Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people.
Speaker 2: The Egyptians were the lucky ones. They got to die
Speaker 2: a swift death under the sea. We're going to wither
Speaker 2: away under the sun.
Speaker 1: The crowd was beginning to stir. Hunger griped them. Hunger
Speaker 1: causes anger, and anger causes all sorts of issues. Moses
Speaker 1: clenched his jaw tightly. Hunger ordered him as well, but
Speaker 1: he couldn't show it.
Speaker 2: The Lord has gotten us this far. He will provide
Speaker 2: for us. God just ordered an entire saving people as
Speaker 2: one's sneak. A cloud of smoke is the forest.
Speaker 3: Of kindness to paradise.
Speaker 2: And here you are whining like children.
Speaker 4: At twilight, you will eat meat. In the morning you
Speaker 4: will be filled with bread. They will know that I
Speaker 4: am the Lord.
Speaker 1: Suddenly, and violently, a swarm of quayu blue through the canyons.
Speaker 1: Rising with the dew, came a flake like substance. It
Speaker 1: laced the ground like frost. Everyone emerged from their tent
Speaker 1: and looked around curiously. Nobody knew what to.
Speaker 2: Make of it. What is this? This is the daily bread,
Speaker 2: the Lord's guinea.
Speaker 5: He has commanded that you take an omer and measure
Speaker 5: enough for each person in your tent no more the less.
Speaker 1: Each day God provided food, But each day the people
Speaker 1: grew anxious and tried to save more. Yet day after
Speaker 1: day God provided for their needs. Slowly they began to
Speaker 1: trust that the Lord would protect and provide for them.
Speaker 1: He was their God, and just as He clothed the
Speaker 1: mountain range with wildflowers and provided seed for the birds
Speaker 1: of the air to eat, he would take care of
Speaker 1: his chosen.
Speaker 6: As the Chosen People stood at the rock of horrib
Speaker 6: desperation turned to awe, for from solid stone flowed living water. Shalloh,
Speaker 6: my friends, from here in the Holy Land, I'm ya
Speaker 6: l Exstein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
Speaker 6: Welcome to the Chosen People. Each week we'll hear dramatic
Speaker 6: stories inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless lessons
Speaker 6: of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through Israel's story,
Speaker 6: we'll find this truth that we are all chosen for
Speaker 6: something great. Now, let's begin the desert wind whispers of
Speaker 6: trials and triumphs of a people guided by divine presence,
Speaker 6: yet stumbling in their faith. The children of Israel, having
Speaker 6: crossed the vast sea, now wandered through the barren will
Speaker 6: they are free, yet their hearts wrestle with doubt. They
Speaker 6: have seen miracles, but now faced with thirst and the
Speaker 6: wilderness of refidim, their spirits falter. What does it mean
Speaker 6: to trust in God when the well runs dry? How
Speaker 6: do we find faith when our mouths are parched and
Speaker 6: hope seems as elusive as a drop of water in
Speaker 6: the desert well. Let's turn to the Torah, to a
Speaker 6: story that is a journey into the heart of faith itself.
Speaker 1: The children of Israel departed from the palms of sin
Speaker 1: Sinai was their destination. The Lord beckoned them there. Moses
Speaker 1: was determined to bring the people to the foot of
Speaker 1: that mountain so they could hear from him as he did.
Speaker 1: Moses knew that if they could encounter the Lord in
Speaker 1: the same way, their attitudes would shift. The chosen people
Speaker 1: left in stages as God had commanded. Each tribe took
Speaker 1: turns departing through the narrow canyons. Moses often ascended jagged
Speaker 1: rocks and ridges to scan the crowd. Miriam, Aaron, and
Speaker 1: Hoo were beside him, bringing the people's concerns and reports
Speaker 1: from the tribal elders.
Speaker 2: The people were reluctant to leave the shaded camp.
Speaker 4: They are slow to accept change.
Speaker 2: When they grow comfortable with one thing, they refused to
Speaker 2: let it go without a fight.
Speaker 3: I think if we could reassure them water and shade
Speaker 3: are waiting for them, they would be less likely to complain.
Speaker 1: Moses kept his eyes fixed on the moving caravan. His
Speaker 1: gaze shifted from one clan to the next. He sighed,
Speaker 1: then spoke, without turning to his companions.
