These questions are quandaries for many brothers and sisters. In the text below we will fellowship about this from two aspects.
1. Satan knew that the Lord Jesus was the incarnated God, so why did it still tempt Him?
God says: “It said, ‘If You be the Son of God.’ … In Satan’s heart, it clearly knew that this was the Lord Jesus Christ, but it said these words nonetheless. Is this not Satan’s nature? What is Satan’s nature? (To be sly, evil, and have no reverence for God.) What consequences would result from having no reverence for God? Was it not that it wanted to attack God? It wanted to use this method to attack God, and so it said: ‘If You be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread’; is this not Satan’s evil intention? What was it really trying to do? Its purpose is very obvious: It was trying to use this method to deny the position and identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. What Satan meant by those words is, ‘If You are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. If You cannot do this, then You are not the Son of God, so You should not carry out Your work any longer.’ Is this not so? It wanted to use this method to attack God, it wanted to dismantle and destroy God’s work; this is the malevolence of Satan. Its malevolence is a natural expression of its nature. Even though it knew the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the very incarnation of God Himself, it could not help but do this kind of thing, following closely behind God’s back, persistently attacking Him and going to great lengths to disrupt and sabotage God’s work.”
“It is in Satan’s nature essence to not fear God and to not have reverence for God in its heart. Even when Satan stood beside God and could see Him, it could not help itself but to tempt God. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said to Satan, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ These are words that God has often said to Satan. … The Lord Jesus said a few simple words, words that represent truth, words that people need. However, in this situation, was the Lord Jesus speaking in such a way as to argue with Satan? Was there anything confrontational in what He said to Satan? (No.) How did the Lord Jesus feel about Satan’s temptation in His heart? Did He feel disgusted and repulsed? (Yes.) The Lord Jesus felt repulsed and disgusted, and yet He did not argue with Satan, and much less did He speak about any grand principles. Why is that? (Because Satan is always like this; it can never change.) Could it be said that Satan is impervious to reason? (Yes.) Can Satan recognize that God is truth? Satan will never recognize that God is truth and will never admit that God is truth; this is its nature. There is yet another aspect of Satan’s nature that is repulsive. What is it? In its efforts to tempt the Lord Jesus, Satan thought that even if it was unsuccessful, it would nonetheless still try to do so. Even though it would be punished, it chose to try anyway. Even though it would gain no advantage out of doing so, it would try nonetheless, persisting in its efforts and standing against God until the very end. What sort of nature is this? Is it not evil?”
From God’s words, we are able to see Satan’s evil essence. Satan knew that the Lord Jesus was God but it still tried three times to tempt the Lord Jesus, because it had its despicable intentions and aims—it vainly hoped to make the Lord Jesus take the bait and thereby refute the Lord Jesus’ identity and position as God Himself so that it could disturb and destroy the Lord Jesus’ work, and so that it could replace God and control the whole world and the people. It can be seen that the essence and nature of Satan is so terribly sinister and insidious.
2. Why did the Lord Jesus allow Satan to tempt Him? What was God’s will?
God says: “The Lord Jesus fasted for forty days and nights. Did He starve to death? (No.) He did not starve to death, so Satan approached Him, prompting Him to turn the stones into food by saying things such as: ‘If You turn the stones into food, won’t You then have things to eat? Won’t You then not have to fast, not have to go hungry?’ But the Lord Jesus said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,’ which means that, although man lives in a physical body, it is not food that allows his physical body to live and breathe, but each and every one of the words uttered from the mouth of God. … This truth, these words—whether the content of His speech be long or short—can enable man to live and give man life; they can enable people to gain truth and clarity about the path of human life, and enable them to have faith in God. In other words, the source of God’s use of these words is positive.”
“After Satan had tempted the Lord Jesus several times without success, did it try again? Satan did not try again and then it left. What does this prove? It proves that Satan’s evil nature, its malice, and its absurdity and preposterousness are not worth even mentioning in the face of God. The Lord Jesus defeated Satan with only three sentences, after which it scurried away with its tail between its legs, too ashamed to show its face, and it never again tempted the Lord Jesus. Since the Lord Jesus had defeated this temptation of Satan, He could now easily continue the work that He had to do and the tasks that lay before Him. Would everything that the Lord Jesus did and said in this situation carry any practical meaning for each and every human being if it were applied to the present day? (Yes.) What sort of practical meaning? Is defeating Satan an easy thing to do? Must people have a clear understanding of Satan’s evil nature? Must people have an accurate understanding of Satan’s temptations? (Yes.) When you experience Satan’s temptations in your own life, if you were able to see through to Satan’s evil nature, would you not be able to defeat it? If you knew about Satan’s absurdity and preposterousness, would you still stand on Satan’s side and attack God? If you understood how Satan’s malice and shamelessness are being revealed through you—if you clearly recognized and understood these things—would you still attack and tempt God in this way? (No, we would not.) What would you do? (We would rebel against Satan and cast it aside.)”
We can understand from God’s words that the Lord Jesus allowed Satan to tempt Him so as to make us gain discernment over Satan’s evil essence. At the same time, the fact that the Lord Jesus caused Satan to retreat in shame in only a few words when faced with Satan’s temptations enables us to see the authority and power of God’s words. It also allows us to know that God’s words represent God’s identity and status, which are something that no enemy force may ever surpass. In particular, the authoritative words from the Lord Jesus, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), tell us that man shall not extend their life by food alone, but by God’s words. Today, everyone who has come before God and accepted His salvation will encounter the temptations and disturbances of Satan. For example, some brothers and sisters, in order to live a good material life, are mired in the temptation of pursuing money; some who lead a comfortable material life are plunged into the temptations of reveling in comforts and chasing after secular trends, unable to put the truth into practice or expend for God. Facing all kinds of temptations, if we don’t seek to understand the truth, then we will never be able to see through Satan’s trickery, will easily lose the chance to gain God’s salvation, and will be eliminated by God. However, if we pray to God, seek the truth, and view things according to God’s words in the people, events, and things that we encounter, then we will be protected by God from falling into the temptations of Satan.
