# 71 - Bridegroom of Blood - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein, experience the dramatic first plague as God transforms the Nile into a river of blood, confronting Pharaoh’s defiance and Egypt’s illusions of control. Discover how God’s judgment reveals His justice, mercy, and ultimate invitation to redemption.
Episode 71 of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein is inspired by the Book of Exodus.
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Today's opening prayer is inspired by Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life."
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Show Notes:
(02:00) Intro with Yael Eckstein
(03:49) Bridegroom of Blood - Cinematic Retelling
(18:57) Reflection with Yael Eckstein
Previously on the Chosen People.
I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries and beheld their suffering. I have come to deliver them out of slavery and carry them to a land of promise, A vast and vibrant land heaving with life, a land flowing with milk and honey.
So you will still send me, Jethro, I have to return to Egypt.
What why would you return there?
Oh?
What's left for you in Egypt?
I'm burdened by the people I live there. I want to see if my brothers are still alive. I have lived comfortably here under your leadership. It doesn't sit right with me that they're suffered.
A good luck convincing my daughter to uproot her life and take her children into almost certain peril. Good luck, my friend. Do not envy you.
Return to Egypt to do what.
Exactly set his people free, to lead them into the land He's promised to them.
Why you, ah, I ask the same question.
I think.
I think this has always been my destiny. This must be why I was spared all those years ago. This is why I survived the Nile and Pharaoh's daughter plucked me out of the river.
I was chosen for this.
I am yours, Moses, I and your children are yours. When do we leave.
In the desert silence? The blood of a sun became the lifeline for a leader. Shallo, my friends from here in the Holy Land. Welcome to the Chosen People. I'm ya l Extein. With the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. 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. If you haven't yet followed the podcast, be sure to do so now. That way you never have to miss an episode, and that small step helps us tremendously as we try to be discovered by more people so that we can inspire them. If you're interested in finding out more about the prophetic, life saving work of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, you can visit our website at IFCJ dot org. When was the last time that you heard a story about God trying to end the life of someone he had called to lead Moses on a mission from God to free the Chosen People suddenly finds himself in a deadly confrontation with the divine. Why would God, who appointed Moses now seek to end his life? And what part does Moses's bride play in this life or death moment. Let's unravel this ancient enigmatic encounter.
This episode of The Chosen People with Yeile Exstein contains explicit content that may be triggering for some listeners and inappropriate for young children. Listener discretion is advised. The Sun who dipped low beyond the horizon, dragging its fiery orange cloak beneath the sands, Moses and Zipporah, weary and worn from the ceaseless journey through the blistering dunes and the bone chilling knights, found a moment of solitude. Zippora, Gosham, and Eliezza rested a short distance away, beneath the shade of a crooked acacia tree. They were exhausted from traveling. Even worse, they were uncertain as to why they were traveling. Everything seemed veiled in mystery. They didn't see what Moses saw, nor could they hear what Moses could hear. The wind whispered across the barren land, carrying with it the dust of ages and the distant howl of a desert wolf. Alone in the vastness, Moses felt the presence of the Lord descend upon him like a shadow.
When you returned to Egypt, see that you show Pharaoh every wonder I have bestowed upon you. Stretch forth your hand and the waters will turn to blood. Cast down your staff and it will rise like the serpent in the sand. Yet steal your heart, Moses, For Pharaoh's heart I have turned to iron. He will not let my people go.
Moses turned back to his wife and two children. He wondered about their place in the Lord's plans.
What of my wife and my sons?
What are their fates? Tell Pharaoh that Israel is my first born son. If he will not release my son to me, then I shall take his. His first born will be as dust upon the wind, as a shadow upon the wall.
A chill crept up Moses' spine. Despite the heat of the day that still clung to the sands. He had seen the blood of the innocent soap, the mud bred streets of Egypt. The crimes of Pharaoh's house were etched into his soul. The boys were fast asleep, under the tree. Zipporah placed woolen blankets over them and approached her husband from behind.
Is he speaking to you again?
