The Three Temptations of Satan

Part Two – Kingdoms of the World

Welcome back to the teaching series on The Three Temptations of Satan. In Part 1, we studied how Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness with the temptation of Divination and how he is tempting people today with the same tactics. In this part, we will look at the temptation of Kingdoms of the World. If you have a Bible, go ahead and get that out and follow along because we are going to look at several scriptures.

This series is also available on Spotify for those of you who like to listen and read along.

I want to begin with a brief background prior to Jesus going into the wilderness. His temptation in the wilderness occurred after first being baptized by John and being filled with the Holy Spirit so as to demonstrate and teach us that His Word and Spirit brings truth to our ears. You can read about this in Luke 3:1-22, if you are not familiar with the story. It’s important to know and believe that His life was a living example to demonstrate to us how we can be tempted by the devil and not sin by giving in to the temptation. We are to learn how to test the spirits and to test them and know what is of the True Holy Spirit versus an unholy spirit. They are both very real.

John the baptist was anointed by God to prepare the way for Jesus, to make straight His paths, and the Word says he went all around the region of the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Baptism was not something new to the Israelites, as they had performed ceremonial cleansing in water for centuries. Jesus had been raised in the religion of Judaism, under the Mosaic Law, just like every other Jewish person; and yet, He knew and understood the Word of God because He is the Word. He knew it was also a type of shadow for when He came at the appointed time to step into His Priesthood. He came to earth to bring forth the New Covenant.

John was hesitant to baptize Jesus because he knew Jesus was God in the flesh and had no sin. He felt unworthy to untie His sandals, but Jesus told John that it must be so. The reason it had to be so is because the baptism of repentance was for the purpose of turning away from the old covenant which had become so twisted by the corrupt Pharisees, Sadducees, and Heresies, that Judaism was causing all to sin and there needed to be a change. Jesus was baptized by John to demonstrate and declare that He too was turning away from the old and would be the fulfillment of scripture to make all things new. Let’s look at the scripture to be fulfilled in Luke 3:3-6:

3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth;
6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (Luke 3:3-6)

Note the reference to mountains and hills being brought low as we continue.

Luke 4:1-13

1Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

3And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

5Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

9Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’

11and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

12And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

13Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Two Key Things to Consider:

I. Scriptures tells us through these three (3) temptations every temptation was ended. That’s interesting isn’t it? We are looking at the three temptations and what is packed into them:

• Divination – See Part 1
• Kingdoms of the World – Part 2
• Tempting God by Proving His Authority and Power – Part 3

II. When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Satan has been given other opportune times. As mentioned in Part 1, Satan and his minions look for an open door, and at the opportune time he comes to steal, kill, and destroy not only what we believe we have in Christ Jesus but who we are in Christ Jesus. If he can trip us up into believing his lies and accusations, and get us to try and prove ourselves, he can tempt us. If we can be tempted, we can in turn tempt the Lord God Almighty. Pay attention!

DEFINITIONS

Satan – (Hebrew word for devil is Sawtawn – pronounced Saw tahn) To accuse, attack, oppose; Adversary

Devil – (Greek word for devil is Diabolos – pronounced Di ab ol os) To accuse, slander, backbite, gossip.

II. Kingdoms of the World

5Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” (Luke 4:5-8)

One thing to note here is the mention of a high mountain. In this particular context, the high mountain represents Pride. It is pride that resulted in Satan and a third of the angels being cast out of the Kingdom of Heaven, by the Creator of all things. This temptation is seeking pride in an individual and certainly operates through the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.

Remember the prophecy to be fulfilled you just read above in Luke 3:5, spoken by the prophet Isaiah regarding high mountains? Jesus is the One to level the playing field and have a straight pathway to the Kingdom of Heaven. He alone is the way, the truth, and life.

5Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; (Luke 3:5)

Another thing we need to consider is one of Pride’s demonic counterparts, Jealousy. Since the creation of human beings, Satan has been jealous of mankind because they were placed in the Garden of Eden and given the command to tend to it and the authority to have dominion over Elohim’s (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) creation on earth. God created mankind in their like image and we were given an inheritance in Yeshua.

Satan had a glorious and majestic role in the Kingdom of God but it wasn’t enough. He coveted what God had given to man. He wanted his own kingdom. God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to give us a glimpse of his beauty, and the prophet Isaiah and Jesus Himself (in Luke 10) gives us the outcome of pride and jealousy if it is not dealt with.

