The Lord Face-to-Face

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: Go down at once. Your people, whom you brought up from Egypt did corruptly. They have quickly turned away from the way I commanded them, making an image of the golden calf. 00:00:20 Speaker 1: Moses thoughts raised, but in his shock he lost all control. 00:00:25 Speaker 2: Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them. 00:00:30 Speaker 3: My God, why does your anger burn against your people? 00:00:36 Speaker 4: The ones you brought out of Egypt were with great power and a strong hand. Why should the Egyptians say he brought them out only to kill them in the mountains and erase them from the earth. Turn from your fierce finger. Relent this disaster plan for your own. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac Israel. 00:01:00 Speaker 3: You swore to them, I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars, and give them this land to inherit forever. 00:01:07 Speaker 4: Do you remember. 00:01:09 Speaker 1: Moses marched down and shoved his way through the crowd. He stepped up to the altar and peered down at the pathetic golden idol they had made for themselves. Moses spat on it. People gasped, turning them another violent shout from Moses. He held up the idol to them. 00:01:28 Speaker 4: This is what you've replaced the lord with a three foot tall cow. The god who hearted sees and set fire down from heaven replaced by a bovine that could fit the child's napsack. 00:01:42 Speaker 2: You know how they get when they're anxious. They came to me saying, make gods for us to read us, because as for Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we don't know what's happened to him. 00:01:54 Speaker 3: Now listen carefully, this is what our God, the god of this, he says. Every man, fasten his sword side, go back and fol throughout the camp, from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor. 00:02:17 Speaker 5: Now, if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me and the book he written. 00:02:31 Speaker 1: The way of failure plagued him. If he couldn't teach or lead these people in God's ways, he would rather die than watch their downfall and shame. 00:02:41 Speaker 2: Finally, the answer came, whoever has sinned against me, I will erase from my book. Loud, go lead the people to the place I told you about. Ah, he will go before you. But on the day I said to accounts, I will hold them comfortable for their sin. 00:03:13 Speaker 6: Who would dare ask God to change his mind? Who is brave enough to stand before the Almighty and ask him to bend sell O, my friends from here in the Holy Land, I'm ya l Exstein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll hear a dramatic story inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through Israel story, we find this truth that we are all chosen for something great. While we know these stories offer something to you, it never ceases to amaze and bless us that you would tune in here every single day to learn together with me, these ancient stories that continue to inspire us today. So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much. Now let's begin In the cool shadow of Mount Sinai. The Chosen People are encamped in the wilderness, having received the Torah, a covenant meant to bind them to their creator. Yet a grave mistake has been made. A golden calf was fashioned in the absence of Moses, their leader, leading to divine wrath that threatened to consume them. Now Moses seeks God's favor once more. 00:04:37 Speaker 1: Zippora shivered under the woolen blanket, fairly able to keep her eyes open. Moses stroked her hair, chin quivering, eyes swollen from tears, Zipporah raised a trembling hand to his and kissed it. 00:04:56 Speaker 7: Don't you have people to attend to. 00:04:58 Speaker 3: I'm right where to be. 00:05:02 Speaker 8: With you. 00:05:03 Speaker 7: I'm glad to have you to myself for one last time. 00:05:08 Speaker 1: Moses winced and dipped his head to meet hers. He closed his eyes and imagined life with her back in medium, tending to sheep, gazing at the stars, dancing by the fire. So much had changed, brilliant miracles and terrible tragedies. The plague had chipped away at their numbers significantly. There was scarcely a family to be found among them who had not been affected. God's words of warning still echoed in Moses's head. 00:05:40 Speaker 2: Whoever gives me I my book? 00:05:45 Speaker 1: Oh who were come to Moses did not know what the future held for his people, or if more were still yet to die for their crimes, or even when, But this much was clear. He was to lead them whoever their God kept alive and placed under his care for however long. 00:06:08 Speaker 7: Even after this, I am glad. I came here to witness the leader you've become. It's been like falling in love with you all over again. 00:06:24 Speaker 3: You're a good leader, Moses, and you are the greatest wife a man could ask for. 00:06:30 Speaker 7: Oh, I know you were blessed to find me. 00:06:34 Speaker 3: I will miss you, Zipporah. 00:06:36 Speaker 1: Zipporah's hand went slack in his, and the light in her eyes became dim. She was gone, and Moses never felt more alone. Moses stood before the people, palms sweaty and shifting his weight between his two feet. What he had to tell them would not be easy to here. Moses had again answered their God's summons and sought him on the mountain side. He now had the difficult task of telling them that their God indeed had a further punishment for them, another consequence of their betrayal. 