Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. Jacob looked behind him. His
Speaker 1: family and all his men were clueless as to what
Speaker 1: was happening. Only Jacob could see that they were in
Speaker 1: a divine encampment. The angels of God were before them.
Speaker 2: This is God's camp. I have not seen my brother
Speaker 2: in a long time. I will go to him. You
Speaker 2: will go to him. I'm not sure that's necessary.
Speaker 3: He's merely going to pass through and only wishes to
Speaker 3: have peace between the two of you.
Speaker 1: I go, I go now, He so gestured to a
Speaker 1: few of his men.
Speaker 2: Bring four hundred men. My lord Jacob, we have news
Speaker 2: from Esau's camp. What did you do to this man
Speaker 2: to make him hate you so much? I wanted more.
Speaker 2: I was willing to do whatever. It's top the kidd
Speaker 2: I have it, and I fear it will be taken
Speaker 2: from me. If we are to survive this sight, I
Speaker 2: must seek god most eye. I'll return Shortly.
Speaker 1: Jacob fell to his knees and gripped the dirt. For
Speaker 1: the first time in his life. Jacob prayed with tears,
Speaker 1: his heart ached for answers from his God.
Speaker 2: You told me that I'll be great. You told me
Speaker 2: that my osprey will outnumber the sounds of the sea.
Speaker 2: If these are the promises you've made, then these are
Speaker 2: the promises you'll.
Speaker 3: Keep a man alone in the dark, wrestling not just
Speaker 3: with God, but with his own identity. Shall oh, my friends,
Speaker 3: from here in the Holy Land of Israel, i'm ya
Speaker 3: l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
Speaker 3: Welcome to the Chosen People. Each week we'll hear a
Speaker 3: dramatic story inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless
Speaker 3: lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through
Speaker 3: Israel's story, we find this truth that we are all
Speaker 3: chosen for something great. Have you been impacted by this podcast?
Speaker 3: Do you enjoy listening to it? Well, I would love
Speaker 3: it if you can leave it or review. I read
Speaker 3: all of the reviews and they help me to gain
Speaker 3: a better understanding of the types of people we're reaching.
Speaker 3: And if you're really paying attention and enjoying it, I
Speaker 3: want you to enjoy, So leave me a message and
Speaker 3: let me know. Thanks again. And if you're interested in
Speaker 3: learning more about the countless lives being saved by the
Speaker 3: work at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jewsy, you
Speaker 3: can visit IFCJ dot com that's IFCJ dot com and
Speaker 3: you can see how we are on the forefront of
Speaker 3: biblical prophecy here in the Holy Land, feeding the hungry,
Speaker 3: clothing the naked, and sheltering the poor. Now let's begin
Speaker 3: today's saga, inspired by Genesis thirty two. Twenty two to
Speaker 3: thirty two brings us to a crucial point in Israel's history.
Speaker 3: In fact, this story is the first time that we
Speaker 3: hear the name Israel spoken by God. And this story
Speaker 3: will invite us to think about what it means to
Speaker 3: struggle on a physical, worldly level and also on a
Speaker 3: spiritual level.
Speaker 1: A dense fog slithered through the canyons like a specter.
Speaker 1: The river Jabok hissed like a serpent through stone and brush.
Speaker 1: The air became thick with mist and tension. Jacob looked
Speaker 1: at his family, then back up at the hill where
Speaker 1: God's camp had been. He felt a tug upward and
Speaker 1: a vine thread pulling him forward. God most High desired
Speaker 1: to meet with him. He turned to Rachel with an
Speaker 1: unfamiliar intensity in his eyes.
Speaker 2: I'm going to meet with God. Should we come with you? No,
Speaker 2: you will cross the Jabok take the camel's.
Speaker 1: Rachel pulled Joseph in tight. The threat of Esau and
Speaker 1: his men had her and the others shaking. The thought
Speaker 1: of Jacob leaving their sight only added to the dread.
Speaker 1: Jacob placed a gentle hand on her cheek and wiped
Speaker 1: a tear from her eye with his thumb. He leaned
Speaker 1: down to kiss Joseph's forehead.
Speaker 2: I have to do this.
Speaker 1: Alone, Jacob. I don't understand.
Speaker 2: I don't quite understand myself.
Speaker 4: How far do we go in front.
Speaker 2: Enough to put distance between you and Esau? But before
Speaker 2: goes well, I shall find you before any of that happens.
Speaker 1: Jacob turned to his oldest son, Reuben and held his shoulders.
