The Divine Test and the Heart of Man Revealed

“And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” (2 Chronicles 32:31)

There are a variety of reasons why God may permit his people to be tempted. Temptation is never sent from God because he is trying to ensnare his people with sin (James 1:13). But sometimes it is sent for the purpose of testing.

This was the case for Hezekiah. God ‘left him to himself’ and did not rescue him through some supernatural or unique assistance. At other times God had highly favored him with divine assistance through some very difficult times. The Assyrian invasion was supernaturally halted. His brush with death was stymied only by supernatural healing. His faith was supernaturally aided by an astronomical miracle. But when the Babylonians came to his country as a friendly envoy, God ‘left him to himself’ to test him.

Hezekiah, in fact, failed the test, ‘for his heart was proud’ (v. 25). He later humbled himself (v. 26) and received mercy. But this temptation was sent in order to see how the man would stand if he did not have the aid of supernatural graces.

It is easy enough to stand against temptation when we are supernaturally aided. In fact, none of us can stand without divine assistance. Even Hezekiah was still given divine aid, just not of a supernatural sort. But he did not take advantage of the assistance he had. How will we respond when God does not move mountains to rescue us? Could it be that your temptations are a divinely-ordained test?

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