Rebuilding the Ancient Ruins

“Why do you put the LORD to the test?”

• January 27th, 2008

“The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?“ (Exodus 17:1, Emphasis mine)

It’s an interesting reply that Moses gave them… “Why do you put the LORD to the test?”  They were without water, and they were thirsty, and they did ask God through Moses to provide for them.  In what way were they testing the Lord?  Many years later (almost 38 years), just before the Israelites were going to cross over into the Promised Land, Moses reminded them of all God had taught them, and he reminded them of this incident, “Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah.” (Deuteronomy 6:16) Just after Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, before entering into His 3 year ministry, he was lead into the desert we he was tested by the adversary.  Jesus had to pass a similar test when the Adversary took him to the top of the holy city and setting him on the highest point asked Him to jump so that Heavens angels would catch Him.  Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7) If both Jesus and the Israelites were required to pass this test before entering into the fullness of what God had called them, we too will need to pass this test before entering into the fullness of all God has called us to.

What is this test really about?

Reading a little further on in Exodus, “But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”" (Exodus 17:3) Here we see that their request for water was rooted in deeper concerns.  Their concerns for their life.  They so doubted Gods promise and plan that when they looked at the severity of the circumstance around them, their hearts failed them and they came to doubt the God who had just parted the Red Sea, who had just wiped out the Egyptian military, and with ten incredible plagues, set them free from a life of slavery which they had come to know for almost 400 years.  Still they doubted God’s promise, and out of this doubt came their request for water.  They needed God to change their circumstance so they could trust His promise, if God provided water, perhaps then they would come to trust Him.  Isaiah wrote of these people, saying, “they say, “We want God to speed up his work, to hurry it along, so we can see it!  We want the Holy One of Israel’s plan to come true right now, so we can be sure of it!”" (Isaiah 5:19)

If God gave them what they asked for, would they trust him then?  David the Psalmist said of them, “but they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.  They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. (19) They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the desert? (20) When he struck the rock, water gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly. But can he also give us food? Can he supply meat for his people?”" (Psalm 78:17-20)  When God delivered them from slavery, still they doubted, when God parted the Red Sea and swallowed up their enemies, still they doubted, when God provided water from a rock, still they doubted, when God provided bread from heaven, still they doubted, and when God provided meat, they still doubted.  They tested God ten times in the desert and continued to doubt His faithfulness and His provision.

Contrast the trust of the Israelites to that of their forefather, Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice His only son (Genesis 22:1-18), his son of promise which he his wife Sarah had born to him when he was 100 years of age.  Abraham did not doubt God as he packed the firewood but no sacrifice, and when his son asked his only response was that God would provide.  The angel of the Lord stopped Abraham just before harming his son and provided a ram caught in the bushes for the sacrifice.

Gods love for us cannot be determined by our circumstance

We run the risk of putting our God to the test when we determine God’s love for us by looking at our circumstance.  We must look at our circumstance through His Love.  The book of James puts it this way, “Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance.  But let your perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4)  God is interested in our happiness, and it’s true that he does want the best for us, even on earth, however, more important than us being happy is that we be found having trust.  To God our trust is worth far more than pure gold, “even gold is tested for genuineness by fire.  The purpose of these trials is so that your trust’s genuiness, which is far more valuable than perishable gold, will be judged worthy of praise, glory and honor at the revealing of Jesus the Messiah.” (1 Peter 1:7)

The bible has many accounts of those called by God and as a result faced great opposition, it was this opposition when endured with faith that established the promise.  When Abraham had not withheld his only son, God said, “that because you have done this, because you haven’t withheld your son, your only son.  I will most certainly bless you; and I will most certainly increase your descendents to as many as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:16b-17)

Conclusion

Before we will enter into the fullness of what God has called us to, we will need to pass the same tests the Israelites did during the wilderness, one of which is learning not to put our God to the test by doubting His love and faithfullness for us.  When God gives us an assignment, there will be opposition.  God will not always seem near to us either, but we must come to trust Him even when he seems distant.  When the Israelites wandered the desert facing their trials and the harshness of the desert, “There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” (Deuteronomy 1:31) We may not see God carrying us through our trials, but He is there not only helping us, but carrying us.  “Who among you fears ADONAI?  Who obeys what his servant says?  Even when he walks in the dark, without any light, he will trust in ADONAI’s reputation and rely on his God.” (Isaiah 50:10)