Four years ago, my wife began her career as a high school English teacher. As a result, we see education from a unique perspective. We have had many discussions on teaching, testing, grading, and classroom management. Several times standardized testing has been a discussion.
A standardized test comprises a set of common questions for students to answer with the purpose of assessment. For example, the reading part of the test will help teachers understand what the reading level of a certain grade is at the time of the test. The results enable them to adjust what they are teaching so that the students can improve on a particular subject. When I was in school, standardized tests didn’t bother as much as tests that determined my grade.
During my college and seminary days, I had professors that tested every class. I will confess, I spent most of my time cramming for a test about fifteen minutes before class. I didn’t really enjoy tests, but I understood their purpose. If a professor or teacher didn’t test, I don’t believe I would pay attention unless the subject captivated my attention. Tests also reminded me that the class has purpose and meaning.
If you think about it, we can’t limit teaching and testing to the realm of education only. Teaching and testing characterize every aspect of life. This is especially true of the Christian life. Open your Bible, Old and New Testaments, and you will find God causes and allows teaching and testing in the journey of faith. In the believer's life teaching and testing that takes place daily.
The daily teaching and testing experienced by believers are not purposeless or meaningless. If they were, God would come across as a cruel God. We find a highly explicit text concerning the purpose and meaning of such experiences in chapters two and three of the book of Judges. Unfortunately, the text takes place in a period of Israel’s history that reveals the apostasy of God’s people repeatedly.
The book of Judges comprises two introductions. The first introduction starts at verse one of chapter one and ends at verse five of chapter five. The second introduction begins at verse six of chapter two and ends with verse six of chapter three. Why two introductions? The writer introduces the book from two perspectives. The first is from the perspective of Israel, and the second from the perspective of God.
From God’s perspective, we are able to see the outline of the book of Judges. It’s a downward spiral that begins with God’s people turning from God, followed by God’s judgment upon his people, resulting in God’s people crying out, and God answering the cries with mercy by providing a judge to deliver them. This pattern runs to the end of the book. Interestingly, this pattern of God’s judgment of mercy is best understood when we look at the cross of Jesus Christ, for it shows the judgment and mercy of God in the death of Jesus Christ.
In setting the context of our text, we will need to understand God’s people have entered the Promise Land through the leadership of Joshua. Unfortunately, they did not remove all the inhabitants of the land, as God commanded, resulting in God allowing the inhabitants to live among the Israelites. Leaving the inhabitants was the consequence of their sin. You could say that their sin became their reward. God would not waste this tragedy. He determined to use the enemy in the land to test and teach his people.
Notice verses twenty through twenty-two of the second chapter of Judges, “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them.” God will use the inhabitants to test Israel. Again in verse one of chapter three, “Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them.” And again in verse four, “They were for the testing of Israel.”
How do the enemies of ancient Israel in the Promise Land translate into our modern-day experiences? Every day, we face enemies that attack our faith, our finances, our families, our relationships, our courage, and the list goes on and on. These enemies come to invade our lives from the inside, the outside, and the unseen, usually through circumstances, situations, and struggles, which God uses for teaching and testing. Therefore, it is important for us to understand these enemies and their purpose and meaning in our lives. As we look at the chosen passage, we notice how the Lord tests us to teach us.
The Lord tests us to teach us.
In verse one of chapter three, we read, “Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.” We see some purpose for tests in these two verses. There is a connection between “test,” and “know.” Testing is used to teach. Here, the lesson was about how to fight in a war.
However, the lessons taught were more than just tactical procedures for war. I’m reminded of the four-week training that they required me to take when I became a chaplain in the correctional setting. I spent the time learning how to defend myself when a situation called for it. The greatest lesson I learned is the fact that I’m a chaplain, and if a riot breaks out in the prison, I’m running. The lessons were for protection only, and a way for the state to avoid lawsuits. God’s training for war was much more theological than tactical. What God wanted to know from the wars with the inhabitants was a greater knowledge of his person.
His person
By this, I mean his character and nature. God left in the land as a judgment for the Israelites’ disobedience. Every war they fought with these inhabitants would be a reminder of God’s judgment upon their sin. The reason God judged their sin is his holy nature.
God is without sin, holy. Therefore, he must deal with sin. Tests that come as discipline for sin remind us of God’s holy nature. We never sin and get away with it. God disciplines his children, which is a display of his loving nature.
God disciplines his children for our own holiness. You might be one of those parents that don’t discipline your children, but God is not. If you don’t discipline your child can you say you love your child? God loves his children, and he disciplines his children because he loves them. God’s love puts our ultimate and greatest good at the top of his agenda. God tests us so we can know his nature and character, but God is not wanting us to have just head knowledge of who he is. No, at the heart of these tests is God’s desire to teach us about his presence.
