Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people.
Speaker 2: So close to Sodom, Are you sure? I think, eh?
Speaker 3: I think the proximity of the city would prove useful
Speaker 3: to me. Yeh useful.
Speaker 2: Be careful near those cities. I fear the influence of
Speaker 2: their culture is more dangerous than their spears.
Speaker 4: But I hear that the lands in Canaan are untamed,
Speaker 4: and there are fortunes to be had if you're bold
Speaker 4: enough to take it.
Speaker 3: Wealth.
Speaker 4: You can't even imagine wealth that would put Er and
Speaker 4: Haran to shame.
Speaker 5: The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense. The victims
Speaker 5: of this terrible wickedness plead for justice. The sin of
Speaker 5: both Sodom and Gomorrah is extremely serious.
Speaker 6: Yes, my Lord, your judgment will be carried out according
Speaker 6: to your will.
Speaker 7: My Lord, would you have us continue on our way? Yes,
Speaker 7: go ahead of me and scout out the city. See
Speaker 7: what you make of it in its inhabitants.
Speaker 2: My God, will you really sweep away the righteous with
Speaker 2: the wicked?
Speaker 1: After Abraham's God departed to see about Sodom, Abraham walked
Speaker 1: for a long time on his own, processing what was
Speaker 1: to come. He knew his God was right in his
Speaker 1: authority and write in his judgment. But when he thought
Speaker 1: of those who were oppressed and abused by the wickedness
Speaker 1: of Sodom, for this was the need for justice, Abram
Speaker 1: had to acknowledge that his heart was still broken.
Speaker 3: You've read the stories right, are distant relatives, the line
Speaker 3: of Ham, the cursed, Abram cursed, And yet there they are,
Speaker 3: setting in seats of power. And then there's me. I
Speaker 3: don't want to just be another name, Abram, just another
Speaker 3: name in a long, endless list of men for the
Speaker 3: line of Noah.
Speaker 8: In the heart of a dark city, where shadows lurk
Speaker 8: and sin rains, a family's faith hangs in the balance. Shallo,
Speaker 8: my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel
Speaker 8: i'm l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
Speaker 8: Welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll hear a
Speaker 8: dramatic story inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless
Speaker 8: lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through
Speaker 8: Israel's story, we'll find this truth that we are all
Speaker 8: chosen for something great. Let's begin today we venture down
Speaker 8: the cobblestone alleys of Sidome. This story inspired by Genesis
Speaker 8: nineteen one to sixteen is not just a tale of escape. Rather,
Speaker 8: it's reflection on the human heart and how the world
Speaker 8: around us can shape and misguide our own hearts.
Speaker 1: This episode of The Chosen People with Yeil Extein contains
Speaker 1: explicit content that may be triggering for some listeners and
Speaker 1: inappropriate for young children. Listener discretion is advised. The day
Speaker 1: had been sweltering, and even though the evening was nearing,
Speaker 1: tensions still ran hot. Sweat beaded on Lot's forehead, and
Speaker 1: he could even feel troplets sliding down the back of
Speaker 1: his neck into his tunic. The two men before him
Speaker 1: were nearly nose to nose, Their angry shouts reverberated off
Speaker 1: the stone walls of the gate.
Speaker 3: Brothers, please lower your voices. The entire city doesn't need
Speaker 3: to know your business.
Speaker 6: Maybe they should know.
Speaker 9: Ah, yes, they should know.
Speaker 2: Durak as a snake, and doing business with him will
Speaker 2: only leave your bleeding.
Speaker 8: Ha ha oh.
Speaker 6: Don't be so naive, chouvar.
Speaker 10: You can play the victim all you want, but even
Speaker 10: a child could tell you that the price you gave
Speaker 10: was too low.
Speaker 1: That's your excuse for line for your teeth running to
Speaker 1: weep into the skirts of a city judge.
Speaker 10: Is your response here, man Chavar, you should have offered
Speaker 10: more or known I would find another buyer.
Speaker 3: You use my price to drive up the other bits.
Speaker 3: We had an understanding.
Speaker 2: We had no such thing.
Speaker 3: They were witnesses, and how.
Speaker 10: Much you hang them to pack your story?
Speaker 3: Keep your fault time behind, John Steth.
Speaker 2: I did none such shame, and I would never.
Speaker 3: Need to do such good.
Speaker 10: You're a cheap man who needs to pay for friends
Speaker 10: as well as a stitch.
Speaker 6: This is the only friend I need.
Speaker 1: Chavar flashed a blade and dura follow sheet. Both men
Speaker 1: were poised and ready to strike brothers.
Speaker 3: That's enough. I've heard what I need to hear, and
Speaker 3: I sighed with you. Chavar, Rah see.
Speaker 10: The rak what you can't be serious?
Speaker 3: Yes, Derek, you will pay for a fine for breaking
Speaker 3: your agreement with Chavar.
Speaker 10: This is outrageous lot and you're not I don't know
Speaker 10: what kind of business you ran in Haran, But am
Speaker 10: I not entitled to get the best price for my buyers?
Speaker 3: But you had an agreement? You broke your word.
Speaker 10: What do words matter when it comes to money? Any
Speaker 10: businessman worth his thought would tell you that.
Speaker 9: I suppose it pays to have the judgment of the lawn.
Speaker 6: You saw.
Speaker 3: We're like a bleeding heart Hebrew.
Speaker 10: Where do you get off on this nonsense about word
Speaker 10: and honor?
Speaker 3: Enough, the matter is settled. It's the end of the day.
Speaker 3: Go home. I'm sure we all have matters to attend to.
Speaker 10: This isn't over, Lot, mark my words out.
Speaker 1: Remember this Dark slunk off into the crowd in the
Speaker 1: direction of the wealthiest part of the city, the part
Speaker 1: of the city Lot not so secretly long to be.
