The third example of evildoing comes from Numbers 21:4–9. The Israelites complained against God and Moses, saying, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food
(Numbers 21:4). Upon this, God sent venomous snakes among them and many died.
With these complaints, the Israelites put Christ to the test.
After all, it was he who travelled with them to take care of them (see 1 Corinthians 10:4).
Paul is perhaps again warning the Corinthians against the desire for sacrificial meat. By wanting something that is against God’s will for them in Christ, they are putting Christ to the test.
9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,