Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people.
Speaker 2: Happi, the God of the Nile, blood out before our eyes. Akeet,
Speaker 2: the frog goddess, left to rot in the streets. Geb,
Speaker 2: the God of the Earth, turned to dust and swarmed
Speaker 2: us with gnats. Capri, the god of life, swarmed against
Speaker 2: his own people as flies. And now Hathor, the goddess
Speaker 2: of livestock, watches as her herds lie dead in the fields.
Speaker 2: The Lord is striking down the gods of Egypt one
Speaker 2: by one.
Speaker 3: Then what would the Lord do when only one god
Speaker 3: is left standing?
Speaker 4: Which god are you talking about, Pharaoh, I will have
Speaker 4: monuments built to my glory. Long after your unnamed god
Speaker 4: has forgotten.
Speaker 2: You will know his name, Rameses. It will be on
Speaker 2: your lips. When your kingdom crumbles to dust. At midnight,
Speaker 2: the Lord will descend upon Egypt. Every first born in
Speaker 2: the land, every first born from your own son upon
Speaker 2: this throne to the lowliest slave in the mill will die.
Speaker 2: There shall be a cry throughout the land of Egypt,
Speaker 2: a cry unlike any heard before, nor ever will be again.
Speaker 5: One more plague will come upon Pharaoh when all of
Speaker 5: Egypt after my judgment, He will let you go from
Speaker 5: this place. When he lets you go, he will drive
Speaker 5: you away completely into the wilderness.
Speaker 6: In the shadow of Egypt's despair, the blood of a
Speaker 6: lamb carved a new destiny. Shallo, my friends from here
Speaker 6: in the Holy Land. Welcome to the Chosen People. I'm
Speaker 6: ya l estein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
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. If you
Speaker 6: haven't yet followed the podcast, be sure to do so now.
Speaker 6: That way you never have to miss an episode, and
Speaker 6: that small step helps us tremendously as we try to
Speaker 6: be discovered by more people so that we can inspire them.
Speaker 6: If you're interested in finding out more about the prophetic,
Speaker 6: life saving work of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
Speaker 6: you can visit our website at IFCJ dot org. Have
Speaker 6: you ever wondered what it means to be free? To
Speaker 6: be true, truly free? This week we dive into a
Speaker 6: story etched in the heart of the Chosen People, the
Speaker 6: story of Paisach of Passover. It's a saga of hope, resilience,
Speaker 6: and of divine intervention. We'll encounter God's instructions to Moses
Speaker 6: and Aaron, commands that would usher ind most profound shift
Speaker 6: in Jewish history. But freedom always comes at a cost.
Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron descended the jagged path leading down into Goshin.
Speaker 1: The people were waiting with bated breath, eager to hear
Speaker 1: how their last meeting with Pharaoh went. Miriam stood before them, anxious.
Speaker 4: What did Pharaoh say?
Speaker 2: Pharaoh has refused. The Lord will be sending a final plague.
Speaker 7: The people are terrified.
Speaker 4: Moses, how will they escape the wrath to come?
Speaker 1: Moses had mixed emotions. He had commands from the Lord.
Speaker 1: What was to come would be unlike anything they or
Speaker 1: their forefathers had ever witnessed. Not even Abraham witnessed the
Speaker 1: power about to be poured out upon the Egyptians.
Speaker 2: Gather the people. We have commands from the Lord.
Speaker 1: Mirian and Aaron gathered the congregation of Israel. Moses stood
Speaker 1: before them, hands trembling under the weight of the creator's decree.
Speaker 1: Moses turned to Aaron and permitted him to speak on
Speaker 1: the Lord's behalf Aaron raised his voice to the people,
Speaker 1: arms stretched out.
Speaker 3: Thus, says the Lord. Each of you shall take a
Speaker 3: lamb to eat, each according to their father's house. If
Speaker 3: the household is too small for a lamb, then you
Speaker 3: shall share it with your neighbor who has another. The
Speaker 3: lamb should be a spotless male of only one year old.
Speaker 1: The people tilted their heads in com fusion. Aaron could
Speaker 1: sense their apprehension. They wanted to hear about the plague
Speaker 1: to come, but instead the Lord was giving them commands
Speaker 1: about a meal. What would a meal have to do
Speaker 1: with their salvation.
Speaker 3: The whole assembly shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then
Speaker 3: they shall take some of the blood and put it
Speaker 3: on the two doorposts and the lintel of their houses.
