20 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, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22 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.” 23 So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.
Judges 2:16-23 (ESV)

Does the Lord Test People?

When I was in high school, I was part of a student leadership program called “MORCORE” at the youth ministry I grew up in. This was back when student ministries had really interesting names that had nothing to do with the church they were attached to: aka “Ignite,” “Revive,” “Cultivate,” or “MOR” because removing the E made it a little more trendy. I digress.

I vividly remember a time during our student leadership track when one of our leaders gathered all of us hungry but naive students together to discuss controversial topics like, “once saved, always saved.” He would ask the question and then tell us to pick a side of the room based on what we believed, and then invite us to discuss our reasoning. Looking back, I remember the majority of us answering these hard questions mainly based on “feel”. 

“I don’t feel like God would ________.” “I feel like Jesus wouldn’t _________.” “I feel like that’s not what the Bible meant.” 

It’s amazing how much we as believers today can still slip into this mindset of allowing our feelings to dictate our theology rather than allowing the Word to dictate our feelings. So to answer the question, “Does the Lord test people?” we simply need to take a moment to look at what scripture says at face value.

If you look up the word “test” in Blue Letter Bible, you will find that it shows up about 37 times in the NKJV translation. 27 of those times the word is used to talk about how God tests people and 10 of those times refer to either people testing God or people attempting to test Jesus. 

By simply looking up the word “test” and seeing how it is mainly used in scripture we can see that about 72% of the time the word is used in reference to God TESTING the heart of man.

Now let’s list a few of those examples and see them with our own eyes. 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
Exodus 16:4 (ESV)

“And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:2 (ESV)

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.
Proverbs 17:3 (ESV)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4 (ESV)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:12-13 (ESV)

After a quick survey of scripture, it is quite easy to come to the biblical conclusion that “YES the Lord does, in fact, test His people.” So the next question we can ask is, “Why?”

The Lord tests people because of their disobedience.

Specifically when it comes to our text in Judges chapter 2, this is the context and reasoning behind the testing of the Lord towards His people. What we see taking place in the Children of Israel is a progressive pattern of generational disobedience. In other words, they are not getting better as each generation passes; they are getting worse.

18 Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 
Judges 2:18-19 (ESV)

"The Israelites were stiff-necked in the wilderness, but they were even more obstinate in the Promised Land. A new environment, alas, did not mean a new attitude."
Wolfhart Pannenberg

What we see in this micro-example of the Israelites functions as a macro-picture of fallen man. There is a spiritual blindness and hardness of heart towards God and His ways that is not solved by better life circumstances. We tend to justify our poor behavior or lack of time with God based on the circumstances of life, but even when the stars are aligned we still have the blinders on without the supernatural work of the cross.

God will test his people by giving them what they want, which is their ways, to test them in hopes that they will repent and turn back to Him in their stumbling.

The Lord tests people to mature them.

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.
Proverbs 17:3 (ESV)

Just like we were reminded this past weekend in week two of our series through Colossians…

Maturity doesn’t happen in the comfort zone.
Josh Blount

God testing his people is not a reflection of his hate or distaste towards us; it's a reflection of His deep love. For God to NOT test us would mean that we are stuck in our cycles of blindness and hardness of heart. We cannot save ourselves. We need an outside source of power to wake us out of our spiritual slumber. This is done by the Spirit and many times, the Spirit of God THROUGH testing.

The Lord tests people to reveal His glory. 

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:13 (ESV)

The testing of the Lord acts like the crushing agent needed to unlock the fragrance of Christ inside of us. In the same way that the lighting of a candle-wick and burning heat over the wax unlocks the fragrance or the crushing of a spice unlocks the aroma hidden inside; the testing of our life is a picture of God’s grace. Grace is an undeserved favor. Grace is not just God saving a fallen humanity from death, hell, and the grave. Grace is God testing us to reveal the Glory of His son, the fragrance of Jesus through us.