Jacob's Blessings

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: Actually, that will no longer be Esau's decision. He sold me his birthright. 00:00:10 Speaker 3: Esau sold you his birthright. What do you mean for what price? 00:00:15 Speaker 2: It's Esau who isn't serious. I, on the other hand, know exactly what I want and the value this birthright holds in the future. If he despises his birthright so much, isn't it better that it's in my hand. 00:00:29 Speaker 4: I'm the one who wants it. 00:00:33 Speaker 3: May people and nations bowed down to you and serve you. You will be lord over your brother's and your mother's son will bend a knee to you. 00:00:51 Speaker 1: Jacob opened his eyes to a vision. He found himself standing at the base of a monumental staircase, stretched upwards into the infinite expanse of the heavens. 00:01:04 Speaker 5: The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south. Through you and your descendants all families of the earth who will be blessed. 00:01:31 Speaker 1: So you have blessed me, there would be no more running tricks or lies. If Jacob wanted a blessing from God, he would have to face him. The man's pace quickened from a warp to a run. Jacob rolled his neck back, drew a deep breath, and charged. The damp earth slid under each stride. Jacob knew what he had to do. He felt sure that he had to wrestle with God himself and prevent. 00:02:00 Speaker 2: Please bless me. I won't let you go until you bless me. 00:02:06 Speaker 6: What is your name, Jacob? Your name shall no longer be Jacob, shall be called Israel, for you have struggled with God. 00:02:17 Speaker 4: And have prevailed. 00:02:24 Speaker 1: Joseph held up his father as they walked beside the stream. Israel leaned on his son's arm, steadily moving and talking. They spoke about Joseph's dreams, the ones that foretold the future and shaped the past. Joseph asked questions about Jacob's heritage and untold stories that remained untouched like buried treasure. Joseph relished every moment with his father. Each stroll made up for lost time. Seventeen years had passed since Jacob arrived in Egypt. The famine finally released its grip on the land, but its effects still lingered in the minds and bodies of those who survived. Even more, the nation of Egypt wasn't the same. Pharaoh had total power and ownership over each Egyptian. The citizens had turned to serfs, but at least they were alive thanks to Joseph. 00:03:27 Speaker 6: Done well, my son, so so well. I always knew you rised greatness. I give myself some credit as your father, but we both know Judah gets the lion's share of that. 00:03:43 Speaker 4: Judah and I have repaired what was broken between us. All has been forgiven. 00:03:49 Speaker 6: Ah. Yes, you inherited a pure heart from your grandfather. He was an innocent soul. He was more innocent than I. 00:04:00 Speaker 4: Ah, you're a pure soul as well. Father. 00:04:04 Speaker 6: Ah. No, no, no, dear boy, I am many things, but pure is far from one of them. No, no, no, I cheated and stole my weight blessing. Ask my own brother Esau. You may not remember this, but there was a time when I thought he was going to kill me. I even thought of using you and your brothers as human shields to ward off his attacks. Ah, But he didn't. He showed me mercy, just as you did to your brothers. 00:04:52 Speaker 4: Do you regret the choices you've made. 00:04:56 Speaker 6: When you live long, I have regretted inevitable. I regret some choices I've made, people I've hurt, and opportunities I that has by. But but look that where I am a strolling beside a quiet stream, talking to my son, the governor of Egypt. Ha ha, I have wrestled in what with God and man that at the end of it all I feel victorious. 00:05:44 Speaker 1: Israel rested on a large stone beside the brook. He dipped the tip of his staff in the water, watching it split and bend around. A sly grin curled on the side of his face. Then he flicked his staff up and splashed his ah. 00:06:03 Speaker 6: A king of Egypt or not, I'm still your father. 00:06:08 Speaker 4: Age hasn't aimed you at all, has it? 00:06:11 Speaker 6: No? No, But it has made me more content. My youth was marked by ambition. Now all I desire is to rest. 00:06:27 Speaker 4: When the time comes, I will have a monument built over your grave. It will be brilliant and beautiful. 00:06:35 Speaker 6: My son, that come close to me, put your hand under my thigh and make a promise to me. 00:06:46 Speaker 1: Joseph placed a hand on his father's thigh, signifying a promise. Both binding and intimate. 