And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
God promises to give His angels charge to guard and uphold a person in their hands so that harm is kept from him. That protecting care is true, but it is conditional on faith and obedience and holds only in all of God's ways and in the path He chooses. Satan quoted the promise on the pinnacle of the temple to urge Christ to throw Himself down, leaving out its essential condition and twisting true Scripture to invite presumption. Christ would not needlessly imperil Himself to force His Father to intervene or to prove His sonship by display, but met the assault with It is written and refused to tempt the Lord God. By that steadfast refusal He repulsed the tempter, redeemed Adam's failure, and left a perfect pattern that safety is firm trust without presumption.
Promise of Angelic Protection
The verse promises that God gives His angels charge to guard a person and bear that person up in their hands, upholding and protecting from harm so the foot is not dashed against a stone. It was taken up by Satan in the wilderness temptation to urge Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple, turning trust in God into presumption by treating the promise as a guarantee for a needless act. Jesus did not accept that misuse, refusing to put Himself in needless danger to force His Father to intervene, and His refusal showed perfect trust without demanding a display of divine power.
The promise is true and reveals the Father's promised protecting care, and God could indeed have borne Christ up if He had been required to be thrown down. Yet it is given on condition of faith and obedience, including being kept in all God's ways, a condition Satan left out when urging Christ to act outside God's way and use miracle for His own relief. Christ held perfect faith in that care without wavering from integrity, knowing that to cast Himself down unbidden at Satan's dare to prove He was the Son of God and show entire dependence would put the Father's faithfulness, love and providence to a needless trial and experiment upon them. Such an act would not show strength of faith but weakness of human nature, would tempt the Lord God by presumption, and would fail to leave a perfect pattern of firm trust and unwavering confidence in all trials and perils. Those who needlessly put themselves in danger they have chosen cannot expect God to perform a miracle or send angels to rescue them.
The promise applies only in the path of obedience and in all the ways God chooses, and it must not be claimed as excuse or defense for presumption. It does not authorize rushing recklessly into danger, supporting a course God has not required, violating the laws of nature, disregarding prudence and judgment, or disregarding reason. It does not authorize anyone to leave the path of obedience or to demand rescue from danger chosen without God's direction, and Jesus would not put Himself in such a position or force His Father to intervene but showed trust and submission without testing God. Meditation and prayer help people avoid such dangerous choices and situations that give Satan advantage.
Wilderness Temptation Setting
This promise belongs to the account of Christ's wilderness temptation, and many references give no further explanation of it beyond that setting. That temptation followed His baptism and attestation as the beloved Son, when He was led by the Spirit into a desolate wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry. There He faced a threefold test during forty days and nights of fasting and prayer, having first bowed on Jordan's banks to pray for strength to endure conflict with the fallen foe. The trial was borne on behalf of those He came to redeem, redeeming the disgrace of Adam's failure and providing the basis for temperance, while angels watched with intense interest.
This verse belongs to the second temptation on the dizzy pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. Satan, who had power to bear Christ there and to carry Him also to a high mountain, maliciously urged Him to throw Himself down as a supposed test of divine protection. It was presumptuous boldness and cruel warfare for Satan so to bear the world's Redeemer, and that warfare unmasked the great deceiver before loyal angels and the whole loyal universe, exciting their amazement and indignation. The tempter was Satan, once an honored angel in heaven and covering cherub who became ambitious for the honors bestowed on the Son, became envious, claimed equality, drew sympathizing angels into rebellion, and fell and was expelled from heaven with them. He claimed this world as his dominion and staked his power and kingdom and expected retribution on overcoming Christ, so that the destiny and salvation of the human race were at stake and Satan believed success would give him victory over humanity and establish his kingdom.
Satan concealed his real character, coming as an angel of light and a Heaven-sent friend clothed with the livery of Heaven. He came with most seducing attractions, wily insinuations against God, artful sophistry, and flattering inducements of honor, riches and glory, seeking by every means to overcome the Redeemer by offering an easier way than the path of trial and suffering He had entered. He sought to keep the mind on constant strain, to undermine confidence, destroy faith and trust, and to allure Christ from allegiance into controversy as if reading unspoken thoughts, as with Adam and Eve. His temptations succeed with professed followers who are weak in moral power and fascinated by the bribe of apparent good adapted to their circumstances, while under the same specious bewitching influence many obey the worst impulses of the human heart yet believe God is leading them.
