Deuteronomy 6:16 "Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah."
Just previous to this statement, the Lord had spoken through Moses, "Thou
shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
(14) Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people
which are round about you" (Deuteronomy 6:13-14)
Let us first see what happened at the place called Massah. "And he
called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the
children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD
among us, or not?" (Exodus 17:7) This was the first time the Lord
provided water from the rock. He told Moses on this occasion to strike the rod with
his staff and water would come forth from the rock. But God also warned
the people because of their doubt "and because they tempted the LORD,
saying, ''Is the LORD among us, or not?"
How could the people have ever doubted the presence of the
Lord? He had opened the Red Sea. He made the bitter waters to become
sweet. He provided bread from heaven to them six days a week. He was going
before them in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Again I
ask, how could the people have doubted the presence of the Lord? But they did
and they voiced that doubt. They voiced their doubt on more than one occasion
concerning God's purpose for bringing them into the wilderness. They were
people who constantly murmured and complained.
The danger of constant complaining and constant doubt lies in its outcome. For
if the people had doubted the presence of the Lord, they would have sought
after the gods of the nations through which they were traveling. God had warned
them about that on many occasions. Moses reminds them of the danger and
warns them against going after other gods.
There are many gods in this world in which we live. It is easy to begin to turn
our devotion and our focus from the True and Living God to the things of this
world. When our focus is turned to things of this world, we begin placing our
dependence upon them and that takes away from our trust and diminishes our
faith in the Lord God Almighty. May we remember there is only One in Whom we
can depend.