Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people.
Speaker 2: Go down at once. Your people, whom you brought up
Speaker 2: from Egypt did corruptly. They have quickly turned away from
Speaker 2: the way I commanded them, making an image of the
Speaker 2: golden calf.
Speaker 1: Moses thoughts raised, but in his shock he lost all control.
Speaker 2: Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn
Speaker 2: against them.
Speaker 3: My God, why does your anger burn against your people?
Speaker 4: The ones you brought out of Egypt were with great
Speaker 4: power and a strong hand. Why should the Egyptians say
Speaker 4: he brought them out only to kill them in the
Speaker 4: mountains and erase them from the earth. Turn from your
Speaker 4: fierce finger. Relent this disaster plan for your own. Remember
Speaker 4: your servants, Abraham, Isaac Israel.
Speaker 3: You swore to them, I will make your offspring as
Speaker 3: numerous as the stars, and give them this land to
Speaker 3: inherit forever.
Speaker 4: Do you remember.
Speaker 1: Moses marched down and shoved his way through the crowd.
Speaker 1: He stepped up to the altar and peered down at
Speaker 1: the pathetic golden idol they had made for themselves. Moses
Speaker 1: spat on it. People gasped, turning them another violent shout
Speaker 1: from Moses. He held up the idol to them.
Speaker 4: This is what you've replaced the lord with a three
Speaker 4: foot tall cow. The god who hearted sees and set
Speaker 4: fire down from heaven replaced by a bovine that could
Speaker 4: fit the child's napsack.
Speaker 2: You know how they get when they're anxious. They came
Speaker 2: to me saying, make gods for us to read us,
Speaker 2: because as for Moses, who brought us out of Egypt,
Speaker 2: we don't know what's happened to him.
Speaker 3: Now listen carefully, this is what our God, the god
Speaker 3: of this, he says. Every man, fasten his sword side,
Speaker 3: go back and fol throughout the camp, from entrance to entrance,
Speaker 3: and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and
Speaker 3: his neighbor.
Speaker 5: Now, if you would only forgive their sin. But if not,
Speaker 5: please erase me and the book he written.
Speaker 1: The way of failure plagued him. If he couldn't teach
Speaker 1: or lead these people in God's ways, he would rather
Speaker 1: die than watch their downfall and shame.
Speaker 2: Finally, the answer came, whoever has sinned against me, I
Speaker 2: will erase from my book. Loud, go lead the people
Speaker 2: to the place I told you about. Ah, he will
Speaker 2: go before you. But on the day I said to accounts,
Speaker 2: I will hold them comfortable for their sin.
Speaker 6: Who would dare ask God to change his mind? Who
Speaker 6: is brave enough to stand before the Almighty and ask
Speaker 6: him to bend sell O, my friends from here in
Speaker 6: the Holy Land, I'm ya l Exstein with the International
Speaker 6: Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Welcome to the Chosen People.
Speaker 6: Each day we'll hear a dramatic story inspired by the Bible,
Speaker 6: stories filled with timeless lessons of faith, love, and the
Speaker 6: meaning of life. Through Israel story, we find this truth
Speaker 6: that we are all chosen for something great. While we
Speaker 6: know these stories offer something to you, it never ceases
Speaker 6: to amaze and bless us that you would tune in
Speaker 6: here every single day to learn together with me, these
Speaker 6: ancient stories that continue to inspire us today. So from
Speaker 6: the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much. Now
Speaker 6: let's begin In the cool shadow of Mount Sinai. The
Speaker 6: Chosen People are encamped in the wilderness, having received the Torah,
Speaker 6: a covenant meant to bind them to their creator. Yet
Speaker 6: a grave mistake has been made. A golden calf was
Speaker 6: fashioned in the absence of Moses, their leader, leading to
Speaker 6: divine wrath that threatened to consume them. Now Moses seeks
Speaker 6: God's favor once more.