Speaker 3: The blood of the lamb will cover your household for
Speaker 3: the raft to come. Once your households are covered by
Speaker 3: the blood of the lamb, you shall feast on its flesh,
Speaker 3: which has been roasted on the fire. Eat the meat
Speaker 3: with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Let none of it
Speaker 3: remain until the morning. Anything left over shall be burned
Speaker 3: in the fire.
Speaker 4: Why is the Lord commanding this?
Speaker 1: Aaron turned back to Moses, eyes searching for answers. Moses
Speaker 1: stepped forward, voice lightly wavering but gaining confidence.
Speaker 2: When you eat, keep your belts fastened, your sandals on
Speaker 2: your feet, and staves in your hand. Eat your meal swiftly,
Speaker 2: for the Lord is coming tonight.
Speaker 1: The crowd stirred and excited. Unease fell upon them.
Speaker 4: What is happening tonight, mosshire, and why do we have
Speaker 4: to paint our doors with the blood of the.
Speaker 2: Dam This is the Lord's passover, Thus says the Lord.
Speaker 2: I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike
Speaker 2: all the first born in the land of Egypt. Both
Speaker 2: men and beasts shall fear my name, and all the
Speaker 2: gods of Egypt will execute judgments. But I am the Lord.
Speaker 2: The blood shall be assigned for you. When I see
Speaker 2: the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague
Speaker 2: will befall.
Speaker 4: Or destroy you.
Speaker 2: When I strike the land of Egypt.
Speaker 1: The people trembled when they heard the decrees. They had
Speaker 1: yearned for deliverance, but now that it was within reach,
Speaker 1: they seemed uneasy.
Speaker 3: My brethren, remember tonight this day shall be a memorial
Speaker 3: for us. We will repeat this feast throughout the generations.
Speaker 3: It shall be a day of remembrance. Hundreds even thousands
Speaker 3: of years from now, our children will remember the deliverance
Speaker 3: fought and one by the God of all creation.
Speaker 1: The crowd erupted in cheers for the first time in generations.
Speaker 1: They allowed themselves to hope the bitterness and mourning would
Speaker 1: turn to singing and laughter, But not too soon. The
Speaker 1: Lord had work to do.
Speaker 5: On their behalf.
Speaker 1: Moses turned to Aaron.
Speaker 2: And Miriam, All, all the elders of Israel, we need
Speaker 2: to be unified and prepared.
Speaker 1: The elders all gathered together. Moses looked out at them all.
Speaker 1: Since he had arrived, he relied solely on Arran to
Speaker 1: correspond with them. If he was being honest with himself,
Speaker 1: he felt guilty commanding them. He hadn't grown up as
Speaker 1: one of them, nor had he felt like he earned
Speaker 1: their respect. They had no shed, toil or history. But
Speaker 1: what bound them together was a calling to lead God's
Speaker 1: people out of slavery. Moses drew a deep breath and
Speaker 1: steadied his heartbeat.
Speaker 2: The end is near, brothers, The end is near. The
Speaker 2: Lord will come to night, and we must be prepared.
Speaker 2: Everything must be done according to the Lord's commands.
Speaker 7: Go on, Moses speak and we will listen.
Speaker 2: Select lambs for yourselves and for every household in your clans.
Speaker 2: Kill them as the pass of the lambs or the
Speaker 2: blood into a basin. Then take his up branches and
Speaker 2: dip them into the blood. Spread the blood on the doorposts.
Speaker 2: When the Lord passes through Egypt, the blood will be
Speaker 2: assigned for him to pass over you. When your children
Speaker 2: ask about the lamb and the blood, tell them that
Speaker 2: this is a sacrifice to the Lord, because he's going
Speaker 2: to strike down the Egyptians and set us free. But
Speaker 2: listen to me, this is important. None of you shall
Speaker 2: go out of the door until morning. Under no circumstances
Speaker 2: will you exit your homes.
Speaker 4: What will happen in the morning, Moses.
Speaker 2: In the morning, you will exit your homes, and you
Speaker 2: will walk out as free men. We will leave Egypt
Speaker 2: together and begin our journey to the promised Lamb.
Speaker 1: Every man was silent for a long while. Then one
Speaker 1: by one they fell to their knees and worshiped. Hymns
Speaker 1: both ancient and Gottural poured forth from their lips. They
Speaker 1: felt connected to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Speaker 1: That night they began to truly act like God's chosen people.
