“Do not put Adonai your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah [testing].”-Deuteronomy 6:16
After Moses gets done explaining to Israel that they needn’t run after other gods because the Lord is going to meet ALL of their needs down to the tiniest detail, from verse 16 Moses makes it clear what Israel is NOT to do.
He demonstrates this by referring to a situation that occurred in the early stages of the Exodus: the “Massah” incident.
Although a good 99% of the people he was talking to didn’t personally experience this event because they either hadn’t been born or were young children at the time, we can tell this must have been a really famous event, one of those legendary campfire stories that parents passed on to their children, because Moses makes no attempt to reiterate any of the details.
The mere mention of the word “Massah” appears to have been sufficient for Moses’ audience to fully grasp what he was talking about.
But I need to ask you…do you know exactly what Moses was talking about here when he mentioned “Massah“?
In case you forgot, let me refresh your memory.
Recall back in the beginning of the Book of Exodus when the Israelites started moaning and whining about not having any water to drink.
Well “Massah” was the name given to the place where the Israelites began their grumbling.
In Hebrew, “Massah” literally means “to tempt“.
Because Israel doubted God’s ability to provide for them, God accused them of tempting Him.
Now what’s interesting is that here in Deuteronomy, Moses is using a different word but it’s still a play on the word “Massah“.
Moses is saying “Do not NASSA God, as you did at the place called MASSAH”.
The word NASSA with an “n” literally means “to put on trial”.
Most Bible translations get it wrong when they render NASSA as “to try God’s patience” as we would normally understand it.
Moses is NOT telling the people to never try God’s patience.
No…he’s literally warning them to not be so brazen and bold as to actually put God on trial as in how a judge would deal with a convict.
This is how the 1st generation of the Exodus treated God.
As opposed to what the first generation did, this new generation is to “Observe diligently the mitzvot of Adonai your God, and his instructions and laws which he has given you“.
This younger group of Israelites are not to form a council and via a vote determine which of God’s laws and commands are optional or fair and just.
They are NOT to question God’s wisdom.
They are to simply trust and obey.
The wisdom in obeying God’s commandments will be revealed in the doing…not in thinking about it beforehand.
Notice the first part of verse 18: “You are to do what is right and good in the sight of Adonai…“
The other side of this instruction is that you are NOT to do what is right and good in the sight of your own eyes.
Understand that right here in Deuteronomy 6, we are given a very clear definition of what it means to do right in God’s sight.
It means we are to obey His Torah or His Laws and Commands.
Obedience has absolutely nothing to do with being tolerant or nice or achieving happiness according to how the world thinks.
I know this may not sound pretty but God’s position is clear: IT’S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.
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