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October 26, 2025 20 mins

# 15 - Abram's Covenant - In this episode of The Chosen People experience the profound moment when God makes an unbreakable covenant with Abram, promising descendants as numerous as the stars. This pivotal event marks the beginning of a divine relationship that shapes the destiny of nations and echoes through the ages.

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Episode 15 of The Chosen People is inspired by the Book of Genesis.

Today's opening prayer is inspired by Deuteronomy 31:6, “... For it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Previously on the Chosen People.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Tell me more about this visitor at the perimeter. Did
you learn his name?

Speaker 3 (00:09):
He calls himself Melchizedek, King of Salem.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
King Melchizedek, you honor us with your visit. Tell us
what have you come to say?

Speaker 4 (00:21):
I am a king, yes, but I am also a
high priest.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
A priest of what God.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
El Elion, the one and only true God. There is
the one who created both the heavens and the earth.
He has many names, but he is one God, The
God most High, is what I call him before you. Now,
this is the God of Abraham, the God who has

(00:49):
given him favor in his land. He is the god
who blesses his friends and curses his enemies. This is
the God who has granted you your victories and destroyed
your enemies before you.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Melchizedek then stood gently, placing his hands on Abram's shoulders,
closed his eyes, and began his blessing.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
Blessed be Abram by God most High, creator of heaven
and earth. In him, you and your great nation will
have a protector and provider.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
The King of Sodom wore a dark robe with crimson
threads woven into an image of a three headed serpent.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Do not fear, Abram, call off your amorite god. Docs
I told you had come to make a generous offer.
I see you have all our possessions and people, but
I will allow you to keep all the possessions. Call
it an act of gratitude, a good will, even for
destroying our enemies and avenging Hosody.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Abram smiled. There it was, this was what the king wanted,
giving up the possessions he lost in a raid to
gain a friend, to curry favor with Abram and the Emirates.
King Bearer was looking to own Abram through this gift.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
As my friends know, I have devoted my life to
the God Most High. All I have is his, and
all I do is in his name. My victories are
his and not my own. So it is to him
that you should be grateful, and not me. My possessions
are the same. Everything I own is his. I'm not

(02:41):
a self made man. Therefore I have little taste for
ambitious friendships, and I would not take even a thread
or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you. I
see the invisible strings attached to them. I will sever
them now and give you what is yours. I will

(03:02):
not allow you or anyone to say I made Abram rich.
I cannot be owned because I am already under the
lordship of another. Then you don't bear ra that you

(03:26):
would never be on my hip.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
That's insight.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
I hope never to forget. I will allow you or
anyone to say I made Apron rich. Oh Abron, that
was masterful.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
I should say that King Birah would not soon forget
it either.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Abram and his three emirate companions had finally returned home
to Hebron. They dined together and toasted their recent adventures.
Everyone had heard of their exploits and learned of their victories,
hailing them as mighty warriors. They soon have found themselves

(04:06):
something akin to celebrities. The Amirates returned wealthier than ever,
while Abram declined his share of the rescued plunder from Sodom.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I may not understand this god you follow, Abramam. I
certainly don't understand your strange devotion to him, but I
appreciate how rich he's made me.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Here.

Speaker 4 (04:27):
Perhaps I too shall worship this god of money.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
If he makes us say any richer, one of our
sons will be plotting our demise to take control of
our fortunes faster.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
If I had known.

Speaker 6 (04:39):
How rich I would become, I never would have had any.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
I do not expect you to understand, but be careful
how you speak of such things. I have seen the
power of God Most High firsthand, and in direct ways
you have as well.

Speaker 5 (04:57):
Oh, I'm sorry, we need disrespect.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Okay, But but what if the wealth and influence you
have amassed. You may have turned down your sheriff King
Bear's possessions, but you are still a very wealthy man,
and you speak often about your legacy and the nation
you are building. I do not mean to overreach, but
how do you plan to secure your line of inheritance
without a son or any children? For that matter?

Speaker 2 (05:22):
Have you named an air or easy to be our man, Eliezer?
Isn't it a custom among you Hebrews that the most
senior servant in your household stands to inherit if there
is no heir of your own flesh or life. Yes,
that is a tradition among my people. We call them
the possessor, heir or son of possession. But no, I

(05:46):
will not pass on what has been given to me
to Eliezer, my God has promised me that Sarah and
I will have a son or Eliezer. I imagine he's
become quite accustomed to the idea.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
At this point.

Speaker 6 (06:02):
But how Abram.