Speaker 1: Lot had done well for himself in the years since
Speaker 1: his abduction and the invasion of the city. Sodom had
Speaker 1: rebuilt and resumed its commerce, and Lot had ensured he
Speaker 1: was a part of it. He no longer resided in
Speaker 1: his caravan outside the city, but within its walls, and
Speaker 1: held the position of a judge. Never again would Lot
Speaker 1: not have a stone wall at his back or a
Speaker 1: heavily guarded.
Speaker 6: Gate before him.
Speaker 1: Despite the comforts and securities he had worked tirelessly to obtain,
Speaker 1: Lot still awoke screaming and sweating to nightmares of clanging
Speaker 1: spears and bloodied knives being held to his throat. Rogues
Speaker 1: like Durarch. He could stomach Sodom had no shortage of
Speaker 1: cases to be heard here at the city gate. His
Speaker 1: wealth and his connection to his uncle, Abram the war Hero,
Speaker 1: or Abraham, as he was now called, had brought him
Speaker 1: influence and favor with the city officials. Judging the back
Speaker 1: dealings and corruption of the city helped quiet his fears
Speaker 1: of inadequacy and helped him reclaim what was left of
Speaker 1: his pride. Lot had finally achieved his dream, the one
Speaker 1: of legacy and destiny he spoke of to his uncle
Speaker 1: in his grandfather's house all those years ago. It wasn't
Speaker 1: anything like he thought it would be, and so much
Speaker 1: had happened that he had not anticipated. But he supposed
Speaker 1: that was the way of dreams, and so he shrouded
Speaker 1: himself in the air of importance and hid behind not
Speaker 1: only the city walls, but also his righteousness. Lot found
Speaker 1: it advantageous to follow in his uncle's footsteps and play
Speaker 1: the part of the holy man, a man of faith.
Speaker 1: He found it gave him an edge over the other
Speaker 1: civic leaders, and he found that the more responsibility shifted
Speaker 1: his way, the more pious and respected he became. Lot
Speaker 1: didn't know whether to thank Abraham's God or his own
Speaker 1: shrewdness for his rise. In his heart of hearts, he
Speaker 1: thanked himself.
Speaker 6: You know he won't forget this, Lot.
Speaker 1: Chauvar's words brought Lot out of his reverie and back
Speaker 1: to the present.
Speaker 3: Eh, I'm sure he won't. That's future, Lot's concerned. He
Speaker 3: can be my headache another day.
Speaker 9: Well, you have my fags, Lot, and I'll need to
Speaker 9: think of ways I can show you my face and
Speaker 9: perhaps keep you in my good graces for any future
Speaker 9: cases it might come to your gate.
Speaker 1: Lot cringed slightly. Some customs in Sodom he would never
Speaker 1: get used to. Before Lot could deny Chauvar's offer, he
Speaker 1: noticed two last travelers were passing through the outer gates
Speaker 1: up ahead. They were being questioned by the men on watch,
Speaker 1: who seemed eager to move them along so they could
Speaker 1: close the gates and change out the guard for the night.
Speaker 1: Chauvar followed Lot's gaze and saw what drew his attention.
Speaker 2: Well, well, well he's been and no ordinary travelers. Their
Speaker 2: clothes and appearance are not fashionable in these parts, but
Speaker 2: you are quite and so they will surely attract a
Speaker 2: lot of attention in town. Who do you suppose they are.
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think you're right. Yeah, they are peculiar. I mean
Speaker 3: look at them. No saddle bags, no mounts. I mean
Speaker 3: they've got to have some sort of servants or a
Speaker 3: larger company staying outside the walls. Right, these seem like
Speaker 3: men of importance, dignitaries maybe, or maybe merchants. You know,
Speaker 3: my uncle he was visited by a king once, and
Speaker 3: let me tell you, he carried himself just like this.
Speaker 2: Rats, This will be my first gesture of gratitude for
Speaker 2: your favorable ruling earlier. You should host him, and I
Speaker 2: would offer quickly before Duract catches word that there are
Speaker 2: new merchants in town, swoop in and steal their business
Speaker 2: with our second vault.
Speaker 3: Oh yes, yes, yes, good idea, chav Our, very good idea.
Speaker 3: I'll take your suggestion really, thank you, and I look
Speaker 3: forward to our dealings in the future. Honorable men like
Speaker 3: you and me, we got to stick together.
Speaker 2: Indeed, we may be the very last ones in the
Speaker 2: city of Sodom.
Speaker 1: Lopa good naturedly as he hurried to meet the distinguished
Speaker 1: men just clearing the city gatehouse. He bowed respectfully before them.
Speaker 3: My lords, be welcome to the city of Sodom, the
Speaker 3: pride of the great cities of the plain. Please allow
Speaker 3: me to be your host while you stay here in
Speaker 3: these walls. My name is Lot, son of Haran, of
Speaker 3: the line of Shem.
Speaker 6: So you are, and you are the nephew of Abraham,
Speaker 6: the follower of the god olmedy Ah.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, ah, certainly, I am a faithful follower my lords,
Speaker 3: of course.
Speaker 11: And you are a city official here. You have come
Speaker 11: to not only reside but represent the city.
Speaker 1: Lot blinked at the non question. He also waited for
Speaker 1: the men to offer their own names in kind, but
Speaker 1: none came.
Speaker 3: Ah, I, I am my lord.
Speaker 1: Again, they offered up no further information and asked nothing
Speaker 1: of Lot. They took his measure for a long moment.
Speaker 1: Lot could feel the cheeks under his beard turned pink
Speaker 1: at the stairs. This stilted conversation was drawing from the
Speaker 1: smattering of people gathered along the stone benches lining the
Speaker 1: gated walkway. The two mysterious men then inclined their heads
Speaker 1: respectfully and made to turn and leave.
Speaker 3: My lords, please tell me where do you plan to
Speaker 3: stay here in the city.