Moses turned to his wife and then glanced up at the skies. The auburn glow of dusk dimmed into the dark expanse. The stars hadn't yet emerged. Moses turned his gaze back at Zipporah and gestured for her to come over.
He was, but not any more.
What was he saying?
He was reminding me of his plans for Ramses, for Pharaoh.
Will Ramses listen to you? From what you've told me, he did not respect you as.
A brother, No, he did not. But there were moments, moments when we were just children playing on the banks of the river, pretending to be monsters and warriors. But but much has changed since then.
There was a lingering silence between them. Moses could feel his wife's shoulders tense and soften with each new thought. Her mind was racy, as was his.
What's troubling you everything?
Moses? Why leave Midian? Why return to the place that brought you so much pain?
I didn't choose the Zipperah. I have little choice in the matter. If it were up to me. I'd remained in the pasture until my bones could rest in the plains. I want nothing more than to quietly watch our sons grow and hold your hand. But the God of my forefathers, of the moment has called, has chosen me.
He's asked you to leave your home and enter into sir in danger. What else will he require of you?
I'm not sure. He's still a mystery to me.
I know little about this God, Moses. I will admit I'm a bit frightened by him.
I think that's wise, my love. I hope Pharaoh shares your fear. When we arrive in Egypt.
Are you nervous to return? You left as an Egyptian, but you will return as a Hebrew.
I am nervous, but a part of me is relieved.
For so long, I've only been a Hebrew by blood. But after this there'll be no denying who I am. I am in Israelite, descended from Abraham and called.
By the Lord. Nights settled, and the stars sprinkled across the skies like speckles of paint. A strange and heavy silence settled over their camp. The air itself seemed to grow thick with a foreboding weight, like a storm gathering its fury. Though the sky above remained clear, the breath of the desert turned warm, and the sand beneath moses feet seemed to burn with a hidden fire. His eyes darted awake. He rolled out and crawled to a nearby stone. His body felt as if it were about to burst into flames. Then it came the presence, an unseen force, like a hand clenched tight around his heart. Moses staggered, his breath hitching as if the air had been stolen from his lungs. The Lord was upon him, not as a shepherd calling his flock, but as a beast with fangs bared. God himself had drawn a sword against him. But why had the Lord led Moses out into the wilderness just to kill him? Was this retribution for something? Moses fell to his knees, eyes wide, his hand clawing at his chest. A great terror seized him. He turned to his wife, Zipperer, and their sons, huddle close beneath the tree's meager protection. They were fast asleep, unaffected by whatever plagued him.
Zipperer Ugh zibrah A I.
Moses collapsed onto the floor. The thud awoke his wife. She came to his side and observed his face in the faint glow of the Starlit sky. Zipporah sharp eyed and keen as a hawk in the night since the dread that had befallen her husband. She had seen it before, in the eyes of those marked for death by the gods of Median.
Your God has done this. But why?
She stripped moses clothes off to expose him to the chill air. She had to get his feet before it overcame him completely. As she removed the last of his undergarments, she realized something. His naked body gave away a clue to what may have been happening. She thought about the night of their wedding. The first time she and Moses had shared a bed, Zippora noticed that Moses was marked. He called it the circumcision. Moses told her it was a symbol of God's covenant with the Hebrews. It was a seal of the relationship between the Israelite people and the God that had called them. She turned back to her sons. They had circumcised Gersham, but not Elieza. Moses didn't find it important any more, being so removed from his past. Perhaps this God was demanding more of Moses, more of his family. Zipporah realized what she had to do as her father's successor. As priestess of Median, she knew a thing or two about rituals and the importance of following through. This was the only way to save her husband. She looked down at his trembling body and sneered.
I hate you for this, Moses.
She didn't mean the words she spoke, but the thought of cutting her sun brought her agony. She wasted no time. Grabbing a flint with trembling hands, she rushed to her sun. The blade gleamed in the pale moonlight.
This is barbaric. I'm sorry, my sweet boy.
