Week 5 ———  Temptation

Matthew 4:1,2  —  Luke 4:1-2

Jesus is still in the wilderness.  If it seems like he has been there a long time, he has.   We are on Day 32/40 in the wilderness, and if it seems like a long time to you, remember Jesus hasn’t eaten since Feb 16.  But he is there for a purpose.  He is preparing for his year-long ministry that will end in crucifixion and resurrection.  As we near the end of our 40 days in the wilderness and approach the three recorded temptations of Jesus by the devil, it’s time to discuss the idea of temptation further. 

We have already covered how both ‘tempt’ and ‘test’ come from the same Hebrew and Greek words and how you have to understand the context to use the proper word. We also discussed how the meaning of our English words has changed over time. We will use the modern idea that a temptation is a test in which the giver of the test wants you to fail and actively encourages you to fail.

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”  James 1:13

We also briefly discussed how God can’t be tempted — God is never wrong, so how could he be enticed to do wrong?  We also discussed how God tempts no one.  Do not doubt the goodness of God as the Israelites did.  God is always good, and because he loves us, he is always for our good.  It would be outside his character to want or entice us to fail.  So, if temptation does not come from God, where does it come from?”

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  James 1:14

‘Lured’ and ‘enticed’ are both about baiting a trap or hunting.  And who is the hunter?  Who is the tempter?  Not the devil, not other people, but your own desire.  We cannot escape our desires; they are always with us.  And they are not the same for everyone. We are all lured by different things.  The same things that tempt one person may not tempt another.  Some desires we know are in our DNA.  The genes that predispose people to alcoholism have been identified.  Also, for some forms of gluttony.  But genetic predisposition is not an excuse to sin. You can’t say, “Well, that is just how I was made,” because desire is not sin.  Being tempted is not sinful.  Choosing to follow those desires is sinful.  So, the blame is primarily on our own desire. Now, other people or the devil may encourage us, but following our desires is our downfall.

“Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”   James 1:15

If you do not keep your desires in check, if you nurture them and allow them to grow, you may follow them off the path of obedience.  Giving in to our desires is sinful.  God told Cain that “sin is crouching at the door” (who is hunting now?), and all we have to do is open the door of our desire, and sin is waiting to pounce on us. Notice how desire is pictured as a living thing being born, growing, and leading to death.  They start small – a social drink, an innocent flirtation, an eye looking in the wrong direction – then it is a slow fade down the path to destruction.  

Did Jesus have desire?  He was fully human, and we are told he was tempted “like as we are.” So, he had to have desires.  And he was tempted, “but without sin”.  He never let his desires run loose.  He learned to fill himself with a different kind of desire.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”  Gal. 5:16

Notice that those ‘desires of the flesh’ are still there in a person who is walking ‘by the Spirit.’  They are just not gratified.  We need to choose to continue to follow a new set of desires. The more we seek to gratify the desires of the Spirit, the further we will get from following our fleshly desires.  

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Ps 37:4

This is an often misunderstood verse.  No one has ever misunderstood it more than Oprah Winfrey.  Ms. Winfrey shared in 2004 that this was her favorite verse, and I will quote her: “’LORD’ has a wide range: compassion, love, forgiveness, kindness. So you delight yourself in those virtues where the character of the Lord is revealed.” She said, “If you focus on being a force for good, then good will come.”  (A very ‘karma-like’ statement.)  She ignores that ‘LORD’ is God’s actual name (Yehovah) and applies it in her very universalist ‘all gods are god’ manner.   The usual misunderstanding of this verse is not much better, thinking the verse is saying that ‘if we enjoy God, he will give us whatever we desire.’  But the word used for ‘desires’ here is the Hebrew “mishala” which comes from the root ‘shaal’ which means ‘to ask’ and is frequently used in the OT in asking God for guidance.¹  First, we must ‘delight in Yehovah’ or, as the JPS puts it, “Seek the favor [delight] of the lord.” How do we seek the delight of Yehovah? How does a nine-year-old seek the favor of her mother?  By being obedient, cleaning her room, being nice to her brother, and talking respectfully.  If we are obedient, he will give us that “desires transplant” we desperately need.

