The First Temptation

by Mary E. Stephens
Aug. 2024

There was a video I saw recently on Facebook about fitness and food. The woman who posted it was obviously obsessed with fitness and was mixing up physical and spiritual things. She used a couple of audio clips, which I had heard somewhere before and it really struck me this time. The man talking (who is not identified) says that Satan's greatest weapon of mass destruction is food. He continues that, "The very first temptation in the history of the world was a food temptation. The very first temptation of Christ was a food temptation." He goes on to state that the children of Israel went down into Egypt and were slaves there for 400 years because they were looking for food. He then quotes 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (Which doesn't really prove a lot in relation to these claims. Also, he was quoting a modern translation of the Bible.)

So, let's just see what the King James Bible actually says. We'll start in Genesis even though that wasn't the first temptation in all of history.

The Garden of Eden

Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Satan is the serpent in this passage, so I'll call him that. Satan's first words to Eve are to question what God has said. It is not about food. It is about the words of God.

Eve falls for this manipulation and starts to do the work of messing with God's word. Satan asked the insinuating question, she takes it on board and runs with it. Now, they must have been near the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when this conversation happened, because she takes it straight there. She clearly states that they may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but not the tree in the midst of the garden. Then she attempts a direct quote from God saying that He said they shouldn't eat of it OR touch it, "lest ye die."

Here's what the scriptures actually tell us about this tree before Eve redefined it:

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

So, Eve first of all leaves out the full name of the tree. She describes it as "the tree which is in the midst of the garden." Secondly, she adds something that God did not say. She gives His instructions as not eating it, "neither shall ye touch it..." And lastly, she softens His words. Rather than His severe warning, "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" she changes it to "lest ye die." As if there was some question. It might happen, but it also might not.

Satan then goes on to lie to her, telling her they will not surely die, showing that he knew exactly what God has said and was more than happy to call Him a liar.

Next, the serpent tells Eve that God is keeping a magical secret from them. If they will just eat the fruit of that tree their eyes will be opened and they will be as gods, knowing good and evil. How that lie has rung down through the ages. "Ye shall be as gods." So many false religions and ideologies have embraced it, from the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) to the Nazis, from Hindus and Buddhists to the New Age movement, from the Charismatic New Apostolic Reformation (and many of their predecessors) to the Superhero worship of many. The desire to be as gods runs thick through human history. But we'll return to that in a moment.

To finish up with Eve, she saw that it was good for food, yes; but she also saw that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desired to make one wise. These fall into the tree basic temptations of mankind as a whole. We see this clearly defined in 1 John 2:16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Food is part of the temptation of the lust of the flesh, but it is certainly not the only one. There are many ways that the flesh lusts after satisfaction - sex, glory, admiration of men, food, intoxicants, possessions, leisure, and much more. Anything that the flesh can lust for is a lust of the flesh. It isn't just food.

Food is not the "first temptation in history."

What is then?

I'm going to say it was pride, and here's why:

In Ezekiel 28 we read about the King of Tyrus in verses 12-17 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

In the context, although the lamentation is against an actual man, there are references that are obviously not about him. The actual King of Tyrus, as he was in Ezekiel's day, had not been in the garden of Eden, he was not the anointed cherub, he was not in the holy mountain of God, and so forth. But Lucifer was before he fell and became the serpent, also called the Devil, and Satan (Revelation 12:9).

What was the iniquity that was found in him? His heart was lifted up because of his beauty as the amazing creature of music and worship that God originally created him to be. We learn more about what he actually said in Isaiah 14:12-15, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

So, Lucifer's (now Satan's) objective was to become like the most High. He intended to replace God. Now someone might quibble that the man said the "first temptation of the world" was about food. However, I would suggest that the first temptation that happens in the garden of Eden was based directly upon the temptation of Satan. He fell to pride sometime after the creation of the angels.

After hearing the manipulative question of Satan, Eve thought she could give a "better rendering" of the very words of God. Then when Satan lied to her and told her they could become as gods, knowing good and evil, she looked on the tree and saw all the things she was supposedly missing out on. She imagined that the tree could give her these things, and her pride told her that they deserved that secret knowledge. It also told her they could be as gods.

Things haven't changed much since then.

The Temptation of Jesus Christ

Moving on to the next claim from the man: "The very first temptation of Christ was a food temptation." This is based on the temptation in the wilderness recorded in Matthew 4.

Now, we don't actually know if Jesus Christ's first temptation was a food related temptation. Was this the only time He was ever tempted during His years on earth? That seems unlikely. So, at the least the statement leaves us with questions.

However in the wilderness, the first temptation that Satan brought personally to Christ was related to food, but was it strictly a food temptation?

Matthew 4:1-11 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 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. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Please notice that the first actual temptation that is presented by Satan is to prove that He is the Son of God. "If thou be the Son of God..." Jesus was hungry in His physical body. It would have been easy, from a human standpoint, to focus on that and want to eat. But, the real temptation there was to do a magic trick to prove to Satan that He was in fact the Son of God, to prove His identity. (Don't lose that thought. We'll circle back.)

The devil then takes Jesus Christ to a pinnacle of the temple and manipulates scripture against Him to try to trick Him into making a show of Himself - again, to prove that He is the Son of God, but also to prove that God will keep His promises by forcing God to do a miracle on His behalf. (A very interesting thought to ponder.)

