# 15 - Abram's Covenant - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein experience the profound moment when God makes an unbreakable covenant with Abram, promising descendants as numerous as the stars. This pivotal event marks the beginning of a divine relationship that shapes the destiny of nations and echoes through the ages.
Episode 15 of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein is inspired by the Book of Genesis.
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For more information about Yael Eckstein and IFCJ visit https://www.ifcj.org/
Today's opening prayer is inspired by Deuteronomy 31:6, “... For it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
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Show Notes:
(03:17) Intro with Yael Eckstein
(05:24) Abram's Covenant - Cinematic Retelling
(21:48) Reflection with Yael Eckstein
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People.
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Speaker 2: Tell me more about this visitor at the perimeter. Did
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Speaker 2: you learn his name?
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Speaker 3: He calls himself Melchizedek, King of Salem.
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Speaker 2: King Melchizedek, you honor us with your visit. Tell us
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Speaker 2: what have you come to say?
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Speaker 4: I am a king, yes, but I am also a
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Speaker 4: high priest.
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Speaker 3: A priest of what God.
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Speaker 4: El Elion, the one and only true God. There is
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Speaker 4: the one who created both the heavens and the earth.
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Speaker 4: He has many names, but he is one God, The
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Speaker 4: God most High, is what I call him before you. Now,
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Speaker 4: this is the God of Abraham, the God who has
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Speaker 4: given him favor in his land. He is the god
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Speaker 4: who blesses his friends and curses his enemies. This is
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Speaker 4: the God who is granted you your victories and destroyed
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Speaker 4: your enemies before you.
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Speaker 1: Melchizedek then stood gently, placing his hands on Abram's shoulders,
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Speaker 1: closed his eyes, and began his blessing.
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Speaker 4: Blessed be apron by God most High, creator of heaven
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Speaker 4: and earth. In him, you and your great nation.
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Speaker 5: Will have a protector and provider.
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Speaker 1: The King of Sodom wore a dark robe with crimson
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Speaker 1: threads woven into an image of a three headed serpent.
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Speaker 3: Do not fear, Abram, call off your amorite god. Docs
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Speaker 3: I told you had come to make a generous offer.
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Speaker 3: I see you have all our possessions in people, but
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Speaker 3: I will allow you to keep all the possessions. Call
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Speaker 3: it an act of gratitude, a good will, even for
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Speaker 3: destroying our enemies and avenging noosity.
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Speaker 1: Abram smiled. There it was this was what the king wanted,
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Speaker 1: giving up the possessions he lost in a raid to
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Speaker 1: gain a friend, to curry favor with Abram and the Emirates.
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Speaker 1: King Bearer was looking to own Abram through this gift.
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Speaker 2: As my friends know, I have devoted my life to
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Speaker 2: the God most High. All I have is his, and
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Speaker 2: all I do is in his name. My victories are
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Speaker 2: his and not my own. So it is to him
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Speaker 2: that you should be grateful, and not me. My possessions
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Speaker 2: are the same. Everything I own is his. I'm not
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Speaker 2: a self made man. Therefore I have little taste for
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Speaker 2: ambitious friendships, and I would not take even a thread
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Speaker 2: or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you. I
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Speaker 2: see the invisible strings attached to them. I will sever
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Speaker 2: them now and give you what is yours. I will
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Speaker 2: not allow you or anyone to say I made Abram rich.
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Speaker 2: I cannot be owned because I am already under the
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Speaker 2: lordship of another.
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Speaker 6: In the stillness of the desert night, a voice called
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Speaker 6: out to the wanderer, and the divine promised lit up
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Speaker 6: the darkness with the fire of an eternal covenant. Shallo,
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Speaker 6: my friends from here in the holy land of Israel,
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Speaker 6: i'm ya l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians
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Speaker 6: and Jews. Welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll
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Speaker 6: hear a dramatic story inspired by the Bible, stories filled
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Speaker 6: with timeless lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life.
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Speaker 6: Through Israel's story, will find this truth that we're all
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Speaker 6: chosen for something great. You already know what to do.
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Speaker 6: If you've been impacted by these stories, we'd love to
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Speaker 6: hear from you. So leave a review and share with
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Speaker 6: us how the Bible has enriched and inspired your faith.
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Speaker 6: I love to read about it. Now, let's begin. Imagine
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Speaker 6: a man standing alone in the quiet desert, his heart
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Speaker 6: filled with questions as endless as the sky above him.
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Speaker 6: Abram is a wanderer, a seeker, a dreamer. He is
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Speaker 6: called by a voice that echoes through time, promising him
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Speaker 6: a future that seems as far away as the stars
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Speaker 6: that he gazes upon. It's here where God meets Abram
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Speaker 6: and offers him a covenant, as we say in Hebrew
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Speaker 6: a brit But what is this breat this covenant? And
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Speaker 6: how could a divine promise shape the destiny of nations
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Speaker 6: and alter the course of history? As we journey into
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Speaker 6: this dramatic retelling of Genesis fifteen, let's ask ourselves these questions.
