The Fall of Mankind

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: Let us craft creatures in our image, imbued with our essence. Let us make man as an image of God to steward the fish of the sea, birds of the air, and creatures of the earth. 00:00:21 Speaker 3: It's beautiful. 00:00:22 Speaker 2: This is the Tree of life. Its fruit is a gift, a gift to be cherished forever. It is the life I offer you, a life of unity with me. This is the tree of knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil. You may eat of every tree in this garden, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. 00:00:57 Speaker 3: What will happen if I. 00:00:58 Speaker 2: Do knowledge of good and evil, which leads to evil itself. While the tree of life brings eternal life, the knowledge of evil brings death. 00:01:15 Speaker 4: In the garden created for us by God with love, created for us human beings in His image and with free will. In the garden, the serpent awaits it shining eyes reflecting our own sinful desires. Shallo, my friends from here in the holy Land of Israel, i'm ya l Exstein, and you're tuned into the Chosen People. In each episode, we explore stories inspired by the Hebrew Bible. Then we reflect on these ancient tales we all know so well to uncover lessons that still resonate today. If you're inspired by today's episode, please share it and subscribe. Together, let's explore our shared heritage and the Bible stories that shape our faith. We see it every day. We see it in the news. We see it in the weary eyes of the stranger sitting across from us on the train. We see it in the relentless grind of poverty and justice and despair. At times, the broken state of our world threatens to overshadow any spark of joy and hope. Why we ask, why is the world such a mess? I'm here in Israel, a place that has known brokenness and despair, a place that has experienced true evil, especially in the past year. The terrorist attacks of October seventh not only plunged the nation into war. They destroyed families, They devastated communities, They made already desperate lives even more desperate, and they reminded every single person in Israel that we are surrounded by enemies who want to kill and destroy us. This evil on display made the life saving work of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews even more necessary and even more life saving We've been called by God to bring hope, and because of Christian friends like you, our work has continued even as the evil we face has continued as well. Yes, the evil state of our world can consume us, and we need to ask why. Well, this question of why can haunt us. We are desperate for a reason behind the brokenness. We're desperate for answers. Is it just the way things are? Or is there more to the story. Well, I believe that the answers are found in Genesis III. Adam. 00:04:03 Speaker 1: Over here, Eve hopped from one stone to another, her feet perfectly balanced despite the wet moss lacing the rocks. The falls roared, nearly drowning out her voice. 00:04:19 Speaker 5: We're almost there, Come on, catch up. 00:04:22 Speaker 1: Adam took a moment to catch his breath, but he lost his breath again when he saw Eve's hair blowing with the fall's wind. Adam smirked, pivoted his foot back, then burst with strength and speed. He launched off a stone with one leg onto another, leaping across the stream and onto the wet stone. He jumped straight up, grabbing a ledge and pulling himself up with his shoulders and arms. Water from the falls fell to his back and dripped down his waist and legs. He breathed in the fresh air, then made the final fo strides to the summit. 00:05:03 Speaker 5: Took you long enough. 00:05:08 Speaker 6: I was just enjoying the view. I don't know what's more beautiful, these falls surrounded by flowers? 00:05:16 Speaker 2: Were you? 00:05:18 Speaker 1: Eve blushed and leaned closer to Adam. He playfully and swiftly kissed Eve on the cheek and leaped past her. He grabbed onto a root and swung to another rock five feet across. 00:05:31 Speaker 6: Now you have to catch up, challenge excepting. 00:05:37 Speaker 1: Adam ran up the slope leading to the Tree of Life. Its leaves glowed with a brilliance matching the sun. Adam's legs moved effortlessly over the enormous roots, curling to its base. He dashed to the trunk and climbed smaller branches, coiling upward to the fruit. He sat on a branch, taking in the view. With fruit in hand. Eve sat beside him, head resting gently on his shoulder. The two of them ate, laughed and basted in the presence of God. His goodness was all around them, expressed in the sun's golden rays and the fruits life giving nourishment. Their naked bodies were exposed to each other in the elements, but there was no shame or pain, nothing to hide, nothing to fear. God walked in their midst. He was near, he was present. They were in perfect harmony with the earth, each other, and the Creator. Adam pointed to an open meadow exposed in a tree break. 00:06:46 Speaker 3: Eve watched a. 00:06:47 Speaker 1: Smirk curl on the sides of his lips as he explained his plans. 