Prove Thee

    "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."  In this post, we shall consider the second point that the  Lord makes concerning why the children of Israel wandered for forty years: "prove thee".

     Let's first consider the meaning of the word, before we look at the Lord's purpose behind it.  The word "prove", scripturally, is a term that is expressed through four different, but connected words.  The first, "nacah" means to lift or weigh.  The second word "bachan" means to try by heat or fire.  The third, "dokimazo" means to try, and the last, "peirazo" means to tempt.  One other definition that deserves consideration is "to establish or demonstrate; to find by experience.  In other words, there is a work being accomplished, which is centered upon the revelation of God to his creation.  This is the key to the understanding of what the Lord intends for us to see in this verse.

     There is one other question that needs to be answered: who is this "proving" for?  It certainly does not mean to prove anything about us to God, for He knows more about us than we do.  But rather, the opposite is what is being accomplished; the means by which God proves himself to us, and the proving of ourselves.......to ourselves.  Let's think about this.  God intended Israel's experience in the wilderness to be the means by which he taught them that all of life, both the physical and the spiritual aspects, are totally dependent upon God's providence.  And it's the same lesson for those of us, in these last days, who labor on our pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God.  

     You see, God allowed difficulties for the Israelites to face; and he does so for us too.  Romans 8: 18-20 reads "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be named with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.  For the creature was made subject to tribulation not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected it in hope;"  Notice the last sentence: "hope", "him".  Who subjected us in hope?  Him- God.  It is his hope that we become dependent upon him.  This is why he allows trials.  This is why such trials never come at convenient times; the more difficult choices seem to come in times of hardship, when our loyalty is put into question, and when it is much easier to serve ourselves.  God wants us to sacrifice ourselves, or our wills, instead.

     God works, with great wisdom, to expose our weaknesses.  It took forty years to expose the weaknesses of the children of Israel so that they would finally cry out to him to fill the void in their lives, and make them whole.   God's one goal is to break our pride and the continual process of focusing our lives upon ourselves.  Remember the experience of Isaiah in chapter six.  It took the vision of the Holy One to set the prophet free from himself.  This is Gods plan for us.  By allowing tribulations to come upon us, he sets the stage for us to recognize our true weakness, and then the revelation of Himself that delivers us from ourselves and sets us free in Him.  Remember; when Jesus sets you free, you are "free indeed".

     God does not waste his resources, and he never gives up on anyone.  Philippines 1:6 reads "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ;"   Willingly, he puts us into the furnace of affliction, so that we might return to him pure and unadulterated.  This is His hope, and His work.  And it's our work too.  We are to be the instruments in His hands to bring the light of Christ to all those we come in contact with.  This is the purpose of purging.  This is the purpose of tribulation.  Let us, willingly, lay our lives upon the altar of sacrifice, and glorify Him.  God bless.