BIBLE STUDY LESSON 08

SERIES Q --- THE SAVIOUR

THE TEST

A VOICE FROM THE HEAVENS

From Matthew 3:13-17

One day Yeshua came down from Galilee to the place where John was baptizing. John was disturbed that Yeshua asked to be baptized and didn’t want to do it. [You should baptize me,] John told Him. [Why are You asking me to baptize You?] [Because it is right for Me to do this,] Yeshua answered. [Please do what you should and baptize Me.] When John understood that, he baptized Yeshua. After Yeshua was baptized, He came up out of the water. The heavens opened and He saw the Spirit of YHVH coming down upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came out of the heavens. [This is My beloved Son,] YHVH said. In Whom I am very pleased.]

SATAN’S STRANGE VISIT

From Matthew 4:1-11

After Yeshua was baptized, the Spirit of YHVH led Him into the wilderness country to be tempted by Satan. For forty days and forty nights Yeshua ate nothing and He became very hungry. Then Satan came to see Yeshua and tempt Him. [If You really are YHVH’s Son,] Satan urged, [You could turn these stones into bread. Then You would have plenty to eat.] But Yeshua answered, [The Scriptures say that man must have more than bread to build his life. As the body needs bread, so the soul hungers for every word that YHVH has spoken.] Then Satan took Yeshua to the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem. [Now is the time to prove that You are YHVH’s Son,] Satan suggested. [Jump! You know that the Scriptures say that YHVH will send His angels to take care of You. They will hold You in their hands and keep You from falling to the rocks below.] [The Scriptures also say that you must not try to tempt YHVH!] Yeshua answered. For his last temptation, Satan took Yeshua to the peak of a high mountain and showed Him the nations of the world and all their riches and power. [I will give this wealth and power to You,] Satan said. [All You must do is bow down and worship me.] [Go away,] Yeshua told Satan. [The Scriptures tell us to worship and serve YHVH alone.] Defeated, Satan went away and left Him alone. But He did not remain alone, for angels came to serve Him.

COMMENTARY

THE PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE

Herod’s temple, which Yeshua visited often, was enclosed on the east and south by the great wall of Jerusalem. The pinnacle of the temple was the south-eastern corner of this wall. From the walkway at the top of the wall’s south-eastern corner, one could look down one hundred and twenty-eight feet to the Kidron Valley below. Here Satan tempted Yeshua to jump. On a clear day, the view from this pinnacle reached out for great distances to the east and south. The rising sun might reflect from the Dead Sea, many miles to the east, or from the village of Bethphage or Bethany, near the summit of the Mount of Olives. Every morning, a priest came to this highest corner of Jerusalem’s walls. There he stood and waited for the sun to rise. When the light of dawn reached the rooftops of Hebron, a village twenty-five miles to the south, he gave the signal to start the morning sacrifice. Then the morning trumpets sounded, the temple gates were opened, and the people entered for the first service of the day. The pinnacle of the temple still stands today, rebuilt over the foundations of the wall that Yeshua knew. But with the passing of centuries, the valley has filled in with forty to fifty feet of rubbish and dirt. With some imagination, one can still visualize what it must have been in the time of Yeshua.