The Temptation of Jesus

What was the purpose for the Holy Spirit to lead Jesus into the Wilderness?

- To be tempted and tested

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led (guided) by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness (desert) to be tempted (tested and tried) by the devil.2 And He went without food for forty days and forty nights, and later He was hungry.3 And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are God’s Son, command these stones to be made loaves of bread.4 But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on a turret (pinnacle, gable) of the temple sanctuary.6 And he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will give His angels charge over you, and they will bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.7 Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written also, You shall not tempt, test thoroughly, or try exceedingly the Lord your God.8 Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory (the splendor, magnificence, preeminence, and excellence) of them.9 And he said to Him, These things, all taken together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me.10 Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve. 11 Then the devil departed from Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

In the time of our personal wilderness, the devil will come with things we desperately need. In verses 2-4, Jesus was tempted to make the stones into loaves of bread. When our economy and finances are hit, the devil will come with money/material things to draw us to him for he knows we in need of it. He will make us calculate our ability to tithe and offer. Of course, God allowed the devil to test us to determine whether we will continue to trust God depending on His economy or the world's.

When the devil tempted Jesus, He replied, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ “.

In the days of poverty, we need to read (spiritual food) the scriptures to fill our spiritual stomachs and by doing so, it will grow our faith and we will be reminded that He is faithful even in difficult days. When our spiritual stomachs are filled, we will not be so hungry for money/material things. We will not worry for what we will eat for tomorrow.

In the time of our wilderness, the devil knows what will draw our attention. In verses 5 to 7 speaks about the devil telling Jesus to jump off the cliff and telling Him that God will send angels to save Him. But Jesus replied him by saying, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.”

When many Christians are in their wilderness, they become so apprehensive and afraid worrying of their situation. How will we pay our bills? How will we buy food? Many Christians make a great mistake by getting ahead of God and thinking, “I did it with faith, so God will protect and save me!” Rather than waiting for God to deliver them from their situation, many make decisions and choices to force God to act. Thus they are simply testing God attempting HIM to be their servants. If you jumped off a cliff intentionally asking God to save you, wouldn't that be testing HIM to see if HE will deliver?

In the time of our wilderness, many Christians tend to seek the help from the world and her ways when things do not go as they desire or had expected. Then Christians begin to compromise. Worldly ways begin to look better and they begin to seek counsel from the worldly people. They resort to humanism. They do not realize that they are now kneeling down and worshiping the devil.

When the devil came to Jesus and told Him to ‘kneel down and worship me’, out of the three situations, this is the only situation Jesus said, “Get out of here, Satan”

As you can see, resorting after worldly things and ways are idolatry and it directly comes against the first commandment of God, ‘you should have no other gods’. Many Christians serve ‘other gods’ in their wilderness by seeking the other ways to get out of it. If the ways are not given by God, they are from devil. Jesus replied and fought the devil by saying, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him”

Even with Moses and the wilderness, God's people had carried and sought their idols. Many Christians are doing exactly what they did even today.

Acts 7:42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,

‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43 No, you carried your pagan gods—
the shrine of Molech,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
as far away as Babylon.’[h]

Only after Jesus had passed all three types of tests, the devil went away and the angels came and ministered to Jesus. In the bible, the angels always brought answers and messages. When we pass our tests in our wilderness, the answers to our prayers will come. God will open up the doors of the spiritual and physical blessings. He will lead us to do His work/ministry to lead many souls into His kingdom. Only when we pass the tests and trials in our wilderness, God will use us to glorify Him like Jesus glorified the Father.

Fire of God Church
An International Holy Fire Ministry
Pastor Yoojin Kim (Pastor Steve Yong Kim's wife)