In quoting the promise Satan left out the essential condition about being kept in all God's ways. He thereby distorted Scripture to deceive and to divert from appointed work, urging Christ to act outside God's way by using a miracle for His own relief and to escape the necessities of human life by acting for Himself. Christ was kept in God's way, which did not permit such self-relief, and He refused to imperil His life in response to the challenge to prove He was the Son of God.
Twisting Scripture to Tempt
Satan knew the Scriptures and brought forward a true text that seemed appropriate for the occasion, quoting the promise that angels would bear up lest the foot be dashed against a stone in order to urge casting down from the height on the ground of God's promise. He used it to flatter faith shown in the wilderness and then turn perfect faith and trust into presumption, daring Christ to force the Father to display power to save Him from danger. The promise was thus employed to make the tempting act appear safe and good and helpful, as a deceptive misuse of Scripture intended to overthrow through an appearance of goodness that concealed an enemy purpose. Scripture was twisted to disguise temptation as something good, with Satan presenting himself as a Heaven-sent friend rather than an enemy while seeking to deceive into trusting a false appearance of heavenly protection.
Pretending to doubt the divinity and mission of Christ, he demanded a sign of authority and power as proof of sonship. He urged a bold move manifesting divine power to show entire dependence and confidence in the Father, telling Him He had nothing to fear because angels were at hand to uphold Him. The aim was to create a sensation and surprise all by a wonderful display of the Father's preserving power in keeping from injury, appearing in real character and by this masterpiece of power establishing right to the confidence and faith of the people as indeed the Saviour of the world. He refused to imperil His life in response to that challenge to prove sonship by throwing Himself from the temple, answering that God must not be tempted. To have used miraculous power to relieve Himself from difficulty and make a public display to win confidence would have broken the contract to be a probationer in behalf of the race and to live as humanity's representative.
This misuse stood alongside the challenge to turn stone to bread and the offer of the power and splendor and glory of the kingdoms of the earth if He would assent to the superiority of evil and worship Satan. Together they represent appetite, love of the world, and presumption as three leading temptations, including ambition and worldly honor and wealth or earthly advantage for which integrity must not be traded. The episode on the temple pinnacle therefore belongs with the offer of the world's glory in exchange for worship.
Christ held perfect faith in the promised care without wavering from integrity, yet would not yield to sophistry, meeting each assault only with It is written and refusing to argue. He met Satan with Scripture even while suffering and bearing human nature, and the assaults found no lodgment. His answer flashed divinity through humanity and proved Him equal with God, and under that rebuke Satan fled the conflict as a conquered foe, defeated though the temptation need not overcome those who rely on that strength.
True Faith Rejects Presumption
The promise that angels will bear up and guard from striking the foot against a stone does not authorize presumption, deliberately placing oneself in needless peril, or putting God to a needless test to force Him to act. It was misused to urge throwing the body down from the temple and demanding a miraculous rescue, but to cast oneself down when God has not required it is not faith. True confidence trusts through danger without demanding a display of divine power, and refuses to presume upon mercy or test protecting care. Faithful confidence does not demand a miracle to rescue someone from a danger rashly chosen.
To cast Himself down unbidden at Satan's dare on the pinnacle of the temple would have put the Father's faithfulness, love, and providence to needless trial, experimenting upon them and tempting the Lord God. God could indeed have borne Him up if required to throw Himself down, yet doing it to prove His claim to protecting care and to show entire dependence would not have shown strength of faith but weakness of human nature. Satan flattered faith shown in the wilderness and then sought to turn perfect faith and trust into presumption, daring Him to force the Father to display saving power to save Him from danger. Jesus trusted that God would give strength to endure temptation and send an angel to deliver if necessary, but He refused to put Himself in danger to demand rescue.
True faith is firm, unwavering confidence and trust in the Father's promised care in all trials and perils without putting it to needless trial or demanding a miraculous rescue or display of power. God would intervene if His servant were cast down by another, but His servant is not to cast himself down. The refusal to leap shows that protection is not a reason to risk life needlessly before the mission is complete, and gives an example of firm confidence in God. By refusing to presume upon mercy victory was gained in the second temptation, leaving a perfect pattern that man's only safety is in such trust.
