Christ's Temptation

Can anything be more absurd than keeping women [and men] in a state of ignorance,
and yet so vehemently to insist on their resisting temptation?
-Vicesimus Knox

What could be more obvious that God and Satan are allies, then when he brought Jesus to Satan to be tempted.

Arguments about the historicity of Jesus continue to this day. To delve into the meager writings of the past to determine whether or not Jesus existed, is not only impossible, it misses the point. Near East religions where founded on the belief that the stars were either deities or their movements were influenced by deities.

The cyclical alignment of the Sun with the constellations provides the basis for understanding the allegorical significance of Jesus' existence. He did not exist as an historical person; he existed as an allegorical representation of the sun. Likewise, Satan allegorically represents the sun during the fall and winter months. At that time, evil dominates when the sun is weak

Summary

This event is reminiscent of the story of Job when God and Satan conspired to test Job's fidelity.

The spirit of God led Jesus up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. First, he asked Jesus to prove he was the son of God by turning stones into bread. Second, he took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in the holy city and asked him to prove his divinity by leaping off. Third, he took Jesus to the top of the highest mountain and offered him all the kingdoms of the world, if he would worship him, the devil. Jesus refused all three of the devil's tempting offers.

Interpretation

In essence, he was offered economic power as symbolized by the bread; psychological power as symbolized by immortality; and political power as symbolized by the kingdoms. Though it appears as if Jesus was humbly refusing power, he accepted God's offer, as other passages attest. Or if he was already a god, as Christians believe, then he already had those powers.

Could it be that Satan made a better offer? Instead of dying on the cross, he would have had wealth, immortality and power. While Job remained faithful, Jesus, before he died, renounced his god by saying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

This brings up some questions. Where does the devil get the power to make those offers? Is he lying? Is God helpless? The answer is tied up with astronomy and allegory. For background, readers can refer to Gospel Zodiac.

This event occurs early in the Gospels, around February, when Jesus is in the house of Aquarius the water bearer. In Aquarius, he was just baptized by John. At this time of the sun's cycle, nights are longer than days. Allegorically, the sun is too weak to overpower the darkness of Satan, but it hasn't reversed into darkness.

In allegorical language, with Jesus representing the Sun and the devil representing darkness, they are diametrical opposites. When the devil is up, he is down, and down when he is up. Thus, when devil tempts him in the wilderness, he goes before him through the Zodiac. The devil takes Jesus through three cardinal points of the Zodiac, spring equinox, summer solstice and fall equinox. To go farther would be to give into the devil's offer and descend into the darkness of the fall and winter months. This will have to wait until Jesus passes through the seasons.

Deconstruction-Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

4:1-Jesus was lead up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil

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

1. Astronomically, it is the time of the year when the sun crosses the constellation of Aquarius. Jesus was just baptized with water, Matt. 3:3-17.

2. Jesus was led up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Up? This means he went to heaven to meet the devil; not down into hell.

3. According to Mark, the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. The Hebrew word for Spirit translates to rauch, meaning "wind". In those days, it was believed that heavenly bodies were either gods or were moved by the gods. Thus, the locomotive force was the wind.

¹²The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. (Mark 1:12)

4. Mark says he was with the wild beasts. This means he was in the constellations of the Zodiac. Zodiac means literally, "circle of animals." The angels, of course, are the stars. Angels reveal their messages by their angles in the sky.

¹³And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. (Mark 1:13)

5. This doesn't reconcile with Trinitarian theology. Accordingly, it would mean that God brought himself to the devil to be tempted. Or if Jesus is separate from God, then the devil is an agent of God. Supposedly, God in the name of Jesus cannot be tempted. So this exercise is meaningless.

6. Why should Jesus believe anything the devil tells him? In John, he calls the devil the father of lies. If Jesus doesn't believe the devil, this exercise is meaningless. If he does believe the devil, then he is showing trust in his honesty.

⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

4:2-He fasted 40 days and forty nights.

²And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.

1. "Four" is one of those magic numbers. Four denotes the four cardinal points of the Zodiac. Therefore, any complete journey must pass through these four points. Another example is the Israelites forty year trek in the wilderness.

2. During the late winter months, water and food supplies are scarce.

3. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the record is 18 days without food and water.

4. After three days of being dead, he was hungry when he reappeared.

⁴¹And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat? (Luke 24:41)

5. Jesus refused to fast.

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? (Matt. 9:14)

6. Jesus was known as a glutton and a drunkard.

¹⁹the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. (Matt. 11:19)

7. Hunger overcame him in one day. He cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit.

¹⁸In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry.
¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, May no fruit ever come from you again! And the fig tree withered at once. (Matt. 21:18-19)

4:3-Devil: Command these stones to become loaves of bread.

³And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

1. The stones suggest they are low in the horizon, at a time when the stones expose the barren earth. The first cardinal point takes Jesus through Pisces, at the spring equinox In March. There are no grains or meat at this time.

4:4-Jesus: Man shall not live by bread alone.

⁴But he answered, It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'

1. In his hometown of Nazareth, he refused to perform miracles because of their unbelief. Thus, he could not perform miracles for the devil.

⁵⁸And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. (Matt. 13:58)

2. But when he had a following, the showman didn't hesitate to feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish.

¹⁴As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
¹⁶Jesus said, They need not go away; you give them something to eat.
¹⁷They said to him, We have only five loaves here and two fish.
¹⁸And he said, Bring them here to me.
¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matt. 14:14-21)

4:5-The devil took him to the highest spot in the holy city.

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,

1. Where is this holy city? Jerusalem? They are now at the time of the summer solstice, when the sun is at its highest point on the horizon, when it shines directly over Jerusalem.

4:6-Devil: If you are the son of God, jump off. for it is written God's angels will protect you.

⁶and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'

1. This writing is written in the stars. Jesus cannot descend because they haven't passed the summer solstice.

4:7-Jesus: You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

⁷Jesus said to him, Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'

1. Throughout this wilderness journey, the devil leads Jesus. This is what is meant by "tempt."

2. Jesus once prayed to God to "lead us not into temptation". This suggests that the devil and God are one in the same.

¹³And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. (Matt. 6:20)

3. Bible revisionists were uncomfortable with the idea that God can be tempted, so many of them changed "tempt" to "test".

⁷Jesus answered him, "It is written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (New International Version)

4:8-The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;

1. With the devil leading, the sun descends as it approaches the fall equinox.

2. This would possible if earth was small and flat.

4:9-Devil: I will give you all these if you will fall down and worship me.

⁹and he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

1. Jesus cannot go any further. To do so would be to fall into the dark months of fall and winter when the devil is the dominate power.

4:10-Jesus: Be gone Satan. For it is written you shall worship and serve the Lord your God.

¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'

1. This writing is written in the heavens. At the fall equinox, they are in the house of Libra. This is a time for weighing the good verses the bad.

2. Though Jesus declined Satan's offer for power, he accepted the same offer from God.

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matt. 28:18)

3. To accept God's offer, all he had to do was suffer and die. In the end, he renounced God. So it seems that the devil made a better offer.

⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matt. 27:46)

4. According to the Catholic Church, Peter was their first pope. Jesus said to him "Get behind me Satan".

²³But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men. (Matt. 16:23)

4:11-The devil left him and angels came to take care of him.

¹¹Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

1. At the fall equinox, he devil continues his journey downward, through the fall and winter months. Forty days have past since they were in Aquarius. So Jesus advances to the house of Aquarius.

1. Luke tells us the devil departed for a season. This hints that Jesus represents the sun's yearly cycle.

¹³And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. (Luke 4:13 KJV)

Later revisions purge "season" in favor of something less embarrassing.

¹³And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13)

End