Speaker 2: Keep the family safe, do you hear me? Good boy?
Speaker 2: Now mount those camels and cross. I shall be behind you.
Speaker 1: Jacob wasn't precisely sure why he was sending his family ahead.
Speaker 1: He knew was that God Most High was beckoning him,
Speaker 1: and he had to answer the call. Deception, tricks, half truths,
Speaker 1: All the sins Jacob had committed to get ahead were
Speaker 1: catching up to him. He cheated his brother out of
Speaker 1: a birthright. He tricked his father into giving him his blessing.
Speaker 1: He deceived his father in law before fleeing with his daughters.
Speaker 1: Jacob's entire life had been about gaining a blessing from
Speaker 1: God through some sort of trick, but there were no
Speaker 1: more tricks to be played. His brother, Esau was approaching
Speaker 1: with hundreds of men behind him. Years ago, Esau had
Speaker 1: vowed to kill Jacob, and now it seemed the time
Speaker 1: had come. Jacob prayed to the Lord for mercy. He
Speaker 1: sent gifts of penance to his brother, for there was
Speaker 1: no predicting what would come of it. Jacob watched his
Speaker 1: family leave with tears in his eyes. He had acquired
Speaker 1: so much through deception and flattery, but now seemed worth it.
Speaker 1: His name was Jacob, meaning heel grabber. Everyone in his
Speaker 1: land knew what the name really meant, deceiver. At that moment,
Speaker 1: he wished he hadn't lived up to his name. Jacob
Speaker 1: scaled the hill into the mist. Shadows played off the fog.
Speaker 1: Whispers of childhood memories flooded his mind, Memories of playing
Speaker 1: jokes at his father's expense, creating ruses to get out
Speaker 1: of chores, scheming with his mother to get what he wanted.
Speaker 1: He thought about Esau's anguish when father refused to bless him.
Speaker 1: Jacob thought about the pain he felt when Larbon had
Speaker 1: deceived him. He could only imagine the misery Esau had
Speaker 1: to live with because of Jacob's deceit. Jacob stood over
Speaker 1: the precipice and looked down in the distance. Through the mist,
Speaker 1: Jacob saw a trail that by hundreds of torches.
Speaker 2: He saw be here by dawn. What will I do?
Speaker 1: He wondered. What fate awaited him at the bottom of
Speaker 1: that hill. Would his sins finally catch up to him?
Speaker 1: Would his brother respond to his kind gesture? Would God
Speaker 1: answer his plea for mercy. As Jacob considered these things,
Speaker 1: he felt a shift in the air. Some one was
Speaker 1: there with him. He turned and saw a figure walking
Speaker 1: toward him through the twilight haze. The moon cast shadows
Speaker 1: against his frame, large and muscular. Jacob's heart quickened.
Speaker 2: Esau, I is that you?
Speaker 1: The figure emerged from the smoky murk, steps, deliberate and challenging.
Speaker 1: It wasn't Esau, but Jacob certainly recognized him. Though Jacob
Speaker 1: had never seen this man's face before, he knew who
Speaker 1: he was. His grandfather Abraham once told him that God
Speaker 1: had visited him as a man. He communed with Abraham
Speaker 1: and shared a meal with him. This time, God had
Speaker 1: not come to share a meal. He came as a challenger.
Speaker 1: Jacob took a step forward. The ground beneath him felt
Speaker 1: powerful holy. Jacob's heart thumped like war drums. The stranger
Speaker 1: walked closer, and Jacob removed his tunic. There would be
Speaker 1: no more running tricks or lies. If Jacob wanted a
Speaker 1: blessing from God, he would have to face him. The
Speaker 1: man's pace quickened from a walk to a run. Jacob
Speaker 1: rolled his neck back, drew a deep breath, and charged.
Speaker 1: The damp earth slid under each stride. Jacob knew what
Speaker 1: he had to do. He felt sure that he had
Speaker 1: to wrestle with God himself and prevail. The two men converged,
Speaker 1: bodies clashing into each other like colliding waves in a storm.
Speaker 1: Jacob leaned his shoulders into the man's chest and drove
Speaker 1: his feet through the dirt. The man wrapped his arms
Speaker 1: around Jacob's waist and threw himself back. Jacob was in
Speaker 1: mid air and fell onto the ground with a seismic slap.