His presence
God’s desire for his children is a close and personal relationship with them. It is all about relationships and constantly walking and enjoying his presence. God was to teach us so we can know, experientially, his presence in our lives. Some of the greatest tests God has allowed me to experience have been the greatest moments of experiencing his tangible presence in my life. Yes, he teaches us to know him more intimately through the invasions of the inside, outside, and unseen enemies in our lives. And while we experience his presence, we also experience his power.
His power
God wanted Israel to know war, not in the traditional tactical way, but his way. When we fight God’s fight we don’t rely on our own power, but his power. We don’t trust in our abilities, but his abilities. God allows tests to teach us to trust in his power to overcome the trials that the test brings.
When Pharaoh and the Egyptian army had Moses and the Israelites up against the Red Sea, God said, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Trust the Lord, for it is his fight and his battle.
When an elite army came against King Jehoshaphat and Juda, the king and Judah poured out their hearts to God. There was no way they could beat this army with their own resources or resolve. They cried out to God, and he told them to stand firm and watch. The next morning, Jehoshaphat and his army stood before the enemy and worshiped, and while they worshiped God destroyed the army.
We learn through tests we don’t fight with our own abilities or strengths but by the power of God. We learn to cast our concerns on the Lord and watch him sustain us, knowing that he will not allow his children to stumble. We learn through tests that we when battles not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.
I wonder how many times God has brought events into my life for the purpose of teaching me something? Do I look at teachable moments as chance, or do I see them from the providential hand of God? I imagine when I stand before God and he replays my life he will probably show me some teachable moments that I missed.
As a father, I have learned that everything I try to teach my children won’t always be accepted by them. The many times I have warned them of a dead-end road, but they took it anyway. It causes me to sit back and think about my relationship with the Lord, and I imagine he feels the same way I do when I miss his teachable moments he brings through tests, and how I try to do things in my flesh, and not his power.
How is God working in your life? What methods is he using to test and teach? Are you learning more about his person, his presence, and his power? If we are not careful, we will miss out on a teachable moment that God uses for our ultimate good. Next, we notice how the Lord tests us to assess us.
The Lord tests us to assess us.
Earlier, I spoke about standardized testing and how its purpose is to assess the students. Likewise, God tests us to assess us, not for himself, he already knows what’s in us, but for ourselves. The one thing God wants to assess is our allegiance to him.
Allegiance
In chapter two, verse twenty-two, we read, “in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” Notice also in chapter three, verse four, “They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.” What does God want from us? He wants obedience, faithfulness to our relationship with him.
True worship of God demands exclusive allegiance. It’s amazing how tests will often reveal where our trust lives. When we lose our paycheck, where is our trust? When a pandemic hits, where is our trust? It’s stunning how a test reveals where our allegiance lies. Do we trust in God’s promises? Or do we act like spiritual illiterates? Do we believe God exists and believe in his promises? Or do we act as a functional atheist? Tests have a way of showing where our allegiance is.
Unfortunately, verses five and six reveal the Israelites failed to pass the test. Instead of fighting the enemy, they slept with the enemy. Literally, they intermarried with the inhabitants and started serving their gods. They received a big F.
Our stories don’t have to end the same way. In fact, there is another test found in the Old Testament, one passed with flying colors. It’s found in Genesis chapter twenty-two, verse one, “After these things God tested Abraham and said, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take you son, you only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains on which I shall tell you.”
What a test! God wanted Abraham to take the promised child, Isaac, and offer him up as a burnt offering. The rest of the chapter reveals that he passed the test. And because of his exclusive allegiance to God, the Lord provided a ram to replace Isaac as the burnt offering. He passed the assessment. How? Abraham in obedience trusted the Lord and drew upon the resources of his almighty love.
How can we pass the tests that come our way every day? Daily, we have to take our lives to the altar of God and offer them up to God as a holy and acceptable sacrifice to him, giving him our full allegiance. When we do, God will bless us beyond what we ever think or imagine.
Recently, I observed an interaction between a little girl, around five years old, and her father. The girl wanted to carry an enormous box. She said, “Daddy, I want to carry the box.” She could pick it up, but it was too big for her to walk with. Her father responds, “No, you will fall trying to carry it.” She kept on insisting, saying that she had a plan. The father gave in and she picked up the box. She then told her father, “Okay daddy, now you carry me.”
God, doesn't just want to take our burdens. No, he wants to carry us and give us all we need from his resources. All we have to do is give our allegiance to him. Will you come to the altar today?
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