00:07:15 Speaker 3: I have again been before our God, and I have a message for you all to hear. He told me that we will go to the borders of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 00:07:31 Speaker 1: The people were hanging on his every word. They seemed to sense that there was more a catch to this reminder of their claim on the promised land. 00:07:40 Speaker 3: He said he would send an angel ahead of me and would drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Heathites, Perizites, Heavites, and Jebusites. We are to go to a land flowing with milk and honey. But our God will not go up with us. 00:08:03 Speaker 9: He said. 00:08:04 Speaker 3: He will not go with us because you are a stiff necked people. He said that otherwise he might destroy you on the way abandonment. 00:08:15 Speaker 1: That was the message Roses just delivered to his people. They were still able to continue on to the promised land, but they would be forced to do so without the presence of their God. His heart was heavy and burdened because he knew they would never succeed apart from their God. Would the people stay united or committed to their mission? Left to their devices, They had already made so many mistakes. They had complained around every corner. They had often pined for the slavery in Egypt, and that was before the disloyalty they had displayed with the Golden Calf. 00:08:52 Speaker 3: This is what our God has told me to tell you. He said, to take off your jewelry and mourn. Do this, and he will decide what to do with you next. 00:09:06 Speaker 1: The crowd wailed and keened the grief that struck them as earnest. They did indeed take off their ornamentation and dispersed, defeated, to mourn in their tents. Ho Sheer felt more alone than he had ever felt as he stood and listened to Moses addressed the crowd. When he shut out his feelings, Hoshier could understand, as he knew Moses did, that they had all fallen short, whether negligently, passively or actively, they had all erred grievously before their God and his commandments for their people. Suddenly, a voice calling his name returned his attention to the present. 00:09:51 Speaker 9: Oh Sheya. 00:09:53 Speaker 1: It was his friend Caleb who approached him. He smiled weakly at him. It was a bleak day, but at least he had one friend he knew was innocent of what had grieved their God. 00:10:05 Speaker 9: Now, hoche, Lord Moses sent me to come and find you. He said, he needs your help in setting up a new tent. A new tent, that's what he said. And it looks like almost everyone has gone home to mourn. You want me to lend a hand the work. We'll go faster with the three of us, and we could find more along the way. 00:10:26 Speaker 1: O Sheer grinned again in earnest. This time he knew no one else who could keep their spirits high even in the most dire circumstances. 00:10:34 Speaker 2: That's a great idea. Let's go see Moses in this task he has for us. 00:10:39 Speaker 1: The two men found Moses a short while later, and he had already recruited a few more men to help him erect a tent. The space he selected for the tent was a distance from the camp. The camp was in the opposite direction of the makeshift cemetery, but also a ways away from the foot of the mountain where the Lord had dwelt. The men worked a fishing stretching and tying the material between the wooden poles, something they had done countless times and would surely do countless more times as their sojourn continued through the desert. When at last they stood back and admired their work, Hosher wondered what the significance of the lone tent was. It didn't appear to have any particular purpose or adornment, and Moses already had a dwelling within the camp. Surely no one would live out here alone. Moses stepped forward to fiddle with the entryway flag. Especially after recent events, no one seemed keen to break the silence or question their leader. At last, Moses seemed satisfied with their work. He clapped his hands and brushed the dust off his tunic. 00:11:46 Speaker 3: Ah, thank you, my brothers, now spread the word among the camp. This place is to be called the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who wants to consult our God to seek spiritual counsel can do so here. 00:12:04 Speaker 1: Ho Shea was amazed at Moses. Here he was attempting to rekindle the broken relationship with their God. He understood that Moses was trying to make the presence of the Lord accessible again. This was what a true priest did. The heart of a true priest always sought to bring the people closer to the Lord. Hoshier wondered if anyone would be courageous enough to enter the Tent of Meeting A tent of meeting. Aaron scratched his bearded chin and considered its purpose. Moses was setting up a holy sanctuary outside of the camp. Aaron murmured to himself. 00:12:48 Speaker 2: A sanctuary for our God. How is that any different from all the foreign gods of the desert. 00:12:55 Speaker 1: Aaron dared not say this with an ear shot of Moses. Their relation had been fraught since the Golden Calf incident. Aaron was embarrassed and forlorn, but he had to admit that he was a little sour that he and Moses had not reconciled. 