To use miraculous power to relieve Himself from difficulty or to win confidence by display would have broken the contract with the Father to be a probationer in behalf of the race and to endure human necessities without acting for Himself. The urging was to make one bold move manifesting divine power, to create a sensation and surprise all by a wonderful display of preserving power from injury, to appear in real character and by this masterpiece establish right to the people's confidence and faith as Saviour. The promise included being kept in all God's ways, which did not permit escaping the necessities of human life by acting for Himself or using a miracle for His own relief outside God's way. Such a display, witnessed only by Satan and God's angels and without a special purpose directly honoring and glorifying God, would not have glorified the Father but would have served Satan. Christians likewise are to bear temptation and disputes patiently rather than call on God to display power merely to defeat an enemy, unless there is a special purpose that directly honors and glorifies Him.
The promise must not be claimed as an excuse to rush recklessly into danger, violate the laws of nature, or disregard prudence, judgment, and reason. God's promises are given on condition of faith and obedience, and those who needlessly put themselves in danger they have chosen cannot expect God to perform a miracle or send angels to rescue them. Meditation and prayer help people avoid such dangerous choices and situations that give Satan an advantage. The second great temptation was presumption.
Victory Won for Humanity
Christ repulsed the arch-enemy in manifold wilderness temptations, resisted every assault, remained steadfast to the plan of redemption, and left Satan prevailing nothing, disappointed, enraged and fled as a conquered foe. That conflict was the same fierce and subtle temptation in which the tempter sought his object by various devices, yet was conquered in his own person. The wilderness trial was an important yet neglected subject bearing on Christian temperance and on Christ's work as Redeemer in carrying out the plan of salvation. It was the foundation of the plan of salvation and of salvation itself, the scene where Christ passed over the ground where Adam fell, endured temptation a hundredfold stronger, redeemed Adam's disgraceful failure by triumph, and decided the destiny of the human race.
His victories were won on behalf of those He came to redeem and on behalf of humanity, by divine power joined with humanity, to break the power of appetite and passion, to give divine grace and strength, to prove He has power to fulfill His commission and to show that people can overcome appetite, stand in moral integrity and conquer sin through Him. Through denying appetite after a long fast He showed temptation can be resisted with divine help, and His victory over appetite, love of the world and presumption as three leading temptations gives strength to people facing temptation. That victory benefits each person only as that person also gains the victory individually, joining weakness to Christ's enduring strength and overcoming in the all-powerful name of the great Conqueror. The same adversary who afflicted Christ remains the adversary of all to the end of time with power not weakened by his failure, all are personally exposed to the very same temptations Christ overcame, and Christ's infinite and priceless victory is meaningless and will not benefit anyone unless he also gains the victory on his own account.
Satan may distress and cause agony but cannot control the will, force anyone to sin, defile the soul without consent, contaminate, or compel action against the Father's will. No one can be overcome without his own consent, and the fact that Christ has conquered should inspire His followers with courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan. After the severe forty-day conflict, when Christ was faint, emaciated, fainting and apparently dying from hunger, fasting and warfare with Satan, angels who had watched the conflict with intense interest and were around Him even when He appeared alone lifted His fainting head and ministered to Him with nourishing food and strength. Their ministry followed His victory and did not lead Him to test God by demanding protection during the temptation, His will remained fully submitted to His Father and never yielded to the enemy, and Satan departed for a time without prevailing. No test so severe will ever be brought upon man as that which the Captain of salvation endured, and there was rejoicing and triumph in heaven that Satan, who deceived heavenly angels and drew a third part of heaven into rebellion, was vanquished at every point by the Prince of Life.
