Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” -Matthew 4:8-9
We have here the scenario of “selling our souls to the Devil”. Satan knows that nobody in their right mind would ever do that, so he has to make the stakes high. The Devil’s assumption is that anybody can be bought if the price is high enough. Satan goes all in when it comes to the temptation of Jesus by offering Him everything in exchange for worship.
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” -Matthew 4:10
The glory of all the kingdoms of the world meant nothing to Jesus. The Devil’s temptation was really a stupid ploy. If Satan had thought it through had he would have realised that when it comes to worship, Jesus was not about to compromise. Jesus had one love and one intention in life- to glorify His Father.
Everything Jesus said and did revolved around the act of worship. His devotion to, and adoration of, His Father, was the “all in all” in the life of Jesus.
There was only ONE worthy. And it goes without saying that it was NOT Satan.
It wasn’t hard for Jesus to reject the temptation of the Devil along these lines.
The value of the kingdoms of the world were as nothing at all compared to the value of the relationship that Jesus had with His Father.
Proper priorities
Having the right priorities solves a lot of problems! Jesus carried proper perspective on all things throughout his entire life.
Jesus understood that the human heart can easily be carried away to worship material things.
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. -Matthew 6:24
When we hear Jesus teaching that “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”, we can be sure that he meant it. We never find Jesus running after these things, and the scriptures tell us that even when it came to housing, He had no place to lay his head!
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” -Matthew 8:20
Jesus directly contradicted Satan’s narrative that the most important things in life revolve around money, attaining power, or owning stuff. We would do well to remember that Satan is still engaged in the same talking points today. He’s created an entire world system that feeds into the lie of materialism, greed, and power.
The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight. -Luke 16:14-15
God’s evaluation of the present world system is that it’s “utterly detestable in God’s sight”. It’s hard to imagine a more forceful denunciation than that. But do you agree with God when it comes to this?
Not only was Jesus adamant that he wouldn’t bow down and worship the Devil, but Jesus also refused to worship the things the Devil offered.
The Head of Vanity Fair
The Devil has his fingers all over the wares of the world, allegorically called “Vanity Fair”, in the book “Pilgrim’s Progress”. If you’ve read the book you’ll remember that the character named, “Christian”, was headed toward the “Celestial City”. Although the way to that city passed through Vanity Fair, this wordly carnival was more a matter of disgust than delight to Christian. He had no interest in storing up so-called “treasures on earth”. Nor was he interested in being drawn aside to the spectacles and side-shows that the world has to offer. His aim was Heaven, and he correctly ascertained that the things of earth would only weigh him down as he journeyed towards the Celestial City. He thought himself better off without the distraction of the world. In truth, Christian already possessed a better world. One stored up in heaven for him.
“An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” – 1 Peter 1:4
Just as Satan offered Jesus all the “kingdoms of the world”, he is literally offering every human on the planet bits and pieces of the same thing. The Devil is constantly peddling his vision of wordly acquisition and status.
The greater truth for the Christian is that God has already decided to give us a far better Kingdom!
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. -Luke 12:32-34
Having been guaranteed an Everlasting Kingdom that is ever-abundant and overflowing, materialism and consumerism should no longer be the directing thought of our hearts. We need not be hyperspiritual about this, as Jesus himself acknowledged that there were certain requirements of life. But the children of God are not to be ruled by these things in the way that the children of the world are.
For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:32-33-Matthew 6:32-33
Knowing that the Father has already provided an Eternal Kingdom, the attitude of His children should be that their Father will also provide for the necessary things of earth. These things become a matter of simple trust for the child of God.
Everything we have need of has been provided by God and more! Our hearts need not be preoccupied by anything other than the worship of our great God and Father.
Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter and identified the root issue- All of life revolves around who and what has our worship.
The preeminence of worship and the folly of turning away from God.
Worship was the grounds on which Jesus stood when he refused the Devil. A single eye for the Father will do more than all the goods of the world!
But think for a moment what Satan was offering.
Jesus already possessed an Eternal Kingdom of far greater power and glory. What use then would Jesus have of an earthly kingdom that is already passing away? A kingdom, for that matter, that is regarded by God as “a speck of dust” when compared to the Kingdom of Heaven!
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness. -Isaiah 40:15-17
“Nothingness and emptiness” is how the Word of God describes the world.
It’s good to get our hearts aligned with the perspective of God, and we should revisit His estimation and description of the world from time to time, lest our hearts be led astray, as the scriptures have said “by the deceitfulness of wealth”.
They hear the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. -Mark 4:18-19
We can see from this passage that it is not just the wealthy who may fall into the trap of the world- but Jesus speaks of those who have “a desire for other things”. In this little phrase we have the whole of humanity taken captive by the Devil! It’s not necessary to have wealth to be ensnared- all it takes is an inordinate desire after the things of the world.
King Solomon had both weath and inordinate desire!
King Solomon had every worldly thing a man could ask for, and he came to the same time-worn conclusion that generations have always come to.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” -Ecclesiastes 1:2
We’ve all been there, whether rich or poor. Although Solomon tells us that being rich doesn’t solve the problem of desire, most of us who are poor are loathe to believe it. Most of us remain largely unconvinced. We’re sure that if we only had more money everything would be better! Satan has taken advantage of the fallen nature of man by playing upon our desires. Every corner of humanity has been infected by Satan’s ethos of desire. Social media has been built on this exploitative foundation, as has advertising. There never seems to be a moment that we are free of it!
It’s impossible to be in this world without coming face to face with these temptations. Both Solomon and Jesus met with them. Of course, the difference between Solomon and Jesus, is that Jesus was never so foolish as to give into an empty temptation.
