Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people.
Speaker 2: My loved Isaac, May our God bless you and keep you.
Speaker 2: May you walk in His ways all the days of
Speaker 2: your life, and may you be the blessing to all nations.
Speaker 2: As God promised to me.
Speaker 3: Isaac, son of my servant Abraham, you have spent a
Speaker 3: lifetime following your father as he followed me. I come
Speaker 3: now to bless you, to carry out the promise I
Speaker 3: made to your father. Through your lifetime, your family's name
Speaker 3: will be great, and I will bless those who bless you,
Speaker 3: and curse those who curse you. Through your lineage, all
Speaker 3: the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Speaker 1: And so Isaac walked confidently with his God in the
Speaker 1: peace and prosperity he had been granted in the land.
Speaker 1: Promise to his father.
Speaker 4: No, no, no matter the opposition we face, we will
Speaker 4: wait on our God.
Speaker 1: Jacob leaned forward and kissed his father on the head.
Speaker 4: May God give you the doo of heaven, the fatness
Speaker 4: of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. May
Speaker 4: people and nations bow down to you and serve you.
Speaker 4: You will be lord over your brothers, and your mother's
Speaker 4: son will bend a knee to you.
Speaker 1: His world was one of truth and trust. It was
Speaker 1: a simple world, one of blessings and gratitude.
Speaker 4: No matter what comes, I trust to God most High
Speaker 4: will provide. He always provides. Sometimes in the final hour
Speaker 4: he responds to our our silent prayers. Have faith, my
Speaker 4: little dove, just as I have.
Speaker 5: In the twilight of his years, Isaac's eyes dimmed, but
Speaker 5: the vision of God's promise burned right than ever. Salome friends,
Speaker 5: from here in the Holy Land of Israel. I'm ye
Speaker 5: l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
Speaker 5: and welcome to the Chosen People. Have you been impacted
Speaker 5: or inspired by this podcast? I want to hear about it,
Speaker 5: and I would be so grateful if you leave a
Speaker 5: review for the podcast. I read all of them and
Speaker 5: they help me to gain a better understanding of who
Speaker 5: I'm speaking to. I want to know about you and
Speaker 5: what you like about this podcast, So go ahead and
Speaker 5: leave a review. And if you're interested in learning more
Speaker 5: about the countless lives being helped and saved and affected
Speaker 5: by my work at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
Speaker 5: and how are on the forefront of Biblical prophecy coming
Speaker 5: to fruition in Israel. You can visit IFCJ dot com.
Speaker 5: Now let's begin.
Speaker 1: Jacob shifted uncomfortably on his feet. The old wound in
Speaker 1: his hid pained him terribly if he leaned on it
Speaker 1: for too long. Despite the ache of his leg, his
Speaker 1: keen eyes never left the small force approaching on the
Speaker 1: horizon from the south, his twin brother, Esau. In fact,
Speaker 1: the injury was a reminder of the last time they met.
Speaker 1: He had prepared for the worst, but fortunately their showdown
Speaker 1: ended with Esau embracing Jacob. The two men reduced to tears,
Speaker 1: reconciliation found at last. They went their separate ways again,
Speaker 1: but Jacob knew that a similar reunion awaited them today.
Speaker 1: For the purpose of Esau's Sir John North, from his
Speaker 1: desert home in Sea, was the death of their father, Isaac.
Speaker 4: Master Jacob, your brother has arrived.
Speaker 6: Send him directly to our father's tent. You'll want to
Speaker 6: see him and close his eyes before the bodies prepared
Speaker 6: for burial.
Speaker 1: It was customary for the eldest to close the parent's
Speaker 1: eyes upon death. Jacob had stolen so much from Esau already,
Speaker 1: this at least he could give him.
Speaker 4: Master Jacob master, Esau brother brother.
Speaker 1: The two Wayward brothers embraced and wept before their father's deathbed.
Speaker 1: Despite the strife and rivalry that had been between them
Speaker 1: for the vast majority of their lives, they were united
Speaker 1: in their grief for their father, their last remaining pair
Speaker 1: rant Their mother had passed before Jacob had even returned
Speaker 1: to Canaan. Jacob's final words to his mother were in
Speaker 1: a hurried escape. She had not seen him marry, nor
Speaker 1: have children, nor build a fortune of his own making,
Speaker 1: nor become a clan leader in his own right. Jacob
Speaker 1: had also recently buried her maid, Deborah, who had been
Speaker 1: like a grandmother to him. Her death preceded the death
Speaker 1: of his beloved wife Rachel, and before even that, the
Speaker 1: death of his beloved son Joseph. Though well over a
Speaker 1: decade ago, still cast a long shadow over his life.