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Speaker 6: What does it mean to trust in a promise that
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Speaker 6: seems impossible? How do we hold on to faith when
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Speaker 6: evidence is scarce? And what can we learn about the
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Speaker 6: nature of a God who binds himself to humanity through
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Speaker 6: a solemn, sacred oath.
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Speaker 7: Then you told Berra that you would never be all
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Speaker 7: by him. Ha ha, that's insight. I hoped never to forget.
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Speaker 5: I will allow you nor anyone to say I made
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Speaker 5: Abram rich.
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Speaker 8: Oh Abram, that was masterful. I should say that King
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Speaker 8: Bira would not soon forget it either.
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Speaker 1: Abram and his three emirate companions had finally returned home
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Speaker 1: to Hebron. They dine together and toasted their recent adventures.
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Speaker 1: Everyone had heard of their exploits and learned of their victories,
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Speaker 1: piling them as mighty warriors. They soon found themselves something
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Speaker 1: akin to celebrities. The Emirates returned wealthier than ever, while
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Speaker 1: Abram declined his share of the rescued plunder from Sodom.
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Speaker 3: I may not understand this god you follow, Abramam. I
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Speaker 3: certainly don't understand your strange devotion to him, but I
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Speaker 3: appreciate how rich he's made me here.
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Speaker 8: Perhaps I too shall worship this God of money.
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Speaker 7: If he makes us say any richer, one of our
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Speaker 7: sons will be blotting our demise to take control of
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Speaker 7: our fortunes faster.
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Speaker 8: If I had known how rich I would become, I
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Speaker 8: never would have had any.
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Speaker 2: I do not expect you to understand, but be careful
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Speaker 2: how you speak of such things. I have seen the
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Speaker 2: power of God most high hand, and in direct ways
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Speaker 2: you have as well.
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Speaker 5: I'm sorry, we need no disrespect.
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Speaker 3: Okay, But but what of the wealth and influence you
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Speaker 3: have amassed. You may have turned down your share of
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Speaker 3: King Bear's possessions, but you are still a very wealthy man,
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Speaker 3: and you speak often or your legacy and the nation
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Speaker 3: you're building. I do not mean to overreach. But how
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Speaker 3: do you plan to secure your line of inheritance without
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Speaker 3: a son or any children for that matter? Have you
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Speaker 3: named an heir.
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Speaker 7: Or easy to be our man, Eliezer. Isn't it a
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Speaker 7: custom among you Hebrews that the most senior servant in
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Speaker 7: your household stands to inherit if there is no heir
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Speaker 7: of your own flesh and blood.
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Speaker 2: Yes, that is a tradition among my people. We call
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Speaker 2: them the possessor, heir or son of possession. But no,
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Speaker 2: I will not pass on what has been given to
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Speaker 2: me to Eliezer. My God has promised me that Sarah
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Speaker 2: and I will have a son.
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Speaker 7: Or really, Sir, I imagine he's become quite accustomed to the
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Speaker 7: idea at this point.
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Speaker 8: But how Abram? Forgive me, but you are over eighty
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Speaker 8: years old and Sarah is only ten years younger. She
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Speaker 8: is certainly fair, But I don't think even an Egyptian
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Speaker 8: fertility ritual could summon an air from her womb at
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Speaker 8: this late stage in her life.
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Speaker 2: I hear your concern, ainair Escole, I really do. I
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Speaker 2: do not know how it will come to pass, but
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Speaker 2: my God has promised it, and I've yet to see
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Speaker 2: anything he tells me, not come to pass.
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Speaker 3: Brothers, Let's not push Abram on this matter. Let us
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Speaker 3: talknandrink of other things.
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Speaker 1: He The hour was late when Abram at last departed
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Speaker 1: from Memory's household, and despite the lateness of the hour
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Speaker 1: to walk around the long way home through the now
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Speaker 1: deserted streets of the city. He did not want to
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Speaker 1: admit it, but the conversation with his friends had shaken him.
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Speaker 1: He knew his friends meant well, and they did not
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Speaker 1: mean to offend him. But it had been almost ten
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Speaker 1: years since his God had promised him a son, and
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Speaker 1: though the God Most High had not specified a time
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Speaker 1: in which this was to happen, and though he did
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Speaker 1: not doubt the words, he still wondered at the mechanics
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Speaker 1: of how Abram had never expected others to have the
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Speaker 1: same faith as him. But he was surprised to find
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Speaker 1: how alienating it was for his friends to vocalize their doubts.
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Speaker 1: Would he spend the rest of his life defending this promise?
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Speaker 1: His friends had been gentle. He could only imagine what
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Speaker 1: his enemy said of him behind his back, but he
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Speaker 1: could not deny that their lack of belief was a blow.
