Episodes
Friday Feb 09, 2024
Friday Feb 09, 2024
THE FINAL EPISODE!
This episode clips along at a pretty good pace - a lot to see and hear about, but this recounting of events matches the feeling of trekking across Israel, barely making it into the country of Jordan, and seeing all there is to see before getting out of the country. It all blurred together and happened so quickly that, despite having 3 days in Jordan, it felt more like wandering in the wilderness trying to make our way home, just like the Israelites did thousands of years before.
The border crossing was a nightmare but I got a good story out of it. Jordan itself didn't exactly endear itself to me despite the fact that I am, genuinely, glad that I went. Some of the hostility we came across was, no doubt, due to the recent aggression towards Israel and the long-held aggression between Islam and Judaism, but some was just indicative of a terse and aggressive people.
Petra was all that it's hyped up to be. Stunning formations built right into the sandstone from an ancient peopled called the Nabateans, possibly related or allied with the Edomites of the Bible.
Mt. Nebo was surreal, to survey the promised land with a longing for it as we also felt like strangers in a strange land, drew me closer to Moses than I've ever been up to this point.
Tel Al Hammam seems to be the more scientifically verifiable site of Sodom. Even though it didn't seem to fit the picture I had in my head, scholarship seems to be working its way towards a consensus that this is the correct historical site.
After a long few days of wandering through the desert, seeing some of the most incredible things on Earth, staying in amazing hotels, and trying different food, we had rebooked our flights out of the modern city of Amman and made it out safely. Though so many had difficulty getting out of the Middle East, my dad and I were so fortunate to have even better flight plans open up to us than the ones we had originally booked.
All in all, this trip to Israel and Jordan was absolutely life changing. I hope by listening through this series you're motivated to travel there yourself or study the Biblical text through the lens of the land of the Bible which offers so much clarity to the stories it contains. Thanks so much for listening!
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Friday Feb 02, 2024
Friday Feb 02, 2024
OUR FINAL DAYS IN ISRAEL!
I am feeling almost as sad about this as I was at the time of actually leaving Israel. However, all good things must come to an end and this is no exception.
Of course, this series won't be over with this episode because we still traveled into Jordan and there's a lot to talk about there that I'd be remiss not to mention.
On Day 13 in Israel we visited the two primary proposed sites of Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and resurrection: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb. Despite the Church of the Holy Sepulcher being steeped in mystical, Catholic tradition (contrary to my upbringing and Western mindset) and my bias being against it as the actual site of Jesus' death, the evidence was fairly strong in favor of it. Interestingly, my bias was, originally, leaning towards the Garden Tomb, but I had a change of heart after visiting each site. Which of these two, if either, do you see as the most likely site?
We also had a few hours to have lunch and do some shopping in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem which led to me being absolutely duped out of about 5 bucks from a young kid named Ryan and his brother Abu. I may come out looking ridiculous from this exchange but, overall, I count it as a positive experience.
Day 14 saw the horrific attacks on Israel by Hamas that had us all on edge but never feeling exactly unsafe. It was surreal to be witness to some of the conflict that goes on in Israel by virtue of them being surrounded by people with antithetical beliefs, cultures, and views and my heart still goes out to them as they continue to struggle against terrorism in their nation.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Friday Jan 26, 2024
Friday Jan 26, 2024
The temple mount was a surreal experience. To have stood closer to the proposed spot of the Holy of Holies than most of my biblical heroes could have in their time was humbling. Being there while it was almost deserted was ethereal. Picturing the layout of the first century scenery was enlightening. Standing at the Dome of the Rock, facing the Mt. of Olives, and looking up at the sky where Jesus says He'll return from was amazing.
We continued this slower-paced, contemplative day by walking to the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed a lame man, stopping by at the Church of St. Anne to sing a song and speak with the attending priest on the way. The pools are all dried up now, but the porches can be made out affirming the biblical account.
A few of us had the opportunity to drive deeper into the West Bank to see the biblical city of Shiloh. Fairly incredible to, in one day, see Israel's two primary capital cities where the ark of the covenant was housed. We also were fortunate enough to get a behind the scenes look at the red heifers being kept for a potential, future purification of a priesthood in the event that a third temple is built.
To round out the day, several of us were dropped off at the Jaffa Gate to see a lightshow telling the story of King David projected onto the walls of the City of David itself. We didn't quite know what to expect from this going in but, considering the night was cool and pleasant and the story was incredibly relevant to the setting, it was an awesome way to spend an evening before walking back through Jerusalem to our hotel.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Friday Jan 19, 2024
Trip to Israel: Day 11a, b, and c: Masada, Qumran, and the Dead Sea
Friday Jan 19, 2024
Friday Jan 19, 2024
Masada is one of the most sobering stories in Jewish history. The final stand of the first Jewish Revolt following the destruction of the temple by Rome saw 960 inhabitants kill themselves rather than be captured or defeated by their enemies. To this day, the swearing in ceremony of the Israeli military swears that what happened at Masada will never be repeated.
Qumran isn't much to look at, though the rock formations are beautiful, but what this location means for the trust we can have in the accuracy of the Hebrew Bible is monumental. Despite only being a few caves in a cliff face, the accompanying story of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is incredible considering it wasn't archeologists, scientists, or researchers who found them, but a shepherd boy watching after his flock.
