Introduction
One of the things I really enjoy doing with the ministry the Lord has blessed me with is answering questions of believers and unbelievers alike. The questions people have never cease to amaze me; most I have never even considered myself.
This QFTBOC (Questions from the Body of Christ) series contains articles from the questions I have received and will be in a question-and-response format.
If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.
If I end up using your question, and you would like to have your name and/or place of residence listed on the question in the article, please specify with your submitted question; otherwise, if I use your question, it will be listed as “Anonymous.”
Regardless, I will make every attempt to answer every person’s question(s) in response to the emails I receive. Depending on volume, it may be a little while until you hear back from me, but my intention is to respond to all inquiries.
Other articles in this series are:
QFTBOC: Civil Disobedience and Patriotism
QFTBOC: Memory – Fully Retained or Total Reset?
QFTBOC: Psalm 91, Protection, & God’s Will
QFTBOC: God’s Chastisement of His Children
QFTBOC: What’s Satan’s Problem?
QFTBOC: Can We Know Another’s Salvation?
QFTBOC: Childbirth Purification & Christ
QFTBOC: Biblical Slavery
QFTBOC: Peter & John at the Palace of the High Priest
QFTBOC: Living for Christ in a Dark World
QFTBOC: Family and the Afterlife
QFTBOC: Judgment and Works
QFTBOC: Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel
QFTBOC: Salvation in the Tribulation
QFTBOC: ‘Age of Accountability’
QFTBOC: Why the Eternally Lost?
QFTBOC: “Enoch ‘Walked’ with God”
QFTBOC: Revelation 19:14 – Heavenly Horses
Question
Hi Mark,
What are your thoughts on how Satan “sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them…” – Matthew 4:8
Carl Bridgewater – Louisiana
Response
What a great question, Carl.
We know that angels, holy and fallen, possess immense power, strength, and wisdom, though the wisdom of fallen angels has been corrupted to the point of delusion – and they can, it seems, even control the weather when God allows (Job 1:16, 19, Revelation 7:1 et al.) – but when it comes to the temptation of Christ, it seems that Satan displayed powers we would not normally attribute to him.
Not only will we attempt to examine how Satan was able to show Jesus all the kingdoms of the world (if we even can), but we will also consider Satan taking Christ up to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem as well.
The first item I would like us to observe is the opening statements to all three accounts of Satan’s Temptation of Christ in the synoptic gospels.
The Holy Spirit’s Role
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” – Matthew 4:1
“And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.” – Mark 1:12
(Mark’s account only offers the following statement in verse 13 concerning the temptation of Christ: “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.“)
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…” – Luke 4:1
Matthew says that Jesus was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness,” while Mark says that “immediately the Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness,” and Luke states that “Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost… was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”
Satan’s Temptation of Christ in all three synoptic gospels begins with the Holy Spirit taking a lead role. Messiah’s testing was initiated by the Holy Spirit; Jesus was fully filled with the Holy Spirit; and we can reasonably deduce that the Holy Spirit was intimately involved in some inscrutable way with the events that would transpire. But how?
If anything, just like us who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit after conversion, Jesus surely relied mightily on the Holy Spirit in leading Him in the way He should go. We should remember that we have the power to do the same if we just allow the Spirit to direct our paths and not allow our own wills to get in the way. Jesus undoubtedly had no issue with this, like we tend to, because He was always doing those things the Father wanted Him to do. Our Lord and Savior’s reliance on the Father and Holy Spirit is always our Supreme example.
The Supernatural Epilogue of the Temptation
Just as Satan’s Temptation of Christ was initiated by the Spirit, the conclusion of the temptation also contains a spiritual/supernatural element.
Here is the epilogue in all three accounts:
“Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” – Matthew 4:11
“And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.” – Luke 4:13
“And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.” – Mark 1:13
The spiritual/supernatural element at the conclusion of Satan’s Temptation of Christ reveals that when “the devil had ended all the temptations” and departed, the “angels came and ministered unto Him.” Satan’s Temptation of Christ began with the Holy Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness and closed with the holy angels ministering unto Him.