00:06:54 Speaker 6: If I have found any favor in your sight, you will deal kindly and honestly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt. I don't want monuments. Ah, I don't want a palace my dead body. It's roten. No. No, Let me lie with my father's placed me in the hills beside Abraham and Isaac. 00:07:19 Speaker 4: I will see it done, Joseph, swear to me. 00:07:24 Speaker 1: Joseph looked at his father for a long while, intensity, creasing his brow on the sides of his eyes. In his expression betrayed something sad. It had now dawned on Joseph that Jacob had settled his people outside the land promised to him and his forefathers. Although Egypt was an oasis, it wasn't the land God promised. It wasn't Canaan. Jacob must have felt like a failure. He clasped his father's thigh and nodded, I swear. Joseph led his father back home and rested him on the bed. Then Jacob bowed to Joseph. In that instant, Joseph was taken back to his dream, where the sun and moon bowed to him. His brothers had bowed, but now the patriarch of God's Chosen people, was prostrate before him. Joseph's eyes moistened at the edges, and his throat clenched. He kissed his father and laid him down. Jacob slept. He slept with long, deep and peaceful breaths. 00:08:42 Speaker 6: Enter, Zavi, it not Pania. 00:08:44 Speaker 3: Your brother Benjamin is here to see you. 00:08:47 Speaker 4: Send him in. 00:08:48 Speaker 1: Benjamin inched his way into the door. Joseph smiled and stood from his desk. He held his little brother's shoulders. 00:08:57 Speaker 4: What can I help you with, Benji. 00:08:58 Speaker 6: I've come to tell you father's time is approaching. 00:09:01 Speaker 1: He's grown very ill these past weeks. 00:09:04 Speaker 4: I'll come to him immediately. 00:09:06 Speaker 6: He's asked that your children come as well. 00:09:08 Speaker 1: He's going to bestow a blessing. 00:09:10 Speaker 4: I see they haven't really met their grandfather yet. It's complicated, you see them being half Egyptian. There are customs I must uphold, but I suppose augh, No, this is right. I will bring my sons to him at once. 00:09:31 Speaker 1: Joseph took Manassa and Ephraim to Dothan. They walked the grassy hills, scaling upward to Israel's estate. Joseph was proud of what he could build for his father, although he knew Israel long to dwell in a tent. Again content in Canaan, Joseph entered with his sons, holding their hands as they entered the dark room, Warmed by torches. Israel lay in his bed, with Benjamin at his side. He stared out his window with foggy aged eyes. 00:10:06 Speaker 6: Father, your son Joseph is here to see you. 00:10:09 Speaker 1: Israel strained to sit up. Benjamin helped him, padded his pillow under his back, and left. Joseph brought Manassa and Ephraim close. Joseph took a place by Israel's bedside, with his sons on his lap. 00:10:26 Speaker 6: God Almighty appeared to me at laws in the land of Canaan. There he blessed me and said, behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you. I will make your people great and give this land to your offspring. It will be there ever lasht in possession. 00:10:46 Speaker 4: I know the story well, Father, you've inherited the land promised to Isaac Abraham. 00:10:51 Speaker 6: No, my son, we have inherited it my son's army, and I am my sons. We are Israel. Now who are these I have before me? 00:11:08 Speaker 4: These are the sons God has given me Manassah and Ephrium. 00:11:14 Speaker 6: Yes to my eyes, Ah Dim, come closer it to me, Efraim Manassa, Ah, Sweet children, Joseph, these two sons born to you in the land of Egypt are mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. They will bear the promise of our people. Ephraim and Manassa will be brothers to my sons and receive an inheritance. 00:11:48 Speaker 4: Will they be given what I was owed before? Well before all this. 00:11:53 Speaker 6: Yes. 00:11:53 Speaker 1: Jacob held out a trembling hand to his son's face. His eyes had turned bluish gray, like mineral pools in deep canyons. Reflected in those pools, Joseph saw a lifetime of love, loss, triumph, and terror. Jacob had lived a rich, full life of adventure. What a cruel thing death was to rob the world of such a spirit. Jacob stroked Joseph's cheek. 00:12:24 Speaker 6: You always favored the looks of your mother, my love, Rachel. When I came from Padan to my sorrow, she had died in Canaan along the way. We were too far away, so I had to bury her in Ephrath. Some call it a more beautiful name Betha Mahem. I wish I could have said good bye to her Bah, though so much time lost. She loved you, dear Joseph, As do I now bring your son so close to me so that I may bless them. 00:13:06 Speaker 1: Joseph brought the boy's near while they still sat on his lap. Israel wrapped them both in his arms and kissed them. A gentle, innocent tinge of jealousy pricked Joseph for a brief moment. He longed to be that small again, so he too could be wrapped in his father's arms. 00:13:27 Speaker 6: I never thought i'd see your face again, Joseph, And behold, God has let me see your children's faces also. 00:13:36 Speaker 1: Joseph removed his boys from his knees and bowed. He pressed his face against the floor, moistening it with his tears. 