Thank you very much.
Thank you.
How's it going, old friend?
How you doing?
Good to see you.
Hey, Pastor.
How you doing?
Good to see you.
You ready for this?
Yeah.
So I know this might surprise a lot of you,
but Pastor Anderson, myself, and Paul Wittenberger
are on our way to the Holy Land.
So our goal is gonna be to just visit
as many biblical sites as we can on this trip.
Just, you know, in the seven, eight days
that we're there, just cram in as many biblical sites
as we possibly can.
We want to go to Bethlehem, Hebron,
Samaria, Jericho,
the Jordan River, the Dead Sea.
And I'm planning on smiting the Jordan River
with a mantle
and crying out,
where's the Lord God of Elijah?
So one thing I'm looking forward
to seeing on this trip is Mount Ebal
and Mount Gerizim,
where you have the blessing and the cursing.
This is, of course, where Moses
basically explained to the children of Israel
what would happen to them if they followed
and obeyed God's commandments,
how they would be blessed.
And then if they didn't, how they would be cursed.
And it even comes up later in Scripture
in the book of Joshua,
where it says,
the Lord God of Elijah
comes up later in Scripture in the book of Joshua
after the whole Achan story
where Joshua kind of just
reinstructs the people with those two mountains.
So I'm really looking forward to seeing that.
I've always liked that
story and when it comes up in Scripture
and just the lessons we can learn
and how God dealt with the children of Israel
in the Old Testament.
So I wonder what the
certified leader
of a hate group is going to choose.
Is he going to go on Mount Ebal?
Or is he going to rise him?
Which one is he going to climb first?
I think positive only is going to go on the blessings
and then the hate preachers are going on the cursing.
So I'm going on the blessing
and you're going on the cursing.
It's going to be interesting to see whether the Israeli government lets me in.
Because I've been banned from five countries
and if anybody ever had a reason to ban me,
it's probably the Israeli government.
Chances are really good that he's going to be banned.
I feel like my chances are 50-50.
Better than average.
I don't know.
You've been banned from Canada.
Oh man.
He's not us.
Not this time.
You guys tired?
Yes.
How do you feel?
Horrible.
We're almost done with a ten hour flight.
Eleven hour flight.
Barely any coffee.
Alright, ten hours into the flight.
It's the first time I'm getting out of my seat.
Exact opposite of how Paul travels.
Oh man, my legs.
Alright, we have landed.
We're here.
Are you excited Pastor?
I'm excited.
It's going to be a great trip.
Looks like we found a country that I'm not banned from.
Alright, so here we are.
It's the first morning of our trip.
This is really the first day that we're going to have a full day to go out and do stuff
because we got in last night after it was already dark
and we had dinner here at the restaurant.
The food was amazing.
I slept pretty well.
I'm pretty happy that I was able to sleep four or five hours.
Yeah, nobody else slept but I got a great night's sleep.
And so we're about to have breakfast and we're going to get after it.
I mean we got a lot on the itinerary today.
We're going to hit like five biblical sites
and I don't really know what to expect.
I've never been to the Middle East.
I've never been to this part of the world at all.
I don't know what it's going to be like.
I know what the Bible says about these stories
but it's going to be really interesting actually being in these places.
So I give a totally different perspective from what our imagination has told us
about what these places are like.
So Pastor Anderson, myself, Paul Whittenberger and Brother Abdul Khan
are going to be your tour guides to the biblical sites in the Holy Land.
Alright, so we're going to go to Mount Nebo.
Then we're going to the baptism site of Jesus.
Then we're going to the ruins of Herod's palace.
Then we're going to Lot's cave.
And then we're going to end up swimming in the Dead Sea
because you get kind of encrusted with all the salt and everything
so it's better to do that toward the end of the day.
That way we can head to the hotel and get washed off
in case we can't find a public shower.
That's pretty neat, huh?
A rolling stone door.
That's cool, right?
So this round stone here was actually used as a door in the medieval period.
So this kind of gives you a picture of what it was like
when the stone was rolled away from the door of Jesus' tomb.
This is the same kind of a stone being used for a door.
Now we have a nice view for the landscape of Moab.
And I'll show you what Moses brings down in the valley.
And I'll show you Amman in particular from here.
Sounds good.
So we're at the top of Mount Nebo.
This is actually where Moses was given that view of the Promised Land
before he died.
And he looked out across here.
Today you can't see as much because of the haze.
But God brought him up in the mountain and showed him.
And on a clear day you can actually see all the way to the edge of Jerusalem.
But what we're looking at here, this fertile green area on this side of the Jordan,
is where Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ended up settling.
If you remember, they liked it so much they didn't even want to cross the Jordan
and go into the Promised Land itself.
They wanted to stay on this side.
And this is where those two and a half tribes ended up living.
And then beyond Jordan is the Promised Land itself
where the nation of Israel was established.
