The 3 Temptations of Yeshuah

Mat 4:1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Mat 4:2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Mat 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Mat 4:4 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.'"

Mat 4:5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

Mat 4:6 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.'"

Mat 4:7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

Mat 4:9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

Mat 4:10 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.'"

Mat 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

The three temptations of Yeshuah, Jesus, we’ve read them, now let’s take a closer look at them.

Jesus was just baptized by His cousin, John in chapter 3. The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus like a dove, and the Father was pleased. Jesus was acting out His death, burial and resurrection by being baptized. Now, Matthew 4 verse 1.

Mat 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Luke says in Luke_4:1 that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit;” and it was by Holt Spirits influence, therefore, that He went into the desert to be tempted. Mark 1:12 says He was driven by the Spirit, a phrase that indicates a sudden and forcible impulsion. The first act of the ministry of Jesus Christ was a combat with Satan.

Many people say that Jesus was never really tempted; after all He is the Son of God. If that is true then the scriptures are false, because it says He was tempted by the devil. He had to be tempted to show, that if can overcome, and then, we also can overcome. Yeshuah Jesus is fully God, and He is fully man.

Mat 4:2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Can we say understandably?

Moses and Elijah each fasted for the same length of time. It was a period of spiritual exaltation, of meditation and prayer, of preparation for his work. At the close of His fasting He then felt the hunger. Evidently this was a complete fast. There are some fasts that exclude certain foods, or allow a person to drink water, but not this. This was an absolute fast; no food and no water.

First Temptation: Satisfying the lust of the flesh.

Back in Genesis 3 Satan used the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to tempt Eve to satisfy her lust for knowledge and power.

Mat 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Mat 4:4 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.'"

Matthew 4:3 in the Analytical-Literal Translation it reads,

Mat 4:3 And having approached Him, the Tempter said, "Since You are God's Son, speak, so that these stones shall become loaves of bread."

The Greek word for “if” is “εἰ”, ei, which means; forasmuch as, if, and since.

Satan was not questioning Jesus deity; Satan was with Yeshuah in eternity. Satan wanted the place of Yeshuah and wanted His worship. Now, he wanted Jesus to selfishly use His power to satisfy His hunger, to satisfy the needs of the flesh, instead of the needs of the spirit. Yeshuah responded with His very own words that He gave Moses to say from the Torah. This is an example of how we should combat evil, with the Word of God.

Deu 8:3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Second Temptation: The pride of life.

Mat 4:5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

Mat 4:7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

In the second temptation, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. The devil then tells Jesus to cast himself down, for the angels will save Him. Jesus said to the devil,

Mat 4:7 Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Jesus said to the devil, “It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Jesus declares to the devil that He is God; He is even Satan’s God. Jesus said in effect, “Do not tempt Me, I AM your God.”

Let’s look at Matthew 4:7 in Hebrew.

Mat 4:7 ויאמר אליו ישוע ועוד כתוב לא תנסה את יהוה אלהיך׃

Yahshua (Jesus) ישוע
Aleph and Tav את (Aleph and Tav, the Beginning and the End, the Strength of the Cross, Power of the Covenant, Alpha and Omega)
YHWH (LORD) יהוה
Elohim (God as Trinity) אלהיך

Matthew 4:7 with meanings; ישוע Yahshua said unto him, It is written again, You shall not tempt את (Aleph and Tav, the Beginning and the End, the Strength of the Cross, Power of the Covenant, Alpha and Omega) יהוה (YHWH the LORD) אלהיך (Elohim, God as Trinity).

You see later Yeshuah Jesus says to Phillip and the disciples . . . let’s start with the question.

John 14:8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."

John 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

John 14:10"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

So, He is declaring to the Devil; I Am the Aleph and the Tav, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega. I AM YHWH the LORD and I AM Elohim part of the Trinity. Not only does the Holy Spirit dwell in Jesus, but the Father also.

Here’s a question, Who raised Jesus from the grave? Let’s go to Romans 6.

Rom 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

This says the Father raised Yeshuah Jesus from the dead. Now, lets’ go to John chapter 2.

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

John 2:20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"

John 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

Here Jesus says, He will raise Himself from the dead. Well, He did, and the Father did. Jesus and the Father are ONE. Amazing!

Third Temptation: Lust of the eyes.

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

Mat 4:9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

Mat 4:10 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.'"

Mat 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

This last temptation the devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and says, “Worship me and all this I will give to you.” This is a revealing insight into Satan’s heart; worship and recognition are far more precious to him than the possession of the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

Let’s read Luke’s account.

Luke 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Luke 4:6 And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Luke 4:7 "Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."

Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"

Luke adds in verse 5, “in a moment of time.” Indicating that in a matter of just a few short moments Jesus saw every kingdom of the world, possibly even future worldly kingdoms to come. And the Devil said they were his to give. What is interesting is that Yeshuah Jesus never questioned Satan’s claim of ownership of the kingdoms of the world, because, for right now he does own them. The earth was handed over to the Devil when Adam and Eve took the fruit and ate it. But, in Revelation Yeshuah will take the title deed and open its seals and reclaim the earth.

Mat 4:10 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.'"

Jesus said to the devil, “Get away from Me, Satan: for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” Jesus is declaring to Satan again that He is Lord and one day Satan himself will declare Jesus is Lord.

These temptations could not have been genuine unless;

HaShem Yeshuah HaMoshiach, The Name Jesus The Messiah had become man. With that came the need for bodily nourishment. And with that comes emotion and fatigue.
Satan had to know the Scriptures . . . and he does.
Satan did have possession of the worldly kingdoms and could give them to whomever he wished.

The three temptations are;

The lust of the flesh;
The pride of life
The lust of the eyes

Let’s quickly look at Genesis 3:6

Gen 3:6 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.

The tree was good for food. The lust of the flesh.
Pleasant to the eyes. The lust of the eyes.
Desirable to make one wise. The pride of life.

Satan uses the same method every time.