Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people.
Speaker 2: Lord Pharaoh, I present to you five of my brothers.
Speaker 2: They represent my father's nation and their families. My eleven brothers,
Speaker 2: my father, their flocks, and all they possess have come
Speaker 2: from Canaan. I have them in the land of Goshen,
Speaker 2: on the grassy plains outside the city. If it pleases you,
Speaker 2: I will have them remain there. The people are out
Speaker 2: of money.
Speaker 1: The famine has stalled the economy since known who money
Speaker 1: is flowing back.
Speaker 2: To the people.
Speaker 1: They can't afford to buy green from the storehouses.
Speaker 2: Ah, I feared this would happen bartering. Bartering has dwindled
Speaker 2: month after month.
Speaker 1: Do we open up leasures of credit for them?
Speaker 2: No, under no circumstances can we let that happen. We
Speaker 2: have years of famine left. The debt would crush them.
Speaker 3: If the silver runs out and they have no other
Speaker 3: option but to give it away for free.
Speaker 1: Joseph thought for a long long while. An idea took
Speaker 1: root in his mind, but he could see where its
Speaker 1: branches would lead. He had to choose between the people's
Speaker 1: lives and the people's freedom.
Speaker 2: People will no longer be their own, They will be pharaoh's.
Speaker 1: Aren't they all ready in devotion?
Speaker 2: Yes, but not in property. But I see all the options.
Speaker 2: Desperate times go for desperate measures.
Speaker 1: As the twelve sons of Jacob departed from this life
Speaker 1: and new generations sprouted from their branches, so did the
Speaker 1: line of Pharaoh. The king, who once considered Joseph a
Speaker 1: brother and the Hebrews his kin passed. His son took
Speaker 1: the throne, vaguely remembering the promises made to Israel. But
Speaker 1: when his son came after him, the promises eroded into whispers.
Speaker 1: Soon the name of Joseph was forgotten. In its place
Speaker 1: the legacy of Pharaohs, the image of Ra, the might
Speaker 1: of the Nile. The storehouses were replaced with monuments to
Speaker 1: their greatness, and the children of Israel were no longer
Speaker 1: favored in the land.
Speaker 4: Egypt's quest for control ignites sa Saga of Oppression, setting
Speaker 4: the stage for an enduring tale of faith and deliverance. Shallo,
Speaker 4: my friends from here in the Holy Land, Welcome to
Speaker 4: the Chosen People. I'm ya l Ekstein with the International
Speaker 4: Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Each day we'll hear a
Speaker 4: dramatic story inspired by the Bible. Stories filled with timeless
Speaker 4: lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through
Speaker 4: israel story, we find this truth that we are all
Speaker 4: chosen first something great. If you haven't yet followed the podcast,
Speaker 4: be sure to do so so now. That way you
Speaker 4: never have to miss an episode, and that small step
Speaker 4: helps us tremendously as we try to be discovered by
Speaker 4: more people so that we can inspire them. If you're
Speaker 4: interested in finding out more about the prophetic, life saving
Speaker 4: work of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, you
Speaker 4: can visit our website at IFCJ dot org. Let's begin
Speaker 4: long ago, the children of Israel found refuge in Egypt.
Speaker 4: Their number is growing under God's blessing. Generations past and
Speaker 4: a new pharaoh, one who didn't know Joseph, ascended to power.
Speaker 4: In his ignorance and fear, Pharaoh saw the Israelite's prosperity
Speaker 4: as a threat to his rule. Now, with the rise
Speaker 4: of iron chains and oppressive decrees, the land that once
Speaker 4: sheltered God's chosen people becomes a place of bondage. What
Speaker 4: happens when those in power see blessing as a curse
Speaker 4: and a London's as a threat. Let's dive into this
Speaker 4: cinematic saga inspired by Exodus IE one to eleven.
Speaker 1: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issaca, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, gad Asher, Joseph,
Speaker 1: and Benjamin. These were the sons of Israel, the heirs
Speaker 1: of a covenant, forged in the fires of a divine promise.
Speaker 1: They bore the legacy of their forefather, Abraham, who had
Speaker 1: once been told that his progeny would outnumber the stars
Speaker 1: in the heavens. Abraham believed with a faith that defied reason,
Speaker 1: a belief that was as unyielding as the desert sun,
Speaker 1: and so God most High blessed him and the generations
Speaker 1: that came after him. For theirs was a destiny written
Speaker 1: in the very stones of the u, the earth, and
Speaker 1: the stars of the heavens. The land of Canaan was
Speaker 1: promised to them, a land flowing with milk and honey,
Speaker 1: where hills rolled like the waves of a verdant sea,
Speaker 1: and plains stretched wide under the watchful eye of the Creator.
