Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Judges chapter 2, and reading
from our text, verse 22. Judges chapter 2, verse 22. That through them I may prove
Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, to walk
their end, as their fathers did keep it or not. Judges 2 and
verse 22. We have the solemn account here
in this chapter of the children of Israel going into the promised
land and refusing to obey the Lord and to completely destroy
the inhabitants and push them out. Instead, they dwelt among
them. They were then an influence for
evil, they followed the gods of the inhabitants of the land,
they learned their ways, and the Lord said then that He would
not drive them out from before them. But how the Lord dealt
with them for their disobedience, nevertheless the Lord did turn
it about for good. He was wroth with them. The leaving
of them was to be as thorns in their side. It was to be a trial
to them, but it was also turned for good. And we find this many
times in the scripture, but really the greatest example of it is
in the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Jews did
not receive that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, when they crucified
Him, they slew Him, they took Him by wicked hands, and His
death was charged upon them. They had said that His blood
be on us and on our children. Indeed, that has been so right
through the generations. And they were charged with that
what they had done. But many were given repentance. Many were given godly sorrow. They were brought to confess
their sin. They were saved. Their prayer
of our Lord on the cross, Father forgive them, they know not what
they do, was fulfilled in many of their cases. And we have the
great instance then that a wicked thing that men have done, yet
was turned about, you might say, to the greatest benefit and greatest
blessing for the people of God of all time. The one sacrifice
for sin was brought about by or through the means of the wickedness
of men, delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of
God, ye have taken, crucified and slain. And so we find here,
Israel's disobedience, the end result was that instead of having
the whole land for themselves with no adversary within it,
no Canaanite in that land, they did have the Canaanites. They
had them mixed within it. They couldn't enjoy their inheritance
without constant conflict, and part of that was the Lord's judgment
upon them. The Lord was to turn it about
for good, and in the way that our text describes, that through
them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the
Lord to walk therein as their fathers did keep it or not. And so what we have before us
this evening is not just the proving of Israel, but the proving
of God's people and what the Lord uses to do that. What is it to prove something? To prove that it is the real
thing. in this case, to prove that it
really is the work of God that is in them, and that God is their
God, the faith that they have is the faith of His giving, and
to prove that they truly are obedient children and walking
in His ways. You might say here to prove whether
they will obey or not, whether they will perform in the expected
way. You can think of illustrations
with us. If we are to prove something,
the idea is to prove it before a crucial time. When I was younger,
we, as a child, used to make bread, make it by hand. And we'd
get the dough, and we'd mix in the yeast, and we would knead
it, and we'd put what would make, say, four loaves of bread into
a steel bowl, big bowl, and a round lump of the dough in the center,
and we'd put it in front of the fire, and we'd just leave it.
and the dough would just expand with that gentle heat and it
would end up filling that bowl. And then we would take it and
we'd pummel it down to a small little amount again, divide it
into four amounts and put it in its tins and let it rise in
its tin and then bake it. But what the first part was doing
was to proving it. If we just mixed it up and put
it into four separate put it in the oven and the yeast didn't
work, all we'd get was basically unleavened bread, just some lumps
of hard dough in the middle of the tin. If we had proved it
and it didn't rise, then we still had the opportunity to add in
yeast and to make sure that yeast was working and right. So that
was what we called the proving of the bread, that the yeast
was going to work, it was going to rise, we would have a nice
loaf before it was too late and baked and solid in the oven. I think also those times, I had
one recently, bought a new pair of shoes and I thought, well,
they should be all right, I'll walk down the town in them. Well,
I was very, very glad I didn't put them on and aimed to spend
a whole day in them. Because I only walked, well,
probably a quarter of a mile, and I realized I was getting
blisters, and it was really chafing my heels. They weren't good at
all. And I need that they be proved,
or actually prove, were they comfortable? Were they able to
be used for a long distance or not? We think of, in the case
of David, with going against Goliath. And King Saul, he wanted
to give David his own armour. But David, he put them on, and
then he said, I cannot go with these. And what was the reason
that he gave? I have not proved them. He had
not tested them. He had not tried them out. He
knew how to fight with a sling and a stone with no armour. But
he hadn't fought with the armour, with the weight, with the hindrance,
and all that that entailed. And so he put them off him. We're
used to proving things before the event. Too late when he was
before Goliath and fighting him to then say, hold on, Goliath,
this armour's no good. I better put this off me. It's
too late then. Too late when we start off on
a 10-mile walk to know quarter of a mile in that the shoes are
