Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4 Vs. 4

 The Temptation of Jesus

Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

It is written,... First words of Christ since His anointing. There were at least two sets of three temptations: the first three in Luke 4:1-13, after which Satan left Christ "for a season"; the last three in Mat. 4:1-11, after which Satan was dismissed by Christ, never to present like temptations again.

Man shall not... These are the methods God used to humble and test Israel: hunger, thirst, lack of supplies, and other chastening. This part of the verse was quoted by Christ in His great victory over Satan (Mat. 4:4; Luke 4:4).

Jesus set an example for us with this answer. He said, “It is written.” Our answer, when the devil or our lusts tempt us, should be, “It is written”.

The victory in each aspect of the temptation is related to Jesus’ use of Scripture. “It is written”: First, He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 above, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The source of bread is more important that the bread itself.

Later, Jesus would say, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of” (John 4:32). His source of strength was obedience to the Father’s will and He would not even work a miracle to avoid personal suffering when such suffering was a part of God’s purpose for Him.

We are instructed to eat the Word of God. Our source of help in every situation is to have the Word of God so engraved in our inner being, that we will be able to draw our strength from the Word.

In each of these verses above, God is telling us that it is our responsibility to prepare for the battles we will face. It is, also, our responsibility to stand head to head with the devil in combat. We must stand and fight by Christ's strength, if we are to win over the devil.

Our weapons are not physical, they are spiritual. It is important to prepare and be ready. Our day of combat through Christ is here. The church is being shaken. All who have not prepared will fall to the devil.

There must be no compromise of the Word of God. We must make it even more important to consume the Word of God, than to eat physical food. A more important source of sustenance than food, it nurtures our spiritual needs in a way that benefits us eternally, rather than merely providing temporal relief from physical hunger.

We cannot win battles with the devil in our own power and might. We must fight the devil with the Word of God and in the name of Jesus the Christ.

Jesus therefore quoted Deut. 8:3, which affirms that man does not live on bread alone, but by God’s Word. It is better to obey God’s Word than to satisfy human desires. The fact that Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy showed that He recognized the inerrant authority of that book, one often criticized by scholars.

Book of Joel Chapter 3 Vs. 9

The Lord Judges the Nations

 

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Joel 3:9

Proclaim ye this...In Joel 3:9-12 we have reference to the preparation for war in fulfillment of Joel 3:2; Zec. 14:2; Rev. 19:19. This decree of God, concerning the deliverance of his church; and the destruction of their enemies. Which is to be proclaimed among them, to the terror of them, and the comfort of God's people, encouraging them to the battle, since they might be sure of victory.

For the prophet here returns to give an account of the armies to be gathered together, and to be destroyed in the valley of Jehoshaphat, as appears (from Joel 3:12). And to this end heralds are here ordered to make proclamation of war throughout the nations, and to gather them to the battle of Almighty God.

Whether seriously, or ironically, may be considered; what follows seems to be spoken in the latter way, to the enemies of the church. Though they may be interpreted as spoken seriously to the people of God themselves.

Prepare war, wake... Get all things ready for it, men and arms.

the mighty men... Generals, captains, and other officers, men of strength and courage. Let them arouse from the sleep and lethargy in which they are, and get themselves in a readiness for war, and put themselves at the head of their troops.

let all the... The Gentiles here, would be speaking of the unbelieving world. Whatever their rights were before they went to war is what is spoken of here. The Hebrews had prayer and made sacrifices to God before war.

Revelation 16:16 "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

A Call to War: Judgment Is Described

In this section the judgment of the nations is described. It contains three sub-units: (a) a call to the participants (the nations and the Lord) to assemble their forces (Joel 3:9-11), (b) a statement by the Lord (Joel 3:12-13), and (c) a description of the battle site (Joel 3:14-16).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4 Vs. 3

The Temptation of Jesus

 

Matthew 4:3 “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

And when the... Notice in verse 3, the devil approached Jesus with a question, as he did Eve. “If thou be the Son of God.” He was trying to plant a doubt in Jesus’ mind that He was the Son of God.

