The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

–Parallel verses: ‭‭
Exodus‬ ‭17‬:‭4‬-‭7‬‬‬
‭‭Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬
Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.

This is the old “false flag” play — a strategy that has, at its core, deception for its success. This happens on the battlefield, where a new recruit claims allegiance, but is really loyal to the enemy. It happens in business, where people pump you for work and information, promising to give you a good shot to win their business, and after you deliver, they go back on their word and take all of your work for free. It happens in relationships too. A lover promises the world, undying love, a lifetime of care and faithfulness. In essence they promise to be on their spouse’s team, but in the end, the only team they are on is their own. They only care about themselves. In politics we call these people DINOs or RINOs. Democrat (or Republican) “In Name Only”.

Satan used this sly deception as a temptation for Jesus as his final and likely best attempt to get him to sin. He pretended to be a follower of scripture and what is good. He even quoted scripture as a justification for what he asked Jesus to do. This reminds me of the same type of “false flag”-style deception that he used with Eve in the garden. The deception was: “I care about you and your development and I want you to have knowledge similar to God. Why let God keep you from your destiny of being as knowledgeable as he is?”

Has the devil ever gotten you to sin by taking this approach? He has me in the past. He is crafty and subtle sometimes.

Jesus called this out and did not fall for it. Instead, he quoted another scripture and, unlike Satan, he quotes it “in context.” He recalled the warning to the people about not putting God to the test as they did in Massah (which means testing). This story is tragic and one that shows how fickle faith can be in the hearts of those who are not wholly committed to God. Jesus understood that there are heart consequences to putting God to the test. Here Moses, their leader, was almost stoned. And later, they turned from God in a greater way and tested him further and were judged for their unbelief when they asked Aaron to build them a god (a golden calf) to worship because Moses had been gone 30 days.

When we are dealing with someone who is trying to deceive us about someone else’s intent or character, good questions to ask are: “Based on the character of the person I know and trust, is this the truth? Or, based on how I know they would want me to act, is this an action they would agree with?”

Testing God needlessly would be wrong because it would not be a good use of our time, or to put it another way … we would not be using our time for good.

God is looking for our trust in him, not our testing of him. He does not need to be tested, HE IS TRIED AND TRUE!

Lord, thank you for this third example demonstrating the type of testing we can expect from the devil. Help me to honor you and see through these “false flag” attacks. May I use scripture, not so much to justify my actions, but more to understand your heart and act in your will.