Last, but not least, the devil shows Christ all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and says he will give them all to Him if Jesus will bow down and worship him. It has been said that this was a temptation to take a short cut to power, rather than to take the route of the cross. That has truth to it. But, I want to think about this aspect: Satan knew He was the Son of God. What was his intention back in Isaiah 14? To be like the most high. I think that the devil thought that if he could get the Son of God to bow down and worship him, he could ultimately achieve his goal. Because the Son of God would only worship God Almighty, so if He bowed to Satan, it would be admitting that Satan was "like the most High".

In short, it was about identity. Who is God and what does His word and power amount to? There are deeper things here than I can grasp at the moment, but one thing I know: Satan's methods and tactics haven't changed. He continues to this day to tempt people to doubt God's word. In the process of that, he will call our identity as Christians into question because if our identity in Christ can be shaken, then Jesus Christ isn't who God said He is. And, if Jesus isn't who the word of God (both spoken and written) says He is, then everything falls down and Satan wins. In fact, if the devil can prove that God lied just once, he wins. This is why he goes to so much trouble to corrupt the word of God, to destroy the truth, and to sow doubt and confusion in Christian's minds about what God actually said. This is why there are so many different and contradicting translations of the Bible, both in English and other languages - and to be clear, some of them really do make God a liar. (A topic for another time.)

You see, Satan can never ascend to the place of God and "be like the most High." So, his next best option is to drag God down to his level by making Him a liar. John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Do you realize that if Satan can prove that God is a liar our whole belief system falls down? Because if God isn't true, and if He doesn't have the power to preserve His words pure and without error, then we can't know anything for sure. We don't even know for sure that we have a new identity in Christ as the sons of God, because we can't even know if He IS the Son of God. It is only because God told us so in His word that we know this to be true.

1 John 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

What Did God Say?

In that context, we touch on the last claim made by this man regarding food. He says that the children of Israel became slaves in Egypt for 400 years because they went there looking for food. The context of his statement makes it sound like they were just following their lusts and had given way to temptation. But, that isn't how the story runs in the word of God. We're told in Genesis that God sent Joseph down to Egypt to eventually save many lives. God used Joseph in a miraculous intervention in the famine that God had planned for Egypt. You can read the entire story starting at Genesis 37 and reading through chapter 50. In Genesis 50:20 we read the culmination of the whole "plot," so to speak: But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Furthermore, when Jacob needed guidance about going down to Egypt to his son Joseph to be fed and cared for, God gave him that guidance. Genesis 46:2-4 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

So, the Hebrews didn't go down into Egypt because they were lusting after food. They went because God told them to go. Oh yeah, that's God's word and promise, isn't it? So here we are again. Back to the subject of what God actually said and whether He word can be trusted.

Why would someone put forth the idea that food is the devil's greatest tool of mass destruction? The answer is fairly simple. If Satan can get us focused on food - or indeed anything else - instead of the actual words of God, he knows that we will very often sidetrack ourselves with our own lusts and pride. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Jesus Christ never even acknowledged the suggestion that He needed to prove that He was the Son of God. He also never argued with Satan about who wins in the end. Because all of that was settled in heaven long ago. Psalm 119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Instead, Jesus Christ quoted the written words of God every time. He, who is the living Word of God (John 1), could have spoken words that would have been true and good. But, no. He quotes the written and preserved words of God.

He does not rant and rave and call down curses and shout insults at Satan like a lot of modern Christians seem to think is cool.
He quoted God's written word.

He didn't proudly declare "I have more power in me than you have."

No, He quoted God's written words.

Are you getting the message here?

Why belabor the point that He quoted God's written words? Because that is where the greatest battle lies today. It is where it all started when the serpent came to Eve and said, "Yea, hath God said...?" There is nothing that works more to his advantage than to get people to question what God actually said. So, if we don't have a pure, uncorrupted copy of God's actual words available to us today, how would we even know that He is what He says He is? Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

The first great temptation was pride. When Lucifer was lifted up in pride, he began to believe that he could be God. The first temptation on this earth was to doubt God's word, because if God is a liar, then we can't trust anything He says and Satan wins. Our own lusts and pride will take over our way of thinking and we will become easy prey for the destroyer of souls. 1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith...

Satan knew who Jesus Christ was when he tried to tempt Him in the wilderness. He knows who we are in Christ if we have received Him. John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Satan can't take away our salvation by questioning it any more than he could take away Christ's identity by questioning it. But he can completely side track us and make us useless in the work of God. How? By convincing us that God is a liar, that His words are unreliable, and that He didn't mean what He clearly said. Let that sink down into your mind for awhile. He KNOWS who you are in Christ. But, if he can convince you to doubt God's word, to question God's word, to ignore God's word and just wander off after other pretty things (lust of the eyes and flesh, and pride of life), he can keep you from living like God planned for you to live. And, friends, if we allow that to happen, we are the ones who lose at the end of the day. Satan doesn't get us. We will be saved. But, how sad to stand before the judgment seat of Christ for believers and see all our efforts go up in smoke because we were more focused on __________ (food, sports, fitness, education, hobbies, entertainment, you name it) than on believing and doing the words of God.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Let's believe God's word. Let's stand fast on His promises and what He says about us. Let's hold the truth in righteousness to the glory of Jesus Christ. He is worthy, and, as they say, "God wins in the end. I read the last chapter." Let's live like we know we're on the winning side.

Related topics:

Doubting Your Salvation

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