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The long
awaited King Messiah had just gone through one
of the most intense and glorious spiritual experiences.
He had been immersed by the great prophet, John.
The Heavens opened, and God spoke audibly from
Heaven, acknowledging that Yeshua was His special
Son who shares his name and nature and character
and essence as God. The Spirit of God came down
in a rare visible manifestation, and anointed
Yeshua for the great work that God was calling
Him to do. Did Yeshua immediately go, in the power
of the Holy Spirit, and with the blessing and
approval of God, directly to Jerusalem, there
to do mighty miracles, and gain a great following,
and announce that He was the Messiah, and the
King of Israel, and the Son of God, and the Lord?
No. We
are informed that immediately the Spirit impelled
Him to go out into the wilderness -- the wilderness
-- not Jerusalem. And he was in the wilderness
not for a short period of time, but He was in
the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan;
and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels
were ministering to Him.
One wise
man tells us that withdrawing from the world for
a time may be necessary for those who are called
to the most important tasks. There, in the wilderness,
away from the comforts of the world, and the companionship
of other human beings, a man may be drawn closer
to the holy God.
As soon
as Paul encountered the risen Lord, he didn't
go to Jerusalem, but into Arabia, which has much
wilderness. After forty years surrounded by the
wealth of Egypt, Moses spent forty years in the
wilderness. Yeshua went into the wilderness. Likewise,
the Holy Spirit may, at times, force us to go
into wilderness-like experiences. Yes, the Spirit
of God will make us lie down in green pastures,
and lead us beside still waters, but He may also
lead us into difficult and hard places, and lonely
times. Remember that it is the same Spirit that
leads in both cases.
One might
think that the newly anointed King of Israel would
now have an easier life. He spent thirty years
in relative obscurity in the small town of Nazareth.
Now, He had been miraculously anointed by the
Spirit of God. We might think that life should
get better for the young rabbi from Nazareth from
this point on. His life should be easier. But
no, His life immediately becomes much harder!
He is sent by God into the wilderness where He
is tested and tempted and tried. That tells us
that being close to God, and being powerfully
anointed by His Spirit, does not mean that life
will be easier or more pleasant.
Another
lesson to learn is that temptations and hard times
and difficulties will often follow powerful spiritual
experiences. Yeshua goes from the great religious
experience of His baptism, and this powerful anointing
by the Holy Spirit, immediately into a time of
hard testing in the wilderness. We can go so quickly
from great religious experiences, and closeness
to God, immediately into a time of temptation
and testing. It's not only when we are depressed,
or tired, or lonely that we are more open to temptation,
but also after great spiritual victories and mountaintop
religious experiences. So beware! Always be on
guard! You are never far from temptation and testing.
The Son
of God was tempted by Satan himself, who is a
real being. He was not tested for a short time,
but for forty days, which is a very long time.
He was on His own, without human friends or family
to rely on. No doubt He was thoroughly tempted
in many ways, yet unlike the rest of us, He never
gave into any temptation.
Was it
possible for Him to yield to temptation? I don't
think it was possible for the Righteous One to
sin, because there was nothing within Him that
could respond to a wrong desire. While He was
truly a man, He was also fully God, and there
was nothing within Him, such as is within us,
that could be lured into committing evil. There
was nothing wrong, nothing corrupt within the
Messiah that the Tempter could fasten upon.
Let me
suggest four reasons why the Son of God was tempted.
First,
as a true man He needed to learn how to depend
upon His Father in difficult situations. Yeshua
was soon to enter into His public ministry. There
He would face many difficult, hard and trying
situations. He needed to learn the lesson that
God's grace was sufficient for Him, and that His
Father was there, to be relied upon for wisdom
and guidance; that no temptation would come upon
Him that with God's help, there would not be a
way of escape, so that it could be endured. Messiah
needed to learn that lesson, as a man -- as do
each one of us.
Second,
facing temptation and overcoming trials and tests
can be good for us. It can be beneficial. It can
bring about many good results. It can strengthen
us. It can generate confidence in us. It can build
us up in our Faith. It can draw us closer to God.
It can purify us. In fact, before God greatly
uses a man, he must be thoroughly tested. The
army does not like to send untested, "green" troops
into battle. It is best if they are first tested.
So, the troops go through boot camp. They are
sent through various field maneuvers. They go
through war games. They get used to the sound
of gunfire, and the feel of battle. They are tested
before entering the difficulties of the actual
conflict.
After
His baptism, and after victoriously enduring forty
days of temptation in the wilderness, Yeshua went
from those experiences toughened, hardened, strengthened
in His heart and soul, empowered by the Holy Spirit,
ready to face the difficult challenges, and fully
prepared to do His Father's will. So, when you
are going through a hard time -- when you are
being tried and tested -- sometimes due to your
own foolishness, sometimes because of the foolishness
or the evil of others, or sometimes just because
you are living in a fallen world, remember that
Messiah faced hard testing, and overcame and was
benefited by it, and then was able to then benefit
others. Know that if you cooperate with the Lord
during your testing, you will come out stronger
and purer and holier, and better equipped to help
others as well.