If thou be... The conditional “if” carries the meaning of “since” in this context. There was no doubt in Satan’s mind who Jesus was; but Satan’s design was to get Him to violate the plan of God and employ the divine power that He had set aside in His humiliation (Phil. 2:7).

The first test pertained to the matter of sonship. Satan assumed that if He were the Son, perhaps He could be persuaded to act independently of the Father. Satan’s test was subtle for since He is the Son of God, He has the power to turn the stones all around Him into bread. But that was not the will of His Father for Him. The Father’s will was for Him to be hungry in the desert with no food. To submit to Satan’s suggestion and satisfy His hunger would have been contrary to God’s will.

Book of Joel Chapter 3 Vs. 8

The Lord Judges the Nations

 

And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it. Joel 3:8

And I will... That is, deliver them into their hands, to dispose of them. This is thought to have been literally fulfilled in the Tyrians, when thirty thousand of them were sold for slaves, upon the taking of their city by Alexander, who put some of them into the hands of the Jews, they being in friendship with him.

It mystically designs the power that the Jewish church, converted, and in union with Gentile Christians, will have over the antichristian states.

and they shall... The inhabitants of Sheba, a country by the Jews reckoned the uttermost parts of the earth (see Mat. 12:42). These are not the same with the Sabeans, the inhabitants of Arabia Deserts, that took away Job's oxen and asses. But rather those who were the inhabitants of Arabia Felix, which lay at a greater distance.

to the Sabeans... Trading merchants who lived in Arabia (1Kgs. 10; Jer. 6:20).

for the Lord... Whose counsels and decrees can never be frustrated. This, in an ancient book of the Jews called Mechilta, is referred to the prophecy of Noah concerning Canaan, whose sons inhabited Tyre, "a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren" (Gen. 9:25).

Whatever they did to Judah happened to them in return. God is just in His judgment. These Sabeans were Arab traders.

The divine judgment on these nations would be perfectly appropriate. The Lord would rouse His dispersed people and put them in the position of slave traders. They would sell the sons and daughters of the Phoenicians and Philistines as slaves to the Sabeans (cf. Job 1:13-15), an Arabian people noted for their commercial activities (cf. “Sheba” in Eze. 27:22-23).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4 Vs. 2

The Temptation of Jesus

 

Verses 2-3: Jesus had “fasted forty days and forty nights,” a remarkable feat of human endurance, indicating the physical strength of the former carpenter. While the three major tests followed this period, other tests evidently had occurred throughout the 40 days (Luke 4:2).

His real physical hunger serves as the setting for the first temptation by the “tempter” (Satan). The conditional clause, “If thou be the Son of God,” indicates Matthew’s purpose for including this record of Jesus’ victory: it proves that He is, in fact, the Son of God!

Matthew 4:2 “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.”

forty days and... The 40 days come in before the events of John 1:19-2:1.

Four Men Fasted for Forty Days:

1. Moses (Deut. 9:9, 9:18, 9:25; 10:10)

2. Joshua (Exo. 24:13-18; 32:15-17)

3. Elijah (1Kgs. 19:7-18)

4. Jesus (Mat. 4:1-11; Luke 1:1-22)

afterward an hungered... Hunger always leaves after a few days of fast and returns after a long fast of about 40 days or when all toxic poisons have been expelled from the body. The breath at this time becomes as sweet as a baby’s. Any normal healthy person can fast this long without any harm. Starvation only begins after hunger returns in such cases. One must use water in long fasts and break the fast gradually.

All temptation comes when we are at our weakest point, and when we are alone (usually). In the case of Jesus, here, the devil realized that Jesus had not eaten for forty days. He tempted Jesus at this point of need.

Similarly, Moses was without food or drink on Sinai for “forty days and forty nights” (Deut. 9:9), and Elijah also fasted that long (1Kgs. 19:8).

What the devil was not aware of is that Jesus (or anyone else for that matter) is much stronger when they are fasting. God miraculously feeds the inner man. During a fast to God, I seldom get hungry. It is only when I fast to lose weight, that I nearly starve.

Take note of the 40 here: (time of testing). With every test (if we depend on Jesus Christ our Lord), there is a way out.

