Luke 11:1–13 – The Good Father Discourse
Yhwh Is
the Evil One
You have been praying this prayer your entire life. You have never been told what it means.
You have been praying this prayer your entire life.
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil."
You have never been told what it means.
Every line of the Lord's Prayer contrasts two fathers. One gives bread. One withholds it. One forgives. One holds sin. One protects. One tests. Every petition points away from the god of the Exodus – and toward a Father the Hebrews were never allowed to know.
Line by line, Jesus is praying against Yhwh.
Then He tells a parable about a friend at midnight – a man on a journey who needs bread. The Hebrews were on a journey. They needed bread. Yhwh's response was murder. Jesus' lesson: persistence is rewarded, not punished.
Then He names the creatures.
"What father gives a snake when asked for fish?" That is the Exodus. Israel asked for food. Yhwh sent poisonous snakes. "Or if asked for an egg, gives a scorpion?" Deuteronomy 8 – Yhwh brought them through a wilderness of venomous serpents and scorpions.
"Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts."
Even evil human fathers do better than what the Hebrews experienced. That is the baseline. And then the final line: "How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." Abba gives. Yhwh took.
And at the end of the prayer: "Deliver us from the Evil One."
Not "evil" in the abstract. The Greek has the definite article – the evil one. A person. The one who tests, starves, accuses, withholds, and strikes. The prayer is a prayer of protection from Yhwh.
The Lord's Prayer doesn't contrast two moods of the same god.
It sets two fathers in court and chooses one.
This study walks through every line of the prayer, the Friend at Midnight parable, and the Snakes Instead of Fish teaching – all set against the Exodus. No proof-texts. No shortcuts. Just the Good Father Discourse, read the way it was spoken.
Read the full study →This study has three parts
The Lord's Prayer – line by line
| Jesus' prayer | Yhwh's Exodus behavior | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| "Father, may your name be kept holy" | Yhwh wants his name famous, proclaimed in all the earth | Exodus 9:16 |
| "May your kingdom come" | Yhwh already owns all kingdoms of earth | Isaiah 37:16 |
| "Give us each day our daily bread" | Yhwh deprived the Hebrews of bread, starved them | Exodus 16:3 |
| "Forgive us our sins" | Yhwh holds sin, wipes sinners from his book | Exodus 32:33 |
| "For we also forgive everyone" | Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, show no pity | Deut 19:21 |
| "Do not lead us into a time of testing" | Yhwh says the Exodus IS a test | Deut 8:2–3 |
| "Deliver us from the Evil One" | Yhwh acts with unrelenting malice, burns them with fire | Numbers 11:1 |
Questions to sit with
- If the Lord's Prayer is addressed to the same god who led the Exodus, why does every line contrast Him with the Exodus?
- "Deliver us from the Evil One" – if the tester is the same person as the Father, why would Jesus pray for protection from Him?
- "Do not lead us into testing, but deliver us from the Evil One" – these are one sentence. Is the tester the Evil One?
- Israel asked for food in the wilderness. Yhwh sent poisonous snakes. Jesus asks: "What father gives a snake when asked for fish?" Who is He talking about?
- "Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts." If evil human fathers outperform the god of the Exodus, what does that make the god of the Exodus?
- Jesus fed the crowds in the wilderness with bread and fish – the very things the Hebrews cried out for. Same setting, different response. Coincidence?
- "Holy" means set apart. The Father's name is not spoken – even Jesus never utters it. How does that contrast with Yhwh, who demands his name be feared and proclaimed?