Speaker 12: In the city's square, Lot could feel the growing curiosity
Speaker 12: of onlook and felt the need to redouble his efforts
Speaker 12: as the accommodating host of his city the square.
Speaker 3: Oh no, no, no, no, that will not do. Please
Speaker 3: my lords, you must turn aside from your current plans
Speaker 3: and allow me to be your host, your servant. I
Speaker 3: will have you stay at my house. Wash if he'd
Speaker 3: spend the night, then you can get up burly, Sure,
Speaker 3: go on your way, no problem. But I can't. I
Speaker 3: won't have you stay the night in the square when
Speaker 3: I can wait on you personally. It's just not right.
Speaker 11: The city square is enough for us. We want to
Speaker 11: take in the city while we're here.
Speaker 3: Ah, you won't take in the city. The city will
Speaker 3: take in you. I assure you. The city can't can't
Speaker 3: offer you the hospitality that I can. I mean my wife,
Speaker 3: she's a fantastic cook. She oversees the most skilled cooks,
Speaker 3: the best servants in the land. Even now, I bet
Speaker 3: they're preparing the evening meal. I'll order them to prepare meat,
Speaker 3: good meats, and extravagant courses so you'll taste the finest food,
Speaker 3: drink the best wine this region has to offer our land. Oh,
Speaker 3: it's well wadded and fertile, very fertile. The crops are
Speaker 3: a unparalleled Listen, listen, I know you've traveled far, but
Speaker 3: I humbly boast you'll want for nothing after a feast
Speaker 3: in my household. How can you say no to this offer?
Speaker 3: You can't. You just can't.
Speaker 1: I suppose we cannot be the way Lort couldn't deny
Speaker 1: the satisfaction he felt as he led the men through
Speaker 1: the streets of the city. Chauvar was right about one thing.
Speaker 1: They certainly drew a lot of attention. Their fine clothes
Speaker 1: and exotic, handsome features drew the eyes of many double
Speaker 1: takes and even open stairs from both women and men.
Speaker 1: True to his word, Lot and his households sprang into
Speaker 1: action and pulled together a great feast for these mysterious
Speaker 1: distinguished guests. Lot was determined to serve them in a
Speaker 1: manner that befitted his role as a city judge. If
Speaker 1: he were able to secure their trust and their business
Speaker 1: as well, then no one could argue that he did
Speaker 1: not belong here, or that his uncle paved the way
Speaker 1: for him to be here.
Speaker 4: You must tell us what sort of merchants are you.
Speaker 4: Lot can help you learn. All the players here in
Speaker 4: Sodom if you're looking to set up shop.
Speaker 6: We are not merchants.
Speaker 4: Oh, I see, have you been to this region before?
Speaker 4: I'm sure find men such as yourself have traveled far
Speaker 4: and wide. It was much the same when we were
Speaker 4: settled in Haran and Er.
Speaker 6: Before that, we.
Speaker 11: Have been many places.
Speaker 4: Your wives must come with you next time you feast
Speaker 4: with us. I would love to meet them, and the
Speaker 4: same for my daughters.
Speaker 6: We do not have wives.
Speaker 4: Well, that is most surprising. I would offer you one
Speaker 4: of my daughters if they were not promised already. They
Speaker 4: are to marry the sons of a very prominent city official.
Speaker 4: We're in the throes of arranging the wedding. I have
Speaker 4: been working tirelessly. You could not imagine the intricacies. But
Speaker 4: it is a labor of love. My daughters, Keziah and Milka,
Speaker 4: deserve nothing less.
Speaker 3: And they will make lovely brides.
Speaker 4: Thank you father, Thank you father, and the match will
Speaker 4: be most beneficial for both our houses. Of course, there's
Speaker 4: our noble line. We can trace our family history back
Speaker 4: to Noah, if you can believe that, through his son Shem,
Speaker 4: our family was among some of the most prosperous in
Speaker 4: er And when we settled in Haran, our fortune only
Speaker 4: grew and now sodom. My husband Lot finds success wherever
Speaker 4: he goes. We're most eager to join our house with
Speaker 4: the nobility and wealth of this land. Who knows what
Speaker 4: the future will hold for this family.
Speaker 1: Wife carried the conversation for the rest of the meal,
Speaker 1: hardly noticing the scant contribution from the visitors. Lot found
Speaker 1: it a little strange that they were so withholding, but
Speaker 1: perhaps it would take time to earn their trust, and
Speaker 1: they were guests under his roof, which placed them in
Speaker 1: a higher place of honor and respect than even his family.
Speaker 1: According to the customs of their land. Lot was so
Speaker 1: unattuned to the presence of God that he hadn't noticed
Speaker 1: what Abraham noticed. He did not recognize the divinity veiled
Speaker 1: behind their handsome faces, or the authority vibrating from their
Speaker 1: voices as they spoke. Lot was too consumed with self
Speaker 1: to see what was right in front of him. When
Speaker 1: the household began to settle in for the evening and
Speaker 1: the servants were taking away the remnants of their meal,
Speaker 1: Lot heard a familiar voice shouting from the street.
Speaker 6: Ye yea, let's go see it.
Speaker 10: Lot, it is stupid friends.
Speaker 6: You're singing the city and stuff.
Speaker 10: What who is it you're hosting in there?
Speaker 6: Who does?
Speaker 2: Pretty men?
Speaker 6: You're keeping all to yourself.
Speaker 13: You you treat these strangers like kids and then steal
Speaker 13: money from my theairy hands.
Speaker 6: You would turn your back on those.
Speaker 10: Who built, and they built this city in favor of
Speaker 10: a foreigners.
Speaker 2: Foreign birds flop together.
Speaker 3: Maybe we should make sure they are on spies.
Speaker 10: Say send them, send them out to us so we
Speaker 10: can question them.
Speaker 2: I'll hold them down so you can find out.
Speaker 6: Then I'll be.