In Deuteronomy 34.1 the Bible says,
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo,
to the top of Pisgah that is over against Jericho.
And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan.
And it goes on to talk about how God showed him the land that he promised to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob.
But in verse number 5 it says this,
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab,
according to the word of the Lord.
And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab,
over against Bethpeor, but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
So this is where we're at. This is where that event took place.
Moses got to look over into the Promised Land.
You can see the Jordan River.
And you have to remember that his entire life and ministry was leading up to this point.
To lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land.
All of the work, all of the sacrifice that he went through.
And then it's taken away from him.
He's not allowed to enter in.
But God in his mercy brought him up to this mountain
and at least allowed him to look into the Promised Land.
And this is where we're standing. This is what we're seeing.
We are able to see the same view that Moses saw right before he died.
Next stop is the place where Jesus was baptized.
This was baptized.
So we took a shuttle over from the parking lot
and now we're walking down to the Jordan River to where Jesus was baptized.
This is Jordan River.
And over the mountain this is Jerusalem.
25 kilometers in Jerusalem in the Jordan River.
And this way here was a genicule.
It's very close the borders with genicule on the Jordan River.
Jordan River we start in Mount Hermon, Jolan, Galilee.
After it's Galilee, this is the name of the town.
This is Bethany.
And after it's Bethany, it flows down in the Dead Sea.
And actually with the Jordan River, actually before, it's very big.
It's very wide.
And we now use shore.
Under the side we take in the water using agriculture and irrigation.
So we're here at the Jordan River near the site where Jesus was baptized.
The Bible says,
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up a straight way out of the water,
and lo, the heavens were opened unto him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.
And behold, a voice from heaven, saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
So this is one of the great Trinitarian passages in the Bible.
You've got Jesus Christ the Son, being the Son of God.
The Holy Ghost, lighting upon him.
And the voice from God the Father in heaven, saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And this place is not only historic and important because it's where Jesus was baptized.
It's also because this is where Jesus began his ministry.
This is where the Bible tells us that John saw Jesus coming,
and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.
This is where he literally began his ministry.
Well, the good news is, this is where Jesus was baptized.
The bad news is, there's no water there, because in the summertime it's all dried up.
But the spot is between the four pillars here.
It's refreshing.
It's perfect.
It's pretty hot, so this water feels great.
So this is the Jordan River. This is the kind of water that Jesus was baptized in.
It's kind of salty, and it's definitely brown water.
You can see why Naaman the Syrian turned up his nose at dipping in the Jordan River seven times.
This is the reed shaken by the wind.
Yeah, it is.
Right?
Paul, why'd you come out in the wilderness to see a reed shaken with the wind?
But it makes sense that Jesus would use that illustration,
because he was baptized here with John the Baptist.
That was on his mind, obviously, about the reed shaken with the wind,
talking about preachers that are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.
So this is the actual plant where that illustration comes from.
So we just got done with the site where Jesus was baptized,
and now we're headed to Herod's fortress, where John the Baptist was beheaded.
And of course, this is one of our hard preaching, hate preacher forefathers,
and we're going to go see where he spent his last days.
So we're on the road up to Herod's fortress.
If you see behind me, you'll see the road that leads up to the castle.
And this is where John the Baptist was imprisoned and eventually beheaded.
And it's just kind of a surreal feeling to know that we're walking down the road
that John the Baptist walked 2,000 years ago.
We know that when John got up to this prison, he had some doubts
and some questions that he needed to basically be reaffirmed.
And just walking this road, I can kind of see as he was, I'm sure, in chains
or however he was being bound, and being led up to this fortress,
just kind of in the middle of nowhere, I can see why even a great giant of the faith,
like John the Baptist, went through a low point in his life
where he just kind of needed to be reaffirmed about some things.
And in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 2, the Bible says this,
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ,
he sent two of his disciples.
This is the exact prison where John was when he sent two of his disciples
to ask Jesus a very specific question.
In verse 3 it says,
And he said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do here and see.
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk.
The lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear.
The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Now it sounds like Jesus is kind of rebuking John,
but in verse number 7, the story continues,
And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitude concerning John,
What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
In verse number 11 he goes on to say,
Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
Not withstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
And you know, it's a great lesson for us to realize that while John was sitting in prison,
maybe feeling like things weren't going well, or maybe that he had failed,
Jesus would say of him at that time,
Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
And you know, for us as New Testament believers today,
we may go through persecution, we may go through low times where we feel like maybe we're failing,
but as long as we're preaching what God has called us to preach,
you know, as long as Jesus is happy with our ministry, then that's all that matters.
And that's what I think about while John was sitting here feeling low,
Jesus would make those great statements about John the Baptist, and we should take that to heart.
.
Look at all the salt. It's just all along the bank here.
Crazy.
Oh, man, this water is so warm.
Oh, man.
It burns.
I can't even open the hole.
My lips are just, like, burning.
This is not like the ocean.
Good night.
Don't get wet, hun.
I don't think you're supposed to put your face in it.
I think that's why no one else does.
Are you okay?
No.
This is me levitating Indian style.
I can sit Indian style and I'm just floating.
I mean, you couldn't swim down if you tried.
It's crazy.
It's really weird.
I mean, like, no hands, no feet, guys.
Yeah.
I think to experience anything weirder than this, you'd probably have to actually go to space.
This is like the most weightless you can get on the planet.
This is actually the lowest point on planet Earth, and there's nothing else like it.
And this place is huge.
Like, we drove down the Dead Sea today for hours, and it just goes on and on.
It's just this massive body of water with an insane salt content.
And you can float in any position.
You can float standing up.
You can float Indian style.
Oh, man, I just got some of that salt water.
Oh, now I'm burning again.
Cut, cut.
So we're here at the Dead Sea, and the Bible mentions the Dead Sea many times.
It doesn't really factor into any Bible story, but the Bible calls it the Salt Sea,
and it uses it just as a geographic landmark.
Just when it divides different borders, it just mentions the Salt Sea as a place.
But there's kind of a spiritual lesson to be learned with the Dead Sea,
because the problem with the Dead Sea that makes it so weird, that makes it dead,
is that it has water flowing in, but it has no water flowing out.
It's kind of like a dead end.
So the moral of the story is that Christians who are only taking in,
you know, they're reading their Bible, they're listening to preaching,
but they're not doing the works.
They're not doing the soul winning.
They're not doing the preaching.
You know, they're going to be a dead Christian, because they're like a stagnant Dead Sea.
But this is one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced.
Like, when people said, oh, you float on the Dead Sea,
I just thought it was like in the ocean where you float a little bit better.
But this is just bizarre.
Whatever you do, don't go underwater, because I just dove in head first without thinking,
and my face just felt like it was on fire.
My lips and my eyes were just burning.
I'm surprised that, you know, the pain even went away.
So we're here in Bethlehem, and in a few minutes we're just going to walk down the road a little bit
and go see the birthplace of Christ.
We have a tour guide that's going to lead us and guide us.
And Bethlehem is an important city or location in Scripture,
because not only was it the birth of Christ, but it's also the home place of David.
This is where David was a shepherd boy where he grew up,
and this is where Rachel was buried, which is the first time it's been to the Scripture.
So I'm excited to be here and look at the sites.
Good morning, everybody. My name is Abboud. I am Christian.
I was born here in Bethlehem. You are most welcome, all of you.
Over here, this is the Church of Nativity, the place where Jesus was born.
So we're here in Bethlehem at the traditional location of Christ's birth.
Now, when I was growing up reading the Bible and hearing about Jesus being laid in a manger,
I always pictured like an Amish barn, just because that's what we think of as a stable or a manger.
But in fact, the traditional location for Jesus' birth is a cave, which kind of makes sense,
because on this trip, we've met people who lived in caves.
We've toured a whole bunch of caves, and it's a lot cooler and nicer inside these caves,
and they did use these as barns and stables.
And on top of this cave, there have been churches built over the years.
This particular church is called the Church of Nativity, and it's like a three-in-one church,
because the Greek Orthodox has a wing, the Armenian has a wing, and then the Roman Catholic Church has a wing.
But the reason that they built this triple church here is that they built it on top of the cave,
which is supposedly where Jesus was born.
So the Holy Family, Joseph and Maria came from Nazareth to Jerusalem, and then they came to Bethlehem.
The Caesar Augustus ordered them to write their names in the homeland in Bethlehem of Judea, in the city of David.
So when they came here, the Virgin Mary was ready to give birth for baby.
She didn't find a place. She found a humble place, a cave or a stable,
and she gave birth for our Savior Jesus Christ in a humble place.
We are going now to see.
Look at the main entrance of the church.
It has three levels, as you can see.
The first level looks like it from the sixth century, Justinian period.
Second one looks like ours, 12th century Crusader.
Then it was minimized in the Ottoman period, 16th century.
Why they reduced it?
For two reasons.
First, because the people used to ride on horses, chemists, to prevent them to enter the church.
Second reason, to bow, to respect.
So we call it the door of humility.
Okay?
So please, men, when we enter inside, just hat off, okay?
Okay.
Watch out your head and your step at the same time, okay?
It's allowed for you to take pictures inside also.
So, brothers, we are now in the Church of Nativity, the place where Jesus was born.
The first church was built by Queen Helena, mother of Constantine the Great,
and it was in the fourth century.
Unfortunately, the first church was destroyed,
and that was in 529 AD by Samaritan's revolt.
After that, came the Emperor Justinian, reconstructing the current church,
and it was in the sixth century, between 540 till 565 AD.
As you can see, the church under renovations, it is supported from Italy and Spain,
and this project cost now 20 million euro.