00:06:53 Speaker 6: See that plot of land tucked between the forest and the stream. I'm going to take some of the very son and plant them there. 00:07:01 Speaker 5: How are you gonna do that? 00:07:03 Speaker 6: The better the soil, the easier the seed will grow. First, I'll gather some of the softer earth and the waste from the animals. Then I'll take some branches and cross them over each other, and I'll secure them together with vines so they stay place. I'll put them all over the planted seeds, and when vines grow, they'll latch onto them and grow neatly, so we can pit them. 00:07:30 Speaker 5: But we already have all the fruit we need in the garden. 00:07:34 Speaker 6: But that doesn't mean we can't expand God has commissioned us to press the boundaries and multiply. 00:07:40 Speaker 5: Yes, multiply, Adam, imagine more of us here. 00:07:48 Speaker 3: This world is ours to fill. 00:07:51 Speaker 1: This was their calling to cultivate the land and multiply. The earth was theirs to subdue and rule as God's stewards. The garden was theirs to grow and glean from. Eve's eyes burst with curiosity and excitement. She saw all the potential in the land, the future filled with children and grandchildren. 00:08:16 Speaker 5: I'll help you. I can gather the seeds. Oh, we can also dig a path from the stream so they get enough water. 00:08:24 Speaker 1: Eve scrunched her nose and held Adam's face. 00:08:28 Speaker 5: Let's go see it now. 00:08:30 Speaker 1: She hopped off the tree and skipped down the grassy path leading back into the forest. Eve darted into the part of the woods untouched by sunlight. It was damp, with vines stretching from branch to branch. Adam called out from a distance. 00:08:47 Speaker 5: Eve, wad up, Come find me, Adam, where are you? 00:08:56 Speaker 1: Eve giggled and danced in the shadows. Feet twirled over roots and stones. Her hair rose and fell with each playful pirouette. She danced on the moss, but stopped when she heard a faint whisper echoing from the shadows. She tilted her head and peered into the darkness. A faint glow came from one of the roots. It pulsed upward like a heartbeat. The roots were thick, intertwining into thicker sections. Eve followed the roots to their source. The tree's trunk was thick and braided, like serpents coiling around each other. They glowed faint red and purple, like veins pumping blood to the trees hard. The branches shot outward and down, making its fruit low for picking. The fruit was a deep crimson and perfect for one's palm. Eve was drawn to it. She hadn't yet learned to fear. If she had, then she would have been terrified. Her body tensed with every step. As she inched closer to it, Eve heard the whisper again. The sound trickled from the branches like a small stream. She scanned the tree, weaving through the coils of the trunk was a brilliantly colored serpent. Its bright scales radiated with a similar shine as the trees. It shone as if covered with every precious stone sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle. The edge of its body was crafted like gold. Eve was mesmerized. She approached the serpent and innocently gazed. 00:10:48 Speaker 3: Up at it. 00:10:49 Speaker 5: What are you? 00:10:52 Speaker 1: The creature responded with an indecipherable hiss. Its voice was like the echoes of a thousand whispers. Eve could no longer see it, but she could hear it. 00:11:05 Speaker 7: I was going to ask you the same question, who are you? 00:11:15 Speaker 1: Ah? 00:11:15 Speaker 7: I'm Eve Ah, one of God's image bearers. What an honor to be in your presence? So elogant, so powerful. It's a shame God has held so much back from you. 00:11:46 Speaker 8: What do you mean? 00:11:48 Speaker 1: Slowly and methodically, the serpent's head emerged from the leaves. Its eyes gleamed red like a blood moon. They held a dark canyon in the center, deep, mysterious and haunting. Its long tail draped over the branches, caressing the crimson fruit. 00:12:08 Speaker 7: Didn't God say you couldn't eat from any tree in the garden. 00:12:15 Speaker 5: No, God allows us to eat all the fruit in the garden. It's just this one we can't eat. We can't even touch it. 00:12:23 Speaker 7: Or will die die? Oh, my dear, you won't die? 00:12:35 Speaker 3: Do I look dead to you. 00:12:38 Speaker 7: God does and want you to eat it, because if you do, your eyes will be opened. 00:12:48 Speaker 5: My eyes will be opened. What do you mean? 00:12:52 Speaker 7: God is a petty and jealous one, isn't he? No us? 00:13:01 Speaker 3: If you eat this fruit, your eyes would be old. 00:13:07 Speaker 7: You'll know the secrets of the universe. You'll have knowledge, you'll have power, You'll be like God himself. 00:13:21 Speaker 1: Like God, Eve examined the fruit, dew dripped from its smooth skin. It looked delicious and inviting. How could something so beautiful be dangerous? Eve reached out for the fruit. The serpent coiled its tail around one of the branches and bent it closer to Eve. She recoiled for a moment, then reached again. 00:13:47 Speaker 5: I can be like God, knowledgeable. 