After fasting 40 days, when the Lord was hungry, the tests began. From God’s standpoint the tests demonstrated the quality of the Lord. It was impossible for the divine Son to sin, and that fact actually heightened the tests. He could not give in to the tests and sin, but He had to endure until the tests were completed.

Book of Joel Chapter 3 Vs. 7

 The Lord Judges the Nations

Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: Joel 3:7

Behold, I will... That is, bring them back to their own land, from their places whither they have been carried captive, and where they have dwelt in obscurity, and as if theft had been buried in graves, but now should be raised up and restored. And this, their restoration will be as life from the dead. This is to be understood, not of the same persons, but of their posterity, they being the same natural body. Kimchi interprets it of them and their children; them at the resurrection of the dead, their children at the time of salvation.

Some think this had its accomplishment in Alexander and his successors, by whom the Jews, who had been detained captives in other countries, were set free.

Particularly by Demetrius, as Josephus relates: though it may be applied to the future restoration of the Jews, out of all countries, unto their own land. Or rather to the gathering together the spiritual Christian, or people of God, who have been persecuted from place to place by their antichristian enemies.

and will return... Do to them as they have done to others; pay them in their own coin; retaliate the wrongs done to his people (see Rev. 13:10).

God will restore them to their land, and punish those who sold them.

In the context (cf. Joel 3:1) the passage also carries an eschatological significance which any historical fulfillment merely prefigures. From the eschatological perspective Philistia and Phoenicia represent all of Israel’s enemies (much as do Moab in Isa_25:10-12 and Edom in the Book of Oba.). At that time God’s people will gain ascendancy over their enemies (cf. Isa. 41:11-12; Amos 9:12; Oba. 1:15-21; Mic. 7:16-17; Zeph. 2:6-7).

Gospel of Matthew Chapter 4 Vs. 1

 

The Temptation of Jesus

Matthew 4:1 “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

to be tempted... To be tested like Adam (Gen. 3:6; 1Jhn. 2:15-17; 1Cor. 15:45).

You can understand from the above Scripture that this happened soon after the Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism. Most Christians do not realize that the minute you really give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, temptation comes from every direction.

Following His public baptism, Jesus was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness,” referring to the elevation of the Judean wilderness. The historical settling of the temptation, which was directed against Jesus’ human nature, indicates that this was a literal experience, which He really conquered, not merely a mental victory over His own thoughts. That Jesus was “Tempted of the devil” is clearly presented as a fact.

The attack against Christ’s humanity was a genuine temptation that would have overcome any ordinary man. However, Jesus was no mere man. And God Himself is never the agent of temptation (Jas. 1:13), but here – as in the book of Job – God uses even satanic tempting to serve His sovereign purposes.

As the virgin-born God-man, His divine nature could not sin (1Sam. 15:29), and this held His human nature in check. Some have objected that the impeccability of Christ (that He was not able to sin) denies the reality of Satan’s temptation.

Such an objection is meaningless when one remembers that Satan’s rebellion against God has already been defeated in Christ’s atonement, but his rebellion is nevertheless real, even though the outcome of God’s victory is certain. The same is true of the temptation of Christ. One may attack a battleship with a canoe. The outcome of the attack will be certain defeat for the canoe, but the attack is nonetheless real.

The Bible says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are. Job was tempted, as well.

You see, the devil believes that under heavy temptation we will not be able to withstand. He believes, that just like Adam and Eve fell to temptation in the garden, that with the right temptation we will fall, also.

He believed he would be able to tempt Job, but worse than that, the devil felt if he could make the temptation great enough that even Jesus would succumb to the temptation.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.”

Jesus came to conquer sin and the devil. He faced temptation (greater than we face) and yet, He did not fall to temptation. Temptation comes to all, and it is not sin until it is acted upon in a negative way for self-gain.

By Temptation (Mat. 4:1-11)
(Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)

After being baptized, Jesus was led immediately by the Spirit of God into the desert (traditionally near Jericho) for a period of testing. This period of time was a necessary period under God’s direction — a time in which the Son obeyed (Heb. 5:8).