00:13:10 Speaker 2: Yet. 00:13:11 Speaker 1: He knew that God had conveyed to Moses that Aaron and his sons would be set aside and instructed as a priestly order, but he had yet to disclose whatever details he had received on the mountain top. The first time Aaron saw Moses enter the tent of meeting, hope was rekindled in his heart. He had never seen anything quite like it. Moses would walk out to the remote tent, away from the rest of the camp, and people would stand at the entryways to their own tents to observe. Moses would enter the tent, and the pillar of cloud, just like the one that guided them through the desert after they escaped from Egypt, would come down and remain with the entrance to the tent. Moses would speak with their God inside the tent, just as he had done on the mounts. It was truly remarkable. No one else dared approach, But when they beheld the sight of the far off tent, they would bow in worship and reverence. Aaron included, understanding now better than ever how holy and mighty their God was. He dared go no closer, especially in light of the ways that he had failed. The people failed, his nephew her and his sister Miriam failed Moses. Moses was in the tent of meeting, as he had been every day since he set it up. He knew that eventually the tabernacle would be constructed and serve as a more permanent place of meeting with their God, but he had yet to reveal the plans to the people. The children of Israel would timidly bring him matters to present to their God or ask him to seek counsel on their behalf. It was a start. Moses felt satisfied that this was the first step toward a reconciliation between the people and their God. He was relieved that the grieving and mourning at the loss of God's presence appeared to be genuine another good start. He would also try to make more progress to day. Moses refused to give up on his people and his mission. The pillar of smoke was swirling and swaying in powerful gusts at the front of the tent. Moses spoke to it, but not as one would in a hallowed temple or priestly hall. Moses talked to the Lord as one would to a friend. 00:15:37 Speaker 3: You keep reminding me of how close we are, you said, I know you by name, and you've also found favor with me. But if I have found favor with you, I need to know more about you. Teach me your ways, tell me more about how. 00:16:01 Speaker 4: To lead these people, Your people, my people. They have become my people. 00:16:09 Speaker 2: At long last. 00:16:11 Speaker 3: You reunited me with my very heritage. 00:16:16 Speaker 4: Please don't let all this be for nothing. My fate is tied to their success. 00:16:24 Speaker 9: Or their failure. 00:16:25 Speaker 8: Please don't rip away my identity, our identity as your people. 00:16:35 Speaker 1: There was a long, lingering pause between them. Moses listened for the lord's response. He waited, he yearned. Instead, there was silence, as if the Lord was contemplating something. Moses took the silence as a cue to continue. 00:16:53 Speaker 8: Well, will you really give us the lamb? But remove your presence? What good is that? What good is the promised land? Without you? You could give us mountains of gold and ivory, palaces laced with silver. 00:17:10 Speaker 4: But what would it matter. I've lived in the palaces of Egypt. 00:17:15 Speaker 8: I've slept in silk sheets, with my servants at my command. 00:17:20 Speaker 10: I've bathed in rose petals with cups of wine flowing without end. But each day the desert with you is better than a lifetime in paradise without you. 00:17:38 Speaker 4: You are why we are free. 00:17:40 Speaker 10: You, you are why we have survived. 00:17:45 Speaker 4: You're the one we made. 00:17:47 Speaker 1: Your presence Moses waited with baited breath for his God's answer. He was determined he would camp here and advocate for the people for as long as it took. 00:18:02 Speaker 2: I have considered all that you have said and all the people have done, and my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. 00:18:16 Speaker 3: Will you be with all your people, not just me, for we belong to know? For God, ay, you. 00:18:23 Speaker 2: Will do this very thing that you have asked for. You have found favor with me, and I know you by name for a second time. 00:18:34 Speaker 1: Relief washed over Moses. Encouraged by the affirmation of the favor he had from his God, he found himself feeling emboldened, bold enough to ask something he had never asked before, something he had wandered and contemplated since that moment. Beside a burning bush. 00:18:53 Speaker 3: Please let me see your glory. 00:18:57 Speaker 1: Moses could sense the satisfaction coming off the pillar before him. He seemed to have passed this test. 00:19:05 Speaker 2: I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and proclaim my true name your way before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 00:19:24 Speaker 1: Moses was amazed that his God was going to grant his request. But the name Yahweh, what was that? It was more than a title, more than a designation. He knew his God was the god of his ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And when he asked his name before the burning bush, the name that was spoken was I am who I Am. The name represented not only his everlasting nature, but also his presence. The presence Moses and his people so desperately sought community with their God was what set them apart from all other nations. A God who would call them his his holy nation, his priesthood, a bond so special and unique that he would go before them and protect and provide, even enter into an everlasting covenant with them, as everlasting as his name, if only they would return to their obedience. Moses heart soared. 00:20:32 Speaker 2: But you cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live. 00:20:38 Speaker 1: Moses's heart fell. He could die from the sight of his God. He had indeed covered his face in fear in their first meeting, and on the mountain he could only take in the bottom of his God's glorious throne. But Moses had somehow hoped that perhaps he was ready now, perhaps he would be able to go limps the glory of their God. They talked every day. He just wanted to see what he looked like. He longed to understand. He wanted to know his God more fully. 00:21:12 Speaker 2: But I will make it so. My glory will pass before you. You will see my glory and know my name. Come to me tomorrow. 00:21:24 Speaker 1: On the mountain, Moses stared at the pillar before him in awe. Tomorrow he would see the glory of his God, and he would finally learn his name, his true name. 00:21:44 Speaker 6: Of all the challenges to faith, none may be more powerful than suffering. I've heard countless stories over the years, tales of heart shattered, faith abandoned, the face of unexplainable, seemingly unjustified suffering. Many Jews who survived the horrors of the Holocaust felt this anguish deeply. They asked how could God allow such evil? While, according to our tradition, Moses, when he spoke to God face to face, dared to ask this very profound question. He sought to understand why the righteous suffer? But God and his infinite wisdom replied that this was one of the answers that even Moses couldn't know. If Moses, the greatest of all prophets, couldn't grasp this mystery, how can we hope to explain it? But even in our limited understanding, we can find meaning in how we and others respond to suffering. In the opening verse of Psalm twenty two, King David voices the same question, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? So far from my cries of anguish? 00:22:58 Speaker 1: He asks? 00:23:00 Speaker 6: But David doesn't lose faith. Instead, he reflects on the generations before him who suffered and were saved. He reaffirms his trust in God even as his enemies mock him, And then, towards the end of some David in visions a future where the world witnesses how God has saved his people and praises and worships him. These are the words that King David wrote, and that we read still today. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. David didn't receive an answer to why he and his people suffered, but he found meaning and purpose and the redemption from that suffering. Maybe that's part of the answering to suffering. Maybe without suffering, there would be no redemption. In our pain, we find the seeds of our deliverance. In our anguish, we encounter the possibility of grace. There is another teaching from Jewish tradition they want to touch on. Let's look to the Bible. After the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses moved, he changed his physical location. Verse seven tells us now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. Anyone who inquired of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting. Outside the camp. The Jewish age has noticed something very strange about this verse. First, it tells us that Moses pitched his tent outside the camp, but then it tells us that anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to that tent. Well, if the Israelites were looking for God, why did they need to go to see Moses. Our tradition suggest that this teaches us that anyone who is the source of God's word is called by the name of God. This is very interesting because we know that as great as Moses was, he was a human being. He was born, he lived, he died. Moses was not God, but the word of God was so present with Moses that he deserved to be called by God's name. As this verse expresses, you know, none of us is Moses, that's for sure, But here we are studying God's word and maybe even teaching others what we've learned. Maybe what this verse means is that we and anyone who has heard and studies God's word and who shapes their life according to God's word, can be called by the name of God himself. At the heart of the stories the nature of suffering and redemption, Moses's intimate dialogue with God reveals two things, the limitations of our own human understanding and the boundless depths of God's divine wisdom. When Moses asked why the righteous suffer, God's response was a reminder that some mysteries transcend our grasp. This isn't a dismissal of our pain, but an invitation to trust in a wisdom that's even greater than our own. That when we experience suffering, we have to keep our heads above the water, not to drowned by holding on too God and God's word. Jewish tradition teaches that suffering is not devoid of meaning. Instead, it can lead to transformation. Through suffering, we are often drawn closer to God. Our hearts are laid bare, seeking comfort and understanding. In these moments, we encounter God not in his answers, but in his presence, and then we know that we are not abandoned. 00:27:09 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Eckstein ad 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 Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, Edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike 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. 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