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Speaker 1: Was he to carry this legacy alone. Just then, as
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Speaker 1: had happened all those other times before, the quiet city
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Speaker 1: went utterly still and silent, and Abram knew that his
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Speaker 1: God was about to speak to him. Abral steadied his
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Speaker 1: breath and heartbeat. He turned his face toward the hills.
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Speaker 1: The breeze blew from behind him, as if to nudge
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Speaker 1: him forward.
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Speaker 5: Abraham, do not be anxious, and do not worry about
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Speaker 5: the opinions of others, For you are not alone. I
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Speaker 5: am your shield. Your friends seek only temporal rewards riches
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Speaker 5: of this world, but your reward will be far greater.
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Speaker 5: I have not forgotten about the promise I have made.
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Speaker 2: You, God Most High, I know what you have promised me.
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Speaker 2: But how can you blame my friends for questioning? I
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Speaker 2: have no children. Will I truly need to settle with Eliezer,
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Speaker 2: a mere servant becoming my heir? Is that how what
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Speaker 2: you have said will come to pass.
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Speaker 5: No, this man will not be your heir. You will
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Speaker 5: have a son who is your own flesh and blood,
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Speaker 5: and he will be your heir. I want you to
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Speaker 5: listen to me. Go outside the city walls, meet me
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Speaker 5: in the quiet under the canopy of stars. There I
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Speaker 5: shall speak to you.
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Speaker 1: Abram obeyed, hurrying beyond the city's boundaries. The verdant fannies
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Speaker 1: darkened under the velvet skies. Abram knelt down, bawling the
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Speaker 1: grass in his fists. He was anxious to hear more
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Speaker 1: from his God. He strained to listen, thirsty for an
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Speaker 1: ounce of clarity. He gazed up at the heavens, the
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Speaker 1: stars shining with a cold, distant light.
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Speaker 2: What is my destiny?
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Speaker 5: What will be my you see? Do you see the
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Speaker 5: stars spread across the heavens far above your head?
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Speaker 1: Abram nodded, his brows creased upward, desperation painted on his
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Speaker 1: starlit face.
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Speaker 5: Can you count the stars, Abram?
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Speaker 1: Abram shook his head uncertain.
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Speaker 5: You cannot, for there are too many. It is impossible.
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Speaker 5: It is to be the same with your offspring. The
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Speaker 5: great nation I shall make through your air would be
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Speaker 5: as innumerable as the stars in the night sky.
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Speaker 1: Abram could again sense the certainty, the absolute and unexplainable peace,
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Speaker 1: that accompanied his God's words. Abram believed, although he was
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Speaker 1: still uncertain about how these things would come to pass.
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Speaker 5: I am the God most High, the God who brought
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Speaker 5: you out from Er. I have laid out my plans
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Speaker 5: for you and have been your advocate since before you
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Speaker 5: even heard my voice. I called you and was with
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Speaker 5: you in Haran, Egypt, and Canaan, everywhere you have ever
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Speaker 5: set foot, and I say, I will give you this
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Speaker 5: land to possess.
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Speaker 2: Elle Leon, God Most High. I believe the words you
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Speaker 2: have said to me. But how am I to know
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Speaker 2: that I will possess it?
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Speaker 5: But you also believe I will do as I say.
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Speaker 5: Your faith will be credited to you as righteousness. You
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Speaker 5: ask for more than a contract. You ask for a
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Speaker 5: covenant in your common tongue. A covenant is between us
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Speaker 5: that would signify a permanent, everlasting agreement between us. This
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Speaker 5: I will gladly do. Come to me here in this
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Speaker 5: place tomorrow before sunset, and bring the following with you
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Speaker 5: so we may make our covenant. A three year old cow,
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Speaker 5: a three year old female goat, a three year old ran,
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Speaker 5: a turtle, dove, and a young pigeon. Our covenant will
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Speaker 5: be between the God of all creation and you my creation.
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Speaker 5: I will come down to cut a covenant in the
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Speaker 5: ways of your people, but this will be something else entirely.
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Speaker 5: This covenant between us would be something new, the likes
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Speaker 5: of which humankind has never seen before.
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Speaker 1: Abram did exactly as his God said. He acquired the
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Speaker 1: sacrificial animals required to cut the covenant between them, and
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Speaker 1: brought them back to the place and time the God
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Speaker 1: Most High had specified. Abram had seen his God do
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Speaker 1: incredible things, but that he would enter into this agreement
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Speaker 1: with him was truly remarkable. As the agreement required, Abram
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Speaker 1: sacrificed the ovens and cut them in half from head
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Speaker 1: to tail. The blood dripped down the blade and down
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Speaker 1: his forearm. The blood was wrong and unsettling on his skin.
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Speaker 1: The gore was significant. The lives of innocence were given
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Speaker 1: as a symbol of the purity of their covenant. The
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Speaker 1: only animals he did not cut in half with the birds.
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Speaker 1: He then laid the pieces, the bloody side, facing upwards
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Speaker 1: on either side. Abram knew this ritual, Shadows of it
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Speaker 1: were passed down since the ancient days. The crimson stained
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Speaker 1: space between animals was the symbolic walkway for their covenant,
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Speaker 1: the walk unto death. Once the ritual began, the representatives
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Speaker 1: would circle the halved pieces and go through the walkway
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Speaker 1: to signify that if either representative were to break the covenant,
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Speaker 1: something similar would be done to them. Abram had not
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Speaker 1: seen his God take a form, so he wondered how
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Speaker 1: this portion of the ritual would be achieved. As he
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Speaker 1: dragged the animals into place, would milkies at deck return?
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Speaker 1: Would an angel descend from above? Abram stood back from
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Speaker 1: his work and watched the blood from the carcassus seep
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Speaker 1: into the earth, some of it flowing into the middle
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Speaker 1: of the walkway. As he waited for his God, birds
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Speaker 1: of prey began to circle above. They grew bold in
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Speaker 1: hunger and dove before Abram for the sacrificed animals. Their
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Speaker 1: talons and beaks hungrily picked at the.
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Speaker 4: Carcasses Where will you yet?
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Speaker 1: Abram ran at the birds like a fool, flapping his
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Speaker 1: arms and screaming. The birds, relatively unperturbed, retreated to a
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Speaker 1: nearby tree and waited. Abram laughed and shook his head.
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Speaker 1: He stretched and yawned, wondering if God would show himself.
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Speaker 1: He laid back and waited, his eyes sinking with each blink.
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Speaker 1: As the sun slipped beyond the horizon, A terrible and
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Speaker 1: unnatural darkness swirled around him, far darker than it should be.
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Speaker 1: At dusk. Abram was then pulled into a deep sleep
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Speaker 1: and fell to the ground. Abram saw nothing, but heard
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Speaker 1: the voice of his God from the depths of his dream.
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Speaker 5: I will give you a new vision of what is
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Speaker 5: to come. For four hundred years. Not unlike you, your
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Speaker 5: descendants will be strangers in a country that is not
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Speaker 5: their own. But unlike you, they will be slaves backs
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Speaker 5: bruised by their oppressors. Do not fear.
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Speaker 9: Them, for I am a just God, and I will
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Speaker 9: wield my judgment and punish the nation they served as slaves.
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Speaker 5: After this trial, they will come out with many possessions
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Speaker 5: and be restored. Just as you feared that the birds
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Speaker 5: would alter the workings of our covenant, I tell you
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Speaker 5: nothing can all to my judgment and restoration, and so
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Speaker 5: despite oppression and mistreatment, the covenant will be fulfilled. All
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Speaker 5: that I have said will come to pass. But do
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Speaker 5: not fear what is to come. You, Abram, will go
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Speaker 5: to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a
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Speaker 5: good old age. Do not fret over the sins and
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Speaker 5: wickedness of the people in Canaan. I see it and
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Speaker 5: will judge. In the fourth generation, your descendants will come
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Speaker 5: back here, for the sin of the Amorites, the Canaanites
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Speaker 5: alike has not yet reached its full measure. I will
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Speaker 5: wait until the proper time, but rest assured my judgment
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Speaker 5: will come.
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Speaker 1: The God Most High's voice dissolved into nothing the darkness.
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Speaker 1: A smoking firepot, an oven, and a flaming torch appeared.
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Speaker 1: The light emitting from the pair of objects cast a
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Speaker 1: warm glow. Abram watched the shadowy outlines of the halved
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Speaker 1: animal carcasses in the walkway between them. The oven and
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Speaker 1: the torch together as one passed through the pieces, completing
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Speaker 1: the walk unto death. As they drew near to Abram
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Speaker 1: where he lay, he could feel the heat of their
00:20:32
Speaker 1: cleansing purifying flames from within his dream.
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Speaker 5: Again, I say to you, you are to take this
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Speaker 5: as a blessing to signify the beginning of our former
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Speaker 5: covenant to your descendants. I give this land from the
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Speaker 5: Wadi of Egypt to the great River the Euphrates, the
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Speaker 5: land of the Kenites, Kenesites, Calamanites, Hittites, Perizites, Raphaelites, Amorites, Canaanites, Gergoshites,
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Speaker 5: and Jebucyites.
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Speaker 1: Despite witnessing all of this in a dream, he knew
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Speaker 1: that the items were meant to represent his God to
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Speaker 1: his human mind. His God had completed the ritual alone,
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Speaker 1: releasing Abram from any responsibility beyond his faith. He wondered
00:21:25
Speaker 1: at a God who would go to such lengths to
00:21:28
Speaker 1: fulfill the most profound gesture to his Hebrew culture, just
00:21:32
Speaker 1: so that he would feel reassured of the promises made
00:21:37
Speaker 1: Ava marveled at what this meant for himself and the
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Speaker 1: generations that would come after him.
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Speaker 6: Living here in Israel, each day, I am part of
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Speaker 6: a story. I'm part of a legacy that stretches back
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Speaker 6: to the dawn of time. Each stone and each ancient
00:22:02
Speaker 6: path tell us this story that connects us to our ancestors,
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Speaker 6: the chosen people who walk this land with faith and purpose.
00:22:11
Speaker 6: In Genesis fifteen, God brought Abram outside and said, look
00:22:16
Speaker 6: up at the sky and count the stars. If indeed
00:22:19
Speaker 6: you can count them, and then God promises, so shall
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Speaker 6: be your offspring. But this promise wasn't just for Abram. No,
00:22:28
Speaker 6: it was a covenant, a breach for all of Israel,
00:22:33
Speaker 6: a divine guarantee that the children of Abram would be
00:22:36
Speaker 6: as numerous as the stars in the sky. Walking through
00:22:41
Speaker 6: Jerusalem today or gazing at the hills of Judea, I'm
00:22:45
Speaker 6: constantly reminded of this promise. Each star in the sky
00:22:50
Speaker 6: is a symbol of God's unwavering faithfulness to the Jewish people.
00:22:55
Speaker 6: And as we stand on this sacred soil, we are
00:22:58
Speaker 6: surrounded by the stars of our history, figures like David
00:23:03
Speaker 6: and Solomon, Esther and Deborah, whose stories light up the
00:23:08
Speaker 6: night of exile and remind us of our eternal bruit,
00:23:13
Speaker 6: our eternal covenant with God. And this story gives us
00:23:17
Speaker 6: the moment that changed everything, when God made his bruit,
00:23:22
Speaker 6: his covenant with Abram. I can't shake the image from
00:23:26
Speaker 6: my mind, the vast expanse of the night sky, stars
00:23:29
Speaker 6: shimmering like diamonds, scattered across the heavens, Abram standing there,
00:23:34
Speaker 6: looking up into the night, his heart pounding with anticipation
00:23:38
Speaker 6: and wonder. And then God, the creator of everything, speaks.
00:23:46
Speaker 6: He doesn't just speak, He promises to Abram, to countless
00:23:52
Speaker 6: lines of descendants and the land to call their own,
00:23:59
Speaker 6: just as God told Abram to look at the heavens.
00:24:01
Speaker 6: I'm reminded that even today, as long as we still
00:24:05
Speaker 6: look to the heavens, look to God. Our special relationship
00:24:08
Speaker 6: with Him as His chosen people still endures, and as
00:24:14
Speaker 6: His people, we are and will always be present in
00:24:18
Speaker 6: this land, this holy land of Israel, that God promised
00:24:22
Speaker 6: Abram in this covenant. To better grasp the magnitude of
00:24:26
Speaker 6: this moment and this brit, this covenant, let's look at
00:24:31
Speaker 6: that Hebrew word. Let's look at the Hebrew word for covenant, brit.
00:24:36
Speaker 6: In the cultural context of Abram's time and place, a
00:24:39
Speaker 6: breait wasn't just a contract. It was a relational agreement,
00:24:44
Speaker 6: more like a marriage than a business deal. Two people
00:24:48
Speaker 6: making a covenant a briat didn't just sign a piece
00:24:51
Speaker 6: of paper and shake hands. No, they exchanged vows, They
00:24:55
Speaker 6: shared a meal, they declared their commitment in front of witnesses.
00:25:00
Speaker 6: Is binding themselves to each other with promises meant to
00:25:03
Speaker 6: be forever unbreakable. That's the heart of a breat It's
00:25:11
Speaker 6: deeply personal. It's relational. It's a commitment that involves not
00:25:15
Speaker 6: just actions, but the very essence of the individuals involved.
00:25:20
Speaker 6: And here in Genesis fifteen we witness God making a
00:25:25
Speaker 6: brit with Abram. This is a relational bond. God isn't
00:25:30
Speaker 6: just promising land and descendants. He's pledging himself to Abram
00:25:35
Speaker 6: in a profound and intimate way. The cultural context of
00:25:40
Speaker 6: covenant making in ancient times adds layers of meaning to
00:25:45
Speaker 6: this event. When God made a covenant with Abram, he
00:25:49
Speaker 6: was inviting Abram into a relationship forever, and this brit
00:25:55
Speaker 6: was a testament to God's desire for a personal relational
00:25:59
Speaker 6: bond with his people. The gravity of God's covenant with
00:26:05
Speaker 6: Abram is immense. It's a solemn, sacred moment, sealed by
00:26:09
Speaker 6: a ritual that may seem foreign to us today, yet
00:26:13
Speaker 6: is relevant and enduring to us today. There's Abram standing
00:26:19
Speaker 6: before sacrificed animals. The air is thick with the weight
00:26:24
Speaker 6: of what's happening. This isn't a casual agreement, to my friends,
00:26:28
Speaker 6: it's a breet. It's a covenant. It's sealed with blood.