Speaker 1: It was their birthright, a cradle of destiny where a
Speaker 1: nation would be forged, a beacon to all other nations.
Speaker 1: Abraham had wandered its breadth. Isaac had thrived in its bounty,
Speaker 1: and Jacob, who was named Israel, had claimed it as
Speaker 1: his inheritance. But famine drove the children of Israel to
Speaker 1: seek refuge in the distant lands of Egypt. Guided by
Speaker 1: the hand of their brother Joseph, a man of dreams
Speaker 1: and visions, the families of Israel found sanctuary in the
Speaker 1: region of Goshen. There, on the fringes of Egyptian grandeur,
Speaker 1: they multiplied, sons begat sons and daughters begat dry, until
Speaker 1: their numbers swelled like a river, breaking its banks. The
Speaker 1: land of gosh And teemed with life, stretching ever closer
Speaker 1: to the very heart of Egypt. In those days, Joseph's
Speaker 1: favor was a shield around them. His name held weight
Speaker 1: in the halls of Pharaoh, a legacy of salvation that
Speaker 1: bound the children of Israel to the land. But time
Speaker 1: is a merciless tide, and all men, even those as
Speaker 1: great as Joseph, are swept away by its current. Joseph
Speaker 1: was laid to rest, and the memory of his deeds
Speaker 1: began to fade with him. His legacy was no more
Speaker 1: than an echo in the corridors of power. Pharaoh's rose
Speaker 1: and fell like the sun across the sky, each further
Speaker 1: removed from Joseph's memory. Over two centuries, the story of
Speaker 1: Israel's deliverance from famine was reduced to myth, overshadowed by
Speaker 1: the growing might of Egypt's rulers. The legend of Pharaoh's
Speaker 1: power became the story told in every corner of the land,
Speaker 1: and among these rulers was Rameses, the first pharaoh of
Speaker 1: his name. Egypt's ambitions grew and its influence spread like
Speaker 1: the shadow of a great beast across the earth. Under
Speaker 1: the iron hand of Pharaoh, the empire reached out to conquer, subdue,
Speaker 1: and claim dominion over all who dared stand in its path.
Speaker 1: But conquest breathes enemies, and fear grows where power takes root.
Speaker 1: From the heights of his palace, Rameses the First looked
Speaker 1: down upon the multitudes of Israel with a heart gripped
Speaker 1: by suspicion and rage. He stood upon the balcony, the
Speaker 1: great expanse of Egypt unfurling before him like a scroll.
Speaker 1: He looked down upon the Israelite's encampment, a sprawling sea
Speaker 1: of life. Beneath his gaze. They had prospered in his
Speaker 1: land grown strong under the shadow of his throne, and
Speaker 1: in their strength he saw the seeds of rebellion.
Speaker 5: Ah, I will not rest until Egypt reaches the feet
Speaker 5: of Ra. It is my destiny, It is the destiny
Speaker 5: of my sons and their sounds.
Speaker 1: He gripped the stone balustrade, his knuckles white with the
Speaker 1: force of his ambition. His eyes cold and calculating, turned
Speaker 1: towards the land of Goshen, where the torches of Israel
Speaker 1: burned like stars in a night sky. But Rameses cared
Speaker 1: nothing for their light. His mind was consumed by visions
Speaker 1: of his own greatness, his name etched into the very heavens.
Speaker 1: He turned to his generals, who stood in silent, obedient formation.
Speaker 5: These Hebrews are contributing nothing and taking everything. They grow
Speaker 5: crops on my land, heard on my hills, and drink
Speaker 5: from my rivers, And what do I get in return?
Speaker 3: Nothing?
Speaker 5: Even worse, they are so great in number that they
Speaker 5: can be trusted. If our enemies choose to invade. What's
Speaker 5: to stop them from joining their side? What are your commands,
Speaker 5: Lord Pharaoh.
Speaker 1: Ramsey's lips curled into a sneer, and in that moment,
Speaker 1: something ancient and malevolent seemed to stir within him. It
Speaker 1: was as if the dark heart of the Nile itself
Speaker 1: had taken root in his chest. He stood taller, drawing
Speaker 1: in a breath as he gave the command that would
Speaker 1: seal Israel's fate.
Speaker 5: Send troops to Goshen, surround them with swords, whips and spears,
Speaker 5: seize their property, their weapons, and make a decree. The
Speaker 5: Israelites are no longer guests in my land. From this
Speaker 5: day forth, they shall be bricks laid at the foundation
Speaker 5: of my empire. I am Pharaoh, the image of Rah.
Speaker 5: I am the Nile, the Serpent, the King. If any
Speaker 5: oppose my decree, they shall feel the scorch of my
Speaker 5: burning fury. For I am the Sun, and they are
Speaker 5: the fields that grow or burn at my will.
