Matthew 6:13 ” And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen “
Eisphero is the Greek for “lead,” and basically means ” to bring into.” In Luke 15:16 it is used of the friends of a crippled man who brought their friend, through the roof of a house no less, to Jesus for healing. Temptation in the Greek is ” peirasmos” and it has a negative as well as a positive rendering. If God is doing the ” tempting,” then the word is translated as ” a trial for the point of purifying, for building faith, for learning to rely on The Lord.” If the word is used in reference to satan, it is translated as ” to hurt, to cause injury, to lead into sin, to stumble.” And the same trial can be used either way. If we put our faith into the trial and trust that God is bigger, then the trial builds our faith as we see the Lord work on our behalf. However if we lose faith, or take matters in our own hands, then the same trial can cause injury, pain and lead us into greater sin. The Lord would never lead His people into temptation for our harm, but he always seeks to deliver us from it – for that is the point of the Cross.
Aside from what was just shared, this combination of words,” lead us not into temptation” has always been a bit of a mystery to me. However when I pray The Lord’s Prayer, these words do remind me of my humanness and of my total dependence upon The Lord to live this life. The strength is not in me, or in us, to live a life so contrary to our basic nature. At times when life is extra tough, it’s seems as though I’m walking on a tight rope. I can as easily fall to the side of temptation (giving in to the struggles of life, being discouraged or feeling defeated, etc.) as to the side of righteousness ( faith, hope,joy )and that is when this part of the prayer is especially dear to me; ” Lord lead me not into temptation, take into account that I am but flesh, and deliver me from evil…” and it deepens in me a greater awareness of my total dependence on Him. We fall because we become self – confident, we think that a measure of righteousness exists in us and in going through trials that are so pressing, we realize that, that is not true. The truth is our life hangs by the ” thread of faith.” Fortunately, it only takes a thread of faith on our end to usher in all the ” armies of the King of Kings” to our aide. Amen to that!
Lord, “deliver us from evil.” God is not the author of evil, though He often gets blamed for it. His heart, as mentioned, is to deliver us from it or grow our faith through it. Rhuo is the Greek word for deliver, meaning to rescue from someone or something, but the word used is a compound word, Rhuomai which is not only to rescue from, but to bring to, as in the sense of drawing to oneself. So for every hardship or struggle we undergo, His desire is to draw us to Himself. That we learn to live this life dependent upon him, not independent of Him.
Poneros is the word for evil; that which corrupts others, malignant, causing pain, envy etc. Pornography comes from this word. There are those that believe that evil does not exist, just a lesser form of good. That if we raise our conscientiousness, we can self improve and create a world of peace and harmony. If this is true, then Christ, God in the flesh, died in vain. Evil exists in man, and it can be seen on the T.V., read about on the Internet, viewed within every day life, and seen in my own soul. The root of evil is that of loving self, or self centeredness, which is a perversion of how God created us to be. Though many teach and believe this statement, “how can I love you, if I don’t first love myself? To the untrained soul, this sounds right. However we are all but empty vessels, always trying to find our own happiness either in each other, philosophies or in things or situations. We are not able to love each other as God loves us. We are taught in scripture that we are to ” abide (dwell in) the love of God.” That his love, like the ever warming sun, fills our soul and in turn we can then truly love others. I cannot give to you what I do not possess. I need to abide in His love; for my love is conditional. As long as you agree with me, I love you . However God places no conditions – He just loves, period. And because He is so passionate towards us, He hates the sin in us that takes us from Him. Any desire, thought or passion that seeks to be an idol of worship, or a philosophy separate from faith in Christ, God opposes it, for it robs from Him the soul that He loves.
And how fitting that the verse ends, ” For thine is the kingdom and power and the glory forever.” For no matter how hard the struggle is here, the end is great! God wins, satan loses, and ultimately though we may suffer our defeats and get ourselves into a ” mess of trouble,” God makes it all right in the end. The Lord is so cool, he can take the mess of our life and make a message, he can take the spills and falls and make a testimony of His grace, and ultimately he can take it all and make us His child. Much like a painter takes oils of all shades and paints a work of art, so God takes all our trials, weaknesses and “junk” and “conforms us into the image of his Son.”
Father God,
Thank you for this encouragement, and because thy kingdom does come, let us be kingdom people. Let us not walk around defeated or discouraged, but to always be ready to give an answer for the hope the lies within us. Just like the clamour of a busy street distracts, so does the noise of fear, uncertainty, temptation and insecurity distract us. We will hear those sounds because we are flesh, but help us to hear deeply your voice saying, “in all this I am conforming you into the image of my Son.” Thank you and Amen
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur