A feast is made for laughter,
\nwine makes life merry,
\nand money is the answer for everything<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\tIt seemed perfect for my purposes: ludicrous , devoid of context, and funny. People were appalled, but had difficulty criticizing my choice since it was, after all, from the Bible. And how can one criticize the Bible?<\/p>\n
\tSatan has read and studied the Bible. He can quote it. Satan\u2019s use of scripture in some ways may be similar to what I did with that passage. <\/p>\n
\tIn the story of Satan\u2019s temptation of Jesus in Matthew and Luke, we find Satan easily quoting a passage from the Bible at Jesus. What does his use of Scripture there\u2014and Jesus\u2019 responses, using the Bible in retaliation\u2014tell us about Satan\u2019s beliefs about the word of God\u2014and his understanding of it?<\/p>\n
The lone quotation that Satan makes from the Bible is recorded in both Matthew and Luke (Matthew 4:5-6 and Luke 4:10-11). He quotes from Psalm 91:11-12. He does so based on his understanding of it as part of a messianic psalm. That is, like most scholars of Jesus’ day, Satan understands it as a promise given to God\u2019s Son in his incarnation as the Messiah. That’s why Satan begins the temptation as a demand for proof, \u201cif you are the son of God,\u201d before issuing the challenge that he toss himself off the temple and demonstrate that fact.<\/p>\n
According to the Gospel of John (John 8:42-44), Jesus describes the Pharisees as being the children of Satan in their beliefs and practices. <\/p>\n
\tSo how did the Pharisees interpret the Bible? Consider their conclusions about the Messiah: who he would be, where he would come from, and how he would act. They had created a well-developed character study. They’d made a list of things that he must do and ways he must behave. He would be a stickler for the Law. He would condemn sinners. He would rail against the Roman government.<\/p>\n
\tBy their estimation, Jesus failed to live up to what they had decided they knew was necessary for someone to be the genuine savior of Israel. He was loose about keeping the Sabbath. He spent time with disreputable people. He was not overtly political.<\/p>\n
\tBased on their list, Jesus did not match their requirements and so they concluded what was only obvious to them: that he could not be the Messiah. Because Jesus could not be who he claimed to be, they had to find alternative explanations for those things in his performance that otherwise would seem to confirm his identity. Miracles were explained away as the works of Satan. What else could they be, since Jesus’ actions contradicted parts of their list? They could not imagine the possibility that their criteria was off in any way. They never considered the possibility that they had misunderstood something. They were certain that what they had decided about the Bible’s meaning was identical to what the Bible actually meant. <\/p>\n
\tWhen Jesus preached, \u201cyou have heard it said, but I say to you\u201d they did not hear Jesus correcting their misreading of Scripture. Rather, they heard Jesus contradicting Scripture. In their minds, they knew what the Bible said and what Jesus was saying was different from what they knew it said. Pharisees took the Bible seriously. They were committed to the Bible. The Bible was the word of God and must be obeyed without fail.<\/p>\n
\tSatan takes the Bible just as seriously. When he quoted the Bible to Jesus he believed that he was making a powerful argument. If Jesus really were the son of God, then he would not be able to resist the Bible\u2014the very word of God\u2014and would be forced to obey it. <\/p>\n
\tSo when he told Jesus to jump off the temple, the Devil had every reason to expect that Jesus would have no choice but to do just that. He was doubtless surprised when Jesus said no and forced Satan to consider an entirely different way of understanding the verses. Satan had taken the passage in Psalms as a blanket promise or even a command. He hadn\u2019t considered the possibility that it couldn’t be used as a blank check against God’s account.<\/p>\n
\tSatan is not infallible as a biblical scholar. His own biases get in his way as much as they did for the Pharisees\u2014or if we\u2019re honest, with us. But Satan, like most Christians and like the Pharisees, believes the Bible and accepts it as the Word of God. He views it as authoritative. He is certain that if he can demonstrate something biblically, he has proven something, and that it cannot be argued against. This belief is also clear from the fact that Jesus, in responding to each of Satan’s temptations, quotes the Bible at Satan, because Jesus knows that Satan believes the Bible and accepts it as valid, truthful, and an authority that must be accepted. When Jesus responded to Satan’s temptations with Scripture, Satan accepted the responses and backed down.<\/p>\n
\tSo we can be confident that Satan believes the Bible and studies it. He wants to figure out just what it says. However, Satan approaches it counter to something Paul says about the spirit of the law verses the letter of the law (see 2 Corinthians 3:6, Romans 2:29, 7:6). The Pharisees\u2014along with those who think like them today\u2014approach the Bible much as a lawyer might approach a deposition or the statements of a witness. They want the list that will tell them what to do in all eventualities; they want the rules laid out so they know what they can’t do, and so they can figure out what they can do without violating any of the other rules. Satan thinks like a lawyer–or an engineer. <\/p>\n
\tThe essence of this sort of approach to the Bible, with its focus on discovering the rules, is that such readers get locked into thinking about rules rather than on what’s right. They forget that Jesus and Paul argue that the law\u2014all laws\u2014can be summed up by “love your neighbor as yourself” (see Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14). If one focuses on what’s best for others, remarkably one doesn’t have an inclination to harm them. Love fulfills all rules.<\/p>\n
\tBut of course Satan doesn’t see that, can’t imagine it matters, and thus misses the whole point of the Bible in his obsession with what he thinks are the rules and regulations.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/plugins\/send-to-kindle\/media\/white-15.png\")
Send to Kindle<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Satan believes the Bible is the word of God. He agrees with the bumper sticker, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me.” A popular pursuit in my high school days was hunting through the Bible … Continue reading