Speaker 4 (06:04):
Forgive me, but you are over eighty years old.

Speaker 6 (06:08):
And Sarah is only ten years younger. She is certainly fair,
but I don't think even an Egyptian fertility ritual could
summon an air from her room at this late stage
in her life.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I hear your concern, ainair Escole, I really do. I
do not know how it will come to pass, but
my God has promised it, and I've yet to see
anything he tells me not come to pass.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
Brothers, let's not push Abram on this matter.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Well us tornanderingk of other things here.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
The hour was late when Abram at last departed from
Memory's household, and despite the lateness of the hour, he
decided to walk around the long way home through the
now deserted streets of the city. He did not want
to admitted, but the conversation with his friends had shaken him.
He knew his friends meant well and they did not

(07:07):
mean to offend him, but it had been almost ten
years since his God had promised him a son. And
though the God Most High had not specified a time
in which this was to happen, and though he did
not doubt the words, he still wondered at the mechanics
of how Abram had never expected others to have the

(07:30):
same faith as him, but he was surprised to find
how alienating it was for his friends to vocalize their doubts.
Would he spend the rest of his life defending this promise?
His friends had been gentle. He could only imagine what
his enemy said of him behind his back, but he

(07:50):
could not deny that their lack of belief was a blow.
Was he to carry this legacy alone? Just then, as
had happened all those other times before, the quiet city
went utterly still and silent, and Abram knew that his
God was about to speak to him. Abram steadied his

(08:12):
breath and heartbeat. He turned his face toward the hills.
The breeze blew from behind him, as if to ludge
him forward.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
Abraham, do not be anxious, and do not worry about
the opinions of others, for you are not alone. I
am your shield. Your friends seek only temporal rewards riches
of this world, but your reward will be far greater.

(08:49):
I have not forgotten about the promise I have made.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
You, God most High, I know what you have promised me.
But how can you blame my friends for questioning? I
have no children. Will I truly need to settle with Eliezer,
a mere servant becoming my heir? Is that how what
you have said will come to pass?

Speaker 5 (09:14):
No, this man will not be your heir. You will
have a son who is your own flesh and blood,
and he will be your heir. I want you to
listen to me. Go outside the city walls. Meet me
in the quiet, under the canopy of stars. There I

(09:36):
shall speak to you.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Abram obeyed, hurrying beyond the city's boundaries, the verdant families
darkened under the velvet skies. Abram knelt down, bawling the
grass in his fists. He was anxious to hear more
from his God. He strained to listen, thirsty for an
ounce of clarity, He gave east up at the heavens,

(10:01):
the stars shining with a cold, distant light.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
What is my destiny?

Speaker 5 (10:08):
What would be my lucy? Do you see the stars
spread across the heavens far above your head?

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Abram nodded, his brows creased upward, desperation painted on his
starlit face.

Speaker 5 (10:22):
Can you count the stars, Abram?

Speaker 1 (10:25):
Abram shook his head uncertain.

Speaker 5 (10:28):
You cannot, for there are too many. It is impossible.
It is to be the same with your offspring. The
great nation I shall make through your air would be
as innumerable as the stars in the night sky.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Abram could again sense the certainty, the absolute and unexplainable
peace that accompanied his God's words. Abram believed, although he
was still uncertain about how these things would come to pass.

Speaker 5 (11:02):
I am the God Most High, the God who brought
you out from Er. I have laid out my plans
for you and have been your advocate since before you
even heard my voice. I called you and was with
you in Haran, Egypt and Canaan, everywhere you have ever

(11:25):
set foot. And I say I will give you this
land to possess.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Ellarleon, God most High. I believe the words you have
said to me. But how am I to know that
I will possess it?

Speaker 5 (11:42):
But you also believe I will do as I say.
Your faith will be credited to you as righteousness. You
ask for more than a contract. You ask for a
covenant in your common tongue. A covenant is between us
that would signify a permanent, everlasting agreement between us. This

(12:10):
I will gladly do. Come to me here in this
place tomorrow before sunset, and bring the following with you,
so we may make our covenant. A three year old cow,
a three year old female goat, a three year old ram,

(12:31):
a turtle, dove, and a young pigeon. Our covenant will
be between the God of all creation and you, my creation.
I will come down to cut a covenant in the
ways of your people, but this will be something else entirely.