She woke Gersham and held a finger against her mouth. The moonlight revealed an uncharacteristic intensity in Zipperah's eyes.
What is it?
Mother?
I need you to be quiet and do as I say. Hold down your brother for me, no matter how much he screams or flails. Do not let go until I say otherwise. Do you understand?
What are you going to do to as I say?
Gersham?
Now?
Gersham crawled over to his baby brother. He was fast asleep under the blankets. His sweet, steady breaths rose in the chilled night. Gersham's brow curled upward in grief. He looked to his mother, then pressed his hands against Elieza's arms. Zipporah raised the boy's tunic and brought the sharp stone to his foreskin. With tears in her eyes, she pressed the blade against her son's flesh. The child's eyes darted open in panic. He screamed and thrashed. Gersham pressed down on his arms and legs, holding him still for his mother. Blood flowed hot and red, staining the sands. Zipporah lifted the blade, not sure if she had the stomach to continue, but as she stopped, moses convulsing increased. That was confirmation. This is what had to be done. Zipporah steeled herself and continued with the flint. Her hands worked feverishly, each cut, deliberate and filled with a desperate primal urgency. She muttered words under her breath, half prayer, half curse, her dark hair whipping across her face in the night wind. Elieza's screams of pain turned to frantic Please for help, mother, We.
Have to stop. Why are we doing this?
If I do not do this, your father will die.
Finally, the foreskin was off of her child. Gersham rushed to press a cloth against his brother. He held him in his arms as he whimpered. Zipporah's hands were shaking with grief and rage. Then, almost instantly, the warm wind ceased its howl, and the night was again. Zipporah looked over to her husband, who was still lying in the sand. He stirred awake and propped himself up. The weight that had pinned Moses to the earth lifted, and he gasped, his lungs, filling with.
The cool light air.
Once more, What what what happened? With the foreskin of her son clutched in her hand, she turned back to Moses. Her eyes blazed like coals as she flung the bloodied flesh at his feet.
Here's the blood your God required.
Her voice was low and filled with a venom that could curdle the blood. Her words hung in the air like a sword poised to strike. Moses looked up at Zipporah, his eyes wide with a mixture of relief and dread, for he knew what had been done. The blood had spoken, the covenant had been sealed anew, and their sons were now claimed by the God of Israel, bound by blood, as Moses himself was bound.
How did you know?
I haven't heard the voice of the Lord as you have. But tonight he seemed to communicate exactly what he wanted. Thank you do not thank me? Don't you dare thank me? I had to make my son plead. Miss Barberica act has sullied our bond.
Moses, your God made me cut my son. You are a right groom of blood to me.
I'm sorry, Zipperah, but this had to be done. The Lord would not accept partial obedience. He requires everything he.
Moses paused, realizing what had to be done next. The Lord required everything from Moses. He was about to ask the entire nation of Israel to uproot themselves, give up their lives, and follow him into the unknown.
If he was.
Going to require this sacrifice from the people, Moses had to follow suit.
He requires everything.
I must give up everything, return with our sons to media. I must continue this journey along.
After all this, you're sending us away.
Zipporah beat her fists against moses bare chest. The blood from their son stained her hands in his chest.
Where are supposed to do?
Everything?
Together, Zipporrah.
What I have to do will require everything from me. I will have to give more than our son's foreskin. My life is no longer my own.
As you wish.
Staggered backward and began to weep. She fell into the sand. Moses stepped forward to comfort her, but she slapped his hand away. She stood and turned from him, her face a mask of fury and defiance. She left him there alone in the silence. She wrapped her weeping son in her arms and led the boys back to Median. The early signs of dawn lit their way. Moses stood silently, still naked, watching them leave. The taste of death still clung to the back of his throat. The desert chill closed in around him, and he understood that the path before him, the path to free his people, would be soaked in blood, his own and perhaps that of many others.
Wow.