00:26:34
Speaker 6: Cutting animals and laying them out in has may seem
00:26:37
Speaker 6: archaic to us today, but in Abram's time it was
00:26:41
Speaker 6: a symbol. It was a dramatic representation of the seriousness
00:26:46
Speaker 6: and commitment of God's promise. You see, in Abraham's time,
00:26:51
Speaker 6: people would walk between the pieces of the sacrificed animals
00:26:55
Speaker 6: essentially saying, if I break this covenant, may what happen
00:26:59
Speaker 6: to be these animals happen to me. It's a vow
00:27:04
Speaker 6: marked by life and death. But here's the thing about
00:27:09
Speaker 6: the scene in Genesis fifteen. Abram doesn't walk between the pieces.
00:27:16
Speaker 2: God does.
00:27:18
Speaker 6: God, represented by a smoking firepot and a blazing torch,
00:27:23
Speaker 6: passes between the pieces alone. God himself is saying, I
00:27:31
Speaker 6: take full responsibility for this covenant. I will fulfill my
00:27:37
Speaker 6: promises no matter what you see. It's a unilateral covenant.
00:27:45
Speaker 6: What a thing, what a statement. God is making an
00:27:49
Speaker 6: unbreakable promise that isn't even dependent on Abram's actions, but
00:27:55
Speaker 6: solely on God's faithfulness. God is his own name, his
00:28:01
Speaker 6: own honor on the line with a binding, blood sealed promise.
00:28:07
Speaker 6: And all the while Abraham is actually passive, he is sleeping,
00:28:14
Speaker 6: but God is very much awake and very much active.
00:28:19
Speaker 6: And isn't this how our relationship with God still is today.
00:28:24
Speaker 6: We don't earn God's promises, but rather his convenidant is
00:28:30
Speaker 6: made with us simply because He loves us. This covenant
00:28:37
Speaker 6: continues into the pages of the Christian Bible, and to
00:28:40
Speaker 6: speak more on this is our good friend, Bishop Paul Linier.
00:28:45
Speaker 10: Oh yeah, I tell you, I can't express to you
00:28:49
Speaker 10: just how grateful I am for the opportunity of talking
00:28:52
Speaker 10: about this remarkable passage of scripture, this Genesis fifteen. And
00:28:59
Speaker 10: I'm not exaggerating when I say to you that it's
00:29:02
Speaker 10: absolutely one of my favorite passages of scripture in all
00:29:06
Speaker 10: the Bible. And I'll tell you why. It seems like
00:29:09
Speaker 10: God is determined with even greater specificity to reveal to
00:29:14
Speaker 10: us this remarkable redemption he has assigned to all of us. Yes,
00:29:22
Speaker 10: I know he's talking to a man, but he's actually
00:29:24
Speaker 10: speaking of a movement. I realize he's speaking to a person,
00:29:30
Speaker 10: but God's thinking about a people. Remember God said too,
00:29:34
Speaker 10: that Abraham, through you, all the nations of the world
00:29:40
Speaker 10: will be blessed, all the nations of the world.
00:29:43
Speaker 9: Wow.
00:29:43
Speaker 10: And that's what God is expressing to Abraham in the
00:29:47
Speaker 10: very first verse. He says to him, Oh, your reward
00:29:52
Speaker 10: shall be great. You're going to be blessed. And we've
00:29:55
Speaker 10: seen me talks about herds and flocks and over in
00:30:00
Speaker 10: gold and Abraham, you know, he has already been in
00:30:03
Speaker 10: this conversation for a while with God.
00:30:06
Speaker 1: And so it is.
00:30:07
Speaker 10: But why God, why are you blessing me? Why? Why
00:30:13
Speaker 10: are you extending all of them? What good is prosperity
00:30:20
Speaker 10: without posterity. Maybe you're including Eliezer, that servant maybe Abraham
00:30:28
Speaker 10: purchased when he was traveling through Damascus.
00:30:30
Speaker 5: I don't know.
00:30:31
Speaker 10: Maybe he's even thinking about his nephew Lot. And of
00:30:35
Speaker 10: course you know that Ishmael is a part of this conversation.