no good. And so there is a need of proving
something. But in this case, what is to
be proved? Who is to be proved? Now, text
says that through them I may prove Israel. Prove Israel, God's
people. And we could extend that to all
of God's chosen people from the foundation of the world, chosen
in Christ, those that he's loved with an everlasting love, those
that he has quickened into divine life, he proves, he tries the
grace that is in their heart, the grace though the smallest
shall surely be tried. And you may say that It is also
just a general, he proves or tests all who make profession. You remember the parable of the
sower? And especially the two middle
ones, the one that fell upon the stony ground and it immediately
sprang up. It's like a person receives the
word immediately, believes it with joy, But then there comes
persecution because of the word, and by and by they are offended,
and they go back and they walk no more. And the Lord uses that
persecution to find out whether it really was falling in prepared
and good ground. And the same with that which
fell among the thorns. There was all of the world around
about that person, And it became too much of an attraction. It
completely covered, overgrew the work of grace that was within. And this is what the Lord spoke
of as being a key parable. And it was those things that
came against the sapling or the seed that was growing up that
prove, was it on good ground? Was it a good ground here or
was it one in prepared ground? Was it bring forth fruit? This
is what God is proving here with the children of Israel. So it's God's children, but in
one sense, it is all who make profession because it's weeding
out those that are God's children and those that just appear that
they are God's children. And you might say, why then? What is the purpose of proving
God's children? I want to make that our first
main point this evening. Why the need for proving God's
people? And then secondly, the means
of proving that are set before us in our text. And then thirdly,
the outcome that is looked for. But firstly, why the need for
proving God's people? When I say God knows His own
people, He doesn't have to try and find out which one is and
which isn't. He knows where the work of grace
is and where it is not. Surely it's not for the benefit
of God that He does this, but surely it is for our benefit,
for the benefit of his people that he proves them and that
he tests them. After all, what is at stake? Is it not our eternal home? Is it not the forgiveness of
our sins? Our deliverance from death and
the power of death? Deliverance from hell and deliverance
to heaven? Is it not ourselves that have
that much to lose if really we find at the last that the grace
we thought we had wasn't, the faith was not the true faith?
Really we should be thankful that the Lord has ordained a
way and made a way before death, before the judgment day, that
our faith be proved. So the first reason why is to
test our faith. that it really is God-given. It is maintained from heaven. Bunyan, in his Pilgrim's Progress,
he pictures the Interpreter's house and Pilgrim was brought
into that house and he saw a fire in the grate. The fire was burning
well, but someone took a bucket of water and was throwing water
upon the fire and it still kept on burning. And Christian, he
couldn't understand this. So the interpreter brought him
to the other side of the wall and there was someone pouring
oil on, or a secret supply of fuel that countered the extinguishing
effect of the water. And that is a similar thing,
what is here, and all of that which is outside trying to extinguish
the flame or come against the people of God, if it were man's
work, if it were just our own work, it would extinguish it,
it would put it out. It's like William Gatsby when
he was called to the attention of a drunk that was lying in
the gutter. Mr Gatsby, there is the effect
of your work. And he looked and he said, yes,
that does look like my work. If it was God's work, he would
not be lying in the gutter. And it is only God's work which
will prevail. He will have regard to the work
of his own hands. And so one need of proving is
to prove that this really is God's work. It really is gold. It really is silver. You know,
if a child came to us with a beautiful gold ring, and we looked at it,
and said, oh, isn't that a lovely ring? And then we picked it up,
and you say, but that's not heavy enough to be gold. And in a sense,
you've proved it by just feeling its weight. I think that's just
plastic. here's a candle, we'll put it
in front of this candle, see what happens. And the plastic
catches fire, it burns up. So that certainly was not gold. If it was gold, it would stand
that fire. And so it is a test, test by
God for his people not to destroy their faith, not to prove they're
not God's people, but to prove to them that the faith that they
have is from God. And this is one reason why the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold, that
perisheth though it be tried with fire, shall be found unto
praise and honour and glory at the last day. A second reason
of this proving is for our assurance. Many of the Lord's dear people,
they haven't much assurance. They cannot clearly say that
the Lord is their God, that He has begun a good work with them,
or that they are going to heaven. And the Lord does this proving
to prove to them that their religion is not a natural religion. that
it has come from heaven, that it is through this trial and
through this proving time is proving to them that if they
had not been kept, if it had not been the Lord was the beginning
of their faith, they would have cast away all. And sometimes
in that assurance, it has a sad contrast to it because they might
view Someone else has been through the same trial and they haven't
stood. They have cast away everything.
