Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people.
Speaker 2: You've drawn the attention of Pharaoh's officials, and because of that,
Speaker 2: we should be prepared to tell them you're my sister,
Speaker 2: not my wife. This is for your protection as well
Speaker 2: as my own. If you've drawn the eye of a
Speaker 2: prominent Egyptian as your brother, my life would be spared.
Speaker 3: So you'd lie, Abram, you would tell a half truth
Speaker 3: and deny me the protection of my husband. Lie to
Speaker 3: spare yourself and ship me off to an Egyptian warlord.
Speaker 2: Sarah, I'm afraid I see too many similarities and these
Speaker 2: people to the ones we've dealt with in the past.
Speaker 2: I'm terrified for my life. As the heads of our people,
Speaker 2: we will be a target. I fear that they will
Speaker 2: use you against me or take you.
Speaker 4: Oh worse.
Speaker 3: We've survived this threat before, Abraham.
Speaker 4: I know we.
Speaker 2: I hope we do so again. I would all upon
Speaker 2: your loyalty as my wife again. I would have you
Speaker 2: tell everyone that you.
Speaker 5: Are my sister.
Speaker 2: Please do this for me, Please go along with this.
Speaker 4: Smile him rest easily.
Speaker 1: And Abraham was forced to watch as his wife was
Speaker 1: taken away from his care for a second time. His
Speaker 1: blood boiled with anger, not against Abimanak, but against himself.
Speaker 6: Isaac, son of my servant Abraham, you have spent a
Speaker 6: lifetime following your father as he followed me. I come
Speaker 6: now to bless you to carry out the promise I
Speaker 6: made to your father through your lifetime.
Speaker 4: Thank you, my God, you.
Speaker 6: Do all what you ask for.
Speaker 7: In the shadow of famine, the sins of the father
Speaker 7: linger whispering old lies to a new generation. Shallow, my
Speaker 7: friends from here in the Holy Land of Israel. I'm
Speaker 7: ya l Exstein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Speaker 7: Welcome to the Chosen People. Have you been enjoying this podcast, well,
Speaker 7: I would be so grateful if you took a moment
Speaker 7: out of your day to follow, leave a review and
Speaker 7: share it with your friends. These small steps matter to
Speaker 7: me and they make a huge difference in getting the
Speaker 7: podcast out to the world. So thank you, Todara Batt,
Speaker 7: as we say in Hebrew, thank you for making the
Speaker 7: mission of this podcast possible. Now let's begin. What does
Speaker 7: it mean to walk in the footsteps of our fathers,
Speaker 7: to inherit not just their blods, but their flaws, to
Speaker 7: repeat their mistakes, knowingly or unknowingly. This dramatized Bible story
Speaker 7: inspired by Genesis twenty six one to eleven is a
Speaker 7: tale as old as time. If you've been following along
Speaker 7: so far, you'll see that it sounds familiar. Famine strikes
Speaker 7: the land, and Isaac, son of Abraham, faces a choice.
Speaker 7: Will he lean into faith or falter because of fear?
Speaker 7: The sins of the father, once buried, resurface in the
Speaker 7: life of the sun.
Speaker 5: So you see, Master Isaac, we just discovery this morning.
Speaker 5: Has no wonder the cattle have been ranging like they
Speaker 5: once did. The streams out in the far fields are
Speaker 5: as dry as bones. In the troughs we have closer
Speaker 5: to Kamba are much better.
Speaker 1: Though eyes have believed the shepherd, he still stooped to
Speaker 1: run a finger along the dry, crusty bottom of the
Speaker 1: trough standing before them. Sure enough, the grainy limestone felt
Speaker 1: as if it hadn't touched water for days, And this
Speaker 1: was the trough closest to their camp. He could only
Speaker 1: imagine the desolation at the ones further out.
Speaker 4: I suppose it was only a matter of time and
Speaker 4: till the reports we've heard of famine made their way
Speaker 4: to us. I fear it's time for us to move on.
Speaker 5: Hey, right you are, Master Azik or do you want
Speaker 5: us to drive the cow? Do we make Egypt along
Speaker 5: the King's Highway?
Speaker 4: Yes, that would be our destination. I've heard that the
Speaker 4: lands on the Nile are never dead or even brown.
Speaker 4: It would be a long road to get there, but
Speaker 4: well worth our time and effort. We should prepare our
Speaker 4: rations for the long journey. We can make our final
Speaker 4: preparations to cross the desert when we get to Gara.
