Bakhan: test, examine, try, בָּחן verb (Strong’s 974). Nasah: test, tempt, try נָסָה verb (Strong’s 5254).
Sounds like: baw-kawn & naw-saw
Tested
Testing and examining are things that humans do all the time. We test things out to make our preferences. Do you prefer dark chocolate or milk chocolate? Try (trial) them both to see what you like! What’s the best car to drive? Take a test drive! Where should you attend post secondary school? Examine a list of pros and cons to help make a decision. Conducting an interview? Test the applicants with interview questions and compare answers. It’s probably safe to say that we test things every day… and we definitely test the people around us quite frequently.
Joseph tested his brothers integrity when they came to Egypt (Genesis 42:14-17), and the Queen of Sheba tested Solomon when she heard about his wisdom, given to him by YHWH (1 Kings 10:1 & 2 Chr 9:1). It’s easy for us to test and judge people… but should we?
Take the Test!
There are two main words used to express the action of a testing or examining: bakhan and nasah. These words are synonyms of each other and are used throughout the whole of the Tanakh in various ways.
Humans take tests all the time. Our school years were filled with tests and exams… so when God tests us or examines us, it’s finding out if we’ve learned the lesson.
For example, why were some of the pagan nations left in God’s promised land? We are told that they were there to test God’s followers:
Judges 3:1-4
Now these are the nations that YHWH left, to test [l-nassoht לְנַסּ֥וֹת] Israel by them (that is, all the Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it previously). These nations are: the five governors of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were left to test [l-nassoht לְנַסּ֥וֹת] Israel by them, to find out if they would obey the commandments of YHWH, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.
Have they learned the lesson? Would they follow God’s commandments during years of strife? Turns out, they didn’t pass the test with flying colours. Some did. Many did not.
Similarly, according to Deuteronomy 13:1-4, if any prophet tells the people to serve other gods, the Bible warns us not listen to them because, of course, we should only serve YHWH, but also because it could be YHWH testing the faith of His people.
God gives us tests, not to trick us, but to strengthen us. It’s easy to follow God in times of ease, but we have to be strong enough to follow YHWH during times of struggle. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but it’s a test we will all face at some point in our lives.
The Massah Meribah Test
The most prevalent ‘God test’ happened in the wilderness after the people escaped Egypt.
Exodus 17:1-7
Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of YHWH, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!”
And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test [t-nassun תְּנַסּ֖וּן] YHWH?”
But the people were thirsty for water there; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
So Moses cried out to YHWH, saying, “What am I to do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!”
Then YHWH said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.”
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Then he named the place Massah [test] and Meribah [quarrel] because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested [nassotam נַסֹּתָ֤ם] YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH among us, or not?”
The people put YHWH to the test and demanded help. If He did not help, they were ready to retreat and turn back to Egypt. YHWH could have stubbornly refused, but He didn’t. He provided the water they needed… from a rock. This miraculous moment, brought on by the people’s lack of faith, was repeatedly referenced in scripture:
Deuteronomy 6:13-16
“You shall fear only YHWH your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for YHWH your God who is in the midst of you is a jealous God; so follow Him, or else the anger of YHWH your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. You shall not put YHWH your God to the test [t-nassu תְנַסּ֔וּ], as you tested [nissitem נִסִּיתֶ֖ם] Him at Massah.”
The lesson?… don’t test YHWH like you tested Him at Massah, in the wilderness. Moses, speaking of Levi, said:
Deuteronomy 33:8
“Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man, whom You tested [nissitow נִסִּיתוֹ֙] at Massah, with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah.”
The Psalmist Asaph also reminded his readers of the test at Meribah:
Psalm 81:7-10
[YHWH:] “You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I put you to the test [ev’khan’ka אֶבְחָֽנְךָ֨] at the waters of Meribah. Selah
“Hear, My people, and I will admonish you; Israel, if you would listen to Me! There shall be no strange god among you; nor shall you worship a foreign god. I, YHWH, am your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”
The unnamed Psalmist of Psalm 95 shared YHWH’s warning to not be like those at Meribah and Massah:
Psalm 95:6-11
Come, let’s worship and bow down, let’s kneel before YHWH our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice: [YHWH:] “Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put Me to the test [nisuni נִ֭סּוּנִי], they tested [b’khanuni בְּ֝חָנ֗וּנִי] Me, though they had seen My work. For forty years I was disgusted with that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, they certainly shall not enter My rest.”
Psalm 106 was written to tell the story of Israel in poetic form. It also mentioned wilderness testing:
Psalm 106:10-14
So He saved them from the hand of one who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.
They quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His plan, but became lustfully greedy in the wilderness, and put God to the test [wai-nassu וַיְנַסּוּ] in the desert.
