There are two main categories of temptation as the word is
used in the Holy Bible.
1. A Trial or Test
(largely internal) ~ “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested
Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’
And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and
offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall
tell you’” (Genesis 22:1-2).
“Every commandment which I command you today you
must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and
possess the land of which the Lord swore
to your fathers. And you shall remember
that the Lord your God led you all
the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you,
to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not”
(Deuteronomy 8:1-2).
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall
into various trials, knowing that the testing
of your faith produces patience. But
let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing. If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him. But let him
ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea
driven and tossed by the wind. For let
not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:2-8). “Blessed
is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will
receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him”
(James 1:12).
Jesus Christ Was Tested ~ “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned
from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness, being tempted for forty days
by the devil. And in those days He
ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry” (Luke
4:1-2). Note
also that Jesus said, “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials” (Luke 22:28).
2. Solicitation For Evil
(largely external) ~ Satan
is the tempter as evidenced by the following passage: “Then Jesus was led
up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
by the devil. And when He had fasted
forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the
tempter [Satan] came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command
that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said,
‘It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.’ Then the devil took Him up into the holy
city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the
Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it
is written: “He shall give His angels
charge over you,” and,
“In their hands they shall bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, “You
shall not tempt the Lord your
God.”’ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all
the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall
down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to
him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is
written, “You shall worship the Lord your
God, and Him only you shall serve.”’
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him”
(Matthew 4:1-11).
It
All Started With Adam
~ “Now
the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed
said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ And the woman said to the
serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of
the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat
it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’
Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.’ So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable
to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he
ate. Then the eyes of both of them were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves coverings” (Genesis 3:1-7).
“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. For if he who comes preaches
another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit
which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you
may well put up with it!’ (2 Corinthians 11:3-4).
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires
and enticed” (James 1:14).
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
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