First, let’s restate the text from Psalm 91:
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
-Psalm 91:11-12 (NKJV) Bold emphasis mine.
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall [c]bear you up,
Lest you [d]dash your foot against a stone.
Compare that to:
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
-Matthew 4:5-6 (NKJV)
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Obviously I left out the word “And” in the quote from Matthew. I think it’s appropriate. In his quote, Satan left out an entire sentence. Read the difference it makes. In the correct quote from Psalm 91 the angels are given charge over someone so that the person will be kept in all their ways. Verse 12 is a figure of speech to reinforce the idea of being protected by supernatural intervention/ guidance. It in no way suggests you will never stub your toe in a literal sense.
Whereas…in the (mis)-quote by Satan in Matthew it sounds as if you’ll be literally protected from stubbing your toe because of the angels. And, it sounds reasonable. The difference couldn’t be more profound. That one sentence makes all the difference!
There are certain other principles which govern how we must interpret the Bible.
1. “I am the Lord!” Do me a favor, look-up in your Bible the number of times this phrase appears in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Why those two books? Because these are the books where God is giving commands to the Israelites on how they should live/ conduct themselves in order to be holy.
At the end of the day we need to take God at his word simply because He says so. God’s commands begin and end with Him. This is simply part of the circular reference as found in Exodus 3:14, John 8:58, Ecclesiastes, and too many to list here. There’s no way to get around it. It comes down to either acceptance and obedience or rejection and disobedience. It’s not open for a vote or a discussion or anything.
2. “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’, and your ‘no’ be ‘no’”. Matthew 5:37 implies we should take things at their common, simple understanding. It also implies we should operate in a black and white paradigm as opposed to making everything “gray” or complex. It implies gray areas or complexity are the domain of Satan himself. This requires a more thorough discussion than I have time for now but I find it to be accurate throughout the Bible.
3. Do NOT add to or take away from God’s word. This is referenced in Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19. This is intended to be taken literally. Please refer to the example of Satan’s temptation of Jesus in Matthew compared to Psalm 91 above.
Why is all this important?
Because…