Podcast: Season 2

Episode 20 – Joseph, From Prison to Palace

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 41 verses 1 to 43

Joseph – From Prison to Palace

One day, King Pharaoh had a troubling dream!

As Pharaoh slept he saw seven fat and healthy cows come up out of the river Nile. These cows were some of the finest he had even seen. But as he watched, seven more cows came up out of the river. These cows were thin and gaunt, the most ugly and starved cows in all Egypt. Then, the seven thin, ugly cows ate up the seven fat, healthy cows – and yet they remained as thin and ugly as they had been before!

At this point Pharaoh woke from his dream, but before long he fell asleep once more. And as he slept – again he started to dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain on one stalk. The grain was plump and healthy – but as he watched, out of the same stalk came seven withered and shrivelled heads of grain that ate up the seven plump and healthy heads of grain and yet remained as withered and shrivelled as they’d been before. (PAUSE)

The next morning Pharaoh called for all his wise men and magicians. ‘Come and tell me what this dream means,’ he told them. ‘Because I know that it is important.’ But none of his wise men or magicians could explain the dream to Pharaoh; they did not know what it meant. (P)

It was at this point that the royal cupbearer raised his shamed head to speak and told Pharaoh about me, Joseph. ‘Your majesty, today I have been reminded of my terrible failure,’ he said. ‘Two years ago, your majesty may remember that you became angry with the chief baker and myself and had us sent to prison. While we were there, we both had a dream that we knew had a meaning. There’s a young man named Joseph kept in the jail, and we both told him our dreams. This young man explained to us what our dreams meant. And just as he predicted, I was restored to my position as chief cupbearer, and the chief baker was executed.’

When Pharaoh heard this, he immediately sent for me. Guards raced to the jail to find me, they hurried me out of prison, gave me a quick shave, a change of clothes and before I knew what was happening I was standing before Pharaoh, the ruler of all Egypt! (PAUSE)

Looking me over he said, ‘Last night I had a dream and none of these men can explain its meaning to me. I have been told you can explain dreams, that is why I have sent for you.’

‘It is beyond my power to explain dreams your majesty,’ I answered him. ‘But God will tell you what you need to know.’

Then Pharaoh told me of his dream about the seven fat cows and the seven thin ones, about the seven plump heads of grain and the seven shrivelled heads of grain. – The Lord was good to me and helped me understand what the dreams meant.

‘Both of these dreams mean the same thing,’ I started. ‘The seven fat cows and the seven plump heads of grain both mean seven years of wonderful harvests, bumper crops and prosperity. But the seven thin cows and the seven withered heads of grain mean seven years of famine!’

‘God has shown you what He is about to do. For the next seven years there will be wonderful harvests throughout the land of Egypt – a time of great prosperity. But once those seven years are over, there will come seven years of terrible famine throughout the land. The famine will be so bad that it will not only wipe away all the prosperity of the good years, but will be so strong than even the memory of the good years will be forgotten.’

‘And the reason you have been shown this dream twice is to confirm that the matter has been decided by God and He will make these events happen soon.’

As well as being able to understand the dreams, and explain to Pharaoh all they meant, the Lord also helped me to know what should be done to save the people from the famine. So I continued speaking. ‘Your majesty, my suggestion is this. Put the wisest man in all Egypt in charge of a project that will be nationwide. Appoint officials across the land to collect one fifth of all the crops during the years of plenty. Have this extra food stored in royal grain houses so that there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. If you do not do this, then disaster will strike and all the people will die!’

 Pharaoh and his officials, magicians and wise men welcomed my advice. And as they discussed who should be appointed to lead such a project, Pharaoh spoke up. ‘Who could do a better job than Joseph? He has shown himself to be a man filled with the Spirit of God.’ Then turning to me he said, ‘Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in all Egypt. I hereby appoint you to be in charge of this project. Only I, Pharaoh, will have a rank higher than yours.’

And that’s how I came to be in this place, with the power I have. Pharaoh put me in charge of the entire land of Egypt. He put his own signet ring on my finger as a sign of his authority and power. He dressed me in beautiful clothes and put the royal chain around me neck! He gave me a wife, and he gave me the chariot of the second-in-command of all Egypt so that wherever I go – people run before my chariot shouting, ‘kneel down’.

For the last seven years I have collected one fifth of the harvest from all the people, everywhere in the land. This food has been stored in royal storehouses ready for the time of famine that has now come. For just as I explained, this year, the eighth year, crops have failed all over the land and far beyond, for the famine has begun.

And that is my story, a story of how God used the anger and hatred of my brothers to bring me to Egypt. How he even let me be accused of trying to hurt Potiphar’s wife, and let me go to jail – because only then would I be ready to organise such a work as this, one that will save many lives.

Episode 19 – Joseph – A New Life in Egypt

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapters 39 & 40

Joseph – A New Life in Egypt

Hated by my brothers and sold by them to slave traders making their way down to Egypt, my life was never to be the same again. No longer was I the dearly loved son of my father Isaac, but the lowest slave in the household of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s servants. But the Lord had not left me, and whatever I put my hand to, God blessed. In fact, His blessing was so great upon me that Potiphar realised the Lord was with me and put me in charge of more and more of his estate. Potiphar became fond of me, and after a while he put me in charge of his entire household. And from the day I was put in charge, the Lord blessed Potiphar in every way. He had no worries of any kind except to decide what food he would have put on the table.

But it was also at this time that the wife of Potiphar started to take notice of me. She would come to me when her husband was not around and ask me to embrace her and kiss her! But I would not do such an evil thing! ‘Look,’ I said to her. ‘My master has put me in charge of his entire estate; he has not held anything back from me except you, for you are his wife. So how could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a terrible sin against God!’ But she would not listen to me.

Day after day she pestered me, ‘Oh come on Joseph, just a little kiss and cuddle, no one will know.’ But I refused and as much as I could I avoided her.

However, the day came when I thought I was alone in the house doing my daily chores, when Potiphar’s wife sneaked up behind me and grabbed hold of me shirt. ‘Come on Joseph, kiss me now,’ she insisted. ‘I’m not going to let you go this time.’

She had trapped me, but as quickly as I could, I ducked out of my shirt, leaving it in her hands, and ran out of the house. But this was too much for Potiphar’s wife; she could not take being rejected by me time and time again. Seeing that she still had my shirt, she started to scream and scream until all the men came running to find out what had happened. When the men arrived, she sobbed out her lies. ‘Joseph tried to hurt me. But when I screamed he stopped and ran away. Look I have his shirt as proof!’

When her husband came home later that night, his wife told him the same lies she had told all the other men. Potiphar was furious and threw me into prison.

