Transcript
Podcast Host (0:00)
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Narrator (0:04)
Previously on the Chosen People. And so the children of Israel were bound in chains, their lives consumed by the relentless toil of Pharaoh's ambitions. Day after day, the sun rose and set, casting its unforgiving light upon a land where time itself seemed to stretch into eternity. Under the lash, beneath the weight of stones and mortar, the people of Israel cried out to the God of their fathers.
Moses (0:38)
Deliver us.
God (0:42)
Rescue your people.
Narrator (0:46)
When Moses was weaned, he was returned to Princess Bitcha and raised as a prince of Egypt. He grew up alongside Ramses, the son of Pharaoh Seti, the future ruler of the land. But despite the opulence of the palace, a shadow hung over Moses. A lingering scent of the Hebrews that clung to him like a second skin.
Moses (1:11)
That's enough. Leave him alone.
God (1:14)
These dogs need to know who their masters are they. I said enough.
Moses (1:21)
I had to get out of here.
Narrator (1:23)
Moses wandered the desert, his thoughts a whirlwind of guilt and fear.
Moses (1:30)
And where is here exactly?
God (1:33)
Why, the land of mountains, fields and mystery. Welcome, my friend, to Midian. It is not a place as much as it is a people.
Narrator (1:44)
The Hebrews had suffered under Seti's rule, but there had been moments of peace. Moments when the whip was lowered and the labor eased. Ramses, though there was a hunger in him, a lust for power that went beyond the throne.
Hebrew Laborer (2:02)
Our burden will grow heavier. I feel it in my bones. He will use us until we break. And then he will grind our bones to dust to make more pitch. He is not a man who will be content with mere servitude. He will bleed us dry.
Narrator (2:23)
Songs for deliverance fell upon the dust and pitch they worked in. Desperately, they sang to their God, appealing the promises he made. Their ancestors, the stars above, seemed fixed in their indifference. And the Nile flowed on, dark and unyielding. And yet, in the hearts of Aaron and Miriam, a flicker of hope remained. For they knew that somewhere beyond the veil of the seen and the unseen, beyond the power of pharaohs and the gods of Egypt, there was a God who listened. A God who remembered. Moses rose in the gray stillness of the pre dawn, slipping from his bed quietly. His wife Zipporah, and their youngest son, Eliezer, lay beside her, wrapped in the peace of sleep. He watched them for a moment. Zipporah's hair spread across the pillow like an inky river. Eliezer's tiny hand curled against his mother's side. There was a warmth in the sight, a quiet simplicity that had been his solace for years. Moses crept outside, grabbing his well worn staff and heading toward the fields. The air was cool and clean, the kind of crispness that carried promise. Moses took a deep breath and let it fill his lungs. His oldest son, Gershom, had been watching the flocks overnight. He was a faithful, strong, and dependable lad.