The Priest: Aaron by Francine Rivers Page A

you every morning!”
    “Bread with maggots in it!”
    Moses held out his staff. “Because you collected more than you need!”
    “What good is bread without water?”
    “Is the Lord among us or not?”
    How could they ask such questions when the cloud was over them by day and the pillar of fire by night? Each day brought renewed complaints and doubts. Moses spent every day in prayer. And so did Aaron when he wasn’t forced to quiet the people’s fears and encourage them with what the Lord had already done. They stopped their ears. Didn’t they have eyes to see? What more did these people expect of Moses? Several picked up stones. Aaron called out to his sons and they stood around Moses. Had these people no fear of the Lord and what God would do to them if they killed His messenger?
    “Aaron, gather some of the elders and follow me.”
    Aaron obeyed Moses and called for representatives he trusted from each of the tribes. The cloud descended on the side of the mountain where the people were camped. Aaron’s skin prickled, for he saw a Man standing within the rock. How could this be? He closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, staring. The Man, if man he be, was still there. Lord, Lord, am I losing my mind? Or is this a vision? Who is it who stands at the rock by the mountain of God when You overshadow us in the cloud?
    The people saw nothing.
    “This place shall be called Testing and Arguing!” Moses struck the rock with his staff. “For the Israelites argued here and tested the Lord!” Water gushed forth, as though from a broken dam.
    The elders ran back. “Moses has given us water from a rock!”
    “Moses! Moses!” The people rushed toward the stream.
    Exhausted, Moses sat. “God, forgive them. They don’t know what they are saying.”
    Aaron could see how the responsibility of these people weighed on his brother. Moses heard their complaints and beseeched God for provision and guidance. “We will tell them again, Moses. It is the Lord who has rescued them. It is the Lord who provides. He is the one who has given them bread and meat and water.”
    Moses raised his head, his eyes full of tears. “They are a stubborn people, Aaron.”
    “And so shall we be! Stubborn in faith!”
    “They still think like slaves. They want their food rations on time. They have forgotten the whips and the heavy labor, the unrelenting misery of their existence in Egypt, their cries to the Lord to save them.”
    “We will remind them of the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea.”
    “The sweetened waters of Marah and the streams of water from the rock at Mount Sinai.”
    “Whatever you tell me to say, I will say, Moses. I will shout the words God gives you from the hilltops.”
    “Moses!” It was a cry of alarm this time. “Moses!”
    Aaron pushed himself to his feet. Would trouble never depart from them? He recognized the voice. “It’s Joshua. What is it, my friend? What’s happened now?”
    The young man sank to his knees before Moses, panting, red-faced, sweat pouring down his cheeks, his tunic soaked through. “The Amalekites—” he gasped for breath—“they’re attacking at Rephidim! They’ve killed those who haven’t been able to keep up. Old men. Women. The sick . . .”
    “Choose some of our men and go out to fight them!” Moses swayed as he stood.
    Aaron caught hold of him. “You must rest. You haven’t eaten all day, nor have you had so much as a cup of water.” What would he do if Moses collapsed? Guide the people himself? Fear gripped him. “The Lord has called you to lead His people to the Promised Land, Moses. A man cannot do that without food, water, and rest. You can do nothing more today!”
    “You are three years older than I, Aaron.”
    “But you are the one God has called to deliver us. You are the one bearing the weight of responsibility for God’s people.”
    “God will deliver us.” Moses sank down again. “Go out and fight them, Joshua. Call the Israelites to arms,