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Does GOD Test People Like That?
Or, Biblical Examples of Failed Prophecy,
Testing, and Refinement
"That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found
unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ"
(1 Peter 1:7).
by Tom Stewart
Preface
ould God actually
promote to us a date primarily to test and refine us? I think so. Though Abraham
was probably extremely glad that he was not allowed to actually plunge the knife
into Isaac, the LORD promoted the necessity to sacrifice Isaac, primarily to test
and refine Abraham. "By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the Promises offered
up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be
called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence
also he received him in a figure" (Hebrews
11:17-19).
The Failed Prophecy of Jonah
n another example of a test, the prophet Jonah
was actually disappointed at Nineveh's repentance.
"And God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would
do unto them; and He did it not. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was
very angry" (Jonah 3:10-4:1). God promoted
the certainty of the destruction of Nineveh in 40 days as a demonstration of His
holy hatred of sin, but also as a test of Jonah.
"And Jonah began to enter into the city
a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and
put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them" (3:4-5).
What was Jonah's test? Jonah was tested about the mercy of God, as demonstrated
by Jonah's love-- or, lack of it-- for his neighbors, the people of the city of Nineveh. "Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD" (Leviticus
19:18). God was compassionate about not wanting to destroy the more than 120,000
babies and children of Nineveh, who could not
"discern between their right hand and
their left hand" (Jonah 4:11). The mercy of God toward those who would repent was
the occasion for the LORD to demonstrate true compassion and love.
Of course, Jonah was to obey God by delivering the message to Nineveh, i.e., "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown"
(3:4). However, Jonah's deficiency in his love
of his neighbor, i.e., Nineveh, was brought out in this test. Would God actually
be so merciful as to forgive and spare Nineveh, if they repented? Intellectually,
Jonah knew God to be merciful. "I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of
them that hate Me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep
My Commandments" (Exodus 20:5-6).
But, in his heart, Jonah distrusted God's application of that mercy. Jonah could
not see why God would forgive and spare the very enemy-- the Assyrian Empire-- that
was in the process of exterminating Jonah's nation. Jonah was inasmuch accusing God
of being misguidedly merciful to Nineveh-- demonstrating a graciousness and love,
which was lacking in Jonah. "And he prayed
unto the LORD, and said, I pray Thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was
yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art
a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest
Thee of the evil" (Jonah 4:2). Instead
of rejoicing over Nineveh's repentance, Jonah bitterly complained that he would rather
be dead than to continue to witness God sparing Nineveh. "Therefore
now, O LORD, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die
than to live" (4:3).
For 40 days, the LORD probed and tested Jonah to see if Jonah would show the same
mercy that God would show to Nineveh. Would Jonah be merciful like God? It is evident
that Jonah showed more concern for a gourd that gave him shade than for the people
of Nineveh. "Then said the LORD, Thou
hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest
it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare
Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot
discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" (4:10-11).
The Old Testament Book of Jonah ends without any mention of Jonah passing his test,
or repenting of his bitter attitude against God's merciful sparing of penitent Nineveh. "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy"
(Matthew 5:7). Although Jonah appears to have
failed his test, we need not fail ours. His failure is a warning to us to avail ourselves
of the grace of God to pass our test. "Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). Remember, our test is our willingness
to continue patiently "watching" (Luke 12:37) for
the LORD until He Raptures us Home. "Looking
diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews
12:15).
The Testing and Refinement of Job
e, who are willing to seek and discover a date
for the timing of the Pre-Tribulational Rapture (as well as other End Time events),
need to consider the testing of Job as an example of our testing and refinement as
we wait for our soon Rapture. "And the LORD direct your hearts into the love of God,
and into the patient waiting for Christ"
(2Thessalonians 3:5). The problem of the suffering
of the Righteous is the main theme of the Book of Job. "And
the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none
like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth
evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him,
to destroy him without cause" (Job
2:3).
Notice that the LORD claims to be the One who is destroying Job "without cause" (2:3). Why? Job's friends believe that Job is being punished
for sin that Job had committed and concealed.
"Who ever perished, being innocent? or
where were the righteous cut off?" (4:7).
Even Job was at a loss as to why would God punish himself, when he thought he was
doing it right. "For the arrows of the
Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of
God do set themselves in array against me"
(6:4). While blame is being pointed at Job
and back to his friends-- "miserable comforters
are ye all" (16:2)-- the Almighty suffers
Job's accusation of unfair treatment. "As
God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my
soul" (27:2).
Job had finally succumbed and sinned earlier in the Book of Job-- "After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day" (3:1). After his
discourse with "Eliphaz
the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite" (2:11), Job still
felt himself "righteous in his own eyes" (32:1). A younger
man, "Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite" (32:2), became angry
with Job because Job "justified himself
rather than God" (32:2). "Also against
his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet
had condemned Job" (32:3). Elihu attempted to "speak
on God's behalf" (36:2). Concluding his defense of God, Elihu reminds us that "with God is
terrible majesty" (37:22). But, he did
not answer the question: Why was Job suffering this?
The Almighty then responds to Job. "Then
the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge?" (38:1-2). The LORD then proceeds to give Job-- and us--
an amazing glimpse at the magnificence of His power and wisdom. "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon
the heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky" (Deuteronomy 33:26). Our Sovereign
chooses to test us in the fashion that pleases Himself, and who "can stay His hand, or
say unto Him, What doest Thou?" (Daniel 4:35).
To object to the test is simply to object to
God. "Shall he that contendeth with the
Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it" (Job 40:2). Job was left without any sense of self righteousness.
"Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further"
(40:3-5).
Job acquitted himself as a Saint. "I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no
thought can be withholden from Thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?
therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which
I knew not. Hear, I beseech Thee, and I will speak: I will demand of Thee, and declare
Thou unto me. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth
Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (42:2-6).
Job was tested because God sovereignly deemed
it wise to do so. The Creator "knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). If
the Almighty chooses our test, then it must be best for us. "And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). If none but God understands our character
and the occasion for the test... so be it. We can rest in assurance that the LORD
does "all
things well" (Mark 7:37).
Conclusion
God always has a purpose and plan for our benefit,
because He "so loved the world" (John 3:16)-- which means you and me. The Holy Spirit has
given us His prophecies so that we will not be
"comfortless" (14:18) about our future
in these troublesome times. Even the trying of a "failed prophecy" may
be used to make us "come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). In the end, if it causes us to "judge ourselves,
[then] we should not be judged" (1Corinthians 11:31). May our testing make known the "manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10).
Amen, and Amen.
.
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