Speaker 1: The broom escaped his lungs and his head rang like
Speaker 1: a bell. Jacob knew instantly that he was outmatched, but
Speaker 1: it did not keep him from striving. If this man
Speaker 1: was God, then Jacob had to fight. He had to
Speaker 1: contend and accept the challenge of struggling with him. Jacob
Speaker 1: rolled away and leaped to his feet. Jacob readied for
Speaker 1: another attack and roared a challenge.
Speaker 2: Come on, fight me ah.
Speaker 1: The man accepted and darted toward him. Jacob cocked his
Speaker 1: hips back and met the man's advance with a blow
Speaker 1: to the jaw. He pivoted his feet, landing another jab upward.
Speaker 1: The man stumbled back. Jacob seized the opportunity and drove
Speaker 1: his shoulders into the man's waist, slamming him into the ground.
Speaker 1: He tried to make him submit, but the man rabbed
Speaker 1: Jacob with his legs rolled him to the left. The
Speaker 1: man was on top of Jacob now with his hands
Speaker 1: pinning down his shoulders. Jacob rithed and wriggled, eventually kicking
Speaker 1: his way out and standing up. Jacob walked backward, breath
Speaker 1: rising in the chilled air, intermixing with the fog around him.
Speaker 1: The two of them panted, priming themselves for another round.
Speaker 1: Jacob made the first move and launched forward, but the
Speaker 1: man tripped him onto the dirt and held him down.
Speaker 1: As they fought, memories of all Jacob's sins flooded back
Speaker 1: into his mind. He wanted God's blessing so badly that
Speaker 1: he was willing to do anything for it, even lie.
Speaker 1: But now as he rolled in the blood and sweat
Speaker 1: so dirt, there was no talking his way into a blessing.
Speaker 1: No lies, no religious babble, just him and God struggling
Speaker 1: to gain an advantage over the other. Jacob knew there
Speaker 1: was no winning, but that didn't mean he would stop.
Speaker 1: The two of them wrestled all night. Dawn was about
Speaker 1: to announce itself. The fog thinned, revealing the trees and
Speaker 1: stones surrounding the two challengers. Jacob wasn't sure how much
Speaker 1: longer he could fight. With a final desperate war cry,
Speaker 1: Jacob lunged forward. He aimed his strike too high. The
Speaker 1: man lowered his stance, buried his shoulder into Jacob's ribs,
Speaker 1: and flicked over his head. Jacob landed with a cruel
Speaker 1: and quaking thud onto the dirt. The sides of his
Speaker 1: eyes went dark. He looked up to see the upside
Speaker 1: down figure walking away.
Speaker 2: No dn't leave Ah I'm not finished.
Speaker 1: Jacob hurried to his feet and ran again. The man
Speaker 1: quickly turned and absorbed Jacob's blow. He slid back a
Speaker 1: few feet, then leaned his hand toward Jacob's hip and
Speaker 1: ah ah popped it out of place. Jacob shouted in
Speaker 1: intense pain. It shot through his hip and leg, but
Speaker 1: he didn't let go. He grasped onto his leg, refusing
Speaker 1: to let him walk away. The man looked at the
Speaker 1: sun's rays slowly peeking over the mountains. Then he looked
Speaker 1: down at Jacob.
Speaker 2: Let me go, the day has broken.
Speaker 1: Tears streamed down Jacob's swollen and dirty face.
Speaker 2: Never, I won't.
Speaker 1: The man tugged his leg away, but Jacob refused to
Speaker 1: let go.
Speaker 2: Please, please bless me. I won't let you go until
Speaker 2: you bless me.
Speaker 1: A smile appeared on the man's face. He looked again
Speaker 1: at the orange hues of the rising sun, and then
Speaker 1: back down at the poor fellow clinging to him.
Speaker 2: What is your name, Jacob?
Speaker 1: The man shook his head and placed a hand on
Speaker 1: Jacob's shoulder. Your name shall no longer be Jacob called Israel,
Speaker 1: for you have struggled with God and have prevailed. Jacob
Speaker 1: looked up and slowly released his grip. His body trembled
Speaker 1: with fatigue and awe as he looked upon the man's
Speaker 1: face aglow with the dawn's light. Israel. It meant to
Speaker 1: wrestle with God and prevail. But Jacob understood the more
Speaker 1: profound meaning his life. His families would be constantly wrestling
Speaker 1: and warring with God, but in the end they would prevail.
Speaker 1: They would not prevail against God. No, they would prevail
Speaker 1: with God the struggle and strive for unity, blessing and significance.
Speaker 1: But in the struggle they would share in his victories.
Speaker 2: What is your name?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: Why would you ask me for my name?
