SPELLING EDITED

U-17. MATTHEW 4:7 Does it PROVE JESUS is GOD?

Both Trinitarian Christians and Oneness Christians use Matthew 4:7 to try and prove that Jesus is saying that he is Almighty God Himself. In other words, they “INTERPRET” Matthew 4:7 as Jesus SAYING that he IS God. Let us go ahead and read Matthew 4:7 out of its context the way that they interpret it, then we will read it in its context to learn its true meaning.

Matthew 4:7.

“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”

And here is how they “interpret” this verse APART from the rest of God’s word without considering what other verses of Scripture clearly teach us without any interpretation needed to understand those other verses. Again, both Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal Christians that sincerely believe that Jesus IS the Father Himself say that Jesus is the one being tempted by the devil which is absolutely true. Then they say that Jesus is the one doing the speaking which is again absolutely true. Then they argue that this means that Jesus is saying that He is Almighty God Himself simply because Jesus said to the Devil that he should not tempt the Lord your God.

But is their interpretation a sound Biblical interpretation? Always remember that whatever one concludes a verse of Scripture to mean then that “INTERPRETATION” of that verse of Scripture must agree with the rest of God’s word. And if the interpretation does not agree with the WHOLE word of God then that interpretation is NOT SOUND Biblical teaching because it CONTRADICTS other parts of God’s word. So always interpret the controversial verses of Scripture in their context and then compare Scripture with Scripture to learn their true sound Biblical meaning. Let us read a little context first with some comments added to point out things that we often read right over without considering what the whole passage of Scripture is actually teaching us.

Matthew 4:1-11.

“Then was Jesus led up OF the Spirit (Here we see that Jesus is being LED BY God which clearly teaches us that Jesus is NOT Almighty God Himself. For you see, God dwelling in us as Christians does not mean that we are God) into the wilderness to be tempted OF the devil. (Here we see that it is absolutely true that Jesus is being TEMPTED BY the Devil. And, according to James 1:13, it is ALSO absolutely true that God Himself can NOT be TEMPTED. Please read James 1:13 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God CANNOT be TEMPTED with evil, neither tempts he any man:”)

2.  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. 

3.  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son OF God, command that these stones be made bread. (Notice that Satan the Devil does Not say, if you be Almighty God then command these stones to be made bread. But rather, the Devil wants Jesus to prove that he is the SON OF Almighty God who alone is the FATHER)

4.  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Notice that Jesus did NOT say, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of MY mouth. Clearly, Jesus is NOT saying that he is Almighty God Himself in the CONTEXT of verse 7)

5.  Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, 

6.  And said unto him, If you be the Son OF God, cast yourself down: (Here again we see that Satan the Devil wants Jesus to prove that he is the Son OF Almighty God by Jesus purposely jumping off the high pinnacle of the temple. Also notice that the Devil quotes part of Psalm 91 to Jesus which promises that the CHILDREN OF God who abide in the secret place will be protected by God’s angels) for it is written, He (Speaking of Almighty God the Father) shall give his angels charge concerning you: (Speaking of the sons and daughters of God who abide in the secret place) and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. 

7.  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, (Or it is ALSO written in Exodus Satan that) You shall not tempt the Lord your God. (In other words, Jesus understands the true correct meaning of Psalm 91:10.11 that he would be deliberately tempting his God and Father if he willingly jumped off that high pinnacle of the temple. And thus, Jesus would be TEMPTING his God and Father. But if Jesus accidentally fell off the pinnacle of the temple then he would not be tempting God. So Jesus COMPARED Scripture with Scripture and quoted Exodus 17:2,7 which proves that Satan’s erroneous INTERPRETATION of Psalm 91:10,11 is abusing God’s word)

8.  Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (Now IF Satan was wanting to know if Jesus was Almighty God Himself do you think that the Devil would be stupid enough the tempt Almighty God Himself a THIRD time after specifically being told to NOT tempt the Lord your God? But yet Satan takes Jesus up to a high mountain to be tempted yet AGAIN, to be tempted a third time)

9.  And said unto him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. 

10.  Then said Jesus unto him, Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall thou serve. (Now IF Jesus was saying that he himself is Almighty God in verse 7 then he would have said, you shall worship the Lord your God and ME only you shall serve. Also, Almighty God Himself already owns all things. So even IF God could be tempted this would not be any temptation to Almighty God Himself. However, the Son of man, Jesus who was promised that he would INHERIT the worlds to come IF he obeyed his God and Father to do all of the Father's will even to SUFFER and die on the cross could be tempted by Satan's offer. But Jesus did not yield to that temptation and quoted Deuteronomy 6:13,14)

11.  Then the devil leaves him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

Now for most Christians the CONTEXT clearly proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is NOT saying that he is Almighty God Himself in Matthew 4:7 as Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal Christians claim. But for some of the more hardcore Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal Christians they will simply say something like, “Well, that is just your interpretation”. And then they will quickly change the subject by going to another verse of Scripture that they use to try and prove that Jesus is Almighty God Himself. So then, for those hardcore Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal Christians, let us compare Scripture with Scripture. Every Christian knows full well that Moses is NOT Almighty God Himself in the flesh and yet Moses uses the same words telling the children of Israel that they should not tempt the Lord your God.