Floating in the Dead Sea (Arabah or the Salt Sea as it's found in Scripture) is one of the coolest experiences, but it's a taxing process to get all the way down to that elevation through throngs of people. It's a story to say the least!
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
**LINK TO PICTURES DOWN BELOW**
Day 10 was, by far, our busiest day in Israel. For one, the buses couldn't follow us into the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem so, basically, we were a walking tour for most of the day. Looking back, I'm surprised by how familiarized I was with the layout of the city by the end of this day. Even though it just felt like endless stairs and turns down outdoor corridors opening up into various sites and quarters, and a lot of the sides of the retaining walls to the Temple Mount look the same, even just having one focal point for cardinal directions has really helped me out a lot!
The difficult thing about Jerusalem is just how tightly packed everything is. The beautiful thing about Jerusalem is just how tightly packed everything is. It's hard to discern between one amazing, significant site and the next, but you can see so much in such a short window of time. \
We started the day in the valley between Jerusalem and the Mt. of Olives so we could see the proposed location of the Garden of Gethsemane. From there, we marched up to the old city of Jerusalem and walked around the higher elevation portions of the city before walking down into the City of David and, ultimately, descending again through Hezekiah's Tunnel.
An incredible, busy day. Hope you enjoy listening!
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Prior to leaving the region of Galilee we stopped at Beit She'an, the historical location where Saul and his son's bodies were hung by the Philistines after they died at Mt. Gilboa. I took a bit of detour from the main group to climb to the top which made me feel anxious but turned out alright.
We, then, drove south to Jerusalem, passing Jericho on the way. Finally seeing the city itself was definitely worth having its own section in the episode, and our first stop in the city itself was the Israel Museum.
This museum is laid out much like other museums are but this stop, in particular, did an amazing thing in both orienting us to the layout of the city as well as tying together loose ends from the previous sites we had visited. The Israel museum has the most impressive archeological finds from the entire land of Israel. Each artifact was a tying together of all we had seen up to this point.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Friday Dec 29, 2023
Friday Dec 29, 2023
Day 8 was our last full day in the region of Galilee before heading down/up to Jerusalem for the remainder of the Feast of Tabernacles.
In this episode we'll walk through the proclamation by Peter when he stated at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. We'll also talk about how the landscape of this area plays a big part in interpreting this conversation between Jesus and His disciples.
At Tel Dan, we walk through an ancient city viewing the ruins of an altar set up by Jeroboam at the time of the division between Judah and Israel and discuss some impressive archeological finds from this area.
To end the day we drove within a mile of the Syrian border - a place where, just a few years prior to this visit, would have seen us shot at. We also took a detour to an army base turned memorial for lost soldiers during the Six-Day War.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Trip to Israel: Day 7: The Sabbath and Magdala
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
On this day in Israel we balanced resting on the Sabbath day (seeing what that looked like on a national scale) and still seeing some incredible sites. Specifically, we visited the town of Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene, where we strolled through the ruins and learned about the first century synagogue uncovered there. It's likely that Jesus Himself would have taught at this synagogue at some point.
The most important biblical/historical/archeological find here is known as the Magdala Stone which depicts temple instruments as they would have looked prior to its destruction in 70AD. This is one of the earliest and most well preserved proofs we have of temple practices in the first century and before.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
Logo: Matt Hernandez
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Friday Dec 15, 2023
Friday Dec 15, 2023
Friday, just prior to the Sabbath, we had a full day of touring in Israel. The biblical site of Hazor was first on the agenda. This is one of the largest archeological sites in all of Israel and is also one of the earliest, in-tact sites.
The Mt. of Beatitudes, though less certain that Jesus would have actually spoken at exactly this location, is home to a beautiful church overlooking the sea of Galilee. It's a nice place to reflect on Jesus' words and, if it isn't the place Jesus spoke His famous sermon, it's reminiscent of it.
Capernaum might have been my favorite place in all of Israel. Authentic, well preserved, concrete ties to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ - what else could a Bible nerd want in an archeological site?
The "Jesus Boat" has no concrete ties to Jesus but is a first century fishing boat dug up from the sea of Galilee. It really was a cool connection to the past.
The boat ride on the sea of Galilee wasn't terribly impressive from a storytelling point of view, but there was beautiful scenery and it was nice to be able to orient ourselves around the lake.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
Friday Dec 08, 2023
Trip to Israel: Day 5a, b, and c: Caesarea Maritime, Mt. Carmel, and Megiddo
Friday Dec 08, 2023
Friday Dec 08, 2023
The rest of our group joined us on this day for our touring and trip up to the Galilee region. First, we stopped at Caesarea Maritime to see another of Herod's constructions. Paul was on trial in this area and was, presumably, sent to Rome from here. This was also the site of Rabbi Akiva's death in the 130s A.D.
On Mt. Carmel we got a panoramic view of the various mountains in Israel and a lesson in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Ba'al.
Our last stop of the day was Megiddo where many believe the final gathering of the armies of mankind will take place. In this episode I outline a few reasons that some scholars have seen this as a misreading of the text and offer up a potential solution to the problem.
The end of our day was spent driving to Tiberias and checking into our hotel overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
Pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zlyZDyWOWUf8rumN2_YW2jW3FpVOkXXN?usp=drive_link
Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly