In Ex. 16:4, we see where the Israelites were told to go out and pick up a day’s portion of manna. YHVH said in this way he will test them to see if they will obey him or not. Here comes the test, would they try to pick up more than they needed for one day and get greedy or not. People sometimes say that YHVH does not test us. While it is true he does not “tempt us”, he does “test us” in our walk.

There is a big difference in being tested and being tempted. In being tempted, you’re dealing with sinning, while testing is not. In chapter 17, we see where the people tested YHVH’S patience over the water problem. When YHVH tests us, it is for our own good, but the Bible clearly tells us “not to test YHVH” your Adonai. So while it is a good thing for him to test us, it’s a bad thing to test him. Remember in school when you had to pass a test in order to go up another grade higher than where you were? Was the test a bad thing, no. It was however, a “necessary thing.” In contending for Moshe to give them water, they were trying on YHVH’S patience. Moshe knew YHVH could and would give them water, so notice that he never prayed to YHVH for water.

I believe Moses knew this was a test and he prayed only to know what to do with the people. He never prayed oh YHVH, give us all some water to drink. They were being tested here for one reason, to show their spiritual maturity. Unfortunately, they lost their patience and grumbled for water. We all need to step back and look at some of the things going on in our own lives and determine if we might possibly be going through a test. If so, that’s a good thing, providing you handle it correctly. It means you’re ready to go to a higher level. So don’t panic with your problem, remember it’s only a test!