Genesis 22:1 states, “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.” The first thing I want you to notice here is who is being tested and who is doing the testing. Abraham is the one being tested and God is the one doing the testing. So, if you were to ask me if God tests us, I would say absolutely.
Now this raises several questions for me like: Is God testing Abraham the same as God tempting Abraham? What does it mean that God tested Abraham? How did God test Abraham? Why did God test Abraham? What exactly is being tested? Did Abraham pass the test?
Question #1: Is God testing Abraham the same as God tempting Abraham? (5 points to be made here)
The answer to the question is no.
The reason I ask this is because some translations, like the KJV, uses the word “tempt” instead of “tested”, and what I want you to understand is that God testing Abraham is not the same as God tempting Abraham. And the reason we can say that for absolute certainty is because James tells us in James 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted and he himself tempts no one.” So, we can rule out God tempting Abraham because according to James, God does not tempt us.
The reason our modern translations differ from the KJV here is not because the KJV is wrong. It’s because the Hebrew translation for “tempted” is nacah, which literally means to ‘to test, to tempt, to try, to prove, to put to the proof or test.’ It just so happens that the English word “tested” is a better usage of the Hebrew word here, because that’s what the original Hebrew word is implying, and what the actual text is implying. In fact, the King James translators made this update in the NKJV.
In saying that God does not tempt us, we should also understand that while God clearly never tempts anyone to do evil, God will allow Satan to tempt us in order to test us.
We see this with Job. In Job 1:6-12 we see that God gives permission to test Job. In Job 1:13-22, God granted for Satan to take Job’s property and children. In Job 2:1-10, God allowed Satan to attack Job’s health.
We also see this in Matthew 4:1, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Two things of note here. First, the Greek word for “tempted” here is peirazo, which can also be translated to test, which tells us the purpose of this temptation is to test Jesus. Secondly, note who is doing the tempting here: “the devil”, not God.
On a more positive note, even though God will allow for Satan to tempt us, God will also always provide a way out.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not coming to man, God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” What that simply tells us is that the temptation you face is no different from the temptation anyone else faces; we all deal with similar temptations. It also tells us that God is sovereign over how much you are tempted: “God will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.” For example, when God granted Satan permission to test Job, God limited how far Satan could go with it. The first time Satan tested Job, Satan was allowed to attack Job’s property and children but not allowed to afflict Job personally; and the second time Satan tested Job, he was allowed to attack Job’s health but not allowed to take his life. And 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that when we are tempted, God faithfully provides us a way of escape.
I also want you to understand that not every temptation comes from the devil.
Temptation is brought on by two things. First, temptation is brought on by Satan. Satan will tempt us just as he did Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, as he did Job, and Jesus in Matthew 4. Secondly, temptation is brought on by the natural desires of our flesh. James said in James 1:14, “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” Frankly, I believe Satan gets way too much credit for tempting us. I think we are tempted much more by the natural desires of our sin nature than we are Satan, simply because Satan is one person, and in no way can be tempting us all at the same time.
In saying all this, I want you to understand there is a difference between temptation and testing.
Trials and temptation both have a purpose. Temptation, whether it be by Satan or by our own sin nature, is meant to do one thing: they are meant to harm us by causing us to fall into sin and be separated from God. When Satan tempted Adam and Eve, it led to the fall of all mankind. When Satan tried Job, even though he failed, it was to cause Job to curse God.
Testing or trials however is different, and you will see that as we go along through this passage. In general, trials are used by God to grow our faith, grow our spiritual character, to build us up, and even to prepare for what is to come.
Question #2: If God is not tempting Abraham, what does it mean that God is testing Abraham? For better clarification of what we are asking: What does the word “tested” mean?
The word test, even in the Hebrew means “by which the quality or genuineness of anything is determined.” In this case, Abraham is that “anything” being tested. So God is testing Abraham to determine his quality and/or genuineness. Think of this as Abraham’s evaluation or assessment.
