But this study shows us that the greatest joy comes from exalting God rather than ourselves.
The world lives with the expectation that we look out for ourselves first and foremost. This particular body is the only physical body we get and so we must look out for #1 first. More than just self-preservation, like little school children we crave that praise that feeds our ego. We SEEK glory for ourselves. But glory belongs to God alone, and we find our greatest joy when we point to God and not ourselves.
In the third temptation of Jesus. The devil took the Lord to a high mountain and showed Him all the world’s kingdoms, offering Jesus control of the world in return for worship. One can almost hear Satan as he tempted Jesus: “Look human, I can strategize ways for you to become the ruler of the world, I can scheme and tempt people to do what I want. I can turn that to YOUR benefit if you will just worship me and give ME glory!”
Let’s look at Deuteronomy 6:10-15; Matthew 4:8-11 and see Satan’s final pitch to Jesus.
Matthew 4:8-11
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.
Satan had thus far used two very different tactics. First, he tried to tempt Jesus into satisfying a legitimate physical appetite in a completely wrong way. He tempted the body of Jesus.
Next, he tried to tempt Jesus into testing God by jumping from the temple expecting a rescue from God, all the while trying to convince Jesus such would be an act of great faith. He tested the soul of Jesus, testing his character.
Now we come to the devil’s third and final attempt. Again, trying to lure Jesus into receiving His crown without the cross, Satan offered Him rulership of the world in exchange for His worship. He tempts the spirit of Jesus, “I will make you ‘god of the world’ (an idol) if you just give ME glory.”
Satan offered Jesus control over these kingdoms in exchange for His worship. Again, this was an attempt to persuade Jesus to take a shortcut to receiving His full Messianic authority. All this would be Jesus’s anyway, subsequent to His death, burial, and resurrection. The devil, remember this word literally means "to throw across", sought to “throw across” Jesus’ path lure of instant gratification and success to lure his spirit away from God and to Satan.
Invariably, Satan uses this tactic with people today. He will tempt a person with success, health, wealth, and prosperity while demanding a heavy price in return. The devil wants us to give the glory due to God to the-opposer-of-God, but the price is too steep, no matter what he offers in exchange.
Now Satan promoted his true agenda – IT’S ALL ABOUT ME! He desired the worship that belongs to God alone. We tend to think of worship as a ceremony, a “worship service”, but the word worship literally means “the condition of worth”. Satan literally expressed to Jesus: “just humble yourself before ME and consider ME worthy and I will give you rulership of the world until you die.” Yeah, but then what?
Jesus recognized the devil’s scheme for what it was and responded with a third “it is written” reply. Quoting Deuteronomy 6:13, Jesus reiterated the necessity of worshiping God alone. Jesus, however, added a couple of key aspects. First, He said to worship the Lord and “serve” (i.e., render HABITUAL obedience to) Him.
Jesus added, in the second clause, that we should worship and serve “only him.” This was not expressed in the Old Testament passage but was added here by the Lord to highlight the exclusivity of worshiping God alone. While we may consider things “of worth” during our lives we should ALWAYS bear in mind that God is our HIGHEST value. We should render our habitual obedience only to him if we want to draw closer to God.
After Jesus once again quoted Scripture to Satan, He banished him from His presence, and following his defeat, the devil left …for a time. So, the conflict between the Lord and His adversary was far from over; yet the Lord had succeeded in establishing a pattern of trust and obedience from which He would never waver. He stayed true to his mission.
Following the devil’s departure, angelic help arrived. Jesus was still feeling the effects from the forty days of fasting and had resisted the temptation to satisfy those feelings in ways that would have tested God. Instead of turning stones into bread, He was miraculously fed. Refusing to ask for angelic help during the temptations, we can imagine that He was relieved to receive angelic help when He had not asked for it.
Jesus had successfully passed the test and was now recovering from His fast and His spiritual battle with the devil in anticipation of beginning His earthly ministry.
So let’s look the passage Jesus quoted. Moses was giving his warning to the people of Israel to stay focused upon God.
Deuteronomy 6:10-12
10 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build,
11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,
12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
Moses demonstrated himself to be a good student of human behavior. He knew that when the going was rough the people could easily depend upon God. But he also knew that the people might forget God as soon as they received all the blessings of the promised land and felt themselves to be self-sufficient. So, he reminded the people of God’s faithfulness. God was bringing them into a land “he swore to your ancestors.” In fulfilling His promise made centuries earlier, Israel was to be the recipient of a great land. They would be brought into a land with already thriving cities, “large and beautiful cities that you did not build.” The wording suggests that the structures already in existence would be unharmed and not destroyed by warfare.
The original promise to Abraham included only the land. Moses added here that the Lord would provide not only the land but all the development of the land under the Canaanites. In the providential grace of God, the Israelites were to receive much more than originally promised.
And the houses were filled with “good” things, meaning they were well stocked and furnished. The cisterns were already dug. The vineyards and olive groves were already well-established and productive. Customarily, during a conquest, these things would be destroyed in war. Then, the debris would be cleared, the homes rebuilt, and new crops planted. But this was not to be the case with the promised land. God would deliver it intact to the Israelites, which meant they would be years ahead of the curve. There would be no need to begin again. The Lord had provided, and Moses encouraged the Israelites to receive these great gifts as a testimony to the Lord’s power and goodness.