Original roof, it was donated by England government in the 15th century,
and this wood, we call it cedar wood from Lebanon.
Also, in 135 AD, came the Emperor Hadrianus,
and he built a shrine, Roman temple, over the grotto,
to let the Christians forget this holy place.
If you come a little bit back, you can see the cross.
Under the cross exactly, you can see an eye, the eye of God.
Watch us, take care of us.
The left side of the cross, you can see the Virgin Mary,
with baby Jesus, and the right side, the beloved John.
This is, we call it iconostasis, so this is the altar.
Under, you can see the place where our Savior Jesus Christ was born.
Many, many tourists and pilgrimage come, and they have to line up on a long queue.
Sometimes you have to wait one, two, three, four hours,
to have a chance to go and to see the place where Jesus was born.
We are lucky. You are blessed.
This is the star as it marks where our Lord Jesus Christ was born, our Savior.
The star has 14 points, which means the 14th generation,
from Abraham to Joseph, from Joseph to David, to the exile of Babylon, to Jesus Christ,
and it's written in the Latin language, here, Jesus Christ was born from the Virgin Mary.
After the Virgin Mary, before baby, she wrapped His wedding,
and led Him down stairs to the right side.
It is mentioned in the Bible, in Luke 2, from 1 to 8,
that Jesus Christ was born here, and also Matthew 1.
So if you like to touch it, take a blessing,
and then you see the manger, then we continue,
because they will start another Mass.
So they put the star as a location, but nobody knows exactly.
This is the point. It is as a location where Jesus was born.
You see, they will start now, they are meaning, another service.
So you can take a photo for the star and the manger, then we go upstairs.
Think about it.
Do you like to hear the Lord's Prayer,
our Father in Heaven in Aramaic, which was spoken by Jesus?
I can sing it if you want, two minutes.
We go over there in the courtyard.
I can sing it if you want, two minutes.
We go over there in the courtyard.
I can sing it if you want, two minutes.
Ah, that's good.
Ah, that was good.
So this is what David was talking about
when he longed for water from the well of Bethlehem.
This is the Bethlehem water. It tastes great.
You want to try some?
Yeah.
It's really good.
Yeah, it is good.
Nice and cold.
Delicious.
So there's a story in the Bible where David is near Bethlehem,
and he longs to drink water from the well of Bethlehem,
and his three mighty men actually break through
the enemy forces just in order to get him that water
from the well of Bethlehem and bring it to him,
and they risk their lives, so David wouldn't drink it
because these men had put their lives in jeopardy,
so he poured it out unto the Lord as a drink offering.
But since we didn't risk our lives today,
we're drinking it, and it's really good.
I mean, this is the best water I've ever tasted.
It's just ice cold, refreshing, has a perfect taste.
So I can see why David liked it, because it tastes great.
The gifts.
We're at the shepherd's field here in Bethlehem.
This is where the angels announced to the shepherds
glad tidings of great joy, which would be to all people.
They said, For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
So this is the field.
I mean, this is the area where they were.
Obviously, we don't know exactly where they were,
but this is where the shepherds were abiding in fields,
keeping watch over their flocks by night.
And remember when the whole host of heaven appeared there
and sang, Glory to God in the highest,
peace on earth, goodwill to men.
And just being here helps you use your imagination
and put yourself in that night when that amazing event took place.
So Bethlehem's a really cool place.
We've seen a lot of the sights,
but it's also sad that there's so much idolatry as well
and false religion.
I mean, on one hand, our heart is stirred
to be able to walk the biblical lands
and understand that this is where Jesus was born.
This is where David grew up
and look at the countryside and the landscape.
But it's also just sad how there's so much perversion
of religion here with the Roman Catholics
and the Greek Orthodox.
There's a lot of idolatry.
A lot of people are really excited to be here,
but they don't have the gospel.
They're not even saved.
They don't even understand why Christ came,
that He came to die on the cross for our sins
and be buried and rise again
so that if we would put all of our faith in Him,
we would be saved.
They somehow think that bowing down to statues
and just maybe touching these religious places
is somehow helping them get to heaven or something.
We see all these Ethiopian Orthodox that showed up,
and they're chanting and they're genuflecting before images.
So on one hand, it's great to be here
and see these things,
but on the other hand,
it just reminds you of the need
to preach the gospel to the lost.
And that's exactly what we're talking about.
You know, we come here
to these biblical sites of Christianity,
and it's great.
It's awesome to be able to walk it and to see it.
But unfortunately, you also see a bunch of this,
which is just false religion,
and it's just unfortunate
that that's what this land has become.
.
All right, so we finished up at Bethlehem,
and we just got here to Hebron.
We're enjoying some lunch,
a lot of kabobs and hummus,
garlic dip, which I absolutely love.
The food here has been great.
We haven't had a bad meal yet.
And so now we're gonna tour the city
and check out the famous Hebron.
This is it.
So we're in the biblical city of Hebron.
Hebron's first mentioned in Genesis chapter 13,
where it talks about Abraham
pitching his tent in Hebron.
And then later in chapter 23,
Sarah dies,
and Abraham buries her in Hebron.
In fact, there's a whole chapter
about him purchasing the cave
and finding a burial place for her.
Well, that's where Abraham was buried,
Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah.
That's where they brought the bones of Joseph
when they came out of Egypt.
So all the main patriarchs are buried here.
And not only that,
but this is where David ruled
for seven and a half years as king.
Before he moved the capital Jerusalem,
he ruled over the children of Judah from Hebron.
So this is a very significant city in the Bible.
Later on in the book of Joshua,
when the children of Israel
came into the Promised Land,
Caleb would end up inheriting the land of Hebron.
This is what he chose,
the city of Hebron to be his inheritance.
And we've all heard the famous,
I want that mountain.
And that was Caleb talking about Hebron,
also known as Kirjatharba.
There's a lot of significance
that Hebron has in the word of God.
And it's a shame that most Christians
don't ever come here to see it.
So I just feel really fortunate
as a New Testament believer
to be able to be here and see it firsthand.
.
So we've been traveling down that same Jericho road,
you know, the path from Jericho to Jerusalem.
And back in Bible times,
this was known as being a dangerous road
where a lot of thieves were and everything.
So in that story of the Good Samaritan,
where he falls among thieves
and then the Samaritan takes him to an inn,
this is the location of that inn.
You know, this is where travelers would stop back then.
So this is the inn.
Wait a minute.
Wasn't that just a parable?
Well, yeah, but I mean, if it would have happened,
this is where it would have happened.
You know, if the story had happened,
this is where it is, all right?
.
So that red dome right there with the two towers out front,
that's the church that's built over the well
that we just visited.
And if you remember when Jesus was at the well with her,
she said, our fathers worshiped God in this mountain.
But ye say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Well, she was pointing at this mountain where we're standing,
Mount Verizon.
This is where the Samaritans worshiped.
And those ruins that we just walked through a minute ago,
that's where the Samaritan settlement was.
And the reason why the Samaritans believed
that they should worship God in this mountain
is that they reject the whole rest of the Old Testament
after Deuteronomy.
They only believe in the Torah, just Genesis to Deuteronomy.
They don't accept Joshua, Judges, 1, 2 Samuel,
all those kind of books.
So consequently, they reject Jerusalem
as being the place that God chose to put his name there
because there's no mention of Jerusalem in the Pentateuch.
So they are stuck on Mount Verizon
because that's mentioned in the Torah
as being a place of God's blessing.
And this is where they worship.
But of course, Jesus set her straight
because he says, ye worship ye know not what.
We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.
So by saying that, he was vindicating Jerusalem
as being the place to worship God at that time.
Right, yeah.
And just right over there is Mount Ebal.
And these two mountains really balance each other out
because if you remember in Deuteronomy,
Moses used these mountains to picture God's blessing
and God's curse.
And he basically told them the mountain garrison
represents the blessings of God.
If they were to observe his laws and follow his commandments,
God would bless them and allow them to be prolonged in the land.
But if they did not follow his laws,
then Mount Ebal represented the curses of God.
And what's interesting about that passage
is that the curses are like twice as long.
Right.
You know, today we want to focus on the positive only message,
but Moses focused on the fact that there was more negative
to be done by God if they did not obey those commandments.
You know, what's interesting is that Joshua later on
would actually bring the children of Israel up here
because they disobeyed God
and they had the whole episode with Ai where the men died
and they lost the battle.
Once that whole thing was done, he brought them back up here
and put half the tribes on Mount Gerizim
and half the tribes on Mount Ebal
just to remind them and to refresh their memories
that God's blessing was only upon them
as they obeyed the word of God.
And he actually carried out all of Moses' commands to a T.
It says there was not one word that they didn't read
from the law of Moses, and he split the people up,
put half of them on that mountain, half of them on this mountain,
and it pictures the balance, like you said.
Right.
We need some Mount Ebal in our lives, so why aren't we over there?
We need to get on that mountain.
I mean, we're supposedly these hateful preachers,
and here we are.
Well, we're trying to show people a different side.
Yeah, right.
This is our positive.
This is us being positive, okay, on Mount Gerizim.
Savor the flavor because next Sunday, we're turning the heat back on.
Let's go to the tomb of Lazarus.
Yeah, let's go to the tomb of Lazarus.
Let's go to the tomb of Lazarus.
Yes.
Bethany, please.
Hey, do you think if...
Pizza.
Please, pizza.
Pizza.
So, we just finished up at Mount Gerizim, and we are heading to Bethany,
the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
We're going to go to the tomb of Lazarus,
where Jesus called for Lazarus from the dead.
Being in the biblical historical sites gives a lot of insight into Scripture.