Speaker 3: We shouldn't be complaining at all. The Lord has provided
Speaker 3: everything we need. He will just stop. You know that
Speaker 3: for certain, Moses. But the people aren't like you. Don't
Speaker 3: have God whispering in their ear.
Speaker 2: No, no, they don't.
Speaker 5: They have a burning pillar of fire falling from the sky,
Speaker 5: the bread falling from heaven, and a storm of quail
Speaker 5: basically hopping into the fire to be cut from them.
Speaker 2: The More doesn't whisper to them, he shouts.
Speaker 1: The three others fell silent. They could feel moses anger.
Speaker 1: They could only understand what he was feeling. In part,
Speaker 1: Moses desperately wanted the people to see what he saw.
Speaker 1: The Lord had been faithful time and time again. Why
Speaker 1: would he stop now? What did all the complaining gain
Speaker 1: for them. Moses, realizing he was again succumbing to his agitation,
Speaker 1: steadied himself. The sun was unmerciful that day, sapping the
Speaker 1: children of Israel of any will they had left. A
Speaker 1: familiar thirst overcame them, and with it there was an
Speaker 1: impatient and unruly countenance. As they settled camp for the day,
Speaker 1: quarrels emerged on every corner. Small disputes erupted into violent fights.
Speaker 1: An angry mob formed and marched towards moses tent.
Speaker 7: We're nearly out of water, Moses, what are you going
Speaker 7: to do about it?
Speaker 2: Give us your water to drink? And what have you
Speaker 2: been keeping from?
Speaker 1: Moses emerged from his tent, brow furrowed and weary. The
Speaker 1: crowd pressed in closer to him. Aaron Miriam and her
Speaker 1: rushed to his side, ready for whatever madness would come next.
Speaker 2: Why do you quarrel with me as if I'm the
Speaker 2: one withholding from you? Because this is your hault.
Speaker 7: We're gonna die out here because of you.
Speaker 5: You're not in your right minds. Why test the Lord
Speaker 5: even further? Has he got provided everything you've needed?
Speaker 7: Do you know what I think I did? You brought
Speaker 7: us out here to kill us. You're still loyal to Egypt.
Speaker 7: You brought us out here to kill us, our children
Speaker 7: and our livestyle.
Speaker 1: The crowd hummed with violent grunts and impatient grumblings. They
Speaker 1: stirred with an almost feral cadence. Moses began fearing for
Speaker 1: his life. Aaron stepped forward to steady the crowd.
Speaker 4: Get back your fools, who don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 7: Admitted erin. You don't trust him either.
Speaker 2: Mind your tongue, Jayho. We are kinsmen and in this together.
Speaker 7: Yeah, then who is Moses leaving? Again?
Speaker 1: Aaron turned. Moses had again retreated into the canyons. It
Speaker 1: had always been his habit to retreat, breathe, and gather
Speaker 1: his thoughts. However, he had always left Aaron in the
Speaker 1: precarious position of peacekeeper. He turned back, eyed and uncertain.
Speaker 2: Trust in Moses, Trust the Lord?
Speaker 7: How can we trust what we cannot see? Where is
Speaker 7: our God? We could see the gods of Egypt? We
Speaker 7: had statues, temples and monuments.
Speaker 2: Is that Lord Nomad? Does he come and go like Moses?
Speaker 1: Aaron paused and considered it all. A small seed of
Speaker 1: doubt began to creep its way into his heart. Moses
Speaker 1: slammed his fist against the side of the canyon. The
Speaker 1: thud echoed, followed by a WinCE of anguish Moses had
Speaker 1: had enough of the people's constant grumbling. He felt so
Speaker 1: disconnected from their woes. Had they not seen God's faithfulness,
Speaker 1: had they not been shown time and time again that
Speaker 1: he would take care of them. He clenched his fists
Speaker 1: and gave the Lord a long, drawn out sigh.
Speaker 2: What shall I do with these people? Get ready to
Speaker 2: stell me?
Speaker 1: Moses heard a familiar echo through the canyons, like a
Speaker 1: refreshing river. The Lord's voice rushed into moses heart, words
Speaker 1: of provision and promise.
Speaker 4: Take your stirf, Moses, and marge past the people, take
Speaker 4: some of the elders of Israel and leaved him to
Speaker 4: the great rock at Horeb. Behold, I will stand there
Speaker 4: beside you. When you strike the rock with your sturf,
Speaker 4: water shall burst forth from it. The people will drink
Speaker 4: and be refreshed.
