Holy Boldness

challenge precisely with a verse which in its original context perfectly aligned with the devil’s challenge. Let’s look at the passage Jesus quoted from.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3

(2) And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. (3) And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Jesus’ quote comes from the end of a larger passage. What does the full passage of scripture say? God leads people through the “wilder ness” of experience where there seems to be a lack of provision so as to expose His people’s hearts. But He also does it to reveal to the people that their life is not dependent upon natural sustenance but on the very word that comes out of God’s mouth. In other words, the difficulties we experience not only expose our hearts but ultimately reveal God’s desire to be involved with our provision. Again, the point was not mere survival but rather the realization “that He might make you know…” that our provision comes from God’s personal communication with us. The Lord’s dealings with His people are designed to take them into a state of deeper dependence upon the Lord. God tests his people to lead them beyond the superficial so that He might take them into maturity and depth of understanding and reveal the meaning of their life and even the meaning of the conflict. The more adept God’s people are at leaning on the Lord, the less they will be vulnerable to being compro mised along the way. God allows times of leanness, and He even leads believers into seasons of fasting so that they might understand that He is the one providing for them. Therefore, Jesus’ present circumstances of being hungry after a 40 day fast were an opportunity to trust God at a deeper level and did not require Him to take matters into his own hands by “turning stones into bread.” Jesus’ weakness was an opportunity to lean more deeply into the

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