Speaker 4: Their kings the Bimlet were friendly to my father for
Speaker 4: many years, so that would be a favorable place to
Speaker 4: replenish our water, skins, and supplies before we crossed the desert.
Speaker 5: I'll see to it, Master Issac.
Speaker 1: Isaac thanked the shepherd and began walking back toward camp.
Speaker 1: He took no more than a dozen paces when the
Speaker 1: world around him became silent. He looked around, and though
Speaker 1: there were people in the distance, he could not hear
Speaker 1: them or anything else in his proximity. It was the
Speaker 1: same stillness he remembered from his childhood and from his
Speaker 1: encounter at his father's tomb. Isaac knelt in anticipation of
Speaker 1: hearing again from his god.
Speaker 6: Isaac, son of my servant Abraham, do not go down
Speaker 6: to Egypt. You are to live in the land that
Speaker 6: I show you. You will remain in the land as
Speaker 6: a stranger, an alien. But I will be with you,
Speaker 6: and I will bless you. I will give all these
Speaker 6: lands to you and your offspring one day, and I
Speaker 6: will confirm the oath that I swore to your father, Abraham.
Speaker 4: I will make your.
Speaker 6: Offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky. I
Speaker 6: will give your offspring all these lands, and all the
Speaker 6: nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring.
Speaker 6: All this will happen because Abraham listened to me and
Speaker 6: kept my mandates, my commands, my statutes, and my instructions.
Speaker 4: Yes, my God, I will do what you have said,
Speaker 4: and I will change my plans and not go to Egypt.
Speaker 4: I will go to Garra and settle there during the famine.
Speaker 4: There I shall wait for your instructions.
Speaker 1: When Isaac finished speaking, he felt the world around him
Speaker 1: spring back into life. He heard the shouting of his
Speaker 1: men in the distance, and the birds and insects resumed
Speaker 1: their chatter. Isaac stood and brushed the dust off his
Speaker 1: robes before he hurried to his shepherd to tell him
Speaker 1: of the slight change of plans, Isaac wondered why his
Speaker 1: God was blocking his way to Egypt, but then he
Speaker 1: decided that it was of no importance. Wherever his God
Speaker 1: was calling him, there he would go. He was determined
Speaker 1: to follow in his father's footsteps. Isaac found his wife
Speaker 1: and sons in their tent and told them the message
Speaker 1: he had received from their God.
Speaker 5: I don't understand.
Speaker 8: Why not go to Egypt?
Speaker 5: No famine in Egypt?
Speaker 2: Weren't you listening? Because God said not to?
Speaker 5: Was good game in Egypt? Fish too riches.
Speaker 2: You don't understand.
Speaker 9: Jacob is right, Esaw. We will follow what your father
Speaker 9: and our God says. We must trust in this message.
Speaker 9: Sometimes we cannot see all the pieces on the board.
Speaker 4: We will go to Garral and settle there until we
Speaker 4: hear something else.
Speaker 1: Isaac and his family moved their caravan and all their
Speaker 1: herds east to Geira along the King's Highway. Isaac remembered
Speaker 1: the land from his youth, for this was where his
Speaker 1: mother had conceived, given birth to him, and he spent
Speaker 1: the earliest days of his youth. Isaac knew his father
Speaker 1: had established a covenant of peace, and even built wells
Speaker 1: in this land, but they had been in Hebron a
Speaker 1: long time, and Isaac had now buried both parents there.
Speaker 1: He wondered if the new king, the Ebemelech, as they
Speaker 1: were called here, would remember the peace previously established with
Speaker 1: his father. Perhaps this would be the first real test
Speaker 1: of Isaac's leadership as he stepped into his father's legacy fully.
Speaker 1: Isaac could barely cross the border into Gira when a
Speaker 1: company of guarded men rode out to meet with him.
Speaker 2: Isaac, son of Abraham, be welcomed to Durrar. We Philistine,
Speaker 2: remember your father's time with us here and Jerrard. His
Speaker 2: influence and wealth were legendary. We understand he's been laid
Speaker 2: to rest and given to the care of our goddess
Speaker 2: of heaven Asterith, and you are now his heir. Our
Speaker 2: people were saddened to hear of his passing. You have
Speaker 2: our condolences.
