The First Temptation

 

A new article at The Home Maker's Corner:

There was a video I saw recently on Facebook about fitness and food. The woman who posted it was obviously obsessed with fitness and was mixing up physical and spiritual things. She used a couple of audio clips, which I had heard somewhere before and it really struck me this time. The man talking (who is not identified) says that Satan's greatest weapon of mass destruction is food. He continues that, "The very first temptation in the history of the world was a food temptation. The very first temptation of Christ was a food temptation." He goes on to state that the children of Israel went down into Egypt and were slaves there for 400 years because they were looking for food. He then quotes 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (Which doesn't really prove a lot in relation to these claims. Also, he was quoting a modern translation of the Bible.)

So, let's just see what the King James Bible actually says. We'll start in Genesis even though that wasn't the first temptation in all of history.

The Garden of Eden

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I Understand

Hast thou been hungry, child of mine?

I, too, have needed bread;

For forty days I tasted naught

Till by the angels fed.

Hast thou been thirsty? On the cross

I suffered thirst for thee!

I've promised to supply thy need,

My child, come unto me.

Perhaps thy way is weary oft,

Thy feet grow tired and lame;

I wearied when I reached the well,

I suffered just the same;

And when I bore the heavy cross

I fainted 'neath the load;

And so I've promised rest to all

Who walk the weary road.

Doth Satan sometimes buffet thee,

And tempt thy soul to sin?

Do faith and hope and love grow weak,

And doubts and fears within?

Remember I was tempted thrice.

By this same foe of thine;

But he could not resist the Word,

Nor conquer power divine.

When thou art sad and tears fall fast

My heart goes out to thee,

For I wept o'er Jerusalem--

The place so dear to me:

And when I came to Lazarus' tomb

I wept--my heart was sore;

I'll comfort thee when thou dost weep,

Till sorrows all are o'er.

Susan C. Umlauf

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Forgiven - Updated Article

 

I have been working on a couple other projects that are rather intense and not finished. This is an article I wrote years ago and updated a couple times. The most recent update was this month. It is a subject that is good to repeat because we are so needy of God's forgiveness and also so tempted to doubt that He has given it.

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1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:7 ...wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Simple Confession and Godlike Forgiveness

In 2 Samuel chapter 11 we read the ugly story of David's sin. The sweet psalmist, prophet, and king who was called a man after God's own heart by the Lord Himself (1 Sam. 13:14) proved what Jeremiah, the wise prophet, later declared. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 Not only did David descend to the folly of adultery, but he followed it up with murder.

God sent Nathan, the faithful prophet who loved David, to tell the king to his face that he was wicked. The parable was given. The king condemned himself in judging the selfish rich man worthy of death. Nathan spoke the judgment of the Lord clearly, Thou art the man...Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 2 Samuel 12:7 and 9. He then continues to describe the consequences that this sin will bring upon David and his family.

What follows would hardly qualify as a great revival among most professing Bible believers and Baptists. The Bible does not tell us that David went up to the altar to weep and pray. He did not even fall on his face before God and Nathan and beg for mercy. Instead we are told in 2 Samuel 12:13, And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

The simplicity of it is almost shocking to minds that have been nurtured in the idea that only with great wrestlings, tears, and lamentations can we gain forgiveness from God. Yet, there it stands. Direct, plain, and with no frills. David said "I have sinned against the LORD," and immediately God not only put away his sin, but delivered him and Bathsheba both from the death penalty (see Lev. 20:10). Dear friends in Jesus, if we can grasp this thought what liberty in Christ we might enjoy!

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