Speaker 1: The thought of their losses piled on to the grief
Speaker 1: of his father's and threatened to consume him. Jacob wordlessly
Speaker 1: gestured for Esau to step forward and do this final
Speaker 1: task for their father, to close his unseeing eyes so
Speaker 1: he could rest at last. When it was done, the
Speaker 1: two men sat at the foot of his death bed,
Speaker 1: and added their keening to that of the mourners outside
Speaker 1: their father's tent. Jacob and Esau had waded through hundreds
Speaker 1: of said mourners on their way to their father's tent.
Speaker 1: The commotion of the ceremony was a star contrast to
Speaker 1: the emptiness Jacob felt inside under the.
Speaker 3: Weight of all his loss.
Speaker 1: Their scene of public mourning was a far cry from
Speaker 1: the private moment Jacob had for his dear Deborah, the
Speaker 1: woman who nursed and raised his own mother, Rebecca. When
Speaker 1: Jacob came home to Canaan and was devastated by the
Speaker 1: news of her loss, Deborah entered his service, less to
Speaker 1: take care of his children, now mostly grown, and more
Speaker 1: to bring him comfort. He loved the woman, and he
Speaker 1: in turn wanted her to be comfortable in her advanced years.
Speaker 1: She was not a noble woman of his house or
Speaker 1: even a blood relation, so he knew she would not
Speaker 1: have a place in their cave tomb at Macpella, but
Speaker 1: he still wanted to have a place where he could
Speaker 1: honor her memory and mourn her all the same. Jacob
Speaker 1: found an oak tree to the south of Bethel, where
Speaker 1: his caravan had been established. He named the oak Alan
Speaker 1: barkout the oak of weeping when he buried her there,
Speaker 1: that was exactly what he did. He mourned both the
Speaker 1: women who raised him at the grave of woe. There
Speaker 1: was a finality to losing the last of one's parents.
Speaker 1: Jacob had twelve children of his own, the beginnings of
Speaker 1: a nation. But it wasn't until now that he truly
Speaker 1: felt the weight of what it was to steward their
Speaker 1: God's promise as the leader of their family. Despite the birthright,
Speaker 1: despite the blessing, despite the dreams, despite the provision and
Speaker 1: the protection, despite even the renaming from Jacob to Israel.
Speaker 1: It was not until he watched his father's eyes closed
Speaker 1: for the last time that he knew it was now
Speaker 1: up to him to take up his father's mantle of
Speaker 1: guardian of the promise and their legacy.
Speaker 7: Tell me, brother, strange tales about you since I saw
Speaker 7: you last?
Speaker 6: What have you heard?
Speaker 7: People of Kannan now fear you. Your son sacked a
Speaker 7: whole town.
Speaker 6: Unfortunately that is true.
Speaker 7: I also hear you have new name.
Speaker 6: Ah, Yes, a new name for a new people, the
Speaker 6: beginnings of a great nation established here in Canaan.
Speaker 7: Ha ha ha. I understand name change. I also have
Speaker 7: a new name, Edam.
Speaker 6: I suppose that is a strange coincidence. The twins of
Speaker 6: our great father have in turned father to nations.
Speaker 7: Like our uncles sons of grandfather Abraham.
Speaker 6: You were never one forgiving the promises of our God
Speaker 6: much weight.
Speaker 7: And you never honor laws of our land. You never
Speaker 7: honor me. Well, what's what's past has passed? I have
Speaker 7: land and family, I have game and wives, I have sons.
Speaker 7: I do not need a birthright.
Speaker 6: You know, I used to think you are stupid for
Speaker 6: despising father's birthright. But I feel you knew something I didn't.
Speaker 6: Brother to live simply is a gift. The responsibilities of
Speaker 6: this family legacy take its toll.
Speaker 7: Yes, yes, I am simple man with simple desires. Father's
Speaker 7: birthright not simple, Far from simple. Distracting, you're irritating speaking
Speaker 7: of birthrights. I heard your firstborn has lost his Why
Speaker 7: what happened? Did a younger take it from him? H?
Speaker 6: Not quite? But yes, I have had my share of
Speaker 6: strife amongst my sons.
Speaker 1: Esau looked eager for Jacob to share more, but Jacob declined.
Speaker 1: The simmering anger he felt toward his son's, especially with Reuben,
Speaker 1: was always just under the surface. They were responsible for
Speaker 1: the disappearance and presumed death of his favorite son all
Speaker 1: those years ago, and when his beloved wife, Rachel died
Speaker 1: in childbirth after finally conceiving again, Reuben committed an unforgivable
Speaker 1: crime against him. Jacob recalled the betrayal as if it
Speaker 1: was yesterday, despite the events taking place several years ago.
Speaker 1: Jacob had returned to his tent to find the bedding
Speaker 1: of his concubine, Billah in disarray. The woman nowhere to
Speaker 1: be found. Her absence was surely a sign of her
Speaker 1: deep shame and disgrace of being defiled by another man.
Speaker 1: Jacob's fury ignited as he realized only one man could
Speaker 1: be responsible for such a heenous act, an act of
Speaker 1: aggression against not only his beloved wife's hands maiden, but
Speaker 1: also his very seat as a clan leader. For to
Speaker 1: take a clan leader's wife was tantamount to an act
Speaker 1: of treason. Jacob could still recall the heated argument when
Speaker 1: he found Reuben and confronted him for this crime.
Speaker 8: Atreya defiler is discriminator, disrespector you will not even deny
Speaker 8: what I'm accusing you of. Would you deny your preference
Speaker 8: for a concubine over your first wife. You would replace
Speaker 8: her rightful place is your primary wife with a mere servants.
Speaker 8: Your hate my mother truly, so plain what we bare
Speaker 8: this disrespect, even when the second wife is dead and buried.
Speaker 6: You would mask your own ambition for my seat by
Speaker 6: claiming the slight of your mother, who will defend her
Speaker 6: honor when her husband clearly will not.
Speaker 8: Here you go too far, Oh, don't go far enough.
Speaker 8: You weren't even able to predict your conquit for me.
Speaker 8: If Arkinson is litake one of your wives, perhaps you
Speaker 8: were not fit to lead us. What no response to that?
Speaker 8: I thought as much. Would you also seek to replace
Speaker 8: me with Rachel's second son, with Benjamin? Do you think
Speaker 8: his namesake is some mystery to the rest of us,
Speaker 8: Son of my right hand, Your designs to replace me
Speaker 8: are obvious. You so clearly favored Rachel had her sons.
Speaker 8: That's no secret to any of us.
Speaker 6: Do not speak his name. Hearkin speak it if it's
Speaker 6: so please, You will not, And you are no son
Speaker 6: of mine. It was only your watch that we lost
Speaker 6: one of our own. I hold you responsible for Joseph's death.
Speaker 8: I always have I should have stripped you of your
Speaker 8: birth right, then thou wilt not make that mistake twice, Ruben,
Speaker 8: I deny you your birthright.
Speaker 6: What you heard me, your actions has shown me you
Speaker 6: despise it. Why should I stand.
Speaker 8: In your way?
Speaker 6: This is your own doing.
Speaker 8: All my brothers, Simeon and Leroy, would you pass over
Speaker 8: them as well? Would you discriminate against all your sons?
Speaker 6: Your favoritism of Rachel and her sons was always so apparent.
Speaker 6: You were upsetting our every order, you mark of every customs.
Speaker 8: You have reaped what you have sown. I will not
Speaker 8: change my mind.
Speaker 6: I withhold my blessing from you and your brothers. Your
Speaker 6: corruption stays all of us. I am ashamed of you.
Speaker 1: Jacob's face still flushed in anger at the thought of
Speaker 1: his firstborn's actions, and though the conflicts of his youth
Speaker 1: with his brother Esau were buried in behind them, he
Speaker 1: still felt as resolute as he ever did that the
Speaker 1: birthright should not go to one who is so easily
Speaker 1: swide into despising it. And he knew his father Isaac,
Speaker 1: despite his love and preference for Esau, agreed the birthright
Speaker 1: and the blessing remained with Jacob, the second born. Even
Speaker 1: all these years later, Jacob's thoughts returned to Esau and
Speaker 1: the present, and the two men prepared themselves for the
Speaker 1: burial of their father. Jacob and Esau buried their father
Speaker 1: Isaac next to their mother Rebecca and their grandparents Abraham
Speaker 1: and Sarah, in their family tomb in Hebrew. Many shared
Speaker 1: their fond memories of Isaac and spoke of his kindness
Speaker 1: and his faith. He had lived a long and full
Speaker 1: life in the land promised to Abraham by their God.