00:13:53 Speaker 3: How yes. 00:13:58 Speaker 1: Eve was inches away from the fruit, her heart beat in tandem with the pulsing roots. Adam finally caught up with her and stopped at the tree. 00:14:08 Speaker 3: Shadow, Eve, what are you doing? But it was too late. 00:14:14 Speaker 1: Eve's fingers touched the fruit. She waited to see what would happen. Nothing, she felt the same. Her eyes gleamed with anxious curiosity. She plucked the fruit and held it firmly in her palm. 00:14:30 Speaker 3: She looked at Adam. 00:14:32 Speaker 5: Maybe it was a lie. After all, we could. 00:14:40 Speaker 1: Be like God. Eve stroked the fruit. Adam was frozen. He knew he should stop Eve. He knew he should smack it out of her hand, but he was drawn by a similar curiosity. 00:14:56 Speaker 3: Could he really be like God? With this fruit? 00:14:59 Speaker 1: Unl something withheld from him? Eve raised the fruit to her lips. Then, as a decisive act to claim autonomy from her creator, Eve took a bite from the fruit. Dark red juices dripped down her mouth and chin. It stained her hands a dark bloodlike color. It was the sweetest fruit she'd ever tasted. She didn't realize that the bitterness would come afterward. She looked back at her husband, who was meant to care for her soul and help her live in God's will. She held the fruit up to him with a red stained smile. 00:15:41 Speaker 5: It's delicious taste and see for yourself. 00:15:46 Speaker 1: Why shouldn't Adam's brow furrowed? He was conflicted. The voice of God echoed in his. 00:15:54 Speaker 2: Mind, knowledge of good and evil, which leads to who evil itself. While the tree of life brings eternal life, the knowledge of evil brings death. 00:16:09 Speaker 1: Adam looked at his wife She smiled at him, eyes urging him to partake. She didn't seem different. 00:16:17 Speaker 6: Maybe it was a lie. Maybe there's something more from me. 00:16:25 Speaker 3: Apart from God. 00:16:27 Speaker 1: He gently raised the fruit to his lips and took a bite. Adam knew what he was doing. God had made himself clear. This was a deliberate act to be like God. They had been deceived into thinking God was holding back from them, and perhaps something better awaited them if they separated themselves from him. 00:16:49 Speaker 3: It's great, you were right. What did I tell you? 00:16:54 Speaker 5: Why would God keep this from us? 00:16:57 Speaker 3: What else have we been missing? 00:17:00 Speaker 1: Adam's eyes glowed with thrill. The two laughed and took another bite. A smile edged on the sides of the serpent's mouth. His eyes pulsed with wicked pleasure. As he slid back into the dark shadows of the tree, A cold wind howled through the forest, and the earth's surface shook with a single quake. 00:17:22 Speaker 3: Adam looked around him. 00:17:24 Speaker 1: Birds flew away at the sight of him, and the plants curled back slightly. Something happened. His heart beat heavily in his chest, and sweat fell down his brow. 00:17:35 Speaker 5: Oh what's happening? 00:17:41 Speaker 3: I don't know, I ugh, something's wrong. 00:17:47 Speaker 1: Adam grabbed his chest and winced. It felt like a tightened grip on his heart, as if something invisible was squeezing the divinity from him. What followed was the immediate feeling of overwhelming and soul rushing shame. Adam didn't just feel naked, he felt vulnerable. He looked at Eve. She didn't look the same. She looked like a stranger. His whole body tensed. He was agitated, confused. 00:18:16 Speaker 3: And angry. 00:18:18 Speaker 1: Her face wore a similar pain and something else fear. She didn't know whether Adam was going to run from her or attack her. She felt weak, vulnerable, and alone. Her lower lip quivered. She looked at Adam's eyes, surging to discern his intentions. He was scanning her up and down. Feeling exposed, she fled like a deer into the bushes. She frantically gathered fig leaves together to cover herself. She wanted to disappear. The weight of her fear and shame was overwhelming. Panic overcame her. Adam's throat clenched. He stepped to follow her, but then he felt something shift in the air. He was cuming the creator. Adam pulled some leaves off a fig tree and covered himself. Then he ran. He ran like a frightened animal from a predator. Fear was new to him, his tensed muscles, his shaking hands. 00:19:19 Speaker 3: Make it stop, Make it stop, Make it stop. 00:19:22 Speaker 1: Adam buried himself under leaves and brush. God's presence used to feel as near as his own breath and heartbeat, But now, after eating the fruit, God seemed distant. Adam trembled in the shadows, listening to the wind and churning of leaves. 00:19:39 Speaker 2: Adam, where are you? 00:19:43 Speaker 1: God's voice was no longer comforting, but terrifying. Adam's heart was about to burst. He groaned, anxious, tears falling from his eyes. The closeness with God was gone, the sense of purpose, the feeling of destiny and endless possibilities. It all burnt to ash and blew away. With the wind rushing through the forest, the voice of the Creator called out. 00:20:10 Speaker 2: Again, Adam, where are you? 00:20:15 Speaker 1: It wasn't a question. God knew where Adam was. He didn't speak with a question, but an invitation, an invitation to return and repent, an invitation to plead for forgiveness. But anxiety and shame wrapped around Adam's heart like weeds to a flower. He was motionless. The earth pulsed again, this time with rage. Adam fell forward and out of the bushes. He remained on his knees, eyes fixed on the ground. His arms were crossed, fingers gently stroking his skin for comfort. He wouldn't turn his gaze upward. He couldn't here. 00:20:58 Speaker 6: I am, he heard you coming, and I was afraid. 