Third,
God needed a man who could resist temptation to
be able to reverse the Fall and redeem mankind.
Mankind was ruined by the Fall. We entered into
a state of sin and death when the first man, Adam,
was tempted and tried, and failed. Centuries later,
God brought forth another son, His firstborn son
among the nations -- the people of Israel. He
purpose in created the Chosen People was to bring
blessing to all the nations of the world; but
again, God's firstborn son, Israel, like Adam,
also failed. We were tested many times, and we
failed so often.
Adam failed.
Israel failed. Then God sent another Son, His
unique Son, to rescue lost humanity. If the Son
of God had somehow yielded to Satan's temptations
in just one little area, God's plan of redemption
would have been defeated, and you and I would
have been utterly lost. Our life, our redemption,
our salvation, our future, was at stake here.
Therefore the Son of God had to struggle in close
combat with the god of this world, with the head
of the enemy realm -- Satan. The One sent to save
the ruined sons and daughters of Adam and Eve,
had to come face to face with the head of the
evil empire which dominates this world.
The number
forty is the Biblical number for judgment and
testing. Israel was tested in the wilderness for
forty days while Moses was receiving the Torah
on Mount Sinai. Israel failed that test by worshiping
the golden calf. Israel was again tested in the
wilderness when the 12 spies returned after forty
days of spying out the Land of Israel. 10 of the
12 spies brought back a bad report, and the people
were discouraged, and would not go up into the
Land to take it. Because we failed that test the
Lord decreed that that entire generation would
wander in the wilderness for forty years. But
the Son of God, our Messiah, our King and Leader
and Representative and Head of the new humanity,
was tested for forty days in the wilderness. But
where Adam failed, and Israel failed in the wilderness,
He gloriously succeeded!
Because
He was table to successfully resist every temptation,
Yeshua is qualified to win back the ruined sons
and daughters of Adam and Eve. Because He resisted
every temptation, Yeshua is able to redeem. He
is able to bring salvation and restore blessing
to all the nations of the world. Because He was
victorious over all the attacks of the powers
of darkness, He became the head of a new restored,
redeemed humanity. Thank God that Yeshua succeeded
where Adam and Israel, and you and I, failed!
Fourth,
Messiah needed to be tested in order to become
our merciful and sympathetic high priest. The
insightful and eloquent Adolph Saphir informs
us that because the Son of God joined Himself
to humanity, and because of His temptations, and
because of His obedience to God in every situation,
and because He never yielded to temptation, Yeshua
is perfectly qualified to be our merciful and
sympathetic High Priest.
God is
not far from us, as so many assume. He is not
pure mind or intellect, but really has emotions
and feels for us and is really close to us. The
Son of God, who shares our humanity, perfectly
understands our needs in a real, experiential
way. He fully understands our limitations, our
trials, our problems, our weaknesses, our difficulties,
because He experienced temptation and trials and
difficulties. He knows exactly what it is like.
He knows exactly what we are going through. He
knows what it is like to be a human being.
He knew
firsthand how to endure temptation. Having gone
through the conflict Himself, without wavering
or surrendering for a single moment, He knows
how to help each one of us. He fully understands
all of our sorrows. He knows how to measure the
strength of all of our temptations. He knows how
to be merciful, how to be compassionate. He knows
how to endure temptation and come out victorious.
He knows how to be faithful under trial. He knows
how to help us when we are surrounded by temptations,
trials and difficulties.
As our
merciful and sympathetic High Priest, He is able
to bring God closer to us, and us closer to God.
He is able to bring from God to us all the grace
from the Most High that we need. He is able to
bring down to us all spiritual blessings in the
Heavenly places. And He is able to bring to God
all our needs: all of our needs in our trials,
in all of our temptations, in all of our fears,
in all of our difficulties. He brings all of our
tears, all of our sufferings to God. That is the
kind of High Priest that we need, and that who
we have in King Yeshua!
Then,
after Yeshua's forty difficult days of fasting
and trials and testing in the wilderness, tempted
by the most powerful and evil fallen angel of
them all, God sent good angels to Yeshua to help
Him and strengthen Him. Messiah was refreshed
by these real and wonderful spirit beings, who
took care of Him and ministered to Him. Thank
God for the ministry of the good angels! Knowing
about the ministry of the good angels, who are
very near to us, should comfort us whenever we
think of the hateful plans of the evil angels
who are against us!