Speaker 1: Isaac could not help but note that the man did
Speaker 1: not extend his apparent words of friendship to him. He
Speaker 1: seemed to be the one who would need to be convinced.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Ooseh. I trust as your people also remember
Speaker 4: the covenant of your former kings.
Speaker 2: I you are asking if we will also honor the
Speaker 2: treaty of peace made between our two forbearers.
Speaker 1: Isaac held the silence as the man took his measure.
Speaker 1: He wished his father was here, or Rebecca. They were
Speaker 1: adept at dabbling in politics. Eyes have preferred a plainer
Speaker 1: way of speaking. He didn't like hidden meanings or inferences.
Speaker 1: But he had learned from them that he should let
Speaker 1: his guests speak until they had finished all they had
Speaker 1: to say. He could hear Rebeccah's voice in his head.
Speaker 1: Don't give them an answer before you force them to
Speaker 1: speak as many of the intentions they're willing to give.
Speaker 1: The uncomfortable silence grew between the two men. The servants
Speaker 1: standing by the entrance shifted on his feet.
Speaker 2: We are not men who break treaties. We trust in
Speaker 2: the wisdom of our abymelechs, as their power has been
Speaker 2: ordained by the gods. There are records of a treaty,
Speaker 2: but also notable exchanges of wealth and goods between your
Speaker 2: people and mine. Can I report back to my ebimelech
Speaker 2: that we can expect much the same from your regime
Speaker 2: of your people.
Speaker 4: We were traded in living peace among your people. We
Speaker 4: have no plans of violence or harm.
Speaker 2: I am relieved to hear it. Perhaps there are other
Speaker 2: ways we can ensure peace and prosperity among us. I
Speaker 2: could not help, but matters many fair women in your camp?
Speaker 2: Have you any daughters or sisters?
Speaker 1: Isaac stiffened at the man's words. He knew enough from
Speaker 1: the man's seemingly benign tone that the man was implying
Speaker 1: more than a marriage pact. He was looking for a
Speaker 1: tithe of women, perhaps ones to bring into the fold
Speaker 1: of his king's harim. This would ensure the peace between them.
Speaker 1: They would become little more than political hostages and tokens.
Speaker 1: He had heard of such practices before.
Speaker 4: I have no daughters, only sons.
Speaker 2: Where well, that's a shame. Who was that woman lingering
Speaker 2: outside your tent when I walked in? She was uncommonly beautiful.
Speaker 1: Isaac knew he should restrain his facial reactions. But the
Speaker 1: man was undoubtedly speaking of his wife, Rebecca. He knew
Speaker 1: from the stories he had heard of these Canaanite men
Speaker 1: that if he had a wife one of them coveted,
Speaker 1: they would stoop to vile actions to obtain what they desired,
Speaker 1: especially if the threat of violence was tenuous between their
Speaker 1: two peoples. He had just told them that he had
Speaker 1: sons like a fool. Rebecca was right. Perhaps he had
Speaker 1: just offered too much information. If this man desired Rebecca,
Speaker 1: or if he sought her for his abimelech, they could
Speaker 1: very well decide to take her. Kill Isaac and then
Speaker 1: install one of his sons in his place and do
Speaker 1: their dealings with him. His young sons would be left
Speaker 1: in such a vulnerable position Philistines would certainly use to
Speaker 1: their advantage, especially after the recent debarcle over the surrendered
Speaker 1: birthright of his eldest divided. They would never find their
Speaker 1: way without him and Rebecca to guide them. Panic welled
Speaker 1: up inside of Isaac. Panic that gave way to a
Speaker 1: hurried lie.
Speaker 4: A woman outside my tent. I have a sister, but
Speaker 4: I'm not sure if she is the one of which
Speaker 4: you speak.
Speaker 2: She looked to be of noble stock, like yourself. Her
Speaker 2: dress was a cut above everyone else. Is she your sister?
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, my sister.
Speaker 2: Not your wife.
Speaker 4: No, no, she is not my wife.
Speaker 2: I see well, Isaac, son of Abraham, we shall meet again.
Speaker 2: It appears we are to be neighbors and shall remain friendly.
Speaker 2: I will have you meet my King, once you are
Speaker 2: more settled here.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, we will await your invitation.