(Ezekiel 28:12-17)

“You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering:

The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper,

Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.

The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.

14You were the anointed cherub who covers;

I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God;

You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

15You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

16By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within,

And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God;

And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

17Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.”

(Isaiah 14:12-15)

How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations. You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Notice the references to the mountain of God and the high places. Click here for the Vision of the Throne Room and the gemstones.

Jesus had given power and authority to His disciples to cast out demons and this upset the devil’s apple carts big time. But Jesus responded to His disciples with such grace and wisdom and the message is the same today:

(Luke 10:18-20)

18And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus warns His disciples to not let pride creep in over the power and authority given to them but to remain humble and rejoice that their names are written in heaven. There is no mention of them being given glory and honor on earth. And there is certainly no room for jealousy within the body of Christ Jesus. In fact, Jesus tells His followers that we will be hated by the world. Scripture also tells us that Satan (the devil, dragon, serpent, the angel of light) is the ruler of the world and prince of the air. He finds the open doors (cracks in the armor) in those called by God and attempts to deceive them into believing he has more to offer them, if they will worship him. Jesus tells us that though we live in this world, we are not of this kingdom but of the Kingdom of Heaven. There are many scriptures that confirm this. Below are three examples of deception followed by five examples of redemption:

(Ephesians 2:2)

“in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.“

(2 Corinthians 4:4)

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.“

(1 John 5:19)

“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.“

Deception comes through disobedience to the Word of God. Satan is a crafty serpent and appears as an angel of light-very smooth with his enticing words. We have all fallen short of the glory of God and conformed to the ways of this world at some point in our life. If we have any doubt about Jesus, or self pride or covetousness in our hearts, we are open prey to the devil’s schemes and he knows it. The good news is that if we repent and turn from those ways, and follow Jesus and His ways, we are redeemed by Jesus who gave up His life and shed His blood on the cross for the sins of mankind. The invitation is open to all. He even took it a step further for us and rose from the dead as the first fruit of eternal life so that we, also, can have eternal life with Him because our names are written in the book of life. This is our hope and glory in Christ Jesus.

(1 Peter 2:9)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

(John 15:18-20)

18“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.

(Acts 26:18)

‘to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

(1 John 4:4)

You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

(1 Peter 5:8)

Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Jesus was not about to buy into the lies of the devil, and He stood by His written Word:

‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

We are in an hour of exposure and what our omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent Savior sees, hears, and knows is exactly how many ‘Christians’ or those who profess to be Christians spend more time complaining about the darkness than being His light. What you are doing for the Kingdom of God here on earth? If you are more interested in building your own little kingdom, you are under the ruler of the world. Where is the light, the salt? If you have lost the oil for your lamps and the salt has lost its flavor, it’s time to turn away from the darkness and get on the path to the Light of the world. Jesus is the path, He is the light, and He has made a way for all who will turn to Him.

In Conclusion of Kingdoms of the World:

(Hebrews 4:15)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

The time of testing in our life is to humble us and to know what is in our heart and whether we will keep His commandments regardless of what temptations might come our way.

When Satan took Jesus up the the high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment, and said “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”, we must remember that there is not one person in the world that has been given it all, he was tempting Jesus to break the commandments of God, but he was dealing with the One who has all authority.

Just as all the kingdoms of the world were shown Him in a moment, so they will all fall in a moment at the second coming of Jesus Christ, and those whose names are written in the Book of Life in His kingdom will be with Him forever.

Beloved, we are to store up treasures in heaven and not be obsessed with treasures of this world. This does not mean we can not have things, it means we are not to be obsessed with things, people, places, job positions, social or economic status…all little kingdoms of the world. If your identity is in your job title, political party, position in your church building, how big your house is or how many toys you have, it is all pride and you serve the kingdoms of the world whether or not you realize it.

Everyday little kingdoms of man are imploding and there is such a great exposure by Yahweh God happening. He is flipping tables, turning stones over, and exposing the nakedness (sins and crimes) of those who at one time felt untouchable. Satan may offer money, power, authority, etc., but when it is said and done, the joke is on the people who fall for His trickery. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free so that we can live in His liberty.

(Luke 4:18-20)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

I pray that this study on the Kingdoms of the World has been insightful to you. Please share this with others so that together we can be a voice that awakens others. Also, I’d love to hear what landed for you in this teaching. Your comments are welcome.

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