Quote:
Originally Posted by tv1a
Good points. Get a shovel if you are willing to dig deeper. To get the rest of the story, one must realize what happened. The tempting/testing of God in the wilderness was the result of rebellion, grumbling, and complaining. Matthew Henry's Commentary makes a compelling point which suggests the combination of rebellion, grumbling, and complaining led to the challenging Moses and ultimately God. The temptation found in Exodus was founded in rebellion. One cannot say the same thing about snake handlers. The snake handlers are not living a life of grumbling and complaining like the children of Israel did in that passage.
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Jesus was not "living a life of grumbling and complaining like the children of Israel did in that passage," and yet He refused to "tempt" God by throwing Himself off the pinnacle of the temple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tv1a
One of the meanings of the the place Meribah means contention. Webster's Dictionary defines contention as a synonym listed in the same definition is discord. The same dictionary defines discord as Strife is also listed. But we won't go that deep unless we have to.
I don't see how these snake handlers sowing discord, living in rebellion, or grumbling and complaining, attributes when left unchecked will cause one to tempt God in a way that is sinful.
Thnx for providing the need to dig further.
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Though attitudes are important issues, they are not the issue here. The people at Massah were demanding a sign to prove that God was with them. This was their sin, "
because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?"
Exodus 17:7.
To go about demanding that signs be performed in order to boost your own faith is sin. When a snake handle takes the snake out of the box, he is either demanding a sign or or he's wanting to get bit. Trying to get bit is foolish. Demanding a sign is sin.
This of course does need for us to dig a little deeper, because my statement above immediately begs the question about Gideon's fleece and other similar examples. In the case of Gideon, he was more or less dragged kicking and screaming out from his hiding place and onto the battlefield. God dealt with him accordingly.
In the case of the children of Israel at Massah, they had already seen the miraculous work of God and were already daily recieving benefit from His blessings. In the midst of this, they demanded "Is God with us or not?" They demanded a sign.
In the case of Jesus on the pinnacle, He was the Son of God, God manifest in human flesh. Satan demanded, "If thou be the Son of God throw yourself..." and so forth. Jesus could have done so just to "prove" who He was. But instead, he equates such an act with sin.
When we stand on a pinnacle in our lives, wherever this may be and in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, we must follow the example of our Lord. To do otherwise is sin. I am almost embarassed by the fact that we're even having this discussion. As TRFrance points out, it is wrong to drink deadly things and it is wrong to "tempt the Lord thy God."
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