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Wednesday 17 June 2020

Matthew 4:5-7 - If you are the Son of God

4:5,6
The tempter is now named as the devil. The temple had been built by Herod the Great and was quite an impressive and enormous structure. The devil, noting that Jesus valued Scripture, quoted Scripture himself, this time from Psalm 91:11,12. He urged Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple so that the angels would lift Him up. The devil can and will quote Scripture. In practical terms this means that just because someone quotes Scripture does not mean there is any validity to what they are saying. We need to use Scripture aright (2 Tim 2:15). Doing that includes reading it in its context, and having a sense of the heart of God as revealed in the whole of Scripture. 

4:7

Naturally, Jesus did know and understand the whole of Scripture, and did know the heart of God! Jesus used another verse from Deuteronomy, this time Deut 6:16. That verse comes from a section warning against disobeying God, and encouraging the Israelites to obey God so that they would conquer the land and it would go well with them. So verses like Ps 91:11,12 are not there as a plaything, but as an encouragement from the Lord, that when we walk in His ways He will protect us from danger.

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