What had happened to me? The Lord had been blessing me, even though I had been sold by my brothers as a slave. But now, because of this woman’s evil lies I was thrown into prison – with no hope of ever being set free again. (PAUSE)

But even in prison, the Lord God had not left me. What ever I did, He blessed! Until the day came when the jailer put me in charge of the running of the whole prison. The chief jailer did not need to trouble himself about anything because the Lord blessed everything I did. (PAUSE)

Some time later, Pharaoh sent two new prisoners to the jail. One was the cupbearer to King Pharaoh, who tasted the wine before giving it to Pharaoh, to make sure it had not been poisoned. The other was the chief baker. (P) I was put in charge of these new prisoners. One morning when I went to see to their needs I noticed a worried look on their faces. ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked, ‘Why do you both look so anxious?’

‘We both had dreams last night,’ they said. ‘And we know they have meanings, but there isn’t anyone here to explain them to us.’

‘Explaining dreams is God’s business,’ I replied. ‘But even so, tell me what you dreamed.’

The chief cupbearer spoke first. ‘Last night I dreamed I saw a grape vine with three branches on it. And as I watched, the branches budded, then blossomed, and then bunches of grapes appeared. I was holding Pharaoh’s cup in my hand, and I walked over to the grapes and squeezed the juice from them into Pharaoh’s cup. Then I took the cup to Pharaoh and gave it to him.’

‘I know what that dream means,’ I told him. ‘The three branches means three days. In three days time Pharaoh will call you out of prison and restore you to your position as chief cupbearer. But please, when you are restored, mention me to Pharaoh, because I was kidnapped from my home land, and now I’m in jail and I haven’t done anything wrong!’

The chief baker had been listening to our conversation, and because I had given a good explanation of the cupbearer’s dream, he decided to tell me his dream. ‘In my dream,’ he started, ‘I was holding three baskets full of bakery products on my head. The top basket had all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but then the birds came along and started to eat them.’

When I heard his dream, my heart fell. But I could not hold back the explanation. ‘In your dream, the three baskets also mean three days. But in three days, Pharaoh will cut off you head and leave your body to be eaten by the birds.’ (PAUSE)

Three days later, Pharaoh had a birthday party. And during the celebrations, just as I had explained, he restored the cupbearer and had the chief baker killed. (P) However, the cupbearer completely forgot about me, not giving me a second thought.

And so, for the next two years I continued to wait in jail.

Episode 18 – A Coat for Joseph

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 37

A Coat for Joseph

My name is Joseph and in all Egypt, there is no man with more power than me, except King Pharaoh himself. Wherever I travel men run before my chariot telling the people to kneel before me. On my hand, I have the signet ring of King Pharaoh and the royal chain rests around my neck.

To see me now in my fine clothes and with such power and authority, maybe you would think that I was born for such a position – that I am the son of an Egyptian nobleman. But then you would look at the colour of my skin and listen to the accent in my voice and wonder – ‘Who is this man? For surely he is not Egyptian. How did he come to have so much power and authority in Egypt?’ (PAUSE)

I was born to my father Jacob in his old age, and my mother, Rachel, was the only one of his four wives that my father truly loved. As a young man, I would go with my older brothers as they went to look after the flocks and herds, and like a fool I loved to get them into trouble with my father. Whatever they did, no matter how small, I would tell my father all about it. And so my brothers learned to hate me.

But still I tormented them even further, telling them of my dreams. In one such dream I saw my brothers and I working in the fields tying up large bundles of grain. My bundle stood up in the middle of all the others, and their bundles bowed low before mine. If I had been a wiser youth I would have kept my dream to myself, but like the fool I was – I ran to tell them, only making their anger towards me worse. ‘What are you saying dreamer?’ they shouted. ‘That someday we’ll all bow down before you? Not in this life!’ And they hated me even more.

But my greatest folly was to show my brothers just how much more my father loved me than any of them. Perhaps my father was not wise when one day he gave me a coat so beautiful that it was fit for a prince! Never had our father given any of my older brothers such a gift, how it must have hurt them to know that he loved me so much more than he loved them! But again, if I had been wiser, I would have thanked my father and hidden the coat away to make sure that my brothers were not hurt even more deeply by the constant reminder of seeing me in that coat. But I was too proud, too proud and stupid to hide the coat away. Instead, I would wear it at every opportunity, constantly showing my brothers that our father loved me the most – and that he didn’t love them as he ought.

What a horrid boy I must have seemed to my brothers. Was it any wonder that they learned to hate me so much? That they couldn’t stand the sight of me and wanted nothing to do with me? But such hatred can never lead to good – except in the hands of God alone.

One day our father called me to see him. He told me that my brothers had been gone some time, looking after our flocks near a place called Shechem. ‘Go and see how your brothers are doing Joseph,’ he said. ‘And then come back and give me a report.’

‘Of course father,’ I replied. ‘I’m ready to go.’ So I put on my wonderful coat and set out to find my brothers. But when I got to Shechem, my brothers were nowhere to be seen. A man saw me wandering in a field looking for them and told me that he had heard them saying they would move on to Dothan – and so I followed them there.

With my coat on, my brothers could see me coming from a great distance, and their hearts fell! ‘Here comes that dreamer!’ they spat out. ‘I can’t stand him anymore!’ said one of them. ‘Come on let’s kill him and be rid of him once and for all. We can tell our father that a wild animal got him!’ But Reuben, one of my brothers, did not want to see me dead, so instead he said. ‘Let’s not kill him. Why should we have his blood on our hands? Look, there’s that empty water storage pit over there. Why don’t we throw him in the pit and leave the rest to nature! That way, he’ll die without us having to touch him.’ Reuben, however, planned to come back later and rescue me from the pit and take me to our father.

But as I approached them I knew nothing of their evil plans, and instead of greeting me, they grabbed hold of me, stripped me of my coat and threw me into the pit. Happy to leave me to die!

My brothers then sat down to eat a meal, and, while they ate, they saw a caravan of traders making their way to Egypt. Then Judah, another one of my brothers said, ‘Why don’t we make some money out of Joseph instead of killing him? If we kill him, all we’ll get is a guilty conscience! Why don’t we sell him as a slave to those traders going down to Egypt?’ So when the traders came by, my brothers dragged me up from the pit. At first I hoped it was the end of a terrible joke, but as they mercilessly sold me to the traders – for twenty pieces of silver, I knew my life would never be the same again.

Reuben hadn’t been there when the others sold me to the traders, and later, when he came back to pull me out and take me back to my father, he found I was gone and tore his clothes in frustration and sadness. Then my brothers took my coat, tore it and dipped it in animal blood. They took it back to my father and asked him, ‘Is this the coat you gave Joseph? We found it like this in a field.’

