Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July 13, 2003
Testing 1-2-3
As we’ve seen through the book of Job, Job is undergoing a test.
A discussion got started in heaven about Job. God was quite proud of Job,
Job was a great guy. But Satan challenged God. Satan claimed that Job only
loved God because God made Job’s life sweet. Satan claimed that if God would
allow difficult times to enter Job’s life, that Job would curse God to His
face.
And so, in order to prove to Satan that he was wrong, God allows Job to be
tested. In the process Job loses his wealth, his family, and his health. Even
though Job does a lot of complaining, Job never curses God.
Job and his friends are quite confused about the reasons for Job’s
difficulties. Job’s friends wonder if Job has done something horrible to
deserve his pain. Job can’t think of anything he’s done to deserve these
things.
But the difficulties in the book of Job are not about punishment, they are
about testing.
Sometimes life’s tests seem pretty simple.
Illustration
Football Players and the Test
Two football players were taking an important final exam. If they failed,
they would be on academic probation and not allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl
the following week. The exam was fill-in-the-blank. The last question read,
“Old MacDonald had a _________.” Bubba was stumped. He had no idea of the
answer. He knew he needed to get this one right to be sure he passed. Making
sure the professor wasn’t watching, he tapped Tiny on the shoulder. “Pssst. Tiny.
What’s the answer to the last question?” Tiny laughed. He looked around to make
sure the professor hadn’t noticed then he turned to Bubba. “Bubba, you’re so
dumb. Everyone knows Old MacDonald had a farm.” “Oh yeah,” said Bubba. “I
remember now.” He picked up his No. 2 pencil and started to write the answer in
the blank. He stopped. Reaching to tap Tiny’s shoulder again, he whispered,
“Tiny, how do you spell farm?” “You are really dumb, Bubba. That’s so easy.
Farm is spelled E-I-E-I-O.”
Sometimes life’s tests seem way over our head. How would you like to take a
test like this for your next job interview?
Illustration
THE JOB TEST
To see if you would fit into our work environment, we have come up with a
test for you to take when you arrive for your interview. To give people an
equal footing, here are questions similar to the ones that will be on the test.
INSTRUCTIONS: Read each question carefully. Answer all questions in full.
CHEMISTRY: You will be given 1 lb. of lead to convert to gold. Return it to
the test administrator along with the only copy of the experimental procedure.
ENGINEERING: The disassembled parts of a high-powered rifle have been
placed in a box on your desk. You will find an instruction manual, printed in
Swahili, next to the box. In ten minutes a hungry Bengal
tiger will be admitted to the room. Take whatever action you feel appropriate.
Be prepared to justify your decision.
EPISTEMOLOGY: Take a position for and against truth. Argue with yourself
and lose. If you win, keep trying.
MEDICINE: Your test administrator will provide you with a razor blade, a
piece of gauze and a bottle of Scotch. Remove your appendix. Do not suture
until your work has been inspected. You have 15 minutes.
MUSIC: Write a piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with flute and
drum. You will find a trumpet under your seat.
1. Surprise Test
Hezekiah and Babylon
Hezekiah was a good king. He was a righteous king.
Hezekiah has been through some amazing times. When the HUGE Assyrian army
threatened to level Jerusalem, Hezekiah
trusted in the Lord and God responded by sending a single angel who wiped out
185,000 Assyrians in a single night. After this incredible deliverance,
kingdoms from all over the world wanted to be friends with Hezekiah and as a
result kings from around the world sent him gifts and treasures. Hezekiah
became incredibly wealthy.
Some time during this period, Hezekiah got sick and was told he would die.
When Hezekiah cried out to God and asked for help, God healed Hezekiah and
promised to give him 15 more years of life. To show Hezekiah that this was
going to happen, God allowed some type of supernatural astronomical phenomena
to occur where the sun actually shifted its position.
It’s somewhere around this time that visitors from Babylon show up, apparently
in response to how Hezekiah had been healed, possibly because of the strange
astronomical phenomena.