Speaker 1: The night was heavy with silence, a silence that clung
Speaker 1: to the earth like a shroud. A cold wind whispered
Speaker 1: through the streets of Egypt, carrying with it the scent
Speaker 1: of death. Beneath the distant stars, obscured by the towering
Speaker 1: temples and the grandeur of the Pharaoh's palace, a people
Speaker 1: awaited the judgment of a god they had yet to understand.
Speaker 1: The moon hung low over the Nile, its waters dark
Speaker 1: and still, as if even the river Mighty as it was,
Speaker 1: dared not stir. From the grand cities to the lowliest villages,
Speaker 1: from the palatial estates of nobles to the clay walled
Speaker 1: hovels of slaves, all who slept that night would wake
Speaker 1: to a terror beyond reckoning. For at midnight it began.
Speaker 1: A shadow passed through the streets of Egypt, unseen yet felt.
Speaker 1: It was not the wind. Though the curtains moved and
Speaker 1: the candles flickered in its wake. It moved with purpose,
Speaker 1: slipping through doors that were left unmarked, where no Lamb's
Speaker 1: blood clung to the lintel. The air grew thick, laden
Speaker 1: with a weight that pressed upon the chest, that caused
Speaker 1: breath to quicken and eyes to widen, in a terror
Speaker 1: they could not name. In the haws of the Pharaoh,
Speaker 1: guided by statues of stone and gods of gold, the
Speaker 1: first cries ran out. It was a high pitched wail,
Speaker 1: a cry of disbelief, of a grief so sudden and
Speaker 1: so raw that it cut through the stillness like a knife.
Speaker 1: The servants rushed to the bed chamber of Pharaoh's eldest son,
Speaker 1: heir to the throne of Egypt, a bore boy no
Speaker 1: older than ten summers. He lay there, still and pale,
Speaker 1: his eyes open but unseeing, his skin cold to the touch.
Speaker 1: A sob tore from the throat of the queen, and
Speaker 1: the Pharaoh himself, a man who had stared down armies
Speaker 1: and ruled with the weight of Ra's name upon his brow,
Speaker 1: fell to his knees beside the boy's bed.
Speaker 7: My my son, oper man, come with the onds, prting
Speaker 7: my child back to life.
Speaker 1: But the gods had been silent, the priests powerless in
Speaker 1: their incantations. No breath passed between the boy's lips, and
Speaker 1: no flicker of life stirred in his chest. Nothing moved
Speaker 1: but the shadow passing on beyond the palace walls, the
Speaker 1: whales began to rise, one by one, like the growing
Speaker 1: roar of the sea in a storm. In every house
Speaker 1: untouched by the blood of the lamb, the first born
Speaker 1: were found cold in their beds, from the eldest son
Speaker 1: of the lowliest farmer to the first born calf in
Speaker 1: the fields. The land of Egypt, so proud in its splendor,
Speaker 1: so sure in the power of its gods, was brought
Speaker 1: low by a power it could not see nor fight
Speaker 1: through it. All the Israelites watched in silence in their homes.
Speaker 1: They gathered, huddled in tight circles beneath the smear of
Speaker 1: blood that marked their doors, the blood of sacrifice, of obedience.
Speaker 1: The old ones whispered to the young stories of their forefathers,
Speaker 1: of promises made by a god more ancient than the
Speaker 1: gods of Egypt, a god who had heard their cries,
Speaker 1: who had seen their suffering. And now that God had answered.
Speaker 1: In the deep hours of the night, when the screams
Speaker 1: of grief had subsided into a hollow quiet, and Pharoh rose,
Speaker 1: his face, at once proud and unyielding, was now drawn
Speaker 1: tight with pain, his eyes hollowed by the weight of
Speaker 1: the dead. He summoned his advisers, but they offered no counsel.
Speaker 1: The magicians stood silent, their tongues stilled by fear. There
Speaker 1: was no wisdom, no spell, no right that could undo
Speaker 1: what had been done.
Speaker 8: Bring them to me, Bring Moses and erin before me.
Speaker 1: The brothers were brought to him, the tension of the
Speaker 1: night still hung in the air, like smoke after a battle.
Speaker 1: Pharaoh stared at them, his eyes red with sleepless grief,
Speaker 1: and for a moment the room was still, save for
Speaker 1: the flicker of torches. His boy was cradled in his arms,
Speaker 1: lifeless and cold.
Speaker 8: Go go and take your people, leave this land, take
Speaker 8: your flocks, your herds, your children, and be gone. And
Speaker 8: when you go, speak to your God, Pray to him
Speaker 8: for me, for my people.
