“Me” in the title refers to God.

Num 14:21-23
but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

These were the words of God to the Israelites who had refused to enter the land of Canaan, citing reasons that it was hard to attack the place. They complained and blasphemed God. “God brought us out to die in the wilderness! Let us appoint a leader to take us back to Egypt.”

They had complained many times along the journey, but this time, God did not bear with their words or pardon them.

“have put Me to the test now these ten times”

Given the severity of His judgement, we should understand better why God chose not to bear with them after 10 times. If we examine the past instances they murmured against God, we would see the trend of them getting worse and worse. While the people seemed very wicked, let us reflect on whether we may have acted like them. If we had gone through what they did, would we have murmured? In our lives today, have we murmured to the extent that they did?

1st time Israelites tested God:
Exo 14:10-12
10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

v10 still seems reasonable. But v11-12 seems a bit much.

This was the attitude/heart the people initially had towards God when they left Egypt. Just before that, they had witnessed the 10 plagues. This ought to have made them fear God, but they did not possess such an attitude.

But God did not punish them, He just instructed Moses what to do. Perhaps since they had only just come out of Egypt, it was still pardonable.

2nd time Israelites tested God:
Exo 15:22-24
So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Since God could part the Red Sea, why couldn’t He make the water drinkable? The Israelites made it seem like God had brought them into the wilderness to die. God could surely help them, but they used every opportunity to complain against God. They were only concerned about fulfilling their own needs.

3rd time Israelites tested God:
Exo 16:1-3
And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Their problem of thirst had just been solved, now they complained about hunger. They must’ve been running low on food from what they packed from Egypt.

It wasn’t that they didn’t have food at all, but they weren’t able to eat till they were FULL.

Again it displayed their focus on their own needs. They complained against God with harsh words whenever there was a chance. And again, God dealt with them with forbearance and helped them with their problems.

4th time Israelites tested God:
Exo 16:19-20
And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

God did not say anything.

5th time Israelites tested God:
Exo 16:27-30
Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

God had kept silent the past 4 times, but this time He spoke out.

The people had very high expectations of God. He must fulfil all their desires and THEN they would worship Him. Their journey out of Egypt must be smooth sailing, they have must drink and food. God was just a tool to them, so they did not obey His commands. His commands were just mere suggestions.

6th time Israelites tested God:
Exo 17:1-3
Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

This wasn’t the first time they met with the problem of having water to drink. But they didn’t just ask for water, they added, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” As if God brought them out to totally wipe them out.

Still, God was patient and told Moses to strike the stone for water to come out.

Out of the 6 times they tested Him, He only spoke out once to ask why they wouldn’t keep His commandments. Still, He solved their problems. But for the 7th time, God acted differently.

7th time Israelites tested God:
Exo 32:1
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Prior to this in Exo 20, the people already knew they were not supposed to worship idols.

v18-19
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

The Israelites knew clearly where Moses was; before God, yet they said they did not know what has become of him. They also knew clearly they were not supposed to worship idols; yet they asked for gods to be made for them.

God no longer kept silent. He executed His judgement.

Exo 32:9-10
And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

He didn’t call them His children, but a stiff-necked people!

Exo 32:27
And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ”

God executed His judgement.

8th time Israelites tested God:
Num 11:1-3
Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.

We do not know what the people complained about, but it displeased the Lord and he sent fire to burn them.

9th time Israelites tested God:
Num 11:4-6
Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

God had JUST punished them with fire and here they complained again. It wasn’t that they didn’t have food, they wanted certain types of food. They murmured against God again because of food. The people were even weeping! Not because someone had died, but because their desires were not met!

Num 11:18b-20
Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” ’ ”

Num 11:32-33
And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.

10th time Israelites tested God:
[The 8 spies brought a bad report]
Num 14:2-4
And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

They thought so wickedly of God! As if He brought them out to kill them and make them slaves. God’s intention was to give them the beautiful land of Canaan, but they thought so badly of Him.

Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage the people but they wanted to stone them instead! (v10) That was when God severely punished them and had given up on them.

But He had given them so many chances. For the first 6 times, He didn’t say a thing. When they worshipped idols, He let them off with a light punishment. Time and time again He meted out judgement but not too severely. Still, their hearts did not learn to fear Him.

Psa 95:8-11
“Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

Reflection: Would we be the people to accuse God, or the ones standing on the side of God? Would we be the ones to cry out for melon, leeks, onions with our families at the door of our tents?

When we meet with problems, do we first murmur against God? We may cry out to God for help, but do our hearts feel like He did it to harm us? That He brings us to a certain place to cause harm to us instead of to bring us blessing?

When our hearts remain hard and our necks remain stiff, God will give up on us, because there’s no use showing grace to us anymore.

We might not ponder on how God died for us and how much He loves us every single night, but let us do so when we partake of the Holy Communion.