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00:00:01 The scripture that we’re considering this morning 00:00:03 raises a very interesting question, 00:00:05 and that is, 00:00:07 How is it that we can ‘test Jehovah out’? 00:00:11 Didn’t Jesus say that we shouldn’t test Jehovah? 00:00:15 Well, the simple answer to that question 00:00:18 was given in The Watchtower back in 1957. 00:00:21 It simply stated: “There is a wrong way 00:00:25 and a right way to put Jehovah to the test.” 00:00:28 Now, how do we know what is the right way 00:00:31 and what is the wrong way? 00:00:33 Well, again, put simply, 00:00:36 it means knowing the difference between faith and stupidity. 00:00:42 When we consider what the Scriptures tell us, 00:00:45 it helps us to see the line 00:00:47 that is the demarcation between faith and stupidity. 00:00:51 Consider, first of all, the good way 00:00:54 that we can test out Jehovah. 00:00:56 When we think about showing faith in Jehovah, 00:01:00 having trust in him, and then obeying him 00:01:03 —not waiting for Jehovah to make the first move 00:01:06 but rather for us, first of all, to obey him, 00:01:09 to reach out and do what he wants us to do 00:01:11 —that, in a figurative way, is putting him to the test, 00:01:15 because he’s already promised to bless us. 00:01:18 By us obeying him, it means that we are showing faith. 00:01:22 It also means that we don’t complain about the things 00:01:26 that Jehovah allows to occur in our life, 00:01:28 and we don’t take unnecessary risks. 00:01:31 We don’t try to fool him 00:01:33 by acting one way 00:01:36 but then pretending to be another way. 00:01:38 So put quite simply, again, 00:01:41 the right way for us to test out Jehovah 00:01:44 means to trust him, 00:01:46 to have faith in him, 00:01:48 to obey him 00:01:50 even if it may be difficult to do so. 00:01:53 Well, what about the wrong way to test out Jehovah? 00:01:57 Well, if we were to selfishly complain 00:02:02 about the things that Jehovah allows to occur in our life 00:02:06 or if we were to do 00:02:08 something stupid, something careless, 00:02:11 and expect that Jehovah is going to perform a miracle to save us 00:02:16 or perhaps we keep pushing Jehovah 00:02:19 to do something that really is not in harmony with his will 00:02:24 or if we try to fool him 00:02:27 by pretending to serve him 00:02:29 but actually are doing things that displease him, 00:02:32 all of those things really would be a stupid act on our part. 00:02:36 Now, what do we really need to consider with regard to this? 00:02:40 Well, let’s think about when Jesus made that answer to Satan 00:02:45 and said, ‘You shouldn’t put Jehovah to the test.’ 00:02:47 Let’s have a look at the scripture that he based that comment on. 00:02:51 It’s found at Deuteronomy 6:16, 00:02:56 and this gives us a little context to the meaning. 00:03:00 In verse 16, it says: 00:03:02 “You must not put Jehovah your God to the test 00:03:05 the way you put him to the test at Massah.” 00:03:08 Now, really, what was it 00:03:10 that the Israelites did at this particular time 00:03:13 where the name of the location 00:03:15 where they were meant “Testing” or “Trial”? 00:03:18 Well, if we turn back to Exodus 17:7, 00:03:23 it gives us some idea of what this really involved. 00:03:27 Exodus 17:7: 00:03:30 “So he named the place Massah and Meribah 00:03:34 “because of the quarreling of the Israelites 00:03:36 “and because they put Jehovah to the test 00:03:39 by saying: ‘Is Jehovah in our midst or not?’” 00:03:44 So, what did the Israelites do here? 00:03:47 Obviously, they didn’t trust Jehovah enough. 00:03:51 They didn’t have enough faith in Jehovah to realize 00:03:54 that he wasn’t going to let them all die in the wilderness. 00:03:57 But they pushed him. 00:04:00 They wanted something immediately. 00:04:02 They wanted to satisfy their selfish desires. 00:04:05 Well, that’s a very good lesson for us —isn’t it?— 00:04:08 because this shows a lack of faith. 00:04:12 We could consider when the Israelites decided 00:04:16 that they didn’t want to go into the Promised Land. 00:04:19 Remember, they were so upset with the report 00:04:22 of the two good chieftains who had spied out the land 00:04:26 that they wanted to kill them. 00:04:28 They accepted the report of the ten who had a negative report. 00:04:31 And why did they do that? 00:04:33 Again, lack of faith in Jehovah. 00:04:36 But then when Jehovah told them what was going to happen, 00:04:40 the punishment that was going to come on them, 00:04:42 what did they do? 00:04:44 They went straight ahead and decided to go into the Promised Land. 00:04:47 And what happened? 