Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People.
Speaker 2: We're in the throes of arranging the wedding. I have
Speaker 2: been working tirelessly. You could not imagine the intricacies. But
Speaker 2: it is a labor of love. My daughters, Keziah and Milka,
Speaker 2: deserve nothing less, and they.
Speaker 3: Will make lovely brides, and.
Speaker 2: The match will be most beneficial for both our houses.
Speaker 2: Of course, there's our noble line. We can trace our
Speaker 2: family history back to Noah. If you can believe that
Speaker 2: through his son's shell, the evil.
Speaker 4: And vile atrocities have caused a great outcry against its people.
Speaker 2: Destroy it.
Speaker 4: Yes, the city, the city will be destroyed.
Speaker 1: The lightning strikes intensified a harrowing force of nature and judgment.
Speaker 1: It was as if thick tongues of flame were licking
Speaker 1: the city of Sodom. The bright white inferno of lightning
Speaker 1: from above met the blue flames from below, and all
Speaker 1: that was caught in the middle was melted into the
Speaker 1: molten mess that writhed beneath that blue, purifying fire.
Speaker 4: But you must go now, Remember what we told you.
Speaker 4: Don't look back, and don't stop.
Speaker 2: I can't, I can't do this lot, I cannot follow
Speaker 2: you again.
Speaker 4: Yes, wait, what are you doing?
Speaker 5: Where are you gowering.
Speaker 1: Weather? Suddenly the wind shifted and she was in full
Speaker 1: view from the wall. She gazed upward as if in
Speaker 1: provocative protest, arms outstretched, and her school was cut short.
Speaker 1: And she stood still as a pillar. But then her
Speaker 1: body fell. Now it did not fall, it began to crumble.
Speaker 1: To Lot's revulsion, the outline of her very body was
Speaker 1: falling in on itself and dissolving into what appeared to
Speaker 1: be salt. The wind carried larger and larger chunks, until
Speaker 1: there was a small pile where she once stood. Petrified,
Speaker 1: His daughters stopped screaming, their eyes wide in horror. Time
Speaker 1: stood still as the three of them watched a smoky
Speaker 1: gust carry the rest of her away on a fell wind.
Speaker 1: His daughter's keening cries filled lotsy as, driving him to
Speaker 1: his knees.
Speaker 6: In the grip of despair. What lines can be crossed
Speaker 6: and what truths can be unearthed? Shello, my friends from
Speaker 6: here in Israel, I am ye el Extein with the
Speaker 6: International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the
Speaker 6: Chosen People. Each day we'll hear a dramatic story inspired
Speaker 6: by the Bible stories filled with timeless lessons of faith, love,
Speaker 6: and the meaning of life. Through Israel's story, we'll find
Speaker 6: this truth that we are all chosen for something great.
Speaker 6: Let's begin. There are some pretty dark and shadowy things
Speaker 6: lurking in the Bible, in this most sacred and inspiring
Speaker 6: of texts.
Speaker 7: Aren't there?
Speaker 6: Have you ever paid attention to that? The Bible is
Speaker 6: full of stories that make us feel uncomfortable and that
Speaker 6: force us to confront the raw and unvarnished truths of
Speaker 6: humanity's brokenness. And in Genesis nineteen thirty to thirty eight,
Speaker 6: encounter such a story, a tale that's shrouded in darkness,
Speaker 6: but essential and it's honesty. The story of Lot and
Speaker 6: his daughters is a chilling reminder of the length to
Speaker 6: which fear and desperation can drive us. Why did this
Speaker 6: family believe that there was no other way? And what
Speaker 6: does their story teach us about survival, sin, and redemption.
Speaker 1: This episode of The Chosen People with the Isle Exstein
Speaker 1: contains explicit content that may be triggering for some listeners
Speaker 1: and inappropriate for young children. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2: Father, What you need to come back with me? It's
Speaker 2: time for the evening meal. You can't just linger up
Speaker 2: here all day. You're unsettling our new neighbors.
Speaker 8: I have I have.
Speaker 2: To I know, but it's time to go now.
