Near the end of his life’s journey, Moses reminded the people of Israel that God had provided them with all the necessities of life, including their daily bread. Yet, it was the Giver, not the gift, that held the valuable words of life which provide nourishment to our souls, nourishment that lasts and brings us into eternity.
2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (NKJV)
Centuries after Moses, right after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the desert to fast and pray for forty days and nights, surviving only on water. Jesus had come as the promised Jewish Messiah, and as such, His ministry life paralleled that of the Israelite people. The Israelites went without bread for a short period before being provided with manna. Jesus went a full forty days without food, presumably as a symbol of the forty years His people had spent wandering in the desert.
I had always believed that Jesus living forty days without food was simply a miracle of God, but it turns out that ordinary people have done this, as well. I found this out at a Bible Study I once led at the local jail.
One of the men who was a regular attendee at the study was an older but vigorous gentleman named Richard. As we studied the account of Jesus in the desert, I made a comment about how it must have been a miracle for Jesus to survive that long. Richard immediately spoke out, “I did it”.
Richard said that as a young man, he took on a forty-day, water-only fast as an act of devotion to God. He said that he was absolutely starving with hunger the first few days, but after that, the hunger went away. He was able to operate just fine without food for weeks after that, living only on water. Wow! I don’t think I would be able to get past one day, let alone forty (nor do I believe that God is calling me to do that, at least not yet).
The real danger comes at around the forty-day mark. According to Richard, he became ravenously hungry again as his final day approached, and by this time, the intense hunger is a sign that the body on the verge of dying.
With Jesus in the desert, the forty-day mark was also a time of great hunger for Him. He was able to prevail by quoting the scripture Moses had been given to the Israelites in the desert.
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:1-4 (ESV)
We can observe a few things here. The Spirit of God led Jesus into the desert to fast and pray, presumably knowing He would be exposed to temptation by the devil. Jesus is 100% God, but lived His life on earth as a human, following the direction and will of the Father in perfect obedience. He was subjected to temptation by the evil one just as we are, only in a much more extreme way than we face. The evil one was doing everything in his power to disqualify Jesus from His mission of salvation, but for our sake, Jesus leaned upon the power of the word of God to prevail over him.
Jesus began to experience His second great hunger as His fast neared the forty-day mark. But He had apparently not yet fulfilled the Father’s will, so in His physical weakness, the evil one tempted Him to end His fast early in disobedience by turning one of the nearby stones to bread.
I have seen pictures of some of the large stones in that desert wilderness. They are rounded off by the wind and give the illusion of being large loaves of bread sitting on the desert floor. This must have been a very real temptation for the starving Jesus, being presented to Him at such a vulnerable time.
Jesus responded to this temptation of the devil by quoting scripture, the very word spoken through Moses in the desert as they came to the end of their forty years in the wilderness. The power of God lives in His word, and Deuteronomy 8:3 had the divine power to overcome this temptation of the devil.
May God help us all to overcome the challenges and temptations we face in our lives through the power of His word and the presence of His Holy Spirit.
Reflection
We overcome temptation by spending time with and leaning upon the word of God, and through prayer. Staying close to and praying with other believers is also extremely helpful to successfully navigate our daily struggles.
From time to time, some may feel led by the Spirit of God to spend time in fasting and prayer, although it may just be for a meal or two rather than Jesus’ (and Richard’s) forty days. It is strictly a personal decision between each person and the Lord, as He May lead.
Father God, build up our faith and strengthen us against temptation through Your holy word as we study Your scriptures. Open our eyes to help us see that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from Your mouth, words which will not return to You void. May we abide in You as we meditate upon Your word. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 