Speaker 3: Sure to leave one for you, coussim I won't deny
Speaker 3: you the enjoyment of taking one of them. They're so fair, fine.
Speaker 14: Figures of men, Derek, Will you want to turn to
Speaker 14: Will let you pick the one you want.
Speaker 1: Horrified of both what they were saying and how loudly
Speaker 1: they were saying it, Lot ran to the front door
Speaker 1: and into the street, slamming the door firmly behind him,
Speaker 1: as if that could drown out the crew jeering. Seconds later,
Speaker 1: drunken knocks pounded against the door. Lot could smell the
Speaker 1: wine on their breath from the doorway and see the
Speaker 1: glassy lust in their eyes through cracks in the wood.
Speaker 1: They meant to defile his guests and humiliate them, and
Speaker 1: by extension him.
Speaker 3: Brothers, please don't do this what you're suggesting, it's evil,
Speaker 3: it's foul. Who even told you about my guests?
Speaker 15: Sir?
Speaker 6: Who are you to say?
Speaker 10: What's foul?
Speaker 3: You parded them through town?
Speaker 10: What are to see you think?
Speaker 16: My men?
Speaker 10: Cosine wouldn't tell me of your comings and goings.
Speaker 6: I have eyes all our brother city loves.
Speaker 2: You don't realize what a power enemy you've made here today.
Speaker 14: Lot, Now don't make us ask again and over your
Speaker 14: pretty guests.
Speaker 1: Lot's stomach turned as the man grabbed himself in a
Speaker 1: vile gesture. There was no mistaking his intentions with Lot's guests.
Speaker 3: Look, look, I have two daughters, virgins. I'll hand them
Speaker 3: over to you instead, but you'll not take the name.
Speaker 3: They are my guests and therefore, under my protection cannot
Speaker 3: mean to violate their rights. Has madness taken you over?
Speaker 16: Yeah, auret of my word? Of course you claim guest rights.
Speaker 16: You're always hiding under the protection of.
Speaker 6: Proprid to you, the lie, the image of honor.
Speaker 2: Is everything You've flount around like a host when you're
Speaker 2: a mere thorough in our land.
Speaker 10: You can play it.
Speaker 2: Being a judge all evans, but you'll always be even outside.
Speaker 3: We should take him too.
Speaker 2: I like that plan initiation if you will make him
Speaker 2: arry of Sandomites, Lots.
Speaker 13: If you don't get it, I'll have my men rape
Speaker 13: you two eh when they had their film, I'll kill
Speaker 13: you myself.
Speaker 1: The wood of the door was immediately met with the
Speaker 1: dull funk of the blade of a dagger, followed by
Speaker 1: two pairs of fists. Terror shot through Lot's slims and
Speaker 1: his vision narrowed to a point. He could hear Durak
Speaker 1: struggling to remove his blade from the soft wood of
Speaker 1: the door as he shouted for more men to join him.
Speaker 1: Lot could see the light of torches from the street
Speaker 1: through the cracks in the door, and hear more men
Speaker 1: joining him. Their bloodlust whipped into a frenzy to the
Speaker 1: edge of Durak's blade appeared in the door crack by
Speaker 1: the frame and began to pry it open. To Lot's
Speaker 1: further dismay, Calculated fingers began to claw their way into
Speaker 1: the opening, and the door strained against its lock, groaning
Speaker 1: and whining at the force he wasn't dealing with men
Speaker 1: but animals. Regret cascaded into Lots. He should have known
Speaker 1: better than to make his home in a wall's den.
Speaker 1: The crazed men would soon have their hands on Lot
Speaker 1: and would surely drag him into the street to his
Speaker 1: death or worse. Gasping for air, Lots squeezed his eyes
Speaker 1: shut as he struggled in vain against the door's movement
Speaker 1: behind him. Every second he was losing ground. He felt
Speaker 1: the door go slack for a moment while the men
Speaker 1: outside pulled back to gather their strength to surely strike
Speaker 1: the door and serve the final death blow to both
Speaker 1: the lock and the door.
Speaker 3: This is it, and this is where I die. Being
Speaker 3: captive to a psychotic king seems like paradise to the
Speaker 3: horrors awaiting me.
Speaker 1: Just then Lot felt a pair of strong, sure hands
Speaker 1: grasped his shoulders and hurl him aside. His eyes snapped open,
Speaker 1: and he saw that his guests had stepped in and
Speaker 1: secured the door themselves. Lot couldn't believe his eyes. They
Speaker 1: had shoved it shut, and somehow the lock was holding fast,
Speaker 1: as if the massive stress it had just undergone had
Speaker 1: never happened. One of them threw a hand in the
Speaker 1: air and pulled down forcefully. As his hand soared down
Speaker 1: to his side, a blinding light illuminated the street behind
Speaker 1: the door. The light that refracted through the door frame
Speaker 1: and the front windows was brighter than even the sun.
Speaker 1: At it Zeneth Lot had to shield his eyes with
Speaker 1: his hand as light flooded into his entryway. The flash
Speaker 1: was gone as suddenly as the mysterious guest had summoned it.
Speaker 1: He heard the startled cries of the men outside.
Speaker 15: Why I heard?
Speaker 2: Had fled?
Speaker 6: What happened?
Speaker 3: Been blinded?
Speaker 11: Can you see anything?
Speaker 6: Well? Where is the daughter?
Speaker 13: Lot?
Speaker 6: What the dodos?
Speaker 2: What for an sacery?
Speaker 3: Is this fret?
Speaker 2: I think it's only here?
Speaker 15: Where are you?
Speaker 3: I'm here? Where?
Speaker 1: Lot gaped in amazement as the sounds of the knob
Speaker 1: faded away. In their blindness, they lost their bearings and
Speaker 1: were miraculously led away from the house. He then turned
Speaker 1: his attention to his two guests.
Speaker 15: What what was that?
Speaker 3: What happened?