Speaker 1: The man nodded respectfully to Isaac and then departed. Isaac
Speaker 1: sighed in relief when the man left, but immediately regretted
Speaker 1: his lie. He was now faced with convincing Rebecca to
Speaker 1: go along with this lie or stay out of sight,
Speaker 1: perhaps the latter if he wanted to avoid her being
Speaker 1: taken into the King's harim or as the wife of
Speaker 1: another merchant from Geera. Isaac was still considering his options
Speaker 1: when his wife stormed into the tent.
Speaker 9: Isaac, what was that about? What did the emissary want?
Speaker 9: Are we safe to remain here in this land?
Speaker 4: Yes, Rebecca, they remember the treaty was my father. We
Speaker 4: can pitch our tents here and remain on the land.
Speaker 9: There's more. What are you not telling me?
Speaker 1: Isaac grimaced. Nothing escaped Rebecca's notice. He couldn't put off
Speaker 1: telling her any longer.
Speaker 4: Rebecca, he asked about you?
Speaker 9: What do you mean?
Speaker 4: You know what I mean?
Speaker 9: What did you tell him about me?
Speaker 4: I may have told him that you are my sister,
Speaker 4: not my wife, So you lied?
Speaker 9: Well?
Speaker 4: I mean, I had to think quick. I couldn't bring
Speaker 4: myself to tell him the truth. You've seen the look
Speaker 4: in his eye, the tone of his voice. This man
Speaker 4: was looking for any weakness to exploit. He was looking
Speaker 4: for anything to hold against me.
Speaker 9: So to remove yourself from danger, you offered me up
Speaker 9: to these men. Are they to take me to the palace?
Speaker 9: Am I to become another man's wife?
Speaker 4: No, my love, I would never let them do anything
Speaker 4: to you. We just need to think of a way
Speaker 4: out of this.
Speaker 9: Did your father not tell us this story time and
Speaker 9: time again? Did he not do the same with your mother, Sarah?
Speaker 9: This lie will not go unnoticed by the stars. How
Speaker 9: could you be so dull and shortsighted? Well? I, oh, Isaac,
Speaker 9: how could you not think beyond the discomfort of the
Speaker 9: moment and think ahead. You have to plan, Isaac, You
Speaker 9: have to think about the long term effects of things you.
Speaker 4: Do not understand. You've not lived among these people before.
Speaker 4: This is a den of brutal men.
Speaker 9: And you just throw me into that den. Then, Isaac,
Speaker 9: you remember this place as a child, But you're not
Speaker 9: a child. You're a chief. You have power, you have influence.
Speaker 9: Why interact with these people like you have no agency?
Speaker 9: Do you always just lay down and let others have
Speaker 9: their way with you.
Speaker 1: The words were like knives to Isaac's memory. He did
Speaker 1: indeed just lay down and let people do what they pleased.
Speaker 1: He stealed his will and pushed back toward his wife.
Speaker 4: These are wicked people, Rebecca. They are dangerous. They will
Speaker 4: not honor our marriage. They would take you from me
Speaker 4: just despite me. And we have no daughters to offer
Speaker 4: their sons for an alliance. Then where would our boys be.
Speaker 4: I could not leave us in such a vulnerable position.
Speaker 9: They will find us out and be furious that we
Speaker 9: were deceitful. You have put me in an impossible situation.
Speaker 9: Am I to honor you as my husband and lie
Speaker 9: to our hosts? Or am I to undermine you and
Speaker 9: expose us?
Speaker 4: Rebecca? I am sorry. I was afraid. I could not
Speaker 4: think of what to do. If they ask you, tell
Speaker 4: them you're my sister. But keep to camp and stay
Speaker 4: out of sight. Perhaps we can find a way out
Speaker 4: of thisheca.
Speaker 1: To Isaac's relief, did as he had asked of her.
Speaker 1: She kept to their tents and avoided leaving the camp
Speaker 1: to prevent being spotted by the outsiders. Isaac even abstained
Speaker 1: in visiting her or being seen with her. To keep
Speaker 1: up the illusion, A thankfully uneventful relationship settled between the
Speaker 1: city dwellers of Geira and Isaac's people outside their walls.