Speaker 1: Isaac never saw the land of his ancestors and lived
Speaker 1: all his years as an alien in the land of Canaan.
Speaker 1: But yet their God had prospered and sustained him. The
Speaker 1: favor in his life was undenied amongst his family and
Speaker 1: their neighbors. Long after everyone had gone back to their tents,
Speaker 1: Jacob stayed by the entrance of the cave tomb at
Speaker 1: the end of that field his grandfather Abraham had purchased
Speaker 1: all those years ago in the wake of the death
Speaker 1: of his grandmother Sarah. Though the memory was a distant
Speaker 1: one from the days of his youth, Jacob could still
Speaker 1: recall his father, Eyesac, remaining in this very place hours
Speaker 1: after his own father's death to mourn alone. The memory
Speaker 1: brought a faint smile to his lips. Such a tender
Speaker 1: memory in the midst of such sadness. Jacob wished he
Speaker 1: could have brought this beautiful and beloved Rachel here to
Speaker 1: this place to rest alongside his family. He wished she
Speaker 1: could have met his mother, Rebecca and spent more time
Speaker 1: with his father in life. Jacob did the best he could.
Speaker 3: Do for her.
Speaker 1: When she died, he buried her with honor and marked
Speaker 1: the grave so no one would disturb it. He returned
Speaker 1: there as often as he could, but he also had
Speaker 1: his beloved son, Benjamin to comfort him. Rachel had given
Speaker 1: him a beautiful final gift by bearing him a second son,
Speaker 1: the only one to be born here in the land
Speaker 1: promised to his forbearers. It was a fitting notion that
Speaker 1: his last son be born here. The death of Rachel
Speaker 1: and the birth of Benjamin marked the start of his
Speaker 1: sons inheriting his family's legacy. For his God had told
Speaker 1: him that his sons would possess this land.
Speaker 3: Some day, I will give you and your offspring the
Speaker 3: land on which you are lying. Your offspring will be
Speaker 3: like the dust of the earth, and you will spread
Speaker 3: out towards the west, the east, the north, and the south.
Speaker 3: All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you
Speaker 3: and your offspring. Look, I am with you and will
Speaker 3: watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you
Speaker 3: back to this land, for I will not leave you
Speaker 3: until I have done what I have promised you.
Speaker 1: Jacob was indeed back in this land, and he sat
Speaker 1: at the foot of his father's and grandfather's graves. His
Speaker 1: God had done all he said he would do, and
Speaker 1: now there was nothing for Jacob to do but sit
Speaker 1: back and watch the promise unfold. Despite the death around him,
Speaker 1: he knew that there would be life, and in the
Speaker 1: life around him, the promise would continue.
Speaker 5: Have you ever felt the weight of the legacy that's
Speaker 5: come before you? The burden of promises made to those
Speaker 5: who came before you, and the challenge of passing them
Speaker 5: on to those who will come after. That burden makes
Speaker 5: up the story of Isaac's final journey. Our patriarchs walked
Speaker 5: this earth with a singular purpose to be the bearers
Speaker 5: of God's divine promise. But what happens when a torch
Speaker 5: is past? What doesn't mean to carry a promise through
Speaker 5: the ages. How do we honor the past while stepping
Speaker 5: into the future. And can the weight of a blessing
Speaker 5: be both a gift and a burden. The story of
Speaker 5: Isaac's death is one that's wrapped in the dust of ages,
Speaker 5: and one that carries the weight of our forefather's history. Isaac,
Speaker 5: the child of promise, the link and the divine chain
Speaker 5: from Abraham to Jacob. His passing stirred something in me.
Speaker 5: I felt a heaviness, a sacred sorrow as I imagine
Speaker 5: the scene Jacob and Esau, those estranged brothers reunited at
Speaker 5: their father's deathbed, a moment of reconciliation that's tinged with grief.
Speaker 5: Their father, Isaac's life was one of wiet endurance, of
Speaker 5: waiting on the Lord's promises, from his near sacrifice on
Speaker 5: Mount Moria to the silent, sightless suffering of his blindness.
