A Brief Look at Some Scriputures on Testing

Old Testament

• “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'”
• Reason for Testing: To test Abraham’s faith and obedience.

• “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”
• Reason for Testing: To humble the Israelites and reveal their true intentions and commitment.

• “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.'”
• Reason for Testing: To see if the Israelites would obey God’s instructions.

• “I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.”
• Reason for Testing: To determine Israel’s faithfulness to God’s commands.

New Testament

• “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
• Reason for Testing: To develop perseverance, maturity, and completeness in faith.

• “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
• Reason for Testing: To refine and prove the genuineness of faith.

• “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son.”
• Reason for Testing: To demonstrate Abraham’s faith in God’s promises.

• “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
• Reason for Testing: To allow growth in strength and faith, with God’s support.