In the end, all temptation is empty, because it can never give us that which truly satisfies.
Solomon wore himself out by trying to satisfy himself with the things of the world. It would seem that the more Solomon possessed, the more depressed he got! In this he was following the downward spiral of Satan.
Spiraling downward
It’s instructive to consider the steep trajectory of Satan’s fall, lest we end up mimicking his tragedy.
This once-glorious angel who at one time soared the heights of heaven, is later found slithering on the ground of the earth. He once breathed heaven’s atmosphere, and now he’s eating dust!
I have no doubt that the Devil suffers from major depression far worse than Solomon ever knew! The entire course of Satan’s existence is vanity. An indescribable emptiness that no one can fathom- made worse by the fact that he had it all, and by his own prideful, rebellious foolishness, lost it all!
Not only was he cast out of the glory of heaven and cut off from God, but his ultimate destiny is to be cast into the Lake of Fire where he will suffer everlasting torment. Who would not be depressed by that? And who in his right mind would want to follow in his steps?
Depression is actually a very mild word and doesn’t come close to describing the agony of desperation that Satan continually feels. A vacuous emptiness is his continual state of being.
Is it any wonder that the world is depressed and cast down when Satan is the one who is behind this present world system?
“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” -1 John 5:19
Again, do you wonder why the world is constantly posturing itself in such a vaunted state of exultation? In doing so, it’s merely reflecting the image of it’s godless ruler, the Devil.
Satan is forever parading himself around as “someone and something great” precisely because he is none of these things. If he let down his proud boasting for even a minute his utter lack would become readily apparent! And so it is with the world, which follows in his footsteps. The world’s unrelenting boasting is nothing more than sleight of hand to cover up the barreness and brokenness of the real situation. Satan is directing and overseeing something that by its very nature is in a constant state of passing away!
“For the present form of this world is passing away.” – 1 Corinthians 7:31
On offer is a money bag with holes in it; a grasping after the wind; ever longing and forever coming up empty.
All things are wearisome; Man is not able to speak of it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. -Ecclesiastes 1:8
The most that any human being can say about the world is that they are not satisfied with it. No matter what we do, or how much we have, we come up empty.
The present state of the world’s emptiness is due to the fact that Adam and Eve followed in the path of the Devil’s rebellion against God.
The evil of forsaking God
And so we have finally come to the main point of this article. Everything that I have written finds it’s root cause here- the evil of forsaking God.
Satan was actually the first one to commit the two evils spoken of by the Prophet Jeremiah.
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns— broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” -Jeremiah 2:13
Satan forsook God, thinking that he himself could be one! After being thrown out of heaven for his rebellion, and finding himself out of the protection, presence, and life of God, he went about, in effect, digging his own cisterns. Every one of them is broken! None of them holds the vital sustenance of the “Water of Life” since this alone comes from God. Satan has been digging cisterns ever since the fall and every one of them has been broken. Finding himself fallen away and being disconnected from God, he literally can do nothing other than offer emptiness. He digs out broken cisterns and he teaches the world to do the same.
One of the most crucial things to understand is that the forsaking of God always results in the hewing out of broken cisterns.
Look again at how God presents the order of these things.
“They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns— broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
The forsaking of God always comes first.
This is always the order and we need to take it to heart. Digging our own cisterns is what happens after we turn our backs on God. We think that in some way by our own efforts we will find satisfaction. These “cisterns” take the form of everything under the sun. It’s almost pointless to try to name the many ways we try to satisfy ourselves. The whole world in one way or another is running around trying to do that. And what do we find? That we’re always coming up empty! That the very things that we thought held such promise inevitably end up being hollow and empty and broken.
The vanity that King Solomon spoke of is found on the lips of the whole of humanity!
Have you come to understand that the very nature of these things is by God’s design?
He created you to be satisfied with Himself, and if you forsake Him, it will not matter what else you have.
We often fail to realize that the trouble is not that we have broken cisterns, but rather, that our entire condition is due to the fact that we have forsaken God!
We are clearly instructed about these things by scripture so that we may be warned.
Where are the true Prophets?
I think it’s interesting that we have a revival of “prophetic ministry” in the church today. It would not concern me at all if most of these people did what the prophets of old did. If their role within the body of Christ was to turn people back to God, and instruct them in the ways of God, then we could have happily accept them. But, unfortunately, that is not what we see. Many of these “prophetic voices” actually encourage the materialism and greed that the Word of God speaks against!
I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. -Jeremiah 23:21-22
One of the distinguishing marks of a false prophet is that they will appeal to your fallen sinful nature. In their manipulation they appeal to your greed. The “Prosperity Gospel” has flourished for decades because it preaches to the carnal nature’s appetite for wealth.
A true prophet of God will have nothing to do with this kind of thing. He knows that Satan oversees an empty kingdom and is building broken cisterns.
A true prophet of God has the insight to know that if you’re building broken cisterns then you’re following in the path of Satan. A true prophet of God will not only point out the foolishness of hewing out broken cisterns, but will also tell you that the main reason that you got into a mess in the first place is because, in one way or another, you began to forsake God!
The true prophet of God will not tell you how to repair your broken cistern. He will tell you to repent and stop forsaking God!!!
The true Prophet warns, and pleads, and admonishes.
Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues. For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. -Revelation 18:4-5
A true prophetic voice that speaks from Heaven will never encourage you to embrace the things of Earth.
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2-3
We must acknowledge then, that many in the Church have been listening to the wrong voice! The present emphasis in the Church that focuses on worldly things and worldly attainment is nothing more than participating in the echo chamber of the Devil.