The Seven Temptations Of The Wilderness

Matthew 4:1

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Because Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, we can be sure we will as well. The wilderness is a terrifying place – hot, barren and wearisome. There is no comfort there, and no familiarity to anchor us in our daily routines. All that is stripped away to lead us to focus only on our God to provide for us and lead us out of that fiery desert.

So just what are we likely to be tempted by in our wilderness seasons? Let’s take a look at the Word of God to get an idea of temptations we can expect to show up in our wilderness seasons.

1. To Worry and be Fearful Num. 13:32-33, 14:1

Numbers 13:32-33

32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Numbers 14:1

1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

When we are under pressure in a wilderness season, whatever is dark in our hearts will rise to the surface. This often results in worry, fearfulness and other bad behaviors. In a wilderness season, our ability to provide for ourselves is usually taken from us and we become terrified as we watch our bills continue to come in the mail, but we don’t have any paycheck on the other side to pay them with. What will we do? How will we live?

Fear and sin are our two biggest hindrances in the wilderness seasons.

When the Children of Israel were taken up to the Jordan were taken to the Jordan and were about to cross over, most of the spies came back saying there were giants in the land, and they were nothing up against them. Everyone became afraid.

Solution: Find the verses that promise your provision and confess them. Study them and confess until you believe every last one of them.

2. To gossip and backbite Numbers 12:2, 14:2

Numbers 12:2

2 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

Numbers 14:2

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

One of Satan’s favorite tactics to get our attention off God is to get our attention on someone else’s faults or sin. After all, if we are looking at theirs, we aren’t paying any attention to ours.

Whenever we gossip, God will put us in a situation similar to what the person we’re gossiping about is in, and make sure we get the full effect so we can repent.

Gossip and slander are the devil’s work, not God’s, and we don’t need to be participating in them.

3. To Murmur and Complain Exodus 16:2-3

Exodus 16:2-3

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

The hardest thing to do when everything in your life is going wrong is to keep your mouth shut.

When we hurt, we want others to know it. We don’t want to have to go through all that, but if we do have to go through it, we want to be sure everybody knows it.

Our murmuring is against God Himself, the Word says in Ex 16:8.

Never, ever say, nothing can get worse or what else can possibly go wrong. Because you don’t want to know.

4. To find an idol to focus on in our situation when God does not show up in our situation when we think He should have shown up. Exodus 32:1

Exodus 32:1

1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.