Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4: 11
How far will a text stretch to absorb the applications we try to make?
We often take what people say and we add to it, we misquote it, we leave words out, we add implications. It happens all the time in real life, in the life that we live as we walk around work.
But how far can we go when it comes to the words in the Bible?
I mean, in the middle of testing Jesus, the devil cites Psalm 91. “He will command his angels” the devil says, telling Jesus to jump. And Jesus refuses.
And then we get to the end of this round of testing and the devil leaves. And angels show up to take care of Jesus.
Here’s the reason for asking about texts. When we go back to Psalm 91, it is about protection, it is about angels, it is about trampling on lions and snakes.
My symbolism side want to say this:
The devil is known as a serpent. The devil is known as a roaring lion. Psalm 91, quoted by the devil inappropriately, is acted out in this whole period of testing appropriately, with symbolic detail.
But I don’t want to work too hard to make the connections. Part of the challenge of following, the challenge of obeying is, as we talked about a couple days ago, looking at the whole text, not just pieces. And so we have to be careful of flights of application fancy.
However.
What we see acted out in the time of testing is that Jesus went through trials, he didn’t disobey the Father, he quoted God’s words to the devil, the devil left. Deutoronomy 6 and Exodus 7 and Psalm 91 have all been useful. And angels attended him.
Hmmm.
300 words a day 
Anna
Part of the scripture being alive and the Holy Spirit speaking to us through it means that it is what it is and it says what it says when we read it. Sometimes, it’s just a word. Sometimes a phrase out of context. Sometimes, the way Paul quotes scripture in the NT seems out of context.
I don’t mean we can make it say what we want it to say, but sometimes, for today, it speaks loudly and personally and it is just a piece or a phrase, not the whole passage in context.
Make sense? Or am I treading on dangerous ground?
LikeLike
Jon Swanson
It does make sense. It is a great question.
What comes to mind is the times in a family when all you need to do is say a line from a joke and everyone gets it. It reminds everyone of the context, of the relationships, of the memories. The single phrase summons the whole story.
Here are two things that scare me: assuming that you have to read the whole book to understand any of it. assuming that you can take one phrase and build a theology on it. Each are the poles that you and I could be inferred to be saying.
Which isn’t what either of us are saying.
Somewhere in between, in the relationship with the Writer, comes the conversation.
LikeLike