00:13:45 Speaker 4: God promised you that you'd be great, and here you are, with a small nation forming before your very eyes. And now my time come. Bring your sons closer. 00:14:04 Speaker 1: Joseph brought Ephraim for Israel to bless him with his left hand. He brought in Manassah so that Israel would bless him with his right hand. But Israel crossed his arms and placed his left hand on Manassah and his right on Ephraim. Joseph's head cocked to the side in confusion. The eldest son was supposed to be blessed with the right hand. Jacob spoke with as much energy as he could muster in his old age. 00:14:33 Speaker 6: May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd for all the days of my life, and the Angel who has redeemed me from evil, bless these boys. May my name carry out through them as did the names. 00:15:00 Speaker 4: Of Abraham and Isaac. 00:15:02 Speaker 6: Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 00:15:08 Speaker 4: Father, this isn't the way. Manassa is my first born. Put your right hand on his head. 00:15:15 Speaker 6: I know, my son, I know v Nasa shall become a great tribe. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he. His offspring shall become a multitude of nations, stretching further than the reaches of the plains. 00:15:37 Speaker 1: It was just like Jacob to give one last blessing to a younger brother. Some things never changed. Yet interwoven in Jacob's blessing was a thread of God's character. The younger, rising up to rule over and save the older. A slight smile twitched on the sides of Joseph's face. 00:16:00 Speaker 6: I am about to die, Joseph, but I know God will go before you. You will dwell in Canaan once again. I have given you the mountain slope that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bowl. It is mine to give, and you, my sweet Joseph, it is given. 00:16:26 Speaker 4: In this life or the next, I shall go to that mountain. Father. 00:16:31 Speaker 6: Ah, it's time. Go fetch your brothers. Gather yourselves together, so I may tell you what is to happen in the days to come. 00:16:47 Speaker 1: The twelve sons of Israel gathered at their father's bedside. The sun's radiant gaze turned downward, diving into the verdant plains of Goshen. Dusk's glow pain the men's faces as they looked down at their dying father. Joseph looked at each of them in this light. He could see the cracks in their brows, the leathering of their cheeks, and the dark rings beneath their eyes. They were no longer young men, but patriarchs in their own rights, bearing the weight and wisdom of years. Israel turned his chin upward and raised his voice. It was quieter, but no longer quivering like a steady stream. 00:17:31 Speaker 6: Resemble and listen, o, sons of Jacob, listen to your father. 00:17:37 Speaker 4: Reuben. 00:17:39 Speaker 6: You are my first born, my might, and the first fruits of my strength, pre eminent in dignity and power. Yet you are unstable as water. You shall not have pre eminent. Because you went up to your father's bed, then you defiled it. Simeon and Levi, brothers and warriors. Weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their counsel, Oh my glory, be not joined to their company, their angry men, and have shed blood in rage in their stubbornness. They've hamstrung even oxen. The cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and cursed be their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in my name and scatter them in Israel. 00:18:36 Speaker 1: It wasn't a great start, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi dipped their heads in shame. Israel's harsh tone softened for a moment. Judah was next. Judah tensed, anticipating a similar blow from his father. 00:18:52 Speaker 6: Judah your brothers shall praise you. Your hands shall be on the neck of your enemies, and all my sons shall bow down before you. 00:19:04 Speaker 1: Judah's tight shoulders relaxed momentarily, and the creases on his brow gave way to glistening eyes. He and Israel locked eyes for a long drawn out moment. Finally, at the end of his life, Jacob saw his son Judah for who he was meant to be great. 