MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK.


After the Israelites left Egypt they crossed the Red Sea, whose waters
divided so that they passed through on dry land. Then they travelled
through the wilderness toward Mount Sinai. Passing onward, they wanted
water and food; and forgetting the great things God had already done
for them, they began to murmur. At a place called Marah they found the
water too bitter to drink; so they grumbled, saying to Moses, "What
shall we drink?" He asked God; who showed him a tree, which, when cast
into the water, made it sweet.

Next the people murmured for food, and God sent them manna, which they
gathered every day except the Sabbath; but with all God's care and
kindness the Israelites continued to grumble whenever any difficulty
arose. Journeying forward, they entered another wilderness, called the
Desert of Sin, and came to a place named Rephidim, where they found no
water. They were very thirsty, and came to Moses murmuring and saying,
"Give us water that we may drink." How could Moses do that? He was
grieved with them, and said, "Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye
tempt the Lord?" But the people grew so angry that they were ready to
stone him. Then Moses told God all the trouble, and God showed him
what to do. He was to go before the people, taking the elders of
Israel with him, and his rod, and God would stand before him on a rock
among the mountains of Horeb. This rock he was to strike, when water
would gush forth.