Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people.
Speaker 2: Go to the land. I have given you the place
Speaker 2: where I met you before return Israel to Bethel.
Speaker 1: Jacob led his caravan in the direction of Bethel, but
Speaker 1: paranoia nagged at him.
Speaker 3: You have enough to dwell in Methyl, isolated from other
Speaker 3: clans and trade. What if we fall on hard times?
Speaker 1: God had clearly told Jacob to go to Bethel, but
Speaker 1: Jacob wondered if he could delay his obedience a little longer.
Speaker 4: Tell me, Dinah, how has your family adjusted to being
Speaker 4: this close to the city. I can imagine it being
Speaker 4: quite a shock.
Speaker 3: My father enjoys the business connections.
Speaker 4: He plans to gain more wealth through training until we
Speaker 4: settle near Bethel.
Speaker 1: I've watched you, Dinah. I've watched you come with God.
Speaker 4: I've watched you drop water from the well and dance
Speaker 4: under the lanterns. Each moment I don't have you as painful.
Speaker 4: I shall be rid of that pain today.
Speaker 5: Please no.
Speaker 1: Sheckham ignored Dinah's please for mercy. He seized her against
Speaker 1: the jagged stone walls and violated her.
Speaker 5: What are you going to do about what happened to Dinah?
Speaker 3: What can I do?
Speaker 5: Shechem is the son of the most powerful man in
Speaker 5: the region. We shouldn't even be here. God told you
Speaker 5: to settle in Bethel.
Speaker 3: I know, but I thought we could be here for
Speaker 3: a while to regroup. I thought it would be good
Speaker 3: for us.
Speaker 5: Good for you. But you've left the rest of us
Speaker 5: vulnerable to the city.
Speaker 3: Your daughter was raped, Jacob.
Speaker 1: We Hebrews aren't perfect.
Speaker 6: Follow my father around for a day and you'll realize
Speaker 6: that we aren't perfectly upright men.
Speaker 1: But we do have honor.
Speaker 6: That's something that seems so foreign.
Speaker 3: To you Canaanites, and your wife and I will pay it.
Speaker 6: The price is life.
Speaker 1: Simeon and Levi returned with Dinah, blood still wet on
Speaker 1: their faces and tunics. Jacob was waiting for them, his
Speaker 1: face a storm of fury and fear.
Speaker 3: Foolish boys, what have you done?
Speaker 2: What you should have done?
Speaker 1: Jacob stood alone, fists clenched, teeth grinding. A storm of
Speaker 1: emotions wared within him. Shame at his son's greater sense
Speaker 1: of honor, terror at the prospect of the city's vengeance,
Speaker 1: Guilt for bringing his family into this place of doom
Speaker 1: instead of leading them straight to Bethel. He was a
Speaker 1: man caught between the duty of a father and the
Speaker 1: fear of a leader, and in that moment, the weight
Speaker 1: of both threatened to crash in.
Speaker 7: In the stillness of Bethel, Jacob found that the path
Speaker 7: to his future involved the purification of his past. Shallow,
Speaker 7: my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel,
Speaker 7: i'm Ya l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians
Speaker 7: and Jews, Welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll
Speaker 7: hear dramatic stories inspired by the Bible, stories filled with
Speaker 7: timeless lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life.
Speaker 7: Now let's begin. Our path with God. Isn't a straight line.
Speaker 7: We don't start at the beginning and steadily make our
Speaker 7: way to the end. There are peaks and valleys, highs
Speaker 7: and lows, and everything in between. Sometimes to move forward,
Speaker 7: we have to take a few steps back, and in
Speaker 7: order to look to the future, sometimes we must face
Speaker 7: our past. Let's join Jacob in one of these moments
Speaker 7: in a Bible story inspired by Genesis thirty five one
Speaker 7: to fifteen.
Speaker 1: In that stillness, as dawn's light crept over the horizon,
Speaker 1: its warmth brushed Jacob's chest, stirring something deep within him.
Speaker 1: He drew in a long, trembling breath. His heart heavy
Speaker 1: with the weight of his son's actions and the unknown
Speaker 1: consequences they would bring. He turned inward, seeking solace in
Speaker 1: the familiar comfort of prayer, not as a patriarch, but
Speaker 1: as a child, seeking the tender guidance.
Speaker 2: Of a father.
Speaker 3: God, God knows, diye.
Speaker 2: Help me.
Speaker 1: The warmth of the morning sun began to melt away
Speaker 1: the icy grip of his anxiety, and in that sacred moment,
Speaker 1: Jacob felt the presence of the Almighty once more, like
Speaker 1: an old friend returned. The voice of the Lord was
Speaker 1: not a thunderous roar from the heavens, but a quiet command,
Speaker 1: intimate and unyielding.
