It is written . . . It is written . . . It is written

Both the Lord and the devil, in drawing attention to the scriptures said, ‘It is written’, but while the evil one misquoted and distorted the written word, the Lord Jesus bound Himself to it.

In his quotation from Psalm 91 the devil omitted the words ‘in all thy ways’, the promise of the psalm being thus linked to the regular pathways of one living in dependence upon God and not, as the tempter was suggesting, to some spectacular display, entirely for self-promotion, v. 6; Ps. 91. 2, 9-12. Today, Satan has many emissaries, men and women who profess to be Christians, who go forth with a Bible in their hand, but only to misquote and misinterpret it to the ruin of souls. Warning the Corinthian believers lest Satan should gain an advantage over them Paul said, ‘We are not ignorant of his devices’. Let’s make sure that we are not ignorant either, 2 Cor. 2. 11.

When the Lord Jesus said ‘It is written’, He affirmed the authority of the scriptures, with men responsible to take heed to their teaching and truth. Equally, His appeal to the sacred writings asserted the finality of the scriptures, their precepts and principles providing the final ground of appeal in determining and vindicating actions. Further, in addressing the devil thus, the Lord demonstrated the sufficiency of the scriptures to answer and silence every attack of the tempter. In view of His deity the Lord could have simply used His divine power and glory to dismiss the devil but instead, as the dependant Man, He used ‘the sword of the Spirit . . . the word of God’ - an example we are exhorted to follow, Eph. 6. 17. So, acquaintance with the scriptures is absolutely vital if we would be well equipped to withstand the assaults of the devil.

The passages quoted by the Lord all came from the book of Deuteronomy, and quite apart from silencing the tempter each quotation gives an insight into the personal priorities and perfections of our Saviour. He was the obedient Man, living by ‘every word of God’. One with implicit faith and confidence in God who shunned all thought of testing or challenging God, and a Man of undivided devotion in service to God, Matt. 4. 4, 7, 10. Are all these things priorities with us?