What a bewildering story. Here we find God poised to strike down his chosen leader, Moses, right in the middle of his god given mission. It's baffling, It's unsettling. How do we make sense of such a bizarre and confusing passage, one that challenges our understanding of divine justice, covenant, and God's mysterious ways. Reading Exodus four twenty four to twenty six is like evesdropping on one side of a phone call. Here's what we can piece together. On their journey from Midian to Egypt. God confronts Moses and his wife. Moses becomes incapacitated. Maybe it was a seizure, maybe in illness, but his wife Seporah understands immediately, and Sepora's actions appeased God's anger. The attack was never meant to be fatal. It was a divine war. Moses, the chosen leader of the Chosen people, had neglected the convenantal sign given to Abraham, but we see Seepora perform the ritual and God accepted it. Not for the ritual's perfection, but for the faith and humility that it represented. Faith renders inordinance effectual. It's not about magic words or practice. It's about faith and obedience. Sepaora acted without the full picture, but she acted in obedience to what she knew. Maybe we all act with such faith even when we don't fully understand. Now I have to admit today's passage is one of the most difficult in the whole Bible, and even after millennia of studying it, we don't fully understand it. Why was it so important that Moses circumcised his son on the eighth day after his birth, as God had gone Abraham and all future generations of the Chosen People. After all, wasn't Moses on a mission for God to free the Chosen People from slavery? Wouldn't it have been okay to delay the circumcision for just a little while. To try to understand this, it's important to remember what the commandment of circumcision was all about. It was, and it still is, a powerful symbol of God's covenant with the Chosen People. The act of circumcision seals that promise that God will bless those who bless the Jewish people. The blood of circumcision declares that even when the blood of the Chosen People is shed by those who wish to destroy them, they will still remain in eternal people. Moses and the heat of the moment, in his haste to return to Egypt to free the slaves, temporarily forgot the importance of God this covenant, and so God was forced to remind Moses that even a divine mission didn't allow him to forget what he owed to the next generation of the Chosen people. This lesson has stayed with the Jewish people throughout the ages, performing the circumcision ritual, even in secret. As the Jewish people were being oppressed and killed for their faith, they continue to do this circumcision ritual because that's what it means to have faith in God. There have been so many enemies who tried to get the Jewish people, specifically to stop performing the circumcision ritual, but the Jewish people never stopped, and it seems kind of funny. Why is this so important? Even Moses need to be reminded of how important it is. And the reason why is because it is a covenant. It is a covenant between God and his people, and that's why the Jewish people to this day take this lesson very seriously. A covenant with God is the most precious thing in the world, even if we can't fully understand it. Martin Buber, a profound Jewish philosopher, once wrote to quote, all life actually is is an encounter. In these few words, he captures a truth deeply woven into a deeply woven into our tradition. God's encounter with Moses is raw, unsettling, and yet it's an encounter that transforms. In Exodus four twenty four to six, we see Sipora's decisive action and receive a radical message. The covenant with God requires something deeply personal, even painful. God's holiness demand's recognition, and this divine encounter shows us that being set apart by God involves more than a calling. It requires a heart aligned with God's covenant. Now, imagine a moment in your life when everything seems to be falling apart. You're on the brink of a new venture, and suddenly you're faced with an unexpected crisis. It feels like God is against you, not for you. Perhaps it's a job loss, a broken relationship, or a health scare. In these moments, it's easy to forget God's faithfulness. Moses's encounter with God teaches us that sometimes God intervenes and it feels like an interruption, But when life disrupts, it's often God's way of bringing us back to our core commitments, tremind us of who we are in Him. How do we respond to these divine disruptions like seepor We must act with faith and decisiveness. We need to hold on to the covenant even when it's painful. Remember that God's interruptions are invitations. They call us back back to His covenant, to faithfulness, to holiness. In every trial and every unexpected turn, Agad is there. May we embrace these divine encounters, allowing them to reshape us into people who bear His covenant in our hearts and lives. And in doing so, may we find strength, hope, and the courage to walk the path that He has set before us.
Amen.
You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Eckstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the prey dot Com app today. This Prey dog Com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabager and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, Edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltefianu. 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. 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 Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.