Even just being here and realizing how far Jerusalem is,
and where Bethany is, and how the whole landscape lays out,
it just really opens up the Word of God to you.
So, it's pretty awesome.
So, we're here at the tomb of Lazarus,
which commemorates one of the greatest miracles that Jesus ever performed
when he brought Lazarus back from the dead after four days.
And, of course, people were blown away by this miracle.
It made a huge impact, and a lot of people believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But yet, the Bible tells us that there were some people there
who went to plot with the Pharisees about how they might destroy Jesus.
Even after seeing this amazing miracle,
and hearing Jesus say,
Lazarus, come forth, and seeing him walk out of the tomb,
they went their ways with the Pharisees,
and they said, we have to do something about him,
because otherwise all men will believe on him,
and then the Romans are going to come and take away our nation from us.
So, even back then, their Jewish state was more important to them
than believing in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's just amazing how no matter what miracle they saw,
he did so many signs and wonders among them,
but they still would not believe in him.
All right, so, we're on our way down into Lazarus' tomb here.
Well, you know, when he said, come forth,
he thought it would be easy, but he had a lot of stares.
In those grave clothes, huh?
Whoa.
Are we supposed to do this?
This is to keep you humble, my friend.
This is to make you claustrophobic.
This is a really tight squeeze here.
You have to really kneel down.
Remember, this is that camel through the eye of a needle thing.
Only the penitent man will pass.
We're down in the tomb of Lazarus,
and John chapter 11 is one of my favorite scriptures.
It's one of the best Bible stories.
It's so powerful the way it's written,
and, of course, you have those powerful words,
I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live,
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
So, we are in Bethany.
We are in the town where Martha, Mary, Lazarus lived,
and we are in the traditional site of the tomb of Lazarus right here.
Something else to consider being down here in Lazarus' tomb
is that this was not only one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed,
you know, resurrecting a man from the grave,
but it was also kind of the miracle that broke the,
you know, the final straw that broke the camel's back,
because the Bible says that after he raised Lazarus from the grave,
from that day forward, they sought to kill him, you know,
and it was true.
They sought to kill him, you know,
and it was just shortly before they crucified him,
and it was because not only Jesus' fame, but even Lazarus' fame,
you know, of being resurrected,
because so many people knew that he had died, had seen his body,
and then so it was a major event that kind of forced the scribes
and the Pharisees to want to crucify Christ.
Yeah, when you're reading the Gospel of John,
this is the event that ultimately leads to the arrest and crucifixion of Christ.
Right.
.
Somebody yell Lazarus, come forth.
Lazarus, come forth.
.
You know, whenever I've thought about going to the Holy Land in the past
and seeing a lot of these places where the Bible stories took place,
the reason why I always decided against it was just that
I don't support the modern, fake state of Israel.
I'm not a Zionist.
So taking the Israel tour kind of just would go against everything
that I believe as a New Testament Christian,
and on one hand, I really wanted to see all these cool places
where the Bible stories took place,
but on the other hand, I didn't really want to participate in.
Yeah, I mean, what's cool about what we did
is that we were able to see all these sites
without ever stepping foot in Israel.
I mean, think about the fact that we saw the birthplace of Christ
where Jesus was baptized.
We went to Hebron, we went to Mount Nebo.
I mean, we saw all these great places.
Yeah, I mean, where Jesus met the woman at the well
and preached that great sermon about the water of life,
and we went to Afra, we went to Jericho.
I mean, we saw a ton of really cool biblical sites
without even going to Israel.
I think most people don't even realize that a lot of these places
aren't even in Israel.
Yeah, that's true.
And so to be able to see that much without going to Israel
was a perfect trip.
It was awesome.
So at this point, we need to let you know
we didn't go to Israel on this trip.
Actually, everything you've seen in this movie so far
has been in either Jordan or Palestine.
None of it was Israel.
We flew into Amman, Jordan,
and then we crossed the Allenby Bridge directly into Palestine,
and so I've still never been to Israel.
Have you ever been to Israel?
Never been to Israel.
I'm probably never going to go to Israel.
And now we're going to show you how this trip actually went.
I'm pretty excited about going on this trip.
I've never been to Asia.
I've never been to the Middle East at all.
Actually, none of us on this trip
have ever been anywhere near where we're going,
and it's going to be cool to spend some extra time
with Brother Roger Jimenez.
I mean, he and I have been friends for 17 years,
and so I'm sure we're going to have
a lot of fun together on this trip.
So, Brother Jimenez, your wife says
that you're la claustrophobic on airplanes.
Is that true?
Well, I don't know why my wife told you that, but yeah.
I'm a la claustrophobic, and I'm scared of heights.
That's a great combination for fun.
Our goal is basically to see as many biblical sites
in Jordan and Palestine without setting foot in Israel.
I was just wondering why they didn't call this airline Air Jordan.
They have, like, Michael Jordan docking out on a wing.
