CHAPTER 8 TESTING GOD
By this time the Israelites had been witness to three more miracles: the parting of the Red Sea, the confusion and eventual destruction of Pharaoh's army (Ex.14:23&27). As we saw once before, these miracles had a temporary effect upon them, for Ex.14:31 tells us that they feared the Lord and "... put their trust in Him ..." However, as the 4th example of their putting God to the test will show, their trust was again short lived. "For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water ... SO THE PEOPLE GRUMBLED against Moses saying, 'What are we to drink? ... there the Lord made a decree and a law for them and there HE TESTED THEM" (Ex.15:22&25). This incident at Marah (bitter water) teaches us two more lessons. We must not grumble, and God will test us.
Eph.5:27 tells us that the Church Jesus returns for will be blameless, holy, spotless and without wrinkle. Unfortunately however, there is a giant crease right down the middle of the Church today which must be removed before it can be said that we are anywhere near that condition. That crease is made up of all the grumblers who are in the body (Jude 14-16) who are not aware of the fact that all grumbling must cease "... so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation" (Phil.2:14 see also I Pe.4:9).
This fact is vitally important for us to understand because we will be tested (Ps.66:10), and we must not grumble during this time of testing. The testing of our faith is absolutely necessary if we are to become mature (Ja.1:3-4). Like David, we should ask the Lord to test us (Ps.26:2) because even though some of the tests are painful (Mk.1:12; I Cor.3:13 & Isaiah 48:10) God is bringing us through them so that we may come forth as pure gold on the day of the Lord (Job 23:10 & I Pe.1:7). Don't forget, we have a God who will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability to endure (I Cor.10:13). No matter how hot the fire gets, God is a master smith (Prov.25: 4 & Mal.3:2) and He is the one who exercises ultimate control over the flame.
This brings us to the 5th example of our study, which like its predecessors, calls our attention to more than just one issue. Only 45 days out from Egypt the Israelites said "... if only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us into this desert to starve the entire assembly ..." (Ex.16:1-3). Verse 4 of that chapter goes on to tell us that God gave them directions as to when and how much manna to gather in order to test their level of obedience. Verse 20 tells us that some failed the test by going out on the 7th day to gather food.
Before we discuss the two main points presented by this incident, those of testing God by doubting His promise of provision, and testing God by disobedience, I wish to issue a word of caution. While it is true that the Israelites had seen more than a dozen examples of God's power in a very short period of time, it is also true that they almost immediately forgot all about them and turned around and again tested God. My caution to us is this "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment ... if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall..." (Ro.12:3 & I Cor.10:12).
It is very easy for many of us to sit here in 20th century America and smugly criticize the Israelites for their lack of faith. But all I can say is this, unless you have been without food and water with no earthly way to get it, and still remained true to what God says in His Word, you are not really in a position to criticize them, for you have not experienced for yourself the level of temptation which satan can use to create doubt. If you have ever been in that position, I believe that your reaction would be more one of compassion than criticism.
Note carefully, I am not justifying their doubt, but I am not condemning them either. Miracles do not build faith !!! They definitely get our attention, and confirm the Word, but they do not build faith. Only the Word does that. For whatever it is worth, I pass along this bit of knowledge gained during my own personal wilderness experience. Even though God had miraculously provided food and water for us on numerous occasions, each time the last of the food had been consumed satan would come along and say. "Sure, God provided for you last time, but will He do it again? After all, don't you remember what you thought about so and so just the other day?" It took me a long time to realize that God's provision came about because of His promise and His mercy, not my worthiness. Each time I fell for that trick, I too doubted God. Since the time is coming when we all may be put to the identical type of test, and perhaps to a greater extent than any of us has ever dreamed possible, I pray that we all seek more of God through His Word and His Spirit that we may have the strength to pass successfully through that time of testing without doubting and without suffering loss (I Cor.3:13-15).
No matter what the physical circumstances we find ourselves in may be saying, God says He will provide for us. satan tested Jesus in the area of food, and Jesus responded by saying, "Do not put the Lord to the test" (Lk.4:12). The Israelites did not respond in like manner. In fact, Ps.78:18 goes so far as to say that they "... willingly put God to the test by demanding the food they craved" (emphasis added). Not only does God tell us that the children of the righteous will never beg bread (Ps.37:25), but He clearly equates worry over the whole area of provision with lack of faith (Matt.6:30-33), and we know that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb.11:6). And while I have said it before, it bares repeating again here, you cannot physically enter the promised land of God's presence if you do not please God.