Speaker 1: Lot sell this daughter. Kazia placed her hand on her
Speaker 1: father's arm and guided him away from the town gate
Speaker 1: and into the heart of the town Bellah, where their
Speaker 1: mysterious saviours bid them to escape their new home. She
Speaker 1: felt her father stiffen with fear the further they retreated
Speaker 1: into the buildings. This tragedy seemed to have aged him
Speaker 1: twenty years. Kazia knew her father was afraid to be
Speaker 1: away from the stone walls for too long. He would
Speaker 1: humor her and her sister by joining them for the
Speaker 1: evening meal, fain going to sleep, and returning before dawn.
Speaker 1: Sometimes she wondered if guilt and regret over what happened
Speaker 1: to her mother kept him watching on the wall, or
Speaker 1: perhaps he feared being trapped within the labyrinth of buildings
Speaker 1: should fiery judgment fall again. As for Kazia, she wasn't
Speaker 1: sure what haunted her more, the image of her mother's
Speaker 1: corpse crumbling into sault, or her final words, what do you.
Speaker 2: Know of it? I handed you everything I got you
Speaker 2: a husband, secured your future, and gave you stability. You
Speaker 2: would have nothing without me.
Speaker 1: Her mother was right. She had simultaneously done everything and
Speaker 1: expected everything from her. It was impossible to live up to,
Speaker 1: and yet nothing had been expected of her younger sister,
Speaker 1: milkha would never understand the weight upon her shoulders, Upon
Speaker 1: the eldest's shoulders, her mother was always complaining that Kasia
Speaker 1: didn't do enough, or that she was always falling short
Speaker 1: of her lofty expectations for her. Her mother had worked
Speaker 1: hard to rebuild their family's reputation, despite the misfortunes and
Speaker 1: nomadic lifestyle their family had adopted on account of their
Speaker 1: uncle Abraham. Kaziah hardly remembered the city of her birth, Haaron,
Speaker 1: but her mother constantly reminded her of its sophistication and
Speaker 1: the intricacies of social status, and preserving those intricacies was
Speaker 1: paramount why her sister, Milker, the one their mother clearly favored,
Speaker 1: had even been named for their father's sister, their aunt Milka,
Speaker 1: who was married to their uncle Nahor. Keeping their blood
Speaker 1: line was always at the forefront. The blood line of
Speaker 1: m Cauzara's mother spoke of little else. She had been
Speaker 1: choosy about her daughter's matchess, and it wasn't until they
Speaker 1: were established in the upper echelons of Sodomite society that
Speaker 1: she finally struck the arrangements. Their blood line was not
Speaker 1: to be compromised under any circumstances. That was her mother's
Speaker 1: constant refrain. No second rate family edition would do. Not
Speaker 1: that that seemed to matter now she and her sister's betrothed,
Speaker 1: Zurum and Laven, were killed in the terrible disaster. They
Speaker 1: were surely burned or buried or worse. But yet it
Speaker 1: was their mother who had outright abandoned them. It was
Speaker 1: now up to Kazia to rebuild their family. Kazia and
Speaker 1: her father were rounding the corner leading to their lodgings
Speaker 1: cramped street Malak, a kind old tanner and his wife
Speaker 1: had taken them in the days following the catastrophe at Sodom,
Speaker 1: days had turned to weeks, and a new sort of
Speaker 1: routine formed. Lot haunted the war by the city gate,
Speaker 1: and Kazia and Milka tried to appear useful to the
Speaker 1: tanner and his wife, But their mother had raised them
Speaker 1: to order a household not working one the transition was
Speaker 1: uncomfortable for everyone, to say the least. Kazia knew she
Speaker 1: had to devise a plan and soon, but she had
Speaker 1: no idea where to begin. As they approached the dwelling,
Speaker 1: Kazi's stomach twisted, she saw a familiar gang of men
Speaker 1: approach her sister, Milker, who was waiting for them in
Speaker 1: the doorway.
Speaker 8: Hebrew, girl, pardon me, you heard me outside?
Speaker 3: Y infiltrate us? How's it only you? Three escaped sodoms do?
Speaker 3: How do you make it out in time?
Speaker 4: How long, dear? What happens?
Speaker 3: And sodom happens?
Speaker 1: Here?
Speaker 3: There's some angry god after you? Huh, what do you do?
Speaker 3: How long are we going to harbor you?
Speaker 1: Like the fugitives you are?
Speaker 3: I say we'd drave them out. I they've outstayed there.
Speaker 3: Welcome they have.
