and worship me‖. (10) Then Jesus said to him, ―Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ̳You shall worship
the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve‘‖. (NKJV)
The essence of true worship is total submission to YHWH and His Kingdom. We worship YHWH when we
submit to His Kingdom and His rule in our lives. Conversely, when we submit to the kingdom of this world
and idolise (worship) the glory, power, fame or fortune it can give us, we are really worshipping HaSatan. As
we continue on, in verse 11 we read, ―Then the devil left him, and angels came and ministered to him‖. It was
this total submission and dedication to YHWH and His Kingdom that caused HaSatan to leave. It was also
after this test of Messiah's total submission to the Kingdom of YHWH and his total rejection of the kingdom of
this world that Messiah began his public teaching ministry and to preach the good news of the Kingdom of
YHWH with signs, wonders and miracles attesting to the power of YHWH and His Kingdom.
Like Messiah Y‘shua, we all will be tested in our loyalty to the Kingdom of YHWH, which is the Tree of Life. In
James 4:4 we read:
―(4) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God‖. (NKJV)
I believe that the apostle James is telling us in this passage that if our hearts are still bound to the things of
this world, we cannot be bound in faithfulness and loyalty to G-D and His Kingdom, and we are therefore
likened to adulterers. In verse 8 of this same chapter we read:
―(8) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded‖. (NKJV)
James is saying that those who walk in both kingdoms are double-minded and lukewarm. Remember the
words of admonishment to the Laodicean Church in Rev 3:15-16:
(15) ―I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
(16) So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth‖.
(NKJV)
Returning again to James 4:7 we read:
―(7) Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you‖. (NKJV)
We learn from this verse that as we submit to YHWH and submit to the laws and principles of His Kingdom,
we have the power to resist the kingdom of darkness and overcome it; but if we are lukewarm and double-
minded we will suffer defeat at the hands of the kingdom of darkness. Messiah, when tempted by HaSatan in
the wilderness, totally submitted to YHWH and His Kingdom (the Tree of Life) and resisted the allure of the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (the kingdom of this world). Because He did so, the enemy,
HaSatan, had to flee because the Kingdom of YHWH always defeats the kingdom of darkness. Those who
are totally faithful to YHWH and to His Kingdom will ultimately defeat the god of this world and the kingdom
of this world (John 12:31).
The battle at the close of this age will be a clash of these two kingdoms. The power of YHWH and His
Kingdom will confront the power of HaSatan and the kingdom of darkness. It will demonstrate the power of
YHWH and those who belong to His Kingdom, the sons of light (John 12:36). They will be opposed by the
power of the god of this world, HaSatan; and those who belong to this world, the sons of darkness. It will
culminate in the false messiah (the Antichrist), empowered by HaSatan—being defeated by the true
Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah—Messiah Y‘shua (Rev 11:15). This victory of light over dark will
usher in the Messianic Age of the Millennial Kingdom where Messiah Y‘shua, the second Adam, will teach all
those remaining on this earth the ways of the Kingdom of YHWH. He will be what the first Adam was not: the
guardian and protector of the Torah of YHWH, the Tree of Life.
Israel as a nation and a people, will be restored back to HaShem her Elohim. She will fulfill the meaning of
her name, Israel: "the one who overcomes the world through YHWH". She will become a light to the Gentile
nations which remain, showing by her example the ways of Torah, the Tree of Life. In Isaiah 60: 1-3 we read:
(1) ―Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
(2) For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will
arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
(3) The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising‖. (NKJV)