Yeah.
We're in Ammon.
So, we're here in Ammon, Jordan, and it's day one of our trip.
We're going to spend the day just going through biblical sites in Jordan.
And, you know, something that I think is unique about this film,
something that even I was kind of shocked at,
is when you really start looking at the biblical sites
and you look at it on a map,
you don't realize how much is actually not in Israel.
And there's so much here for us to look at.
Today we're going to go to the Dead Sea.
We're going to go to the site of Jesus' baptism.
We're going to go to the prison where Herod kept John the Baptist.
We're going to go to Lot's cave.
I mean, there's so much on this side.
We're going to go see where the maniac of Gadara,
where Jesus cast the demons into the pigs and things like that.
So, I'm excited about this.
And then, of course, we're going to try to cross into Palestine
and look at the biblical sites on that side as well.
The driving here in Jordan is so much fun.
The driving here in Jordan is pretty aggressive,
and the lines separating the lanes,
they seem to be more like suggestions that are just kind of optional.
I mean, people will just straddle a lane and just be flying down the road,
just taking up two lanes.
A lot of road hogs, like this guy.
You have to drive assertively here.
You can't be passive.
You've got to get in there and take what you want
because nobody's going to hand it to you on a silver platter.
Sort of like you just did right there.
You're getting this.
Loading right in.
Yeah, so basically right here we're in Jordan,
and right over there is Palestine.
And so there are soldiers patrolling on that side and this side both.
See, look, we've got the Jordanian soldiers and then the Israeli soldiers.
So we're at the Dead Sea.
We're on the Jordan side of the Dead Sea,
and we just finished our first 24 hours in Jordan,
and it's been crazy.
I mean, we've accomplished a lot in 24 hours.
It doesn't seem like it's just been that short amount of time.
But my experience in Jordan has been great.
I mean, the food has been delicious,
and just sightseeing and all of that has been awesome.
And being here at the Dead Sea is definitely a highlight.
I don't know if there's anything like this in the world.
When you just lay here and do nothing, it's actually pretty relaxing.
This would probably be a fun place to bring kids.
Oh, they would love it.
I think kids would love this.
Oh, man, they would.
Kids would do this for hours, and they would just love it.
We just dropped off our rental car at the Amman Airport,
and right now we're in a taxi cab to the Palestinian border crossing.
So this is the moment of truth.
Allenby Bridge.
We're going to see whether we're allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Everything up to this point has just been the appetizer.
You know, Palestine's the main course.
The plan to get into Palestine is, Plan A is that
we're actually going to walk into Palestine through a bridge,
and we're going to separate into two groups.
Brother Paul and I will be Group A,
and Pastor Anderson and Brother Abdullah will be Group B.
So as we get off the cab, we're not going to talk to each other
or act like we're together at all.
Brother Paul and I will go in first,
and hopefully we'll just have smooth sailing into Palestine.
And then once we're on the other side,
Pastor Anderson and Brother Abdullah will approach and go in second.
And hopefully they come through also,
and then we meet on the other side, we get a cab,
and then we head to Jerusalem or Bethlehem
and get a car rental and hotels and all that.
That way if there's a problem with my passport,
then at least you guys will still get in.
And then Plan C is that they can always try to float into Palestine
through the Dead Sea.
I think you can work.
I think so too.
Imagine the burning after being there just for hours.
And doing the backstroke the whole way.
Yeah, backstroking the whole way, it's going to be rough.
So you guys comfortable back there?
Yeah.
It's good.
It's not ordered, they don't allow you to put all of your bags in the truck.
No.
We only get a partial.
I thought we were pulling over and readjusting.
Well, the good news is this is only a 75-minute cab ride.
So it doesn't matter how comfortable you are.
Right.
It's only 75 minutes.
It's going to go by real fast for you guys.
All right, so we've gotten through the Jordanian side.
Now we're on a bus to go across the bridge,
and then we're going to deal with passport control.
So we're here with a Canadian, Brazilian, and Americans.
And some Mexicans.
And I don't know who those two guys are,
but I think they're Canadians or something back there.
One of them was named.
One of them is all I heard.
It's a very strange Canadian name.
But anyways, we're here.
Things are really well.
Talk to you guys soon.
Well, so far we've been in Palestine for a few hours,
and we've seen this parking lot.
We've been in customs getting through the border for hours,
and we're all hungry,
and we're just kind of ready to get a rental car,
and be back in control of our situation a little bit.
So we haven't been here very long, but we're here.
That's all that matters.
And once we get some food and a car, we'll be set.
Because right now we're just kind of at the mercy of unscrupulous cab drivers.
We don't know who to trust.
Actually we do. No one.
I think we'll feel better once we have a vehicle,
once we have our hotel, once we have some food,
once we're just kind of back in control.
Once we can hide Abdul, we'll feel better.
But right now he's a little bit of a liability.
