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There’s More To This Than Just Eating Food
Matthew 4:1-4 KJV 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. (4) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Notice the reasons God gave regarding the 40 year wilderness period of wandering before Israel entered the land of Canaan.
SUB-TEXT: Numbers 14:2-3 KJV And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! (3) And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? Numbers 14:26-38 KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, (27) How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. (28) Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: (29) Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, (30) Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (31) But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. (32) But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. (33) And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. (34) After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. (35) I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. (36) And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, (37) Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. (38) But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. Deuteronomy 8:1-6 KJV All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. (2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (3) And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (4) Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. (5) Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. (6) Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. God said “all the way” or the manner in which God dealt with Israel for forty years, along with the WORD OF GOD, the LAW, given to them, was to see them successfully dwelling the land and fulfill their purpose in ever getting there to begin with.
He chastened them as a father chastens his son.
ALL of this was PREPARATION, according to Deut 8:1, before they would enter Canaan. God’s will for them in Canaan was as follows: Deuteronomy 8:1-6 KJV All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. Why did God want them in the land?
Deut 8:1 mentions words similar to God’s words about Adam’s purpose. Deuteronomy 8:1-6 …that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. Genesis 1:28 KJV And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. So we see Israel’s story and the land of Canaan is a MINIATURE model of God’s design for the whole planet way back when God put Adam in the Garden.
Isaiah 6:3 KJV And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 11:9 KJV They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 40:5 KJV And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Habakkuk 2:14 KJV For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. But in order for this to occur — mark it down — God’s WORD was given to ISRAEL so that all of this might be accomplished! I have come across instances in every place I pastored and worked for God, having specifically been given a teaching ministry, where people cannot understand why the Bible teaches some things.
The way in which Moses told Israel they could not live by bread alone, but by every word of God, was in the context of speaking of the forty years in the wilderness, when they hungered and thirsted and were humbled by God.
The philosophy that proposes we need not indulge our time and minds in certain studies in the bible, but instead win souls, would recommend the only thing you need to do in order to win the world is SIMPLY EAT AND FEED YOUR BODY so you can live and just tell people about Jesus.
Jesus Christ was in the same wilderness, perhaps in the same close proximity to where Moses rehearsed the law to Israel just on the border of Canaan, when the Spirit of God led him to be tempted of the devil.
And look at what happened. Matthew 4:1-4 KJV 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. (4) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The devil tempted Him to PROVE HE WAS SON OF GOD.
There is something the devil will try to thwart and ruin in your life in order to stop you from ever doing anything the Lord wants you to do, and perhaps what you are so impatient to do as well!
The whole basis upon which all our hopes and dreams in serving God and working for Him are founded, is we are saved and born again children of God, who are in the Kingdom to lead others to Him.
But the SLY THING ABOUT THIS TEMPTATION was that it had an underlying twisted way of thinking the devil was trying to instill within the humanity of Jesus Christ.
These questions had an obvious point.
If you told me that I will prove I am a preacher by painting your house in less than two hours, I am going to respond by stopping the whole process of your reasoning, and inform you that painting a house in less than two hours has nothing to do with being a preacher.
You see, Jesus had humanity as much as you and I have humanity.
He had to learn: Hebrews 5:8 KJV Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; He had to GROW in knowledge: Luke 2:40 KJV And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. And this part of Him was what the devil tried to take advantage of.
And if the humanity of Jesus could be sidetracked to base His Sonship, in His thinking, upon such false principles, HOW COULD HE MINISTER?
IT IS WRITTEN, Jesus said. And he quoted the very verse in Deut 8 we read. Here is one reason you need to study these old testament scriptures, even though you think they do not apply to winning souls.
THEY ARE PREPARATIONS FOR YOUR SOUL WINNING!
He tempted Jesus in the same way.
Moses gave the reason why Jesus used the scripture “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Moses said God brought them through situations where their own FLESH would stir up and cause problems, and where the devil would stir up and cause problems, SO THAT THEY WOULD KNOW THAT THERE WAS MORE TO LIVING IN A LAND OF CANAAN AND AFFECTING THE WORLD TO KNOW GOD than eating food to be alive and just getting “to the task at hand”.
THE WILDERNESS AND THE WORD GIVEN TO THEM THEN WAS BOOT CAMP FOR THE KINGDOM WORK. Jesus knew turning stone to bread had nothing to do with proving you were a Son of God. Matthew 7:9 KJV Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? I prove I am a SON OF GOD by HAVING FAITH IN MY FATHER TO GIVE ME THIS DAY MY DAILY BREAD, NOT A STONE TO TURN INTO BREAD! That is just like some lies I saw other people believe.
These teachings show us how GOD WORKS and in what manner we should approach Him.
Notice what the Father told Jesus before the devil came. Matthew 3:16-17 KJV And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Jesus heard that WORD.
Jesus quoted Moses’ words about having to know God’s Law to enable Israel to live or continue on once they get into Canaan and touch their world around them.
People naturally think too much of themselves.
God’s law showed them what lifestyles are repulsive to Him, in His word, so that He would not be driven away from them once they get into the land, and not help them when the enemy would come to stop their witness to the world.
Psalms 66:18 KJV If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: So all these things are FOR THEIR GOOD. Deuteronomy 6:24 KJV And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. Isaiah 3:10 KJV Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Matthew 6:33 KJV But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Romans 6:22 KJV But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Israel could’ve come to Moses and said what so many Christians have either said or thought,
Moses actually said in Deut 8,
God wants HIs glory to go to all the world.
Genesis 2:15-17 KJV And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Adam could have been impatiently shuffling his feet on the ground, and saying, “Come on God, let me multiply and overrun the world with this Garden!”
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