Speaker 6: Listen to me?
Speaker 17: Laugh?
Speaker 6: Do you have any one else in the city, Your
Speaker 6: sons in law, other sons or daughters, any one else
Speaker 6: in the city who belonged to you?
Speaker 1: Lot was still in shock over what he had witnessed.
Speaker 1: He then noticed his wife and daughters were crouched in
Speaker 1: the stairway further inside their home. They had undoubtedly witnessed
Speaker 1: both the confrontation in the street and all that had
Speaker 1: come after. They looked equally bewildered.
Speaker 11: Lot, Listen, this is important. Who else in the city
Speaker 11: belongs to you?
Speaker 13: Ah?
Speaker 4: The girls is betrothed, ye, yes, yea.
Speaker 3: The two brothers who are promised to my daughters and
Speaker 3: their families.
Speaker 6: You need to go get them right now. You need
Speaker 6: to convince them to leave this place.
Speaker 11: Yes, you and those who belonged to you, we need
Speaker 11: to get out of the city.
Speaker 6: The evil and vile atrocities have caused a great outcry
Speaker 6: against its people.
Speaker 11: It has become so great before the God Almighty that
Speaker 11: he has sent us to destroy it.
Speaker 4: Destroy it.
Speaker 6: Yes, the city, the city will be destroyed.
Speaker 1: Lot's mouth was still hanging open in disbelief as he
Speaker 1: absorbed the men's words, the power they wielded, the certainty
Speaker 1: with which they spoke. Lot didn't know many things at
Speaker 1: that moment, but one thing he knew for sure. These
Speaker 1: were not men. They were messengers of God Almighty, sent
Speaker 1: here to exact judgment upon Lot's home. The adrenaline from
Speaker 1: the confrontation still pulsed through his veins as he grappled
Speaker 1: with this new information. He gaped at the other worldly
Speaker 1: messengers standing in his entryway as he again slumped to
Speaker 1: the ground.
Speaker 4: Lot, what are you going to do?
Speaker 3: I I think I must go. I must go to
Speaker 3: our sons in laws of arm In Lovin have gott
Speaker 3: to warn them.
Speaker 4: Please, Father, go and warn them, tell them what they
Speaker 4: must do.
Speaker 2: Tell them to come to us.
Speaker 1: One of the visitors approached Lot and offered him a
Speaker 1: hand and pulled him to his feet. The other similarly
Speaker 1: helped his daughters and wife.
Speaker 17: Stand, you should go now. We would see you after safety,
Speaker 17: and as soon as we do that, we can get
Speaker 17: to our task.
Speaker 11: Yes, we would not delay the hour of judgment a
Speaker 11: moment longer than we need to. The vile corruption he
Speaker 11: of his flower and the rot is all consuming.
Speaker 1: The visitor who helped Lot to his feet ushered him
Speaker 1: towards the door and opened it. Lot then stumbled into
Speaker 1: the street beyond his front door and made his way
Speaker 1: toward the household of his sons in law. Lot stumbled
Speaker 1: through the streets of Sodom to his son in law's house,
Speaker 1: Durac and his angry mob mercifully had been led astray.
Speaker 1: He forced himself to repeat the stranger's words in his
Speaker 1: head over and over. Destroy. They were going to destroy
Speaker 1: the city. Everything he worked so hard to build rebuild
Speaker 1: was going to be taken away from him again. But
Speaker 1: he would be under their protection. He was being given
Speaker 1: a way out. This wasn't like the last time strangers
Speaker 1: hell bent on destruction had come to Sodom. This time
Speaker 1: would be different.
Speaker 3: Zaran, Lavin, Jetharin, everybody.
Speaker 1: Despite the late hour, Lot pounded on the front door
Speaker 1: and his son in law's house.
Speaker 3: But what is the meaning of this?
Speaker 2: The hour is late.
Speaker 11: Our father is already in bed.
Speaker 3: Oh, my sons, My son's listening to me. This is important.
Speaker 3: We need to leave the city right away. I've just
Speaker 3: gotten word that the god of my uncle Abraham is
Speaker 3: going to destroy the city.
Speaker 2: A god has come to speak to you.
Speaker 3: Who do you think you are an oracle? You can
Speaker 3: see the future now?
Speaker 2: Either that or he's drunk sleeping up. Old man.
Speaker 3: Oh, no, what I'm telling you is true. You have
Speaker 3: no idea what I've seen, Oh the things I've seen.
Speaker 3: What these men are capable of get your belongings. We
Speaker 3: need to get up and leave the city as soon
Speaker 3: as we can.
Speaker 2: This is a bore.
Speaker 1: I'm going back to bed.
Speaker 3: Come now. How many cups of wine have you had?
Speaker 14: Or is it the spirits brood in the high temples
Speaker 14: that have you hallucinating like this?
Speaker 9: What?
Speaker 3: No, No, I'm sober and I'm telling you the truth.
Speaker 3: Wake your father and mother, Wake the whole house. We
Speaker 3: need to leave.
Speaker 1: Lot watched as the brothers exchanged long glances, assessing what
Speaker 1: to do with him. Lot hardly blame them. He could
Speaker 1: only imagine how deranged he appeared and sounded, banging on
Speaker 1: their door in the middle of the night and shouting
Speaker 1: promontory nonsense.
Speaker 3: Lot, We're not doing that, crazy old goat. You need
Speaker 3: to get home.
Speaker 12: Lot.
Speaker 14: Out of respect for you as our future father in law,
Speaker 14: we'll turn a blind eye to this outburst. But I
Speaker 14: know I speak for Lave and when I say, I
Speaker 14: hope this will not happen again.
Speaker 1: With that, they slammed the or in his face. Lot
Speaker 1: was dismayed. What was he going to do now he
Speaker 1: had failed his daughters, not to mention men who at
Speaker 1: once respected him, thought he was losing his grip on reality.