Speaker 1: Zippora shivered under the woolen blanket, fairly able to keep
Speaker 1: her eyes open. Moses stroked her hair, chin quivering, eyes
Speaker 1: swollen from tears, Zipporah raised a trembling hand to his
Speaker 1: and kissed it.
Speaker 7: Don't you have people to attend to.
Speaker 3: I'm right where to be.
Speaker 8: With you.
Speaker 7: I'm glad to have you to myself for one last time.
Speaker 1: Moses winced and dipped his head to meet hers. He
Speaker 1: closed his eyes and imagined life with her back in medium,
Speaker 1: tending to sheep, gazing at the stars, dancing by the fire.
Speaker 1: So much had changed, brilliant miracles and terrible tragedies. The
Speaker 1: plague had chipped away at their numbers significantly. There was
Speaker 1: scarcely a family to be found among them who had
Speaker 1: not been affected. God's words of warning still echoed in
Speaker 1: Moses's head.
Speaker 2: Whoever gives me I my book?
Speaker 1: Oh who were come to Moses did not know what
Speaker 1: the future held for his people, or if more were
Speaker 1: still yet to die for their crimes, or even when,
Speaker 1: But this much was clear. He was to lead them
Speaker 1: whoever their God kept alive and placed under his care
Speaker 1: for however long.
Speaker 7: Even after this, I am glad. I came here to
Speaker 7: witness the leader you've become. It's been like falling in
Speaker 7: love with you all over again.
Speaker 3: You're a good leader, Moses, and you are the greatest
Speaker 3: wife a man could ask for.
Speaker 7: Oh, I know you were blessed to find me.
Speaker 3: I will miss you, Zipporah.
Speaker 1: Zipporah's hand went slack in his, and the light in
Speaker 1: her eyes became dim. She was gone, and Moses never
Speaker 1: felt more alone. Moses stood before the people, palms sweaty
Speaker 1: and shifting his weight between his two feet. What he
Speaker 1: had to tell them would not be easy to here.
Speaker 1: Moses had again answered their God's summons and sought him
Speaker 1: on the mountain side. He now had the difficult task
Speaker 1: of telling them that their God indeed had a further
Speaker 1: punishment for them, another consequence of their betrayal.
Speaker 3: I have again been before our God, and I have
Speaker 3: a message for you all to hear. He told me
Speaker 3: that we will go to the borders of Canaan, the
Speaker 3: land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Speaker 1: The people were hanging on his every word. They seemed
Speaker 1: to sense that there was more a catch to this
Speaker 1: reminder of their claim on the promised land.
Speaker 3: He said he would send an angel ahead of me
Speaker 3: and would drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Heathites, Perizites, Heavites,
Speaker 3: and Jebusites. We are to go to a land flowing
Speaker 3: with milk and honey. But our God will not go
Speaker 3: up with us.
Speaker 9: He said.
Speaker 3: He will not go with us because you are a
Speaker 3: stiff necked people. He said that otherwise he might destroy
Speaker 3: you on the way abandonment.
Speaker 1: That was the message Roses just delivered to his people.
Speaker 1: They were still able to continue on to the promised land,
Speaker 1: but they would be forced to do so without the
Speaker 1: presence of their God. His heart was heavy and burdened
Speaker 1: because he knew they would never succeed apart from their God.
Speaker 1: Would the people stay united or committed to their mission?
Speaker 1: Left to their devices, They had already made so many mistakes.
Speaker 1: They had complained around every corner. They had often pined
Speaker 1: for the slavery in Egypt, and that was before the
Speaker 1: disloyalty they had displayed with the Golden Calf.
Speaker 3: This is what our God has told me to tell you.
Speaker 3: He said, to take off your jewelry and mourn. Do this,
Speaker 3: and he will decide what to do with you next.
