Not By Bread Alone

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."
--- Heb 4:15

The Word of God is full of comparisons and contrasts. One of my favorites is Genesis 3 vs. Matthew 4. In Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament we are given an example of what happens when we have no knowledge of the Word of God. In Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, we are given an example of what happens when we do have knowledge of the Word of God. God puts these comparisons and contrasts in His Word as real world examples for us to see the difference in the right and wrong way to approach situations.

Throughout human history, God has always revealed Himself to us in some form. In Genesis they obviously did not have the written Word as we have it today, but God literally spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden. Different form of revelation, but the same principle. The Word of God is always the same. Back in chapter 2 of Genesis, God gave Adam specific instructions, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you do eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17 NKJ). Though Adam did not have this command from God in written form, it was still just as valid as the commands we have today in the complete canon of scripture. Now Eve was not created until after God gave Adam this command, but there is no question that she was taught it.

We all know the story. When Satan comes to tempt Eve in chapter 3, he asks Eve if God really said they could not eat from any of the trees in the garden. In verse 2-3, Eve answers with "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'you shall not eat it, nor touch it, lest you die." Go back and read what God said. See the difference? At this point Eve is in serious trouble. Satan knows he has her because he can see that Eve does not take the Word of God seriously. Though she has not yet eaten of the fruit, the battle is already over. Any good lawyer knows how to examine a witness for weaknesses, and if that weakness is uncovered the witness is finished. From then on it's just a matter of time and torture for the witness. If the witness has no weaknesses, there is nothing the lawyer can do about it. Once Satan found Eve's weakness (ie. her lack of knowledge of God's Word), she was finished. Satan had her on cross-exam and the jury was snickering at her. Genesis 3 is Exhibit A of "how to fail in the Christian Way of Life."

Now look at Matthew 4. Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan. When Satan comes, he tempts Jesus 3 times. Each time Jesus responds by quoting scripture from the book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Eve, Jesus is on top of His game. He is ready for the toughest cross-exam the world has ever seen. Satan comes at him with all he's got, but Jesus never breaks a sweat and calmly rebuts everything Satan throws at Him. There is nothing Satan can do because Jesus has the Word of God mastered. Jesus never allows Satan any room to work with because He is prepared. Jesus knows the only way He can resist Satan is by clinging to the Word of God that He had memorized. Matthew 4 is Exhibit A of "how to succeed in the Christian Way of Life."

When Jesus made the choice to leave heaven and "tabernacle" among us, He also chose to abide by the limitations of the human realm. Jesus had to study and learn scripture just as we do. He spent 30 years of his life preparing for 3 years of ministry. What was He doing all this time? Luke 1:52 tell us that He "increased in wisdom." He was studying God's Word. Why do we think we can withstand the assaults from Satan without having adequate knowledge of God's Word? The bottom line is we can't and we won't. Jesus has 1934 verses of statements attributed to Him in the New Testament. Of these 1934, 159 of them are direct quotes from the Old Testament. That's a little over 8%. Now that may not sound like a lot, but think about how many times during the day you quote scripture. Think about all communication you have at home, at work, at the grocery store, etc. Now how much of that is scripture? I don't mean how many times do you bring up a doctrinal point or a principle relating to the Word of God. I mean how many times do you actually quote, verbatim, a verse of scripture? Could you defend your faith by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy? How about Leviticus or Hosea? Jesus could and did. He lived by it. There is no substitute for an extensive knowledge of God's Word. Just as a witness must spend days preparing for an hour of testimony in a court of law, we must spend time studying the Word to prepare for our testimony in this spiritual conflict.