Speaker 1: They had not even offered to walk him home. They
Speaker 1: couldn't be bothered. Lot knew it was the least of
Speaker 1: his worries, but that was indeed a blow. He had
Speaker 1: risen up the ranks in this town, only to be
Speaker 1: treated like a pariah. Lot stewed in his thoughts all
Speaker 1: the way home. Just as the night sky was beginning
Speaker 1: to lighten, he found his wife and daughters being conjoled
Speaker 1: around into packing and gathering their things by the two visitors.
Speaker 11: Lots, have you told those in your family to leave?
Speaker 6: Your wife and daughter are almost ready here.
Speaker 12: You need to leave now, take.
Speaker 6: Your wife and your daughters, or you will be swept
Speaker 6: away in the punishment of the city.
Speaker 1: Despite all Lot had seen earlier that night, with the
Speaker 1: mob and the blinding, and even all the acts of
Speaker 1: Abraham's God in the years since they left Haron, he hesitated.
Speaker 1: His wife and daughters were in their traveling clothes, supplies
Speaker 1: and packs slung over their shoulders and in their arms.
Speaker 1: The reality of the situation was right before his very eyes.
Speaker 1: But yet Lot hesitated. He thought of all he had
Speaker 1: won and lost and won again. He thought of the
Speaker 1: horrors he had faced and the life he had built here.
Speaker 1: Could he really leave it all behind because of a
Speaker 1: single night of panic. What would his peers or even
Speaker 1: his enemies say if he ran like a coward in
Speaker 1: the night. What if all of this was a misunderstanding,
Speaker 1: or perhaps something could be worked out. Surely Sodom was
Speaker 1: not so violent as to warrant total destruction. The visitors
Speaker 1: watched his silent calculation, and as if in response, they
Speaker 1: swooped upon him, grabbing his hands and dragging him from
Speaker 1: the threshold of their home into the streets the sitting.
Speaker 8: What a dark story, unsettling and profoundly sorrow unsettling and
Speaker 8: profoundly sorrowful, and was. Perhaps the most disturbing part of
Speaker 8: the entire story is the quiet, nearly imperceptible way that
Speaker 8: evil crept into Lot's family, distorting their values and warping
Speaker 8: their sense of right and wrong. The angel's visit feels
Speaker 8: like elastic divine effort at redemption, a desperate attempt to
Speaker 8: pull Lot and his kin from the quicksand of corruption.
Speaker 8: But Lot and his family were already compromised long before
Speaker 8: the final night. This slow burning tragedy speaks volumes about
Speaker 8: the human condition. Are soet receptibility to the world's influence
Speaker 8: and the slow and silent erosion of our moral compass.
Speaker 8: Because this didn't happen overnight. There were no flashing neon
Speaker 8: signs or blaring alarms to signal their descent into moral
Speaker 8: ambiguity instead, and it was a series of small compromises,
Speaker 8: little concessions made in the name of survival or comfort
Speaker 8: eventually that led to a profound loss of integrity and identity.
Speaker 8: It's easy to judge Sidom, to point fingers at its
Speaker 8: overt depravity, and to feel a sense of righteous indignation.
Speaker 8: But today's story forces us to confront a more uncomfortable truth,
Speaker 8: our own imperfection. How often do we allow the world
Speaker 8: around us to shape our thoughts, our actions, and our opinions.
Speaker 8: Where made compromises, let down our guard and allowed the
Speaker 8: values of a broken society to infiltrate our hearts and minds.
Speaker 8: Look's story is a somber reminder that we are all
Speaker 8: susceptible to our environment's subtle, corrosive influence. It's a call
Speaker 8: to vigilance, to self examination, and to a relentless pursuit
Speaker 8: of integrity, even when the world around us seems irredeemable,
Speaker 8: and it makes me wonder, how do we protect our
Speaker 8: souls in such a world? How do we stay true
Speaker 8: to our values when everything around us is telling us
Speaker 8: not to. Let's look a little deeper and try to
Speaker 8: find some answers. If we look at the Hebrew text,
Speaker 8: we see something really interesting. Genesis nineteen fifteen to sixteen
Speaker 8: reads as follows. As morning dawn, the angels urge look saying, up,
Speaker 8: take your wife and your two daughters who are here,
Speaker 8: lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.
Speaker 8: But he lingered. So the men seized him and his
Speaker 8: wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord
Speaker 8: being merciful to him, and they brought him out and
Speaker 8: sent him outside the city. Did you hear those three
Speaker 8: words that are really important in this conversation? That phrase,
Speaker 8: but he lingered is critical to understand what happened here.
Speaker 8: In the original Hebrew, it's marked with a special symbol
Speaker 8: that we only find four times in the entire Torah.
Speaker 8: It's called a shalischellet. It's a musical note, a wavering
Speaker 8: sound between two notes in a musical number. In each
Speaker 8: of the four times we find the shalichellet. In the Torah,
Speaker 8: we find someone hesitating in their actions, just like Loa
Speaker 8: did in this story. The wavering sound of the shall
Speaker 8: shelle it captures loots internal conflict. The lingering sound in
Speaker 8: the air mirrors loots ambivalence. Lots hesitation wasn't just a pause.
Speaker 8: It was a profound back and forth struggle deep down
Speaker 8: in his soul. Look was torn. On one hand, he
Speaker 8: had built a life in Sedame, with all of its
Speaker 8: comforts and corruptions, and on the other hand, he kneved
Speaker 8: the looming judgment and God's call to leave everything behind.
Speaker 8: It's hard to admit it, but aren't we often a
Speaker 8: lout like look, hesitant, caught in the middle, like a
Speaker 8: shall shellet, that sound, caught in the tension between what
Speaker 8: we want to do and what we should do, what
Speaker 8: we are already comfortable in, and what we know we
Speaker 8: should change. But why would Lot hesitate, you might ask.
