Testing God

[missmuffet]

16 hours ago, Keny said:

Here is just a question along with my thoughts, that I would love to get answers to!

I know that a lot of places in the Bible say do not put the Lord your God to the test. However I found a verse Malachi 3:10 

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there maybe food in my house, and try me now in this,"says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

Now I realized that this is a different kind of testing. We see here that God is asking us to test him. I also realized it was talk about offerings. Now I kind of question is this kind of testing by faith that makes it different from the other type of testing?

There are two stories I would like to contrast

First one

When Jesus was tempted by Satan, Satan told him if he was the son of God to turn the stone into bread. But Jesus replied to Satan you shall not put the Lord to the test( I am not quoting the same exact thing, just keeping it general). Now in this story we know that it's kind of absurd to ask God to turn stone into bread ( not saying that that can't happen). Obviously God was there with a purpose and Satan was to deter him. So in this case it would be like when Satan again tested him by telling him to throw himself and that God will send his angels to save him! The way I understood this kind of testing is putting yourself in a situation on purpose to ask God to get you out would be testing God! which is wrong!

Now the second story

We read about this man named Gideon. An Angel approched him telling him he will save isreal at of the hands of the midianites. Now keep in mind that a lot of the times it says the Lord spoke to Gideon...so Gideon decided to put the Lord to the test three times. First one was when the Lord set fire Gideon's offerings. The second time was when the Lord made a dew on the fleece and not seen on the ground. The third one was vice versa. So my thinking here is Gideon asked him or tested him so that he could have faith in him and be encouraged. 

However, if we were to test God the way Gideon did in which kind of situations are we allowed? What are your thoughts on the difference between these two? If possible use examples?

Thank you and God bless!

Your brother in Christ

Keny

Question: "What does it mean to test God?"

Answer: In the Bible, there are examples of both an acceptable and unacceptable kind of testing God. It’s acceptable to “test” God in regard to tithes and offerings, for example, but unacceptable when the test is rooted in doubt.

Malachi 3:10 says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” This is the only situation given in the Bible in which God tells His people to “test” Him. Interestingly, the Hebrew word used for “test” in this verse is bachan, which means “to examine, scrutinize, or prove (as in gold, persons, or the heart).” Just as gold is “tested” with fire to prove its quality, God invites Israel to test Him in tithes and offerings and see that He proves His faithfulness in response.

There is another Hebrew word for “test” used elsewhere in the Bible. Nacah means “to put to the test, try, or tempt.” It is used in Deuteronomy 6:16, where God commands Israel to not test Him: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.”

This second, unacceptable kind of testing is when doubt leads us to demand something of God to prove Himself to us. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 in the wilderness, in response to one of Satan’s temptations. “The devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down. For it is written: “He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”’” (Matthew 4:7—10). Essentially, the devil was telling Jesus to “prove” God’s Word was true by forcing God’s hand—if Jesus was in peril, God would have to save Him. Jesus refused to test God in such a way. We are to accept God’s Word by faith, without requiring a sign (see Luke 11:29). God’s promises are there for us when we need them; to manipulate situations in an attempt to coerce God into fulfilling His promises is evil.

The occasion where the Israelites tested God at Massah is found in Exodus 17. As God was leading Moses and His people toward the Promised Land, they camped at a place where there was no water. The Israelites’ immediate reaction was to grumble against God and quarrel with Moses (Exodus 17:1–3). Their lack of trust in God to take care of them is evident in their accusations toward 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). The Israelites were obviously in a situation where they needed God to intervene. The point at which they tested God, though, is when doubt and fear overtook them and they came to the conclusion that God had abandoned them (see Exodus 17:7). They questioned God’s reliability because He was not meeting their expectations.

The difference between these two kinds of testing God is faith. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The Israelites at Massah tested God because they lacked faith in Him. The Israelites in Malachi’s day were invited to test God because they had faith in Him.

Faith, by definition, takes risk. When true faith is present, obedience follows. It is that faith-inspired action of obedience that God loves. As seen in the example of Israel’s tithes and offerings, when we give out of our faith in who God is (faithful), He proves Himself to be just that. By contrast, when we view God through our doubt and demand something of Him as a way of determining whether or not He can be trusted, we’re in danger of testing God (see Mark 8:11–12).

https://www.gotquestions.org/test-God.html

Edited August 1, 2019 by missmuffet

[Who me]

16 hours ago, Keny said:

 

There are two stories I would like to contrast

First one

When Jesus was tempted by Satan,

Now the second story

We read about this man named Gideon.

They are totally different.

We do not need satan to temp us we tempt ourselves and fail to resist. Nor do we have angels coming to speak to us, if we did we would be terrified.

Have you never been challenged by a passage in the bible as you read it, or by something in a sermon.

Have you never been brought to a halt by words said or written.

Because that is God through the Spirit speaking to you.

You want to hear God speaking.  Are you listening?

[Prycejosh1987]

On 7/31/2019 at 2:40 PM, Keny said:

However, if we were to test God the way Gideon did in which kind of situations are we allowed? What are your thoughts on the difference between these two? If possible use examples?

When Gideon tested God he did it with purpose, he did it for purpose of listening to hat the angel said to him. He wasnt testing if God was real he was testing if God was with him, and there is a difference.

Jesus is God but he became fully man, and the devil was testing Jesus's pride most of all. Had Jesus fell it would of brought problem to him in the future and for all of us, for example we would say how can we resist temptations if even Jesus fell.