Wrested Scriptures

Satan, Devil and Demons
Common
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
  The Truth
   About Satan
  Every Satan
  Every Devil
  Edenic Covenant
  Satan Prelim
  Demon Prelim
  Genesis 3:4-5
  Genesis 6:2
  Job 1:6
  Isaiah 14:12-14
  Ezekiel 28:13-16
  Matthew 4:1-11
  Matt. 12:43-45
  Luke 10:18
  Luke 22:3,31
  John 12:31
   14:30; 16:11
  John 13:2,27
  2 Cor. 11:14
  James 2:19
  1 Peter 5:8
  2 Peter 2:4
  Jude 6
  Jude 9
  Rev. 12:7-9
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Matthew 4:1-11
"Then was Jesus led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil . . ."

Problem:
This is a stock proof-text cited in support of the belief that Satan is a personal being - a fallen angel.

Solution:
  1. If the devil were a fallen angel, why would the Holy Spirit lead the Son of God into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil?

  2. The essence of a temptation rests in its subtlety, not in its obviousness. If Jesus had been confronted by a fallen angel the obviousness of the temptation would have vitiated its power.

  3. Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are" (Heb. 4:15), but who today is ever engaged in discussion by a fallen angel devil?

  4. A temptation, to be a temptation, must be plausible, but if a fallen angel offered to Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, Jesus would know he were a fake. God, "the most High, {not a fallen angel}, ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." (Dan. 4:32). Jesus knew his Old Testament.

  5. There is considerable evidence that the temptations were subjective, (i.e., that the conflicts within Jesus are presented in the narratives as if there was a dialogue between Jesus and Satan, when in effect Satan is only a personification1 of the pull of the desires of Jesus. - (cf. James 1:13-15). Consider the following:
    1. Mark states that Jesus was "there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan" (Mark 1:13), but at least one of the temptations is said to have taken place in the holy city - Jerusalem. If Jesus literally went to the holy city, then the accounts appear contradictory.
    2. Where is the mountain in the wilderness which is high enough to view all the kingdoms of the world and their glory in a moment of time? (Matt. 4:8, cf. Luke 4:5).
    3. Jesus had been baptized by John and given the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 3:16). How was the power to be used? To make life easy by using the power for selfish purposes (making stones into bread)? By "converting" Israel through dazzling displays of divine power (by casting himself down from the pinnacle of the temple)? By avoiding the agony and humiliation of crucifixion and death by taking the kingdoms of the world (his miracles would have assured this - cf. John 6:14, 15)?
Footnotes:
  1. Personification is commonly used in Scripture. For example: death is personified as "reigning" (Rom. 5:14), sin as a "person", (Rom. 7:11), and riches as a "master" (Matt. 6:24). Return