My father recognised it at once and assumed a wild animal had killed me. He mourned deeply for my death. But even in his deep – deep sadness, not one of my brothers told him the truth. (PAUSE) To him, I was dead. (PAUSE)

Some time later I arrived in Egypt and was sold as a slave in the slave market. But God was still with me, and I was sold to Potiphar, the captain of the palace guard, an important official in the palace of Pharaoh. (PAUSE)

Episode 17 – Jacob goes home

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 31 verse 1 to chapter 33 verse 11

Jacob goes home

Twenty years had passed since I, Jacob, had first arrived in the lands of the east and met Rachel who would later become my wife. Twenty years of twisting and cheating from Laban, her father, who was always trying to beat me and deceive me. First he’d tricked me into marrying Leah, Rachel’s older sister. And then – he’d made me work an extra 7 years for Rachel. And after that, he constantly changed his agreement with me to try and make sure I didn’t get rich. But the Lord had been with me, and I’d managed to work it out so that I had got rich, and my own flocks and herds had grown healthy and strong.

But it wasn’t just at work that the twenty years had been difficult, at home things seemed to go from bad to worse. Leah had children, but Rachel couldn’t have any, and in an act of desperation, Rachel gave me her personal maid, Bilhah, to be another wife for me, so that any children Bilhah had would be considered as Rachel’s! But Leah didn’t want to be outdone and she gave me her personal maid, Zilpah, as yet another wife, so that any children Zilpah had would be considered Leah’s! Eventually, and mercifully the Lord also let Rachel give birth to her first son Joseph.

As I became richer, I started to notice that my father-in-law, Laban, liked me less and less! It was at this time that the Lord spoke to me and told me to go back home to the land of my father Isaac and my grandfather Abraham.

So I talked it over with Leah and Rachel. They too had noticed that their father’s attitude towards them had cooled, so we all agreed to leave. (P) I should’ve trusted the Lord and told Laban openly that the Lord had said to leave, but I still hadn’t learnt to trust God, so I did it my way! I waited until Laban went away to shear his sheep, and then, without telling anyone, we made our escape. I put my children and wives on camels, packed everything up and left as quickly as we could.

Laban didn’t hear about it for 3 days. But when he did, he was furious, and gathered a group of his relatives together and set out in hot pursuit. (P)

I think Laban would’ve done us great harm if the Lord hadn’t intervened. The night before he caught up with us, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and warned him to be very careful in what he said to me. But even so, when he turned up he was furious! He accused me of acting foolishly, and then he said I was a thief and went through every one of our tents looking for his stolen household idols! He didn’t find them of course – even though I found out later that Rachel had taken them, and sat on them when her father searched her tent – so he wouldn’t find them!

But because the Lord had warned Laban, he didn’t harm us and eventually let us go with his blessing. (PAUSE)

The incident with Laban had been frightening, but that was nothing – to what lay ahead of me. I was going to have to face Esau. Esau whom I’d tricked out of his birthright, Esau from whom I’d stolen the blessing all those years ago. The same Esau whose plan to murder me had seen me hurry off to the lands of the east in fear for my life. (PAUSE)

I supose I could have returned to the land by a back road, and hoped that Esau didn’t find us. But I wanted to get things sorted out between us, so I sent a servant to Esau with this message. ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob! I have been living in the lands of the east with our uncle Laban for the last twenty years, and now I own oxen, donkeys, sheep, goats and servants, both male and female. And so I’m sending you this message to tell you that I’m coming back in the hope the you’ll be friendly towards me.’

But when my servant returned, the news he brought was terrifying! Esau had heard the message and was on his way to meet us with four hundred armed men! What was I going to do now? We wouldn’t stand a chance against an army of 400-armed men.

As quickly as I could I split the camp into two, hoping that if Esau attacked one group, the other would be ok. And then – I did something that I’ve not really done as often as I should. You see I didn’t have any smart schemes that could save us, I had to put our lives into the hands of the living God – so I fell upon my knees and prayed.

‘Oh God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac – It was You O Lord who told me to come back to the land of my family – and it was You who promised to be kind to me. I don’t deserve Your faithfulness and the unfailing love that You show to me. When I left all those years ago, all I owned was a walking stick, and now my household fills two camps! Please Lord, rescue me from my brother Esau. I’m afraid that he’s going to murder me, my wives and my children. But You promised to treat me kindly, to multiply my descendents until they were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore – far too many to count!’ (P)

I’m not sure, but I think that was the first time I ever really called on the Lord for help. You see there was no escape; we were a large slow moving group, while Esau and his 400-strong army could move quickly, and no matter what we tried he’d still be able to catch up with us. I didn’t have an answer – for the first time ever I just had to trust the Lord.

Mind you, that didn’t stop me coming up with a plan. I decided to send a series of presents to Esau. First I sent two hundred female goats, and 20 male goats. Then, after a short gap, I sent two hundred ewes, and twenty rams. Then, after another short gap I sent 30 female camels with their young, then 40 cows and 10 bulls, then 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. With each group I sent a servant to lead them to Esau, and each servant had to give the same message. When Esau asked them ‘Where are you going?’ ‘Whose servant are you? And, ‘Whose animals are these.’ I told them to answer, ‘These animals belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present for his master Esau. Jacob is coming along behind us.’

My plan was to make Esau feel less and less angry as he received this series of gifts. I hoped that he’d feel friendly towards us. (PAUSE)

We were camped beside a river, and that night, after the presents had gone I started to feel uneasy again. So in the middle of the night I woke everyone up and sent them all across the river, my family, my possessions and everything. Until I was the only one left in the camp – or so I thought.

For out of nowhere a stranger came and wrestled with me. Hour after hour we wrestled until the first light of dawn started to shine over the horizon. When the man realised that he couldn’t win the fight, he struck my hip, knocking it out of joint. All I could do was hang onto him.

‘Let me go, it’s dawn,’ said the man.

‘I will not let you go,’ I replied. ‘Not unless you bless me.’

‘What’s your name?’ the man asked me.

‘Jacob,’ I replied.

‘From now on your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, which means ‘one who struggles with God’. Because you have struggled with both God and men and have won.’

And then I asked him was his name was. But he replied, ‘Why do you ask?’ And then he blessed me and left. (P)

I named that place ‘Peniel’ which means ‘face of God’, because I had seen God – face to face and he had spared my life. (P) So as the sun continued to rise I limped over to join the others as we waited for Esau’s arrival. (P)

It wasn’t long before we saw Esau and his 400 strong army coming towards us. When I saw him, I formed our group into two columns, with Bilhah and Zilpah, the servants of Leah and Rachel at the front with their children behind them. Next was Leah, with her children, and last came Rachel with Joseph. And then, I went on ahead of them all to face my brother Esau.

As Esau approached, I bowed low to the ground seven times before him. But as I watched Esau started to run towards me. I stood there unable to move, yet trusting that somehow the Lord would keep His promises.

