Poetry Tuesday: Paradise Regained — Book II: Hunger, Ambition, and the Wisdom of God

"Thy pompous delicacies I contemn."

Introduction

Book I ended with Christ rejecting Satan's first temptation in the wilderness. The battle, however, has only begun.

In Book II, Milton allows us to witness both Satan's frustration and Christ's unwavering obedience. Satan summons his infernal counselors and seeks new strategies. Hunger, wealth, glory, and worldly success are all brought before the Son of God.

Yet Milton's Christ is not merely resisting individual temptations. He is exposing the emptiness of Satan's entire vision of greatness.

Satan Consults the Powers of Hell

Milton opens with Satan addressing his companions after his initial failure:

"For while I sit with thee, I seem in Heaven,/And sweeter thy discourse is to my ear/Than fruits of Palm-tree pleasantest to thirst/And hunger both."

The irony is striking.

Satan understands the attractiveness of Christ's wisdom, yet remains incapable of submitting to it. The adversary can admire truth while continuing to rebel against it.

The devils propose various approaches. Some suggest pleasure. Others suggest wealth. Still others suggest power.

Satan chooses a subtler path.

The Banquet in the Wilderness

Seeing Christ weakened by forty days of fasting, Satan presents a magnificent feast:

"A table richly spread, in regal mode,With dishes piled, and meats of noblest sort."

The wilderness suddenly appears transformed into a royal banquet hall.

The temptation is not merely food.

It is immediate satisfaction apart from the Father's will.

Christ answers:

"Thy pompous delicacies I contemn."

The Son refuses not because food is evil but because obedience is greater.

Milton reminds us that the issue in Eden was also food. Adam fell through appetite. Christ stands firm through trust.

Paradise begins to be regained.

True Riches

Satan next appeals to wealth and worldly achievement.

Christ responds with some of the most memorable lines in the poem:

"Yet wealth without these three is impotentTo gain dominion, or to keep it gained—Witness those ancient Empires of the earth."

Earthly riches appear powerful.

Yet kingdoms rise and fall.

Treasuries fill and empty.

What endures is wisdom joined to righteousness.

Milton's readers would have recognized the contrast between Christ and the rulers of history who sought greatness through force, ambition, and wealth.

The Wisdom of David

When Satan points toward worldly advancement, Christ directs attention elsewhere:

"Who seeks/To lessen thee, against his purpose serves/To manifest the more thy might."

Again and again, Milton's Christ refuses to measure success by visible achievement.

David was once a shepherd.

Moses spent years in obscurity.

God's servants often appear weak before they are exalted.

The kingdom advances according to God's timing rather than human ambition.

A Different Kind of Victory

What makes Book II remarkable is that Christ never appears anxious.

Satan grows increasingly desperate.

Christ grows increasingly serene.

Milton portrays the Son as perfectly governed by Scripture, perfectly content with the Father's will, and therefore beyond Satan's reach.

The battle is real, but the outcome is becoming clear.

The kingdom of darkness has no weapon against complete obedience.

Reflection

Book II asks a question every generation must answer:

What is greatness?

Is it wealth, influence, power, comfort, and recognition?

Or is it faithful obedience to God?

Milton's answer is unmistakable.

The path to true glory is not self-exaltation but submission to the Father.

Where Adam grasped, Christ trusted.

Where Israel murmured in the wilderness, Christ remained faithful.

Where Satan seeks kingdoms, Christ seeks only God's will.

And that makes all the difference.

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Lord Jesus, I love You today and thank Your for this poem and for Your example of obedience. I desire that my life will be ordered by You, and help to see Your hand as I trust and obey. Amen.

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My stubborn will at last hath yielded;

I would be Thine, and Thine alone;

And this the prayer my lips are bringing,

Lord, let in me Thy will be done.

Refrain

Sweet will of God, still fold me closer;

Till I am wholly lost in Thee;

Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,

Till I am wholly lost in Thee.

I’m tired of sin, footsore and weary,

The darksome path hath dreary grown,

But now a light has ris’n to cheer me;

I find in Thee my Star, my Sun. Refrain

Thy precious will, O conqu’ring Savior,

Doth now embrace and compass me;

All discords hushed, my peace a river,

My soul, a prisoned bird, set free. Refrain

Shut in with Thee, O Lord, forever,

My wayward feet no more to roam;

What pow’r from Thee my soul can sever?

The center of God’s will my home. Refrain

Leila N. Morris, 1900