Speaker 1: The sides of Moses cracked, lips creased into a smile.
Speaker 1: He chuckled slightly, then shook his head.
Speaker 2: You're full of surprises, aren't you? Always keeping us on
Speaker 2: our toes?
Speaker 4: My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not
Speaker 4: your thoughts.
Speaker 7: Ha ha ha, that's for certain.
Speaker 1: Moses rolled his shoulders back and gripped his staff firmly.
Speaker 1: He emerged from the canyons and scaled the path downward
Speaker 1: back to camp. The people were in a frenzy, at
Speaker 1: each other's throats and accusing one another of holding water.
Speaker 1: Aaron was among them, desperately trying to quell the chaos,
Speaker 1: but it was no use. The only one slightly able
Speaker 1: to reason with them was Miriam, but even her efforts
Speaker 1: were yielding fewer results. She turned to see her brother
Speaker 1: walking toward them and shouted to silence the.
Speaker 6: Crowd, everybody stop, Moses is back.
Speaker 1: Everyone ceased clamoring and waited to see if Moses would speak.
Speaker 1: Has the Lord spoken?
Speaker 2: He has, and what has he said? Gather the elders
Speaker 2: and follow me.
Speaker 1: Moses didn't wait for anyone. He marched through the crowd.
Speaker 1: They parted for him, confused about why he was so
Speaker 1: stoic and calm. Clearly Moses knew something they didn't. The
Speaker 1: people began to follow, but Aaron stopped.
Speaker 2: Them only the elders.
Speaker 1: The elders quickly gathered and padded behind Moses like pups. Together,
Speaker 1: they left camp to Horreb. There, jetting out of the
Speaker 1: mountain was a large stone. It was unmistakably the one
Speaker 1: the Lord had mentioned. Moses ignored the murmuring behind him
Speaker 1: and placed a hand on the stone. He released a deep,
Speaker 1: drawn out sigh.
Speaker 3: They don't deserve your grace yet here you are about
Speaker 3: the provide again.
Speaker 1: Moses turned to the elders and stretched out his arms,
Speaker 1: his staff in his right hand. His knuckles were white
Speaker 1: around its shaft, steady and ready to strike.
Speaker 7: Is the Lord among us or not?
Speaker 1: No answer from the men, just a confused silence.
Speaker 2: Is the Lord among us or not?
Speaker 4: Again?
Speaker 1: The elders shrugged, unsure of how to answer.
Speaker 2: I ask you again, Is the Lord among us or not?
Speaker 1: Moses gripped his staff with both hands, widened his stance,
Speaker 1: shifted his hips, and swung it into stone. He struck
Speaker 1: it with brutal force, causing the outer layer of shale
Speaker 1: to crack. Immediately, a geezer burst out of the rock,
Speaker 1: spilling water out into the dirt below. The elders recoiled
Speaker 1: in shock and immediately rushed to the water to drink.
Speaker 1: Soon enough, the water found a crag and flowed downward
Speaker 1: towards the Israelite camp, like the rivers cutting through Eden.
Speaker 1: The refreshing spring of God brought life. They were His children,
Speaker 1: his chosen people. He would not let them fall.
Speaker 6: Can you feel the tension in the dry desert air?
Speaker 6: A nation stands thirsty, their cries echoing under the relentless sun.
Speaker 6: They face a barren rock, a rock that symbolizes their
Speaker 6: own desolation, and then with a single strike, water bursts forth, pure, abundant,
Speaker 6: life giving water. This isn't just a story of history.
Speaker 6: It's a vivid reminder of faith. God's provision transforms the
Speaker 6: impossible into miracles. And if he can bring water from
Speaker 6: a rock, what miracles might he be ready to end
Speaker 6: in our lives today? But before this miraculous water is
Speaker 6: brought from the rock by God, I want to look
Speaker 6: at some of the human interactions that we find. In
Speaker 6: verse three, the Bible tells us quote, but the people
Speaker 6: were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses.
Speaker 6: They said, why did you bring us up out of
Speaker 6: Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die
Speaker 6: of thirst?
Speaker 3: End quote.
Speaker 6: You know, I read this verse and I can really
Speaker 6: understand their panic. Can't you water and the brutally hot
Speaker 6: desert is an absolute necessity? Without it, you die. Period.
Speaker 6: After the Israelites grumble about Moses, then Moses grumbles to God.
Speaker 6: In verse four, It says, quote what am I to
Speaker 6: do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me?
