tempting verses

Week 38  Luke 4

Lots of people don’t read the bible. And lots of people do.
People who do read the bible can be divided into two big groups: in Group A are people who read the bible and think it’s legitimate accurate reliable personally-valuable – things like that – and in Group B are people who read the bible for some reason – but not because they believe it or think it has any real & solid usefulness.
Anyway I put myself in Group A. And the main person I’d put in Group B is the devil.
I don’t know for a fact that the devil has read the whole bible (I figure he likely has).
And I don’t know for a fact that the devil has read every psalm (he likely has).
I do know for a fact that the devil read Psalm 92 because when he tempted the Lord he quoted a couple of verses from it.
This is worrisome on two counts.
First it’s a reminder that at least one guy in Group B is seriously-and-maliciously evil.
And secondly it’s a reminder that a sinister Group B guy can manage the meaning of a bible passage so that it takes on a dark & sinister twist.
The equation looks something like this: an illuminating-and-helpful bible verse + a dark-and-devious mind reading it = a potentially damaging-and-corrosive meaning.
It’s a reminder for Group A readers: a good verse is deformable.

Note: the devil quoted Psalm 92:11-12 in Luke 4:10-11