Speaker 1: The brothers did not answer at once. They exchanged a glance,
Speaker 1: a moment of understanding, as though the weight of destiny
Speaker 1: pressed upon their shoulders. Aaron gave Moses a knowing glance
Speaker 1: and left first, leaving Pharaoh and Moses alone. Rameses The
Speaker 1: words were stuck in Moses's throat, his jaw tightened with
Speaker 1: grief and anger, grief that the people he had once
Speaker 1: called kin were mourning the loss of their children, anger
Speaker 1: that it all could have been prevented if Pharaoh had relented.
Speaker 9: Your what, Moses, You're sorry for my loss? Are you
Speaker 9: saddened by the death of a generation?
Speaker 1: Moses was still and silent. He thought of responding, but
Speaker 1: chose not to. What was done was done without a word.
Speaker 1: He turned and departed, leaving Pharaoh in the silence of
Speaker 1: his broken kingdom, a king brought to his knees not
Speaker 1: by armies, but by a plague of death sent by
Speaker 1: a god he could neither see nor challenge outside. The
Speaker 1: dawn was rising over Egypt, but for the people of
Speaker 1: the Nile there would be no light that day, only
Speaker 1: the long shadow of what had been lost.
Speaker 6: What an astonishing tale. It reminds me of the resilience
Speaker 6: and faith of my ancestors. I can almost hear their
Speaker 6: whispers in the dark, families huddled together, eyes wide as
Speaker 6: they painted their doorposts with the blood of the Lamb.
Speaker 6: But it's more than just a story. It's a testament
Speaker 6: to God's power and our faith in him. Right when
Speaker 6: everything seemed impossible, they held onto a promise, a covenant
Speaker 6: that would change the course of their lives. Forever. And
Speaker 6: isn't that the essence of faith, to believe in something
Speaker 6: greater than the present darkness, to act in obedience even
Speaker 6: when the outcome is unknown and unseen. Passover is not
Speaker 6: just a historical event. It's a living, breathing reminder of
Speaker 6: our heritage, of our chosenness. It's a call to remember,
Speaker 6: to honor, and to live out that same faith and
Speaker 6: trust in every generation. We must see ourselves as those
Speaker 6: who personally went out from Egypt, breaking free from whatever
Speaker 6: enslaves us. That is the legacy of pesa of Passover.
Speaker 6: In Exodus twelve, verse thirteen, we read, the blood will
Speaker 6: be a sign for you on the house is where
Speaker 6: you are, and when I see the blood, I will
Speaker 6: pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when
Speaker 6: I strike Egypt. Now, I want you to hear this
Speaker 6: verse in Hebrew because it's so important. Haddam the haya
Speaker 6: the hacotis le machrit neguesta rem ye villo alerem viva
Speaker 6: sakhti Haddam et varaiti sham a tim asher habatim a
Speaker 6: lam meets shrine baards. Of course, the name in English
Speaker 6: of this holiday of Paisach comes exactly from this word,
Speaker 6: did you hear it? Alerem vi pasakti pasa. Of course,
Speaker 6: the name in English of this holiday Passover in Hebrew
Speaker 6: is said paysa, and it comes directly from these words
Speaker 6: alem pasati. And so the great sage Onkros, who was
Speaker 6: the first translator of the Bible from Hebrew, translated the
Speaker 6: word ufa sakti not as I will pass over, but
Speaker 6: rather as I will have compassion or I will show love.
Speaker 6: You see, we translate the word ufa sahti as I
Speaker 6: will pass but it's not exactly.
Speaker 5: What it means.
Speaker 6: So as the final plague and the exodus approached, God
Speaker 6: was actually announcing the love and compassion that He would
Speaker 6: show to the Chosen people on that very special night.
Speaker 6: You see, in many ways, that's exactly what we celebrate
Speaker 6: on Passover. With the matsa and the other special foods
Speaker 6: and the prayers, we celebrate God's eternal love for the
Speaker 6: Chosen people. I once read an article by a woman
Speaker 6: who described her journey exploring a gold mine in South Africa.
Speaker 6: In the mine, her guide pointed out remnants of gold.
Speaker 6: She shined her flashlight around the cave and came across
Speaker 6: flecks of gold. Convinced that she had found the real thing,
Speaker 6: she eagerly pointed it out to the guide. She said, look,
Speaker 6: there are flecks of gold there. That must be gold.