This test at Meribah and Massah is the most referenced test in the Bible. It appeared that this story was about the people testing God, but really the test was on them… and they did not pass. They failed in the desert, but it does not mean that God some them as failures.
Testing (refining) Metal
God is a forgiving God who used tests to strengthen His people. Often this testing was associated with metal-smithing. Adding heat strengthens metal, just like a test can strengthen the resolve of God’s people:
Psalm 66:8-10
Bless our God, you peoples, and sound His praise abroad, who keeps us in life, and does not allow our feet to slip. For You have put us to the test [v’khan’tanu בְחַנְתָּ֥נוּ], God; You have refined us as silver is refined.
Proverbs 17:3
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but YHWH tests [u-vokhen וּבֹחֵ֖ן] hearts.
Job, who faced the most ferocious test of anyone in the Bible, knew that God refined people during times of hardship and it strengthened his resolve to claim his innocence:
Job 23:10
[Job:] “But He knows the way I take; when He has put me to the test [b’khanani בְּ֝חָנַ֗נִי], I will come out as gold.”
Through the prophet Zechariah, YHWH spoke of His faithful and refined people who would pass the test:
Zechariah 13:8-9
[YHWH:] “And it will come about in all the land,” declares YHWH, “that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test [u’v’khon’tim וּבְחַנְתִּ֖ים] them as gold is tested [ki-vohn כִּבְחֹ֣ן].
They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘YHWH is my God.’”
Test me!
David was very aware of God’s testing pattern:
Psalm 7:9
[David:] …the righteous God puts hearts and minds to the test [u-vokhen וּבֹחֵ֣ן].
Psalm 17:3
[David:] You have put my heart to the test [bakhan’ta בָּ֘חַ֤נְתָּ]
Psalm 11:4-5
[David:] YHWH is in His holy temple; the YHWH’s throne is in heaven; His eyes see, His eyelids test [yi-v’kha’nu יִ֝בְחֲנ֗וּ] the sons of mankind. YHWH tests [yi-v’khan יִ֫בְחָ֥ן] the righteous and the wicked, and His soul hates one who loves violence.
1 Chronicles 29:17
[David:] I know, my God, that You put the heart to the test [bokhen בֹּחֵ֣ן] and delight in uprightness,
David was faithful, and he recognized the benefits of a good test so he was not shy in asking YHWH to test him:
Psalm 26:1-3
[David:] Vindicate me, YHWH, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in YHWH without wavering. Examine me [b’khaneni בְּחָנֵ֣נִי], YHWH, and put me to the test [w-nasseni וְנַסֵּ֑נִי]; refine my mind and my heart. For Your goodness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
Psalm 139:23-24
[David:] Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test [b’khaneni בְּ֝חָנֵ֗נִי] and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Although David’s family life was rocky, and wars were constantly raging, David at least had a home, lots of wealth, food on the table, and plenty of children (even if many of them were rebellious and self-involved). Job, on the other hand, had nothing. He lost his family, his home, his farm, his heath. Everything was gone, so he knew, way more than David, how painful being tested could be:
Job 7:16-19
[Job:] “I waste away; I will not live forever. leave me alone, for my days are only a breath. What is man that You exalt him, and that You are concerned about him, that You attend to him every morning and put him to the test [ti-v’khanenu תִּבְחָנֶֽנּוּ] every moment? Will You never turn Your gaze away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow my spittle?”
Testing isn’t easy. It can be very painful. But the story of Job teaches us that it’s not God causing the pain. It’s the principalities of death and destruction. God sometimes steps back to see how we face these forces on our own. Job remained faithful at all cost and was rewarded in the end. When struggles come into your life, how quickly do you turn on YHWH and blame Him for your misfortunes?
Jeremiah also suffered many injustices in his lifetime. He was attacked by a mob of priests, thrown into a well, publicly humiliated, imprisoned, and tortured. Yet he called on YHWH to test his heart during this time of trial and make those accountable for his suffering to reap the consequences:
Jeremiah 12:1-3
Righteous are You, YHWH, when I plead my case with You; nevertheless I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?
You have planted them, they have also taken root; they grow, they have also produced fruit. You are near to their lips but far from their mind.
But You know me, YHWH; You see me and examine [u-va’khan’ta וּבָחַנְתָּ֥] my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for a day of slaughter!
It’s not surprising that Jeremiah wanted vengeance, but God was not a god of violence and destruction. Although the Babylonians did come and violently defeat Jerusalem, God would use this event to bring His people, eventually, back home, more determined than ever to rebuild and dedicate themselves to YHWH.
Testing God
Sometimes, in our ignorance, we turn on YHWH and put Him to the test. Psalm 78 was written, by Asaph, to bring our memories back to the story of the test at Massah and Meribah:
Psalm 78:17-20, 40-43a, 54-57
Yet they still continued to sin against Him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert. And in their heart they put God to the test [wai-nassu וַיְנַסּוּ] by asking for food that suited their taste.
