Wrestling with God

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. Jacob looked behind him. His family and all his men were clueless as to what was happening. Only Jacob could see that they were in a divine encampment. The angels of God were before them. 00:00:17 Speaker 2: This is God's camp. 00:00:19 Speaker 1: I have not seen my brother in long time. 00:00:23 Speaker 2: I will go to him. You will go to him. I'm not sure that's necessary. He's merely going to pass through and only wishes to have peace between the two of you. 00:00:37 Speaker 1: I go, I go now. He so gestured to a few of his. 00:00:41 Speaker 2: Men, Bring four hundred men. My lord Jacob, we have news from Esos camp. What did you do to this man to make him hate you so much? I wanted more. I was willing to do whatever it took. Heated. Now I have it, and I fear it will be taken from me. 00:01:03 Speaker 3: If we are to survive this sign, I must seek god most eye. 00:01:08 Speaker 1: I'll return Shortly, Jacob fell to his knees and gripped the dirt. For the first time in his life. Jacob prayed with tears, his heart ached for answers from his God. 00:01:20 Speaker 2: You told me that I'll be great. You told me that my osprey will outnumber the sands of the sea. If these are the promises you've made, then these are the promises you'll keep. 00:01:36 Speaker 1: A dense fog slithered through the canyons like a specter. The river Jarbok hissed like a serpent through stone and brush. The air became thick with mist and tension. Jacob looked at his family, then back up at the hill where God's camp had been. He felt a tug upward and divine thread pulling him forward. God most I desired to meet with him. He turned to Rachel with an unfamiliar intensity in his eyes. 00:02:06 Speaker 2: I'm going to meet with God. 00:02:08 Speaker 1: Should we come with you? 00:02:10 Speaker 3: No, you will cross the Jabok take the camel's Rachel pulled Joseph in tight. 00:02:18 Speaker 1: The threat of Esau and his men had her and the others shaking. The thought of Jacob leaving their sight only added to the dread. Jacob placed a gentle hand on her cheek and wiped a tear from her eye with his thumb. He leaned down to kiss Joseph's forehead. 00:02:35 Speaker 2: I have to do this. 00:02:35 Speaker 1: Alone, Jacob. I don't understand. 00:02:38 Speaker 2: I don't quite understand myself. 00:02:41 Speaker 1: How far do we go? 00:02:42 Speaker 3: In front enough to put distance between you and Esau. But before goes well, I shall find you before any of that happens. 00:02:51 Speaker 1: Jacob turned to his oldest son, Reuben and held his shoulders. 00:02:55 Speaker 3: Keep the family safe, do you hear me, good boy? Now mount those camels and cross. I shall be behind you. 00:03:05 Speaker 1: Jacob wasn't precisely sure why he was sending his family ahead. All he knew was that God Most High was beckoning him, and he had to answer the call. Deception, tricks, half truths. All the sins Jacob had committed to get ahead were catching up to him. He cheated his brother out of a birthright. He tricked his father into giving him his blessing. He deceived his father in law before fleeing with his daughters. Jacob's entire life had been about gaining a blessing from God through some sort of trick. But there were no more tricks to be played. His brother, Esau was approaching with hundreds of men behind him. Years ago, Esau had vowed to kill Jacob, and now it seemed the time had come. Jacob prayed to the Lord for mercy. He sent gifts of penance to his brother, for there was no predicting what come of it. Jacob watched his family leave with tears in his eyes. He had acquired so much through deception and flattery, but now none seemed worth it. His name was Jacob, meaning heel grabber. Everyone in his land knew what the name really meant, deceiver. At that moment, he wished he hadn't lived up to his name. Jacob scaled the hill into the mist. Shadows played off the fog. Whispers of childhood memories flooded his mind, Memories of playing jokes at his father's expense, creating ruses to get out of chores, scheming with his mother to get what he wanted. He thought about Esau's anguish when father refused to bless him. Jacob thought about the pain he felt when Larbon had deceived him. He could only imagine the misery Esau had to live with because of Jacob's deceit. Jacob stood over the precipice and looked down in the distance. Through the mist, Jacob saw a trail that by hundreds of torches. 00:05:05 Speaker 2: Esau will be here by dawn. 00:05:08 Speaker 1: What will I do, he wondered. What fate awaited him at the bottom of that hill. Would his sins finally catch up to him. Would his brother respond to his kind gesture? Would God answer his plea for mercy? As Jacob considered these things, he felt a shift in the air. Someone was there with him. He turned and saw a figure walking toward him through the twilight haze. The moon cast shadows against his frame, large and muscular. Jacob's heart quickened. 00:05:42 Speaker 2: Esau, I is that you? 00:05:45 Speaker 1: The figure emerged from the smoky murk, steps, deliberate and challenging. It wasn't Esau, but Jacob certainly recognized him. Though Jacob had never seen this man's face before, he knew who he was. His grandfather, Abraham once told him that God had visited him as a man. He communed with Abraham and shared a meal with him. This time, God had not come to share a meal. He came as a challenger. Jacob took a step forward. The ground beneath him felt powerful. Holy. Jacob's heart thumped like war drums. The stranger walked closer, and Jacob removed his tunic. There would be no more running tricks or lies. If Jacob wanted a blessing from God, he would have to face him. The man's pace quickened from a walk to a run. Jacob rolled his neck back, drew a deep breath, and charged the damp earth slid under each stride. Jacob knew what he had to do. He felt sure that he had to wrestle with God himself and prevail. The two men converged, bodies clashing into each other like colliding waves in a storm. Jacob leaned his shoulders into the man's chest and drove his fold through the dirt. The man wrapped his arms around Jacob's waist and threw himself back. Jacob was in mid air and fell onto the ground with a seismic sign. The moon escaped his lungs and his head rang like a bell. Jacob knew instantly that he was outmatched, but it did not keep him from striving. If this man was God, then Jacob had to fight. He had to contend and accept the challenge of struggling with him. Jacob rolled away and leaped to his feet. Jacob ready for another attack and roared. 