READ: Ex. 17:1-7
You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah. – Deut. 6:16
God showed His love and faithfulness by leading His people out of Egypt, and the people had every reason to respond to God’s love with love, faith, and obedience. God tested them to see if they truly loved Him. First, He made them suffer hunger, and then He gave them manna and quails. At Rephidim, they had no water and were thirsty. They should have known that God would provide for them again in their time of need. Hadn’t He already fulfilled His promises to Abraham?
But the people now challenged the LORD with a terrible accusation against Moses: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” It was a scandalous attack on God Himself, an act of pure unbelief.
How different was the faith of their father Abraham when the LORD tested him by asking him to sacrifice his son. Abraham did it because he believed that the LORD could even bring his son back from the dead. That faith was missing in the Israelites. They would later express their unbelief again when the majority of the spies who explored Canaan reported about powerful cities and giants that Israel could never dream of defeating on their own. There was still no faith, but instead rebellion against God. God punished them by making them die in the wilderness and not allowing them to enter His rest (Hebr. 3:11).
For us too, the LORD gives an important warning in the words of Deuteronomy 6:16. Let us always trust in the LORD even in suffering and oppression, for it is precisely in these times that the Lord tests us to see if we truly love Him with all our heart and trust in Him in all circumstances.
Are you allowed to blame God for anything?
Singing: Ps. 105:14