Then they spoke against God; they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, and streams were overflowing; can He also provide bread? Will He prepare meat for His people?”…
…How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! Again and again they tested [wai-nassu וַיְנַסּ֣וּ] God, and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power, the day when He redeemed them from the enemy, when He performed His signs in Egypt…
…So He brought them to His holy land, to this hill country which His right hand had gained. He also drove out the nations from them and apportioned them as an inheritance by measurement, and had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
Yet they tested [wai-nassu וַיְנַסּ֣וּ] and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep His testimonies, but turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; they turned aside like a treacherous bow.
The people failed their own tests by rebelling against YHWH. As a result, they tested YHWH: they tested His patience and His forgiveness and His promise to not give up on them and remain a Covenant partner with them.
So when God spoke to king Ahaz of Judah and told him to ask for a sign, it’s ironic that Ahaz said he wouldn’t put YHWH to the test. It’s ironic because over and over the people of Judah put God to the test, but the one time that God commanded Ahaz to make a request, Ahaz said he wouldn’t do it and he used scripture to make his case:
Isaiah 7:10-14
Then YHWH spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask for a sign for yourself from YHWH your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put YHWH to the test [w-lo a-nasseh אֲנַסֶּ֖ה et YHWH]!”
Then he [Isaiah] said, “Listen now, house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.”
Ahaz thought he was obeying the Torah where it says: “You shall not put YHWH your God to the test [t-nassu תְנַסּ֔וּ], as you tested [nissitem נִסִּיתֶ֖ם] Him at Massah” (Deuteronomy 6:16) but YHWH did not ask Ahaz to test Him, He asked Ahaz to request a sign. It wasn’t a test or a temptation. God wanted to clarify His plan for redemption. He wanted Ahaz to want to be redeemed, but, like a schoolmaster, Ahaz made God spell it out… and it tested God’s patience. Through this dialogue we receive God’s redemptive promise… a son, named Immanuel (God with us) would come to the world in the form of a baby, delivered by a virgin, to save and redeem the world.
Yeshua’s Three part Test
That infant God-with-us Redeemer grew up in Galilee and He began His public ministry with a set of three tests:
Luke 4:1-13
Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tested by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”
Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship YHWH your God and serve Him only.’”
And he brought Him into Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written:
‘He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you,’ and, ‘on their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been stated, ‘You shall not put YHWH your God to the test.’”
And so when the devil had finished every test, he left Him until an opportune time.
Many of your translations say tempted, but for us, today, temptation and testing are quite different. Yeshua was never tempted by anything the devil threw at Him. He was not tempted to turn stone into bread. He was not tempted to worship the devil; and He was not tempted to throw Himself off the precipice. He was tested and He passed the test, and He used the Scripture to counter the devil’s requests.
Yeshua quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 “man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of YHWH” to pass the first test.
Yeshua quote Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not put YHWH your God to the test [t-nassu תְנַסּ֔וּ], (as you tested [nissitem נִסִּיתֶ֖ם] Him at Massah.)” to pass the second test.
And Yeshua quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 “You shall fear only YHWH your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name” to pass the third and final test.
After passing these three tests Yeshua graduated into full time ministry. As a rabbi, He started taking on students (disciples) and His impact on the world around Him grew exponentially.
These three tests that Yeshua passed are the same three tests we should also pass in order to minister to the world. First, we need to trust that God can provide everything we need. He is the lifegiver and the source of sustenance. Trust in Him and we will live from this life into the next. Secondly, we should not put God on trial. He is not the source of our pain. He wants to heal and protect us. If we hand our lives over to His protection we can live with the kind of freedom that we could never achieve when we try to control our lives on our own. And finally, we cannot give our allegiance to other gods that thrive in this world: the gods of dominance, money, fame, prestige and power… the only thing we should bow down to is the Creator God who made us and loves us unconditionally.
Life may feel like one long test, but we are not alone in the journey. Like a good tutor, God wants to walk alongside us in life and help us pass all the tests that will inevitably hit us. He’s not a strict teacher who demands perfection, He just wants to provide for you the life skills you need to be a good follower of Yeshua, where goodness, helpfulness, acceptance, encouragement and lovingkindness are at the forefront of our relationships with every human of every colour and every creed. That’s what bearing God’s image looks like. If the hardships we bear help us become better humans and better image bearers, then it will all be worth it.
So, by all means, YHWH, test our hearts, refine our lives, and turn us into gold that shines your love to all the world. Like Job said:
Job 23:10
“But He knows the way I take; when He has put me to the test [b’khanani בְּ֝חָנַ֗נִי], I will come out as gold.”
Next week: Violence
