Judge & Jury
In Matthew 4, the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and dared him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:6).
To which Jesus replied, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7).
If putting God to test means leaping off of tall buildings and expecting God to catch me, then I can honestly say I’ve never done that.
But that’s not all it means.
Putting God to the test means putting God on trial.
It means calling God’s character into question, accusing God of incompetence, negligence, or some wrongdoing, and demanding that God prove his innocence by meeting some test of our own design.
Picture a courtroom complete with judge’s bench, witness stand, and jury box. Now imagine dragging God into the courtroom and placing him in the defendant’s seat, while you assume the role of prosecutor, witness, judge, and jury. Putting God to the test means accusing God and asking him, “How do you plead?”
Remember Massah?
“And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7)
How did they test the Lord? By questioning his presence and by challenging him to prove himself.
Writing generations later, the psalmist Asaph zeroed in on the defiant and taunting attitude of the wilderness generation:
“They spoke against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?’” (Psalm 78:19–20)
There are many ways people put God on trial. The atheist who says, “If God makes a table float across the room, then I will believe” is testing God. He acts like God’s existence is the question before the court and he insists on playing the role of judge and jury. But the trial is rigged because the skeptic recognizes no authority higher than himself. He can move the goalposts whenever he wants. He can remain perpetually unconvinced. Isn’t that what a skeptic is?
But those of us who profess faith in God can also commit the sin of putting God on trial. When we grumble and complain we accuse God of being unwise or unloving. When we interpret our circumstances as evidence that God is not good or not powerful, we are acting like we have the right to judge God.
Flip the Script
The remedy is to understand the real arrangement of the courtroom. God is not on trial, we are. God does not answer to us; we answer to him. Deuteronomy 8 opens a behind-the-scenes look at what was really happening in the wilderness.
“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2).
When Israel faced hunger and thirst, they misinterpreted that as proof of God’s abandonment or impotence. It was actually God’s grace. He was teaching them and revealing himself to them for their own good.
“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
In the end, God will not give an account of himself to us or submit to our judgment. “After hearing your defense and weighing the evidence, I find your reasons for allowing my suffering to be inadequate,” no one will ever say to God. No, we will answer to him for what came out of our hearts when we experienced trying times.
“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts” (Proverbs 17:3).
“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).
When we go through hard times, we must not think hard thoughts about God. Rather, we must realize that our character is being tested by an all-wise and all-loving God who works all things for our good (Romans 8:28).
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”- “How Firm a Foundation”