Conquering the prince of darkness and the prince of the power of darkness in the wilderness proved the power by which Jesus later wrested writhing captives from Satan's grasp. The tempter there was the same evil spirit He met in the possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum and in demon-possessed men, though assuming another form, and the conflict at Capernaum was a renewed meeting where to lose ground would be to give Jesus defeat after the wilderness victory. Jesus had already conquered before meeting him again in the synagogue, and that earlier victory shows His authority so He could stand calm and unafraid before demon-possessed men instead of fleeing, again meeting and conquering and delivering those bound by Satan. Satan's defeat did not end his efforts, for he did not give up hope but looked forward to the period of Christ's ministry, to Gethsemane and to human agents to blind minds, oppose Christ and wage renewed temptations. He laid plans with his angels to blind the understanding of the Jews, fill their hearts with envy, jealousy, hatred and unbelief, discourage Jesus, make His life bitter and secure agents to prevent faith, and he prepared during three years for the last fearful struggle where everything was at stake over mastery, the kingdoms of the world and the casting out of Satan, but Jesus did not yield or change His course.
Following Christ's Example
By refusing to presume upon mercy Christ gained the victory in the second temptation on the pinnacle, leaving a perfect pattern that man's only safety in all trials and perils is firm, unwavering trust and confidence in the Father's promised care. The promise that angels would uphold Him lest He strike His foot was true, and He knew the Father could indeed have borne Him up if He had been required to be cast down, yet to throw Himself down unbidden at Satan's dare to prove His claim, show entire dependence, and force a display of saving power would not have shown strength of faith but weakness of human nature. Such an act would have been daring presumption, putting the Father's faithfulness, love and providence to needless trial, experimenting upon them and tempting the Lord God. True faith trusts through danger without demanding a miraculous display, and His refusal shows His people how to resist and overcome Satan, proving that the victory essential to salvation is won not in scenes of gaiety and feasting but in self-denial in a desolate wilderness after real suffering of hunger, with complete victory possible in His name.
He endured that test in created human nature identical with our own, alone with no human voice, weakened by forty days and forty nights of fasting with severe mental suffering under the most fearful assaults of the prince of darkness, without even angelic powers. He was surrounded by Satan and his angels under deceptive pretensions as angels from heaven, with most seducing attractions, wily insinuations, artful sophistry and constant strain upon the mind to undermine confidence in God, destroy faith and trust, and allure Him into controversy as if reading unspoken thoughts. He gave no opening word but met each of the great leading temptations besetting man with only It is written, so that the fiery darts surely aimed found no lodgment, on the very ground where Adam fell, capable as man of being strongly tempted and of yielding, to redeem Adam's disgraceful failure and fall. Through fasting and prayer He resisted every effort to turn Him from obedience, meeting temptation through dependence on His Father with His will fully submitted and never yielded to the enemy.
Those who profess to be God's children are to learn the lessons of His victory from the Word and arm themselves with It is written, for arguments and reasons are of no use against such temptation and the written Word alone repulses Satan. The lessons are to be hung in memory's hall and committed to memory in spare time instead of reading foolish, trifling, lying stories in magazines, so that when beset they can answer as He did, stand on solid immovable rock, baffle the enemy, speak words in season to those around them, and be strengthened thereby. In the wilderness He met the strongest temptations the enemy could bring, enduring temptation a hundredfold stronger than any ever brought upon the race, placed in the sinner's stead yet resisting in the same manner every tempted soul may resist by referring to the inspired record. His victory proved the power of the Word and His power to fulfill His commission to preach the gospel to all nations, showing that failure to reach the field and lack of power on hearts comes not from lack of power in the Word but from disobedience, and that perfected character prepares for transfer to the future immortal life where there will be no danger of being overcome.
Believers are therefore to bear temptation and disputes patiently rather than demand that God display power or call on Him merely to defeat an enemy. Such a demand without a special purpose directly honoring and glorifying Him is presumption, for the proposed display witnessed only by Satan and God's angels would not have glorified the Father but would have yielded to the enemy He came to conquer, before His mission was complete. The second great temptation was presumption, and the promise of protection must not be claimed as permission to rush recklessly into danger, violate the laws of nature, or disregard prudence, reason and judgment. Meditation and prayer help avoid such dangerous choices and avoid giving Satan advantage.
In that temptation Satan's design was to draw minds from Jesus to man and to destroy individual accountability, but with Christ he failed. It was presumptuous boldness and cruel warfare for Satan to bear Christ to the dizzy height, exerting all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus because he saw that the Saviour's mercy and love, compassion and pitying tenderness were representing the character of God to the world. That warfare unmasked the character of the great deceiver, uprooting him from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe and exciting their amazement and indignation.
