Aaron's rod, the shepherd's staff used by Moses' brother Aaron
in the Old Testament, exhibits God's miraculous powers in the
Biblical plagues and later again in designating the tribe of
Levi as members of the priesthood. In the Book of Exodus, Moses
and Aaron approach the Pharaoh and tell him that God demands
freedom for the Israelites, but Pharaoh refuses. God sends a
warning to Pharaoh by turning Aaron's rod into a snake when he
casts it to the ground, but Pharaoh responds by having his
sorcerers turn their rods into snakes, which however, Aaron's
consumes and then turns back into a rod. God's power, through
Aaron's rod, also subsequently turns the Nile's water to blood
and summons frogs and gnats as Moses and Aaron implement the ten
plagues of Egypt. The plagues show that the God of the
Israelites (a small tribe) possesses far more power than the
gods of the Egyptians (a major world power), which by extension
implies that truth and faith prevail. The conquering and saving
power of Aaron's rod (but probably