Speaker 1: The soldiers marched into Goshen, their armor clinking with the
Speaker 1: cold efficiency of death. They claimed the fields, drove the
Speaker 1: herds into Pharaoh's bonds, and stripped the people of their tools.
Speaker 1: Egyptian commanders were appointed over the Hebrews, each flanked by
Speaker 1: battalions of soldiers eager to enforce their lord's decree. Panic
Speaker 1: spread like wildfire, followed closely by the flames of anger
Speaker 1: and rebellion.
Speaker 3: What are you doing? These are our fields and flocks.
Speaker 3: You are no longer guests in this land, but subjects
Speaker 3: of Pharaoh. Failure to cooperate will end in death.
Speaker 1: The people fought back, but their courage was no match
Speaker 1: for the might of Egypt's legions. They were beaten down
Speaker 1: with brutal swiftness, crashed beneath the iron fist of Pharaoh's will.
Speaker 3: You are no longer shepherds or farmers. You are backs
Speaker 3: and shoulders, born to bear the weight of Pharaoh's greatness.
Speaker 3: Heal and mind your master, or face the lictors.
Speaker 1: The air was filled with the sound of whips and chains,
Speaker 1: the cries of the broken and the damned. Men were
Speaker 1: torn from their homes, organized by height and strength, while
Speaker 1: women were bound and taken away, some to toil as
Speaker 1: weavers and cooks, others to serve as maids, or to
Speaker 1: suffer even darker fates. Each group was placed under the
Speaker 1: watchful eyes of taskmasters trained in the arts of pain
Speaker 1: and submission. The heel of Egypt was pressed down upon
Speaker 1: the necks of Israel, a weight that could not be lifted.
Speaker 1: Pharaoh's will was made manifest through the cruel hands of
Speaker 1: his enforces, the lash, the fists, the rod, all were
Speaker 1: extensions of his desire for power, his insatiable hunger for control.
Speaker 1: He demanded violence, and violence was delivered unto him.
Speaker 5: You have taken from my land for too many generations.
Speaker 5: Now it is time to pay back. What use.
Speaker 4: Ah.
Speaker 5: I shall sacrifice your blood, tears, and sweat at the
Speaker 5: altar of Rah. He shall bless this nation with great
Speaker 5: cities of commerce, pivom rameses, cities hewn on the backs
Speaker 5: of Israelites, monuments to My eternal greatness.
Speaker 1: And so the children of Israel were bound in chains,
Speaker 1: their lives consumed by the relentless toil of Pharaoh's ambitions.
Speaker 1: Day after day, the sun rose and set, casting its
Speaker 1: unforgiving light upon a land where time itself seemed to
Speaker 1: stretch into eternity. Under the lash, beneath the weight of
Speaker 1: stones and mortar, the people of Israel cried out to
Speaker 1: the God of their fathers.
Speaker 3: Oh deliver us, rescue your more mortar, mortar, more straw.
Speaker 3: Make those bricks until your hands are gone, hould those
Speaker 3: stones until your backstive way.
Speaker 1: Yet, for all the cruelty heaped upon them, the children
Speaker 1: of Israel did not wither. The more they were oppressed,
Speaker 1: the more they multiplied, their numbers, swelling like the tide
Speaker 1: against the shore. Pharaoh's tyranny could not quench the blessing
Speaker 1: that had been promised to them, for it is a
Speaker 1: blessing from the hand of the Almighty himself. Thus began
Speaker 1: the Great Struggle, a battle not of swords but of wills. Pharaoh,
Speaker 1: deceived by his own pride, believed himself to be a god,
Speaker 1: But he was a man at war with the True God,
Speaker 1: the creator of all fame. He did not yet know
Speaker 1: the name of the Lord he opposed, but he soon would,
Speaker 1: And when the time came, every oppressor in Egypt would
Speaker 1: tremble at the revelation that the children of Israel were
Speaker 1: chosen by the One True God.
Speaker 4: And so it begins. The sons of Israel, descendants of Jacob,
Speaker 4: are thriving in Egypt. Their numbers grow, and God's blessing
Speaker 4: is clear even in a foreign land. But then a
Speaker 4: new king rises, one who knows nothing of Joseph. Fear
Speaker 4: grips his heart, and that fear turns into oppression, heavy
Speaker 4: and cruel, pressing down on our ancestors. This isn't merely
Speaker 4: a story about slavery. It's the start of an epic
Speaker 4: saga of a people seemingly crushed but destined for greatness.