Closer and closer Esau came. I couldn’t tell from the look on his face how he was feeling until he ran right up to me – and throwing his arms around me gave me a great big hug! Suddenly both of us were in tears – tears of joy at seeing each other again, and for me, tears of relief that my head was still on my shoulders!

Then Esau saw the women and children coming toward us.

‘Who’re all these people with you brother?’ he asked.

‘These are the children God has given me,’ I replied. And then Bilhah and Zilpah and their children came forward and bowed low before Esau. Next came Leah with her children, and they bowed low. And finally Rachel and Joseph came and also bowed low to the ground before Esau.

Esau was amazed at all he’d seen. ‘What about all these flocks and herds I met as I came to see you?’ he asked.

‘They’re a gift – to you, to make sure you’d be happy to see us,’ I answered.

‘I don’t need them,’ said Esau. ‘I’ve already got more than enough!’

But I insisted, ‘Please, accept them as my gift to you, for seeing your smiling face is such a relief to me, it’s almost like seeing the smile of God.’ So Esau took the gifts, and we settled in the land.

Episode 16 – The deceiver is deceived

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 29 verses 1 – 30

The deceiver is deceived!

‘When I arrived in the lands of the east, God was good to me and took me straight to my uncle’s house. It happened like this. I’d seen some sheep waiting in a field by a well to be watered, and when I spoke to the shepherds, they told me that the young shepherdess coming towards us was none other than my uncle’s daughter, Rachel!’

‘Well, when I heard this I ran over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and began watering my uncle’s sheep. Then, because I couldn’t hold my emotions back any longer I kissed Rachel with tears rolling down my cheeks.’

‘And when I told her that I was Jacob, her cousin, Rachel ran home to tell her father Laban, who came rushing out to greet me and take me to his home.’ (PAUSE)

‘After about a month, Laban began to realise that I wasn’t in any hurry to go back home, not with Esau wanting to murder me! So he said to me, ‘Look Jacob, you shouldn’t be working for me for nothing just because we’re family. How much should I pay you?’’

‘Well, Laban had two daughters. His oldest daughter, Leah, had pretty eyes, but his youngest daughter Rachel, whom I’d met the day I arrived, was beautiful in every way – in fact, I’d fallen head over heals in love with her… so I said to Laban. Would it be ok if I were to work seven years for you, and then take Rachel, your youngest daughter, as my wife?’

‘Yes I’d have thought so,’ said Laban. ‘I’d rather you took her for your wife than she married someone outside the family.’

‘I was overjoyed! (P) You’d have thought the time’d drag, but it didn’t. I loved Rachel so much that the seven years seemed just like a few days to me. And then the time was up! So I went to see Laban, excited at the idea of soon being married to Rachel. I’d fulfilled my part of the bargain. So I said to Laban, ‘Now, please bring Rachel to me so that we can be married.’’

‘The news of the wedding soon spread around the neighbourhood and Laban invited all the men to come along and celebrate our wedding. It was almost too good to be true! And then, late at night, long after the sun had set and we’d been celebrating for a long time, Laban brought the bride to me. She wore a veil, and in the darkness, the two of us went to our tent to celebrate our marriage together. (P) I guess I should’ve seen the signs. Maybe I’d drunk a little too much? Maybe I should’ve wondered why she said nothing as we went to our tent together in the darkness of that night.’

‘But I’ll never forget the following morning for as long as I live. For as the sun started to rise, and I turned to say good morning to my dear bride, there beside me wasn’t Rachel who I’d thought I’d married – but Leah her older sister! I’d been deceived!’

‘I couldn’t believe my eyes! For seven years I’d worked heart and soul for Laban for the joy of knowing that at the end of it all Rachel would be my bride. (P) My shock soon turned to anger and I stormed into Laban’s house!’

‘‘What kind of trick is this?’ I screamed. ‘I worked seven years for Rachel not Leah! How could you do this to me?’’

‘‘Calm down, calm down!’ said Laban. ‘Look, it’s just not done to marry off the youngest daughter before her older sister. (P) Anyway, in these parts, it’s perfectly acceptable for a man to have more than one wife. So, wait the week of the bridal celebrations and then you can marry Rachel as well – as long as you’re happy to work for another seven years to pay for her of course?’’ (PAUSE)

‘I was in love. I’d been cruelly tricked – perhaps no more cruelly than I’d tricked others in the past – but I just couldn’t let Rachel go. So a week later, I also married Rachel. Which was very hard on Leah, because she knew I loved Rachel far more than I loved her.’

Episode 15 – Jacobs dream

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 27 verse 42 to chapter 29 verse 1

Jacob’s dream

The sounds of the night drew ever closer as Jacob hurried to light his campfire. This was a good place to set up camp, but now that he was alone – he heard things he’d never noticed before, the noises of the night, menacing and frightening.

As the fire crackled and spat into life, Jacob threw on some more wood and then lay down, pulling his cloak tightly around his shoulders. And resting his head on a long flat stone, he thought back once again over the last few days, days that had turned his life upside down and led him to this lonely place.

‘It’s all Esau’s fault,’ thought Jacob. ‘He just doesn’t know when he’s beaten! And anyway, how was I supposed to know he’d be such a sore loser? (P) I knew he’d be upset, but I never thought he’d want to murder me! All I did was.. Well, what I had to do – to get what was mine. (P) Ok – I did use tricks and deception to get that blessing – but they shouldn’t have tried to take it away from me … I bought it off Esau fair and square – for a bowl of stew!’

Jacob rolled onto his side and stared into the fire. Had it been worth it? Had it really been worth it? All that trickery and deceit? What had it got him? Oh yes, he’d well and truly beaten his brother Esau by tricking him out of his birthright and stealing the blessing … but what good was that now? Because as soon as Rebekah, his mother, had found out about Esau’s murderous thoughts – she’d worked out a plan to get Jacob out of harm’s way.

‘Oh Isaac,’ Rebekah had said to the boys’ father. ‘Esau’s married a couple of these local girls who don’t know God and won’t worship Him. I just can’t cope with the idea of Jacob doing the same. Please, can’t we send him away to my family, to find a nice young wife from amongst my relatives?’

And for now her scheming had worked. His father Isaac had called him into his tent and told him to go to his uncle Laban’s house and marry one of Laban’s daughters. And so he’d left with his father’s blessing and very little else! (PAUSE)

Jacob sighed deeply, the flames of the fire flickering in his breath.

And now he was here, miles away from the home he loved, with almost nothing except the clothes on his back to call his own.  It was the first time he’d ever felt truly alone.

Sleep came easily as Jacob was tired from all his travelling, but this was to be no ordinary night.

