The Conquest of Canaan

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: I have heard concerning reports from the reaches of our kingdoms, even here closer to home. The men who took the promised land are grandfathers and great grandfathers, now children we raised to starting to lead their own families, and those families are starting to entertain the customs and cultures. 00:00:23 Speaker 1: Of the land. 00:00:24 Speaker 2: The very people we subdued are tempting us with their gods, and I am hearing too many stories confirming that those invitations are being accepted. They are welcoming the gods of our neighbors with open arms. In short, gods people are yet again flirting with their own destruction. 00:00:46 Speaker 1: Emboldened by the memory of all the wonders he had seen first hand, Joshua charged forward to the heart of their gathering, the covenant renewal. 00:00:57 Speaker 3: Therefore, fear Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth. Rid yourselves of the gods of your ancestors, the gods they worship beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord. As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord. 00:01:20 Speaker 2: How do you answer, Israel. 00:01:24 Speaker 1: We wealth worthip Lord. Joshua nodded, he had expected as much, but he pressed them further. 00:01:32 Speaker 3: Remember, our God is a holy God, but jealous God. 00:01:37 Speaker 2: If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign. 00:01:40 Speaker 3: Gods, you will turn against you and utterly destroy you. Now we will worship the Lord. You are witnesses against yourselves that you, yourselves, had chosen to worship. 00:01:54 Speaker 1: The Lord under his leadership. Israel worship the Lord throughout josh was lifetime because of his commitment to the next generation and to renewing the covenant. Israel worshiped the Lord during the lifetimes of the eldest who outlived Joshua, and all those who had experienced the works the Lord had done for Israel. The land lay before them like an unveiled bride, radiant and wild, overflowing with promise. The land of milk and honey. Canaan hills rolled in verdant splendor, swathed in a living green so deep it seemed as if the very earth had bled emeralds. The air was thick with the scent of wildflowers, honeysuckle and jasmine twining together, and the rivers carved deep silver veins through the valley floor. The soil was dark and damp with life. Fruit hung heavy on every branch, the trees groaning with their burden, and the grain fields bowed like subjects before an unseen king. It was a land fit for kings, though no king ruled it. 00:03:14 Speaker 4: Not yet. 00:03:15 Speaker 1: It had been promised to Abraham a dream borne beneath the canvas of a desert sky and seal'd with the stars. 00:03:24 Speaker 4: As witnesses look around, you behold the land to not only the east, but also the north, south, and west. As I told you before, this is the land I will give to you and your offspring, and it will be yours for ever. 00:03:45 Speaker 2: Yes, my God, I remember what you told me. 00:03:49 Speaker 4: Do you believe it? 00:03:50 Speaker 3: Though? 00:03:51 Speaker 4: I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth. If there was ever any one who could count up all the dust of the earth, and there is not, then your offspring could also be counted. You are to get up and walk around this land. I will show you where to go, and what's more, I will give it to you. You will need not take it. I would provide you with everything you need. 00:04:21 Speaker 1: For centuries. That promise had echoed in the bones of his descendants, passed from father to son like an heirloom too valuable to sell, too powerful to forget. Now, at long last, they stood at the border of that dream made flesh. They were a generation born not in Egypt's bondage, but in the wild uncertainty of the wilderness, where every meal was a miracle and every knight carried the scent of sand and dew. Their parents had spoken of a land of milk and honey, but they had only seen sand and stung until now. But beauty is a treacherous thing. Just as the serpent once lay coiled in the heart of Eden, so too did darkness dwell in Canaan. Its fields and pastures were rich, but the roots of its cities were tangled with rot. Every stone wall hid cruelty, and every high place stank of burnt flesh and blood laid at the altars of lesser gods. The Canaanites lived as kings in this land, but their thrones were built on corpses. Children burned on their altars, women were taken broken and discarded. Kings carved their glory from the marrow of their subjects. Beneath all its beauty, the land groaned beneath the weight of its own corruption. The children of Israel gathered at the edge of this land, twelve tribes, bound by blood, by law, and by a promise, all than any of them. Their new high priest, Finnahus, cloaked in dust and worn leather, came before the ark of the Covenant and bowed with his forehead pressed to the ground. Finnahause had always been a man of few words, a better listener than a speaker. Now, as the appointed high priest after his father Eliezer, he was determined to listen, Well, how shall we take this land? Or how shall we claim what you have given us? The answer came not as a whisper, but as a roar, from the heart of Heaven. With us like a furnace made of thunder and steel. 00:06:40 Speaker 4: Declared, Judah shall go first. 00:06:44 Speaker 1: A shudder passed through the tribes of the name Judah, the Lion's tribe, largest and strongest, as full of pride as it was of courage, there was no one more fit to lead Their warriors, led by the abe aged but still strong Caleb, were weathered as old oak, their swords sharp and well tested. It would be Judah's spear that first pierced the heart of Canaan. Their first target was the Perizites and their king, Adoni Bezek, a man whose name was a curse and a warning. He was a butcher king, infamous for cutting the thumbs and toes from his vanquished foes, leaving them to crawl like dogs beneath his table, scavenging scraps of bread from the dirt. He dined on their humiliation. Such a man did not deserve a king's death. Caleb marched with his men. Although his bones were weary and his arm could no longer swing with fervor, he still led his people well. He was a master tactician, having learned every trick of the trade from Joshua. 00:07:53 Speaker 3: Men not Judah, remember the promise together horn? 00:08:01 Speaker 1: What was that of the dawn? The Ram's horn shattered the quoiet. The men of Judah moved like the breaking tide, and pouring from their hills in a rush of bronze and steel. The tribe of Simian followed close behind a second wave, to crush whatever remained. The walls of Besok loomed before them. Jagged stone and timber, drenched and shadowed arrows rained down from above, black streaks like sharp winged crows. Shields locked together. The Ram's horn blew again, and Judah surged forward with axes crashed into gates, ladders clawed their way up the walls, stone cracked, and lords splintered. Then came a donny Bezek himself. He rode a black charger through the city streets, his mace a star of iron, and wherever it fell, men died, not just died, they were broken. 00:08:58 Speaker 3: Hey by Jaggs, Come at me and taste the might of my steel. 00:09:05 Speaker 1: Scarlls split, jaws unhinged. When his laughter echoed over the din of war, a sound sharp as the shriek of a dying animal. His soldiers, emboldened by his presence, pushed back with desperate fury. Judah stumbled, fear swept through them like a plague. Some fell back, others hesitated. The dark king left carnage in his wake until Caleb chose to stand and face him. The aged warrior of Judah strode forward with the veracity of a man half his age. 00:09:37 Speaker 2: He missed Joshua, what athert off. 00:09:41 Speaker 1: Caleb charged that his stride was abruptly cut off by another, a youth named Offniel, son of Caleb's brother Keen. As the young man jolted in front of his general and leaped into the King of Shield. Had On Bezeg stumbled backward, then returned with a swift downward swim with his mace. Caleb wasn't insulted by the young man. He shouted from behind, being off Neil's eyes. 00:10:07 Speaker 2: Off Fiel find the high ground. 00:10:10 Speaker 1: Off Neil leaped onto a crate and then scaled the wall beside the king. A donny Bezek's eyes followed. The young man, coddle down and fight me gold. Caleb took the opportunity and hurled a spear at the king. It barely grazed at donny Bezek's shoulder, but provided the perfect distraction for off Neil to pounce. He leaped off the wall and tackled the king to the ground. The two men wrestled, blood stained the dirt. A Donny Bezick was a head taller than off Neil, and his grin was a red line of teeth. As he drove his knee down on off Neil's throat, the young man choked and clawed at the ground. 00:10:51 Speaker 2: Wake we man do off Fiel's aid. 00:10:54 Speaker 1: Caleb and the others surged forward with the wrath of men whose brother was about to die. Ten spears and six swords found a donny Bezek, pinning him like a beast caught in a hunter's snare. He roared, cursed, spat, But no man escapes the judgment of the lord. After the king was captured, the tides of battle quickly shifted. Bound in iron, a donny Bezek was dragged before Caleb. He spat blood and curses, laughing all the while. His words were venom. 00:11:28 Speaker 2: You sink you have me. 00:11:32 Speaker 3: Ah, I have dined on the pride of kings greater than you. 00:11:40 Speaker 2: I have bound seventy kings beneath my table, and they begged me for crumbs. You will do the same. 00:11:50 Speaker 1: Caleb, voice hoarse and weary, placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. 00:11:57 Speaker 4: Ah, our people have done enough begging. 00:12:04 Speaker 1: A sword flashed quick as lightning. His big toe rolled in the dust. Another flash. His thumb joined it. A donny Bezek screamed. But it was not the pain that broke in. It was justice. The man laughed even as he wept. 00:12:22 Speaker 2: Seventy kings, seventy kings, I may crawl in the dirt. 00:12:32 Speaker 1: I guess your God has repaid me. 00:12:43 Speaker 4: I guess he has. 00:12:45 Speaker 1: With one final slash of steel, Caleb ended a donnie Bezek. Judah's conquest was only the beginning. City after city fell before them. Jerusalem's walls crumbled to ash and flame. The kings of Hebron, Sheshai, Aheman, and Talmai were struck down in the hills, the land of Negeb, the lowlands, the valley. All of it fell, blood soaked the roots of ancient trees. The lion of Judah had roared, and none could stand before it. But not every tribe was a lion. Manassah, Ephraim and Zebulun grew tired, their swords dulled, and their spirits dulled faster. The Canaanites were cunning. They offered gifts, daughters in marriage, and alliances. Whispered in the night. The men of Israel took them. They had forsaken the promises made before Joshua. 00:13:47 Speaker 3: Remember, our God is a holy god, a jealous god. If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, he would turn against you and utterly distrys. 00:14:00 Speaker 1: No, we will worship the Lord. 00:14:04 Speaker 3: You are witnesses against yourselves that you, yourselves, had chosen to worship the Lord. 00:14:11 Speaker 2: We are witnesses weakness. 00:14:14 Speaker 3: Then listen, rid yourselves of those foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, God of Israel. 00:14:22 Speaker 1: Alone. 00:14:24 Speaker 3: We will worship the Lord, our God, and obey him. 00:14:30 Speaker 1: The gods of Canaan were patient. Each compromise was a stone in the foundation of Israel's downfall. Women bore children who were sacrificed at foreign altars. Elders allowed the worship of Baal in secret places. Ephraim took Gezer, but let its people live. Asher settled among the Canaanites instead of driving them out. The blood of the Covenant grew thin in their veins. As the tribes gathered by a great fire, the wind grew sharp, thunder. 00:15:05 Speaker 4: Rolled the eyes. 00:15:08 Speaker 1: The fire died when silence fell. In that silence, an angel of the Lord appeared. No footsteps had brought him. He was not a man, but something more, a figure wreathed in flame. His face was fire, his eyes brighter still. His voice was a storm made word. 00:15:30 Speaker 2: You have done this to yourselves. 00:15:33 Speaker 1: I gave you the land, I made your people. 00:15:36 Speaker 2: But you made covenants with my enemies. You lay with them. Now there shall be thorns in your side. 00:15:44 Speaker 1: The fire swelled and his presence vanished. The silence left behind was louder than the war. They fell to their knees, weeping and tearing their clothes, but the tears of men could not drown their sins. They thought they could be kings, but they were still slaves, slaves to their own sin and ruin. And now the kings of Canaan would teach them that lesson. But there was a promise that remained, one that echoed from the depths of Eden. One day, from the tribe of Judah, a lion would rise, a king like no other, a king to break all chains. Before the breaker of chains came, the Lord would send lesser heroes, fractured and broken images of the deliverer to come. They would be imperfect vessels in God's hands, crafted to lead Israel out of its self inflicted destruction. This prey Dog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger, and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotten, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. 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