00:21:06 Speaker 2: Why were you afraid? Adam? What have you to fear? 00:21:10 Speaker 3: I'm naked. I didn't want you to see me. 00:21:14 Speaker 2: Who told you you were naked? 00:21:17 Speaker 3: Nobody? 00:21:18 Speaker 2: I I Did you eat of the tree? Adam? Did you eat of the tree? I commanded you not to eat? 00:21:26 Speaker 1: God's voice rumbled with the quaking earth. A chilly air blew around Adam. He felt even more exposed. Adam's eyes finally darted up wide with worry. His face curled forward, then tensed into anger. He shook his head, warring with himself. He didn't want to own his shame. He wanted it gone. Then a thought slithered into his mind. It was a new thought, something evil. The tree had given him knowledge of how to sin, how to lie, how to hurt. Adam stood in anger, and pointed to the bushes where Eve hid. 00:22:12 Speaker 3: It was the woman, the woman you gave me. 00:22:15 Speaker 6: It's her fault, not mine. She give me the fruit and I hate it. Talk to her, She's the one to blame. 00:22:24 Speaker 1: Eve's breath became frantic. She thought of running away. Instead, she froze, unable to move. She felt God's anger thicken the atmosphere. 00:22:36 Speaker 2: What have you done? 00:22:40 Speaker 5: It wasn't my fault. I it was the serpent. He deceived me. I only ate it because of what he said. If I had known that this would happen. 00:22:53 Speaker 1: I would have Suddenly, a ferocious wind blew through the forest. The trees all bent, as if bowing to a king. The tree of Knowledge shook, and the serpent was thrust downward, convulsing on the floor. God's rage fell upon the serpent, the satan. The voice of God boomed, shaking the entire garden. The beautifully adorned creature writhed in pain. Adam and Eve looked with dismay. For a moment, they saw the serpent for who he truly was. The majestic creature was possessed by something else, something heavenly, beautiful and terrifying. Something otherworldly was happening in front of them. Flashes of light and fire filled the atmosphere. God spoke to Lucifer, the angel underneath the skin. 00:23:50 Speaker 3: Of the serpent. 00:23:52 Speaker 2: You were this signant of perfection, full of wisdom, imperfect and beauty. I pleased you hear in Eden as an anointed guardian. I set you on this holy mountain. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, but your heart was proud because of your beauty. 00:24:17 Speaker 1: Adam and Eve couldn't see what was happening in Heaven's plane. All they could see were clouds circling above God's presence, circled Satan. 00:24:27 Speaker 2: Your corrupted your wisdom for power, and now unrighteousness has tarnished your glow. I would destroy you with stone and fire. 00:24:43 Speaker 1: Lightning flashed, and Adam and Eve could see the serpent again, quivering with pain and fear. Its scales were muted, and its legs and wings were torn. God's judgment was cast upon the serpent. 00:24:57 Speaker 2: Cursed it are you, serpent? You will tremble under the feet of a live stock. On your belly you shall crawl, and the dust shall be your food day and night. 00:25:15 Speaker 1: The serpent's eyes glowed red with rage. It bore its fangs up to God in defiance. He slithered toward Eve, bent on striking. It looked at Eve with blood lust. She turned to run, but God toss'd the serpent against the rocks. Blood curdling screams poured forth from the creature. 00:25:36 Speaker 2: I will put enmity between you and the woman. Your offspring and her offspring will be at war with one another. But an offspring of Eve shall rise against you. You will bruise his heel, but do not mistake it for victory. He shall veng. 00:26:00 Speaker 3: Uish you and cross your head. 00:26:05 Speaker 1: Those words resounded in Eve's ear. It echoed forward into the future, a prophecy of deliverance. One day a son of Eve would crush the serpent and undo what was set in motion. The serpent turned to Eve again, then slithered away in defeat, retreating into the shadows of the canyons. Adam and Eve stood there awaiting a word from the Creator. His presence was directed to Eve. She fell to her knees and gripped the dirt. God's voice resonated. 00:26:41 Speaker 2: I called you to multiply and fill the earth. Now I will multiply your anguish as you bring children into the world, you will be at war with yourself and your husband. You will contend with him, but he will boo over you. Eve crumbled into herself. She wanted autonomy from God that couldn't fathom the consequences. God turned to Adam, the man fashioned from breath and dirt, hewn in the image of himself. Adam, I called you to cultivate and steward the earth. But now it shall be cursed because of you. The earth will struggle against you. You will eat of the earth through sweat and pain. All the days of your life. You will wilt against the stones, Thorns and thistles will scrape your hands. This pain will remind you of the paradise you reject it. Then, after a lifetime of struggle, you will return to the dust of the earth. For from the dust I made you, and to the dust you shall turn. 00:28:01 Speaker 3: What do we do now? Where should we go? What is there beyond needing? 