In reading through the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-10, I discover parallel passages in Deuteronomy as Moses tells the Hebrew children what God requires for them to enter the Promised Land.

In Matthew 4:4 Jesus responds to Satan, " ..it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Deut. 8:3 says, " And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD."

To me, this says that we are to be filled with (feed on) the Word of God on a daily basis and live our lives in constant, faithful obedience to that word.

The next parallel verses are Matt. 4:7 and Deut. 6:16. " Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." And, "Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah."

I was curious how we could tempt God so I looked up the event at Massah, Exodus 17:7. "And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?" The Hebrews were complaining about God's provision and doubting His continued care instead of giving thanks for all He had already done and trusting in all He promised to do. They were full of unbelief, and "provoked" Him to anger.

Matthew 4:10 says,"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." In Deut. 6:13, "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."

We must worship God alone, making sure that we are surrendered to His will and letting nothing take precedence over our love for Him.

These three principles are the same today as they were in Moses' time and the New Testament time. Those who believed God entered the Promised Land and those who did not, perished. Let us press on to love God and worship Him alone. Let us live in obedience to His Word and in thankfulness for His will and His provision. Our God is an awesome God!