God promises to give His angels charge to guard and uphold a person in their hands so that harm is kept from him. That protecting care is true, but it is conditional on faith and obedience and holds only in all of God's ways and in the path He chooses. Satan quoted the promise on the pinnacle of the temple to urge Christ to throw Himself down, leaving out its essential condition and twisting true Scripture to invite presumption. Christ would not needlessly imperil Himself to force His Father to intervene or to prove His sonship by display, but met the assault with It is written and refused to tempt the Lord God. By that steadfast refusal He repulsed the tempter, redeemed Adam's failure, and left a perfect pattern that safety is firm trust without presumption.
Promise of Angelic Protection
The verse promises that God gives His angels charge to guard a person and bear that person up in their hands, upholding and protecting from harm so the foot is not dashed against a stone. It was taken up by Satan in the wilderness temptation to urge Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple, turning trust in God into presumption by treating the promise as a guarantee for a needless act. Jesus did not accept that misuse, refusing to put Himself in needless danger to force His Father to intervene, and His refusal showed perfect trust without demanding a display of divine power.
The promise is true and reveals the Father's promised protecting care, and God could indeed have borne Christ up if He had been required to be thrown down. Yet it is given on condition of faith and obedience, including being kept in all God's ways, a condition Satan left out when urging Christ to act outside God's way and use miracle for His own relief. Christ held perfect faith in that care without wavering from integrity, knowing that to cast Himself down unbidden at Satan's dare to prove He was the Son of God and show entire dependence would put the Father's faithfulness, love and providence to a needless trial and experiment upon them. Such an act would not show strength of faith but weakness of human nature, would tempt the Lord God by presumption, and would fail to leave a perfect pattern of firm trust and unwavering confidence in all trials and perils. Those who needlessly put themselves in danger they have chosen cannot expect God to perform a miracle or send angels to rescue them.
The promise applies only in the path of obedience and in all the ways God chooses, and it must not be claimed as excuse or defense for presumption. It does not authorize rushing recklessly into danger, supporting a course God has not required, violating the laws of nature, disregarding prudence and judgment, or disregarding reason. It does not authorize anyone to leave the path of obedience or to demand rescue from danger chosen without God's direction, and Jesus would not put Himself in such a position or force His Father to intervene but showed trust and submission without testing God. Meditation and prayer help people avoid such dangerous choices and situations that give Satan advantage.
Wilderness Temptation Setting
This promise belongs to the account of Christ's wilderness temptation, and many references give no further explanation of it beyond that setting. That temptation followed His baptism and attestation as the beloved Son, when He was led by the Spirit into a desolate wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry. There He faced a threefold test during forty days and nights of fasting and prayer, having first bowed on Jordan's banks to pray for strength to endure conflict with the fallen foe. The trial was borne on behalf of those He came to redeem, redeeming the disgrace of Adam's failure and providing the basis for temperance, while angels watched with intense interest.
This verse belongs to the second temptation on the dizzy pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. Satan, who had power to bear Christ there and to carry Him also to a high mountain, maliciously urged Him to throw Himself down as a supposed test of divine protection. It was presumptuous boldness and cruel warfare for Satan so to bear the world's Redeemer, and that warfare unmasked the great deceiver before loyal angels and the whole loyal universe, exciting their amazement and indignation. The tempter was Satan, once an honored angel in heaven and covering cherub who became ambitious for the honors bestowed on the Son, became envious, claimed equality, drew sympathizing angels into rebellion, and fell and was expelled from heaven with them. He claimed this world as his dominion and staked his power and kingdom and expected retribution on overcoming Christ, so that the destiny and salvation of the human race were at stake and Satan believed success would give him victory over humanity and establish his kingdom.
Satan concealed his real character, coming as an angel of light and a Heaven-sent friend clothed with the livery of Heaven. He came with most seducing attractions, wily insinuations against God, artful sophistry, and flattering inducements of honor, riches and glory, seeking by every means to overcome the Redeemer by offering an easier way than the path of trial and suffering He had entered. He sought to keep the mind on constant strain, to undermine confidence, destroy faith and trust, and to allure Christ from allegiance into controversy as if reading unspoken thoughts, as with Adam and Eve. His temptations succeed with professed followers who are weak in moral power and fascinated by the bribe of apparent good adapted to their circumstances, while under the same specious bewitching influence many obey the worst impulses of the human heart yet believe God is leading them.
