are not trials for the Israelites to prove that they are somehow “worthy” of God. Such thinking misunderstands not only the Exodus narrative but the theology of the Old Testament. God does not redeem Israel from Egypt for any reason other than his own sense of fidelity to the promise he made to the patriarchs. It is not that the Israelites are now “good enough” to be worthy of his attention. The purpose of the desert tests are succinctly summarized in Exodus 20:20: “Moses said to the people, ‘Do