This Life is a Test Given by God--Part 1 (Old Testament)--8/22/2021
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
1. What is the purpose of God testing us?
A. Often times, this question confuses us.
2. It is through the Old Testament that we can understand the reason God tests us today.
Body:
1. God tested Isreal to know whether or not they would keep His commandments.
1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. 6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. 11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
A. They were led into the wilderness in order to be tested.
1. This was done so that God could know what was in their heart (Deut. 8:2).
2. This was done so that God would know whether or not they would keep His commandments (Deut. 8:2).
B. He tested them with hunger and fed them with manna.
1. This test was proctored by God so that they would know man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD (Deut. 8:3).
2. This test was given so that they might do good in the end (Deut. 8:16).
C. He tested them with chastening.
1. A man chastens his children, so God chastens His children to protect them (Deut. 8:5)
C. He tested them with good times.
1. He tested them with good land to see if they would remain faithful (Deut. 8:5-13).
2. He tested them to see if they would forget Him in the good times. (Deut. 8:14).
2. God tested Isreal to know whether or not they loved Him with all their heart and soul.
1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. 6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
A. They demonstrated that they loved Him when...
1. They walked after the LORD (Deut. 13:4a).
2. They feared Him and kept His commandments (Deut 13:4b).
3. They obeyed His voice (Deut. 13:4c).
4. They held fast to Him (Deut. 13:4d).
5. They put away the evil from their midst (Deut. 13:5).
6. They put God above family (Deut. 13:6-10).
3. God tested Isreal to refine them by fire.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
A. Every test that God put Isreal through was to refine them and bring all the impurities of their sin to the surface .
A. When they passed the furnace of affliction, He strengthened and purified them.
B. When they failed, they were chastised by God in the hopes they would repent and tested again because without the test, they could not be strengthened and purified.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Conclusion:
1. Next week, we will see how God still tests us today.
A. Often times, Israel did not pass the test.
B. Are we passing the test as the Lord’s people today?