Please read Exodus 17:2.

“Wherefore the people did chide (Debate or hold a controversy) with Moses, and said, (In other words, the children of Israel were QUESTIONING Moses. So in my own words they were tempting Moses that if God really sent you to deliver us Moses then) Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide you with me? Wherefore do you tempt the LORD?” 

Was Moses saying that he himself is Almighty God by him being tempted by the children of Israel to give them water to drink? Absolutely not! Moses even made it very clear by saying why are you chiding with ME? For what reason do you tempt the LORD? Clearly, Moses was being tempted to prove that God truly sent him to deliver the children of Israel by him giving them water to drink. But yet Moses said why do you tempt the LORD? So just because Moses was being tempted and said the words, “Wherefore do you tempt the LORD”, does not mean that Moses is saying that he IS Yahweh Himself. And neither does Matthew 4:7 mean that Jesus is saying that he is Almighty God Himself. For you see, if one dogmatically demands that Matthew 4:7 means that Jesus is saying that he is Almighty God Himself then they must be consistent in their interpreting Scripture and also dogmatically demand that Moses is saying that he is Almighty God Himself as well.

But when we read the CONTEXT of Exodus 17:2 to include verse 7 then we can clearly see that God was WITH Moses. And thus, by the children of Israel temping Moses to PROVE that God truly sent Moses, they were actually tempting Almighty God the Father. In other words, by the QUESTIONING the prophet Moses speaking in the name of Yahweh, they were QUESTIONING the very words of Almighty God the Father who told Moses what to say. And the say is true with Matthew 4:7. Satan was QUESTIONING Jesus to PROVE that he is the SON OF God. And thus, Satan was QUESTIONING Almighty God the Father who TOLD Jesus what to say,  according to Deuteronomy 18:15-18. Also, keep in mind that in Matthew 3:17 Almighty God the Father Himself was the FIRST one to proclaim that Jesus is the SON OF God by saying at his baptism, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus himself never once said that he is the Son of God at any time before his baptism and being tempted by Satan. And thus, Satan was questioning what Almighty God said from heaven at the baptism of Jesus.

Please read Exodus 17:7.

“And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the CHIDING of the children of Israel, and BECAUSE they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?”

In other words, the children of Israel were asking the question to Moses, IF you are sent by God then prove it by giving us water to drink. Moses had not power or ability of his own to give them water so they were actually tempting God to see whether or not God was WITH Moses or not with Moses. Later we learn that God was indeed WITH Moses by God giving them water from the rock.

And according to Acts 10:38, we are clearly taught that Almighty God the Father was WITH Jesus as being the reason for how Jesus healed the people who were oppressed by the Devil.

Acts 10:38.

“How God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth WITH the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; FOR (Or BECAUSE) God was WITH him.”

It does not say that God anointed Himself and that God was with Himself. And IF Jesus is truly Almighty God Himself then why would an already Almighty God need to anoint and give POWER to Himself. Clearly, the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity that Jesus is the Son OF God and that Almighty God the Father DWELT IN the Son of MAN, Jesus, through the eternal Holy Spirit. Jesus himself said that he could do nothing OF himself and that it was the Father DWELLING IN him who did the works of healing.

Please read John 5:19.

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing OF himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things soever he does, these ALSO does the Son likewise.” 

Jesus healed people NOT because Jesus was God the Son the second person of a so-called Godhead Trinity God made up of three persons. But rather, Jesus was endued with power from on high and God was WITH His human Son Jesus by dwelling IN him giving the Son of MAN, Jesus, the power and the authority to do whatever God led him to do by the ANOINTING of His Holy Spirit DWELLING IN Jesus.

Now read John 14:10.

“Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father IN me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not OF myself: but the Father that DWELLS IN me, HE does the works.”

Jesus is not saying that he is the Father. Jesus clearly teaches us that he is NOT speaking of himself by saying that the Father DWELLS IN him and that it is the Father doing the works and NOT the Son of God doing the works because the Son can do NOTHING OF himself.

So then, when we CORRECTLY interpret Matthew 4:7 in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God then we can clearly see that Jesus is NOT saying that he is God in ANY verse of Scripture in the entire Bible. Please read all the studies under the heading >>>A LIST OF STUDIES ON THE TRINITY!<<< for a deeper understanding of why both the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of Oneness that says Jesus is the Father are not sound Biblical teachings.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you as you CONTINUE to seek the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God by interpreting the Scriptures being left in their CONTEXT.

Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

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