Speaker 1: Because I hurried to close the distance between her sister
Speaker 1: and the four men, A silent, bewildered lot in tow.
Speaker 2: Milka, come here, gentlemen. We mean you no harm. We're
Speaker 2: just trying to make our way here, same as.
Speaker 3: You, gentlemen. Who do you think you are?
Speaker 1: Ah? You're fine city folk.
Speaker 3: You think you're bearing me trying to make you way
Speaker 3: say I heard you wearing out. You're welcome. It's our hospitality,
Speaker 3: guess rights and all that. Your podn't we barely speaks,
Speaker 3: and you two pretty little things think you too good
Speaker 3: for us. Noses in the air. Don't think we didn't
Speaker 3: see the fine clothes you came with.
Speaker 1: And so what are you girls going to do when
Speaker 1: the money runs out?
Speaker 4: Who will protect you?
Speaker 5: Then?
Speaker 1: Because I wrenched her arm out of the man's firm
Speaker 1: grasp as Malach their host burst through his doorway, scattering.
Speaker 3: The men live on me.
Speaker 4: They're my guests. You will not bring me shame by
Speaker 4: arming them.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, Master Malak, Yes.
Speaker 9: Thank you.
Speaker 4: No, little mistress, I'm not like you. Don't need a
Speaker 4: title or preamble before my name. You're welcome just to
Speaker 4: see you. Are you are right there?
Speaker 2: A lot, He's fine, He'll be fine if you say so, mister, this,
Speaker 2: shall we go in and wash up for the evening meal?
Speaker 4: I am I wanted to talk to you about.
Speaker 2: Something, Milka. Why don't you take farther inside? What did
Speaker 2: you want to speak of?
Speaker 4: Now? I've known those men all all my life. I
Speaker 4: know those looks. Once they get their heads set on trouble,
Speaker 4: trouble they will have. I fear the protection of my
Speaker 4: roof won't mean much considering how riled up they are.
Speaker 4: The business with Sodom got us all on the edge. Mistress,
Speaker 4: You understand.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 4: No uh no disrespect, little mistress. But I don't think
Speaker 4: you do now. I know your paw isn't in his
Speaker 4: right mind, jumping the shadows and his mind wandering here
Speaker 4: and there. But I think it's time you move on
Speaker 4: from here. I don't want the trouble those men will
Speaker 4: bring to be my trouble too.
Speaker 2: But what will we do? Where will we go? How
Speaker 2: will we live?
Speaker 4: I would tell you to go to your rich uncle
Speaker 4: across the plain, but they're saying the air still ain't
Speaker 4: fit to breathe. It's like fire on the insides and
Speaker 4: stings your eyes. The whole valley is bedden and wild
Speaker 4: and treacherous. For miles and miles, two girls, and your
Speaker 4: father and his condition, it would be a death sentence.
Speaker 2: Then, where.
Speaker 4: There's some big caves up in the mountains, big enough
Speaker 4: to make like those tents your people favor, you could
Speaker 4: drap rabbits and grow crops up there too, under the
Speaker 4: flat parts in the foothills. Not many would Bathria, and
Speaker 4: it's remote and folk around here they prefer mostly the towns.
Speaker 4: And me and mine, I can help you out from
Speaker 4: time to time. My wife made up some food and
Speaker 4: supplies to help you out.
Speaker 2: So you've already decided you're sending us away.
Speaker 4: It don't sit right with me, but I got mine
Speaker 4: to worry about, and I couldn't live with myself if
Speaker 4: something were to happen under my roof.
Speaker 2: But you would send us out to go and starve.
Speaker 4: My told you. I don't like it, but you'll find
Speaker 4: a way. You're a smart girl. You'll find a way
Speaker 4: for your family to survive.
Speaker 1: The old Tennis words like a slap in the face.
Speaker 1: But he was right. Her mother was right. It seemed
Speaker 1: it would always fall to her to look after her family.
Speaker 1: Months passed and Kazia and her family ran to the
Speaker 1: caves like fugitives at night, and true to her calling,
Speaker 1: Kaziah ensured that they survived. Their sanity and soundness were
Speaker 1: held by a thread, but they were alive. True to
Speaker 1: his word, the Tanner did help them out from time
Speaker 1: to time, when Kazi would sneak into town to beg
Speaker 1: or barter for food. Lot took to the caves like
Speaker 1: an animal going to the ground. He cowered in the
Speaker 1: back corners of the cave, the stone walls to his back,
Speaker 1: and continued in his listless state. He sprang to life, however,
Speaker 1: when he caught Kazia creeping back into the cave one
Speaker 1: day with wine and bread from town.