More specifically, this can be applied to the end times as follows. I Ki.19:8; 17:4-6&15 all have one thing in common. That is, they each show us that during times of disaster God will provide for His own. As can be seen from these verses, He has done so in some rather unusual ways. In one instance one meal was filling enough to last 40 days. In another, one jar of flour and one jug of oil lasted several people for an extended period of time. And in still another, birds were used to provide food by air mail special delivery.
While it is important for us to keep in mind Paul's confident statement of Phil.4:19 "... my God will meet all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus," it is just as important for us to remember that he wrote this verse while in prison. David notes in a psalm of praise that "... You let men ride over our heads, we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance" (Ps.66:12). Even the familiar 23rd Psalm tells us something we so often overlook in this regard. It says that God prepares a table for us "... in the presence of my enemies" (emphasis added). All this is important for us to consider because Scripture indicates that a time is coming when it will be impossible to engage in normal commerce without first selling out to satan.
Without entering into a discussion as to whether or not Rev.13:7 is talking about a physical mark, or merely an attitude on the part of the individual involved, there are Christians today who are engaged in decidedly unscriptural occupations using as their excuse the argument that that is the only job they could find, or are qualified for. They may not need a physical mark, for it would appear that for the sake of the "food they crave" they have already sold out to the spirit of anti-Christ. This may appear to be harsh language, but I Cor.10:6-13 told us that these events are to serve as a warning to us.
The gold miner who ignores the warning on the dynamite box may well physically die. It would appear that the same fate could await those in the end times who ignore God's warnings. Those who are in the final generation are, like the miner, engaged in a treasure hunt (Prov.2:3-5). While the treasure we seek has to do with our relationship with the Most High, the byproduct of that relationship ultimately leads to our entering into the Holy of Holies without first tasting of physical death (Prov.3:13&16; Prov.4:7&10 Prov.4:20&22; Prov.9:10-11 and Prov.10:25&27). We do not fear death, but since it is our enemy (I Cor.15:26) we are not to hunger after it as a way out of tough times as did the Israelites. We trust that God will provide for us in order that we may pass through this time of trial, be further purified, and then go on to be of greater service to Him.
Not only did they test God by demanding provisions of Him, but they tested Him by flat out disobeying His commands. The topic of obedience was covered fairly well in chapter 8 of A Closer Walk, so I will not spend much time on it here. Suffice it to say that Eccl.12:13 informs us that having the fear of the Lord and keeping His commands is the "whole duty of man." That's why I Sam.15:22 says that even during the period when the law was in effect, obedience was better than sacrifice.
You can claim to know Jesus, but according to I John 2:4-5, if you do not obey His New Covenant commands, you are a liar. Jesus was exalted because of His obedience to the Father (Phil.2:8-9); whereas, the disobedient Israelites we have been studying failed to enter the promised land because of their disobedience. Heb.4:11 cautions us that disobedience on our part can also prevent us from entering the place of physical rest that He has in store for His overcomers. God promises great reward to His obedient servants (Ps.91:9&11), and the reward He is referring to is spelled out in Prov.7:2 and I Chron.28:8 (KJV), and that is living and possessing the good land.
Even though God had been continually providing food and water for them, their testing of Him did not end in the desert of Sin. The 6th incident, which occurred at Rephidim, highlights two other points.
"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 r replied, 'Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test ... And he called the place Massah (testing) and Meribah (quarreling) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us.'" (emphasis and parenthesis added, Ex.17:1-7)
We will now examine the problems presented by quarreling and doubting the presence of God.
The Hebrew word for quarreling is reev, which is also correctly translated as "strife" or "dissension." The book of Proverbs is filed with admonitions against causing and or becoming involved in strife (Prov.20:3 & 17:14) In fact, Prov.17:17 goes so far as to tells us that "He who loves a quarrel loves sin." Unfortunately this area, along with grumbling, which we discussed earlier, represents a major blemish upon the present day church's robes of righteousness. Both the New Testament and the Old Testament clearly state than any disagreement amongst believers is to be arbitrated within the body of believers (Ez.44:24 & I Cor.6:4), and not by some civil authority, even though those institutions have been instituted by God.
You might well ask, "How does this relate to the end times and our being alive and remaining when Jesus returns?" The answer is found in I Cor.6:7 wherein Paul informs us that the "... very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" Now I ask you, "Does Jesus return for a suing defeated church, or one that is spotless and without wrinkle as Eph.5:27 indicates?"