00:30:39
Speaker 10: God says, no, no, no, no. I am the Covenant God,
00:30:45
Speaker 10: and I'm speaking to you as the covenant man, and
00:30:47
Speaker 10: your wife, Sarah's the covenant woman, and I'm going to
00:30:51
Speaker 10: extend and you're going to experience that covenant personally. You
00:30:56
Speaker 10: don't have to fix this situation for me. I know
00:31:00
Speaker 10: what I'm doing. Come here, Abraham, I want you to
00:31:04
Speaker 10: see something, and they go outside. God says to Abraham,
00:31:09
Speaker 10: I want you to look up there. I want you
00:31:10
Speaker 10: to look towards me through this mighty expanse of the
00:31:15
Speaker 10: stars that blink at you at night. You know the
00:31:18
Speaker 10: heavens declare his hand where you know that verse, It's remarkable.
00:31:23
Speaker 10: I want you to count the stars, Abraham. Can you
00:31:25
Speaker 10: imagine the look on Abraham's face when he heard those
00:31:29
Speaker 10: words from the Lord count the stars one, two, three, four, five, six, twelve, seventeen,
00:31:40
Speaker 10: forty three, one hundred inver. I don't know where he
00:31:43
Speaker 10: was in the counting when he finally realized I can't
00:31:47
Speaker 10: count any higher, or that there's just too many. And
00:31:52
Speaker 10: God didn't tell Abraham to count all those stars because
00:31:56
Speaker 10: he could, but because he couldn't. And God was trying
00:32:00
Speaker 10: to say to this man, I know you're obsessed with
00:32:03
Speaker 10: your nursery, but I'm thinking about the nations that are
00:32:07
Speaker 10: going to flow through your nursery. We do that, don't we.
00:32:11
Speaker 10: Sometimes we can become so preoccupied with a particular situation
00:32:16
Speaker 10: in our heart and our life and our family, and
00:32:20
Speaker 10: we are completely oblivious for all the great things, even bigger,
00:32:25
Speaker 10: more extraordinary, that God is determined to bring into our lives.
00:32:30
Speaker 10: How is this? And God responds to him with a
00:32:36
Speaker 10: statement that some of us would probably have a difficult
00:32:39
Speaker 10: time with. But God says, if you want to know,
00:32:43
Speaker 10: then you need to sew. If you're searching for a revelation,
00:32:49
Speaker 10: I'm waiting for an offering.
00:32:54
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:32:55
Speaker 10: I know a lot of people that would have a
00:32:56
Speaker 10: problem with that statement. But Abraham didn't wait, and he
00:33:00
Speaker 10: didn't argue a debate. He just gave God the offering
00:33:04
Speaker 10: he required. And then in verse twelve he says, God
00:33:09
Speaker 10: put Abraham in a sleep. And you know, yeah, we
00:33:12
Speaker 10: look back in this book of Genesis ad another time
00:33:14
Speaker 10: when a man was longing for his posterity. Didn't know
00:33:17
Speaker 10: what that meant, But what's my next? Look Like God
00:33:22
Speaker 10: himself had said, it's not good for man to be alone.
00:33:27
Speaker 10: God put this Adam to a deep sleep. The Bible
00:33:31
Speaker 10: says that from Adam's side God took and from it
00:33:37
Speaker 10: came Adams, next, his wife, his generations, his eve. And
00:33:45
Speaker 10: for Christians, we look over in the Christian scriptors, of course,
00:33:49
Speaker 10: at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and we look at
00:33:54
Speaker 10: that story where the Roman soldiers inflicted upon Jesus the
00:33:59
Speaker 10: Roman penalty for rebellion. That's what crucifixion was all about.
00:34:05
Speaker 10: And in those Christian Gospels reread that a Roman soldier
00:34:09
Speaker 10: took a spear and pierced the side of the Jesus
00:34:14
Speaker 10: while he slept. It actually passed and from that side
00:34:18
Speaker 10: came blood and water. And as Christians, we see those
00:34:21
Speaker 10: as baptisms. From his side was coming his bride we
00:34:27
Speaker 10: later called in the Christian scriptures the Bride of Christ
00:34:31
Speaker 10: or the Bride of Jesus. So we're understanding that this
00:34:36
Speaker 10: is not the first time nor the last time that
00:34:39
Speaker 10: from a sleeping man that God has put to sleep,
00:34:45
Speaker 10: something extraordinary comes. And while Abraham is asleep, God begins
00:34:49
Speaker 10: to reveal and speak this profound word about a people,
00:34:53
Speaker 10: not just a person. And God says, centuries from now,
00:34:56
Speaker 10: your posterity will be great. Your generations will be like
00:35:00
Speaker 10: those stars, incalculable, innumerable. And I'm going to tell you something,
00:35:06
Speaker 10: this tragic and painful, but I need you to hear me.
00:35:08
Speaker 10: This coming a moment when your generations will be imprisoned,
00:35:11
Speaker 10: and they will suffer unimaginable pain and anguish and heartache
00:35:15
Speaker 10: through slavery, inhumanity, brutality, and bones will be broken and
00:35:21
Speaker 10: flesh will be torn. But I'm telling you, as the
00:35:25
Speaker 10: covenant God, I'm making a covenant with you to them.