In quoting the promise Satan left out the essential condition about being kept in all God's ways. He thereby distorted Scripture to deceive and to divert from appointed work, urging Christ to act outside God's way by using a miracle for His own relief and to escape the necessities of human life by acting for Himself. Christ was kept in God's way, which did not permit such self-relief, and He refused to imperil His life in response to the challenge to prove He was the Son of God.
Twisting Scripture to Tempt
Satan knew the Scriptures and brought forward a true text that seemed appropriate for the occasion, quoting the promise that angels would bear up lest the foot be dashed against a stone in order to urge casting down from the height on the ground of God's promise. He used it to flatter faith shown in the wilderness and then turn perfect faith and trust into presumption, daring Christ to force the Father to display power to save Him from danger. The promise was thus employed to make the tempting act appear safe and good and helpful, as a deceptive misuse of Scripture intended to overthrow through an appearance of goodness that concealed an enemy purpose. Scripture was twisted to disguise temptation as something good, with Satan presenting himself as a Heaven-sent friend rather than an enemy while seeking to deceive into trusting a false appearance of heavenly protection.
Pretending to doubt the divinity and mission of Christ, he demanded a sign of authority and power as proof of sonship. He urged a bold move manifesting divine power to show entire dependence and confidence in the Father, telling Him He had nothing to fear because angels were at hand to uphold Him. The aim was to create a sensation and surprise all by a wonderful display of the Father's preserving power in keeping from injury, appearing in real character and by this masterpiece of power establishing right to the confidence and faith of the people as indeed the Saviour of the world. He refused to imperil His life in response to that challenge to prove sonship by throwing Himself from the temple, answering that God must not be tempted. To have used miraculous power to relieve Himself from difficulty and make a public display to win confidence would have broken the contract to be a probationer in behalf of the race and to live as humanity's representative.
This misuse stood alongside the challenge to turn stone to bread and the offer of the power and splendor and glory of the kingdoms of the earth if He would assent to the superiority of evil and worship Satan. Together they represent appetite, love of the world, and presumption as three leading temptations, including ambition and worldly honor and wealth or earthly advantage for which integrity must not be traded. The episode on the temple pinnacle therefore belongs with the offer of the world's glory in exchange for worship.
Christ held perfect faith in the promised care without wavering from integrity, yet would not yield to sophistry, meeting each assault only with It is written and refusing to argue. He met Satan with Scripture even while suffering and bearing human nature, and the assaults found no lodgment. His answer flashed divinity through humanity and proved Him equal with God, and under that rebuke Satan fled the conflict as a conquered foe, defeated though the temptation need not overcome those who rely on that strength.
True Faith Rejects Presumption
The promise that angels will bear up and guard from striking the foot against a stone does not authorize presumption, deliberately placing oneself in needless peril, or putting God to a needless test to force Him to act. It was misused to urge throwing the body down from the temple and demanding a miraculous rescue, but to cast oneself down when God has not required it is not faith. True confidence trusts through danger without demanding a display of divine power, and refuses to presume upon mercy or test protecting care. Faithful confidence does not demand a miracle to rescue someone from a danger rashly chosen.
To cast Himself down unbidden at Satan's dare on the pinnacle of the temple would have put the Father's faithfulness, love, and providence to needless trial, experimenting upon them and tempting the Lord God. God could indeed have borne Him up if required to throw Himself down, yet doing it to prove His claim to protecting care and to show entire dependence would not have shown strength of faith but weakness of human nature. Satan flattered faith shown in the wilderness and then sought to turn perfect faith and trust into presumption, daring Him to force the Father to display saving power to save Him from danger. Jesus trusted that God would give strength to endure temptation and send an angel to deliver if necessary, but He refused to put Himself in danger to demand rescue.
True faith is firm, unwavering confidence and trust in the Father's promised care in all trials and perils without putting it to needless trial or demanding a miraculous rescue or display of power. God would intervene if His servant were cast down by another, but His servant is not to cast himself down. The refusal to leap shows that protection is not a reason to risk life needlessly before the mission is complete, and gives an example of firm confidence in God. By refusing to presume upon mercy victory was gained in the second temptation, leaving a perfect pattern that man's only safety is in such trust.