Question #3: What is being tested?
It’s Abraham’s heart. In 1 Chronicles 29:10-22 King David, who knew what was like to be tested and tried by God, before his son Solomon was anointed king, gathered all the assembly of Israel together to pray. And in his prayer, in verse 17, king David said this, “I know my God, that you test the heart….”. So, what God is going to test is Abraham’s heart.
Question #4: What about Abraham’s heart is being tested?
Whenever God tests the heart of any man, including Abraham, God is testing for the following reasons: first, ultimately it is to know whether or not we shall faithfully obey him. God said to Israel in Deuteronomy 8:2, “And you shall remember the whole way 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.”
Secondly, God tests the heart of men, including Abraham, to produce steadfast patience in us. James, in James 1:2 & 3 said, “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 lastly, God tests the heart of men, including Abraham, to refine their faith. Peter, in 1 Peter 1:6-7 said this, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
As we close, there are three other points I would like make based off what we just read in Deuteronomy, James, Peter and other selected texts in Scripture, in relation to God testing our hearts:
First, every child of God will go through trials.
Expect trials in your life. Going back to James 1:2, he said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” It is not a matter of if but when we will come under various trials. Even Peter, in 1 Peter 4:12, said this, “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.” Every true follower of Jesus, should expect trials in their life. If you expect them, you will not be so surprised by them when they occur.
Notice when God tests our heart, it doesn’t occur when times are easy, but when we have brought low.
In Deuteronomy 8:2, God said that he humbled Israel to know if they would remain faithful and obedient. The word humble implies they were brought low. God did that by making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years. In regards to Job, he lost property, his children, and even suffered in his health. In James, we discover that it is not a matter of if but when we will come under various trials. When Peter wrote his letter to the believers, he said “you have been grieved by various trials.” When Peter wrote this he was addressing believers who were going through intense persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ from Roman Emperor Nero. Some were being tortured and some were being put to death in horrendous ways.
And the reason God tests our heart during difficult circumstances is because it’s easy to be faithfully obedient to God when times are easy, but not so much when times are hard. It’s when you go through that difficult season in your life that you discover if your heart is really for or against God.
I also want to point out that when God does test our hearts, it is not without purpose.
Any pastor or Sunday School teacher who teaches that trials or pain and suffering are pointless really should not be teaching Scripture. If God is sovereign, then God does nothing without a purpose, including allowing grievous trials in our lives. Even though the trial God allows in our lives might cause us grief and agony and anguish and discomfort and heartache and misery and pain and sorrow and worry, they are not for nothing.
To quote C.S. Lewis, “pain…is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” This includes His church. Sometimes the church needs to go through a painful season to be reawakened.
Sometimes trials are so that we might know God more intimately. Remember at the end of Job’s testing he knew God in a completely different way: “I had heard of you but the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.” According to the psalmist, trials are meant to bring us back to God (Psalm 119:67). If you were to ask Jesus, he would tell us trials teach us obedience (Hebrews 5:8). According to James, trials are meant to produce or manufacture steadfast patience in us. According to Peter, trials are meant to refine us, making our faith all that much more genuine. If you were to ask Paul, he would say that God allows trials in our lives that we might learn how God comforts us (2 Cor. 1:3) and learn how to comfort others (2 Cor. 1:4) and how to rely more on God than ourselves (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) and grow in holiness (Hebrews 12:3-17).
In other words, God often refines our faith by trials that may cause us grief. Not to be mean, but to build us up and deepen our capacity to obey Him and trust Him, even in the most difficult of situations. Like ore cannot be refined and made genuine without being put in the fire, so our faith cannot be refined and proved genuine without trials of grief.
In summary, God is going to test the genuineness of Abraham’s faith & obedience, not to be mean but to refine Abraham. What is about to happen to Abraham is not meant to cause Abraham to fall, but to test and improve Abraham’s character, and deepen his capacity to trust and obey God. And God will do the same to us for our good.