"Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God."--_Deut. 6:16._
I TOLD you what sort of place a desert is, and how full it is of
stones, and rocks, and sand, and with no water in it. Do you remember
how thirsty Ishmael was in the desert, and how God heard the voice of
the lad, and sent an angel to lead his mother to a well of water?
When the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, they were in a
terrible wilderness. Mount Sinai stood up in the midst, and all round
were great rocks of red and black marble, all dry and parched with the
hot sun shining on them.
The Israelites grew very hot and sadly thirsty, but they did not pray
as Ishmael had done. They grew angry, and said, "Is the Lord among us
or no?" Do you not think they deserved that God should show whether He
was among them by punishing them for grumbling? That was the way they
tempted God. But He was so good and merciful that He pitied them; and
He bade Moses to take his rod, and go to the bare, dry rock, and strike
it. And when Moses struck the rock, God made a beautiful, fresh, clear
spring of water come pouring out of it, so that all the people, and
all their cows, and sheep, and goats, and camels, could drink and be
refreshed.
Was not that a great wonder? and was not God very kind to them, though
they were not good? But you see God was near to help them all the
time, and it was very sad that they grumbled instead of praying. Do
not be like them. If a thing is hard to bear, don't murmur and grumble
about it, but pray, and then you will get help. Either the vexing thing
will go away, or you will leave off minding it.
[Illustration: MOSES BRINGING WATER FROM THE ROCK.--Ex. 17:6.]