Jesus' third temptation

[schoel]

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
Matthew 4:8-10

What was in view regarding "...the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur"?
Is kingdom synonymous with governments?
How is it that Satan could tempt Jesus with the gift of the kingdoms (governments) of the world?
Is Satan the master of the governments of the world?
If Satan is not the master of the kingdoms of the world, why didn't Jesus correct him on that point?


Please share your thoughts.

[mattrose]

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
Matthew 4:8-10

1. What was in view regarding "...the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur"?
2. Is kingdom synonymous with governments?
3. How is it that Satan could tempt Jesus with the gift of the kingdoms (governments) of the world?
4. Is Satan the master of the governments of the world?
5. If Satan is not the master of the kingdoms of the world, why didn't Jesus correct him on that point?

Please share your thoughts.

1 & 2... I would think the phrase is fairly all inclusive... governments, institutions, etc.
3 & 4 & 5... The Bible itself speaks of Satan in such terms

Satan is called the prince of the world (John 12:31)
Satan is called the God of the world (2 Cor. 4:4)
Satan is called the ruler of the world (Ephesians 2:2)
Satan is called the controller of the world (1 John 5:19)

In my opinion, Satan did indeed have the kingdoms of the world to offer to Jesus. He offered them to Jesus as instant gratification. But the Father's plan was to start a new kingdom within those kingdoms that would slowly but surely bring heaven to earth. Jesus chose to do it God's way, the way of sacrifice. If Jesus had taken Satan's offer, he would have had the kingdoms, but he would have been a devil.

[steve7150]

again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.










Perhaps Satan got the dominion Adam was meant to have through the deception of Eve and he is indeed the "god of this age", 2nd Cor 4.4

The grandeur may represent the wealth of this world which seems to be in Satan's hands.

[schoel]

1 & 2... I would think the phrase is fairly all inclusive... governments, institutions, etc.
3 & 4 & 5... The Bible itself speaks of Satan in such terms

Satan is called the prince of the world (John 12:31)
Satan is called the God of the world (2 Cor. 4:4)
Satan is called the ruler of the world (Ephesians 2:2)
Satan is called the controller of the world (1 John 5:19)

In my opinion, Satan did indeed have the kingdoms of the world to offer to Jesus. He offered them to Jesus as instant gratification. But the Father's plan was to start a new kingdom within those kingdoms that would slowly but surely bring heaven to earth. Jesus chose to do it God's way, the way of sacrifice. If Jesus had taken Satan's offer, he would have had the kingdoms, but he would have been a devil.

I have the same sentiments and to me, this leads to a couple other questions:

A) If Satan is the actual master of the world's governments, does this mean that the idea of a political state and its actions are intrinsically evil?

B) Do the followers of Jesus face the same temptation as did Jesus when we place any acceptance, faith or hope in the political state? Could we use an evil institution that has Satan as its master to accomplish good?

Your thoughts please...

[TK]

I tend to agree with steve7150 that when he sinned man ceded his dominion over the earth to satan.

However I am not sure how to square this with Rom. 13:1--

"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."

It does seem that when satan tempted Jesus, it was in his power to give what he tempted him with- so again not sure how this can be reconciled with the above verse.

TK

[mattrose]

God has set up a number of institutions to help us in this fallen world. Such institutions would have been unnecessary without The Fall, and will be rendered unnecessary after Judgment Day. Government is one such institution. I follow John Howard Yoder in interpreting Romans 13:1 to mean that God has ordained the idea of government for this fallen period. It is better, for us, to have structure than anarchy.

That being said, one of Satan's main strategies in the world is to inhabit morally neutral structures and corrupt them by having his people in positions of power. Even good men and women may be corrupted by the systemic evil Satan is willing to build into the system through the years.

So I reconcile God's establishment of governmental authority and Satan's corruption of those institutions basically by agreeing with both realities and living in the tension they produce! This renders political involvement, in response to Schoel, possible but dangerous.

[Paidion]

How is it that Satan could tempt Jesus with the gift of the kingdoms (governments) of the world? Is Satan the master of the governments of the world? If Satan is not the master of the kingdoms of the world, why didn't Jesus correct him on that point?

No, Satan (the Adversary) is not master of the governments or kingdoms of the word. In his arrogance, this fallen angel (as I believe him to be) wanted to “be like the most high”, not in character, but in power and authority. He became self-deceived in his vain imagination that he ruled the world. May none of us be deceived along with him in this opinion!

Jesus did nothing to disillusion Satan because He knew Satan, in his arrogance, was not amenable to correction.

Now Matt thinks that the Bible teaches otherwise. He posted the following:

Satan is called the prince of the world (John 12:31)
Satan is called the God of the world (2 Cor. 4:4)
Satan is called the ruler of the world (Ephesians 2:2)
Satan is called the controller of the world (1 John 5:19)

Let's examine these scriptures — the last two first:

First, it is not clear that John in 1 John 5:19 is even talking about Satan. The King James renders it:

and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

But because of the article before “wicked”, it could be translated “the wicked one” and be a reference to Satan. In that case it would read:

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the wicked one. (1 John 5:19)

But does “lie in the wicked one” imply that the wicked one CONTROLS the world? I don't think so. It may mean only that the wicked one has a strong influence on the world. As the NKJV puts it:

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

Is it not feasible to be under the sway of someone without being controlled by that person?

Ephesians 2:2 speaks of “the leader of the authority of the air.” This may be Satan all right. But whatever being “the leader of the authority of the air” means, I don't think it is reasonable to conclude that it means “the ruler of the world.” A possible meaning is that there is demonic activity all over the world (“in the air”) and that Satan is the leader of this activity.

John 12:31 states “...now shall the ruler of this kosmos be cast out.” No doubt this “ruler” is Satan. The Greek word “kosmos” means “an orderly arrangement.” The world systems of government are orderly arrangements (or maybe sometimes disorderly arrangements). Again Satan's “rule” over the kosmos may indicate his rule over the demonic influences of the world order.

Satan is called the God of the world (2 Cor. 4:4)

Matt you say that pretty definitely. But Irenæus thought otherwise. He believed that the referent “of this world” modified “them” rather than “God.” He said that Paul actually meant, “In whom God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world.” He said, “From many other instances also, we may discover that the apostle frequently uses a transposed order in his sentences, due to the rapidity of his discourses, and the impetus of the Spirit which is in him.”

He gives another example with which, I am sure, everyone would agree.

... and then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall annul by the appearing of His coming; whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power and signs and wonders of falsehood. (2 Thess 2: 8,9 Darby)

As the sentence stands, it appears that the coming of of the Lord Jesus is according to the working of Satan.

However, most translators remove the possibility of so understanding the sentence by inserting words such as “even him” before the words “whose coming is according to the working of Satan.”

Irenæus states that the same “transposed order” also occurs in 2 Cor. 4:4. You can read Irenæus' explanation in Against Heresies, Book 3, Chap. VII.

But would God blind people's eyes? The apostle John indicates so. He quotes Isaiah who said:

He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and turn for me to heal them. (John 12:40)