If Jesus returns for a suing and quarreling church, why does God direct us in Jude 19 and Ro.16:17 to stay away from those who cause discord? God's direction is clear to those who have the hope of overcoming. The overcomers know that it is an absolute necessity for all quarreling to cease, for strife and dissension are part of our sinful nature which must be put to death (I Cor.3:3; Col.3:5 & Gal.5:20). II Tim.2:24 emphatically states that the Lord's servants (bondslaves) MUST NOT quarrel. The importance of this cannot be understated when we recall that during the end times it is only God's bondslaves who are sealed (Rev.7:3), and only His bondslaves will see His face and have His name written upon their foreheads (Rev.22:3-4). (See chapter 10 of Needful Things)
Since physically coming into God's presence is the final goal toward which Paul was striving (Phil.3:14&21), it would appear that one area in which satan would attack us concerns the presence of God in our lives. If we doubt that God is with us, how could we ever hope to stand before Him, if He is not the one who is leading the way? satan is the deceiver (Mk.13:22 & Rev.20:10), and he was able to convince the Israelites that God was not with them despite the fact that God had told them on numerous occasions that HE would be the one who was going to lead them into the promised land (Ex6:8; 13:18; 16:32 & 13:21).
They forgot something that we must not - that is, God has promised to be with us forever (Ps.32:28; Matt.28:20 & John 14:16). Just prior to entering Canaan Joshua exhorted the Israelites "Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9). Paul could cry out victoriously from a prison cell, "Don't be anxious about anything ((Phil.4:6) because the words of Isaiah 43:1 had become a part of his very soul - "Fear not, for I have redeemed you ... I will be with you ... when you walk through the fire you will not be burned ..." (see chapter 2 of A Closer Walk). We may not have a literal pillar of smoke by day and a column of fire by night to guide us, but God is there none the less. The words of John 20:29 should ring loud and clear"... blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed."
At this point I should like to offer a word of encouragement. Even after all this, God did not remove His presence from among them, and this is in spite of the fact that as of that time less than 90 days had elapsed since they left Egypt. Surely our God is a God of mercy. This should not be viewed as a license to sin, for Gen.6:3 makes it perfectly clear that God will not contend with man forever. It should however be viewed as a comfort to the one who is truly seeking God wholeheartedly as did Caleb (Nu.14:24).
Even after all this, God's presence was among them, for we see in Ex.19:1-16 that Mount Sinai was surrounded by the thunder and the lightening of His glory. Deut.5:24 makes it clear that the children of Israel knew that this was God, and not merely some natural phenomena, for they acknowledged that "... they heard His voice from the fire." However, 43 days later (Deut.9:9) all this was again forgotten, for we hear God telling Moses that the Israelites "... have made themselves an idol ... they have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods O Israel who brought you up out of Egypt'" (Ex.32:8). After coming down from the mountain Moses came to Aaron who told him that "... they gave me the gold and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf" (Ex.32:24 - note vs.9 to see who made the calf). In Deut. 9:14 Moses tells us God's initial response to the whole situation when He said to Moses, "...leave Me alone so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous then they ..." Whereupon Moses "... fell prostrate before the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights ..." (vs 18, see also Nu.14:12-13 & Deut.9:23-29).
The golden calf incident, which is the 7th time wherein the nation of Israel tested God, highlights 3 additional problem areas we will examine, and one piece of exemplary behavior which we should seek to emulate. The problems we will look at concern idolatry, attributing God's works to someone or something other than God, and lying. The high point of this whole affair is the example of unselfish intercession displayed by Moses. Let's look at this part first.
Time and time again the Israelites had rejected Moses, quarreled with him and generally made life difficult for him. Here was the perfect opportunity for him to not only rid himself of their harassment, but receive a mighty blessing from the Lord in the bargain. But that is not what Moses did. After having already gone through a 40 day period of fasting, Moses now spends another period of 40 days and 40 nights fasting before the Lord on behalf of the very people who had previously considered stoning him (Ex.17:4).
Moses was a prime example of someone who lived according to what is written in Phil.2:3-4, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility considering others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." God is looking for those who will intercede for their brothers (Ez.22:30), and is in fact appalled when He does not find them (Isaiah 59:16). No wonder David cried out "Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain" (Ps.119:36).
Moses was God's chosen shepherd for that day and hour. To all the shepherds who are leading congregations and teaching God's Word, the words of Ez.34:3&7-10 should be inscribed on the fly leaf of their Bibles, "Woe to the shepherds ... who only take care of themselves ... I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock" (See also Jude 12). In a sense that applies to all of God's people, for I John 2:6 tells us to walk as Jesus walked, and during the days of His life on earth "... He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears..."