Speaker 1: Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Isaac's
Speaker 1: wariness began to fade. No one had come to check
Speaker 1: in on their people or spy on their movements. Certainly,
Speaker 1: no bride price was offered up to Isaac for any
Speaker 1: of the women in his camp. He began to think
Speaker 1: that perhaps Abemelek and his men would leave his women,
Speaker 1: especially his wife alone. He had even successfully answered an
Speaker 1: invitation to meet with Abiemeleik at his palace and the
Speaker 1: topic was not broached. Feeling triumphant, Isaac decided he could
Speaker 1: risk some intimacy with his wife, had not spent any
Speaker 1: significant time together in months. Across the walls of the city.
Speaker 1: High in his quarters, Abemelech had woken early. The day
Speaker 1: would be hot. He could already tell the evening had
Speaker 1: barely cooled his tower, and he crossed to his window
Speaker 1: to draw back the fabric in a feeble attempt to
Speaker 1: coax a morning breeze into his bedroom. When he drew
Speaker 1: them back, he gazed upon the caravan of Isaac, son
Speaker 1: of Abraham. Below the tent stretched for almost a mile,
Speaker 1: but the closest tents were pitched along the walls of
Speaker 1: his city. They formed larger and larger circles as they
Speaker 1: moved away from the city. Abemelek marveled at its design
Speaker 1: from the vantage point of his tower. At the far end.
Speaker 1: Shepherds were beginning to drive the sheep and goats out
Speaker 1: to graze, but few others stirred yet in the early
Speaker 1: morning light. These Hebrews may not have been builders, but
Speaker 1: the scalability and flexibility of the their caravans was fascinating
Speaker 1: to him. It was so foreign. He could not imagine
Speaker 1: making his fortune and not building something of permanent stone
Speaker 1: or rock to flaunt it. How else would his people
Speaker 1: remember his legacy. Abimelech's thoughts were interrupted by movement below.
Speaker 1: A woman emerged from one of the tents. Even from
Speaker 1: this distance, he could tell she was striking a rare beauty.
Speaker 1: This had to be the woman his adviser had spoken.
Speaker 6: Of, the sister.
Speaker 1: None of his spies had seen her since a Juzad
Speaker 1: had gone to meet with Isaac on that first day,
Speaker 1: the day she was named as his sister, but this
Speaker 1: lovely woman standing alone outside the tent had to be her.
Speaker 1: Her dress marked her as a woman of nobility, but
Speaker 1: her head was covered, so from what he knew of
Speaker 1: the Hebrew customs, she was a married woman. Only unmarried
Speaker 1: women and then prostitutes had their heads uncovered. Isaac not
Speaker 1: told Ahuzad she was married. Perhaps Isaac could part with
Speaker 1: her for a generous bride price. Abimelek was wary of
Speaker 1: the wealth Isaac had brought to his city. Taking one
Speaker 1: of his family into his harim would be a way
Speaker 1: to maintain control and insure peace between them. He could
Speaker 1: not stomach the thought of someone else, especially a foreigner,
Speaker 1: having more influence than him and in his own city.
Speaker 1: At that Abimelek was just about to leave the window
Speaker 1: to go send for Ahuzad to begin the process when
Speaker 1: he saw Isaac emerge from the same tent and approach
Speaker 1: the woman. He was moving with stealth, though there was
Speaker 1: no one else around. Isaac embraced her suddenly, and with revulsion,
Speaker 1: Abimelek realized he was being playful. He frowned as he
Speaker 1: put the pieces together. Based on their familiarity, the two
Speaker 1: had just shared an intimate evening, and this was perhaps
Speaker 1: the start of another intimate moment. While that Abemelek was
Speaker 1: the sole witness to Isaac caressed the woman, and Abemelek
Speaker 1: embarrassingly turned away from the window. He could not stomach
Speaker 1: the idea of treating with Isaac with that image burned
Speaker 1: into the back of his mind. But embarrassment quickly faded
Speaker 1: to fury as he realized that this woman he had
Speaker 1: sworn up and down to his adviser was not his sister.
Speaker 1: He had outright denied that she was his wife, but
Speaker 1: this scene below his window left no doubt.
Speaker 4: In his mind.
Speaker 1: Isaac had lied, and Abemelek had been deceived. And if
Speaker 1: there was one thing Abemelek did not relish, it was
Speaker 1: being made to look like a fool. Palms sweating, and
Speaker 1: nervously shifting on his feet, Isaac was standing in the
Speaker 1: great receiving hall of the Abemelek in his palace. He
Speaker 1: had been unceremoniously called by an emissary to report immediately
Speaker 1: to Abemelek. He did not have long to wonder why
Speaker 1: he was being called before Abemlek before he burst into
Speaker 1: the room, Fury written all over his face.