As Jacob slept he started to dream – a dream sent from God. (P) And as he dreamt he saw a stairway with one end on the earth and the other in heaven. And as he looked at the stairway, he saw the angels of God moving up and down between heaven and earth.

As his eyes followed the stairway to the top, there – above it all – was the Lord God Himself. And He was speaking to Jacob.

‘I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and of your father Isaac. This ground that you lie on belongs to you, for I will give it to you and your descendents. And your descendents will be so numerous, that just like the dust of the earth, no one will be able to count them. And they will fill this land from east to west and north to south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendents. (P) And what’s more, I Myself will be with you. I will protect you wherever you go. And the day will come when I will bring you safely back to this land, for I will be constantly with you until I have given you all that I have promised.’

And then Jacob woke up, terrified at what he’d seen! (WHISPERED) ‘This place! The Lord is in this place and I didn’t know it! It’s an awesome place – nothing less than the very house of God – the gateway to heaven!’

Very early the next morning Jacob got up and took hold of the stone he’d used for a pillow the night before. He took the stone and stood it upright, as a memorial stone to remember what had happened to him. Then, with the stone standing on its end, he poured some olive oil over it. And he named the place – Bethel, which means ‘House of God’.

And then he said, ‘If God is going to be with me and protect me on this journey, and give me enough food and clothing … and, if He’ll bring me safely back to my father, then I will make the Lord – my God and this memorial pillar will be a place for worshipping Him, and I’ll give Him ten percent of everything He gives me.

He’d felt alone, but God had shown him he wasn’t. So, with the promises of God ringing in his ears, and a new certainty that God was with him, Jacob hurried on with his journey to the lands of the east.

Episode 14 – Jacob the liar

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 27 verses 1 – 41

Jacob the liar

It wasn’t long before the whole family knew what’d happened between Esau and Jacob, how Jacob had tricked Esau out of his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew! But it didn’t change the way their parents felt. Isaac still wanted his favourite Esau, the great hunter, to be head of the family – for no other reason than that he liked the food Esau caught. And Rebekah wanted her favourite, Jacob to be the head. Things weren’t looking good; they were a family at war!

A while later, when Isaac was older and his eyesight had almost failed, he decided it was time to pass on the blessing of God to his children. Normally, the head of the family would have called a gathering of family members, and with them all present to witness the event, he would have publicly blessed his children for all to see… kind of like reading your will – but before you’ve died.

But you see – Isaac knew all about the prophecy Rebekah’d had when she’d asked the Lord about her pregnancy… he knew that the Lord had said the older son would serve the younger son. He also knew of the time Jacob had tricked Esau out of his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew… that Esau had given up his birthright with a solemn promise. And yet, even though Isaac knew all these things, he was still determined to do what he wanted and pass the blessing onto Esau. So, without calling a family meeting, in fact, without telling anyone at all what he intended to do, he called Esau in for a private chat.

But even as he made his plans, he couldn’t get his mind off his stomach! ‘Now Esau,’ he started. ‘ I’m getting to be an old man, I could die any day! So I want you to do something for me. I want you to get your bow and arrows and go out and catch something for me to eat. Bring it back and prepare a meal for me – just the way I like it. And then, when you’ve done all that and I’ve had my meal, I’ll give you my blessing, the blessing that belongs to my first born son.’

Isaac was trying to go directly against what God had said! Not only that, he was also trying to ignore the solemn promise Esau had given – that the birthright would belong to Jacob! And Esau was no better! Ignoring his own promise to Jacob, he ran off to get his bow and arrows, anxious to take the blessing for himself!

But what they didn’t realise as they hatched their little plot together, was that Rebekah had overheard the whole thing! And she had no intention of letting it happen. (P) As soon as Esau left for the hunt she ran to find Jacob. ‘Jacob, I overheard your father talking to Esau. He’s sent him off to catch some wild animal to make him a tasty meal. After that, he plans to bless Esau in the Lord’s presence before he dies! Now listen and do exactly as I tell you. Go to the flock of goats and bring me two fine young goats. When you’ve done that, I’ll prepare a meal – just the way your father likes it. Your father can’t see very well, so when you take the food to him, pretending to be Esau, he’ll bless you instead of Esau.’

Oh dear, Isaac was planning to do something he shouldn’t with Esau agreeing to his evil plan, and now Rebekah and Jacob were planning to trick Isaac! Why no one talked to the Lord about it all and asked Him for help we’ll never know. And one thing you can be sure of when people try to trick each other is that no good’ll come of it!

However, Jacob had seen a flaw in his mother’s plan. ‘But mum,’ he said. ‘What if dad touches me for some reason? I’m not all hairy like Esau, and when he finds out that I’m trying to deceive him, he’ll curse me instead of blessing me!’

‘Let the curse fall on me, my son.’ Rebekah said, ‘just go and get the goats (P) quickly.’

While the goat stew was cooking, Rebekah took some strips of goatskin and made a hairy covering for Jacobs’s arms and hands. She also took another strip and put it around his neck. Then she made Jacob put on some of Esau’s clothes. Her plan was almost ready. So when she’d prepared the stew, with a rich mouth-watering smell, along with some freshly baked bread, she gave them to Jacob to take to his father. The deception was complete!

‘Father,’ said Jacob, trying to sound as much like Esau as he could.

‘Yes,’ said Isaac. ‘Who is it – Esau or Jacob?’

‘It’s me, Esau, your eldest son,’ he lied, ‘I’ve been hunting and made you some stew, just the way you like. Sit up and eat, then you can give me your blessing.’

‘But how were you able to catch an animal so fast son?’ Isaac asked.

‘Oh, the Lord your God put it right in my path father – I couldn’t miss it!’ Jacob lied – again.

‘Come here Esau,’ Isaac said, a little suspiciously. ‘I want to touch you so that I can be sure it’s really you.’ So Jacob went to his father who touched the goatskin on Jacob’s arm. ‘Well,’ he said to himself. ‘The voice’s Jacob’s, but the hands are all hairy like Esau’s!’ Then out loud he said, ‘Are you really Esau?’

‘Yes of course I am,’ lied Jacob.

And then, because he could think of nothing else except the lovely meal prepared for him, Isaac said. ‘Ok, bring me my meal (licks lips) and after I’ve eaten it I’ll give you my blessing. (Smacks lips)’

So Jacob took the meal over to his father and waited while he watched the old man greedily eat up his meal without even realising that it wasn’t made from wild animal at all, but from goats! However, Isaac was still a little unsure if the person in the room with him was really Esau and not Jacob, so after he’d finished eating he called him over again. ‘Come here boy and give your old father a kiss.’ As Jacob came across, Isaac caught the smell of Esau’s clothes that Jacob was wearing. It was enough to finally convince him. ‘That’s a good smell,’ he said. ‘The smell of the open fields that the Lord God has blessed.’ And then he started to bless his son.