They've gone away. And who maketh thee to differ?
And the Lord in that way gives his children that assurance it
truly is God's saving work in their hearts. A third way is for our teaching. Many times the Lord taught Israel
through the nations that were around about them. And the proving
of God's people is again for teaching them and instructing
them, teaching them how weak they are in themselves, teaching
them that they still have a heart just like others, and it's only
by grace that they differ. And there's many, many lessons
that the Lord teaches his people. in this proving process, these
proving times. But a fourth reason is for our
refining and sanctification. The indwelling sin, the evil
of our own hearts. We read in Ephesians that it
is through the washing of water by the word that he cleanses
his dear people. But very often it is in the fires
that we find out what we need cleansing from. Find out that
there is something there that is impure or wrong. We might
deceive ourselves and think, I'm a very placid and meek and
mild person. The pride and the heart rises
up in anger. Those things that weren't discerned
before, the anger, the pride, they all come to the fore. I've
never used the illustration before but when I was in engineering
and repairing the trolleys in the kitchen of the hospital where
I did my apprenticeship, we'd get these broken stainless steel
trolleys in to be welded up and first we'd put the heat on them
and to weld them with the oxy-acetylene torches and the heat would bring
out from what seemed to be a perfectly clean piece of silvery stainless
steel, this black goo, all of the oils from the kitchen had
gone right into that metal that seemed so hard, was so hard,
and yet it was porous, and the heat brought it all out. We had
to get rid of all of that first before we could weld it up and
repair it. And in the same way, the things
that are so wrong in our heart, our corruptions, the evils, our
evil thoughts, our affections, our ways, our desires, all of
these things. And the Lord knows how to set
us apart, cleanse us, wash us, make us sanctified and meet for
the Master's use and this proving time. is used for that purpose
as well. But lastly, it is used for the
proving of the Lord's faithfulness to us. The Lord said to Peter,
Satan hath desired to have thee and sift thee as wheat, but I
prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Peter didn't feel he
needed the Lord's prayers, though all men forsake thee, yet will
not I. But he did. He denied him three
times. The Lord did not forsake him.
He proved the Lord's faithfulness, though he fell, and Israel proved
this again and again in the history of their land, that though he
chastened them, though he corrected them, yet he didn't forsake them. He remained faithful. and they
remained His people. This proving, though it brings
out many things that we might say, how can ever God dwell here,
proves that though we see what the Lord always saw, yet the
Lord will not forsake us. You know, we might think, well,
we're not too bad as sinners. The Lord is good to us and He
stays with us because we're so good. But when we know, like
Israel did, how prone we are to backsliding and to evil, to
learning the ways of the heathen, then it takes away that pride,
and we are very mindful then. It is of the Lord's mercies we
are not consumed, and that really He is very long-suffering and
merciful to us. We can easily deceive ourselves
that really We're not too bad, but the Lord knows how to show
us exactly what we are in his sign. So it is then to prove
the Lord's faithfulness to us. So there is a reason, a reason
for proving. Now text says that, through them
I may prove Israel whether they will walk, will keep the way
of the Lord, to walk therein as their fathers did keep in
or not. I want to look secondly at the
means of proving, and specifically in the text. We read that in the verse prior to our text,
that I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them
of the nations which Joshua left when he died, that through them
I may prove Israel. So those are the nations that
are left, those nations that are round about Israel. The heathen that dwelt near them,
Those that weren't God's people. Those that were serving other
gods. Those that were walking by a
different rule. Those who didn't believe. Those who mocked the true and
living God. Those are those that were used
to prove Israel. And so with us, in our experience,
the sin remaining in us. God uses that. We are commanded
to depart from evil and sin not, and to not walk in the ways of
our evil heart, but often we, like Joshua, we disobey, we are
not careful to root out those things that are within, we walk
after the Spirit and we reap what we've But then the workings
of our hearts become a trial to us, a trouble to us. Those
evils that are within are what is used to prove us. We might think, well, I'd much
rather be sinless. I'd much rather be without those
workings of sin and evil within this opposition to grace, opposition
to holiness, opposition to all that is good and to the Word
of God, I would rather not have that. And the Lord says, no,
you wouldn't fully root it out, you wouldn't fully resist it
and throw it from you, and so they shall be used to prove you. your own fallen nature, your
own corrupt heart, that shall be used to prove you to test,
to test the grace of God, to test, to prove. And not only that within, but
it is those without. We're not to go and live in a
monastery or on an island or in a community where there is
Not the world, the Lord's prayed in John 17, I pray not that thou
shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst
keep them from the evil in the world, but not of it the same
