Sin in the Desert – Testing God at Massah and Meribah
Posted: Friday, December 31, 2010
by Denny Smith
One lesson that is clearly taught in the Bible is that man is not to test God. Moses in speaking to the children of Israel told them, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah." (Deut. 6:16 NASB) Jesus in speaking with the devil while he was being tempted said, "It is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." (Matt: 4:7 NASB) Paul in telling us not to follow the example of the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings said, "Nor let us try the Lord." (1 Cor 10:9 NASB) A lot of translations use the word "test" here rather than the word "try" as the meaning is the same. According to Peter, in Acts 5:9, Ananias and Sapphira "put the Spirit of the Lord to the test" (NASB) and died as a consequence.
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 to see if that student measures up to a set standard. If we already knew he did (had knowledge of that) then we would not bother testing him. If we had complete confidence 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 know state standards, school standards, etc. now require certain tests regardless of faith in a student but you get the point I am trying to illustrate.) The purpose of a test is to prove a person worthy of trust. If he passes the test we then have confidence in him and his ability.
When we test God we are expressing doubt about either his word (is it good), or his love (does he really care), or his power (can he really do it), or his character (can you 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 believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." (NASB) "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17 NASB) But, what happens when one does not trust the word of God? How does one seek God outside of 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 not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son." (1 John 5:10 NKJV) The testimony God has given concerning 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 Holy Spirit. Do we believe God or will we test him and decide then by our own standards whether 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 the place 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 before the children of Israel had reach Mt. Sinai. They had already been quarreling and complaining against Moses and the Lord a number of times. There had been the rebellion 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 farther along 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 difference being is that at Marah there was water but it was unfit for drinking whereas at Rephidim there is no water at all. The problem is the same (no drinking water) but the circumstances are a little different.
We know the people were thirsty. You do not complain about lack of water if you have plenty. There would have been no problem in going to Moses and asking him to pray to God to intervene on their behalf as the need was real but it seems they were 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 you brought 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 the Lord, "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 tested the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us, or not?'" (NASB) By now they knew full well God was with them but they lacked faith (trust) in him to care for them. They had seen too much and had had too many experiences with him to doubt that he had been with them but would he continue to be and would he continue to care for them?
The Red Sea had been parted for them, they had been provided with water once before in what seemed at the time to them a desperate situation, and they had been fed with manna from heaven and quail was sent their way also, and every day they saw a pillar of cloud leading the way before them and a pillar of fire by night indicating God's continual presence with them. "They (the nations – DS) have heard that 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 cloud by 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 in people disinclined to believe. Remember when Jesus gave the account of the rich man and Lazarus both in Hades although in different parts of it? The rich man was in torment while Lazarus was comforted. As you recall the rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to his brothers so they would be convinced to change their lives so they would not end up where he was. What did Abraham tell him? "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded 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 back from the dead, when he rose from the dead and people still do not believe? Now please 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 with the purpose being to make believers. (See also John 20:30-31) But, just as in the case 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 to believe you will not believe though one rise from the dead just as Abraham had said. The chief priests and elders now knew of the resurrection but were unwilling to believe (accept Jesus as the Messiah) even though Jesus was raised from the dead.
Abraham said those in that day needed to hear Moses and the prophets. Today we need to hear Jesus, "Behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.'" (Matt. 17:5 KJV) "God, who at various 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 only listen 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, a promise to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. The promise was that they were to be brought into "the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jubusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey." (Ex. 3:17 NKJV) Can God lie? Will God lie? You cannot get to those 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 their behalf in due time and that time would be before they died of thirst. "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" (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." (2 Tim. 3:13 NASB) The text does not say they can but that they will. Where will a lack of faith in God lead a man? Who can say for who knows how far into the depths of sin one can fall? One sin generally leads to another (David's adultery with Bathsheba led to the murder of her husband) which leads to another until repeated enough times the conscience is gone. We can be far better people than we ever dreamed we could be (in Christ) but by the same token no one of us knows how bad we can become either. I doubt there is a single man in prison for murder that ever thought when he was a boy he would grow up to be a murderer. Sin ought to scare us to death for we know not how evil we can become.
(4) Finally, knowing God exists alone is not going to save anyone. You can have faith in that fact by itself and it will get you nowhere. Now it is true you must believe God exists (Heb. 11:6) but the very text that teaches that (Heb. 11:6) says you must also believe "that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." (NKJV) Is there anyone anywhere that knows anything about it at all that would doubt for a minute that the children of Israel knew God existed? Of course they knew he existed. They just did not trust him, did not believe him, and they were not going to obey him.
We hear much today about just believe in God. We ought to ask people what they mean by that. A lot of people that believe in God's existence are not going to be saved anymore than were the children of Israel who believed he existed.
I think most people know how this historical account ends. God told Moses to take his staff and go and strike the rock at Horeb and water will come out as it did (Ex. 17:5-6). I want to discuss briefly, before closing, the testing of God on this occasion. How did they test God? The Bible says by saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" (Ex. 17:7 NASB) What can a person learn from that?
We can learn to take God at his word. The Hebrew writer tells Christians, "He himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" (Heb. 13:5 NKJV) Will we believe that or will we not? Will we be like the children of Israel when times get tough; will we quarrel with God, murmur and complain, and question him testing him? A Christian who is living faithfully should never question whether or not God is with him.
It is time all men quit complaining period and wait on the Lord. "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" (Psa. 27:14 NKJV) "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isa. 40:31 NKJV) To wait on the Lord one must be a child of God. No one waits on the Lord who does not have enough faith in the Lord to become his child, a Christian.
To wait on the Lord is to trust him to work life's problems out. It is to be content and not murmur and complain. It is to be patient and is the road to peace – peace with God and peace with self. It is to be a faithful dedicated child of God; it is to be a Christian in the dispensation of time in which we live.
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