In the days following the exodus of ancient Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Israel tested God ten times.  After the spies came back from spying out the land of Canaan, the Israelites rebelled against God.  At this point God says that Israel tested Him ten times.

Num 14:20  Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word;
Num 14:21  but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD—
Num 14:22  because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,
Num 14:23  they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

When were those ten times the Israelites tested God?  The ten times are as follows:

1) When Israel was trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea

Immediately after leaving Egypt, the Israelites found themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. They cried out to the Lord and complained to Moses.

Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.
Exo 14:11  Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12  Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

God intervened and parted the Red Sea.

Exo 14:21  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
Exo 14:22  So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

2) When the water the Israelites find at Marah is undrinkable, three days after crossing the Red Sea

After crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites went into the Wilderness of Shur for three days without finding water.  Eventually they came to Marah, where there was water but it was undrinkable because it was bitter.  The Israelites complained against Moses again.

Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
Exo 15:23  Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Exo 15:24  And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

God intervened and made the bitter waters sweet.

Exo 15:25  So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

3) When the Israelites grew hungry in the Wilderness of Sin, on the 15^th day of the second month

On the 15^th day of the second month, which was one month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites grew hungry and complained against Moses and Aaron.

Exo 16:1  And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.
Exo 16:2  Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
Exo 16:3  And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

God intervened by providing bread from heaven in the morning and meat (quails) in the evening.

Exo 16:4  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
Exo 16:5  And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Exo 16:11  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Exo 16:12  “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’ “
Exo 16:13  So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
Exo 16:14  And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.

4) When (in the Wilderness of Sin) some left the manna till morning

When God started sending the Israelites manna to eat every day, Moses warned them against trying to save some of their daily portion for the next day.  Nevertheless, some of them did and the manna bred worms and stank.

Exo 16:19  And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.”
Exo 16:20  Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

5) When (Wilderness of Sin) some went out to gather manna on the Sabbath

Moses instructed the people to gather twice as much manna as usual on the sixth day so they could rest on the Sabbath.  Nevertheless, some of them went out to gather manna on Sabbath, but of course found none.

Exo 16:26  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
Exo 16:27  Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
Exo 16:28  And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
Exo 16:29  See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

6) When there was no water at Rephidim after leaving the Wilderness of Sin

After leaving the Wilderness of Sin, the Israelites came to Rephidim, where they complained because there was no water to drink.  Their complaints were serious enough for Moses to think they were going to stone him.

Exo 17:1  Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
Exo 17:2  Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?“
Exo 17:3  And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
Exo 17:4  So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

God intervened by providing water for them.

Exo 17:5  And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.
Exo 17:6  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7) When Israel made a golden calf and worshipped it, at the base of Mount Sinai

When the Israelites are camped at the base of Mount Sinai, Moses went up the mountain.  Moses was gone so long, 40 days, that the people thought he was never going to return. With Aaron’s help, they made a golden calf and worshipped it.

Exo 32:1  Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Exo 32:2  And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
Exo 32:3  So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
Exo 32:4  And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
Exo 32:5  So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.”
Exo 32:6  Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8) Three days after Israel left Sinai, at Taberah

Three days after Israel departed from Mount Sinai, they complained again.  The Bible doesn’t tell us what they complained about on this occasion, but the complaints were so infuriating to God that He burned some of the people to death with fire.

Num 10:33  So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.

Num 11:1  Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
Num 11:2  Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched.
Num 11:3  So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.

9) When the Israelites complained about not having meat to eat, at Kibroth-hattaavah

Shortly after the deaths by fire at Taberah, the Israelites complained again about not having meat to eat.

Num 11:4  Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?
Num 11:5  We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
Num 11:6  but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

Num 11:10  Then Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused; Moses also was displeased.

Num 11:31  Now a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground.
Num 11:32  And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.
Num 11:33  But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.
Num 11:34  So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.

10) When the 12 spied returned from spying the land, at Kadesh

When Israel’s 12 spies returned from spying the land of Canaan, all of them except Joshua and Caleb told the people that Canaan was a land of giants and could not be conquered.  The Israelites then complained against Moses and Aaron, and wanted another leader to return to Egypt.

Num 14:1  So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
Num 14:2  And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
Num 14:3  Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
Num 14:4  So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

God punished the people, whom God called evil, for their complaints, by letting them wander in the wilderness for forty years.

Num 14:22  because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,
Num 14:23  they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

Num 14:27  “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.

Num 14:29  The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.
Num 14:30  Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.

Num 14:34  According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.

The application for us is sobering.  God punishes disobedience.