Daily Bible Nugget #240, Matthew 4:10

The Nugget:

Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

My Comment:

The Scriptures should be used against our spiritual enemies. Our spiritual enemies include those who proclaim a message that is false to the Bible. But our enemies may also include the world, the flesh, and the devil. Of course our main spiritual enemy is Satan. But he has lots of helpers, and many have joined his team, or are on his team by default (John 3:18, 19). As for the world, in Bible terms, this has to do with the culture that surrounds us, not the physical planet. In 1 John 2:15 the Bible tells us not to love the world. Then it further spells out what is in the world that we are not to love: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). John then gives a wonderful promise: the world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:17). This passage (1 John 2:15-17) makes for very instructive practical application cross reference study. I presented the cross references for this passage at Bible Nugget 102, posted December 5, 2013 (https://realbiblestudy.com/?p=833). In his attempt to tempt Jesus, Satan appealed to Jesus by offering Jesus the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. Satan told Jesus, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). Did you know that the Bible, especially in the New Testament, has several different kinds of “ifs”? Some “ifs” are more “iffy” than other ifs. When Satan told Jesus in Matthew 4:3, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread,” the “if” he used does not raise or express any doubt about Jesus being the Son of God. Even Satan understood and acknowledged that. But when in Matthew 4:9, Satan says “if thou wilt fall down and worship me,” Satan uses an “if” which expresses considerable doubt: Satan made the offer that if Jesus worshipped him, Satan would give Christ the kingdoms and glory of the world. Once again, Jesus responded to His spiritual enemy by quoting the Bible, saying “it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). We should follow the example Jesus gave and learn to use the Bible against our own spiritual foes.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1018 for Matthew 4:10.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1037 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Matthew 4:10.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Matthew 4:10. Then saith. =He 11:24, 25. Get. FS34, +Ps 50:16. Mt 16:21-23. %Ge 3:1-7. Ps 17:4. Mk 8:33. %Lk 4:13. James 4:7. 1 P 5:8, 9. Satan. ver. Mt 4:1. Nu 22:22. 1 S 29:4. 1 Ch 21:1. Jb 1:6, 12. 2:1. Ps 109:6. Zc 3:1, 2. Gr. Satanas, i.e. an adversary, *S#4567g. Mt 4:10. 12:26. 16:23. Mk 1:13. 3:23, 26. 4:15. 8:33. Lk 4:8. 10:18. 11:18. 13:16. 22:3, 31. Jn 13:27. Ac 5:3. 26:18. Ro 16:20. +1 Cor 5:5. 7:5. *2 Cor 2:11. *2 Cor 11:14. 1 Th 2:18. 2 Th 2:9. 1 Tim 1:20. 5:15. Re 2:9, 13, 13, 24. 3:9. 12:9. 20:2, 7. See *S#4566g, 2 Cor 12:7. For *S#7854h, see Jb 1:6, Satan. for it is written. ver. Mt 4:4, 7. Mt 15:4. *Ep 6:17. Thou shalt. Mt 22:21. >Dt 6:13, 14. 10:20. Jsh 24:14. 1 S 7:3. Lk 4:8. worship. Gr. proskuneō (S#4352g, Mt 2:2). T#744. Mt 2:11. %+*Mt 14:33. +*Ex 20:2, 3, *Ex 20:5. *Ex 34:14. Dt 5:7. 11:16. +Ps 22:28 (T#280). Ps 96:4, 5, 8, 9. +Ec 12:13 (T#295). Lk 4:8. Ac 10:26. 14:15. +Col 2:18 (T#80). Re 4:10. 7:11. +*Re 19:10. +*Re 22:8, 9. the Lord. Jsh 22:34. Is 44:6-8. and him only. FS92E. Gnome; or, Quotation F/S 791: where the words are varied by omission, addition, or transposition. Here, the words are varied by addition, for the words “and him only shalt thou serve” are not quoted from Deuteronomy (but see Dt 6:13n), but added by our Lord. For other instances of this figure see Mt 4:15, 16. 5:31. 12:18-21. 19:5. 22:24. Lk 4:8. Ro 11:3, 4. 1 Cor 2:9. 14:21. 1 P 1:24, 25. shalt thou. T#241. Mt 6:24. 22:37, 38. Ex 20:2. 23:25. Dt 10:20. 13:4. +Jsh 22:5. 1 S 7:3. 1 K 13:16. 1 Ch 29:11. 2 Ch 30:8. +Ps 22:28 (T#280). Da 3:28. Lk 16:13. serve. Gr. latreuō [S#3000g: Rendered (1) serve: Mt 4:10. Lk 1:74. 2:37. 4:8. Ac 7:7. 26:7. 27:23. Ro 1:9, 25. 2 Tim 1:3. He 8:5. 9:14. 12:28. 13:10. Re 7:15. 22:3. (2) worship: Ac 7:42. 24:14. Phil 3:3. (3) do the service: He 9:9].