Speaker 6: But the guide laughed and said that she was looking
Speaker 6: at fool's gold. You see, it looked like gold, but
Speaker 6: it wasn't the genuine article. It wasn't the real thing.
Speaker 6: Then the guide pointed out a tiny black rock and
Speaker 6: explained that that was authentic gold, and he described the
Speaker 6: process of turning it into gold as we know it. First,
Speaker 6: the rock is crushed and pulverized into powder. Then cyanide,
Speaker 6: a deadly poison, is added. Many more steps follow until
Speaker 6: the gold achieves it's true golden hue. In the Bible,
Speaker 6: God commanded the Israelites to commemorate the exodus from Egypt
Speaker 6: every year with bitter herbs and matza, which is unleavened bread,
Speaker 6: along with the Passover sacrifice. The Jewish sages explained that
Speaker 6: while the Passover lamb and the matzar symbols of redemption,
Speaker 6: the bitter herbs represent oppression. But God commanded us to
Speaker 6: put both symbols together so that we'll remember one of
Speaker 6: the most powerful lessons of the Exodus story that our
Speaker 6: difficulties and our victories are all part of the same story.
Speaker 6: Just as gold cannot become gold without going through a
Speaker 6: refinement process, so too do our challenges refine us and
Speaker 6: bring out our best. Like fools gold, people can appear
Speaker 6: one way, but in reality be something completely different. Most
Speaker 6: of the best people in the world have gone through
Speaker 6: a refinement process. They've endured hard times, and they come
Speaker 6: out better on the other side. So instead of resenting
Speaker 6: the difficulties in our lives, I think this Bible story
Speaker 6: teaches us that we should embrace them. God brings out
Speaker 6: the best in us through our challenges. Even when we
Speaker 6: feel crushed by our problems, he is turning us into
Speaker 6: something beautiful and invaluable. At the Sator dinner during the
Speaker 6: sacred festival of Passover, we remember the night when God
Speaker 6: passed over the homes of the Israelites, their first borns
Speaker 6: and setting them on a path to freedom. This is
Speaker 6: a story woven into the very fabric of our identity,
Speaker 6: a story of faith, courage, and redemption. When God instructed
Speaker 6: our ancestors to take a lamb, to slaughter it, and
Speaker 6: to paint their door posts with its blood. This act
Speaker 6: of faith was not for his benefit. God already knew
Speaker 6: who lived in each home. It was actually for the
Speaker 6: benefit of the chosen people that they could demonstrate their
Speaker 6: trust in the Almighty. Did you know that in ancient Egypt,
Speaker 6: sheep were revered as God's When the Israelites obeyed God's command,
Speaker 6: they weren't just marking their doors. They were making a
Speaker 6: very bold declaration. They were placing their faith in the
Speaker 6: God of Israel above the false gods of Egypt, and
Speaker 6: that was risking their very lives in the process. Their
Speaker 6: trust was rewarded. God passed over their homes in the
Speaker 6: very next morning they began their journey to freedom. Now
Speaker 6: let me share a lesson from creation, one that mirrors
Speaker 6: our journey of faith. I'm reminded of another interesting article
Speaker 6: I once read. This one was about the African antelopes
Speaker 6: known as impalas. These graceful creatures can leap as high
Speaker 6: as a height of ten feet, and they can cover
Speaker 6: a distance greater than thirty feet, but in captivity and
Speaker 6: Paula's can be contained by a mere three foot wall.
Speaker 6: Why do you think that is, Well, it's because IMPALA's
Speaker 6: won't jump where they cannot see, and therefore they become
Speaker 6: the keepers of their own prison Are we really any different?
Speaker 6: How often do we confine ourselves within the walls of fear,
Speaker 6: unable to leap into the unknown because we can't see
Speaker 6: what lies ahead. We become prisoners of our own making,
Speaker 6: held back by our own lack of faith. The Chosen
Speaker 6: People on the eve of the Exodus faced a very
Speaker 6: similar choice. They could stay within the familiar, oppressive bounds
Speaker 6: of Egypt, or they could take a leap of faith
Speaker 6: into the unknown, trusting that God would lead them to freedom.
Speaker 6: My friends, we too are called to take such leaps.
Speaker 6: Faith isn't about seeing the whole path. It's about taking
Speaker 6: the next step, even when the future is shrouded in uncertainty.
Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Eckstein
Speaker 1: add free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot
Speaker 1: Com app today. This Prey dog 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 Caltefianu. Characters are voiced by
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Raig, 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, 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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