Mo Says

A long time ago in an ancient land,
Where pyramids rise from the desert sand.
A newborn babe floating in a crib.
Sounds unbelievable? I ain’t tellin’ no fib.
Plucked from the deep by Pharoah’s daughter,
“I’ll call him Moses ‘cause he came from the water.”
Mo was lucky to be rescued that day.
God was with him in a special way.
He grew up tall and he grew up strong,
And he soon took a stand for what’s right and wrong.
Pharoah’s guard was whipping the slaves,
So Mo got mad, put him in his grave.
Mo nearly got caught for killin’ that man,
Pharoah got after him so Mo just ran.
Now Mo got to wanderin’ to the land of Midian.
There he met a girl with eyes of obsidian.
Her name was Zipporah but we’ll call her Zip,
Pronouncing that other ties a knot in my lip.
Well Mo got married and he watched the sheep,
Then one day things really got deep.
God called Mo from a burning shrub,
Said, “Got a job for you Mo. Better listen to me, bub!
Pharoah’s got some nerve enslaving my folk.
He may think it’s funny but, to me, it’s no joke.
I need you to go down to Egypt land
Tell Pharoah off, really make a stand.”
“But God,” said Mo, “I’m not a good speaker.
I stutter a lot and there’s no one weaker.
Find someone else. I gotta tend lambs.
Nice to see ya. Stop by when you can.”
Now, God got ticked for being put off.
When God gives an order, you ought not scoff.
So God taught Mo a lesson for his own sake.
Turned Mo’s rod into a hissing snake.
“Mo,” said God, “You won’t be alone.
“I’ll give you the power to get things done.
As for speaking, we’ll let Aaron serve.
He loves to talk. Boy’s got some nerve.”
Well, God made an offer Mo couldn’t refuse.
So he headed to Egypt to free the Jews.
But Pharoah wasn’t buying what Mo was sellin’,
Got red in the face and started up yellin’.
That was okay though, it fit the plan.
God was gonna show Himself to Egypt land.
He sent some plagues to show his might.
Blood in the river and day turned to night.
Locusts and frogs and flies in the kitchen
Cows all died and folks skin started itchin’.
God sent more bugs and it hailed real bad.
Egypt’s people were gettin’ real mad.
Pharoah still wouldn’t let the Lord’s people leave,
But God had one more plague waitin’ up His sleeve.
He sent the Angel of Death to walk through town.
That short little stroll brought the first-born down.
After that night, Pharoah let ‘em withdraw
Every boy and girl, every ma and pa.
Mo lead the Jews out of Egypt land
But Pharoah wasn’t finished, had an evil plan.
“Gonna follow those Jews, gonna bring ‘em all back.
Make ‘em all sorry they ever gave me flack.”
So Pharoah’s army went after Mo’s gang
With chariots and horses, they left with a bang
Meanwhile, Old Mo’s hanging out at the shore
The Jews are all whining, they thought it a bore
“Why did we leave? We had it half good.
We ought to head back to Egypt’s neighborhood.
The Red Sea is huge. There’s no way bridge it.
The kids are all hungry and starting to fidget.
We shouldn’t have listened to Mo and his whim.
Now we’re stuck by the sea and none of us swim.”
But they soon changed their tune when they saw Pharoah’s men.
“Oh, save me, “ they cried. “Save me and my kin.”
Mo stretched out his stick and God did the savin’.
The surf stopped it’s surfin’, the waves stopped their wavin’.
The water pushed back and the folks went through.
Not a soul got wet, not one single Jew.
But Pharoah’s men didn’t fare so well.
The people crossed over then the water’s fell.
Every man, horse and chariot was lost that day
While Mo and his entourage went on their way.
They found a nice place to do some campin’.
They were hungry and tired and their feet were crampin’.
God sent food, some manna and quail.
It filled them all up but they were still feelin’ frail.
Mo went up the mountain to talk to God
But while he was gone things really got odd.
They built up an idol, a solid gold calf.
I guess they didn’t have enough to make a giraffe.
Meanwhile, God’s giving Mo the law.
The Ten Commandments, better listen up ya’ll.
He hiked on down to share the news
But the people were dancin’ and drinkin’ booze.
They were worshippin’ the cow, “Hail Luminous Beef.”
The things Mo saw filled him full of grief.
He broke the stones that proclaimed God’s rules,
Then he pitched a fit, reprimanded those fools.
God replaced the Commandments that Mo had thrown.
Chiseled with fire, hewn right out of stone.
Then the people went wanderin’ day and night.
For forty years, what a terrible sight.
God made ‘em wait for the promised place.
They had acted so bad, was a total disgrace.
And Mo, old Mo didn’t get to spy
The land God promised to the Israelites.
He wrote some books and passed on, poor Mo.
But he left young Josh in charge of the show.
Josh finally took the people to the land of glory.
But goodbye for now, that’s another story.

Copyright 2005 Marty Gordon