‘May God always give you plenty of dew for healthy crops and a good harvest of grain and wine.’

‘May many nations become your servants.’

‘May you be master of your brothers, and may all your mother’s sons bow low before you.’

 ‘All who curse you are cursed, and all who bless you are blessed.’

It was a close-run thing. Because as Jacob left his father, having received the blessing, Esau returned. Thankfully he didn’t see Jacob and got on preparing the meal for his father. When he’d finished he strode into his father’s tent. ‘Right, here I am with this wonderful wild game stew you wanted. Sit up and eat so that you can give me your blessing.’

Isaac was spooked. ‘Who are you?’ He asked in a quavering voice.

‘It’s me of course, Esau, your eldest son. Who else would it be?’

Isaac began trembling uncontrollably. ‘Then who was just in here serving me food? I’ve eaten already and I blessed that person with a blessing that can never be undone!’

It took a while for Esau to realise what’d happened. But when he realised that Jacob had tricked him again, he began to cry out loud. ‘Oh Father, bless me too!’

 ‘Your brother’s tricked me. He’s taken away your blessing,’ said Isaac.

Esau: ‘No wonder his name’s Jacob – the deceiver. He’s deceived me twice. Once when he tricked me into selling my birthright and – and now he’s stolen my blessing. (P) Oh father, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?’

But Isaac knew that he’d been beaten, and he also knew that it was what the Lord’d said would happen all those years ago when Rebekah went to talk to him about the children in her womb. ‘I – I have made Jacob your master. I have made all his brothers his servants and I have blessed him with grain and wine… what else is there left to bless you with?’

‘Oh please father, please – there must be some blessing for me too?’ Then Esau fell to his knees crying bitterly.

‘All I can say is this,’ Isaac continued. ‘You will live off the land and what it gives. And you will live by the sword. You will serve your brother for a time, but then you will make yourself free.’

After that, Esau hated his brother Jacob and waited for an opportunity to murder him.

Episode 13 – Jacob and Esau

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 25 verses 18 – 24

Esau and Jacob

20 years! 20 years Isaac and Rebekah had been married and still no children! Somehow it seemed that the Lord wasn’t in any hurry to keep His promise that they would have countless descendants!

However, Isaac knew God had promised that they would have children, and, he also knew God would keep His promise … eventually … but it seemed that the Lord was waiting until they were desperate before He finally answered their prayer. (P) And one day, as Isaac pleaded with the Lord for Rebekah to be able to have children, the Lord answered Isaac’s prayer and Rebekah became pregnant! (PAUSE)

But right from the outset, Rebekah knew there was something different about her pregnancy. It seemed that the baby was always twisting and turning and struggling inside her. In fact, it got so bad that Rebekah went to ask the Lord what was going on. ‘Lord, why’s this happening to me?’

‘Rebekah,’ the Lord answered. ‘There are two children inside your womb and they are going to become two rival nations. One of those nations will be stronger than the other one, and, the descendants of the older son will serve the descendants of the younger son.’

So there was more than one child inside her! And already the Lord knew all about them and what would become of them! (PAUSE)

At the right time, the twins were born. But when they arrived – two very different children were born! The first one out was very red and covered in hair. They called him Esau, which means ‘hairy’! But the second child was nothing like the first, his skin was smooth, and when he came out, he was holding the heel of his older brother! So they called him Jacob, which means ‘he grasps the heel’ (P) – Jacob can also mean ‘deceiver’ – and that was to be a warning of things to come. (PAUSE)

As the years went by, the two boys continued to show how different they were. Esau loved the open country and became an expert huntsman with his bow and arrow. Unfortunately, he also became the favourite of his father Isaac, who loved the taste of the wild animals that his son caught.

Jacob was altogether different. He enjoyed staying around the home and – unfortunately he became the favourite of his mother Rebekah! It’s never a good thing for a parent to have a favourite child, and now both parents were rivals – with each of them supporting their own favourite son … where had the love gone that Isaac and Rebekah used to have all those years before? (PAUSE)

In those days, the older son, even if he was born only a few moments before his brother, inherited a much larger share of his father’s belongings when his father died! Not only that, he also became the head of the family, the one who would make all the important decisions for the whole family. It was called his ‘birthright’, because it was his right to have these things for no other reason than that he was born first! It was an important privilege and responsibility to be the older son, and even more so in this family, because it was the son who inherited the ‘birthright’ who would also receive all the wonderful and special promises that God had first given to Abraham and then passed onto Isaac all those years before. (P)

Jacob was very unhappy that he’d missed all this blessing and importance by a matter of minutes! Maybe he wouldn’t have cared quite so much if he’d been born a few years later. But that’s not how it’d happened; he’d lost out because of just a few minutes! (P) Now, unfortunately, Jacob was a selfish little schemer, who looked for any and every opportunity to get his own way. And sure enough, the day came when he saw his chance to get what he wanted – and nothing was going to stop him.

It happened like this. One day Jacob was cooking a red lentil stew when his brother Esau came home – hungry and exhausted from hunting in the fields. Had Jacob known Esau was due back some time soon and so made the stew? Or was it just chance? We’ll never know. But one thing’s for sure; Jacob wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass him by.

‘Give me some of that stew Jacob, I’m starving.’ Esau said.

 ‘It’s going to cost you,’ Jacob replied. ‘I’ll happily give you some … as long as you agree to sell me your birthright for it!’

You’d have thought Esau’d tell his brother to stop being so stupid! But instead Esau replied. ‘Look I’m starving to death here, what good’s a birthright to me if I’m dead?’ But if he’d thought Jacob was joking – he was soon put right. Because when Jacob had served up a bowl full of stew – he held it just out of Esau’s reach.

‘Now swear to me that the birthright’s mine! You’re not having anything until you do.’

‘All right, all right,’ said Esau. ‘I swear the birthright’s your – I give you my solemn promise – now will you just give me that stew!’

Esau had sold his birthright – for a bowl of stew and some bread! He just didn’t care! In fact, after he’d eaten his stew he went on with his life as if nothing had happened! He was the eldest son in a family that had been given incredible and wonderful promises from God … and just like that, he’d ignored the promises as if they were worthless and given away his right to become head of the family! He simply didn’t care!

But Jacob hadn’t finished his deceiving yet!

Episode 12 – A bride for Isaac

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 24

A Bride for Isaac

‘I am the servant of Abraham. And I am going to tell you how the God of Abraham blessed me when my master asked me to deal with a matter of great importance.’

‘When he spoke to me about this matter, Abraham was already a very old man. His dear wife Sarah had died. And his son Isaac, who was now in charge of the household, was missing his mother greatly. Isaac needed a wife!’