Someone
observed that Mark records that Yeshua was with
the wild beasts during His time of temptation
in the wilderness, and that He was preserved from
being harmed by the wild animals. Now, if God
could protect Yeshua from the wild beasts, then
if it is His will, won't He also protect us from
the animal-like cruelty of the people of this
world, who can be not much better than wild animals?
Yes, God can protect us from the wild beasts of
the wilderness, until it is our time to be bitten,
as happened Yeshua, as it is written: "many bulls
have surrounded Me; strong bulls have encircled
Me; dogs have surrounded Me; like a ravening and
roaring lion, they open wide their mouth at Me."
The wild animals did attack the Messiah, but only
in God's time. And that should comfort us, because
they will be prevented from attacking us, until
it is God's time.
Some of
those who first read this book may have been in
Rome, literally facing wild animals in the arena
under Nero's persecutions directed against the
new Christians. How do you think they might have
responded to this part of Yeshua's temptations?
"If Yeshua could be with the wild beasts in the
wilderness, then by God's grace so can I. And
may the Lord's will be done in my life. May He
be glorified by my life, or by my death -- as
it happened in the life of the Messiah!"
If Yeshua
could overcome all temptations by being close
to God, and by relying on His Father, then we
can too. By coming close to our victorious Messiah,
who is close to God, we can find grace and help
in our time of need. We can rely on God's promise
that no temptation will overtake us but such as
is common to mankind, and God is faithful; He
will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we
are able to endure, but with each temptation,
He will provide a way of escape, that we may be
able to endure it, and successfully overcome that
temptation, that trial, that hard and lonely time,
that discouraging or upsetting circumstance.
Yeshua's
Message
Now after
John had been taken into custody -- John was one
of the very greatest men who ever lived, and the
first prophet in 400 years. He was sent by God
on a very important mission -- to prepare the
Chosen People for the coming of the Messiah, the
Son of God, the King, who is Adonai. What an important
mission! What a great and valuable human being
John was! What a tremendous national treasure!
In a good world, we would expect such a man to
be treated with honor, and message embraced. But,
this world is not good.
Is it
surprising that this great prophet was arrested?
True prophets speak out about the evils of their
day, calling men to return to God and His ways.
True prophets are willing to confront the corrupt
economic and political and religious authorities.
Of course, that causes a response from those corrupt
powers that are unwilling to take the message
of the prophet to heart, so they counterattack,
and attempt to silence the prophet. But, a true
prophet is willing to speak out against the evils
of his day, and stand for the truth, and is willing
to suffer the consequences. This is what happened
to John. May I suggest that while we may not be
prophets, all of us are called to imitate John
and the prophets in this regard? Every son and
daughter of God is like a prophet.
John,
this great prophet, was arrested and imprisoned.
But God was so good to us, and so merciful, that
when one great prophet was arrested, and was unable
to operate publicly, He didn't destroy the offenders,
but graciously sent someone else to take the prophet's
place. In this case it was Someone Even Greater,
a prophet greater than John!
Yeshua
came into Galilee, starting off His public ministry
to the Jewish people in the north, where He grew
up, which also fulfilled the words of the prophet
Isaiah: there will be no more gloom for her who
was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the
land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with
contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious,
by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan,
Galil HaGoyim -- Galilee of the Gentiles. The
people who walk in darkness will see an Or Gadol
-- a Great Light; those who live in a dark land,
the light will shine on them.
Israel
was supposed to be an Or L'Goyim -- a Light To
The Nations of the world. That is what we were
chosen for -- to know God and His ways, and the
way to get back to Him, so the rest of humanity
could find their way back to God, and be restored
to life. But, so often we failed to bring light
-- truth, wisdom, victory and the knowledge of
salvation to the other nations. The God is able
to speak to us, communicating to us through His
special servant Isaiah, informs us that when we
will have failed to bring the light, then God
will bring another light -- a Great Light, who
will reveal the light and truth and victory and
salvation of God.
The light
will first shine in Galilee -- the very part of
the land of Israel which experienced so much darkness,
defeat, and occupation through the centuries.
Galilee was one of the first parts of Israel to
be stripped away from us by the king of Assyria
(see 2 Kings 15:29). The Assyrians invaded and
captured this northern region, and they resettled
many of its Jewish inhabitants in Babylonia. New
peoples, Gentiles were brought in to replace the
Jews who were deported.
For the
Jewish people in Galil HaGoyim -- Galilee of the
Gentiles, we may have experienced gloom, darkness,
defeat, deportation, anguish, but the same God
who allowed this region to be treated with contempt,
will one day cause it to be glorious! He will
grant it honor and respect and glory. The Jewish
people had been groping in darkness, without much
light, without much truth, without much knowledge,
without much victory, without much of God's presence;
but God is so loving, so good, so concerned for
our well-being that He promised to send not just
an Or -- a Light, but an Or Gadol -- a Great Light,
a big and bright and powerful Light, the Light
of God's Presence, who will bring victory and
salvation, who will shine the truth of God on
us in a powerful way. This Great Light will first
shine forth in the Galil, and this is where Yeshua
began His ministry.