Speaker 2: Arise Israel back to Bethel, make an altar there and
Speaker 2: worship me as you once did before.
Speaker 1: Jacob nodded, stealing himself with the resolve that had carried
Speaker 1: him through countless trials. His journey had never been a
Speaker 1: straight path. It twisted with moments of triumph and transformation,
Speaker 1: only to loop back into valleys of failure and despair. Yet,
Speaker 1: like his forefathers, Jacob chose to press onward, ever, seeking
Speaker 1: the will of the Almighty. He returned to his camp,
Speaker 1: his steps heavier now with purpose. He called together his family,
Speaker 1: his sons, his servants, and the people who had come
Speaker 1: to rely on him for guidance.
Speaker 5: Cleanse yourselves, change your garments, wash throw away any ardles
Speaker 5: you may have, and purify your hearts. A great danger
Speaker 5: threatens us, but we will arise to Bethel to seek God,
Speaker 5: who has always answered me wherever I go.
Speaker 1: The people obeyed, bringing forth their foreign gods, the idols
Speaker 1: that had crept into their lives, and even the rings
Speaker 1: from their ears. Jacob gathered them all and buried them
Speaker 1: beneath the Terebinth tree near Shechem, a final act of
Speaker 1: severance from the old life that had clung to them.
Speaker 1: Their journey was a hurried one, driven by the fear
Speaker 1: of retribution that lingered in their hearts. Yet as they
Speaker 1: left the region behind, Jacob marveled at the absence of pursuit.
Speaker 1: He sent scouts to the surrounding cities, and they returned
Speaker 1: with word of chaos.
Speaker 6: Lord Jacob, the city of Shechem is in disarray, men
Speaker 6: vying for power, wildfires.
Speaker 2: And all sorts of terrors.
Speaker 3: Do you knowledge? Does anyone plan to pursue us?
Speaker 6: Doubtful, my lord. Every city and village is in complete disaster.
Speaker 6: They'll take months, if not years, to recover.
Speaker 5: God has moved a love ahaf pres on.
Speaker 3: We can move without fear.
Speaker 1: And so Jacob led his family through the Negev, across jagged,
Speaker 1: arid landscapes, and uprolling verdant hills. The journey was long
Speaker 1: and hard, but with each step they drew closer to
Speaker 1: the place where heaven had once touched the earth before
Speaker 1: Jacob's eyes. Finally, they arrived at the base of a
Speaker 1: great hill overlooking the land of Canaan, and there stood Bethel,
Speaker 1: the sacred place where Jacob had first encountered the Almighty.
Speaker 1: The wind picked up as they ascended, whistling against Jacob's
Speaker 1: weathered cheeks. The sun cast a crimson glow across the sky,
Speaker 1: painting the clouds with fiery hues. Jacob felt the pull
Speaker 1: of that place, as if it beckoned him to return
Speaker 1: to remember. His family followed close behind, their steps, echoing
Speaker 1: the journey he had once taken alone. God did not
Speaker 1: part the heavens this time, nor did he send angels
Speaker 1: to descend on a ladder from the sky. Instead, he
Speaker 1: spoke softly in the recesses of Jacob's heart, reminding him
Speaker 1: of who he was and who he would become.
Speaker 2: I am the Lord God Almighty, Be fruitful and multiply.
Speaker 2: A nation and a company of nations shall come from you,
Speaker 2: and kings will come from among you. The land that
Speaker 2: I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you,
Speaker 2: and I he will give the land to your off
Speaker 2: spring after you.
Speaker 1: Jacob stood at the summit and gazed upon the lash,
Speaker 1: vibrant land below. He was where his father Isaac had stood,
Speaker 1: where Abraham before him had once walked or filled him,
Speaker 1: Or that a man as flawed and broken as he
Speaker 1: could be chosen by the creator of all. He knew
Speaker 1: he was not done failing. His journey was far from over.
Speaker 1: Yet in the face of all his imperfections, God blessed him,
Speaker 1: blessed his family, the people of Israel, and Jacob knew
Speaker 1: with a certainty that settled into his bones that the
Speaker 1: Lord would not abandon them, no matter what trials awaited them.
Speaker 1: He turned to his family, gesturing toward the stones he
Speaker 1: had stagged so long ago as a monument.
Speaker 3: Each of you, gather a stone and add it to
Speaker 3: this night, we will build an altar here and make
Speaker 3: a sacrifice unto our God it will be called El Bethel.
Speaker 1: As Jacob limped forward, his hand instinctively rubbing the old
Speaker 1: wound on his hip, still sore from that night he
Speaker 1: wrestled with God, he came upon a mound of dirt.
Speaker 1: He closed his eyes, and a single tear slipped down
Speaker 1: his weathered cheek, falling on to the earth that held
Speaker 1: profound memories. In that moment, God spoke to him once more.
Speaker 1: No longer shows your name, Jacob. From this day forward,
Speaker 1: Israel shall be your name. Ay, and God Almighty, be
Speaker 1: fruitful and multiply in this land. A nation and a
Speaker 1: company of nations shall come from you, and king shall
Speaker 1: come from your own body. The land that I gave
Speaker 1: to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and
Speaker 1: I will give the land to your offspring after you. Jacob,
Speaker 1: now Israel set up a pillar in the place where
Speaker 1: God had spoken to him. He poured out a drink,
Speaker 1: offering upon it, followed by oil, sanctifying the spot as holy.
Speaker 1: As he worked, his mind drifted to the long path
Speaker 1: he had walked to arrive at this moment. The wrong turns,
Speaker 1: the missteps, the half measures, all of it let him here,
Speaker 1: and through it all God had been with him before
Speaker 1: and behind, cleaning up his messes and paving the way forward.
Speaker 1: He looked back at his sons, the future of the
Speaker 1: people who would bear his new name. He thought about
Speaker 1: the path ahead of them, the countless mistakes they would
Speaker 1: inevitably make on their way to becoming a great nation.
Speaker 1: He knew he could not shield them from the trials
Speaker 1: and tribulations that awaited them, just as he had not
Speaker 1: been shielded. But he did not pray for their path
Speaker 1: to be perfect. Instead, he prayed for them to have
Speaker 1: the strength to endure, to wrestle as he had, to
Speaker 1: be bruised and broken, but to rise in the end,
Speaker 1: sharing in the victory of their God. Such was the
Speaker 1: path of Isaac and Abraham before him, and such would
Speaker 1: be the path of Israel, a nation of broken people
Speaker 1: chosen by God for greatness.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 7: Here we find Jacob standing at the edge of the
Speaker 7: destiny when he receives a call from God, a call
Speaker 7: to return to Bethel, a pilgrimage to where promises were
Speaker 7: made and visions were seen, a journey back to the
Speaker 7: place where Heaven touched earth. This idea of returning, of
Speaker 7: circling back to sacred spaces is like coming home. This
Speaker 7: story really resonates with me. You see, in two thousand
Speaker 7: and five, my husband Michael and I made Aliel, which
Speaker 7: means we immigrated here to the holy land of Israel
Speaker 7: from where we were born in America. We came in
Speaker 7: order to make our home in the biblical and historic
Speaker 7: homeland of Israel, to pray in the land of the Bible,
Speaker 7: to raise our family in the land that God promised
Speaker 7: our ancestors, his chosen people. So this Bible story of
Speaker 7: Jacob returning to such a holy place, well, for me,
Speaker 7: it's personal. It really hits home what it means to
Speaker 7: turn to a place that actually is ready your home.
Speaker 7: And Jacob didn't just go alone. No, he brought his family,
Speaker 7: his entire household, calling them to purify themselves, to throw
Speaker 7: away their foreign gods. Sometimes, my friends, we need to
Speaker 7: do the same in our lives. We need a focus
Speaker 7: on the God who calls us back time and time
Speaker 7: again to leave what we don't need behind, to heed
Speaker 7: God's call for renewal, for recommitment. And Jacob's return to
Speaker 7: Bethel is also a story of grace, of second chances
Speaker 7: and fresh starts. It reminds us today that no matter
Speaker 7: how far we wander, there's always a way back to
Speaker 7: our God, who is always there, calling us home and
Speaker 7: welcoming us to his love. In Hebrew, Bethel is pronounced
Speaker 7: bit e L, and it literally translates to house of
Speaker 7: God bait L, house of God. You see, this place
Speaker 7: isn't just a dot on a map. No, it's a
Speaker 7: spiritual touchstone. It's a place where Heaven meets Earth. And
Speaker 7: it's here that Jacob, at this recurring sacred space, stands
Speaker 7: at its threshold. But Jacob doesn't just return to a
Speaker 7: physical place. He comes back to the very heart of
Speaker 7: his faith. It's at bait L that God reiterates to
Speaker 7: Jacob the promise that he gave to Abraham and Isaac.
Speaker 7: Do you know what that promise is? Yeah, you probably
Speaker 7: guessed it. It's the promise of the land of Israel.