Speaker 2: Liar, the woman is really your wife?
Speaker 8: How could you tell my man paused that.
Speaker 4: She was your sister?
Speaker 1: Isaac had no idea how Abe Maleg found out the truth.
Speaker 1: He had been so careful. Why it was only that
Speaker 1: night and mourning that he had been with her at all.
Speaker 1: But they had been outside the tent this morning. Isaac's
Speaker 1: cheeks reddened at the thought of having had an audience
Speaker 1: without realizing it. Isaac fumbled for something to say before
Speaker 1: the king.
Speaker 4: I Ah, I hid the truth, yes, but it was
Speaker 4: because I thought I might die on account of her.
Speaker 4: I was afraid of having a beautiful wife would place
Speaker 4: a target on my back.
Speaker 2: What have you done to us?
Speaker 8: Do you think us so lawless that we would.
Speaker 4: Steal another man's wife?
Speaker 8: Have you not realized now the influences of your father
Speaker 8: and your father's God have affected us. We learned from
Speaker 8: our histories, as it seems you have not. We and
Speaker 8: Gharah remember what happened when an abimelech took a wife
Speaker 8: from one protected by the God of Abraham. Your deception
Speaker 8: left my men open to a great sin. One of
Speaker 8: them could have easily and unknowingly slept with your wife,
Speaker 8: and you would have brought guilt on us.
Speaker 1: Habemelek's words shamed Isaac. Here he was being rebuked by
Speaker 1: a pagan king for forgetting his own god's past provision.
Speaker 1: Isaac mocked God's promise when he took matters into his
Speaker 1: own hands. His own wife had even warned him not
Speaker 1: to repeat his father's mistakes. Isaac was not sure what
Speaker 1: to say to Abemelek in his embarrassment, but fortunately he
Speaker 1: was spared when Abemelek continued.
Speaker 8: You are fortunate, indeed that it was I who discovered
Speaker 8: this deception. If judgment were to be brought upon my
Speaker 8: household or my city from your father's god, I could
Speaker 8: not guarantee that peace would remain between us. My hand
Speaker 8: could have been forced to take action against you.
Speaker 4: I understand, your highness of Bemelech.
Speaker 8: I have indeed already taken action. I have sent word
Speaker 8: to my court and the law enforces of my city.
Speaker 8: I have ordered that any man who harms you or
Speaker 8: your wife will certainly be put to death.
Speaker 1: Isaac's knees buckled with relief and awe that his God,
Speaker 1: the god of his father, had again intervened with Abemelekh
Speaker 1: despite his deception, despite his repeating the mistakes of his father.
Speaker 1: Isaac then supposed that this rescue and protection from Abimelek
Speaker 1: was as good a sign as any, and that they
Speaker 1: will be safe to settle in Geira until the famine
Speaker 1: passed in the land of Canaan.
Speaker 7: Doesn't this Bible story give you a weird sense of
Speaker 7: deja vu? Like you've heard this one before. Isaac is
Speaker 7: in Gerar and there's Abimelech, the king of the Philistines,
Speaker 7: And then out of fear, Isaac tells everyone that Rebecca's
Speaker 7: his sister. Deja vu all over again. Didn't we just
Speaker 7: watch Abraham do the same thing twice. We're still in
Speaker 7: the Book of Genesis in the beginning, and again and
Speaker 7: again and again we see this all too human pattern
Speaker 7: of repeating mistakes many times because of fear. But then
Speaker 7: there's this moment. Abimele sees Isaac and Rebecca together and
Speaker 7: he knows. Abimelech knows, and so so he confronts Isaac.
Speaker 7: Abimelech isn't angry, not really, He's more protective. Why did
Speaker 7: you say that she was your sister? You could have
Speaker 7: brought guilt upon us, he said, And in a twist,
Speaker 7: I never expect. No matter how many times I read
Speaker 7: the story in the Bible, Abimelech orders his people to
Speaker 7: protect Isaac and Rebecca. We read this story, we see
Speaker 7: Isaac's fear and his sin, and we expect judgment. But
Speaker 7: instead we incredibly find grace. God's grace says. If God
Speaker 7: is saying, even in your fear, even in your deceit,
Speaker 7: I am here, I protect, I provide. It's a reminder
Speaker 7: for Isaac and for all of us, as God's chosen people,
Speaker 7: that no matter how often we act out of fear,
Speaker 7: no matter how many times we repeat the same mistakes,
Speaker 7: God's grace still finds us. This Bible story, like so
Speaker 7: many stories throughout Scripture, assures me and can assure all
Speaker 7: of us that God's grace is enough. Have you ever
Speaker 7: tried the old because I said so argument with your children.
