JESUS AND THE TEMPTER
Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
The two characters in this passage had been together before! But then they were in a much different form than that in which we find them here! The Lord Jesus is the Eternal Son of God! His eternality caused the prophet to proclaim, Unto us a son is given! (Isaiah 9:6). For he had to previously exist as the Son of God before he could be “given!” As someone once rightly said, “He was already here before he got here! He didn’t have to get here in order to be here!”
And that character, here called, the tempter, was then called the anointed cherub that covereth! (Ezek. 28:14). The mercy seat, with the angels stretching forth their wings to cover, and were seen as peering into the ark, depicted him as one who was supposed to “cover,” or protect the heirs of salvation, and was to desire to look into these things! (Heb. 1:14, 1 Peter 1:12).
Their relationship was far different then, than that which we find them in here in our Matthew passage! For then the pre-incarnate Son of God was found to be far above that cherubim. For in Exodus 24:10 we read, And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. His feet were resting on a pavement of sapphire stone!
Now look at Ezekiel 1:25-26, where we read, And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. 26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. Here we find that the angelic beings stood beneath the firmament upon which a throne of sapphire stone stood, with the image of a man sitting upon it! And the visible appearance of God is always the Person of the Son! Colossians 2:9 reads, For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And this is where our tempter then stood, as the anointed cherub! Ezek. 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
But now we find the glorious, eternal Son, having emptied himself of that glory, now appearing in the fashion of a man, and even the form of a servant, susceptible unto death! (Phil. 2:6-8). And we find the cherub to be now known as “the tempter!” He has stolen the dominion given to the first Adam, causing man, made in the image of God, to fall by transgression, and is also now known as “the god of this world,” and as, “the prince of the power of the air!” (2Cor. 4:4, Ephes. 2:2). And the worst of it is, now his Master has become man, and therefore susceptible to death, while he now has “the power of death!” (Heb 2:14).
The Wisdom of God
Did you ever think it unusual that the Apostle took up the first two chapters of the Book of Hebrews, writing on the subject of angels? But here we have insight given concerning the importance of this wilderness field of temptation and these two characters thereon! Listen …
Hebrews 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
The Lord God is revealing to us that he never called the angel, who became the devil, his son! He never authorized him to have a throne! Although he allowed this devil-angel to retain the power of death until the last Adam came, this usurpation was certainly not sanctioned by God!
And although God, through much long suffering endured this vessel of wrath, Satan, who was “fitted to destruction” (Rom 9:22), he never authorized him, or any other angel, to be as a son to him and sit upon His throne! Satan was out of order in God’s court, and was thrown out by the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God! Read John 12:31 & Rev. 12:7-9.
God had a trick up his sleeve! This Great, Wise God, who commands you not to resist evil (Matt. 5:39), does himself obey his own rule! For it is the wisdom of God to win by losing all! {It is appalling to see the “issues” that the true church is taking up in our day, from the example of the Harlot church, trying to resist evil, that are no “issues” at all! You’d think we were now just a bunch of politicians, and social workers, instead of being “living stones” for the habitation of the Spirit!! – Amen Preacher!}
Listen at these Hebrews verses – Heb. 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
In verse 16 we learn that Christ Jesus never meant to take upon himself the responsibility of providing redemption for the angel nature! He was only sent to redeem those of the seed of Abraham – humans, made in the image of God! And he would “destroy him” who had usurped the power of death “through death” itself! And after this work of destruction upon the devil, he would then “deliver them” who had been subject to bondage by the fear of death! What a glorious wisdom of God!
Satan is not all knowing! He didn’t know God’s plan! He had been ‘suckered’ into this fight by the ease in which he beat the first Adam! But he, like Goliath, mistook his challenger! And the reason that he didn’t know, is because he left his first estate (Jude 1:6), which would have given him a look (as the angels on the mercy seat), not just into the law of God, but into the gospel of God, wherein this mystery had been hidden since the beginning!
Rom. 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
1Cor. 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Any being, angel or human, is extremely foolish to refuse to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! For in it is the manifold wisdom of God revealed! And God’s chosen vessel for the publishing of this glorious gospel is the Lord’s church! Eph. 3:9 And to make all men (This word, “men” is in italics, meaning that it was added by the translators. But the very next verse relates that it was not just to humans only, but also to “angelic rulers” – Amplified Bible), see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
And just as the Lord came among wicked men (Acts 2:23), to provide salvation for his elect people, {I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)}, even so he had to come first to deal with the “great red dragon,” (Rev. 12:3), and his wicked angels, in order to recover dominion and provide safety for his elect angels! (1Tim. 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels,…).
In Matthew 16:27 the term, “his angels” refers to Christ’s elect angels. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. But in Matthew 25:41 this same term refers exclusively to Satan’s angels! Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Revelation 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Pastor Gene Breed