(2 Ki 20:12-19 KJV) At
that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters
and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. {13}
And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious
things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment,
and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there
was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them
not.
It seems that Hezekiah was somewhat proud of all his riches and
accomplishments. It seems that he doesn’t hesitate to do a little strutting
with these ambassadors from a distant country.
{14} Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto
him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah
said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. {15} And he said,
What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that
are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I
have not showed them. {16} And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the
LORD. {17} Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that
which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into
Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. {18} And of thy sons that shall
issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall
be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
The implication seems to be that Hezekiah’s actions of displaying his
treasures to these Babylonian ambassadors would one day set the stage for an
invasion from Babylon. One day all these
treasures would be taken to Babylon.
And that’s exactly what would happen in a little over a hundred years.
I have to admit though; to me it seems that the things Isaiah says are a
little unfair. What did Hezekiah do wrong? What’s the problem?
It also kind of seems as if Hezekiah himself didn’t have a clue he was
doing something wrong.
{19} Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD
which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in
my days?
Hezekiah doesn’t seem too bummed about this. After all, it doesn’t look as
if the trouble is going to happen in his lifetime. It seems he doesn’t care
what will happen to his ancestors.
(2 Chr 32:31 KJV) Howbeit
in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to
inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that
was in his heart.
try – nacah – to test,
try, prove. This Hebrew word is going to
be found in some form in each of the passages we’ll look at.
God was giving Hezekiah a test. Part of the test involved God stepping back
to see what Hezekiah would do.
Sometimes we don’t understand that we’re taking a test:
Illustration
B in Biology
A professor stood before his class of twenty senior organic biology
students, about to hand out the final exam. “I want to say that it’s been a
pleasure teaching you this semester. I know you’ve all worked extremely hard
and many of you are off to medical school after summer. So that no one gets
their GPA messed up because they might have been celebrating a bit too much
this week, anyone who would like to opt out of the final exam today will
receive a “B” for the course.” There was much rejoicing in the class as
students got up, walked to the front of the class, and took the professor up on
his offer. As the last taker left the room, the professor looked out over the
handful of remaining students and asked, “Anyone else? This is your last
chance.” One final student rose up and opted out of the final. The professor
closed the door and took attendance of those students remaining. “I’m glad to
see you believe in yourself,” he said. “You all have “A”s.”
The students that left didn’t realize that they were actually taking a
test. I think that sometimes the worst kinds
of tests are when you don’t even realize you’re in a test.
It wasn’t even that Hezekiah was going through a difficult time at this
period of his life. Things were actually going well. But he was in a test.
I kind of think that Hezekiah didn’t have the sense that God had left
him. It seems more like Hezekiah was
just left to make his own decisions. And
he wasn’t making good ones.
Are you being tested right now? Are
you even aware of it?
2. Obedience Test
Bitter waters
(Exo 15:22-26 KJV) So
Moses brought Israel
from the Red sea,
and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the
wilderness, and found no water. {23} And when they came to Marah, they could
not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of
it was called Marah. {24} And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What
shall we drink? {25} And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a
tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there
he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, {26} And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the
voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and
wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none
of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am
the LORD that healeth thee.
When we find our lives affected by things that are difficult, we are going
to be faced with heading in one of two directions. We can become bitter or we
can be healed.
The people had learned that they ought to be coming to God with the bitter
things of life. We too find that when we
have bitter disappointments God tells us to take a tree and cast it into the
water. When we learn to understand the
love of God for us displayed at the cross – how God loved us so much that He
allowed His only Son to pay for our sins by dying in our place – that the love
of the cross can transform our bitter waters.
Healing comes when we choose to pay attention to what God says, even in
difficult circumstances, and then do it.
Illustration
The Crooked Smile By James C
Brown, M.D.