Speaker 7: I don't know about you, but my kids are not
Speaker 7: very big fans, and having been a kid myself a
Speaker 7: long time ago, but I still remember exactly where they're
Speaker 7: coming from. Because I said so doesn't really sound like
Speaker 7: a good reason to have to do something that you
Speaker 7: don't want to do. It sounds like I don't feel
Speaker 7: like explaining the reason to you, or it sounds like
Speaker 7: another way to say there's no good reason at all,
Speaker 7: but that's what I decided. Either way, it's a frustrating
Speaker 7: thing to hear, but you know there's a deeper lesson
Speaker 7: behind I told you so. When I tell one of
Speaker 7: my kids to do something because I said so, what
Speaker 7: I'm really saying is that I want them to do
Speaker 7: it because I'm their mother. I want them to value
Speaker 7: what I ask of them for that reason alone, regardless
Speaker 7: of the specific need or reasoning that led to the request.
Speaker 7: I just want them to listen to me because I'm
Speaker 7: their mother, and because they respect me, and because they
Speaker 7: trust me, and because they love me. Well, isn't the
Speaker 7: same true of our relationship with God. We all yearn
Speaker 7: for God to come speak to us, to guide us,
Speaker 7: to tell us what he wants from us, And then
Speaker 7: the struggle comes when we also want to know why
Speaker 7: God wants us to listen to him because of our
Speaker 7: relationship with him and because we trust him, not because
Speaker 7: we understand his divine plan. And this truth shines through
Speaker 7: in this Bible story. When Isaac faced to famine, he
Speaker 7: naturally gravitated towards Egypt, but God intervened and commanded him
Speaker 7: to stay in the land of On. Notice how God
Speaker 7: communicated this to Isaac. First, God said, do not go
Speaker 7: down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell
Speaker 7: you to live. And then God commanded Isaac to very
Speaker 7: clearly quote stay in this land end quote. God could
Speaker 7: have explained why. He could have listed the warnings of
Speaker 7: what chaos would ensue if he left. He could have
Speaker 7: given all the reasons why he shouldn't go to Egypt.
Speaker 7: But God didn't explain himself because he was conveying a
Speaker 7: deeper message. He was showing how he's all knowing and
Speaker 7: what he wants is our devotion. He desires us to
Speaker 7: accept his words, regardless of the details. When we show
Speaker 7: that we are listening to God, that we are willing
Speaker 7: to go where he leads and do what he asks,
Speaker 7: our obedience becomes a true sign of our devotion. We
Speaker 7: serve God not because we understand his plan. Rather, we
Speaker 7: serve God simply because he said so. Now, like I said,
Speaker 7: when I was a child, I didn't appreciate it very
Speaker 7: much when my own abba my father told me because
Speaker 7: I said so. I remember thinking when I grew up,
Speaker 7: I'll never say that to my children, and of course
Speaker 7: as mother A four, I've said that a few times,
Speaker 7: and I now understand why parents and God say that.
Speaker 7: By having you also found yourself doing something that your
Speaker 7: parents did that you wish you didn't do. You ever
Speaker 7: find yourself repeating a behavior that when you were a child,
Speaker 7: your parents did to you, and you didn't like it.
Speaker 7: You actually said that you would never do that. I
Speaker 7: know I do. And isn't that what Isaac is doing
Speaker 7: here in this Bible story, telling the same kind of
Speaker 7: lie that his wife is his sister that his own
Speaker 7: father told twice. We've already seen that when Abraham told
Speaker 7: these lies, it was clearly a sin. But maybe Isaac,
Speaker 7: even though it was wrong, thought he had to be
Speaker 7: a carbon copy of his father, Abraham the Patriarch. Maybe
Speaker 7: this early on in his own leadership of the Chosen People,
Speaker 7: Isaac hadn't yet developed his own personality in his own
Speaker 7: leadership style. Only later would Isaac learn that he didn't
Speaker 7: need to be exactly like his father, He just needed
Speaker 7: to be himself. That's a really important lesson for all
Speaker 7: of us, isn't it. We love our parents, we respect
Speaker 7: our parents, but at some point we realized that we're
Speaker 7: different people than our parents. We have a different calling
Speaker 7: on our lives than our parents, and what God wants
Speaker 7: of us is simply to be ourselves. Even as this
Speaker 7: story teaches lessons about ourselves and about trusting God, it's
Speaker 7: still such a human story, one of fear and deceit
Speaker 7: to talk about how Christians view these themes of this
Speaker 7: story of Isaac's life of imminent danger and the needs
Speaker 7: resist fear and dishonesty is our good friend, Bishop.
