. Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” . This temptation is a lie right from the start. Satan says all this authority and power I will give to you, because it has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want. WRONG! God is the only one who can distribute power and authority. He is allowing Satan his reign here on earth, but He (God) has also already determined when that will end. It may seem silly that Satan would offer the one who owns EVERYTHING power and authority over what belongs to Him already. But, what he is really saying is “here Jesus, have all this authority and glory…without the cross. Let’s skip right over the cross and the redemption of souls.” But, Jesus again resists temptation and uses God’s word against him. “And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” which is from Deuteronomy 6:13 “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear”.

Remember how Satan used this power manipulation tactic in the Garden of Eden?

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  He tempts her with the idea that she will be liked God, knowing good and evil….careful what you wish for, you just might get it. He deceived her into thinking she would have the same power and authority that God did.

Satan then moves on to his 3rd temptation.

3. Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ ¹¹ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” He tempts Jesus to see if God is true to His word and to risk His earthly life in doing it. He would love for Jesus to die, before the cross. Because there would be no salvation then. ¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” ¹³ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

When Satan told Eve that she would not die if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and she chose to listen to him instead of God. She tested God. And we all lost.

So, the tactics that Satan used in the garden, he used again in the wilderness with Jesus. The difference is, our Savior used the word of God to defeat him and never wavered.

Guess what? Satan still uses those same tactics today.

1. He will attempt to lure us into not seeking God’s will and desiring control for ourselves….especially where food is concerned. Satan still whispers, God is trying to keep that from you, but you deserve it. And the truth is (for most Americans) food is a fruit that will cause us to die because we are overindulgent and glutinous (I say we because I struggle with food too).
2. He will attempt to lure us with lies of power and authority, that he has no right to give. He wants us to desire power and authority and to do what ever it takes to get them. Ignoring God’s will and desire and we then make those things idols and gods in our own lives
3. He will attempt to lure us into doubting and therefore testing God. When we know that something is sin and we sin anyways we are testing God. He whispers how great it is or that it isn’t sin and he is just deceiving us so that we will test God to see if what He has said is true. OF COURSE IT IS! Satan is a LIAR.

The tactics that Satan used in the Garden of Eden, He used in the wilderness with Jesus and he still uses them on us today. His tactics haven’t changed.

Jesus was an example to us, in how to get Satan to leave. The word of God and steadfastness. God is faithful, true and a protector. He has provided us with all the weaponry we will ever need in our battles with the enemy. The question is have you been a good soldier and equipped yourself with the artillery necessary? Do you read the word, study the word, memorize the word? Do you trust and heed the leading of the Holy Spirit? If the answers to any of these questions is no, you are in trouble. Satan won’t go away, he didn’t with Jesus (Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:13) he departed but only until another opportune time. And, he won’t go away from us either (Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” 1 Peter 5:8). We will battle him and he will continue to tempt us, until we go home to be with the Lord.

The good news is, Jesus already won the war. Thank you Lord!

I pray that today we would be wiser and stronger and better able to resist the temptations of the enemy. I pray that we would steep ourselves in the word of God and that we would hide it in our hearts. I pray that we would arm ourselves for battle and praise God right now for the victories that we will have. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7. Let’s submit to God and seek His will, the devil hates that : ) And let’s praise our Savior, who was willing to endure and resist whatever it took, to ensure our salvation. Thank you Jesus.

If you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and if you have been trying to resist the devil and sin on your own. I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. We cannot resist him on our own, but God desires to forgive you for past sins and through the Holy Spirit, help you resist future temptations. Please pray this prayer and when you do, reach out to me at admin@forgiven-N-loved.com so that I can be in prayer for you.

Luv ya!