as our Lord was. And the Lord has ordained this,
he's used it and will use it to prove his people. Those that are round about us,
that are teaching wrong things, contrary things, all the different
religions, all of the different so-called faiths, all of the
mockers, the scorners, the lovers of pleasure, all of those round
about us with whom we dwell are just like these nations round
about Israel. And the Lord is using these things. to prove his people. On one hand, they have the word
of God, a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. On the
other hand, we have the way of the world, which says, no, no,
that's old and out-fashioned and you don't interpret it like
that. You've got to interpret it according
to the customs of the land and all sorts of things like this. And you see many most solemn
examples of that in the professed churches in our land of completely
going against the word of God and taking up with traditions
of men and teaching of men. And it was the same when our
Lord was on earth. He said to the religious leaders
of his day, the scribes and the Pharisees, he says that you delayed
on men's shoulders, burdens that are grievous to be born, teaching
for commandments, the traditions of men, and undermining, making
the word of God of none effect by your traditions. And these
things are all surrounding the people of God, coming at them
from a professed church, coming at them from false brethren,
coming at them from the world, And through all of these things
they go. And the Lord says that He uses
these things. This is a means. I really hope, my prayer's been
that the word before us this evening, the subject this evening,
will cause that we look at what is going on around us with different
eyes as to what the Lord is using it for. and those things that
come upon us, and our own reactions from our own heart, and the sins
that are brought to the surface by those things we go through,
that we look at it in a different way, and look at it in the light
of this chapter, and hear the Lord saying to us, by these things,
I will prove to you, I will make proof of Whether ye are my people
or no, I will use them as a proving tool. I will use them for good. Under my hand they will work
for good. We think of that beautiful word
in Romans chapter 8. We know that all things work
together for good, to them that love God, to them that are the
called, according to his purpose. No, we like to have a smooth
path. We like to not have that opposition
or feel to be the only one left, like dear Elijah felt, or Jeremiah
walking in this path. But many of the Lord's dear people,
they walk in this way. And the Lord here uses it, that
through them I may prove Israel. Through them, through them. May
we look upon those thems. You know, it's not just one nation,
was it, around Israel? Many different ones, and they're
different gods. Different influences on Israel. We are the same, too. It's not
all the same adversaries. But through them, God is in control. God is using it. Moab might call
for Balaam to go and curse Israel, but the Lord turns the curse
into a blessing. The Jews crucify our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, but God uses it to fulfil the scriptures
and to offer the sacrifice and put away his people's sin. You think of the things that
God has used, not just to prove, but as a chariot to bring his
dear people home, the stoning of Stephen, the fires of the
martyrs, the sword of Herod upon John Baptist. And the Lord used
those things for his purpose and to bring his dear people
home to glory. The wickedness of Joseph's brothers
to bring Joseph to Egypt and then to be next unto Pharaoh. And here, the Lord uses those
nations, those roundabout, and yes, our old nature as well within,
to prove us. On to look then thirdly, at the
outcome that is looked for. Our text says that through them
I may prove Israel whether they will keep the way of the Lord
to walk therein as their fathers did keep it or not. The outcome is a walk, not talk,
not thought, but a walk. Our Lord says, be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. We
might speak a lot against sin, but still walk in that sin. We might hold to many very good
tenets and articles of faith, but unless we walk according
to them, this word is not realized. When the Lord puts forth his
sheep he goeth before them, they are to follow after him. A disciple
is a follower of the Lord, one that walks after the Lord. And so here it is, is put in
this way, whether they will walk therein in the ways of the laws
of the Lord as their fathers did keep it. Keep the way of
the Lord. the way of the Lord. That is
what is aimed at, that is what is tested, that is where the
Lord is looking at when He is proving His people. You might say, well, doesn't
all that mean then that I fail just about at every stage, at
every time when the Lord proves in that way? But it doesn't, because though
we may come into a trial, and though we may have the influence
of many round about us and inwardly and sometimes outwardly fall,
yet when it is a recovering of that, when we still hold on our
faith, when though we are brought in as guilty, we end up going
in one John 1.9, confessing those sins, and the Lord then cleanses
us from all unrighteousness, then we prove that that faith
that He has given is true. May I remind you, and remind
me, that dear Peter, he denied his Lord three times. You might
say, Peter was proved and he failed. Yes, he did fail, miserably
failed. But what was being proved? I prayed for thee that thy faith
fail not. And afterwards, there is Peter,
he still loved his Lord. He wept, he was sorry, he mourned
over that fall. And he never ever forgot it.