Speaker 1: He extended his hand to help Jacob on to his feet.
Speaker 1: He blessed him, and then vanished where he came from.
Speaker 1: Jacob limped back to the hill's edge and looked down
Speaker 1: at Esau's company. Four hundred torches flickered against the silhouetted
Speaker 1: mountain range. The earliest signs of dawn peeked over the hills,
Speaker 1: gently kissing Jacob's face. It was time to face his brother.
Speaker 1: He drew a deep breath and limped back to his camel.
Speaker 1: Every stride of the camel was painful. He met up
Speaker 1: with his family and dismounted. Rachel ran to him, horror
Speaker 1: reflected in her eyes. What happened?
Speaker 2: Who did this to you? Did Esau catch up to you?
Speaker 1: Here?
Speaker 2: Let's lay you down? No, no, I'm all right, it's
Speaker 2: time to go meet Esau.
Speaker 3: We're going to him.
Speaker 2: I thought we were running. No running, we'll be fine
Speaker 2: at least.
Speaker 4: Let Reuben and sin and carry you.
Speaker 2: No, I need to do this myself. It follow behind me.
Speaker 1: The sun glistened over the horizon, melting away the last
Speaker 1: of the fog. The valley was painted in shimmering hues
Speaker 1: of amber. Jacob limped forward, content with whatever outcome awaited him.
Speaker 3: When I go for my daily walks, I marvel at
Speaker 3: the runners who pass me by. Sometimes they seem to
Speaker 3: glide past, completely at ease, and I'm amazed that someone
Speaker 3: can work so hard and make it look so effortless.
Speaker 3: Other Times I see runners who look like they are
Speaker 3: really struggling with every step. I've always been in awe
Speaker 3: of their perseverance, but I used to wonder why these
Speaker 3: runners keep going when it hurts so much. Then my friend,
Speaker 3: a fitness instructor, told me that she learned to enjoy
Speaker 3: the discomfort of working out, because it tells her that
Speaker 3: her body is transforming. What high performance athletes know is
Speaker 3: that it is only by struggling that they can achieve
Speaker 3: their goals. That they can, as the Bible says, quote
Speaker 3: overcome end quote, and I must tell you the same
Speaker 3: is true spiritually. We overcome adversity, and we overcome through adversity.
Speaker 3: Jacob's story reminds me that this struggle is holy. It's
Speaker 3: part of our heritage as the people of Israel, and
Speaker 3: it's part of our journey as people of faith. May we,
Speaker 3: like Jacob, emerge from our struggles with the deeper understanding
Speaker 3: of who God is and who we are Amen. The
Speaker 3: story of Jacob's struggle comes up throughout the Bible and
Speaker 3: throughout Jewish tradition. Joseiah twelve to four tells us that
Speaker 3: Jacob quote struggled with the angel and overcame him end quote.
Speaker 3: Tradition explains this further that the man who fought Jacob
Speaker 3: was actually an angel of God, and his job was
Speaker 3: to create adversity for Jacob so that through the struggle
Speaker 3: he could transform and even advance in his spiritual growth.
Speaker 3: It was through this struggle that Jacob was given a
Speaker 3: new name, Israel. Appropriately, the name Israel contains the Hebrew
Speaker 3: word that means struggle as well as the word that
Speaker 3: means nobility. This is because Jacob obtained nobility by growing
Speaker 3: through struggles, and my friends, so do we. Our greatest
Speaker 3: challenges transform us into the greatest versions of ourselves. And well,
Speaker 3: none of us would choose a life of constance, struggle
Speaker 3: and never ending adversity. Difficulties do serve an important purpose
Speaker 3: in our lives. They too, are gifts from God. The
Speaker 3: Jewish ages have another interesting take on this angel from God.
Speaker 3: They look at Jacob's opponent as the embodiment of his
Speaker 3: twin brother, Esau, and all that Esau represented, the lack
Speaker 3: of moral conscience, the lack of respect for the Word
Speaker 3: of God, the devotion to the physical rather than the spiritual.
Speaker 3: In that sense, Esa is seen as the forebearer of
Speaker 3: the many nations that have oppressed the Chosen people throughout
Speaker 3: our history. So the struggle we see in this Bible
Speaker 3: story also represents the struggle between the two world views
Speaker 3: of Jacob and of Esau, a struggle that originated in
Speaker 3: their mother's womb. We know the outcome of this wrestling match.