Speaker 6: End quote. Now it is verse five that I want
Speaker 6: to concentrate on.
Speaker 2: Here.
Speaker 6: God says something to Moses that puzzles me. God tells
Speaker 6: Moses go out in front of the people. And I
Speaker 6: read that verse and say, what does that mean? Well,
Speaker 6: some of our sages see this as a challenge to Moses,
Speaker 6: as if God is saying to Moses, okay, walk among
Speaker 6: the people and see if anyone will actually try to
Speaker 6: stone you. And those same sages add that God was
Speaker 6: also asking Moses, why are you slandering my people?
Speaker 2: Think about that.
Speaker 6: God is actually accusing Moses of slandering the Chosen people,
Speaker 6: of complaining about them. There are two great and important
Speaker 6: lessons to be learned here. First, how precious the Chosen
Speaker 6: people are in God's eyes. He even rebukes Moses for
Speaker 6: implying that the people would commit violence against him, even
Speaker 6: though they had just acted badly in their lack of
Speaker 6: faith that God would provide water. We see from this
Speaker 6: that God doesn't want us to look for issues in
Speaker 6: one another. He wants us to believe in one another,
Speaker 6: not to complain about each other, but to strengthen one another.
Speaker 6: And the second lesson is one that we can learn
Speaker 6: about leadership. It is never okay for a leader, even
Speaker 6: a leader as great as Moses, to lose patience and
Speaker 6: baselessly rebuke those whom here she leads. This applies to
Speaker 6: all of us, in our families, and our workplaces, and
Speaker 6: our communities, and in our places of worship. There's one
Speaker 6: more lesson from Jewish tradition that I want to share before
Speaker 6: I leave verse five. Here God tells Moses to take
Speaker 6: his staff and strike the rock, and then he adds
Speaker 6: the words, quote the staff with which you struck the
Speaker 6: Nile end quote. Why do you think that God takes
Speaker 6: this moment to refer back to the plagues in Egypt?
Speaker 6: While some commentaries suggest that this was to show that
Speaker 6: no one thing or object is good or bad. It
Speaker 6: all depends upon how we use the object. When necessary,
Speaker 6: the staff turned the waters of the Nile to blood,
Speaker 6: But here the staff brought life saving water to the
Speaker 6: Chosen People. I love visiting the Sea of Galilee here
Speaker 6: in the Holy Land. It's always a profound experience with
Speaker 6: my family's standing by this ancient body of water, the
Speaker 6: sight of miracles and teachings. For years, the water levels
Speaker 6: were dangerously low, causing deep concern in Israel, as it's
Speaker 6: our only fresh water. But now the Sea of Galilee
Speaker 6: is full again. Trees when standing on dry land, are
Speaker 6: half submerged. It's a powerful testament to the fact that
Speaker 6: God is always in control and able to transform any situation. Now,
Speaker 6: the reason that I bring up the Sea of Galilee
Speaker 6: is tied to this very Bible story that we've just studied.
Speaker 6: Jewish tradition teaches us something very interesting about the source
Speaker 6: of the story's miraculous water. The rock from which the
Speaker 6: water came from was called Miriam's Well, named for Moses's
Speaker 6: faithful and heroic sister. And when Miriam died, this miraculous
Speaker 6: well dried up as well. But the Chosen People kept
Speaker 6: the rock and they carried it with them into the
Speaker 6: land of Israel. There that rock that we've just learned
Speaker 6: about in the Bible story, according to many of our sages,
Speaker 6: was placed at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 6: The Israelites did this to remind them and us these
Speaker 6: thousands of years later, that all water, all life is miraculous.
Speaker 6: In the wilderness, God's miracles were very clear. Mana fell
Speaker 6: from the heavens, water sprang from the rock, clouds of
Speaker 6: glory offered protection. And here in the land of Israel,
Speaker 6: this biblical lesson remains very true. Nature itself is no
Speaker 6: less a miracle. Every drop of water and every breath
Speaker 6: is a gift from God. This message is as relevant
Speaker 6: today as it was them. Everything we have is miraculous.
Speaker 6: It's a blessing from God. We just need to open
Speaker 6: our eyes to it.
Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Eckstein
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Speaker 1: possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gattina,
Speaker 1: Max Bard, Zach Shellabager and Ben Gammon are the executive
Speaker 1: producers of The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, 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,
Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore.
Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by bre Rosalie and
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin,
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