Speaker 4: Where were you?
Speaker 8: I thought you'd been taken or burned?
Speaker 2: What did I tell you about leaving the cast? All castle?
Speaker 5: Father's gone mad.
Speaker 2: I was in town grabbing some odds and ends. I
Speaker 2: do this every week, father.
Speaker 4: Insuln girl, I forbid you to leave.
Speaker 8: How am I supposed to protect you when you wander
Speaker 8: out of sight?
Speaker 10: Wait until your mother hears about this.
Speaker 2: She's dead. We're not in a palace. We're in a cave,
Speaker 2: and it's me who's been keeping you safe.
Speaker 10: Understand, I think you're gonnare, But I tell you one day,
Speaker 10: I tell you, I tell you, I tell you, I
Speaker 10: tell you.
Speaker 8: But they listen. No, only kids, these all these kids?
Speaker 1: He is he is?
Speaker 3: He is it.
Speaker 4: These kids?
Speaker 1: It is?
Speaker 3: What are we going to do with these kids?
Speaker 1: It is? Kasia was dismayed at her father's worsening condition
Speaker 1: and agitation but was forced to heed him. Milka made
Speaker 1: for lousy company. She was almost as fearful as their
Speaker 1: father and followed what Kaziah ordered her to do, like
Speaker 1: a phantom of her former chip herself. Kaziah hated what
Speaker 1: they all had become. One morning, Kazia and Milka were
Speaker 1: outside the caves on the side of the mountain checking
Speaker 1: their snares for game. The tanner had given them a
Speaker 1: quick tutorial of how to set one and wear it
Speaker 1: was only successful a fraction of the time. Kaziah groaned
Speaker 1: with frustration when they came upon the third and final trap,
Speaker 1: finding it empty. They would be feasting on boiled roots
Speaker 1: again tonight.
Speaker 2: I can't take this any longer. I know, Kassiah, Oh
Speaker 2: do you, Cassiah.
Speaker 7: What's happening to you is also happening to me.
Speaker 2: You act like all the suffering is on your shoulders.
Speaker 2: That's because it is, Milka. It always has been. I've
Speaker 2: been working to keep us alive. I have no intention
Speaker 2: of dying here in this cave and dissolving into obscurity.
Speaker 2: We need a way out and a way up.
Speaker 4: What is there to do?
Speaker 7: We have no connections, no friends or even neighbors, and
Speaker 7: father is well.
Speaker 1: Milka turned to her father, murmuring in the corner of
Speaker 1: the cave, tracing something with his finger in the air.
Speaker 1: It was a pitiful sight. He was degenerating before them.
Speaker 1: The once ambitious and shrewd man they called father had
Speaker 1: been reduced to a blubbering fool.
Speaker 7: The point is, everyone we knew is dead. We have
Speaker 7: nothing but the clothes on our backs and the supplies
Speaker 7: of a stranger. Even our few were snatched away from us.
Speaker 7: I should have been married by now, I should have
Speaker 7: been running my own household. I could have been pregnant
Speaker 7: with my first born by now. But now we have nothing,
Speaker 7: not even hope.
Speaker 2: What about me? It's as you said, what's happening to
Speaker 2: you is also happening to me. So you would just
Speaker 2: have us die out here, die in a cave.
Speaker 8: Well, there's no.
Speaker 9: Life here, This is it. Our line ends with us.
Speaker 9: Mother would be furious if we intermarried with anyone in
Speaker 9: that god forsake in town, and there are not exactly
Speaker 9: eligible men roaming the mountainside. However, if one were, I
Speaker 9: would beseech him to come and set these blasted snares properly.
Speaker 9: I may marry him, just out of gratitude and for
Speaker 9: the promise of a hot meal. But the only man
Speaker 9: for Miles is father.
Speaker 1: Milka had a point. Perhaps the only way out of
Speaker 1: this situation was to stop thinking about their survival and
Speaker 1: start thinking about their lineage. Maybe was the malnutrition the
Speaker 1: Kaziah had become solely focused on their day to day survival.