00:28:07 Speaker 1: Adam's trembling arms covered his body. He was like a whimpering child. The harsh wind of judgment ceased for a moment. All was still calm. A pocket of what once was the stag and dough pranced through the forest in front of them. Their innocent eyes stared blankly at them. Adams smirked for a moment. They were old friends. Then suddenly, like invisible blades slashing through the atmosphere, both the animal's throats were cut and they fell to the floor. No Adam ran to the creatures and knelt by their sides. He watched the light vanish from their eyes. They were no longer there. The breath of life had faded. Adam stared for a long while at the blood on his hands, realizing what death actually was. God removed the skin from the animals and fashioned clothing for Adam and Eve. They wore the animal's skins to keep them warm and unexposed. Adam felt the clothing and cried. An innocent life was slain so he wouldn't have to walk around in shame. The life of another covered him. Adam and Eve looked up. The light from the Tree of Life pulsed over the falls. God the Yellohim, consulted with himself in a cosmic discussion of life and death. 00:29:37 Speaker 2: They have become like us, knowing good and evil. If they eat from the Tree of Life, they will live forever. In darkness, they must leave. God's grief could be felt in his voice. 00:29:57 Speaker 1: He didn't want to cast them out, but in his mercy, he couldn't have them live forever coexisting with evil. Eternal life with evil is worse than death itself. The tree burst with light, more powerful than the sun. Eve covered her eyes and looked at the ground. The earth shook and began to crack. It split between her legs. Eden was rejecting them. 00:30:25 Speaker 5: Adam, what's happening? 00:30:28 Speaker 3: Run. 00:30:29 Speaker 1: Adam grabbed Eve's hand, and the two sprinted through the trees. They heard the growling of predators and the shrieks of birds behind them. The earth gave way behind them as they ran, Vines fell from the tipping trees. Eve stumbled and fell into some roots, slamming her head on a stone. Adam kept running. Selfish drive propelled him forward. Then he heard her cries. 00:30:56 Speaker 5: Adam help. 00:30:57 Speaker 1: Adam stopped, chest heaving from exhaustion. He looked at the garden's gates, then back at Eve, self preservation and convenience ward with his love for Eve. He growled, circled back to her, and ripped the roots, catching her foot. He carried her the rest of the way to the mountain's edge. Jagged rocks and dirt lay below. They tumbled down, falling onto the hard earth. Adam looked up. He could still see the faint glow of the Tree of Life up above, but as the clouds rolled through the valley, its glow disappeared, replaced by a gray haze. 00:31:41 Speaker 5: Can we ever come back? 00:31:44 Speaker 1: Just then the clouds opened and a flaming figure descended with righteous fury. It struck the earth beside the garden's entrance. Adam covered Eve from the debris. They cowered in fear until the dusts settled. They looked up and peered through dust and mist. 00:32:05 Speaker 3: An angel armed. 00:32:06 Speaker 1: With a sword of fire stood at the garden's entrance. It spun in every direction, a foreboding symbol of judgment. 00:32:16 Speaker 3: Paradise was lost. 00:32:19 Speaker 1: Adam and Eve sat in the dirt east of Eden, never to return. Their descendants would pine after Eden. Each generation would manufacture ways to reclaim Paradise. They would all fail, but Adam and Eve held on to a promise. One day, the son of Eve would rise to crush the head of the serpent. He would reclaim Eden for humanity. Heaven and earth would be joined once again. 00:32:53 Speaker 4: Ah the story of Eve and the Serpent, a story loaded with intrigue and full of implications that stretch far beyond that ancient biblical garden's borders. Now, let's picture the scene. The garden of Eden, lush and vibrant, the epitome of beauty and abundance. Here in this paradise, Eve walks free and curious, and then, slithering into this perfect picture of peace, comes the serpent. Shrewd and devious. He's crafty, he's the embodiment of temptation. Why not eat from this particular tree, he hisses softly. His words cast doubt not just on God's command, but on God's very character. Eat and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil, the serpent said. In that single faithful moment, the choice was presented, and with that bite of fruit, a world of pain was born. But what does this moment from the days after creation mean for us today? So many many many years later, here and now that fruit, which the Bible tells us was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom. The