00:19:25 Speaker 6: Judah is a lion cub from the prey. My son, you have gone up, who dare rouse you? The scepter shall not depart from the house of Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until a tribute comes to him. To Judah has given the gift of obedience, all the people shall heed his words. Your plans shall be filled with verdant wine, so much so that donkeys will be bound to the vines. 00:19:58 Speaker 1: Judah bowed his head in reverence for his father. For the first time in his life, he felt a sense of greatness upon him. His lineage would hold the line of kings. 00:20:11 Speaker 6: Zebulon shall dwell at the shore of the sea. He shall become a haven for ships, and his borders shall be at saidon his Sakhar is a strong donkey, but lazy and passive. For this reason, his shoulders will bear the weight of others, and forced labor would be his burden. Dan, you shall be a judge of the people. But from Dan shall come a serpent, a viper by the path that bites the horses heels ah Er, I will wait for the Lord's salvation. Gad ha ha, oh, my Gad. Raiders shall come for Gad, but he shall have the fire word. Yes, he will be stricken down, but rise again to fight back ashes. Food shall be rich and abundant. Blessing will flow from Asher. From his land will spring forth not only necessities, but luxuries enough. Tlli is a deer on the loose who bears beautiful fawns. Beautiful words will grace your land one day, words of truth and healing. 00:21:32 Speaker 1: Israel placed his palms on the bed and rose himself up slightly. His body was weak, but his resolve was strong. Israel looked at Joseph. Behind the Egyptian head dress and markings. Was the young boy he splashed by the streams in Canaan. What a strong man he had become, trustworthy and righteous Israel's smile created small canyons on his cheeks. 00:22:01 Speaker 6: Joseph is a fruitful branch. He is the sea that was planted by a stream to grow and run over the wall. Though archers bitterly attacked him, shot him, and harassed him to the point of death, he remained unmoved. His bow was steady and his aim was true. His arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, the shepherd stone of Israel was with you. By the God of your father, who will help you. By God Almighty, who will bless you with blessings from heaven above, blessings of the deep, the crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. My blessings have been greater than that of my father's Abraham and Isaac a ha ha a scoundrel. I am yet blessed. My blessings stretch across the everlasting hills. May those blessings be on the head of you, Joseph, and may they rest on you like a crown. For you have been set apart from your brothers to rule, to save, to redeem. Now, Oh, where is Benjamin Ah, Yes, Benji, my ravenous wolf. In the morning you devour your prey, and in the evening divine a spoil. Fierce you will be, but also generous. 00:23:38 Speaker 1: Thus the twelve tribes of Israel were established, given blessings and curses. Israel's words foretold of their extraordinary rise, and for some their devastating foe. 00:23:54 Speaker 6: I have already commissioned Joseph to see to it that I am buried with my forefather. I would be buried in the cave that belonged to Ephron, the Hittite. It is east of Mayre, in the field at mak Pala. It is where Abraham was buried with Sarah. Isaac was buried with Rebecca. 00:24:16 Speaker 1: And Jacob paused. His eyes glistened with something he had not expected. His throat clenched, his voice rocked like a ship at sea. 00:24:27 Speaker 6: Ah, I will be buried beside my wife Leeha. 00:24:32 Speaker 1: Israel nodded, sighed, and stretched his legs under the blankets. His son stood above him, the amber glow of sunset warming their somber smiles. Tears rolled down a few of their faces, while others held back anger. 00:24:50 Speaker 4: He chuckled. 00:24:51 Speaker 1: It was fitting that his final moments on earth would be spent stirring the pot. No matter how much time passed, was still a trouble maker at heart. He had once been Jacob the Deceiver, a fitting title for a man who held lies and truth in close company together. Yet at the end of his days, there was no need for tricks, no use for lies. Now he was Israel, he who wrestles with God. He looked at his sons. It was their title. Now they would wrestle with God. They would struggle to follow, obey, and yield, yet in the end they would be victorious. They were keepers of the promise, God's Chosen People. Israel's eyes dipped with the sun. As its final light receded from the valley, so did Israel's soul. He breathed his last, his final words, a whisper of promise. This Prey dot Com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabager, and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvado, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. 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