This brings me to the worst advice I have ever heard anyone give. It was a young pastor counseling a member facing a difficult decision.   The pastor said,  “Just follow your heart.”  Why is that bad advice?  

In the culture of the Bible, the heart is seen as the place of our emotions, decisions, thinking, desires, and choices.  (Modern medicine tells us all these things happen in the brain, but our culture still refers to the actions of the heart in a similar fashion to ancient civilizations.)

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick”  Jer. 17:9.

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander.”  Matthew 15:19.

Our hearts cannot be trusted.  Our hearts are so damaged that surgical repair is insufficient. We require a heart transplant.  Fortunately, God has that covered, and Ezekiel foresaw that long ago.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”   Ezekiel 36:26-27

So God will give us a new spirit and heart with new desires.  But we still exist in a fallen world.  We can still choose to follow the wrong desires and the wrong path.  One day, our redemption will be complete, this fallen world will be no more, and this struggle will end.

So please don’t advise anyone to“follow their heart.”  Perhaps we should still be wearing tassels like Jesus did.  We still need that reminder.

If you watch “The Chosen,” you can’t miss the tassels hanging on the corners of Jesus’ and the disciple’s (and any other Jews’) clothing.  One episode (Season 3, Episode 5) features the story in the scripture where a woman is healed by touching the tassels on Jesus’ garment (the story is in Mark 5:21-34.)  Why do Jesus and his disciples (and other devout Jewish people in “The Chosen” wear tassels?  They are commanded in the Torah for this reason:

“And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.”  Numbers 15:39

These tassels brush against your leg every step you take.  Should you decide to wander off the path of righteousness, they remind you to be obedient to God, to fix your eye on Him, and not to be led astray by the desires of your heart.  Now, let’s look at another essential passage about temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,…”  1 Corinthians 10:13.

If you stop the verse here, you get the good news that God will not tempt us beyond our ability.  From this, many incorrectly state, “God will not put on us more than we can bear.”  But the scripture makes it clear that God will purposely put more on us than we can bear. 

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”   2 Cor. 1:8-10 

  Why does God put us in situations that are “far beyond our ability to endure”?

If He only allowed what we could bear on our own, then we would have no need for God to help us.  “Never mind, God, I don’t need your help. I got this,” we might stupidly say.  No, he puts more on us than we can bear so that we will learn to put our trust and faith in him.  Life is much more than we can handle at times.  We need to learn to seek his help.   So the verse doesn’t end there.  

Let’s read a little more of that verse:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape,…”

If the verse stops there, we get the idea that God will rescue us no matter how hard things are. He will allow us to escape the awful trial or temptation. He will open a door for a way out of the dark valley.

But the verse doesn’t end there…..

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”  1 Corinthians 10:13

God’s escape plan is not the removal of the temptation but reinforcement to resist the temptation.  When walking through the valley of the shadow of death, God does not send a helicopter to airlift you out of your trouble.  Instead, he joins you in the valley and walks with you so you can endure it. (See Psalm 23)  Why?  Because if we don’t endure it, we will not get the full benefit of the trial.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  James 1:2.

You are going to need God’s help when you are tempted.  If you try to fight temptations yourself, you will get into trouble.  Jesus is there interceding for us so that we may not fall prey to temptation (Hebrews 2:18).  Like his example, we can refute temptation by our knowledge of scripture.  Why do we memorize scripture?  Psalm 119:11 says we hide the Word in our hearts so we may not sin against God.  And we can be accountable for others.  We need friends who are willing to challenge us when we wander.  (As Leonard Smart said, “Everyone needs a Nathan.”²)  And finally, the best way to avoid temptation is to flee when you see it.  

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Tim. 2:22)

We must run away from temptation as Joseph did from Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:7-12).   But Paul tells us to run away from sin and toward righteousness, faith, love, and peace.  We need to fill our lives with the things of God so that we will not feel the need to fill our lives with other things.

Remember to seek joy in all your tests and temptations today. The Bible says to “flee idolatry,” “resist evil,” and “endure tests.”  Get your verbs in the right place:  Don’t flee tests, don’t endure idolatry, etc.

Please see my Bibliography for recommended books and links to obtain them.

1.  Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. p. 891. (1999).

2. 11: Indispensable Relationships You Can’t Be Without. Sweet, Leonard. (2012)