Speaker 8: The entire city's about to go up in fire and brimstone.
Speaker 8: It's about to be obliterated. Lot knows that. Why wouldn't
Speaker 8: he just leave? Jewish commentaries through the century say that
Speaker 8: Lout wanted to save his wealth. They wanted to save
Speaker 8: his material possessions, which lay in his home and Sedome.
Speaker 8: You see, despite the influence of his uncle Abraham, Lot
Speaker 8: was never comfortable with Abraham's priorities. Abraham put life and
Speaker 8: family first, Loot put comfort and wealth first. Well, we
Speaker 8: see in the scriptures that Lot does escape at the
Speaker 8: very last minute, but not before his story shows us
Speaker 8: the stark difference between these two outlooks on life, Lots
Speaker 8: or Abraham's. We have to choose two wavered like the
Speaker 8: shall shell it note or Abraham, who wasn't perfect and
Speaker 8: who made dire mistakes, but who always followed God's call
Speaker 8: with an unwavering faith, a faith that he would pass
Speaker 8: down to the chosen people. And that's the thing about
Speaker 8: God's word, even in dark stories such as these slivers
Speaker 8: of Light breakthrough. And that's the thing about God's word,
Speaker 8: even in dark stories such as these Slivers of Light Breakthrough.
Speaker 8: Let's turn to Bishop Laneer to shed a bit of
Speaker 8: light on this story.
Speaker 15: Well, we're now entering one of the darkest portions of
Speaker 15: scripture to be found anywhere in the Bible, and the
Speaker 15: central character of this plot is none other than Lot.
Speaker 15: That's fine, The nephew of Abraham. You can't help but
Speaker 15: think of that moment when God called the Abraham, and
Speaker 15: one of the stipulations was Abraham, leave your family behind,
Speaker 15: And yet he brings Lot, his nephew with him. Now,
Speaker 15: of course, I realize that in the Christian scriptures there
Speaker 15: is that reference that if a man dies, that it
Speaker 15: is his brother's responsibility to inherit that family and to
Speaker 15: raise them as his own. I don't know if that's
Speaker 15: at work, that's at play here, I don't know. I
Speaker 15: do know this, there's never a moment in this situation
Speaker 15: where a Lot ever brings value to Abraham's life. In fact,
Speaker 15: Lot is continuously perpetually a dishonoring force in Abraham's life,
Speaker 15: and God will not honor a dishonoring person.
Speaker 6: Or people.
Speaker 15: He must have been the most failed family man to
Speaker 15: be found in the Bible. I think of that David,
Speaker 15: who had to be the worst father. I mean, consider
Speaker 15: the sons and the daughters that were continuously rising in
Speaker 15: rebellion and contention and dissension within the family, until ultimately
Speaker 15: one of his own sons, Absalom, organizes an army to
Speaker 15: kill his father, the king.
Speaker 6: David.
Speaker 15: But where was David supposed to learn family life. Please,
Speaker 15: we don't even know who his mother was. His father, Jesse,
Speaker 15: never really believed in him. His brothers minimized him. Oddly enough,
Speaker 15: it was not until Bathsheba and Solomon meaning wisdom that
Speaker 15: David began to understand little bit more. And He's spent
Speaker 15: some of the final seasons of his life finding and
Speaker 15: accumulating and gathering those essential things that his son Solomon
Speaker 15: might need to build, to erect, to construct and present
Speaker 15: unto God this extraordinary, sophisticated, glorious temple. But this Lot,
Speaker 15: this Lot. Can I tell you I have a problem.
Speaker 15: I'm a Christian. I look to the New Testament, and
Speaker 15: there's actually a verse in there that refers to Lot as.
Speaker 11: Righteous.
Speaker 15: Now I bow myself humbly, completely immediately to the scriptures.
Speaker 15: But I'm telling you, in my own sense of reasoning,
Speaker 15: I can't find one thing in the life of Lot
Speaker 15: that's remotely righteous. He's sitting at the gate when those
Speaker 15: two angelic beings who had left Abraham and the other
Speaker 15: and those two angelic beings have arrived to Sodom, and
Speaker 15: there is Lot sitting at the gate, more like at
Speaker 15: the town hall. Listening, watching, discerning, navigating, and all of
Speaker 15: a sudden he looks up and with the discernment he
Speaker 15: probably got from his uncle Abraham, like every other good
Speaker 15: thing in Lot's life, he realizes, we've got a problem.
Speaker 15: Holiness just entered the city and this is not a
Speaker 15: holy city. So he rushes, and you can almost feel
Speaker 15: the panic and the hectic sense in his life. And
Speaker 15: he looks at them, and I can hear him say,
Speaker 15: what are you doing here? I've got to get you
Speaker 15: out of this space. This is not good. You'll come
Speaker 15: home with me. You'll go into my house and we
Speaker 15: will wash your feet, we will prepare a meal. You
Speaker 15: can sleep in our beds, and the next morning early
Speaker 15: you can get out of here and everything.
Speaker 11: Will be fine.
Speaker 15: Why was Lots so panicked? Where we had learned earlier
Speaker 15: that one of the beings said to Abraham, the stench
Speaker 15: of sin in that city has already reached heaven, and
Speaker 15: we've come to deal with it. You know, there there
Speaker 15: are neighborhoods and cities, even nations, who have lost themselves
Speaker 15: to darkness, to debauchery, and this sodom and Gomara is
Speaker 15: one such place. A Lot brings them into his house,
Speaker 15: and it doesn't take long before some of the residents
Speaker 15: who have watched them into his space began pounding on
Speaker 15: the doors and demanding saw visitors come into this city.
Speaker 15: Open your doors and let us in, and let us
Speaker 15: have those visitors to ourselves, that we can have sexual
Speaker 15: relations with them. And Lot says, no, you can't have
Speaker 15: these men. Look, look, I have daughters. They're virgins, they've
Speaker 15: never been touched by a man. I'll give them to you,
Speaker 15: and you do with him whatever you want to do. Please,
Speaker 15: can someone tell me how a father, I don't care
Speaker 15: the circumstance, could say I will sacrifice my own virgin daughters.
