Scripture
9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. 11And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ 12Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’ 13When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. Luke 4:9-13
Observation
Jesus was able to overcome the wilderness temptations because He knew the Scripture better than Satan. The sad truth is most of us are like Adam and Eve in the Garden. We know God, we know His Word mostly, but the Devil knows it better. The best lie is 90% truth. “1The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). Of course, the devil knew that Eve knew there was only one tree they couldn’t eat from, but by exaggerating God’s command Eve was now in a position of pride and that’s all he needed to make her and Adam fall. 2“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3“It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5“God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” (Genesis 3:3-4) Eve added on to God’s words about the tree and the Devil subtracted from God’s words by contradiction and implying God was simply insecure and unfair. This played right into the thoughts Eve may have already been having. She began to conflate her own words with Satan’s words and now God’s Word was left far behind leading to The Fall of all mankind. Jesus didn’t make the same mistake. Jesus, The Living Word, knew God’s Word better than Satan. So, when the Devil quoted from Psalm 91:11-12, he wasn’t counting on Jesus knowing the context of the Scripture. The very next verse, the one Satan left out, in Psalm 91:13 states, “You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” This must have sent shivers down the Devil’s spine as he recalled God’s promise of his ultimate demise all the way back in the Garden after The Fall, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) No wonder the devil took off after this “until the next opportunity came”.
Application
When Satan knows Scripture better than the Saints of God we will fall for his gaslighting, misquoting, half-truths, out of context quoting, and twisting of Scripture to justify almost any sin that we can imagine. Here’s a few examples of truth’s that Christians quote that aren’t actually in the Bible:
1. ‘God Helps Those Who Help Themselves’- Jesus leave the 99 and goes after the 1. He helps those who CANNOT help themselves. He helps those who help others as the Savior who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.
2. ‘God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle’- This is a misquoting of 1 Corinthians 10:13. Scripture is filled with examples of God allowing His followers to face more than they can handle, but never more than He can handle. The promise of this verse is actually perfect for this journal entry as the promise of 1 Cor. 10:13 is that God won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can resist. That’s good news.
3. ‘Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin’- Jesus clearly calls us to love everyone, including our neighbors and our enemies even when they sin.(Matthew 22:39; Matthew 5:44). He also calls us to hate our own sin long before we start hating on someone else’s sin (plank vs. speck-Mt. 7:3). The truth is most of us don’t know how to hate the sin in another without starting to hate them. Church discipline does address what to do with sin in the Church (Matthew 18:15-20), but overall, our focus would more accurately be stated, ‘Love the Sinner, Hate our own Sin’.
These are just a few examples of a very slight twisting of scripture that would seem benign at first, but over the long haul could lead us far away from the truth we say we profess we believe.
Prayer
I want to hold every tenet of my belief up to the light of Your Truth (not my truth) and Your Word (not my words). I’m foolish to believe that I couldn’t also be led astray the way Adam and Eve were. So many of my fellow ministers are twisting Your Word, even now, to fit our current cultures definition of sexuality and marriage. Show me the plank in my own eye, show me my blind spots so I don’t make the same mistake.
“For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, “(2 Tim 4:3)
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