Speaker 1: The crowd wailed and keened the grief that struck them
Speaker 1: as earnest. They did indeed take off their ornamentation and dispersed, defeated,
Speaker 1: to mourn in their tents. Ho Sheer felt more alone
Speaker 1: than he had ever felt as he stood and listened
Speaker 1: to Moses addressed the crowd. When he shut out his feelings,
Speaker 1: Hoshier could understand, as he knew Moses did, that they
Speaker 1: had all fallen short, whether negligently, passively or actively, they
Speaker 1: had all erred grievously before their God and his commandments
Speaker 1: for their people. Suddenly, a voice calling his name returned
Speaker 1: his attention to the present.
Speaker 9: Oh Sheya.
Speaker 1: It was his friend Caleb who approached him. He smiled
Speaker 1: weakly at him. It was a bleak day, but at
Speaker 1: least he had one friend he knew was innocent of
Speaker 1: what had grieved their God.
Speaker 9: Now, hoche, Lord Moses sent me to come and find you.
Speaker 9: He said, he needs your help in setting up a
Speaker 9: new tent. A new tent, that's what he said. And
Speaker 9: it looks like almost everyone has gone home to mourn.
Speaker 9: You want me to lend a hand the work. We'll
Speaker 9: go faster with the three of us, and we could
Speaker 9: find more along the way.
Speaker 1: O Sheer grinned again in earnest. This time he knew
Speaker 1: no one else who could keep their spirits high even
Speaker 1: in the most dire circumstances.
Speaker 2: That's a great idea. Let's go see Moses in this
Speaker 2: task he has for us.
Speaker 1: The two men found Moses a short while later, and
Speaker 1: he had already recruited a few more men to help
Speaker 1: him erect a tent. The space he selected for the
Speaker 1: tent was a distance from the camp. The camp was
Speaker 1: in the opposite direction of the makeshift cemetery, but also
Speaker 1: a ways away from the foot of the mountain where
Speaker 1: the Lord had dwelt. The men worked a fishing stretching
Speaker 1: and tying the material between the wooden poles, something they
Speaker 1: had done countless times and would surely do countless more
Speaker 1: times as their sojourn continued through the desert. When at
Speaker 1: last they stood back and admired their work, Hosher wondered
Speaker 1: what the significance of the lone tent was. It didn't
Speaker 1: appear to have any particular purpose or adornment, and Moses
Speaker 1: already had a dwelling within the camp. Surely no one
Speaker 1: would live out here alone. Moses stepped forward to fiddle
Speaker 1: with the entryway flag. Especially after recent events, no one
Speaker 1: seemed keen to break the silence or question their leader.
Speaker 1: At last, Moses seemed satisfied with their work. He clapped
Speaker 1: his hands and brushed the dust off his tunic.
Speaker 3: Ah, thank you, my brothers, now spread the word among
Speaker 3: the camp. This place is to be called the Tent
Speaker 3: of Meeting. Anyone who wants to consult our God to
Speaker 3: seek spiritual counsel can do so here.
Speaker 1: Ho Shea was amazed at Moses. Here he was attempting
Speaker 1: to rekindle the broken relationship with their God. He understood
Speaker 1: that Moses was trying to make the presence of the
Speaker 1: Lord accessible again. This was what a true priest did.
Speaker 1: The heart of a true priest always sought to bring
Speaker 1: the people closer to the Lord. Hoshier wondered if anyone
Speaker 1: would be courageous enough to enter the Tent of Meeting
Speaker 1: A tent of meeting. Aaron scratched his bearded chin and
Speaker 1: considered its purpose. Moses was setting up a holy sanctuary
Speaker 1: outside of the camp. Aaron murmured to himself.
Speaker 2: A sanctuary for our God. How is that any different
Speaker 2: from all the foreign gods of the desert.
Speaker 1: Aaron dared not say this with an ear shot of Moses.
Speaker 1: Their relation had been fraught since the Golden Calf incident.
Speaker 1: Aaron was embarrassed and forlorn, but he had to admit
Speaker 1: that he was a little sour that he and Moses
Speaker 1: had not reconciled.
Speaker 2: Yet.