Speaker 1: What was the next meal? Was it warm enough at night?
Speaker 1: Where would they find more fresh water? Should they relocate
Speaker 1: the latrine? And on and on the list went. Of course, Milker,
Speaker 1: their mother's favorite, would be the one to remind her
Speaker 1: of their mother's refrain. Their mother would chastise them for
Speaker 1: not thinking bigger. Their family legacy was larger than all
Speaker 1: of them. The weight of responsibility once again settled in
Speaker 1: on Kaziah's shoulders. Their mother had raised them to be
Speaker 1: noble women who would one day carry noble babes. Their
Speaker 1: duty was to steward the family line and wealth until
Speaker 1: they successfully raised the next generation. Well, the wealth was gone,
Speaker 1: but Kazia needed to find a way to preserve the lion.
Speaker 1: They would need to seek out worthy husbands. Milka was right.
Speaker 1: The men in town were simple minded townsfolk at best,
Speaker 1: and carousing thugs. At worst, they would not do. The
Speaker 1: cities of the plain had been wiped off the face
Speaker 1: of the earth, and their way to anyone else was blocked.
Speaker 1: If only they could get to their uncle Abraham and
Speaker 1: his family in Hebrew, or even their uncle Nahor in Awe.
Speaker 1: Surely Milka's namesake would not turn them away, but both
Speaker 1: were inaccessible, and besides, Khazia did not know the way
Speaker 1: to Or, but she knew it was very far and dangerous.
Speaker 1: That's when a thought took root in the back of
Speaker 1: her mind, Like a weed slowly coiling over a garden flower.
Speaker 1: The idea squeezed, intensifying with each moment. Ghazia had a
Speaker 1: dark idea. The only family they had left was their father.
Speaker 1: Her sister had just said it in passing, but still,
Speaker 1: perhaps the answer was right there in front of them.
Speaker 1: Becauseiah frowned, the prospect of lying with her father was
Speaker 1: not appealing, but she supposed it was not so different
Speaker 1: from the arranged marriages of her ancestors or even her
Speaker 1: extended family. Her uncle Nahor married his niece, their aunt Milkah,
Speaker 1: and even her uncle Abraham was married to his half sister.
Speaker 1: The desperation of her situation was beginning to present like
Speaker 1: an ember of hope, and for the first time in
Speaker 1: a long time, Becauseiah felt what she finally had her
Speaker 1: heading away forward.
Speaker 2: Did you get it? Yes, I got it? And keep
Speaker 2: your voice down. We don't want him to hear. Fine,
Speaker 2: fine father, father? How was your day? What your day?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 10: It was fine, child.
Speaker 2: I have some good news. I found that we have wine.
Speaker 8: Ah, I thought we had no more since we came here.
Speaker 2: We must have misplaced it.
Speaker 9: Let's drink to our good fortune of fighting it, as
Speaker 9: you say, daughters, we have so little else.
Speaker 1: Kaziah handed her father the sole cup they had. She
Speaker 1: had filled it almost to the brim with wine she
Speaker 1: had stolen from the town. She had nothing to barter
Speaker 1: or bargain with, so she resigned herself to thievery to
Speaker 1: hatch their scheme. Lot drank the first few SIPs of
Speaker 1: the wine and then offered it to Milka, who feigned
Speaker 1: us with Lot then offered it to Kaziah, and she
Speaker 1: did the same. Kazia then passed it back to her father,
Speaker 1: and on and on and twent with their meager dinner.
Speaker 1: It did not take long for the wine's effect to
Speaker 1: take hold of their father. He was soon drunk and
Speaker 1: did not realize where he was or what he was doing.
Speaker 8: Edith, is that you, Edith? Look the girls have found wine.
Speaker 8: Isn't this a fine vintage Edith?
Speaker 2: No, Father, it's oh, yes, lot, that's wonderful.
