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Sin in the Desert – Testing God at Massah and Meribah
One lesson that is clearly taught in the Bible is that man is not to test God. Mosesin speaking to the children of Israel told them, "You shall not put the Lord your Godto the test, as you tested him at Massah." (Deut. 6:16 NASB) Jesus in speaking withthe devil while he was being tempted said, "It is written, 'You shall not put the Lordyour God to the test." (Matt: 4:7 NASB) Paul in telling us not to follow the exampleof the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings said, "Nor let us try theLord." (1 Cor 10:9 NASB) A lot of translations use the word "test" here rather thanthe word "try" as the meaning is the same. According to Peter, in Acts 5:9, Ananiasand Sapphira "put the Spirit of the Lord to the test" (NASB) and died as aconsequence. This is the very thing the children of Israel did time and time again. In Numbers14:22-23 the Lord says, in speaking to Moses, "Surely all the men who have seenmy glory and my signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet haveput me to the test these ten times and have not listened to my voice, shall by nomeans see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those whospurned me see it." (NASB)Men only test God, or attempt to, when they lack faith, when they do not believe.When a student takes a test in school it is an attempt on the part of the teacher tosee if that student measures up to a set standard. If we already knew he did (hadknowledge of that) then we would not bother testing him. If we had completeconfidence in his ability we would not test him. There would be no need to do so. Thus to test expresses a sense of doubt by the one doing the testing. (Yes, I knowstate standards, school standards, etc. now require certain tests regardless of faithin a student but you get the point I am trying to illustrate.) The purpose of a test isto prove a person worthy of trust. If he passes the test we then have confidence inhim and his ability.When we test God we are expressing doubt about either his word (is it good), or hislove (does he really care), or his power (can he really do it), or his character (canyou trust him). To test God is a sin in part because it manifests a lack of faith."Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believethat he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." (NASB) "Faith comesby hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17 NASB) But, whathappens when one does not trust the word of God? How does one seek God outsideof God's word? To not believe God's word is to make God out to be a liar."He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does notbelieve God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony thatGod has given of His Son." (1 John 5:10 NKJV) The testimony God has givenconcerning his Son is found written on the pages of the New Testament. However,all of the New Testament is God's word and to disbelieve any part of it is to make
 
God out to be a liar for all those who wrote therein wrote by inspiration of the HolySpirit. Do we believe God or will we test him and decide then by our own standardswhether or not he passes our test? The children of Israel tested God at a place called Massah and Meribah (the word"Massah" means test while the word "Meribah" means quarrel). Moses named theplace as a result of what happened there, "because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us, or not?'"(Ex. 17:7 NASB) This was in the early part of the exodus after leaving Egypt beforethe children of Israel had reach Mt. Sinai. They had already been quarreling andcomplaining against Moses and the Lord a number of times. There had been therebellion at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11-12, Psa. 106:7), the grumbling at the waters of Marah (Ex. 15:23-24), and the grumbling over food in the wilderness of Sin (Ex.16:1, 2-3, 7-9, 12, 28), and now once again more of the same only a little fartheralong in their journey. They are now at a place called Rephidim and they are without water a second time.I say the second time because this had been the case at Marah the only differencebeing is that at Marah there was water but it was unfit for drinking whereas atRephidim there is no water at all. The problem is the same (no drinking water) butthe circumstances are a little different.We know the people were thirsty. You do not complain about lack of water if youhave plenty. There would have been no problem in going to Moses and asking himto pray to God to intervene on their behalf as the need was real but it seems theywere doing far more than just that. The Bible says they were quarreling with Moses(Ex. 17:2) and grumbling (Ex. 17:3). They were saying, "Why, now, have youbrought us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst."(Ex. 17:3 NASB) And, it seems they were ready to turn violent for Moses tells theLord, "What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me." (Ex.17:4 NASB) Their real problem was a lack of faith once again for Ex. 17:7 tells us, "They testedthe Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us, or not?'" (NASB) By now they knew full wellGod was with them but they lacked faith (trust) in him to care for them. They hadseen too much and had had too many experiences with him to doubt that he hadbeen with them but would he continue to be and would he continue to care forthem? The Red Sea had been parted for them, they had been provided with water oncebefore in what seemed at the time to them a desperate situation, and they hadbeen fed with manna from heaven and quail was sent their way also, and every daythey saw a pillar of cloud leading the way before them and a pillar of fire by nightindicating God's continual presence with them. "They (the nations – DS) have heardthat you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people, for you, O Lord, are seen eye to
 
eye, while your cloud stands over them; and you go before them in a pillar of cloudby day and in a pillar of fire by night." (Numbers 14:14 NASB) There are some lessons here for us. (1) Miracles alone will not produce faith inpeople disinclined to believe. Remember when Jesus gave the account of the richman and Lazarus both in Hades although in different parts of it? The rich man wasin torment while Lazarus was comforted. As you recall the rich man wantedAbraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to his brothers so they would beconvinced to change their lives so they would not end up where he was. What didAbraham tell him? "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not bepersuaded even if someone rises from the dead." (Luke 16:31 NASB)Did not Jesus prove this to be true, the greatest miracle of all being to come backfrom the dead, when he rose from the dead and people still do not believe? Nowplease do not misunderstand. The purpose of miracles is to make believers.Miracles confirmed the word (Mark 16:17-18, Heb. 2:1-4) that it was from God withthe purpose being to make believers. (See also John 20:30-31) But, just as in thecase of the chief priests and the elders who were informed by those who guarded Jesus' tomb of what happened there (see Matt. 28:2-4, 11-13) if you do not want tobelieve you will not believe though one rise from the dead just as Abraham hadsaid. The chief priests and elders now knew of the resurrection but were unwillingto believe (accept Jesus as the Messiah) even though Jesus was raised from thedead.Abraham said those in that day needed to hear Moses and the prophets. Today weneed to hear Jesus, "Behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my belovedSon, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.'" (Matt. 17:5 KJV) "God, who atvarious times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,has in these last days spoken to us by his Son." (Heb. 1:1-2 NKJV) One can onlylisten to the Son by means of the words of the Son – the New Testament.(2) Another lesson to be learned is patience. There was no chance the children of Israel were going to be allowed to die of thirst since God had given a promise, apromise to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. The promise wasthat they were to be brought into "the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites andthe Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jubusites, to a land flowingwith milk and honey." (Ex. 3:17 NKJV) Can God lie? Will God lie? You cannot get tothose lands if God is going to kill you of thirst first? A little reasoning, a little faith,and it should have been readily evident to them God was going to intervene on theirbehalf in due time and that time would be before they died of thirst. "Wait on theLord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on theLord!" (Psalms 27:14 NKJV) They needed patience and we often do also.(3) A third lesson is where sin can lead a man. They were ready to stone Moses.What does the Bible say? "Evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse."
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