Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God. — In the LXX., “Thou shalt not tempt,” and so where our Lord used it against the tempter (Matthew 4 and Luke 4).
As ye tempted him in Massah. — How did they tempt Him in Massah? By raising the unbelieving question, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” (Exodus 17:7). Even by the side of Satan upon the giddy pinnacle of the Temple, our Saviour refused to doubt the care of Jehovah. He would not throw Himself from thence into the arms of the angels to escape Satan, but “He endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” To this standard of action Israel was called in face of the powers of evil. But it was not always realised.