Speaker 1: The two women went along with what their father was
Speaker 1: saying until he was so drunk he didn't realize when
Speaker 1: they were before him or not. Keziah set her jaw
Speaker 1: and nodded for her sister to leave. She then took
Speaker 1: her father by the hand and led him to his
Speaker 1: bedroll in the back of the cave. She had her
Speaker 1: way with him. Every moment made her shudder, but at
Speaker 1: least she was in control. In the depths of the dark,
Speaker 1: damp cave. She was authoring her own destiny. If she
Speaker 1: had paid any attention to the God of Abraham, she
Speaker 1: would have understood that a new Sodom was being reborn
Speaker 1: in that cave. Indulgence, self reliance, and blurred lines between
Speaker 1: the sacred and profane.
Speaker 2: Was it disgusting? Terrible? Not so terrible? Different than what
Speaker 2: I would have expected.
Speaker 1: Cassire could not bring herself to admit it to her sister,
Speaker 1: or even say it out loud, but what she had
Speaker 1: felt last night was less discussed and more power. She
Speaker 1: had taken control of her destiny for the first time
Speaker 1: in a long time, maybe for the first time ever.
Speaker 1: She was so rarely in control and so much had
Speaker 1: been taken for her. A deep, dark part of her
Speaker 1: reveled in the power she exacted over her father.
Speaker 2: But he was so drunk that he had no idea
Speaker 2: who I was or if I was even there.
Speaker 7: Perhaps that's for the best.
Speaker 2: It just doesn't seem right. Don't do that. Don't judge me.
Speaker 2: You agreed to this same as me, and you know
Speaker 2: you still have to do this as well. I know,
Speaker 2: but I.
Speaker 7: Still wonder what he would say if he knew.
Speaker 2: Well, he doesn't know, and he won't know, yes, But
Speaker 2: if he did, well, you know, he wouldn't want this.
Speaker 2: He doesn't know what he wants. He would keep us
Speaker 2: locked up here in this cave forever. Maybe us producing
Speaker 2: airs will be the very thing that brings him to
Speaker 2: his senses and convinces him to lead this family again.
Speaker 2: He won't do it for us, but maybe he'll do
Speaker 2: it for them.
Speaker 1: Kaziah surprised herself with this admission and saw her own
Speaker 1: pain reflected back in her sister's eyes. They spoke no
Speaker 1: more of it until evening began to fall, and they
Speaker 1: repeated the same ritual from the night before. Lord had
Speaker 1: been groggy and hungover all day, and it took some
Speaker 1: convincing to get him to agree to accept the wine,
Speaker 1: but a venture. He was so drunk that he again
Speaker 1: was speaking to people who weren't there and remembering times
Speaker 1: that had long since passed.
Speaker 2: Milka, what are you waiting for?
Speaker 7: Do it now?
Speaker 5: I know, I just do it now before you lose
Speaker 5: your nerve. I just, Milka, this is our only escape.
Speaker 5: This is the only way out.
Speaker 1: Milka fixed Kazara with a helpless stare, but did as
Speaker 1: her sister bid her to do. Milka was coerced into
Speaker 1: taking her father and lying with him, just as her
Speaker 1: sister had done the night before. Lot awoke the next
Speaker 1: morning to a pounding in his head and a queasiness
Speaker 1: in his stomach like he had never experienced before. The
Speaker 1: cave wall above his head spun. As he attempted to
Speaker 1: sit up, he collapsed back down on him bed roll.
Speaker 1: Too weak and dizzy to change his orientation, he sighed
Speaker 1: and rubbed his eyes. He would stink of wine until
Speaker 1: he could muster up the strength to draw enough water
Speaker 1: for a bath or make his way out to a stream.
Speaker 1: He could already smell the wine seeping from his paws
Speaker 1: through his sweat. The morning sun was winking at him
Speaker 1: through the caves opening, and with a great groan, he
Speaker 1: forced himself to sit upright to get the light out
Speaker 1: of his eyes.
Speaker 8: Ah, what on earth happened last night?
Speaker 10: Why are my daughters walking around when I'm still in
Speaker 10: bed with this massive headache?
Speaker 4: Eye?
Speaker 1: His memory was so hazy he could not remember. But wait,
Speaker 1: he could remember fragments of memories, warm bodies touching, the
Speaker 1: rise and fall of his heartbeat, sounds echoing through the caves.
Speaker 1: It all rushed back to him in blurred images. But
Speaker 1: everything seemed wrong. He felt a pit in his stomach,
Speaker 1: a churning beyond the queasiness of the wine.
Speaker 8: Ah, surely these memories are from long ago. My wife
Speaker 8: Edith is gone.