00:07:38 Speaker 2: A challenge, come on, fight me. 00:07:45 Speaker 1: The man accepted and darted toward him. Jacob cocked his hips back and met the man's advance with a blow of the jaw. He pivoted his feet, landing another jab upped. The man stumbled back Jacob. Ob seized the opportunity and drove his shoulders into the man's waist and slamming him into the ground. He tried to make him submit, but the man rabbed Jacob with his legs and rolled him to the left. The man was on top of Jacob now with his hands pinning down his shoulders. Jacob rithed and wriggled, eventually kicking his way out and standing up. Jacob walked backward, breath rising in the chilled air, intermixing with the fog around him. The two of them panted, priming themselves for another round. Jacob made the first move and launched forward, but the man tripped him onto the dirt and held him down. As they fought, memories of all Jacob's sins flooded back into his mind. He wanted God's blessing so badly that he was willing to do anything for it, even lie. But now as he rolled in the blood and sweat so dirt, there was no talking his way into a blessing, no lies, no religious babble, just him and God struggling to gain an advantage over the other. Jacob knew there was no winning, but that didn't mean he would stop. The two of them wrestled all night. Dawn was about to announce itself. The fog thinned, revealing the trees and stones surrounding the two challengers. Jacob wasn't sure how much longer he could fight. With a final desperate war cry, Jacob lunged forward. He aimed his strike too high. The man lowered his stance, buried his shoulder into Jacob's ribs, and flicked over his head. Jacob landed with a cruel and quaking thud onto the dirt. The sides of his eyes went dark. He looked up to see the upside down figure walking away. 00:09:48 Speaker 2: No dar' leave ah, I'm not finished. 00:09:55 Speaker 1: Jacob hurried to his feet and ran again. The man quickly turned and absorbed Jacob's blow. He slid back a few feet, then leaned his hand toward Jacob's hip. 00:10:05 Speaker 2: And sh ah. 00:10:08 Speaker 1: Popped it out of place. Jacob shouted in intense pain. It shot through his hip and leg, but he didn't let go. He grasped onto his leg, refusing to let him walk away. The man looked at the sun's rays slowly peeking over the mountains. Then he looked down at Jacob. 00:10:27 Speaker 2: Let me go, the day has broken. 00:10:30 Speaker 1: Tears streamed down Jacob's swollen and dirty face. 00:10:34 Speaker 2: Never, I won't. 00:10:36 Speaker 1: The man tugged his leg away, but Jacob refused to let go. 00:10:41 Speaker 2: Please, please bless me. I won't let you go until you bless me. 00:10:48 Speaker 1: A smile appeared on the man's face. He looked again at the orange hues of the rising sun, and then back down at the poor fellow clinging to him. 00:10:58 Speaker 2: What is your name, Jacob? 00:11:03 Speaker 1: The man shook his head and placed a hand on Jacob's shoulder. 00:11:07 Speaker 3: Your name shall no longer be Jacob, shall be called Israel, for you have struggled with God and have prevailed. 00:11:16 Speaker 1: Jacob looked up and slowly released his grip. His body trembled with fatigue and awe as he looked upon the man's face aglow with the dawn's light. Israel, it meant to wrestle with God and prevail. But Jacob understood the more profound meaning. His life, his families would be constantly wrestling and warring with God, but in the end they would prevail. They would not prevail against God, No, they would prevail with God the struggle and strive for unity, blessing and significance. But in the struggle they would share in his victories. 00:11:58 Speaker 2: What is your name? 00:12:01 Speaker 1: Now? 00:12:01 Speaker 2: Why would you ask me for my name? 00:12:03 Speaker 1: He extended his hand to help Jacob on to his feet. He blessed him, and then vanished to where he came from. Jacob limped back to the hill's edge and looked down at Esau's company. Four hundred torches flickered against the silhouetted mountain range. The earliest signs of dawn peeked over the hills, gently kissing Jacob's face. It was time to face his brother. He drew a deep breath and limped back to his camel. Every stride of the camel was painful. He met up with his family and dismounted. Rachel ran to him, horror reflected in her eyes. 00:12:48 Speaker 3: What happened? 00:12:50 Speaker 2: What did this to you? Did Esau catch up to you? 00:12:53 Speaker 1: Here? 00:12:54 Speaker 2: I'll slay you down. No, No, I'm all right. It's time to go meet Esau. 00:13:00 Speaker 1: We're going to him. 00:13:02 Speaker 2: I thought we were running. No running, We'll be fine. At least. Let Reuben and Simeon carry you. No, I need to do this myself. It follow behind me. 00:13:16 Speaker 1: The sun glistened over the horizon, melting away the last of the fog. The valley was painted in shimmering hues of amber. Jacob limped forward, content with whatever outcome awaited him. 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 Coltefianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, 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 bag 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, please rate and leave a review.