Speaker 3: We know that this opponent cannot prevail over Jacob, even
Speaker 3: though Jacob is injured. But the moral of the story is,
Speaker 3: of course, that the Chosen people, the bearers of God's Word,
Speaker 3: will prevail, but that victory won't be without effort. It's
Speaker 3: not going to be easy. We will win, we will
Speaker 3: overcome darkness, but it won't be without injury and pain.
Speaker 3: And the Jewish people see this throughout our history even
Speaker 3: today as people of faith. It's hard being the bearer
Speaker 3: of God's word, isn't it? Both Jews and Christians experience
Speaker 3: that each and every day, and we know that even
Speaker 3: today we have to confront the esaus of our world.
Speaker 3: We have to do everything we can, not to fight,
Speaker 3: but to bring God's word, to bring God's love to
Speaker 3: everything that we do. I've got a question for you,
Speaker 3: what's the most important verse in the Bible? Part of
Speaker 3: me wonders if there's even an answer to that. How
Speaker 3: could one Bible verse possibly be more important than another.
Speaker 3: Isn't every word in the Bible e equally the word
Speaker 3: of God? Yet centuries ago, two great Jewish sages struggled
Speaker 3: over this very question. One rabbi claim that the most
Speaker 3: important verse in the Torah is Deuterotomy six ' four
Speaker 3: Schma Israel ha shemeloceno as shemrad hero Israel, the Lord,
Speaker 3: our God, the Lord is one. The second rabbi argued
Speaker 3: that most important verse in the Bible is actually Leviticus
Speaker 3: nineteen eighteen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. So
Speaker 3: what's more important, faith in God or love for our
Speaker 3: fellow man. Well, the truth is that both are pillars of.
Speaker 1: A life of faith.
Speaker 3: And that's what the story of jacob struggle with Esau
Speaker 3: and how we struggle to understand it is really all
Speaker 3: about our struggle as humans between the physical world in
Speaker 3: which we live and the spiritual realm of God, who
Speaker 3: created us in His image is real, and it's represented
Speaker 3: by this fight of Jacob and Esau. This is a
Speaker 3: pivotal chapter and the grand story of our people, the
Speaker 3: Chosen People, is the struggle of a nation yet unborn,
Speaker 3: of a people chosen to wrestle with the divine and
Speaker 3: with their own humanity, and.
Speaker 4: It reverberates through the ages, through the exodus from Egypt,
Speaker 4: when we cried out under the weight of slavery and
Speaker 4: saw the mighty hand of God.
Speaker 3: Split the sea, through our wilderness wanderings where we stumbled
Speaker 3: and complained. Yet we're fed mana from heaven, through our
Speaker 3: conquest of Cain and the rise and fall of kings
Speaker 3: exile and returned from Babylon. We are always wrestling, We're
Speaker 3: always struggling, and we are always becoming. And so I ask,
Speaker 3: what does Jacob's story mean for us today? How do
Speaker 3: we in our modern lives find resonance with this ancient
Speaker 3: tale that we know is a story of our lives. Well,
Speaker 3: maybe you're wrestling with the decision about your career, unsure
Speaker 3: of which path to take, or maybe you're grappling with
Speaker 3: a relationship that's strained to the breaking point. Perhaps you're
Speaker 3: struggling with your sense of worth and feeling inadequate in
Speaker 3: the face of life's demands. Well, Jacob's story teaches us
Speaker 3: it is okay to wrestle. It's okay to bring our fears,
Speaker 3: our doubts, and our very real struggles to God. Because
Speaker 3: God is in distant God is waiting for us to
Speaker 3: turn to him and to clean up our act. But
Speaker 3: before we could have clarity, we have to be ready
Speaker 3: to bravely ask the questions. And when we ask those
Speaker 3: hard questions that will lead to transformation, we have to
Speaker 3: remember that God is right here with us, ready to engage,
Speaker 3: ready to transform. In our wrestling. We are not alone.
Speaker 3: God is with us, and so I pray that you
Speaker 3: find in Him the strength, the grace, the transformation and
Speaker 3: the blessings that you seek.
Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Exstein
Speaker 1: add free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot
Speaker 1: Com app today. This Prey dot Com production is only
Speaker 1: made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina,
Speaker 1: Max Bard, Zach Shellabaga 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 Coltefianu are voiced by Jonathan Cotton,
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc
Speaker 1: and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music
Speaker 1: by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and Aaron Salvato.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, kayleb Burrows,
Speaker 1: Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians
Speaker 1: and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions
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Speaker 1: Chosen People with Yeile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.