Speaker 10: Paulineer, thank you, yeah, l I'm so happy to be
Speaker 10: in this chapter twenty six and it begins revealing to
Speaker 10: us that there's a famine, but Moses is determined that
Speaker 10: we understand that this is not the same famine that
Speaker 10: Abraham had to deal with. No, this is a different famine.
Speaker 10: And God speaks directly to Abraham's decision in his famine
Speaker 10: of traveling down. Anytime we leave the will of God,
Speaker 10: it's down traveling down to the land of Egypt. And
Speaker 10: of course that's when Hagard became part of their story. Synchronicity.
Speaker 10: How's that for a phrase? I like that Divine synchronicity
Speaker 10: really is such a part of our covenant conversation with
Speaker 10: our God. It's being at the right place at the
Speaker 10: right time. Really, if it's not the right time, it's
Speaker 10: not going to be the right place.
Speaker 4: It's being at the.
Speaker 10: Right place at the right time, with the right people,
Speaker 10: doing the right thing. That opens us up fully to
Speaker 10: what God is wanting to do in our lives and
Speaker 10: the words he's wanting to speak to us. And when
Speaker 10: we stray from those steps he's ordered for our living well,
Speaker 10: we open ourselves up to faces and voices and are
Speaker 10: not necessarily assigned to us. But God commanded Isaac to
Speaker 10: remain in that space and instill doing. God says, I'm
Speaker 10: going to bless you now, and I'm going to prosper
Speaker 10: you and this herds in this flocks and all the
Speaker 10: great things. Sometimes we have to say to ourselves, we
Speaker 10: just have to speak faith into our own hearts and say,
Speaker 10: I'm not denying this famine, but it's not mine. This
Speaker 10: is not my famine, this is not my recession, this
Speaker 10: is not my diagnosis. Again, we're not denying the reality
Speaker 10: of something. We're just declaring the greater reality of God's
Speaker 10: word in our life, and we are denying the authority
Speaker 10: of that famine. In our life, and it's not to
Speaker 10: sound or seem or to be heartless against people who
Speaker 10: are hurting or suffering. We are to have compassion, and
Speaker 10: we do, but we recall the words of p. Ninety
Speaker 10: one that promises that whoever dwells say that word with
Speaker 10: me dwells dwells on the shelter of the most high.
Speaker 10: We'll rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Speaker 7: Let's go back to the beginning, the very beginning, when
Speaker 7: the unruly and chaotic sees thrashed under an untamed universe,
Speaker 7: God spoken life, and light burst forth. The Jewish age is,
Speaker 7: along with Christian theologians who came after all, agree on
Speaker 7: this one fact. The universe was created through God's truth.
Speaker 7: Truth brings order, truth creates, and lies do the opposite.
Speaker 7: They so chaos, they destroy, they bring confusion. You know,
Speaker 7: you may feel fearful, like Isaac and Abraham once did.
Speaker 7: That fear may drive you to dishonesty and to lose
Speaker 7: trust in God. But instead be brave, be truthful, and
Speaker 7: trust in God. He can bless us during the famines
Speaker 7: in our own lives and make us gloom in the
Speaker 7: middle of our own deserts. If we distrust in him.
Speaker 7: Here's a final blessing for you. May the Lord bless
Speaker 7: you and keep you. May the Lord make his face
Speaker 7: shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the
Speaker 7: Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Speaker 7: And Now. In Hebrew, varech hashenvi schmrecher yea eraschempave lechra
Speaker 7: verroncher ye sampanave lechra shaloon Amen.
Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Egstein
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Speaker 1: producers of The Chosen People with Yaile Egstein, edited by
Speaker 1: Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold,
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Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and
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