And so the aim of the proving, that was realized in each of
these things. where we go through and out the
other side of it, where the Lord has made it work together for
good, and it strengthens our assurance, our hope in the Lord
that he it was that begun a good work in us, and that the devil
cannot extinguish that flame. Though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him. Or we might go through something
and we find one lesson, one teaching in it, Come out the other side. And we say with the psalmist,
it was good that I was afflicted. Before I was afflicted, I went
astray, but now have I kept thy word. And the Lord teaching and
instructing the way which we should go. And maybe it's a sin
that has been brought to light, and then it is being confessed
and forsaken and guarded against from that time forth. We didn't
realise it was sapping our strength, that it was grieving the Lord,
that it was an offence unto Him. But the Lord dealt with that. And we were bettered by the cross. Proving the faithfulness of the
Lord through these trials and through these things that we
are brought through. Don't think that they're proving
is only going to prove and achieve its end when out the other side
comes a perfect person, an angel. The children of Israel didn't
react like that, did they? Many times they fell, many times
it brought out their sin. But many times the Lord chastened
them, corrected them, established and strengthened them further
in His laws and in His ways. And really one thing that kept
coming out, what a difference there was between the law of
the Lord and the laws of the lands round about. They were
a peculiar people. They were a special people. They
were a redeemed people. How easy we can get offended.
The world says what strange people they are. Haman says that they
have laws and it is not good that they should live. But we are reminded that indeed
the Lord does give his dear people right laws, good judgments, right
teaching. All thy children shall be taught
of the Lord. And that we are not to be offended
or to think, well, We would rather be at peace with the world round
about us. Now the children of Israel, when
they first wanted a king, why was it we want to be like the
nations that were round about? The Lord overruled it for good,
and they had godly kings from David on, in Judah at least. But we have this desire to be
like the world. But then the Lord proves and
tests and brings His people back again, so that they seek out
His Word and follow His Word. My sheep, they hear what voice? Not the world, not the devil,
my voice. They follow me. The very first
Temptation, the way that sin entered into the world, was through
the testing, the really proving, over the commandment of meat,
what they should eat, what they should not. They listened to
the devil instead of the Lord. We have in Deuteronomy, the children
of Israel were proved even by those amongst them that would
rise up and try and work miracles, and the miracles came to pass,
the things came to pass, and the Lord says again in that,
that he gave it to prove Israel whether they would obey the law
of the Lord or not. On one hand, there's a miracle.
On the other hand, there's the law of the Lord. What are you
gonna believe? Oh, we'll go for the miracles. That's what man
does. That where the true faith is,
it holds to the word of the Lord. In our churches, one might say,
I have a word from the Lord, the Lord has told me this and
told me that, and look, this has come to pass and that's come
to pass. But where it is contrary to the
holy word of God, it is false and is not to be followed. That
test has often been among us, solemnly sadly failed by many.
But this is what the Lord uses to prove his people Do we hold
to the Word of God or not? Do we hold to His way or not?
Are we His people or are we not? So may we look upon those things,
maybe bitter cups, things that we would not, adversaries that
we would not, and look upon them as used in the Lord's hand to
prove us, to test us, to try us, and that it be for these
benefits and blessings that the Lord has ordained to give his
dear people for their comfort and to prove before they get
to a dying bed, before they get before the judgment throne, that
the Lord knows them and they know him and he's dealt with
them all their life through for their sins, for their iniquities,
chastened them, kept them, they've been tempted, they've been tried,
they've fallen, but they have been restored again and the Lord
has not forsaken them. May we prove it so and have that
sweet assurance that the Lord is our God. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen.