Noah & The Flood

00:00:00 Speaker 1: This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: Previously on The Chosen People. Mankind was blighted by bloodshed and discord. Noah was determined to oppose the culture. Like his great-grandfather Enoch, Noah possessed a heart attuned to God's voice. 00:00:23 Speaker 3: These are dark times, my sons. 00:00:26 Speaker 4: Remaining in the light will require wisdom. 00:00:31 Speaker 3: Learn to listen to the voice of God. Behold, I would destroy them with the earth. I would bring a flood to wipe this earth clean. 00:00:42 Speaker 2: Noah's heart tightened. He fell to his knees, the weight of God's words pressing down on him. 00:00:49 Speaker 1: What have I to do with this knowledge? 00:00:52 Speaker 3: I have appointed you, Noah, to build an ark. 00:00:56 Speaker 2: The whole thing seemed inconceivable and far-fetched. We're building a ship in the middle of the valley. 00:01:02 Speaker 1: Shem, that's what's wrong. 00:01:05 Speaker 5: Everyone from here to the desert has visited to. 00:01:07 Speaker 2: Mock us, and I don't blame them. 00:01:09 Speaker 1: This is insane! How are these planes going to flood? Where will the water even come from? 00:01:16 Speaker 2: Charcoal clouds galloped across the sky. With them came a chilly wind that bit at their cheeks. They hadn't heard the clapping of families. The sound made their muscles tense, as if they were witnessing the birth of a new predator. 00:01:33 Speaker 4: And so, it begins. 00:01:42 Speaker 1: The man's gone mad. Look at it. 00:01:45 Speaker 2: A boat in the middle of a valley. 00:01:47 Speaker 1: His mind's made of clay. 00:01:50 Speaker 5: The lunatic thinks he's going to sail away to the sea from the valley! 00:01:55 Speaker 2: A glob of mud and ox dung flew through the air and hit Noah square in the face. It stuck to his beard, contrasting with the white streaks that had formed since the beginning of the ark's construction. The mud smeared across his face, mingling with the sweat and grime of relentless toil. He ignored their mockery and kept his head low. He buffed out a piece of lumber before hoisting it onto his shoulder. Noah's arms were thick and tight like a rope. Months of crafting the ark added more grey to his beard and muscle to his body. Behind him, his sons toiled in silence, their hands calloused and their spirits weary under the weight of the villagers' ridicule. The valley echoed with hammers striking nails and saws biting into wood. A symphony of determination and despair. 00:02:50 Speaker 6: I'm not sure I can endure the ridicule much longer. And it's only a matter of time before they hurl more than dung. These people hate us already. And now we've given them more reasons to be estranged from us. 00:03:03 Speaker 1: Ignore them, Jabeth. 00:03:04 Speaker 3: If father isn't worked up, then neither am I. 00:03:08 Speaker 6: What do you care what they think? 00:03:09 Speaker 4: If father's right, they'll all be underwater soon. 00:03:12 Speaker 1: Next time they insult me, I'll ask them how good they are at swimming. 00:03:15 Speaker 2: Noah hurled the beam from his shoulders, slamming it onto the ground with a jarring thud. His eyes, like storm clouds, turned towards his son's. Fury and sorrow intertwined in his gaze. 00:03:28 Speaker 1: You think you're funny, Ham. What about you, Japheth? Do you find the idea of millions drowning under the weight of the sky amusing? 00:03:36 Speaker 2: The boys fell silent, their faces paling. Their father's nostrils flared and the creases of his brow deepened with anger. 00:03:45 Speaker 1: You laugh now, but I assure you one thing. When you hear the screams of people as they thrash against mountains, you won't be laughing. 00:03:55 Speaker 4: You'll never laugh again. 00:03:58 Speaker 2: Noah stormed off into a grove of fern and pine, his chest heaving with the weight of unspoken fears. He glanced at his hands, which trembled with anxiety. 00:04:09 Speaker 3: How will I endure this? In seven days' time, the waters will come. For forty days, the heavens and the earth shall weep. Their tears will drown all life from the ground. 00:04:26 Speaker 4: I don't know if I'll be able to bear it. 00:04:29 Speaker 1: Who am I to carry this responsibility? 