Street Signs

And do not lead us into temptation  Matthew 6:13

Lead Us – How are we supposed to understand this strange phrase?  God doesn’t tempt anyone.  The Bible is clear about that.  God is holy.  All that He does is holy.  There is no possibility that He would ever entice anyone to sin.  So, what can this phrase possibly mean?  It looks like this phrase implies that God might lead us to temptation and we are praying that He won’t.

In order to straighten out our thinking, we need to remember what it’s like to be lost. 

Suppose you’re driving in a strange city.  You know where you want to go, but half the street signs are missing, there are detours you didn’t expect and it’s getting dark.  You don’t have a GPS (too bad) and the map you’re using isn’t up to date.  So, you stop at the curb and ask one of the locals, “How do I get to Elm Street?”  Since he lives in this city, you assume that he will know the right way to travel to your destination.  He tells you to go down to the McDonald’s on the corner, turn left, go three blocks to the traffic light and turn right and you will be on Elm Street.  It sounds good to you, but just to make sure you say, “Now, don’t lead to Temptation Avenue.”  He smiles. 

“Of course not.  Just follow my directions and you’ll get where you want to go.  I’ll make sure not to lead you to Temptation.”

That’s what this part of the model prayer is all about.  It’s a prayer to God that He will guide us away from temptation.  We pray for Him to give us the right directions so that we never arrive there.  “Don’t lead us that way,” implies that God will faithfully lead us another way. 

The Greek verb eisphero always refers to movement from one place to another.  It is the combination of eis (into) and phero (to bring or bear).  Coupled with the negative me, we could read this as “do not bring us to temptation.”  In other words, steer us clear. 

This is not a prayer about the mythological picture of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.  We are not caught between two equally compelling forces.  We are directed to obey, to follow the correct path.  The choice of going astray is not open to us because we are first and foremost His children.  There is no devil whispering in my ear.  But there is my desire to ignore God’s instruction.  Every man who has ever been lost while driving knows what this means.  Instead of asking for directions, we have the tendency to simply figure it out on our own.  We plow ahead.  Pride interferes with accuracy.  This is exactly what we wish to avoid.  So, we pray, “Don’t let us wander off, Lord.”  This is not testing or strengthening the faithful.  This is simply an appeal for clear direction.  In other words, from Yeshua’s perspective, this is an affirmation of my need for obedience to Torah – God’s instruction book of life.

“Don’t let me go the wrong way, Lord.  Lead me in the paths of righteousness, for Your name’s sake.”

Oh, yes.  Just one more thing.  Did you notice that it’s about us, not me?  We pray for community guidance because we have community responsibility.

Topical Index:  temptation, direction, eisphero, Matthew 6:13