Needless to say, Jesus is our pattern for unselfish actions in every aspect of our life, not just our prayer life, but unselfish intercession is needed. Selfish ambition is part of our sinful nature (Gal.5:20) and it will be found along side of every other form of disorder and evil (Ja.3:16). Glory, honor and immortality comes to those who persistently seek God; where as, God's wrath and anger is poured out on the self seeking (Ro.2:7-10).
As to the problem areas showcased by this time of testing God, there can be no doubt that idolatry is the foremost of the three. Very few of God's commands are stated any more plainly than the one which says "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex.20:3). To worship an idol is to worship a demon (Ps.106:36-37 & I Cor.10:20). So even if the object of your undue affection is a piece of stone, somewhere there is an evil spirit which accepts that adoration as applying to itself.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is merely an ancient custom followed by superstitious cave dwellers either. So called modern man, and all too many believers, also commit idolatry, and are not even aware that they are doing it. According to Col.3:5 and Eph.5:5 greed is defined as idolatry, and it is partially because of this all to prevalent sin that God's wrath is going to be poured out upon all mankind. Although there will be an abundance of greed during the end time, you can be assured that there will be none of it in God's kingdom (Eph.5:5 & Rev.21:8). Therefore, if a house, or a car, or a hobby or anything else absorbs more of your time and thought than does your relationship with the Lord, you should consider seriously your priorities - and then act accordingly. In the past people have found that the riches of this world could not spare them from God's anger (Ez.7:19) and they will do so again (I Tim.6:17 & Ja.5:1-3 - see chapter 9 of Needful Things)
The second problem exposed by the calf incident is much more subtle in nature. By saying that the calf had led them out of Egypt, they were giving something else credit for something which God had clearly done. An uncontroversial example of this would be found in Matt.28:13 wherein the Pharisees tried to get everyone to believe that Jesus body was missing from the grave, not because the Spirit of God had anything to do with it, but because it had been stolen by the disciples. I say this is an uncontroversial example because some believers may be upset by what I am going to say next; however, I believe the Scriptures are clear on this point.
When Jesus cast out demons in Mk.3:22 the religious leaders of the day said that He did so by the power of satan (vs.29). When the crowds heard the disciples on Pentecost they attributed their oration to drunkenness (Act 2:13). However, in both instances the actions were in fact attributable solely to the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the Pharisees that they were in error because they did not know the power (dunamis) of God (Matt.22:29), and He told the disciples that they would receive the power (dunamis) of God after the Holy Spirit came upon them - and you do not necessarily receive this at the same time you are saved and then water baptized (Acts 8:12&16-17).
The point is, many today have made the same mistake the Pharisees made in Mk.3:22 in that they have attributed things done by and through the power of the Holy Spirit by the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit as mentioned in I Corinthians chapter 12, as being done by or through the devil. While I would not say that this is, in and of itself, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, it is a clear example of someone today who denies the power of God. Because some of those who say this honestly appear to love the Lord, I will also not automatically include all who deny the gifts of the Holy Spirit as being included in the group referred to in II Tim.3:5. But I will say this: by their teaching they are discouraging the flock from knowing the fullness of God, and as we have said so often before, you need the fullness of God at work in your life in order to complete the process of soul purification. And you will not physically stand before the Father without first having tasted of physical death unless that process has been completed. For this, those shepherds will have to answer to God.
I applaud their concern for the counterfeit that appears whenever the real thing is exhibited. But I wish to point out the fact that you do not counterfeit that which is not real. There would be no counterfeit tongues or counterfeit prophecy if there was not the genuine use of such gifts taking place today. Furthermore, as we saw by God's reaction to the golden calf incident, He does not look lightly upon those who ascribe His works to demons.
The prohibition against lying, (as Aaron did when He said that the calf just popped out of the fire), is so clear that I shall not spend much time addressing it. To put it bluntly, all lies are of satan, even the little white ones we are all tempted with (John 8:44). Lying is part of our old nature (Col.3:9), and must be put to death. If we don't do it, God will, for He has said that He will destroy all who tell lies (Ps.5:6). The wise and prudent thing to do therefore would be to put the lying tongue to death by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ja.3:6 & John 7:37) rather than have it destroyed by the fire of God's wrath in the lake of burning fire (Rev.21:8).