Moses warned the people concerning the dangers of prosperity. He understood the human condition and the tendency to take credit for things we did not accomplish. He phrased the warning “be careful not to forget the Lord.” The Hebrew word is shamar, meaning “pay careful attention to.” It is a word that is used repeatedly throughout Deuteronomy when Moses wanted the people to recall or remember something important. It is all to easy, Moses indicates, to focus on our own desires instead of being grateful to God for our blessings and praising the Lord who deserves it. The Israelites were transitioning from rural desert wanderers with nothing, into urban city-dwellers about to walk into a great place; they were going to have houses, wells, and crops ready-made for them, which they did not have to work to build or prepare.
The lesson is straightforward. The Israelites were to remember their past and give God all the glory for where He had brought them. That lesson is important for us today as well. In fact, it is an important Christian discipline. We must never forget that God is at work in our lives. He is the master architect and designer, and is tirelessly working behind the scenes to bring about His best for us. All honor and praise belong to Him.
Finally, let’s look at the verse that Jesus quoted.
Deuteronomy 6:13-15
13 Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.
14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,
15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from
the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 6:13 is the verse Jesus quoted when Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for His worship. Moses’ admonition contains covenant language and puts forth three points for leading a righteous lifestyle.
When fear is used in this sense, it is synonymous with belief; we entrust ourselves to the Lord and commit to His ways, fully believing what the Bible says about Him. The significance of it being used here is that it implies prosperity shouldn’t make a person arrogant or self-confident. Jesus recognized the foolishness of Satan’s LIMITED time offer with EXPIRING benefits. Those who truly fear God believe God is who he says he is, and see the foolishness of arrogance in claiming results that were given by grace believing that they were earned by self.
Second, Moses said the people were to “worship him.” The word “worship” here carries the connotation of service. UNLIKE WHEN THEY WERE SLAVES IN EGYPT, FORCED TO SERVICE AGAINST THEIR WILL, they were now to be willing servants of the Lord, entrusting their very lives to Him because He grants actual and total freedom.
The third feature in the verse can be seen in Moses’s instruction to “take your oaths in his name.” Our witness to the effects of God in our lives should be in reverential awe and worship. GOD IS THE GRANDEST WITNESS THAT WE CAN INVOKE TO WITNESS THAT WE ARE BEING TRUTHFUL. Unlike the habitual liar’s “I swear to God…” which has come to mean an OBVIOUSLY false statement, a judicial oath of truthfulness sworn to the “Lord your God” invoked God to witness the truthfulness of what was being sworn to. An oath taken of allegiance to veracity with God as the witness and covenant maker is the idea here. Such judicial oaths are used because “I swear to my lucky rabbit’s foot” is not an effective oath, and “because I said so” is literally swearing my one’s own authority and is likewise not an effective oath.
Moses warned “Do not follow other gods.” God is adamant that He alone should be worshiped. Moses understood the Israelites would face tough challenges in Canaan. They would be blessed with great resources but would be tempted to blend in with their neighbors. The pressure to be liked or to “fit in” is enormous. “Oh, you DON’T worship the god B’aal? THAT’S not cool. What were you thinking?” Moses attempted to nip those temptations in the bud.
The command is straightforward and simple to understand. Don’t get involved in idolatry. Keep God first, worshiping no one and nothing else. Here God asked the people to swear to Him—to be faithful to Him and Him alone. In effect this was like a marriage between God and the people of Israel. God said I promise to take care of you if you will stay focused on God. Jesus uses this same imagery with the Bride of Christ, the church. Unfortunately the church frequently has as much success as the ancient Israelites did. History records that after the people came into the land and began to enjoy the benefits of God’s blessings, they became lax in their commitment to God and even started following other gods. We should never forget we are under a solemn oath to worship and habitually follow only God as our highest authority.
The word jealous is from Latin and Greek indicating zealous — indicating “ardor, eager rivalry, emulation.” Its Hebrew origin means “possessing sensitive and deep feelings.” Because God IS Love, God’s passion is FULLY sensitive with deep feelings.
Why is God jealous for us? When we surrender everything to Him and love Him passionately, it provides a track, or a path for Him to work in your life and bring His blessings. El Kanna is Hebrew for consuming fire, jealous God. The root idea in the Old Testament word 'jealous' is "to become intensely red" and refers to how rising emotion colors our face when something or someone very dear to us is threatened.
God is zealous and eager about protecting what is precious to Him. This jealousy for us, compels God to pursue us relentlessly, no matter how hard we may try to evade Him. That is why our God, El Kanna, gave us Jesus. God did all this for us because He is jealous for you and me and provided a way for us to come into His Holy presence.
This was also a sobering reminder that God will not tolerate unfaithfulness. Such actions will warrant harsh consequences. One does NOT want to offend a sensitive and PASSIONATE God of Zeal. God is jealous for us, on behalf of us. He wants to be our only object of worship because He knows what is best for us; He wants us to place nothing ahead of Him. When the Bible mentions God as jealous, it’s always in connection to our tendency to worship other gods. Imagine how the completely, and wholly zealous God who IS Love feels when we turn to someone, or something, else as OUR Godly authority figure.
At some point, God’s patience with the people’s idolatry will run its course and strong actions will be the result. In response to following other gods, “the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth.” Forgetting God would be the ultimate act of betrayal and would be deserving of the strictest of punishments: removal from the promised land—eviction! Warnings such as this one are appropriate for us today too. Without being careful, all of us can become complacent in our circumstances; we can focus so much energy on ourselves and our worth that we no longer see our need for God.
Such betrayal does not lead to unlimited and everlasting joy; our greatest joy comes from exalting God rather than ourselves.
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