To use miraculous power to relieve Himself from difficulty or to win confidence by display would have broken the contract with the Father to be a probationer in behalf of the race and to endure human necessities without acting for Himself. The urging was to make one bold move manifesting divine power, to create a sensation and surprise all by a wonderful display of preserving power from injury, to appear in real character and by this masterpiece establish right to the people's confidence and faith as Saviour. The promise included being kept in all God's ways, which did not permit escaping the necessities of human life by acting for Himself or using a miracle for His own relief outside God's way. Such a display, witnessed only by Satan and God's angels and without a special purpose directly honoring and glorifying God, would not have glorified the Father but would have served Satan. Christians likewise are to bear temptation and disputes patiently rather than call on God to display power merely to defeat an enemy, unless there is a special purpose that directly honors and glorifies Him.
The promise must not be claimed as an excuse to rush recklessly into danger, violate the laws of nature, or disregard prudence, judgment, and reason. God's promises are given on condition of faith and obedience, and those who needlessly put themselves in danger they have chosen cannot expect God to perform a miracle or send angels to rescue them. Meditation and prayer help people avoid such dangerous choices and situations that give Satan an advantage. The second great temptation was presumption.
Victory Won for Humanity
Christ repulsed the arch-enemy in manifold wilderness temptations, resisted every assault, remained steadfast to the plan of redemption, and left Satan prevailing nothing, disappointed, enraged and fled as a conquered foe. That conflict was the same fierce and subtle temptation in which the tempter sought his object by various devices, yet was conquered in his own person. The wilderness trial was an important yet neglected subject bearing on Christian temperance and on Christ's work as Redeemer in carrying out the plan of salvation. It was the foundation of the plan of salvation and of salvation itself, the scene where Christ passed over the ground where Adam fell, endured temptation a hundredfold stronger, redeemed Adam's disgraceful failure by triumph, and decided the destiny of the human race.
His victories were won on behalf of those He came to redeem and on behalf of humanity, by divine power joined with humanity, to break the power of appetite and passion, to give divine grace and strength, to prove He has power to fulfill His commission and to show that people can overcome appetite, stand in moral integrity and conquer sin through Him. Through denying appetite after a long fast He showed temptation can be resisted with divine help, and His victory over appetite, love of the world and presumption as three leading temptations gives strength to people facing temptation. That victory benefits each person only as that person also gains the victory individually, joining weakness to Christ's enduring strength and overcoming in the all-powerful name of the great Conqueror. The same adversary who afflicted Christ remains the adversary of all to the end of time with power not weakened by his failure, all are personally exposed to the very same temptations Christ overcame, and Christ's infinite and priceless victory is meaningless and will not benefit anyone unless he also gains the victory on his own account.
Satan may distress and cause agony but cannot control the will, force anyone to sin, defile the soul without consent, contaminate, or compel action against the Father's will. No one can be overcome without his own consent, and the fact that Christ has conquered should inspire His followers with courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan. After the severe forty-day conflict, when Christ was faint, emaciated, fainting and apparently dying from hunger, fasting and warfare with Satan, angels who had watched the conflict with intense interest and were around Him even when He appeared alone lifted His fainting head and ministered to Him with nourishing food and strength. Their ministry followed His victory and did not lead Him to test God by demanding protection during the temptation, His will remained fully submitted to His Father and never yielded to the enemy, and Satan departed for a time without prevailing. No test so severe will ever be brought upon man as that which the Captain of salvation endured, and there was rejoicing and triumph in heaven that Satan, who deceived heavenly angels and drew a third part of heaven into rebellion, was vanquished at every point by the Prince of Life.
