Ali’s Favorite Bedtime Story
by Judy Lorenzen
Night after night and year after year,
Ali’s dad read to her of Israel’s slavery and fears.
Ali listened and memorized the ten plagues by heart;
She couldn’t wait each night for her dad to start:
Once upon a time, in a land far away,
A Pharaoh in Egypt played “god” every day.
He was cruel to Israel, making the people his slaves.
God was watching and listening, the true God who saves.
Now, God had a plan already in place
In His training of Moses in Pharaoh’s palace.
God told Moses and Aaron, “Go to Pharaoh and say,
‘Let My people go, set them free from this bondage.'”
God told these brothers exactly what to do.
“Perform a miracle,” Pharaoh said, and looked at the two.
Aaron threw down his staff, which became a snake.
Pharaoh’s magicians did the same, but of course, theirs was fake.
Then Aaron’s staff swallowed the magicians’ staffs,
But Pharaoh’s heart hardened as he said “no” with a laugh.
God told Moses and Aaron to go to the river at dawn
And find Pharaoh to warn him that they were pressing on.
They did all God commanded — Aaron waved the staff in his hand.
They told Pharaoh all the water would be blood, every stream in the land.
Moses said, “Let my people go or the Nile and fish will die,”
But Pharaoh’s heart hardened as his magicians performed lies.
Then Moses went to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go,”
and warned of the frogs, a far bigger woe!
Aaron stretched out his staff — the magician did their dark art,
With frogs all over, Pharaoh changed his hard heart.
“Moses, pray for my people that these frogs go away.
Then you may go to sacrifice to the Lord for a day.”
So Moses prayed and relief came, but this stiff-necked Pharaoh
Hardened his heart once again and still said “no.”
The fourth plague occurred when Aaron struck his staff to the ground,
The dust became gnats, but the illusionists found
They could not replicate gnats — they were much too odd
And told the Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”
In the morning, Moses met Pharaoh by the river Nile,
And warned him of the flies on every person and tile.
Moses said, “Let my people go to the desert to worship.”
Moses prayed the flies gone — but Pharaoh said “no” to the trip.
If ever a heart hardened more so each day, it was Pharaoh’s,
But Moses went to him anyway, and said, “Let my people go.
If you refuse, I will bring a plague on all of the livestock in the field.”
All of the Egyptians’ livestock died, but Pharaoh’s heart wouldn’t yield.
Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh with handfuls of soot,
Tossing it into the air, covering the people head to foot,
And the livestock, too, all had boils galore,
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart — he would listen no more.
Now, the Lord told Moses to go to Pharaoh again,
And tell him, “I could’ve wiped you out. You need to listen.
I’ve done this so that I might show you my power, that my name be proclaimed —
The worst hailstorm is coming, full of thunder and flame.”
Hail rained down on Egypt and destroyed every herb,
And you can imagine that Pharaoh was mightily perturbed,
But the eighth plague of locusts finished off every tree —
There was nothing to eat — there was nothing to see!
The ninth plague was darkness — God said, “Moses, stretch out your hand,”
And deep darkness was felt for three days in the land.
A darkness so black the Egyptians couldn’t move or see,
And the Israelites had light in this sweet victory.
For the tenth plague, God said He was going out at midnight
To strike down every firstborn Egyptian and animal, causing great fright.
As God said it would happen, it did, and their wailing was great,
But God had always warned them, so they could’ve changed their fate.
So Israel was free from their slavery and despair,
And they finally left Egypt without a single care.
They asked the Egyptians for clothes, silver, or gold,
Watching their own God deliver them had made them bold.
And God showed Himself mighty and powerful in the land,
Proving that everything that happens comes from His hand.
And though the Exodus happened 3,500 years ago,
Ali loves this God who still saves, this God that she knows.
About the Poet
Judy Lorenzen is a poet, writer, former high school English teacher, and former children’s librarian. Her work appears in journals, anthologies, newspapers, magazines, and on calendars and websites.
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