Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
4:7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written,
Again Jesus quotes Scripture to meet temptation. He quotes Deuteronomy 6:16. The word “again” is emphatic, placing emphasis on the right use of Scripture.
‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
This quote refers to Israel. They put God to the test with disastrous results (Ex. 17). Putting God to the test is distrust; it is a sin of presumption.
Jesus turns the “since you are the Son of God” against Satan by quoting Deuteronomy to show Satan that he is not to tempt God. The point? “You are not to put me to the test!” since the Bible says so.
PRINCIPLE:
God wants us to trust Him, not dare Him.
APPLICATION:
It is sin to test the providential care of God. This sin acts independently of God, just as Satan asked Jesus to put Himself in mortal peril by presumption of a purpose other than God’s plan.
Often false teachers use the devise of citing passages out of context to mislead people. Satan urges people to “see for themselves.” Some health-and-wealth teachers cause people to live beyond their means because “God will provide.” They assure their followers that God will make them rich. However, God wants us to trust Him, not dare Him.
To compel God to rescue us is to put Him to the test. This is not faith but presumption; it is not belief but disbelief. This is the diabolical doctrine of the end justifying the means: “As long as it works, it’s right.”
A modern example of the sin of presumption is putting out a fleece to determine God’s will. This puts God to the test and is the sin of presumption.