Speaker 10: Ah too much to drink my head, Blast at my head,
Speaker 10: Ah the wine un Ah.
Speaker 1: This was the wine. Lot placed his hand beside him
Speaker 1: to steady himself before pushing off the bed roll. When
Speaker 1: he saw it, a long, dark hair, he blinked at it.
Speaker 1: He lifted his hand and looked around his bed several long,
Speaker 1: dark hairs. Who did those belong to? They were certainly
Speaker 1: not his? The shade and length were wrong. They were, however,
Speaker 1: a perfect match for his daughter's. But how surely not?
Speaker 1: But here was the evidence and his dream, no, not
Speaker 1: dream memories, he realized. Lot's stomach dropped out and his
Speaker 1: throat went dry. He hurled, his groans, echoing off the
Speaker 1: cave walls. O What have I til?
Speaker 3: What has been a time?
Speaker 4: To me? O?
Speaker 1: He was horrified? How could this have happened? And why?
Speaker 1: How much lower could the depths of his shame go?
Speaker 1: He felt worthless, defiled, dirty, violated, and what had been
Speaker 1: the extent of their coupling? He shuddered? If they were
Speaker 1: with a child. He couldn't fully wrap his head around that,
Speaker 1: not right now, not with the pounding in his head
Speaker 1: threatening to rob him of his consciousness. He felt sick.
Speaker 1: Would he ever feel whole or clean again? But if
Speaker 1: they were, how would the consequences of his daughter's actions
Speaker 1: unfold of his own? He wondered what would become of
Speaker 1: his daughter's children, his children in the years to come?
Speaker 6: What a horrible story. It's hard to even imagine the
Speaker 6: desperation Loot's daughters, driven to unthinkable measures, are trapped in
Speaker 6: the shadow of their father's shattered minds. Ethical lines blur.
Speaker 6: What seems unthinkable becomes a grotesque reality, carrying the burden
Speaker 6: of their families and their people's survival warps Loot's daughters,
Speaker 6: pushing them to commit acts that reflect a profound loss
Speaker 6: of hope and moral clarity, and Loot, lost in his
Speaker 6: grief and madness, becomes an unwilling participant in this dark chapter.
Speaker 6: Sin he gets sin. Sin has a way of twisting
Speaker 6: our paths, doesn't it. The story of Loet's family reflects
Speaker 6: our own struggles with morality, hope, and the relentless grip
Speaker 6: of sin, even in the face of ruin. How do
Speaker 6: we maintain our faiths? How do we cling to the
Speaker 6: teachings of the Bible, to the God who delivers his
Speaker 6: chosen people from Egypt, who guided us through the wilderness.
Speaker 6: This story challenges that. It challenges us to ponder the
Speaker 6: depths of our own faith and the lengths to which
Speaker 6: we will go when faced with despair. In the end,
Speaker 6: it is a call to return to the God of Abraham, Isaac,
Speaker 6: and Jacob to seek his wisdom and guidance in our
Speaker 6: darkest moments, for it is only through him that we
Speaker 6: find true deliverance and the strength to rise above our sins.
Speaker 6: In this story, the Bible and its brutal honesty, exposes
Speaker 6: our frailty and humanity's vulnerability to sin. Lot's daughters, isolated,
Speaker 6: devise a plan that plunges them into darkness, intoxicating their
Speaker 6: father and using him to sire sons alone and abandon
Speaker 6: their fear, twisted into a resolve born of the very
Speaker 6: chaos that whispered to Eve in the garden of Eden.
Speaker 6: Lot's daughters are a testament how easily we can be
Speaker 6: let astray. The story is warning, a call to vigilance.
Speaker 6: It reminds us of the seductive power of sin, the
Speaker 6: ease with which chaos can consume. When we lose sight
Speaker 6: of God's commandments, we open up ourselves to darkness. This tale,
Speaker 6: soaked and sorrow, urges us to stand guard, to cling
Speaker 6: to the word of God, and these stories in God's Word,
Speaker 6: though dark, help us to remember our identity. Sometimes you
Speaker 6: need to see what you aren't to remember what you
Speaker 6: are and who are we we are the Chosen people,
Speaker 6: bound to him, walking in his light. The story of
Speaker 6: Lot's daughters is a dark and complex thread in our
Speaker 6: people's history, a thread that, like Hagar's, weaves both enemies
Speaker 6: and lessons into our history and the fear and isolation.