As we rolled five-year-old Mary into the MRI room, I tried to imagine what
she must be feeling. She had suffered a stroke that left half of her body
paralyzed, had been hospitalized for treatment of a brain tumor, and had
recently lost her father, her mother and her home. We all wondered how Mary
would react. She went into the MRI machine without the slightest protest, and
we began the exam. At that time, each imaging sequence required the patient to
remain perfectly still for about five minutes. This would have been difficult
for anyone - and certainly for a five-year-old who had suffered so much. We
were taking an image of her head, so any movement of her face, including
talking, would result in image distortion. About two minutes into the first
sequence, we noticed on the video monitor that Mary’s mouth was moving. We even
heard a muted voice over the intercom. We halted the exam and gently reminded
Mary not to talk. She was smiling and promised not to talk. We reset the
machine and started over. Once again we saw her facial movement and heard her
voice faintly. What she was saying wasn’t clear. Everyone was becoming a little
impatient, with a busy schedule that had been put on hold to perform an
emergency MRI on Mary. We went back in and slid Mary out of the machine. Once
again, she looked at us with her crooked smile and wasn’t upset in the least.
The technologist, perhaps a bit gruffly, said, “Mary, you were talking again,
and that causes blurry pictures.” Mary’s smile remained as she replied, “I
wasn’t talking. I was singing. You said no talking.” We looked at each other,
feeling a little silly. “What were you singing?” someone asked. “Jesus Loves
Me,” came the barely perceptible reply. “I always sing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ when
I’m happy.” Everyone in the room was speechless. “Happy? How could this little
girl be happy?” The technologist and I had to leave the room for a moment to
regain our composure as tears began to fall.
from A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup
for the Soul Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Everyone involved in that exam thought that Mary was taking a test in
regards to her brain tumor. I wonder if she wasn’t taking another test, and
passing with flying colors.
Bitter times don’t have to be an excuse to disobey the Lord. Put the Tree
into the bitter waters. God isn’t trying
to destroy you. He loves you.
(Rom 5:8 KJV) But God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us.
3. Priority Test
Abraham and Isaac
(Gen 22:1-18 KJV) And it
came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold,
here I am.
The word “tempt” is the same Hebrew word we’ve seen in the other
passages. We’re told right away that
Abraham is going to be tested.
{2} And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
The test is about what is more important in his life. It’s about
priorities.
Isaac is the promised son. He’s God’s promise to Abraham.
And yet even something that comes from God can sometimes become more
important than God.
{3} And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass,
and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood
for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had
told him. {4} Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the
place afar off. {5} And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the
ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Abraham fully expected to come back with his son alive. The writer of Hebrews tells us (Heb. 11:17-19) that Abraham was counting on God
raising Isaac from the dead if necessary, and that this whole episode is a
picture of something greater – another Father sacrificing His only Son.
{6} And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it
upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they
went both of them together. {7} And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and
said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? {8} And Abraham said,
My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both
of them together.
One day God would provide Himself a lamb.
One day the Father would watch as His only begotten Son was slain on
that very same mountain. One day God would
provide Jesus as the Lamb.
{9} And they came to the place which God had told him of; and
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his
son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. {10} And Abraham stretched forth
his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
This was as far as the test was going to go.
Sometimes I wonder if God isn’t just trying to get us to the point of
really being willing to let go of something before He’s going to let us keep
it.
But Abraham doesn’t know that God is going to stop him. He intends on
following through.
{11} And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. {12} And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
This is what God was looking for. This was the thing that passed the test.
{13} And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind
him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram,
and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. {14} And
Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day,
In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Jehovahjireh – “Yahweh sees”; or “Yahweh will provide”
God sees what we need and He provides what we need.
{15} And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven
the second time, {16} And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for
because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son: {17} That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; {18} And in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my
voice.
Sometimes we get worried about how we’re going to keep things together in
life. There are many things that ought
to be important in our lives, but the most important thing of all is our
relationship with God. God must be first
in our life. Jesus said,
(Mat 6:33
KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Abraham learned to put God first, and in turn, God blessed Abraham for
passing the test. The blessings that Abraham received even went beyond
himself. The whole world would be
blessed because of Abraham’s choice to put God first.
Where are your priorities? Are you
passing the test?
Ask to be tested
David wrote,
(Psa 26:2 KJV) Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
Surprise tests, obedience tests, and priority tests.