Speaker 15: And it becomes unnecessary for a Lot to sacrifice his
Speaker 15: daughters because these angelic beings have the power to blind
Speaker 15: these men who are obsessed and already blinded. And these
Speaker 15: angelic beings say to Lot, judgment has come.
Speaker 6: To this city.
Speaker 15: Now used talk to your family, you prepare them, you
Speaker 15: get your things together, and we have come to help
Speaker 15: you escape. We are your arc and you're going to
Speaker 15: miss the flood if you get in the boat. Now,
Speaker 15: this Lot, this Lot, this dishonoring lot, you remember the
Speaker 15: blessings of God upon Lot's life had nothing to do
Speaker 15: with a conversation from God to Lot. This's never a
Speaker 15: moment of a divine dialogue with Heaven. In Lot's life,
Speaker 15: He's prospered, he's multiplied, he's increased, he's privileged simply because
Speaker 15: he's related to Abraham. And the blessing began to expand
Speaker 15: and extend. It became a point of contention between Lot
Speaker 15: and his servants. Humility would have said, hey, listen, I
Speaker 15: wouldn't have anything in my life if it weren't for
Speaker 15: my uncle. So there's not going to be any arguing
Speaker 15: or bickering or debating. Whatever belongs to my uncle belongs
Speaker 15: to my uncle. And I will even seed my blessings
Speaker 15: into hum There'll be no arguing between our servants. When
Speaker 15: it came to choosing the land, Humility would have said,
Speaker 15: choose the land. I don't have a place to lay
Speaker 15: my head unless my uncle provides for me. So no, Uncle, Abraham,
Speaker 15: you choose what's right for you.
Speaker 5: But he didn't do that.
Speaker 15: He's kidnapped, and when he's returned, I don't remember seeing
Speaker 15: anything about Lot ever being grateful for his rescue, and
Speaker 15: he just sits at the gate and tried to rush
Speaker 15: the angels away, and stood at the doorway negotiating away
Speaker 15: his virgin daughters. And he couldn't even influence his sons
Speaker 15: or sons in law to leave that city against the judgment.
Speaker 15: And when the angels are leading them out, he hesitates,
Speaker 15: and his wife turns and looks the other way. His
Speaker 15: daughters end up using him to impregnate themselves. This is
Speaker 15: a failed family man. And that's all I'm going to
Speaker 15: say in this section. Right now, this is a bad situation.
Speaker 15: This is as dark as you get. But hear me,
Speaker 15: there's a lot of us who've made horrible mistakes. Maybe
Speaker 15: you have. Maybe your family is in trouble because you
Speaker 15: said the wrong thing, you went the wrong place, you
Speaker 15: had the wrong relationationship, and right now you're in a crisis.
Speaker 15: I'm telling you, I'm convinced God will dispatch his mercies,
Speaker 15: his love and angelic force to find a way to
Speaker 15: take you from the darkness and to lead you to
Speaker 15: that place of redemption. I declare it by God.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 8: I want to end by talking about Abraham's view from
Speaker 8: above Sidome. He sees the carnage from a distance, thinking
Speaker 8: that his prayers to God have gone unanswered. Each year,
Speaker 8: I have the privilege of standing before the ancient stones
Speaker 8: of the Hotel the Western Wall in the Old City
Speaker 8: of Jerusalem, the privilege of bringing the prayers of the
Speaker 8: Fellowship's friends and supporters to this holiest place in the world,
Speaker 8: of adding the prayers of my faithful friends today to
Speaker 8: the prayers of generations which came before us. Read a
Speaker 8: few psalms, David's timeless words resonating deep within my soul,
Speaker 8: And then I take these prayers, your prayers to God.
Speaker 8: I think of the countless times I've prayed for those
Speaker 8: in dire need. Often God answers with the resounding yes,
Speaker 8: but sometimes the response is silence. When our prayers go
Speaker 8: what feels like unanswered, it can shake the very foundations
Speaker 8: of our faith. We find ourselves questioning is God even listening?
Speaker 8: When we find ourselves asking if God is listening, Let's
Speaker 8: try to remember Abraham, a man of profound faith facing
Speaker 8: a heart wrenching situation. He had pleaded with God to
Speaker 8: spare Sadom and Gamara, only to rise the next morning
Speaker 8: and see smoke ascending from the city's ruins. Abraham's prayers,
Speaker 8: it seemed, had gone on answer God's answer had been no.
Speaker 8: But Abraham doesn't rage against God or even challenge his will.
Speaker 8: There is no crisis of faith, no wavering in his devotion.
Speaker 8: Despite his fervent prayers. Abraham's faith remains unshaken, steadfast, even loyal,
Speaker 8: in the face of apparent silence. And then the Bible
Speaker 8: tells us that God remembered Abraham and saved his nephew Lot.
Speaker 8: Let's all remember that God remembers us too, that he
Speaker 8: hears our prayers, and he has plans to bless us
Speaker 8: even when we think his answer is no. So I'll
Speaker 8: leave you with this blessing IV Hashem vischmerchra Yeah her
Speaker 8: Hashem panave e y sa Hashem.
Speaker 1: Salon.
Speaker 8: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the
Speaker 8: Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be
Speaker 8: gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards
Speaker 8: you and give you peace.
Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Eckstein
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Speaker 1: Com app today. This Prey dog comproduction is only made
Speaker 1: possible by our dedicated team of creative talents, Steve Gattina,
Speaker 1: Max bard Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive
Speaker 1: producers of The Chosen People with Yiel 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 Bree Rosalie and
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paulinia, Robin van Ettin,
Speaker 1: kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship
Speaker 1: of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot
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