00:04:49 You see, it was an act of stupidity. 00:04:51 They were going on their own, 00:04:53 and Jehovah wasn’t going to give them support, 00:04:56 and that’s exactly what happened. 00:04:57 They were defeated. 00:04:59 So we see this is a very interesting example 00:05:02 for us to understand the difference 00:05:05 between the wrong way and the right way 00:05:07 of putting Jehovah to the test. 00:05:09 And, more important, we need to remember 00:05:13 how Jehovah feels 00:05:15 when we put him to the test in the wrong way. 00:05:18 We can see this if we turn to the book of Psalms, 00:05:21 Psalm 78:40, 41: 00:05:27 “How often they rebelled against him 00:05:30 “in the wilderness and made him feel hurt in the desert! 00:05:34 “Again and again they put God to the test, 00:05:37 and they grieved the Holy One of Israel.” 00:05:41 Yes, by their lack of faith and by doing things 00:05:46 that we could say irritated or disappointed Jehovah, 00:05:50 they grieved Jehovah. 00:05:52 So this is a very important matter for us: 00:05:54 to realize the difference between the right and wrong way 00:05:57 of putting Jehovah to the test. 00:06:00 With regard to this, 00:06:02 what sort of things do we need to avoid? 00:06:04 Well, we need to avoid dictating, or demanding, 00:06:07 that Jehovah do certain special things for us. 00:06:11 We need to avoid complaining to him 00:06:14 about our expectations. 00:06:17 We need to avoid taking unnecessary risks and chances. 00:06:22 And that’s why we have a very important group of brothers 00:06:25 that help to remind us about safety. 00:06:28 We do need to remember safety standards. 00:06:31 Now, some perhaps do not realize 00:06:34 the difference between faith and stupidity, 00:06:36 and they may have the viewpoint, 00:06:38 ‘Well, Jehovah will look after me if I’m doing whatever I’m doing.’ 00:06:42 But notice what the Awake! magazine said back in 1953. 00:06:47 It was in the article entitled “You Must Not Put God to the Test.” 00:06:52 And this is what it says: 00:06:54 “It really amounts to considering ourselves very important 00:06:58 “when we act as though nothing could happen to us 00:07:02 “because we are serving Jehovah. . . . 00:07:04 “We dare not put God to the test 00:07:07 “with irrational actions and carelessness. 00:07:11 “We simply cannot expect God 00:07:13 “to furnish us angels to keep us from harm and accident 00:07:17 in spite of what we may or may not do.” 00:07:22 Well, that’s a good reminder for all of us, isn’t it? 00:07:24 I know, as a missionary, 00:07:26 this was a lesson I had to learn over the years 00:07:29 —the difference between faith and stupidity. 00:07:32 When I look back on the first few years 00:07:35 I was in my missionary assignment 00:07:37 and some of the scary things we did 00:07:39 —jumping off ships into little boats in the open sea without life jackets— 00:07:44 at the time, I thought it was an act of faith, 00:07:48 but now I view it a little differently. 00:07:51 So we do need to be careful to measure what we’re doing 00:07:55 and see if it really is an act of faith 00:07:58 or if it’s just doing something stupid. 00:08:02 Jesus showed great wisdom in this regard, didn’t he? 00:08:06 When he served Jehovah here on earth, 00:08:10 no doubt many times his life was endangered 00:08:14 because the Pharisees and the Sadducees opposed him. 00:08:17 They were looking for ways to kill him. 00:08:19 But because he was serving Jehovah and doing what Jehovah wanted, 00:08:22 he had trust in Jehovah 00:08:24 that he wouldn’t be killed before the due time. 00:08:28 But on the other hand, when Satan tempted him 00:08:32 in a way to boldly show off 00:08:35 and jump off the temple, 00:08:38 what did Jesus say? 00:08:40 ‘You mustn’t test Jehovah.’ 00:08:42 You see, Jesus realized that that would have been an act of stupidity. 00:08:47 So for us today, it’s likewise important 00:08:50 when we’re making decisions 00:08:52 to balance out very carefully 00:08:54 what Jehovah wants us to do. 00:08:56 Yes, when Jehovah makes a promise and says, 00:08:59 ‘If you put the Kingdom first 00:09:01 and you do what I want you to do, I will bless you’ 00:09:04 and then we reach out and we do that, 00:09:07 we can be confident that Jehovah will ultimately bless us. 00:09:11 But never may we ever take the viewpoint 00:09:15 that we will just put Jehovah to the test 00:09:17 by taking chances and doing rash things. 00:09:21 Yes, whenever we make a decision, 00:09:23 let’s stop and prayerfully consider, 00:09:26 Is this an act of faith or stupidity?