Satan’s Temptations of Christ
Satan’s Temptation of Christ was both physical and spiritual in nature. When one thinks about it, it would have to be, as the first human couple, Adam and Eve, were both physically and spiritually tempted by the Satanically possessed Serpent. Therefore, Jesus, as the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45-47), must also be tempted physically and spiritually from the same spiritual Tempter as well.
Satan’s Temptation of Christ included three tests, and all three had within them the general components of the same strategy used on Eve in the Garden of Eden – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (Genesis 3:6 and 1 John 2:16). Like Satan’s temptation of Eve, there also seems to be a specific strategy designed for each testing focused upon the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, as we will observe in each temptation.
When it comes to the three temptations of Jesus by the Tempter, we need not examine Satan tempting the Son of God to turn stones into bread, as this is easily understood. Jesus was intensely hungry after 40 days and nights of fasting (Matthew 4:2).
This temptation’s narrative [Matthew 4:2-4 and Luke 4:2-4] seemed to be directed upon the lust of the flesh as Satan challenged the Son of God to turn stones into bread with the purpose of satisfying His great hunger.
We must, however, survey the two mysterious temptations – one of which you alluded to, Carl.
Taking Jesus to The Pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem
This temptation’s narrative [Matthew 4:5-7 and Luke 4:9-12] appeared to center on the pride of life by intentionally daring Jesus to confirm His Sonship by casting Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple and having His holy angels catch Him before hitting the ground, though Satan misquoted Messianic Psalm 91:11-12 by omitting “to keep thee in all thy ways.”
Here is the mysterious portion of this testing.
“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple…” – Matthew 4:5
“And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple…” – Luke 4:9
As human beings, we tend to read the Scriptures through the lens of our own physical experiences and limitations, even when the subject matter is of a supernatural narrative. This is just how we are hardwired, and let us be honest here, we really do not understand the supernatural.
However, in our awareness that the Holy Spirit was highly influential and actively involved in Messiah’s experience, as Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, we should also be reminded that Satan is a spirit being. Therefore, keeping in mind that Satan and Jesus were in the wilderness at this time, and that “the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,” the entire narrative might best be explained in supernatural terms.
When it comes to Satan taking the Lord to Jerusalem and “setting him on a pinnacle of the Temple,” I immediately think of Ezekiel’s experience in Ezekiel chapters 8-11. This is when the Lord took Ezekiel from his house in Babylonian exile to the Temple in Jerusalem to witness the abominations the people, Priests, and leaders were committing there, as well as the slow departure of the glory of God from the Temple and eventually Jerusalem. Ezekiel was even allowed to see angels working on behalf of the Lord.
Ezekiel saw “a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem…” (Ezekiel 8:2-3).
Ezekiel says that this individual (probably a theophany of a pre-incarnate Christ) “put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem.” Ezekiel, no doubt, was very perplexed by this encounter, but he knew that the Spirit was involved, and he attributed his experience in the only way he could, to “the visions of God.”
I can think of no other way anyone would be able to explain something of that magnitude. Paul expressed similar thoughts when it came to his visiting Paradise in the Third Heaven.
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth); such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth); How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” – 2 Corinthians 12:2-4
I suspect that these experiences of Ezekiel and Paul would be similar in nature to Satan’s Temptation of Christ.
In reading this narrative, I think it is entirely logical and perfectly Scriptural to surmise that when Satan brought the Lord to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the Temple, this was clearly supernatural in nature and unseen by the physical world and human senses to those who were in Jerusalem at this time, just as Ezekiel’s experience was. Though no human being witnessed this event, it did occur just as the Scriptures declare; when it happened, where it happened, and as it happened.
I have heard the contrast between the natural and the supernatural in the following paraphrased way: The supernatural, spiritual world that is invisible to us mortals, is infinitely more “real” than the material, natural world that we are confined to. Both coexist together in some mysterious way, with one being temporal and visible to the physical eyes of man, and the other eternal and invisible to mortal perception, unless God deems it essential in His plans to intervene by allowing the supernatural to be revealed as He has done many times throughout human history.
At many points during the Tribulation, the supernatural will become the norm – and terrifyingly so!
