Common Coaxings

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

The word for temptation is πειρασμός, which is an attempt to make one do someth. wrong, temptation, enticement to sin. The verb is λαμβάνω which means “to take into one’s possession, take, acquire… “ It speaks specifically of an experience or Esp. of feelings, emotions seize, come upon τινά someone. (William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 583, 584, and 793).

But Paul draws attention to a lot of Old Testament background here. He mentions several experiences that happened during the wilderness wanderings in the time of Moses.

He speaks of the time recorded in the book of Numbers when the people of Israel, having left Egypt, experienced the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea. He references when God led them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, through 40 years of journey in the rough and arid environment of Sinai desert. They were given manna and quail to eat to feed their stomachs. God produced water from a rock, so that they would be hydrated. Nevertheless, the people still resorted to grumbling and wanting to go back to the pagan kingdom of Egypt, to worship their gods and serve themselves.

It is a reminder that we cannot control what presents itself to us. There will always be opportunities to disobey God and follow after our evil desires. We can try to control our environments as much as possible, but the truth is that we can only do so much. And temptation will come. But when it comes, we must resist. We must cling to Christ. We must understand that without temptation, we would be spiritually weak.

When we pray “Lead us not into temptation,” we are not saying that God does the tempting. Rather, we are acknowledging that He rules over it. We are asking God “...to preserve and strengthen us through the power of thy Holy Spirit so that we may stand firm against them, and not be defeated in this spiritual warfare, until at last we obtain complete victory.” (Heidelberg Catechism, Cleveland: United Church Press, 1962), 124).

Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. And we can learn a lot by observing how he responded to the tempter in Matthew 4:1-11.

Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”