00:00:01 The scripture that we’re considering this morning 00:00:03 raises a very interesting question, 00:00:05 and that is, 00:00:07 How is it that we can ‘test Jehovah out’? 00:00:11 Didn’t Jesus say that we shouldn’t test Jehovah? 00:00:15 Well, the simple answer to that question 00:00:18 was given in The Watchtower back in 1957. 00:00:21 It simply stated: “There is a wrong way 00:00:25 and a right way to put Jehovah to the test.” 00:00:28 Now, how do we know what is the right way 00:00:31 and what is the wrong way? 00:00:33 Well, again, put simply, 00:00:36 it means knowing the difference between faith and stupidity. 00:00:42 When we consider what the Scriptures tell us, 00:00:45 it helps us to see the line 00:00:47 that is the demarcation between faith and stupidity. 00:00:51 Consider, first of all, the good way 00:00:54 that we can test out Jehovah. 00:00:56 When we think about showing faith in Jehovah, 00:01:00 having trust in him, and then obeying him 00:01:03 —not waiting for Jehovah to make the first move 00:01:06 but rather for us, first of all, to obey him, 00:01:09 to reach out and do what he wants us to do 00:01:11 —that, in a figurative way, is putting him to the test, 00:01:15 because he’s already promised to bless us. 00:01:18 By us obeying him, it means that we are showing faith. 00:01:22 It also means that we don’t complain about the things 00:01:26 that Jehovah allows to occur in our life, 00:01:28 and we don’t take unnecessary risks. 00:01:31 We don’t try to fool him 00:01:33 by acting one way 00:01:36 but then pretending to be another way. 00:01:38 So put quite simply, again, 00:01:41 the right way for us to test out Jehovah 00:01:44 means to trust him, 00:01:46 to have faith in him, 00:01:48 to obey him 00:01:50 even if it may be difficult to do so. 00:01:53 Well, what about the wrong way to test out Jehovah? 00:01:57 Well, if we were to selfishly complain 00:02:02 about the things that Jehovah allows to occur in our life 00:02:06 or if we were to do 00:02:08 something stupid, something careless, 00:02:11 and expect that Jehovah is going to perform a miracle to save us 00:02:16 or perhaps we keep pushing Jehovah 00:02:19 to do something that really is not in harmony with his will 00:02:24 or if we try to fool him 00:02:27 by pretending to serve him 00:02:29 but actually are doing things that displease him, 00:02:32 all of those things really would be a stupid act on our part. 00:02:36 Now, what do we really need to consider with regard to this? 00:02:40 Well, let’s think about when Jesus made that answer to Satan 00:02:45 and said, ‘You shouldn’t put Jehovah to the test.’ 00:02:47 Let’s have a look at the scripture that he based that comment on. 00:02:51 It’s found at Deuteronomy 6:16, 00:02:56 and this gives us a little context to the meaning. 00:03:00 In verse 16, it says: 00:03:02 “You must not put Jehovah your God to the test 00:03:05 the way you put him to the test at Massah.” 00:03:08 Now, really, what was it 00:03:10 that the Israelites did at this particular time 00:03:13 where the name of the location 00:03:15 where they were meant “Testing” or “Trial”? 00:03:18 Well, if we turn back to Exodus 17:7, 00:03:23 it gives us some idea of what this really involved. 00:03:27 Exodus 17:7: 00:03:30 “So he named the place Massah and Meribah 00:03:34 “because of the quarreling of the Israelites 00:03:36 “and because they put Jehovah to the test 00:03:39 by saying: ‘Is Jehovah in our midst or not?’” 00:03:44 So, what did the Israelites do here? 00:03:47 Obviously, they didn’t trust Jehovah enough. 00:03:51 They didn’t have enough faith in Jehovah to realize 00:03:54 that he wasn’t going to let them all die in the wilderness. 00:03:57 But they pushed him. 00:04:00 They wanted something immediately. 00:04:02 They wanted to satisfy their selfish desires. 00:04:05 Well, that’s a very good lesson for us —isn’t it?— 00:04:08 because this shows a lack of faith. 00:04:12 We could consider when the Israelites decided 00:04:16 that they didn’t want to go into the Promised Land. 00:04:19 Remember, they were so upset with the report 00:04:22 of the two good chieftains who had spied out the land 00:04:26 that they wanted to kill them. 00:04:28 They accepted the report of the ten who had a negative report. 00:04:31 And why did they do that? 00:04:33 Again, lack of faith in Jehovah. 00:04:36 But then when Jehovah told them what was going to happen, 00:04:40 the punishment that was going to come on them, 00:04:42 what did they do? 00:04:44 They went straight ahead and decided to go into the Promised Land. 00:04:47 And what happened? 