Speaker 5: Through Isaac, we see the patient faith that defines the
Speaker 5: chosen people. In Isaac's death, there's a reminder of the
Speaker 5: mortality that we all face. Yet there's also a hint
Speaker 5: of the eternal life that's promised to our people. Isaac's
Speaker 5: passing isn't just an end whether it's a passage, a
Speaker 5: journey from the material to the eternal. In Bible stories
Speaker 5: like this, I feel the heartbeat of the Jewish people's history,
Speaker 5: and I feel our collective hope. This isn't just the
Speaker 5: story of one man's death. It's a story of redemption,
Speaker 5: a story that continues through us his chosen people. And
Speaker 5: in this story sorrow, there's also a quiet joy, a
Speaker 5: joy rooted in the assurance of God's unwavering love, a
Speaker 5: love that carried Isaac and that still carries us today.
Speaker 5: As I reflect on this story, I can't help but
Speaker 5: say a prayer of gratitude, gratitude for Isaac's life, for
Speaker 5: the faith that he embodied, and for the hoping God
Speaker 5: that he passed on to generations. Let's look a little
Speaker 5: deeper at what Jewish tradition teaches us about this story.
Speaker 5: As the Bible tells of Isaac's passing, Verse twenty nine
Speaker 5: says quote, then he breathed his last and died, and
Speaker 5: was gathered to his people, old and full of years
Speaker 5: end quote. A translation of the Hebrew yamm Seva would
Speaker 5: actually translate more accurately as full of day, not full
Speaker 5: of years. So let's say that again. Let's quote that
Speaker 5: again according to how the literal Hebrew says it. Then
Speaker 5: he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to
Speaker 5: his people, old and.
Speaker 2: Full of days.
Speaker 5: Hmm, full of days? What does that mean? To be
Speaker 5: full of days? The great sage Nechmanides explained that Isaac
Speaker 5: was fully content with what each day brought him. That
Speaker 5: explanation really speaks to me, and I bet it speaks
Speaker 5: to you, because I think we live in a world
Speaker 5: where things are never enough, We are never satisfied. We're
Speaker 5: always working for something that we don't have, another vacation,
Speaker 5: a job that we like more, better relationships with our
Speaker 5: friends or our spouses. And what Rahmanides is saying here
Speaker 5: about Isaac is that he was content with what every
Speaker 5: day brought him, that he had enough. Every day he
Speaker 5: looked back and said that was a good day. Isn't
Speaker 5: that a wonderful thing to strive for, To spend our
Speaker 5: lives finding satisfaction in what each and every day brings.
Speaker 5: I don't think Nahmanides means that we shouldn't look into
Speaker 5: the future or even pray for what we want in
Speaker 5: the days ahead. And I don't think that he looked
Speaker 5: at every day as perfect. But what I think he
Speaker 5: means is that whatever happens, whatever God gives us, we
Speaker 5: can be content knowing that it's a part of God's
Speaker 5: plan for each of our lives. And of course, this
Speaker 5: is also a story about death of a burial. In
Speaker 5: Jewish tradition, burial is more than laying a body to rest.
Speaker 5: It's actually a sac ritual deeply entwined with our faith
Speaker 5: and our heritage. Abraham, the Father of many nations, rests
Speaker 5: beside his son, Isaac, the bearer of the Covenant. Isaac's
Speaker 5: burial alongside Abraham is not just a moment of mourning. Rather,
Speaker 5: it's a reminder of the importance of honoring our forefathers,
Speaker 5: and it reminds us of the continuity of God's promises
Speaker 5: passed down to generations. But what does Isaac's story teach
Speaker 5: us about the bigger picture? How does his legacy continue
Speaker 5: through Jacob in the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Isaac's story
Speaker 5: isn't just the story of one man. It's a story
Speaker 5: that's still being told of a divine promise, a promise
Speaker 5: that transcends generations. When Isaac passed, the convenient continued with Jacob,
Speaker 5: and with Jacob, the Covenant was reaffirmed, extending through his
Speaker 5: sons the twelve Tribes of Israel. And so, as we
Speaker 5: reflect on Isaac's story, Let's pledge to live with the
Speaker 5: same quiet endurance that Isaac lived. Let's yearn for that.
Speaker 5: Let's work towards that. Let's show the same steadfast faith
Speaker 5: that Isaac heroically and humbly displayed.
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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 Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by
Speaker 1: Jonathan cotton O and Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold,
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Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and
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