00:04:32 Speaker 3: You are righteous, Noah. You are set apart in this generation. I have appointed you. Now go into the Ark, Noah. Go with the pairs of animals that I send you. As you wish. 00:04:49 Speaker 2: Noah dragged his feet through the soft earth, grazing a damp fern with his hands and rubbing the dew on his neck. He sighed, stepping into a patch of sunlight piercing the storm clouds. Noah gazed at the Ark, a towering monolith against the sky, its shadow stretching over the valley. He watched his sons, no longer boys but men, bound by duty and the promise of future generations, saw, chop, hammer and sand the vessel's final touches. They still hadn't grasped what Noah felt deep in his bones. This calling was a curse as much as a blessing. Noah steadied his trembling hands and drew a deep breath. Before he could take another step, a massive hand gripped his shoulder. It was the Tanner, his face contorted with rage and confusion. He shoved Noah against the trunk of a dying tree. 00:05:42 Speaker 5: What's your play, son of Seth? What's the point of having a boat in the middle of the valley? 00:05:51 Speaker 1: It's for the coming flood. Soon the skies will burst forth with water, and the earth will open up. 00:06:00 Speaker 5: I have swine with sharper minds than you. You expect me to believe the sky's gonna open up like a river? You're a madman! 00:06:13 Speaker 2: The tanner drew out a blade and pressed it against Noah's throat. 00:06:17 Speaker 5: You got a lot of resources to make a boat this big. 00:06:23 Speaker 1: Hey, maybe they'd be better. 00:06:25 Speaker 5: Off with someone who still has his. 00:06:27 Speaker 4: Wits about him. All I have has been given by the Creator. You'd rob from him. 00:06:34 Speaker 5: I do what I want to whom I want, son of Seth. You live by rules nobody else does. That's your weakness. It's why you spend your days with sawdust in your. 00:06:48 Speaker 3: Throat instead of a good mead. 00:06:51 Speaker 2: The tanner pressed the edge of the blade further into Noah's skin. A crimson streak dripped down his neck and onto his collarbone. Just then, the ground began to shake. The tanner stepped back and turned. In an instant, the man was trampled by a large beast bursting from the forest. Its legs were larger than tree trunks, with ivory tusks curling upward. Noah ran beside the beast and out of the tree covering. His eyes widened to behold thousands of animals galloping, crawling, flying and stalking toward the ark. Noah pressed his hands on his head in disbelief. He shouted to his sons, Shem! 00:07:31 Speaker 1: Japheth! Open the ark's door! Ham, get our wives and tell them to gather the sheaves of hay. 00:07:37 Speaker 2: Noah sprinted alongside two gazelles, leaping over lumber and sliding to the ropes beside the ark. He pulled with Shem and Japheth, heaving to open the large door for the incoming animals. 00:07:50 Speaker 3: Thousands of creatures. 00:07:51 Speaker 2: Two by two, ran into the ark, their hooves, paws and claws thumping and scratching against the ark's floor. 00:08:00 Speaker 3: How do they. 00:08:00 Speaker 1: Know where to go? You know the answer to that, Shem. 00:08:04 Speaker 3: They're following the Creator's command. Just like us. 00:08:09 Speaker 2: A flash of lightning split the skies, followed by a crack of thunder. Noah's gaze turned intense as he watched the clouds churn like deep, chaotic waters. He looked back at the forest where the Tanner lay. This was just the beginning. Soon, everyone outside the Ark would perish. The earth was still. The birds had flown away, and the beasts had fled to their burrows. They knew what the city did not. A storm was coming to claim them. Noah and Emzara stood atop a cliff, the wind tugging at their garments like the persistent whispers of the doomed. To their left, the ark stood, complete and filled with creatures of all kinds, a lifeboat amidst an ocean of inevitability. Lights flickered from within, torches lit by their children as they tended to the animals. To the right, the city was aglow with bonfires, the faint sounds of laughter and screams echoing through the breeze, a cacophony of ignorance and defiance. 00:09:19 Speaker 4: This world is sick. These people are plagued by evil. I know what they deserve, but I can't bring myself to fully accept it. 00:09:33 Speaker 1: They're all going to die. 00:09:36 Speaker 5: I find some solace in knowing our children will at least be safe. 00:09:41 Speaker 1: But what about the other children? What of those who haven't done anything wrong? 00:09:47 Speaker 2: Noah's voice cracked like thin ice. His heart was breaking piece by piece. He gazed out at the horizon where the sun had not been seen in a week. 00:09:59 Speaker 3: Its light fainted. 00:10:00 Speaker 2: Dimly illuminating the storm clouds before sinking past the valley. Emzara squeezed his hand, her voice a soothing balm to his wounded soul. 00:10:11 Speaker 5: You've walked with God this far. Continue your stride and don't look back. 00:10:17 Speaker 4: Tonight I will walk into that ark. 00:10:21 Speaker 1: I fear I will not be the man I was. 00:10:23 Speaker 3: When I walk out. 00:10:25 Speaker 5: Nothing will be the same. You, me, the world. 