Speaker 4: We can feel their suffering, the weight of their burden,
Speaker 4: the sting of their oppression. Yet within that darkness there's
Speaker 4: a flicker of hope. This is the dawn of God's
Speaker 4: plan for the Chosen people. In today's episode, we begin
Speaker 4: the second of the Five Books of Moses. In English,
Speaker 4: this book it's called Exodus, but in Hebrew it's known
Speaker 4: as Schmut, which literally translates to names. This is the
Speaker 4: Book of Names. And this might seem like a strange
Speaker 4: title for a book mainly about the collective suffering of
Speaker 4: a people, But the title of Names is actually especially
Speaker 4: fitting because it is precisely when we discuss the suffering
Speaker 4: a large number of people that we need to remember
Speaker 4: each person as an individual. Think of the weight that
Speaker 4: names carry way more than a number. Imagine Auschwitz, the
Speaker 4: Nazi concentration camp where over a million Jews were murdered,
Speaker 4: including many of my family members. But it's neither the
Speaker 4: gas chambers nor the ovens that haunt me the most.
Speaker 4: It's the rooms that are filled with personal items, the shoes,
Speaker 4: the hair, the eyeglasses, the suitcases marked with names. You
Speaker 4: look at belongings of people who were once there, and
Speaker 4: you see that they were actually real families Cohen Rosenberg,
Speaker 4: Freedman Ekstein. Each name is more than just a statistic,
Speaker 4: more than just a number. Each name was a person
Speaker 4: with a life, with a story. When we lump victims together,
Speaker 4: be it the Holocaust or Jews of Preston, Egypt, we
Speaker 4: strip them of their humanity, We minimize their suffering in Auschwitz.
Speaker 4: The personal items give identities to those who were murdered.
Speaker 4: Each suitcase or shoe or baby dow screams out, remember me,
Speaker 4: as the prophet Isaiah writes a memorial and a name.
Speaker 4: And so maybe when we look at this book called
Speaker 4: schmut names, it makes perfect sense. The Book of Exodus
Speaker 4: is a story of collective suffering, but it begins with names.
Speaker 4: This episode also makes me think of the six million
Speaker 4: Jews killed during the Holocaust, because the Book of Exodus
Speaker 4: begins with the first instance in history of what we
Speaker 4: would now call state sponsored anti Semitism. In the Great Sage,
Speaker 4: Nachmanides notes that Pharaoh's ultimate goal was not slave labor
Speaker 4: for rather extermination of the Chosen People. But Pharaoh knew
Speaker 4: that the Egyptian people wouldn't accept a crime as monstrous
Speaker 4: as the mass murder of an entire nation, the Jewish nation,
Speaker 4: at least they wouldn't accept it at first. So Pharaoh
Speaker 4: began with slavery, backbreaking, and life taking work disguised as
Speaker 4: labor that would also benefit his kingdom. Only later, and
Speaker 4: only step by step, would it leads to genocide. Pharaoh's
Speaker 4: plan was eerily similar to a more recent plan, the
Speaker 4: Nazi's final solution to exterminate the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Speaker 4: Of course, here in the Book of Exodus, God had
Speaker 4: a plan for his people to take them out of
Speaker 4: Egypt to freedom, to give them the Torah, to lead
Speaker 4: them to the promised land Israel. Today, we can learn
Speaker 4: two things from all of this. First, we must fight
Speaker 4: anti Semitism, no matter how it is disguised. It's an
Speaker 4: evil as old as the Bible, but one that very
Speaker 4: much still threatens God's children today. The second thing, we
Speaker 4: learn that God's plan will always prevail. This story of
Speaker 4: Egyptian oppression isn't just a dark chapter in the story
Speaker 4: of the Chosen people. It's a crucial step for something big.
Speaker 4: When we look at these verses, we see a God
Speaker 4: who is always faithful, a God who hears the cries
Speaker 4: of his people and moves to redeem them. And in
Speaker 4: the names of the Israelites under Pharaoh's yoke, we see
Speaker 4: our own struggles and hopes. We remember that just as
Speaker 4: God saw and responded to their plight, he sees and
Speaker 4: responds to ours, blessing us as He always has blessed
Speaker 4: the Chosen People. Ivare Hashem vishmerechra ya her hashempanave eleven
Speaker 4: ye sa hashempanavelera shallon. May the Lord bless you and
Speaker 4: keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you.
Speaker 4: May he be gracious to you. May the Lord turn
Speaker 4: his face towards you and give you peace.
Speaker 1: Amen. You can listen to the Chosen People with isl
Speaker 1: estein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Pray
Speaker 1: dot Com app today. This prey dot Com production is
Speaker 1: only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents.
Speaker 1: Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger, and Ben Gammon are
Speaker 1: the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yile Eckstein,
Speaker 1: edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are
Speaker 1: voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan,
Speaker 1: Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, and the opening prayer is voiced
Speaker 1: by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by
Speaker 1: Bree Rosalie and Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier,
Speaker 1: Robin van Ettin, kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team
Speaker 1: at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear
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Speaker 1: If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please
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