‘One day I was called to Abraham’s tent. My master had a look of concern on his face, and I could tell at once that the matter he wished to discuss with me was of the utmost importance.’

‘Thank you for coming’, he said. ‘You’re the most senior and important servant in my entire household. And so, I must ask you to do a very important thing for my family. (P) As you know, many years ago now, the Lord God told Sarah and me to leave Haran and come and live in this beautiful land of Canaan. The Lord promised that one day He’ll give this land to my descendants. But I’m concerned that in his loneliness, my son Isaac might think about marrying one of the girls from this country, a Canaanite. And that wouldn’t please God because they don’t know Him or worship Him. (P) So I want you to make me a solemn promise – one that you can’t break – I want you to swear by the Lord God of all heaven and earth that you will not let my son marry one of these local girls. Instead, I want you to go to the land that I came from, to my own relatives, and find a wife for Isaac from amongst them.’

 ‘I was horrified that he should ask such a thing of me and I replied, ‘But what if, when I have travelled such a distance, I cannot find a young woman who will return with me to live here? Could I then take Isaac to live amongst your own relatives in that place?’’

‘Abraham shook his head fiercely.’

‘No! Under no circumstances are you to ever let Isaac return to the place I left. God told me to leave – to come to this land. And it’s this land that He’s promised to my offspring.’ Then his face brightened up a little. ‘ Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘For God’ll send an angel ahead of you, and when you get there he’ll make sure that you find the right young woman for Isaac’. (P) Then he thought for a moment. ‘But – if she isn’t willing to come back with you, I’ll set you free from your solemn promise.’

‘My master was so sure of what His God would do. He seemed to believe that – already the Lord God was working things out to make sure His promises to my master would all come true. (P) I wish I could say that I had the same confidence he had. (P) In fact, if it had not been that my master would free me from my solemn promise if a woman would not come home with me, I do not know if I would have made the promise at all.’

‘But, as he had allowed me to be set free if the woman wouldn’t come, I made the solemn promise. – Then at once, I loaded 10 of my master’s camels with the best of everything he owned and started on my journey, travelling 400 miles to the north.’ (PAUSE)

‘It was early evening many days later when we came to the small town not too far from the city Abraham had originally come from. I made the camels kneel down beside a spring just at the time when the young women came out to collect water.’

‘But now what was I to do? I had travelled all this way (PAUSE) all I could do was ask the God of my master Abraham to make my journey successful, and so I prayed.’

‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham. Please show kindness to my master by giving me success and letting me achieve all I have set out to do. As I stand here beside this spring of water, and as the young women of the village come to fetch water – this is my request of You. I will ask one of these young women for a drink. If she agrees, and then offers to give water to my camels as well, then let her be the one who is to be a wife for Isaac. This is how I will know that you have shown Your kindness to my master.’

‘Even as I prayed, a beautiful young woman named Rebekah arrived with her water jar. After she had filled her jar with water, I ran over to her and asked, ‘Please may I have a drink?’’

‘‘Of course you can, sir,’ she replied. And took the jug from her shoulder to give me a drink. And then, when I had finished my drink, she turned to me and said, ‘Now I’ll get some water for your camels, until they’ve all had enough.’’

‘Could this be the one I had travelled so far to find? I watched in silence wondering if this was the woman the Lord intended me to meet. I watched as Rebekah emptied the rest of the jug of water into the watering trough for the camels and then ran back and forth from the spring to fill the trough until the camels had drunk all they wanted! (P) When the camels had finished drinking, I gave Rebekah a beautiful ring for her nose and two fine gold bracelets for her wrists.’

‘Then, hardly daring to ask, I said, ‘Who is your father? And would he have room to put me up for the night?’

‘She replied, ‘My father is Bethuel, son of Nahor. And yes, we have food for your camels and a room for you to stay as our guest.’ (P) Nahor! Nahor was Abraham’s brother! After all this travelling, the Lord God had led me right to my master’s own relatives! I fell down to the ground and worshipped God. ‘All praise to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, for He has been kind and faithful to Abraham and led me straight to my master’s own relatives.’’

‘After that I stayed by the spring while Rebekah ran to her home and told them all that had happened. And when her brother, Laban, saw the ring and the bracelets he rushed out to invite me to stay with them.’

‘I was so excited, after all I had gone through – to come to the home of a relative of my master Abraham. But I had still not told them of my purpose in coming this great distance. So when it was time for a meal, I could not eat until I had told them all – why I had come.’

‘I am the servant of Abraham,’ I started. ‘The Lord God has blessed my master with great wealth, servants, cattle, camels and donkeys. And when my master’s wife Sarah was in her old age, she gave my master a son, and Abraham has given everything he owns to his son. Now, my master made me swear a solemn promise that I would not let Isaac, his son, marry one of the girls living in Canaan because they do not worship God. Instead, he told me to travel to his own relatives in the land he came from to find a young woman to be Isaac’s wife.’

‘I was fearful to make that promise. ‘What if I cannot find such a woman,’ I asked. But Abraham replied, ‘You will find her – because the Lord – in whose presence I have walked will send an angel with you to give you success.’ But he also told me that if the woman refused to come with me, I would be freed from my promise.’

‘This very afternoon as I came to the spring, I prayed this prayer. ‘O Lord of my master Abraham, if you are planning to make my mission a success, then please guide me in a special way. Here I am standing beside a spring. I will ask a young woman for a drink, as she comes to collect water. If she agrees, and then offers to water my camels as well, then I will know that she is the one You have chosen as a wife for my master’s son.’

‘Before I had even finished my prayer, Rebekah came and did just as I had prayed. And so I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord. I praised Him because He had led me to find a wife from the family of me master’s own relatives.’

‘So now, I need to know, will you show real kindness to my master Abraham and let Rebekah come back with me?’ (PAUSE)

‘Then Laban, Rebekah’s brother, and Bethuel her father replied, ‘The Lord’s obviously brought you here, so what else can we say? Take Rebekah with you and let her become the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has directed.’

‘Once again I worshipped the Lord and bowed to the ground. Then I gave beautiful gifts to Rebekah and valuable presents to her mother and brother. And only then did I eat my food and rest for the night.’(PAUSE)

‘Early the next morning I awoke and prepared to leave. I asked the family’s permission to be on my way as soon as possible. But they replied, ‘We were hoping that Rebekah could stay with us ten more days!’ Ten days! I did not want to wait at all, I wanted to get back to show my master how good the Lord had been to him, and so I asked. ‘Please, don’t hold me back. The Lord has blessed my journey with success and I want to go back and report to my master.’

‘Well,’ they replied. ‘We’ll have to see what Rebekah has to say about it.’ So they called Rebekah over. ‘Are you willing to go with this man now?’ they asked her.’

