The Second Temptation | Jesus

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In the Second Temptation the Devil says to Jesus:

'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will put you in his angels' charge, and they will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him in return, 'Scripture also says: You must not put the Lord your God to the test'.

In a sense, Satan says, “If God is there, then he should prove it.”

Jesus responds: You must not put God to the test. You must not demand that God prove He is faithful.

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Jesus responds to the devil also quoting Scripture: You shall not put the Lord to the test as you did at Massah.

What happened at Massah?

God heard the cry of the Israelites in slavery in Egypt and what did God do? Some pretty amazing things. He sent ten apocalyptic plagues to the Egyptians that didn’t affect the Israelites one bit even though they lived in the same place. God divided the Red Sea in two, through which more than a million Israelites walked, and then God wiped out the largest military force in the world by collapsing the water over them. Then God showed them His constant presence by a miraculous pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

God did all this to save Israel. What did they do in return? They forgot all God had done for them and then accused him of not being there for them when they needed him and demanded He show himself and prove his love and care. Crazy, right!

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We do the same thing as the Israelites

God gives us life and then takes care of us every step of the way. Then we experience some difficulty, suffering or loss. We somehow forget all that God has done for us and we immediately doubt him. We can even become angry with him for not being there for us when we needed him and blame him for the evil we are suffering. Then we demand he prove his love and fidelity for us otherwise we won’t believe and be faithful to him.

Yep, that is me over and over.

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It is good to want the assurance of God’s presence the care. It is wrong to constantly demand that God prove himself to us.

What is the way out of this temptation?

What the Israelites should have done instead of losing their trust in God would have been to stop and think about all the ways God had miraculously taken care of them. Then based on all that overwhelming evidence realize God would take care of them in their present difficulty. Instead of demanding God prove his fidelity, they should have thanked him for all the ways he has provided and then asked, “Lord, we know you have been faithful, what do you want us to do right now to show our fidelity to you.”

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What should we do to avoid this temptation to put God to the test?

We should review the history of our lives. God has taken care of us every step of the way. From our conception to this day. There are probably even miraculous ways God has taken care of you. But our memory is so short. We forget all that God has done, then we doubt him and we demand he prove himself. Regularly, if not daily, look back on your life and see all the times God has taken care of you. Thank him for this.

Then the next time you find yourself in a pickle, say, “Lord, you have always been there for me. I trust you will be again.” The ask “What do you want me to do to show my fidelity to you right now?”