Lead us not into temptation...... Is that saying that God tempts us? Is the Bible contradicting when it say, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:" (James 1:13 KJV)? Let's look at the word for tempt which is the same Greek word - Peirasmos - which means putting to proof, discipline, scrutinize, examine, try, test, entice tempt. So it could also mean, Lead us not into testing, examination.... So could it be a poor choice of what that word means by the translators?
Is there a time where that word has been used in the same verse but translated in different versions with the different words? Yes, in Luke 4:12, starting with the ESV, "And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” " And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Luke 4:12 KJV). "And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'Y OU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR G OD TO THE TEST.'" (Luke 4:12 NASB). Finally, "And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, test exceedingly) the Lord your God. [Deut. 6:16.] (Luke 4:12 AMP).
Very rarely do I like the Message version but what it says about this part of the verse makes it most clear; "Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.” (Luke 11:4MSG). This points out the epic battle that we deal with daily. The struggle within ourselves to follow God's will for us or to follow our fleshly desires and the temptations that Satan puts out there before us.
The thought of a test brings up images in the mind of school, especially final exams. Not really a fond memory. Maybe it the thought of staying up all night to go over one more time what was learned for that semester. The pressure of sitting in the class marking those little dots on the form and your mind going blank.
We see in Hebrews 11:17, that it was Abraham's faith in that God would keep His word when he offered Issac up that was tested. We just read how God allowed Job to be tested to prove his faith in God. There are times that God will allow our faith to be tested as to do we really believe He will do what He says He will do.
There are also times that we become too full of ourselves. We know better how things should go and God will use times of testing to discipline us. This would be as the Message says, "Keep us safe from ourselves." We are no longer depending on God so like a loving Father, He has to discipline us to bring us back in fellowship with Him.
Lastly, there is the Devil out there. Like a fisherman throwing out his hook with a big juicy worm on it, hoping we will fall for that tempting worm, to lure us into a sin that he can hook us in and interrupt our relationship with God the Father. We all know the temptation as soon as you decided to go on a diet, BOOM, you go somewhere and there is a really tempting dessert. Do you forget the diet or stick to it no matter how hard it is to ignore the dessert? Likewise, as a Christian, Satan is going to come at us every way possible. Say you decide that you are going to break the gossip habit. The next thing you know is a friend comes to tell you something about another friend and use the disguise of we got to pray for... Are you going to bite at that hook or respond with something like, " I will pray for her but I don't need to know all that is going on."
When we pray lead us not into testing, we are reminding ourselves to examine our lives and keeping in line with God's will for us.
Is there a time where that word has been used in the same verse but translated in different versions with the different words? Yes, in Luke 4:12, starting with the ESV, "And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” " And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Luke 4:12 KJV). "And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'Y OU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR G OD TO THE TEST.'" (Luke 4:12 NASB). Finally, "And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, test exceedingly) the Lord your God. [Deut. 6:16.] (Luke 4:12 AMP).
Very rarely do I like the Message version but what it says about this part of the verse makes it most clear; "Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.” (Luke 11:4MSG). This points out the epic battle that we deal with daily. The struggle within ourselves to follow God's will for us or to follow our fleshly desires and the temptations that Satan puts out there before us.
The thought of a test brings up images in the mind of school, especially final exams. Not really a fond memory. Maybe it the thought of staying up all night to go over one more time what was learned for that semester. The pressure of sitting in the class marking those little dots on the form and your mind going blank.
We see in Hebrews 11:17, that it was Abraham's faith in that God would keep His word when he offered Issac up that was tested. We just read how God allowed Job to be tested to prove his faith in God. There are times that God will allow our faith to be tested as to do we really believe He will do what He says He will do.
There are also times that we become too full of ourselves. We know better how things should go and God will use times of testing to discipline us. This would be as the Message says, "Keep us safe from ourselves." We are no longer depending on God so like a loving Father, He has to discipline us to bring us back in fellowship with Him.
Lastly, there is the Devil out there. Like a fisherman throwing out his hook with a big juicy worm on it, hoping we will fall for that tempting worm, to lure us into a sin that he can hook us in and interrupt our relationship with God the Father. We all know the temptation as soon as you decided to go on a diet, BOOM, you go somewhere and there is a really tempting dessert. Do you forget the diet or stick to it no matter how hard it is to ignore the dessert? Likewise, as a Christian, Satan is going to come at us every way possible. Say you decide that you are going to break the gossip habit. The next thing you know is a friend comes to tell you something about another friend and use the disguise of we got to pray for... Are you going to bite at that hook or respond with something like, " I will pray for her but I don't need to know all that is going on."
When we pray lead us not into testing, we are reminding ourselves to examine our lives and keeping in line with God's will for us.