Yeshua
came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel (the Message
of Good News) of God, and saying, "The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;
repent (turn from your sins, turn from your own
ways, and turn to God and turn to His ways) and
believe in the Gospel (this Message of Good News)."
Yeshua
preached to the people of the north. He preached,
He boldly declared, He proclaimed. There is a
time to teach, to explain, to defend, to justify,
to reason, but there is also a time to preach
-- to boldly declare the truth, without explanation.
Lord, let us teach and let us preach, and give
us the grace to know when to do the one or the
other.
Yeshua
preached the Good News, this very special message
focusing on the Living God ending our alienation
and estrangement from Himself, reconciling us
to Himself, blessing us with life -- God's life,
eternal life, and everlasting happiness.
And, the
Good News has to do with the Kingdom of God. The
reality is that a great King really exists, a
Supremely Good and Glorious Being, who created
everything else, who gives life and existence
to everything else; who, because He is the Creator,
has the right to rule over us, and demand that
we submit to His will and His ways. He rules over
the entire universe. However, a rebellion has
taken place; a great angel rebelled against the
King, and a third of the angels joined him in
his rebellion. Most of mankind joined them in
their rebellion. The King is enduring this rebellion
for a time. He could put it down immediately if
He wanted to. He could end it right away. But,
He has chosen to endure this rebellion for a time,
so that human beings will come into existence
who will willingly choose to join the side of
the King.
The King
wants to win over more and more human beings to
Him, and His side, and His Kingdom, to His will
and His ways and His commands. The King wins human
beings to His side by the proclamation of the
truth. When a human being is confronted with the
truth, and chooses to end his rebellion, and turn
to God and His ways, and submit to the King, the
Kingdom of God is extended.
You cannot
remain neutral in this conflict. You are either
on the side of the King, or on the side of the
rebels. You are submitted to God and Messiah,
or you have joined the god of this world, and
his demonic legions. So I ask you, which side
are you on? The side of the High King -- God the
Father, and His Son, King Yeshua, or are you on
the side of the enemy. Which kingdom does your
life, your values, your actions, your priorities,
your words, your will, reflect?
With the
coming of King Messiah into this world, the Kingdom
of God was at hand. It was even more present.
Why? The King Himself was present! Through the
incarnation, the King had entered this world,
entering personally and directly into the conflict,
taking control of the battle. Usually, a king
sends his troops into the battle. He sends his
generals and army. It's rare when an earthly king
fights himself. He stays back in a safe location,
away from the danger of the battle. But, the Lord
loved us so much, that He Himself entered the
battle and risked danger to His person, and was
willing to suffer much in this conflict, so that
we might be redeemed. What a King! What a Savior!
The Good
News has to do with time. God created time. God
is independent of time. God is not limited by
time. God can see beyond time. God has a plan
to save and redeem us that involves time. In the
fullness of time, at just the right time, and
not a moment too soon, or a moment too late, God
sent His Son into this world. The long awaited
Messiah and Savior, whose coming had predicted
in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, whose
arrival had for centuries been expected by the
prophets and the righteous, had now come. The
time was fulfilled.
I believe
that God had a time not just for the Messiah,
and not just for the Kingdom of God, but God also
has a time for you! He knows each and every hour
of yours, each and every day, and each and every
moment. He knows the length of your days before
you experience the first one of them! And if we
cooperate with Him, our time also will be fulfilled.
We will live the length of days intended for us.
We will not die a moment too soon.
What was
the response that God expected to this glorious
and wonderful Message, full of Good News for those
whose life is so full of bad news? Two things:
first, we were to repent, to turn from our sins,
and our thoughts, and our ways, and our will,
and our inclinations, and turn to God and His
good ways, and accept His thoughts, and submit
our will to His will, and yield our inclinations
to His Holy Spirit. Repentance is so very important,
and it is not just a one-time event, that takes
place prior to salvation, but we need to constantly
be repenting -- turning from all this is wrong,
and turning to all that is good and right.
Second,
we are to believe in the Gospel (this Message
of Good News). We must believe it because the
King commands us to believe it. We are to believe
it because the King is good, and because the King
knows the truth and only speaks the truth. We
are to believe it because it is impossible for
the King to lie. We are to believe it because
the King is wiser and greater and more knowledgeable
than any other human being.
We must
believe this Message that contains so much Good
News. This Message must be foundational for all
our thinking, our values, our priorities. We must
give it our highest intellectual allegiance. There
is no other message, no other ideology, no other
philosophy, and no other religion that is truer
or more important. Have you?
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