“And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”” (Luke 4:9–11)
The devil is adept at distorting Scripture and using it for his own purposes. In this temptation of Jesus, Satan misquoted Psalm 91:11-12 and craftily omitted a portion of that text in order to make it appear to be promising Jesus something that the text does not promise. Here's the passage in all of its parts, with the portion that the devil omitted in bold:
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalms 91:11–12)
In order to help us better understand the devil's gambit in this temptation, here is what one one Bible commentator wrote regarding Satan's use of scripture on this occasion:
The devil's temptation has in reality two objects: Christ should demonstrate His divine Sonship; He should, in this manner, gain a great number of disciples, probably the entire populace, at one bold stroke. The devil even quoted Scripture to accomplish his purpose, Ps. 91:11-12, omitting, however, the very essential words "to keep thee in all thy ways," which are practically a norm for the proper understanding of the entire passage. But Jesus was fully equal to the occasion. Without going into the matter of falsifying Scripture in his own interest, He tells the devil that there is a passage which reads: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God, Deut. 6:16. Any attempt to reach the ground below by any means outside of those suggested by a correct understanding of nature's laws would be a challenging of God's protective care, for which there is no promise in the Bible. Note: In a similar way, the devil is always attempting to make us presumptuous, daring, foolhardy, without the promise and command of God. It is the pride of our hearts which he intends to incite, together with the feeling that we are in no need of God's protective care. But the one effective way of meeting all the attacks of the Evil One and vanquishing him quickly and surely is to use the words of Scripture as weapons of defense and offense. Before these powerful onslaughts the devil must give way and be routed completely. - Kretzmann, Popular Commentary
This Gospel passage has faithfully served the church as a warning against the agents of the evil one who skillfully twist and misinterpret the Bible and it is also a sign post that points us to the sixth and seventh petitions of the Lord's Prayer:
And lead us not into temptation. What does this mean? God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false believe, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray than we may finally overcome them and win the victory.
But deliver us from evil. What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.
Amen and amen.
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