Speaker 6: Lot's daughters took matters into their own hands. They birthed
Speaker 6: mob and Amon and future adversaries of Israel. Just as
Speaker 6: Hagar's story led to the rise of Ishmael and future conflict,
Speaker 6: this tale reflects to the broader theme of our ancestors
Speaker 6: struggle with faith, a struggle even seen in Abraham's failure
Speaker 6: with Hagar, and both these Bible stories birthed in nations
Speaker 6: that would become thorns in Israel.
Speaker 3: Side.
Speaker 6: The Bible and its raw honesty, doesn't shy away from
Speaker 6: the Chosen people's failures. Jewish tradition takes a very close
Speaker 6: look at the failings of Lot's family. Here, the wise
Speaker 6: sage Rabbi Sadya Gaon tells us Lot's daughters were not
Speaker 6: punished because their sin was a sin of error. They
Speaker 6: have the best intentions, but the rabbi explains that the
Speaker 6: Bible is using this specific story people with pure intentions
Speaker 6: in order to warn us of this, before you act,
Speaker 6: clarify the circumstances. I may repeat that again because it's
Speaker 6: so important before you act, clarify the circumstances. And this
Speaker 6: lesson pertains.
Speaker 1: To us too.
Speaker 11: How often do we act quickly on gut instinct, without thinking,
Speaker 11: without weighing the facts, without asking for advice, and then
Speaker 11: we end up doing something that's not good.
Speaker 6: Maybe it could be even as little as saying a
Speaker 6: not nice word or being mean to someone when they
Speaker 6: didn't deserve it. God has given us the ability to
Speaker 6: consider how to act and how to live our lives.
Speaker 6: He gave us unique opportunities as humans that are different
Speaker 6: than animals. Animals act on instinct, Humans look into all
Speaker 6: the circumstances, and God expects us to use that gift
Speaker 6: to think about each one of life's situations before we act.
Speaker 6: What we see in this story it is that it's
Speaker 6: a timeless lesson of trusting God over our own understanding.
Speaker 6: The struggles and failures of Lot's family mirror our own
Speaker 6: as humans, just as they mirror the broader story of
Speaker 6: the Jewish people. It's a story marked by struggle, failure,
Speaker 6: and redemption from the chaos of Genesis to the covenant
Speaker 6: at Sinai. Our journey is one of learning to trust God.
Speaker 6: We are people who have faced the consequences of taking
Speaker 6: matters into our own hands time and time again. Yet
Speaker 6: we continue to seek the light. We don't despair. What
Speaker 6: we have to remember and learn is to trust in
Speaker 6: God's plan, to resist the whispers of chaos, and to
Speaker 6: embrace the hope of his promises. It's in our deepest
Speaker 6: sorrow and despair that we often find ourselves most vulnerable.
Speaker 6: When life feels unbearable, when the weight of our grief
Speaker 6: seems insurmountable, we too may find ourselves tempted to compromise.
Speaker 6: We see comfort in places that offer only a fleeting reprieve.
Speaker 6: Just like Lot's family, we too hide in our caves.
Speaker 6: We see comfort in places that offer only a fleeting comfort.
Speaker 6: But what if, what if, in the dark cave of
Speaker 6: loss and tragedy, we made our choices instead of from
Speaker 6: a place of despair, from a place of trust and love.
Speaker 6: What if, like Abraham, we saw the barren landscapes as
Speaker 6: a blank canvas for hope. When alone and lost in
Speaker 6: a cave, you might convince yourself that there's no way out,
Speaker 6: but my friends have hope in God. There is always
Speaker 6: here is one final blessing for you. Ivare Hashem vischmurecher
Speaker 6: yah Heir hashempanave ileha cha ye sa hashempanave Lechra.
Speaker 1: Salon.
Speaker 6: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the
Speaker 6: Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be
Speaker 6: gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards
Speaker 6: you and give you peace.
Speaker 1: Amen. You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle
Speaker 1: Eckstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the prey
Speaker 1: dot Com app today. This prey dog Com production is
Speaker 1: only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents.
Speaker 1: Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabaga and Ben Gammon are
Speaker 1: the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yaile 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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