Speaker 1: He knew that God had conveyed to Moses that Aaron
Speaker 1: and his sons would be set aside and instructed as
Speaker 1: a priestly order, but he had yet to disclose whatever
Speaker 1: details he had received on the mountain top. The first
Speaker 1: time Aaron saw Moses enter the tent of meeting, hope
Speaker 1: was rekindled in his heart. He had never seen anything
Speaker 1: quite like it. Moses would walk out to the remote tent,
Speaker 1: away from the rest of the camp, and people would
Speaker 1: stand at the entryways to their own tents to observe.
Speaker 1: Moses would enter the tent, and the pillar of cloud,
Speaker 1: just like the one that guided them through the desert
Speaker 1: after they escaped from Egypt, would come down and remain
Speaker 1: with the entrance to the tent. Moses would speak with
Speaker 1: their God inside the tent, just as he had done
Speaker 1: on the mounts. It was truly remarkable. No one else
Speaker 1: dared approach, But when they beheld the sight of the
Speaker 1: far off tent, they would bow in worship and reverence.
Speaker 1: Aaron included, understanding now better than ever how holy and
Speaker 1: mighty their God was. He dared go no closer, especially
Speaker 1: in light of the ways that he had failed. The
Speaker 1: people failed, his nephew her and his sister Miriam failed Moses.
Speaker 1: Moses was in the tent of meeting, as he had
Speaker 1: been every day since he set it up. He knew
Speaker 1: that eventually the tabernacle would be constructed and serve as
Speaker 1: a more permanent place of meeting with their God, but
Speaker 1: he had yet to reveal the plans to the people.
Speaker 1: The children of Israel would timidly bring him matters to
Speaker 1: present to their God or ask him to seek counsel
Speaker 1: on their behalf. It was a start. Moses felt satisfied
Speaker 1: that this was the first step toward a reconciliation between
Speaker 1: the people and their God. He was relieved that the
Speaker 1: grieving and mourning at the loss of God's presence appeared
Speaker 1: to be genuine another good start. He would also try
Speaker 1: to make more progress to day. Moses refused to give
Speaker 1: up on his people and his mission. The pillar of
Speaker 1: smoke was swirling and swaying in powerful gusts at the
Speaker 1: front of the tent. Moses spoke to it, but not
Speaker 1: as one would in a hallowed temple or priestly hall.
Speaker 1: Moses talked to the Lord as one would to a friend.
Speaker 3: You keep reminding me of how close we are, you said,
Speaker 3: I know you by name, and you've also found favor
Speaker 3: with me. But if I have found favor with you,
Speaker 3: I need to know more about you. Teach me your ways,
Speaker 3: tell me more about how.
Speaker 4: To lead these people, Your people, my people. They have
Speaker 4: become my people.
Speaker 2: At long last.
Speaker 3: You reunited me with my very heritage.
Speaker 4: Please don't let all this be for nothing. My fate
Speaker 4: is tied to their success.
Speaker 9: Or their failure.
Speaker 8: Please don't rip away my identity, our identity as your people.
Speaker 1: There was a long, lingering pause between them. Moses listened
Speaker 1: for the lord's response. He waited, he yearned. Instead, there
Speaker 1: was silence, as if the Lord was contemplating something. Moses
Speaker 1: took the silence as a cue to continue.
Speaker 8: Well, will you really give us the lamb? But remove
Speaker 8: your presence? What good is that? What good is the
Speaker 8: promised land? Without you? You could give us mountains of
Speaker 8: gold and ivory, palaces laced with silver.
Speaker 4: But what would it matter. I've lived in the palaces
Speaker 4: of Egypt.
Speaker 8: I've slept in silk sheets, with my servants at my command.
Speaker 10: I've bathed in rose petals with cups of wine flowing
Speaker 10: without end. But each day the desert with you is
Speaker 10: better than a lifetime in paradise without you.
Speaker 4: You are why we are free.
Speaker 10: You, you are why we have survived.
Speaker 4: You're the one we made.
Speaker 1: Your presence Moses waited with baited breath for his God's answer.