00:10:30 Speaker 2: Everything will be new. Flashes of lightning replaced the sun's light, and thunder roared like a predator ready to kill. The voice of the creator spoke through the tempest. 00:10:42 Speaker 3: To the Ark, Noah. 00:10:44 Speaker 2: Noah and Emzara scaled down the cliff back to the Ark. As they strode, the skies opened and rain descended upon the land. The rain grew heavier with each moment, softening the earth below. The two quickened their pace when the ground began to quake. They were only a few paces from the ark when the ground burst open with geysers of rushing water. Emzara flew backward while Noah was caught in a torrent of water cascading from above and bursting from below. Noah, help me! 00:11:16 Speaker 5: Hold on! 00:11:17 Speaker 2: Noah gripped a stone with his arms and pulled himself up. He scammed the rushing water for signs of his wife. His eyes darted back and forth, desperately trying to see through the rain. Finally, he spotted her hanging onto a pine branch. Noah forced his way through the torrent, driving his feet through the rushing water and picked her up. Japheth stood at the ark's entrance, reaching out. He took his mother and pointed out to the valley. 00:11:43 Speaker 5: Father! 00:11:44 Speaker 1: Ham and Shem are missing! 00:11:46 Speaker 5: What? 00:11:47 Speaker 1: Where could they be? 00:11:48 Speaker 6: Anwar was returning from the city, and Shem went looking for him when the waters began to fall. 00:11:54 Speaker 1: Stay here with the others. 00:11:56 Speaker 2: Noah leaped from stone to stone, avoiding the rushing waters beneath. He reached the hill, sloping upward into the forest. The rains were relentless, falling like arrows on Noah's back. The earth trembled underfoot. All around, water erupted from below. Noah looked up to the mountains, where falls tumbled violently, swelling rivers with mighty force. 00:12:19 Speaker 5: Ham! 00:12:19 Speaker 3: Shem! 00:12:23 Speaker 1: Where are those foolish boys? 00:12:26 Speaker 5: Father! 00:12:27 Speaker 2: Noah saw Ham and Shem running with their hands tied behind their backs. A mob of men pursued them from behind. Shem leaped over a stone, but Ham's feet were immediately caught on the root. Ham looked back at his pursuers and braced for their attacks, but before they could lay a handle him, another giza burst before them, sending each of them tumbling down the hills. Noah helped his boys to their feet and unbound them. The three dodged rolling stones and falling trees, eventually reaching the ark's entrance. Men from the city marched through the rapids with spears in hand, prepared to strike them down and commandeer the ship. 00:13:04 Speaker 3: But before they could, Noah heard the creaking of the wood. A mighty wind blew, raising. 00:13:10 Speaker 2: The ark's door and slamming it shut. Noah ran to the door and pounded his fists against it. His shouts were surprising to the others. 00:13:19 Speaker 5: What's wrong? 00:13:20 Speaker 1: We made it! Exactly, Ham. We made it. Everyone else is either dead or dying as we speak. They didn't care about us. Seconds ago, they were trying to skewer us and steal the ark. Why are you so upset? Where's your soul? Listen closely. Everyone, listen. 00:13:44 Speaker 2: Underneath the white noise of falling rain and rushing water, the screams became audible. Desperate, blood-curdling screams. 00:13:54 Speaker 4: If you don't weep at their suffering, you'd know better than them. 00:14:00 Speaker 2: Silence fell among them. The sound of animals braying and purring mingled with the rain and wind. Emzara threw a blanket over Noah's shoulders and led him away. He kept his gaze fixed on Ham, who scowled back, then turned to his brothers, who wore concerned expressions. Outside, the skies wept and the earth quivered. God's wrath poured forth, but it did not please him. He sent the flood with regret and sorrow. The waters prevailed over the earth, and the seas swallowed every creature given the breath of life. It rained for forty days. Streams turned to rapids, which turned to seas. They rose above the mountains, lifting the ark with them. The ark floated over the massacre. In a sea of judgment, Noah was spared. When the forty days of rain had ceased, and the sun's rays gently peeked through the dissipating clouds, Noah opened one of the windows. He looked out, seeing a vast expanse of nothingness. Choppy, dark, and unruly waters stretched as far as the eye could see. Floating on the surface were remnants of desolation. 00:15:22 Speaker 3: Everyone had perished. 00:15:26 Speaker 2: This Pray.com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellebarger, and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review. 00:16:12 Speaker 1: This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.