1 Corinthians 10:9

Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. [Numbers 21:4-6. Compare John 3:14-15. To "tempt" here means to try beyond all patience or endurance. Israel tempted God in the case referred to, by its spirit of unbelieving discontent. Compare also Exodus 17:2-7; Numbers 14:22. As Israel became discontented under the hardships of the wilderness, so the Corinthians were liable to a like discontent because of the severe persecutions brought upon them by ungodly men. Chrysostom, Theodoret and Oecuminius think that Paul warns the Corinthians against tempting God by asking for signs. But this was not the besetting sin of the Greeks (1 Corinthians 1:22), nor is there any evidence that the Christians at Corinth were at all addicted to this sin. Besides, it is at variance with the analogy which Paul has cited. As a matter of fact, men tempt God by putting his fidelity, patience or power to unnecessary tests-- Matthew 4:7; Acts 5:9; Hebrews 3:9]