Conquering the prince of darkness and the prince of the power of darkness in the wilderness proved the power by which Jesus later wrested writhing captives from Satan's grasp. The tempter there was the same evil spirit He met in the possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum and in demon-possessed men, though assuming another form, and the conflict at Capernaum was a renewed meeting where to lose ground would be to give Jesus defeat after the wilderness victory. Jesus had already conquered before meeting him again in the synagogue, and that earlier victory shows His authority so He could stand calm and unafraid before demon-possessed men instead of fleeing, again meeting and conquering and delivering those bound by Satan. Satan's defeat did not end his efforts, for he did not give up hope but looked forward to the period of Christ's ministry, to Gethsemane and to human agents to blind minds, oppose Christ and wage renewed temptations. He laid plans with his angels to blind the understanding of the Jews, fill their hearts with envy, jealousy, hatred and unbelief, discourage Jesus, make His life bitter and secure agents to prevent faith, and he prepared during three years for the last fearful struggle where everything was at stake over mastery, the kingdoms of the world and the casting out of Satan, but Jesus did not yield or change His course.
Following Christ's Example
By refusing to presume upon mercy Christ gained the victory in the second temptation on the pinnacle, leaving a perfect pattern that man's only safety in all trials and perils is firm, unwavering trust and confidence in the Father's promised care. The promise that angels would uphold Him lest He strike His foot was true, and He knew the Father could indeed have borne Him up if He had been required to be cast down, yet to throw Himself down unbidden at Satan's dare to prove His claim, show entire dependence, and force a display of saving power would not have shown strength of faith but weakness of human nature. Such an act would have been daring presumption, putting the Father's faithfulness, love and providence to needless trial, experimenting upon them and tempting the Lord God. True faith trusts through danger without demanding a miraculous display, and His refusal shows His people how to resist and overcome Satan, proving that the victory essential to salvation is won not in scenes of gaiety and feasting but in self-denial in a desolate wilderness after real suffering of hunger, with complete victory possible in His name.
He endured that test in created human nature identical with our own, alone with no human voice, weakened by forty days and forty nights of fasting with severe mental suffering under the most fearful assaults of the prince of darkness, without even angelic powers. He was surrounded by Satan and his angels under deceptive pretensions as angels from heaven, with most seducing attractions, wily insinuations, artful sophistry and constant strain upon the mind to undermine confidence in God, destroy faith and trust, and allure Him into controversy as if reading unspoken thoughts. He gave no opening word but met each of the great leading temptations besetting man with only It is written, so that the fiery darts surely aimed found no lodgment, on the very ground where Adam fell, capable as man of being strongly tempted and of yielding, to redeem Adam's disgraceful failure and fall. Through fasting and prayer He resisted every effort to turn Him from obedience, meeting temptation through dependence on His Father with His will fully submitted and never yielded to the enemy.
Those who profess to be God's children are to learn the lessons of His victory from the Word and arm themselves with It is written, for arguments and reasons are of no use against such temptation and the written Word alone repulses Satan. The lessons are to be hung in memory's hall and committed to memory in spare time instead of reading foolish, trifling, lying stories in magazines, so that when beset they can answer as He did, stand on solid immovable rock, baffle the enemy, speak words in season to those around them, and be strengthened thereby. In the wilderness He met the strongest temptations the enemy could bring, enduring temptation a hundredfold stronger than any ever brought upon the race, placed in the sinner's stead yet resisting in the same manner every tempted soul may resist by referring to the inspired record. His victory proved the power of the Word and His power to fulfill His commission to preach the gospel to all nations, showing that failure to reach the field and lack of power on hearts comes not from lack of power in the Word but from disobedience, and that perfected character prepares for transfer to the future immortal life where there will be no danger of being overcome.
Believers are therefore to bear temptation and disputes patiently rather than demand that God display power or call on Him merely to defeat an enemy. Such a demand without a special purpose directly honoring and glorifying Him is presumption, for the proposed display witnessed only by Satan and God's angels would not have glorified the Father but would have yielded to the enemy He came to conquer, before His mission was complete. The second great temptation was presumption, and the promise of protection must not be claimed as permission to rush recklessly into danger, violate the laws of nature, or disregard prudence, reason and judgment. Meditation and prayer help avoid such dangerous choices and avoid giving Satan advantage.
In that temptation Satan's design was to draw minds from Jesus to man and to destroy individual accountability, but with Christ he failed. It was presumptuous boldness and cruel warfare for Satan to bear Christ to the dizzy height, exerting all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus because he saw that the Saviour's mercy and love, compassion and pitying tenderness were representing the character of God to the world. That warfare unmasked the character of the great deceiver, uprooting him from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe and exciting their amazement and indignation.