Speaker 1: He was determined he would camp here and advocate for
Speaker 1: the people for as long as it took.
Speaker 2: I have considered all that you have said and all
Speaker 2: the people have done, and my presence will go with you,
Speaker 2: and I will give you rest.
Speaker 3: Will you be with all your people, not just me,
Speaker 3: for we belong to know? For God, ay, you.
Speaker 2: Will do this very thing that you have asked for.
Speaker 2: You have found favor with me, and I know you
Speaker 2: by name for a second time.
Speaker 1: Relief washed over Moses. Encouraged by the affirmation of the
Speaker 1: favor he had from his God, he found himself feeling emboldened,
Speaker 1: bold enough to ask something he had never asked before,
Speaker 1: something he had wandered and contemplated since that moment. Beside
Speaker 1: a burning bush.
Speaker 3: Please let me see your glory.
Speaker 1: Moses could sense the satisfaction coming off the pillar before him.
Speaker 1: He seemed to have passed this test.
Speaker 2: I will cause all my goodness to pass in front
Speaker 2: of you and proclaim my true name your way before you.
Speaker 2: I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
Speaker 2: and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Speaker 1: Moses was amazed that his God was going to grant
Speaker 1: his request. But the name Yahweh, what was that? It
Speaker 1: was more than a title, more than a designation. He
Speaker 1: knew his God was the god of his ancestors, Abraham,
Speaker 1: Isaac and Jacob. And when he asked his name before
Speaker 1: the burning bush, the name that was spoken was I
Speaker 1: am who I Am. The name represented not only his
Speaker 1: everlasting nature, but also his presence. The presence Moses and
Speaker 1: his people so desperately sought community with their God was
Speaker 1: what set them apart from all other nations. A God
Speaker 1: who would call them his his holy nation, his priesthood,
Speaker 1: a bond so special and unique that he would go
Speaker 1: before them and protect and provide, even enter into an
Speaker 1: everlasting covenant with them, as everlasting as his name, if
Speaker 1: only they would return to their obedience. Moses heart soared.
Speaker 2: But you cannot see my face, for humans cannot see
Speaker 2: me and live.
Speaker 1: Moses's heart fell. He could die from the sight of
Speaker 1: his God. He had indeed covered his face in fear
Speaker 1: in their first meeting, and on the mountain he could
Speaker 1: only take in the bottom of his God's glorious throne.
Speaker 1: But Moses had somehow hoped that perhaps he was ready now,
Speaker 1: perhaps he would be able to go limps the glory
Speaker 1: of their God. They talked every day. He just wanted
Speaker 1: to see what he looked like. He longed to understand.
Speaker 1: He wanted to know his God more fully.
Speaker 2: But I will make it so. My glory will pass
Speaker 2: before you. You will see my glory and know my name.
Speaker 2: Come to me tomorrow.
Speaker 1: On the mountain, Moses stared at the pillar before him
Speaker 1: in awe. Tomorrow he would see the glory of his God,
Speaker 1: and he would finally learn his name, his true name.
Speaker 6: Of all the challenges to faith, none may be more
Speaker 6: powerful than suffering. I've heard countless stories over the years,
Speaker 6: tales of heart shattered, faith abandoned, the face of unexplainable,
Speaker 6: seemingly unjustified suffering. Many Jews who survived the horrors of
Speaker 6: the Holocaust felt this anguish deeply. They asked how could
Speaker 6: God allow such evil? While, according to our tradition, Moses,
Speaker 6: when he spoke to God face to face, dared to
Speaker 6: ask this very profound question. He sought to understand why
Speaker 6: the righteous suffer? But God and his infinite wisdom replied
Speaker 6: that this was one of the answers that even Moses
Speaker 6: couldn't know. If Moses, the greatest of all prophets, couldn't
Speaker 6: grasp this mystery, how can we hope to explain it?