The Showing of Jesus the Kingdoms of the World and Their Glory
This temptation’s narrative [Matthew 4:8-10 and Luke 4:5-8] seemed primarily aimed at testing the lust of the eyes by Messiah’s immediate inheritance of the promised kingdoms of the world that Jesus saw – apart from, and in conflict with, God’s divine design – by worshiping Satan.
As mentioned above, however, we do tend to see all three qualities of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life within each temptation.
Here are the two accounts in Matthew and Luke, and the crux of our investigation:
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:8-9
“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” – Luke 4:5-7
What exactly is meant by “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them“?
The answer would partly seem to lie with time – past, present, and/or future.
Did Satan show Jesus past kingdoms and their glory, present kingdoms and their glory, or future kingdoms and their glory?
If Satan was the sole power behind this revelation, I would think we can rule out future kingdoms and their glory, as Satan is not omniscient. The same principle would apparently apply to past kingdoms and their glory, as Satan would have to travel back in time and project those kingdoms forward. This would also negate the possibility that Satan alone would have the means to reveal Jesus all kingdoms and their glory – past, present, and future – “in a moment of time.”
I suppose that most who have thought upon this narrative would suggest that the kingdoms that were present and visible from this unnamed “high mountain” would be “all the kingdoms of the world” that Satan showed Jesus “in a moment of time,” yet the text does not seem to afford this supposition justice.
Therefore, we shall offer some conjectures on how this may have been accomplished below, but we must keep in remembrance that God never tells us in His Word how Satan was able to show Jesus these kingdoms and their glory “in a moment of time.”
How Did Satan Show the Son of God All the Kingdoms of the World in a Moment of Time?
I am going to combine both Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts into one rendering, to help give us a fuller understanding of the narrative. Here is what that combined passage might look like:
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time. And the devil said unto him, All this power and all these things and the glory of them will I give thee – for that is delivered unto me – if thou wilt fall down and worship me, all shall be thine.”
After considering your question, Carl, I have come up with two suppositions for us to at least consider.
God’s Allowance
A simple answer to our question is that God allowed Satan to show Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time – past, present, and future. Of course, this power of presenting past kingdoms, present kingdoms, and knowing all the future kingdoms before they occurred would have to be supplied by God Himself. God would have provided the knowledge and the means for Satan to show those kingdoms to the Son of God at that time, with some kind of veil upon Satan as to what those future kingdoms would look like.
Satan could have approached God the Father and asked God to allow him to show Jesus the kingdoms of the world – past, present, and future – in order to tempt Christ sufficiently. As noted, this would be solely the Father’s knowledge and power alone that God allowed Satan to use on this one special occasion.
And honestly, this answer would suffice. As we know, God allowed Satan to brutally test Job when Satan petitioned God to allow him to do so – and at times He certainly allows the same when He chastises His children today. So this testing of the Son of God, by allowing the Enemy a certain amount of spiritual leeway utilizing God the Father’s own powers and abilities for the testing, would make sense.
However, after spending some time in thought on this subject, I do believe we have another alternative that should at least be considered as a possibility, with the already emphasized caveat that we really do not know how this went down because we are never told. And maybe – just maybe – it really is as simple as God allowing Satan to accomplish this feat, strictly by God’s omniscience and power, relegated briefly with limitations to Satan in order to test His Son on that unique occasion.
The Power of Suggestion on the Mind of Messiah
Just as Satan, through the power of suggestion, tempted Christ to turn stones into bread – something that seemingly would not have come into Messiah’s mind – might Satan, through the power of suggestion, have influenced the divine Son of God to see the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time by His own omniscience?
The text says that Satan “sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time,” but it does not say how Satan showed Jesus those kingdoms. Could Satan have said something to the Messiah that is not recorded for us in Scripture? Something as simple as, “You are the eternal Son of God. Open Your spiritual divine eyes and see all the kingdoms of the world, past, present, and future. All of these will I give you if you just worship me.”
Interestingly, the Greek word for “sheweth” is δείκνυσιν “deiknysin” – from 1166 δείκνυμι “deiknumi” – and this Greek word, “deiknysin,” is used only one other time in the following passage.
