By EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God

In the fourth chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, we find an account of Satan's temptation of Jesus Christ. We read: "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:1-4, ESV) Where was that written? It is found in Torah. In the book of Deuteronomy, we read: "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 8:3, ESV)

Now, in the last post, we talked about the Hebrew "dabar" which is translated into English as "word." In the Greek New Testament, the words "rema" and "logos" are translated into English as "word." Interestingly, in the Gospel of John, we read: "In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God." (John 1:1, ESV) Continuing, we read: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, ESV) A few verses later, the thought continues: "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." (John 1:17-18, ESV) Here, Jesus of Nazareth is presented as the embodiment of God's Word - "his" message to humankind.

This is consistent with Christ's statements and with what was revealed about him in the anonymous epistle to the Hebrews. We read there: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..." (Hebrews 1:1-3, ESV).

In other words, Christ represents the clearest and best revelation that humankind has ever been given about the nature, will, and plans of Almighty God. More particularly, this is consistent with Christ's statement that he came to this earth to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), and in his instructions to his disciples that: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV). In the Gospel of Luke, we also read: "Then he <Christ> said to them, 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures..." (Luke 24:44-45, ESV) Hence, we see that Jesus Christ is the key to understanding the written words of the Hebrew Scriptures. HE is the filter through which the Law, Prophets, and Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures must be interpreted and understood!