Speaker 6: But even in our limited understanding, we can find meaning
Speaker 6: in how we and others respond to suffering. In the
Speaker 6: opening verse of Psalm twenty two, King David voices the
Speaker 6: same question, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Speaker 6: Why are you so far from saving me? So far
Speaker 6: from my cries of anguish?
Speaker 1: He asks?
Speaker 6: But David doesn't lose faith. Instead, he reflects on the
Speaker 6: generations before him who suffered and were saved. He reaffirms
Speaker 6: his trust in God even as his enemies mock him,
Speaker 6: And then, towards the end of some David in visions
Speaker 6: a future where the world witnesses how God has saved
Speaker 6: his people and praises and worships him. These are the
Speaker 6: words that King David wrote, and that we read still today.
Speaker 6: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn
Speaker 6: to the Lord, and all the families of the nations
Speaker 6: will bow down before him, For dominion belongs to the Lord,
Speaker 6: and he rules over the nations. David didn't receive an
Speaker 6: answer to why he and his people suffered, but he
Speaker 6: found meaning and purpose and the redemption from that suffering.
Speaker 6: Maybe that's part of the answering to suffering. Maybe without suffering,
Speaker 6: there would be no redemption. In our pain, we find
Speaker 6: the seeds of our deliverance. In our anguish, we encounter
Speaker 6: the possibility of grace. There is another teaching from Jewish
Speaker 6: tradition they want to touch on. Let's look to the Bible.
Speaker 6: After the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses moved, he
Speaker 6: changed his physical location. Verse seven tells us now Moses
Speaker 6: used to take a tent and pitch it outside the
Speaker 6: camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting.
Speaker 6: Anyone who inquired of the Lord would go to the
Speaker 6: tent of meeting. Outside the camp. The Jewish age has
Speaker 6: noticed something very strange about this verse. First, it tells
Speaker 6: us that Moses pitched his tent outside the camp, but
Speaker 6: then it tells us that anyone inquiring of the Lord
Speaker 6: would go to that tent. Well, if the Israelites were
Speaker 6: looking for God, why did they need to go to
Speaker 6: see Moses. Our tradition suggest that this teaches us that
Speaker 6: anyone who is the source of God's word is called
Speaker 6: by the name of God. This is very interesting because
Speaker 6: we know that as great as Moses was, he was
Speaker 6: a human being. He was born, he lived, he died.
Speaker 6: Moses was not God, but the word of God was
Speaker 6: so present with Moses that he deserved to be called
Speaker 6: by God's name. As this verse expresses, you know, none
Speaker 6: of us is Moses, that's for sure, But here we
Speaker 6: are studying God's word and maybe even teaching others what
Speaker 6: we've learned. Maybe what this verse means is that we
Speaker 6: and anyone who has heard and studies God's word and
Speaker 6: who shapes their life according to God's word, can be
Speaker 6: called by the name of God himself. At the heart
Speaker 6: of the stories the nature of suffering and redemption, Moses's
Speaker 6: intimate dialogue with God reveals two things, the limitations of
Speaker 6: our own human understanding and the boundless depths of God's
Speaker 6: divine wisdom. When Moses asked why the righteous suffer, God's
Speaker 6: response was a reminder that some mysteries transcend our grasp.
Speaker 6: This isn't a dismissal of our pain, but an invitation
Speaker 6: to trust in a wisdom that's even greater than our own.
Speaker 6: That when we experience suffering, we have to keep our
Speaker 6: heads above the water, not to drowned by holding on
Speaker 6: too God and God's word. Jewish tradition teaches that suffering
Speaker 6: is not devoid of meaning. Instead, it can lead to transformation.
Speaker 6: Through suffering, we are often drawn closer to God. Our
Speaker 6: hearts are laid bare, seeking comfort and understanding. In these moments,
Speaker 6: we encounter God not in his answers, but in his presence,
Speaker 6: and then we know that we are not abandoned.
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 Katina,
Speaker 1: Max bard Zach Shellabarger 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 Bree Rosalie and
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, 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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