00:04:49 You see, it was an act of stupidity. 00:04:51 They were going on their own, 00:04:53 and Jehovah wasn’t going to give them support, 00:04:56 and that’s exactly what happened. 00:04:57 They were defeated. 00:04:59 So we see this is a very interesting example 00:05:02 for us to understand the difference 00:05:05 between the wrong way and the right way 00:05:07 of putting Jehovah to the test. 00:05:09 And, more important, we need to remember 00:05:13 how Jehovah feels 00:05:15 when we put him to the test in the wrong way. 00:05:18 We can see this if we turn to the book of Psalms, 00:05:21 Psalm 78:40, 41: 00:05:27 “How often they rebelled against him 00:05:30 “in the wilderness and made him feel hurt in the desert! 00:05:34 “Again and again they put God to the test, 00:05:37 and they grieved the Holy One of Israel.” 00:05:41 Yes, by their lack of faith and by doing things 00:05:46 that we could say irritated or disappointed Jehovah, 00:05:50 they grieved Jehovah. 00:05:52 So this is a very important matter for us: 00:05:54 to realize the difference between the right and wrong way 00:05:57 of putting Jehovah to the test. 00:06:00 With regard to this, 00:06:02 what sort of things do we need to avoid? 00:06:04 Well, we need to avoid dictating, or demanding, 00:06:07 that Jehovah do certain special things for us. 00:06:11 We need to avoid complaining to him 00:06:14 about our expectations. 00:06:17 We need to avoid taking unnecessary risks and chances. 00:06:22 And that’s why we have a very important group of brothers 00:06:25 that help to remind us about safety. 00:06:28 We do need to remember safety standards. 00:06:31 Now, some perhaps do not realize 00:06:34 the difference between faith and stupidity, 00:06:36 and they may have the viewpoint, 00:06:38 ‘Well, Jehovah will look after me if I’m doing whatever I’m doing.’ 00:06:42 But notice what the Awake! magazine said back in 1953. 00:06:47 It was in the article entitled “You Must Not Put God to the Test.” 00:06:52 And this is what it says: 00:06:54 “It really amounts to considering ourselves very important 00:06:58 “when we act as though nothing could happen to us 00:07:02 “because we are serving Jehovah. . . . 00:07:04 “We dare not put God to the test 00:07:07 “with irrational actions and carelessness. 00:07:11 “We simply cannot expect God 00:07:13 “to furnish us angels to keep us from harm and accident 00:07:17 in spite of what we may or may not do.” 00:07:22 Well, that’s a good reminder for all of us, isn’t it? 00:07:24 I know, as a missionary, 00:07:26 this was a lesson I had to learn over the years 00:07:29 —the difference between faith and stupidity. 00:07:32 When I look back on the first few years 00:07:35 I was in my missionary assignment 00:07:37 and some of the scary things we did 00:07:39 —jumping off ships into little boats in the open sea without life jackets— 00:07:44 at the time, I thought it was an act of faith, 00:07:48 but now I view it a little differently. 00:07:51 So we do need to be careful to measure what we’re doing 00:07:55 and see if it really is an act of faith 00:07:58 or if it’s just doing something stupid. 00:08:02 Jesus showed great wisdom in this regard, didn’t he? 00:08:06 When he served Jehovah here on earth, 00:08:10 no doubt many times his life was endangered 00:08:14 because the Pharisees and the Sadducees opposed him. 00:08:17 They were looking for ways to kill him. 00:08:19 But because he was serving Jehovah and doing what Jehovah wanted, 00:08:22 he had trust in Jehovah 00:08:24 that he wouldn’t be killed before the due time. 00:08:28 But on the other hand, when Satan tempted him 00:08:32 in a way to boldly show off 00:08:35 and jump off the temple, 00:08:38 what did Jesus say? 00:08:40 ‘You mustn’t test Jehovah.’ 00:08:42 You see, Jesus realized that that would have been an act of stupidity. 00:08:47 So for us today, it’s likewise important 00:08:50 when we’re making decisions 00:08:52 to balance out very carefully 00:08:54 what Jehovah wants us to do. 00:08:56 Yes, when Jehovah makes a promise and says, 00:08:59 ‘If you put the Kingdom first 00:09:01 and you do what I want you to do, I will bless you’ 00:09:04 and then we reach out and we do that, 00:09:07 we can be confident that Jehovah will ultimately bless us. 00:09:11 But never may we ever take the viewpoint 00:09:15 that we will just put Jehovah to the test 00:09:17 by taking chances and doing rash things. 00:09:21 Yes, whenever we make a decision, 00:09:23 let’s stop and prayerfully consider, 00:09:26 Is this an act of faith or stupidity?