Speaker 7: But here this promise is coupled with another promise from
Speaker 7: verses eleven and twelve. Quote and God said to him,
Speaker 7: I'm God Almighty, be fruitful and increase in numbers. A
Speaker 7: nation and a community of nations will come from you,
Speaker 7: and kings will be among your descendants. The land that
Speaker 7: I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I also give to you,
Speaker 7: and I will give this land to your descendants. After
Speaker 7: you end quote, I want you to hear the second
Speaker 7: verse in the Bible's original Hebrew, because it's so important
Speaker 7: to understand the real intention of what God was saying.
Speaker 7: The eta aretz asher natati le Avraham ulitzraklera etkaannen lera
Speaker 7: et nena ulizar ahreja etten eta Aretz. First, God promises
Speaker 7: that the Chosen people will be numerous and royal, and
Speaker 7: immediately after that, God promises that the land that he
Speaker 7: gave to Abraham and Isac, he will also give to
Speaker 7: Jacob and pay attention to this to all his descendants,
Speaker 7: the Chosen people. Wow, that's pretty powerful. Malbium. The Grajewish
Speaker 7: age from the eighteen hundred stated that these two verses
Speaker 7: about the future descendants of Jacob and the promised land
Speaker 7: cannot be separated. The nation of Israel and the land
Speaker 7: of Israel are inseparable, and they're bound together forever. It's
Speaker 7: incredible when you think about it. This promise was made
Speaker 7: thousands of years ago, and I'm speaking to you right
Speaker 7: now from this very same holy land. I feel it
Speaker 7: so very strongly. I feel the words of this verse.
Speaker 7: I feel the promise. I feel so connected to this
Speaker 7: land in a way that I could not feel anywhere else.
Speaker 7: And the reason why is because God himself promised it
Speaker 7: to me. He promised it to Jacob and his descendants.
Speaker 7: But just what is it about Bethel that draws Jacob back?
Speaker 7: Let's trace its significance. Bethel first appears when Jacob is
Speaker 7: fleeing esau Fear and uncertainty grip his heart. But at Bethel,
Speaker 7: Jacob dreams of a ladder that reaches all the way
Speaker 7: up to Heaven, angels ascending and descending, and suddenly God speaks.
Speaker 7: Fast forward many years later, Jacob is returning from Paddan Aram.
Speaker 7: He has wrestled with God. Jacob's name has been changed
Speaker 7: to Israel, but his life is still very complicated, and
Speaker 7: God calls him back to Bethel. Why because Bethel is
Speaker 7: where Jacob first met God. Because bethelas where God's promises
Speaker 7: were made, and now bethelas where God's promises are going
Speaker 7: to be renewed. So I ask you, my friends, what
Speaker 7: about us do we remember our own bethels? Can you
Speaker 7: reflect on moments of a divine encounter and your own
Speaker 7: Heart's sacred spaces, places where God promised or whispered in you.
Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with your exte
Speaker 1: and ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Pray
Speaker 1: dot Com app Today God. This Prey dot Com production
Speaker 1: is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents.
Speaker 1: Steve Gattina to Max bod Zach Shellabarga and Ben Gammon,
Speaker 1: the executive producers of The Chosen Beach with the Isle
Speaker 1: ex Stein, edited by Alberto narrated by Paul Characters are
Speaker 1: voiced by Jonathan Comin, Aaron Salvata, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan,
Speaker 1: Stephen Ringwalwick, Sylvia Zaradov, and the opening prayer is voiced
Speaker 1: by John Moore, using by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by
Speaker 1: Brie Rosalie and Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paulonia,
Speaker 1: Robin van etten Dayla Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team
Speaker 1: at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear
Speaker 1: more Prey dot Com productions on the Prey dot Com app,
Speaker 1: available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Stores.
Speaker 1: If you enjoyed The Chosen People with io XTE, please
Speaker 1: rate and leave.
Speaker 7: A review does answer, even if it's not as straightforward
Speaker 7: as we would like it to be. In our lives,
Speaker 7: so much of our prayer is forward focused. Jacob, however,
Speaker 7: reminds us of the profound importance of looking back, of
Speaker 7: thanking God for the prayers that He has already answered,
Speaker 7: for the blessings that He has already provided. Have we
Speaker 7: prayed for children and been granted them? Have we prayed
Speaker 7: for clarity which God gave us? Did we pray for
Speaker 7: a home that God provided? If we all follow Jacob's
Speaker 7: example looking back with gratitude on God's blessings, we create
Speaker 7: a deeper connection to the one who has been with
Speaker 7: us all along and will always be with us, keeping
Speaker 7: his promise to bless his chosen people.