“For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth [deiknysin] him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.” – John 5:20
Just as the Father “sheweth [Jesus] all things that Himself doeth, and He will shew Him greater works than these,” so did Satan “sheweth [Jesus] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time.” There seems to be a very real spiritual component conveyed in this Greek word’s usage in the only two citations within the Brit Chadashah where the word occurs.
If this occurred, by Satan’s suggestion through a declarative statement (again, not recorded in Scripture, but is a supposition on my part), the Son of God would have seen, in His omniscient divine mind’s eye, all the kingdoms that would come upon the world in a moment of time. After all, who, other than the Creator Himself, could know and see “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time“?
A variation on this thought is that as Satan showed the present kingdoms of the world atop this exceedingly high unnamed mountain, Jesus, as the Son of God, would see all of the kingdoms of the world – past, present, and future – flash before His divine eyes in a moment in time when Satan made his proposition.
As Creator, the Son of God knew everything that he would ever create – including not only everything that would transpire in created history, but intimately knew every created angelic being and human being, with their innermost thoughts, choices, and motivations in each of their lives – before He ever began to create.
This as well, it would seem, would not have been something that would have come into the mind of Jesus at this time, apart from the influence of Satan, as He was wholly and solely dedicated to the mission His Father had sent Him to accomplish. Therefore, by Satan’s power of suggestion and his proposition, Satan was the one who inspired and instigated Jesus, as the all-knowing Creator, in seeing “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.”
Conclusion
Along with the physical, there was certainly a spiritual/supernatural component to our Lord’s testing that us mortals cannot fully wrap our minds around.
Thanks be to God, our Lord passed His test with flying colors on our behalf, always citing the Word of God in response to Satan’s schemes. And therein lies a lesson all believers can learn from Satan’s Temptation of Christ: God’s children should always be found victorious, as we are armed with the “whole armour of God” and “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” so that we “may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13-17), just as our mighty Lord and Savior demonstrated for us, for Christ is our example (1 Peter 2:21).
So, in conclusion, we have really come up with three possibilities.
- Satan’s Own Power: Satan would have more power than what we might reasonably assume that he has; a power that we would generally reserve for God alone. I have a difficult time with this one, and personally think it should be abandoned as a viable option.
- God’s Allowance: God gave Satan the means to carry out this particular temptation – a power and knowledge that Satan does not possess – all under the Father’s total control, with a supernatural veil upon Satan, for this unique occasion in order to test His Son.
- The Power of Suggestion: Satan, through the power of suggestion – which, if it occurred, is not recorded for us in Scripture – was the one to have initiated and instigated the eternal Son of God to see the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time. Similarly, along these same lines, by merely showing Jesus the present kingdoms of the world from atop the exceedingly high unnamed mountain, Jesus saw in His divine eye all the kingdoms of the world – past, present, and future – at Satan’s instigation.
There could, of course, be another explanation that we have not considered, which would not surprise me in the least.
As with many great questions, Carl, we are left with no choice but to offer possibilities on what might have happened, as we just are not given enough information to many of the pressing questions we often have when reading the Scriptures.
Why does God not give us all the answers to so many questions we have when reading the Scriptures? I have no idea. But whatever the reasons, we can rest assured that God’s omissions will always have great explanations behind them! Maybe it is because the Lord aspires for us to reason within our God-given intellects by utilizing common sense and rational thought, exercises that are certainly beneficial for the student of the Word. Or it may be as simple as our human minds are just not able to fully comprehend many supernatural and spiritual truths this side of heaven.
In the end, we just do not know how Satan was able to show Messiah the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and all that that entailed. This would just be another question of a litany of others that we will have for our Lord and Savior, all of which I am quite certain He will take the time to answer in the future. Something we can all look forward to.
Again, Carl, you came up with another fantastic question. Keep up the great work for our Lord and Savior, my friend.
***
May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?”
Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!
➢ Email: mab10666@yahoo.com – I would love to hear from you!
➢ If you have not given your life to Jesus Christ and are seeking answers about God, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and salvation, please email me at mab10666@yahoo.com for information.
➢ I am still taking questions for the Questions from the Body of Christ series. If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.
➢ To view my entire catalogue of articles, please visit my Home Page on FaithWriters.com.