Much Quarrelling

 

Haiku of testing

In the wilderness,

 

pitched their tents at Rephidim.

 

Dry, with no water.

 

 

The people quarrelled

 

with Moses. We need water,

 

can you give us some?

 

 

Don’t quarrell with me!

 

The Lord brought us to this place;

 

Why do you test God?

 

 

They kept complaining.

 

You brought us out from Egypt

 

to kill us with thirst!

 

Moses cried to God.

 

What shall I do with this mob,

 

they might just stone me?

 

Take your staff and go

 

with some elders to Horeb,

 

I’ll be at the rock.

 

Strike it with your staff,

 

water will spring from the rock;

 

the people can drink.

 

 

It was as God said,

 

the elders saw the wonder;

 

the Lord passed the test!

Massah, Meribah;

 

good names for a testing place

 

with much quarrelling!

 

Is the Lord with us

 

or not? It seems the people

 

were the ones tested.

 

© Ken Rookes 2023

Bread from heaven

Haiku for the hungry

We’re hungry, Moses.

More than hungry, we’re starving,

here in the desert.

Why did you bring us

to this barren place? We had

good food in Egypt.

We might have been slaves

but we never starved to death.

You’re killing us here!

God heard the complaints;

Fair enough, I’ll give them food,

teach them how to trust.

God had an answer.

I’ll rain down bread from heaven.

You can gather it.

Just collect enough

for each day. Don’t be greedy;

trust for the new day.

Except the sixth day;

gather enough food for two,

rest on the seventh.

There will be meat, too.

At evening quails arrived,

and with the dawn, bread.

‘Twasn’t strictly bread;

flakey stuff, cov’ring the ground,

but you could eat it.

In desert places

you have to keep trusting God.

That was the message.

Ken Rookes 2023

The crossing

Haiku for a remarkable escape.

The just-freed people

head south-east out of Egypt,

with God in cloud, fire.

The army follows,

Pharaoh’s horses, chariots;

there to take them back.

Moses stretched his hand

over the sea; a strong wind

from God drove it back.

Sea becomes dry land,

(according to the story);

the people pass through.

Egypt’s army came

after Israel. Panic

as their wheels get bogged..

God instructs Moses:

Stretch out your hand, that the sea

returns to its depth.

Israel is saved,

Egypt’s army’s swept away.

So the story ends.

The people feared God

and God’s servant, Moses; glad

God was on their side.

Again, the winners

get to rejoice, the losers

must lament and mourn.

© Ken Rookes 2023

It is the passover of the Lord

Haiku of readiness

God instructs Moses,

 

also his brother, Aaron,

 

there, in Egypt land.

You shall mark the year

 

from this month. On the tenth day

 

the action begins.

 

Tell all your people

 

to take a lamb, one per home;

 

or you can share it.

 

On the fourteenth day,

 

at twilight, all Israel

 

must slaughter their lambs.

 

Take some of the blood,

 

paint it on the doorposts and

 

lintels of your homes

 

Eat the roasrted lamb

 

with unleavened bread and herbs.

 

Eat all; burn the rest.

 

Eat it, fully clothed,

 

with sandaled feet, staff at hand;

 

ready to depart.

 

A terrible thing;

 

God is passing through Egypt,

 

killing all firstborn.

 

The blood is a sign;

 

death will pass over your house

 

when God sees the blood.

 

A remembrance day:

 

celebrate it ev’ry year.

 

God’s deliverance

 

A terrible tale

 

unless you’re on the winning

 

side; then you rejoice!

 

© Ken Rookes 2023