00:35:29
Speaker 10: This coming a moment, I'm going to deliver them. And
00:35:33
Speaker 10: as they leave their bondage, they will carry all the
00:35:36
Speaker 10: silver and gold of their captors.
00:35:39
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:35:40
Speaker 10: Now, later on in the book of Exodus, we're going
00:35:42
Speaker 10: to study and will see what happened. Of course, what
00:35:46
Speaker 10: you know we know as to be the Passover. God
00:35:50
Speaker 10: had instructed them to stay in their house. It was
00:35:53
Speaker 10: blooded by the lamb, the hissop that they took, and
00:35:56
Speaker 10: they painted the doorposts with the blood of the lamb.
00:36:00
Speaker 10: And I'm convinced that while they were in there, God
00:36:03
Speaker 10: was healing them from the broken bones, the torn flesh,
00:36:06
Speaker 10: and all of the anguish they had endured from the
00:36:09
Speaker 10: brutality of slavery. He had to heal them because they
00:36:13
Speaker 10: had to be strong enough to carry the silver and
00:36:17
Speaker 10: the gold. Sometimes God has to heal us before he
00:36:19
Speaker 10: can deliver us from a thing, and sometimes he has
00:36:22
Speaker 10: to deliver us from something so he can heal us.
00:36:28
Speaker 10: While at verse twelve thirty is just extraordinary, all of
00:36:33
Speaker 10: that passage, but I tell you something else, and I'm
00:36:36
Speaker 10: about to do with this. In verse fifteen, God begins
00:36:40
Speaker 10: to more explicitly speak of those nations that he sees
00:36:45
Speaker 10: as part of the Holy Land. And you know, in
00:36:50
Speaker 10: the Hebrew scriptures, the Christian scriptures, and since nineteen forty
00:36:55
Speaker 10: Israel has never truly occupied all the spaces places that
00:37:02
Speaker 10: God has specifically assigned as Holy land as covenant to
00:37:07
Speaker 10: his people. And when we don't fully occupy what God
00:37:11
Speaker 10: has promised, someone else will and they will become a torment,
00:37:16
Speaker 10: a problem. Boy has Israel suffered that? Well, I'm about
00:37:24
Speaker 10: finished with this chapter, but I want to pray with you, Oh,
00:37:26
Speaker 10: my dear God. I thank you. I thank you that
00:37:29
Speaker 10: Yai Elle and I are able to talk about this
00:37:31
Speaker 10: remarkable passage of scripture. And I thank you for the
00:37:33
Speaker 10: people who are listening to me now. And I'm asking
00:37:36
Speaker 10: you to help us to more fully understand all you
00:37:40
Speaker 10: have assigned to us in the Covenant Blessing. May we
00:37:44
Speaker 10: not settle at a place where we've settled. May we
00:37:47
Speaker 10: not settle for less than you've promised, than you have
00:37:50
Speaker 10: given in your word. May we passionately pursue every.
00:37:55
Speaker 5: Part of it.
00:37:57
Speaker 10: For you are that great God who dreams great dreams
00:38:01
Speaker 10: for us.
00:38:02
Speaker 5: And for all of this we thank you, Lord. Amen.
00:38:07
Speaker 6: God's promises are trustworthy and true, But it isn't always
00:38:12
Speaker 6: easy to see that truth. Is it? Abraham had to
00:38:15
Speaker 6: wait years before God's promises actually came to fruition, and
00:38:20
Speaker 6: he had to endure so much pain as he waited.
00:38:24
Speaker 6: We have to remember this and know this, my friends,
00:38:28
Speaker 6: that we must have faith as we wait for God's
00:38:32
Speaker 6: promises to be fulfilled and the beauty the light to shine.
00:38:38
Speaker 6: And as we hold on to these promises, our faith
00:38:40
Speaker 6: will only grow stronger and we will only get closer
00:38:45
Speaker 6: to God. Here's a final blessing and benediction for you
00:38:49
Speaker 6: from Numbers Ivre Hashem vishmerechra yeah heer hashimpanave ele y
00:38:58
Speaker 6: sa hashempanavelelch shellon. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
00:39:04
Speaker 6: May the Lord make his face shine upon you. May
00:39:07
Speaker 6: he be gracious to you, Made the Lord turn his
00:39:10
Speaker 6: face towards you and give you peace.
00:39:14
Speaker 1: Amen. You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle
00:39:18
Speaker 1: Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the prey
00:39:22
Speaker 1: dot Com app today. This Prey dog comproduction is only
00:39:26
Speaker 1: made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina,
00:39:31
Speaker 1: Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive
00:39:35
Speaker 1: producers of the Chosen People with Yil Eckstein, edited by
00:39:39
Speaker 1: Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by
00:39:44
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold,
00:39:49
Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore.
00:39:53
Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and
00:39:57
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bish, Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin,
00:40:02
Speaker 1: Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship
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