DIRECT and clear were God's instructions to Moses when, under divine guidance, the children of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt and led in their long journey through the wilderness toward the land of Canaan.
At one time, when there was lack of water in the desert for themselves and their cattle, the people unjustly reproached Moses and Aaron with having brought them out into the wilderness to die. Moses and Aaron communed with the Lord, and Moses was told to take the rod, to assemble the people, and to speak to a certain rock before their eyes; and then water would come forth from this rock for all their needs.
Very simple was the direction, and yet very definite—to "take the rod," a reminder of God's guidance and authority, and to speak to the rock in the presence of the people. They were to appeal to God, the omnipotent One. This was an incident in the one oft-repeated lesson which they were learning during their entire journey, the lesson that is contained in the First Commandment given them by God: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