(12:52):
This covenant between us will be something new, the likes
of which human kind has never seen before.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Abram did exactly as his God said. He acquired the
sacrificial animals required to cut the covenant between them and
brought them back to the place and time the God
Most High had specified. Abram had seen his God doing
credible things, but that he would enter into this agreement

(13:25):
with him was truly remarkable. As the agreement required. Abram
sacrificed the animals and cut them in half from head
to tail. The blood dripped down the blade and down
his forearm. The blood was warm and unsettling, on his skin.
The goare was significant. The lives of innocence were given

(13:48):
as a symbol of the purity of their covenant. The
only animals he did not cut in half were the birds.
He then laid the pieces the bloody side, facing upwards
on either side. Abram knew this ritual, shadows of it
were passed down since the ancient days. The crimson stained

(14:09):
space between animals was the symbolic walkway for their covenant,
the walk unto death. Once the ritual began, the representatives
would circle the halved pieces and go through the walkway
to signify that if either representative were to break the
covenant and something similar would be done to them. Abram

(14:34):
had not seen his god take a form, so he wondered.

Speaker 5 (14:37):
How this portion of the ritual.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
Would be achieved. As he dragged the animals into place,
would Melchisideck return, Would an angel descend from above? Abram
stood back from his work and watched the blood from
the carcasses seep into the earth, some of it flowing
into the middle of the walkway. As he waited for

(14:59):
his god, birds of prey began to circle above. They
grew bold in hunger and dove before Abram for the
sacrificed animals. Their talons and beaks hungrily picked at the
carcasses away, would you yes? Abram ran at the birds
like a fool, flapping his arms and screaming. The birds,

(15:22):
relatively unperturbed, retreated to a nearby tree and waited. Abram
laughed and shook his head. He stretched and yawned, wondering
if God would show himself. He laid back and waited,
his eyes sinking with each blink. As the sun slipped
beyond the horizon, a terrible and unnatural darkness swirled around him,

(15:46):
far darker than it should be at dusk. Abram was
then pulled into a deep sleep and fell to the ground.
Abram saw nothing, but heard the voice of his God
from the depths of his dream.

Speaker 5 (16:00):
I will give you a new vision of what is
to come for four hundred years. Not unlike you, your
descendants will be strangers in a country that is not
their own. But unlike you, they will be slaves backs
bruised by their oppressors. Do not fear, for I am

(16:26):
a just God, and I will wield my judgment and
punish the nation they serv'd as slaves. After this trial,
they will come out with many possessions and be restor'd.
Just as you feared that the birds would alter the

(16:47):
workings of our covenant, I tell you nothing can alter
my judgment and restoration, and so despite oppression and mistreatment,
the covenant will be fulfilled. All that I have said
will come to pass. But do not fear what is

(17:09):
to come. You, Abram, will go to your ancestors in
peace and be buried at a good old age. Do
not fret over the sins and wickedness of the people
in Canaan. I see it and will judge. In the
fourth generation. Your descendants will come back here. For the

(17:32):
sin of the Amorites, the Canaanites alike has not yet
reached its full measure. I will wait until the proper time,
But rest assured my judgment will come.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
The God Most High's voice dissolv'd into nothing. Out of
the darkness, a smoking firepod, an oven, and a flaming
torch appeared. The light emitting from the pair of objects
cast a warm glow. Abram watched the shadowy outlines of
the harved animal carcasses in the walkway between them. The

(18:12):
oven and the torch together as one passed through the pieces,
completing the walk unto death. As they drew near to
Abram where he lay, he could feel the heat of
their cleansing purifying flames from within his dream.

Speaker 5 (18:29):
Again, I say to you, you are to take this
as a blessing to signify the beginning of our former
covenant to your descendants. I give this land from the
Wadi of Egypt to the great River the Euphrates, the
land of the Kenites, Kenzites, Calamanites, Hittites, Perizites, Raephonites, Amorites, Canaanites, Gergoshites,

(18:57):
and Jebusites.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
By witnessing all of this in a dream, he knew
that the items were meant to represent his God to
his human mind. His God had completed the ritual alone,
releasing Abram from any responsibility beyond his faith. He wondered
at a God who would go to such lengths to

(19:20):
fulfill the most profound gesture to his Hebrew culture, just
so that he would feel reassured of the promises made.
Abram marveled at what this meant for himself and the
generations that would come after him. This prey dog comproduction

(19:44):
is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents.
Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schlabager and Ben Gammon are
the executive producers of The Chosen People. Narrated by Paul Coltefianu.
Characters are voiced by Jonathan Gotton, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz,
Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher,

(20:09):
and Mitch Leshinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by
Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. You can hear
more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot Com app,
available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
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