Bible tells us that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom. Now doesn't that sound like the perfect food. It tastes so good, it looks so good, and it's even nourishing physically and mentally. So what is wrong with it? Well? Nothing. Our tradition actually teaches that there was nothing wrong with the fruit except for one important thing that God said no. And that is what it really comes down to. God is who we must look to an order to know right from wrong. When He tells us no, then that means something is wrong. It means to stay away. If we shape our lives based on what God has taught us is right or wrong, on whether God has said yes or no, whether it's permitted or not permitted, then everything we do, even eating, can be a holy act. And in that one moment, that choice between yes and no, everything changed. In the Garden of Eden, the Jewish sage Nachmanides asked what really changed once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge? What was their life before and what was it like after? And he answers that before they ate the fruit, but they didn't have the power to make decisions like the moon and the stars, their lives had been predetermined. They had their place, their garden of Eden, where everything was perfect. They were set on that certain trajectory, and before that sin that never would have changed. Just like the moon and the stars, Adam and Eve were never confronted with the need to make decisions before they ate from the tree. When they woke up in the morning, they never had to ask what they should do. And it was that way destiny taking hold until they ate the fruit. Eating from the tree gave them the power to stop just being functional. Now they could and in fact, they had to choose. And with that power to choose, with that sudden free will, Adam and Eve gained the power to be moral beings because if they choose good, if they listen to God, they were following in the holy footsteps, Or if they chose bad to go against God, they were actually choosing to be immoral beings. That was, if they did something when God said no. That gift of free will is something Jewish tradition teaches as being among the most important things we have in life. Sometimes our decisions aren't that important, and sometimes they're very important. But just like Adam and Eve, after they ate from the tree, our lives are based around making decisions, the ability to look at life and choose. When God tells us yes or no, what are we going to do? And that is what it really comes down to. God is who we must look to in order to know right from wrong. When He tells us no, then that means something is wrong. This helps us so much in a pretty confusing world. As we study the Bible, we begin to understand that God of Love is helping us. He is showing us the difference between right and wrong, just as he showed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He's leading our footsteps. He's giving us the tools, and we just have to open up our heart to listen. God is saying yes and no in order to help and encourage us to lead better lives filled with goodness, and to extend ourselves to people who need our help. In that way, bringing more light to this world, acting more in the vision of God. This is what we work so hard to do at the Fellowship. We spend our days and nights feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, protecting the innocent Israelis from the agents of death, the Islamic terrorists. We provide bomb shelters to save the innocent children when there are terror attacks. What we face every day here in Israel is that in a world of wrong, we have to be even more driven to do right now. Back to the garden and back to the tree. The consequences of that one act of doing something when God said no were catastrophic. Relationships were fractured, the earth was cursed, Labor became toil, childbirth was marred by pain. All of creation began to groan under the weight of humanity's fall. And yet this dark force of sin, this corruption, does more than just alienate us from God. It alienates us from each other, from ourselves and the very earth that we were meant to stoward. It manifests not just in actions, but in attitudes, in pride and envy, and hatred and strife. It's the root of all injustice. It is the fuel for exploitation, the breeding ground for all that destroys peace. But here's the profound truth that we must also cling to. Where sin is abound, grace is even stronger. In Genesis three, we are introduced to a feeling that arose within Adam and Eve for the first time since the creation of the world. The feeling of shame, or as we say in Hebrew bousha, we can all relate to that feeling of shame. It's a primal scene etched into the collective memory of humanity. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they were perfect. God saw them as he created them, and they were unflawed. They didn't know the feeling of shame. The Bible describes this very directly in Genesis two twenty five. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. In Hebrew that versus viushnem aumim Adam Vito lo tcho. But afterwards, when Adam and he first discovered their nakedness, there was suddenly a profound, jarring sense of shame that washed over them. Let's think about it, because I believe this is meaningful for every one of us in our lives, to be ashamed before God for things we should not have done. Have you ever felt that way? Even today, when we're wearing physical clothes, we can feel that we have not lived up to the standards on our lives that God wants us to, that we aren't yet the people that God calls us to be. We all do things that we are ashamed of, but what we learn from Adam and Eve is that we can use the sense of shame to make ourselves better. So the story of Adam and Eve and their nakedness and their shame is not just their story, but it's our story too. That's relevant now today to us. We can resolve to not repeat what made us feel shame, because when we feel shame, it's usually going against something that God called us to do, to try something out when God said no, to go against God's will. But we don't have to repeat that even if we made the mistake once. This is what God wants from us, not just to feel shame, but to use it as a driving force to improve our lives, to do better, to repent. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, once enveloped by God's love, we're now wrapped in the cold, hard truth of their own frailty and fear. Are we, like Adam and Eve, hiding from God because of our shame or are we seeking to bridge that gap despite our nakedness and our flaws. Let's think about their story for a moment. What was the difference between Adam and Eve's life before they ate the fruit and after they ate the fruit. Well money suggests that it's the difference of free will, what we call in Hebrew bihirah houf sheet that the only difference before and after they ate the fruit in their life was that suddenly they had the power to choose. I think of it as God telling them yes and no, and then they don't listen. And so God turns around and says, you don't want to listen, Well, you want choice, I'll give you choice. Now you have to live with it. All of us are still living with it. We have to make choices every single day. Sometimes the choices are not that important, like I don't know what will I have for lunch? But sometimes they are very important, like where do I want to live, who do I want to marry, what school should I send my children to? What kind of relationship should I have with my parents? And you know what, there's something wonderful and beautiful that we are able to make these choices. And this was the gift that God gave to Adam and to Eve after they ate from the tree. He gave them the ability to choose. Of course, God wants us to make the right choices, choices that we are proud of, not choices that we are ashamed of, choices that God would be happy with, and he tells us yes and no, good from bad, right from wrong. But think how wonderful it is that we have the free will to make these choices, to make the hard choice to get closer to God. And then the reward of making the right choice is that very act being close to God through making the right choices and being able to make those choices, Well, that's what makes us truly godly human beings and not angels. In the same chapter, among all of the different choices, among the right and the wrong, among the chaos and the curse, there is a promise of redemption and a future of hope. To speak more on this, hope is my good friend, Bishop Paul Lanier. 00:46:23 Speaker 8: Ay El. You have no idea how beautiful and meaningful that word hope is in my own life and my heart. Well, actually you do know, because you know my family so well. So we have a daughter named Hope, and recently she and her husband gave to us our first grandchild, a little girl whose name is Hadassa Hope. And you know that many years ago my wife and I had another little girl whose name was Hope who now plays in the streets of Zion before our God. And you know that thirty four years ago, when we were launching a ministry, we were founding a congregation, we named it Hope. So yes, the word hope has special meaning, and to me is one of the most beautiful words in all the human language. But the question now is where does this cry for hope come from? Well, I think it's important for us to know not only does the human heart wait longingly for hope, but for Christians, we look in the Christian scriptures at the Book of Romans, chapter eight, and the Apostle Paul helps us to understand that also the earth itself is waiting for the manifestation of the people of God. He helps us to understand that the earth itself, against its own will, was thrust into darkness, into chaos and confusion. And of course Christians and Jews approached this differently when we come to the subject of Moshiach or Messiah or the Christ. But there's something in all of us from the scriptures that helps us to know there is a blessed hope of great redemption. Yeaile, I was listening to you a moment ago talking about the massacre of October seventh, and I was grateful when you allowed me to go down south and to get a feel for the darkness that had so belligerently violated and stolen so much from God's chosen people. And then most recently our being up north, just outside the border of Lebanon where Hesbullah. While we were there, fired rockets killed twelve children on a soccer field. And then just three or four days later, flying from Paris, France with one hundred and fifty four Olim French Jews who were escaping the anti Semitism and finally making Alia coming home. Where does this darkness come from? Why is it here? Why does it seem it never goes away? Well, here we are at chapter three, where God had created this extraordinary God, and it was lush, it was beautiful, it was bountiful. It was actually an extension of the throne room of God. It was an embassy, if you will, and Adam and Eve were charged to be ambassadors and to spread God's word, to be fruitful and multiply it, feel the earth, and to rule into rain in his image. God had stipulated, I'm going to bless you and prosper you, and I have placed you in this realm where you will never suffer anything. All I require is complete obedience. I give you the garden, but you give me the tree. Wow, how many times have we failed to see the garden of God's goodness and only obsessed with some tree of an obsession in our lives. But discipline is part of who we are in God. In the Christian Scriptures, Jesus says in Matthew chapter six, when you pray, not if, but when you pray, and when you give, and when you fast. You know, sometimes when it comes to tithing, I can be so obsessed with the ten percent that I should give that I'm oblivious to the ninety percent of blessing that God has prospered in my life praying and giving and fasting. Well, that a lion piece of snake came in there and tempted them with a process that I have failed, and probably you have as well. The Bible said, he first asked a question, he brought doubt, hath God said, questioning the word of God. This is important. There's a difference between the questioning mind searching for answers and a questioning spirit searching for authority. And once we've doubted the word of God, it becomes dangerously easy for us to then deny the word hath God said became God did not. And once we've moved from doubt to denial, it's then this willbe. And that's exactly what happened to Adam and Eve. And they had been covered in the glory of the Lord, and they had never noticed or discerned their nakedness, but all of a sudden, their disobedience caused that nakedness to become obvious. And it was so tragic that God, whom they had adored and walked in the cool of the day and felt his presence, now they feared and tried to hide from him. Well, let me finish my part right here. The Bible says that the Lord God came in the garden and he called out to Adam, where art thou. And you know that an omniscient or knowing God does not ask the question because he lacks the answer. He's waiting for us to respond to him, And I'm asking of myself and you, now let's respond to him. He's reaching towards your life and my life at this very moment. Let's not hide behind something as frivolous as fig leaves or anything else. But say, here am I, Lord. 00:53:12 Speaker 3: Here am I. 00:53:14 Speaker 4: This episode may seem like the ending to a brief, tragic story, but let me tell you it is only the beginning. Just as God spoke life and light into the chaos and the void, he will speak life and light into the chaos of humanity. There is no darkness too great for God's light. And I can tell you that as I sit right now in Israel, amongst the chaos and amongst God's light. No matter how far you have fallen, believe it, know it, own it. Hope is within reach. Our God is a god of redemption, as we say in Hebrew get Oulah. His love and his power won't be made void because of humanity's mistakes. He is all knowing and he is all good. A thread will spin from Adam and Eve, weaving a tale of imperfect and fallen people desperately reaching back towards Eden. Some will try and reach Eden by force. Others will try deception, wreaking more havoc throughout the pages of history. Some will hear the voice of their creator, beckoning them to return, even after they've fallen and then humbly and faithfully God's children will follow the promise of something great. They will be His Chosen People. Here's a final blessing for you, ivarere As Shevy Schmerecher. May the Lord bless you and keep you Yeah Heir hashempanave Lehra. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. Ye sa hashempanave e Lehra. May the Lord turn his face towards you the assem Lera Shaloon and grant you peace with blessings here in the Holy Land Shaloon. 00:55:28 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Exstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the prey dot Com app today. This Prey dog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabaga and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yaile Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Caltefianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, My Bike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore, music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, KAYLEB Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yeile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.