‘Yes I’m willing to go,’ she replied.

‘And so they said their goodbyes to each other. (P) It was to be the last time they saw each other in this world. And Rebekah, along with her maid who had looked after her as a young child, came with me. As she left, Rebekah’s family blessed her saying…’

‘Sister, may you become the mother of many millions! May your descendants overcome all their enemies.’ (PAUSE)

‘Isaac was in the south of Canaan when we came home. It is a dry, dusty and open landscape. He saw us coming from a long way off and started towards us to welcome us.’

‘Rebekah saw Isaac coming towards us. She got down from her camel and asked me who it was that was coming to meet us?

I smiled, ‘It is my master – Isaac.’ Quickly, as was the custom during that time, Rebekah covered her face with a veil. And when we arrived, I told Isaac about all the Lord had done for me on my long journey north.’ (PAUSE)

‘And so Isaac took Rebekah as his wife, and loved her very much. And she was a special comfort to him after the death of his mother.’

Episode 11 – Abraham – Too much to ask?

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 22 verses 1 – 14

Abraham – Too much to ask?

By the time Abraham’s son Isaac was born, Abraham was an old man. For many years he and his wife Sarah had waited for God to keep His promise that they would have a son. And, when it seemed that there was no hope they’d ever have a child, God visited Abraham and Sarah and promised they’d have a son within a year. And sure enough, a year later their precious son Isaac was born.

Abraham and Sarah loved Isaac with all their hearts. Through Him God had said He would keep His other promises to Abraham … to make a great nation from his children’s children, to bless all nations through his descendants … to one day deal with the problem of evil and death once and for all. Isaac was the child through whom these promises would be passed on. And he was very precious to his parents. (P)

Over the years Abraham had learnt to trust God whatever happened. When, in the past, he’d not listened to God and tried to deal with problems in his own way, it’d led to disaster. But when he obeyed God, even when it was hard, things worked out. So, Abraham learned from his mistakes and became the friend of God.

Isaac was growing up to be a fine young man and God saw how much Abraham loved him. So God decided He would test Abraham to see if he loved God most of all. He was going to ask Abraham to do something very difficult. If Abraham obeyed God and did it, He’d know Abraham loved Him more than anything else. But if Abraham didn’t do it, He’d know Abraham didn’t really love Him as much as he should.

‘Abraham.’ God’s voice was like that of an old friend.

‘Yes, my Lord.’

‘Abraham, take your son Isaac whom you love so very much…’

Abraham listened even more closely now because God was talking about Isaac. ‘Take your son Isaac to the land of Moriah.’ (Moriah was a 3 day walk away.) ‘When you get there I will show you a mountain. On that mountain I want you to sacrifice Isaac. Kill him and burn his body as an offering to me.’

Kill his son? Kill Isaac through whom God had said He was going to keep His promises? How could this be? Surely Abraham wasn’t going to do such a horrible and evil thing. How could he live with himself? … What about God’s promises? … It simply didn’t make any sense.

As these thoughts rushed through Abraham’s mind, he also knew he couldn’t stop trusting God. Through all these years God had faithfully looked after him and his family. It hadn’t always been easy, but God had never let them down. Abraham knew that even though he couldn’t understand why God wanted this, he could still trust Him. God had spoken, and Abraham was going to obey.

Early the next morning, Abraham woke Isaac. ‘God’s asked us to go and offer Him a sacrifice. We have to travel to Moriah so we need an early start. Come on, let’s get some wood.’

The journey to Moriah was long and slow. Abraham traveled much of the way in silence, and with each step he offered a silent prayer to God, trying to understand why God should ask him to kill his son. God had said that the promises He’d given Abraham would be passed on through Isaac. But how could they if Isaac was dead? Round and round the questions went in Abraham’s head. He pleaded with God to let him understand, but God remained silent as Abraham took each painful step of the journey, with the knife dangling at his side as a constant reminder of what was to come.

After three days traveling they saw the mountain Isaac was to be sacrificed on. The small party stopped and Abraham took some wood and put it on Isaac’s back.

‘Stay here,’ Abraham said to the servants who’d come with them. ‘The boy and I are going to go on to worship God. When we’ve finished we’ll come back to you here.’

What was Abraham saying? How could he and the boy ‘come back’ when he was going to sacrifice Isaac? What was going through the old man’s mind?

After they’d walked a while in silence, Isaac asked, ‘Dad, I’ve brought the wood, and you’ve got the knife, but where’s the lamb we’re going to sacrifice?’

The old man, who’s heart felt so heavy that he struggled to take each step, looked across at his dear son. (P) ‘Don’t worry Isaac,’ he said, ‘God’ll provide.’

When they got to the mountain they looked for a suitable place to make the sacrifice. ‘How about here Dad?’ Isaac had found the right place.

‘It looks fine to me son.’ Abraham was so proud of his son. ‘Let’s get some stones to make the altar.’ The two of them collected some rocks to make a small platform, and then Abraham took the wood and placed it on top.

What they talked about as they made the altar and arranged the wood, I don’t know. Isaac was no longer a small child, but a young man. And Abraham was no longer a young man, being well over 100.

Isaac must have seen it coming. He could’ve struggled or run away, but he didn’t. When Abraham came to tie him up and lay him on the altar, Isaac trusted his father. Somehow he must have known, like his father, that God was in control. (P)

In the quietness of that mountain clearing a young lad lay, bound and unable to move, on a small pile of sticks, heaped on top of a small pile of rocks. Beside him, his father, tears rolling down his face, started to kneel as he forced himself on, to obey God’s terrible request. Both looked at each other – a father asked to do the impossible – a son, trusting beyond what he could see or even understand. Both knew it was what God had asked and both trusted that God would still keep His promises even though it looked as if it was about to become impossible.

The old man ran his trembling hand lovingly through his son’s hair. He felt so old now, so old and alone. – But even though he felt alone, he knew that God was with him.

Abraham’s hand reached for the knife, his eyes never leaving those of his son. With an almost superhuman effort he pulled the knife up. Then, tearing his eyes away from Isaac’s, his body tensed – and with a deep breath…

‘Abraham – Abraham.’ God’s voice boomed out across the mountain breaking Abraham’s concentration.

‘Yes … I’m – I’m listening.’

‘Stop, don’t hurt the boy! Put the knife down because now I know that above anything else you love me. When I asked, you didn’t hold back what was more precious to you than anything else … your only son Isaac.’

Quickly the old man untied the ropes and hugged his son, the two of them laughing and crying with joy. – Even though the boy hadn’t actually died, it was just as if Abraham had received him back from the dead.

Then, looking over behind the small altar they’d made, Abraham saw a sheep caught by its horns in a bush. (P) God had supplied the sacrifice after all.