And the people murmured against Moses, saying , “What shall we drink?” And he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree, and he flung it into the water, and the water turned sweet. There did He placed a statute and law…Which “statute and law” was taught? Abravanel says that God showed the people that prayer has the power to create change. The idea that prayer can change things was to them a statute – hoq, something irrational. However, when Moses solved their water problem through prayer, God taught them this was a law – mishpat, something demonstrable.