You're very much, hey, he's your friend, right?
That's what he says, what the customs guy said.
He said, are you Abdul's friend?
Right, the ambassador said Abdul?
He said, I know not the man.
He began to curse and swear and say, I know not the man.
Abdul helps us get ahead, and then he also sets us back.
Before the cock crows twice, you're going to deny Abdul thrice.
You're putting the wrong ideas.
Oh, because the holiday is going to be ours.
He's saying because of the holiday, it's going to be hard to find a rental car.
So the problem is that nobody speaks English.
That's the problem.
Except we have help.
Yeah, we finally found someone with pretty good English.
He's really good at pointing out the problem,
but he just doesn't have any solutions.
Exactly.
He doesn't have a can-do attitude.
Yes.
So in order for the cab to leave, it had to be completely full.
It has room for seven passengers.
There were only four of us.
Two other people showed up, and we were just waiting and waiting,
waiting for that seventh person.
And we finally just bit the bullet and just paid for an imaginary person.
So there's an imaginary passenger filling the final seat
that we're going to be paying for.
Just because we want to get on the road.
We're burning daylight here.
We came all the way to the other side of the world.
We're waiting in a parking lot?
Yeah, we're just living in a parking lot.
We were smarter when we probably went there earlier.
Yeah.
Yeah, like a half hour ago.
We should have had this idea.
Oh, man.
Wow, this is beautiful.
This is a much different landscape, huh?
Pretty interesting, huh?
The landscape here in Palestine is a lot different than the landscape in Jordan.
This is a lot more rugged.
We've seen a lot of goats grazing by the side of the road.
It seems like a really pastoral place,
which makes sense, you know, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob here
with all their cattle and herds and everything.
We kind of picture that.
Well, the good news is we finally found a rental car company in Palestine.
The bad news is it looks like this.
Yeah.
All right.
This is a pretty pro lobby.
You feel comfortable getting a car from here.
You don't feel like you're going to get ripped off.
Like this whole trip, we haven't got ripped off yet one time, so.
You mean there's never been a time when we didn't get ripped off?
Is that what you meant?
Every single thing we've bought.
Have we ever been given a fair shake is what I want to know.
Well, today was kind of the opposite of yesterday
because it was like the most unproductive day possible.
Yeah, but tomorrow it's going to be a different story.
Yeah, we made it to Palestine, though.
You have to allow a whole day just to get here and figure things out.
You need your license.
So we're in the town of Bethany.
This is where Jesus was just shortly before he was crucified.
This is where Mary, Martha, Lazarus lived.
And we're eating at this awesome pizza place.
Love it.
All the food everywhere has been amazing.
Yeah, we haven't had really a bad meal.
We haven't had a bad meal, yeah.
Everybody in this town's really friendly.
We had a lot of great conversations with the locals.
The food's great.
Feels totally safe here.
And we're having an awesome time.
This is Bethany.
This is the town where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived.
This is where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
In fact, there's a place to see here called the Tomb of Lazarus.
And this is also where Jesus spent some time right before he went to the cross
when he was spending time with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Is he just not going to go off?
I don't know what to do here.
So we're trying to keep a low profile.
We're trying to keep a low profile here in Palestine.
And our car alarm just keeps going off just all the time.
And so I'm going to try to start the car now.
And hopefully the alarm's not going to go off this time.
All right, no such thing.
Hop in.
We're just going to have to drive this way.
But what's going to happen when we're away?
Everybody's going to see us coming a mile away.
All right, are we ready to roll?
Here, hold on.
What are we going to do?
I already tried all that.
You think I haven't tried such a basic thing as pushing every button?
I'm just joking.
I pushed every button like 20 times.
There it goes.
Oh my goodness.
So we just stole a car in Palestine.
The alarm's going off.
I don't know, maybe.
This movie's getting out of control.
Snazzy comedy.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, I don't think this is helping us blend in.
I mean, the great thing about having a siren going on full-time is people are pulling over.
They think we're the police.
It'll be back.
Oh my goodness.
We got a break for like five seconds.
So Bethany is pretty much our first Palestinian town.
And when we first started driving through it, we were just like, whoa, this is a slum.
This is ghetto.
This place is rough.
But then once we stopped and got out of the car, ate some food, talked to some people,
then we realized it's actually a pretty cool place.
So we felt pretty safe.
Everybody was really nice.
Everybody wanted to talk and hang out with us, but it's just a lot of them didn't speak English.
But the ones who did speak English, we had a lot of great conversations with.
But everybody wanted to talk to us.
And everybody's been really friendly.
Nobody tried to rip us off.
It was like the exact opposite of getting ripped off.
Like, I overpaid the pizza guy and he's giving me money back.
So yeah, we really like it here.
It's pretty amazing.
It's opposite of Jordan, you know?
Yeah, Jordan, I just felt like in Jordan everybody's trying to screw you the whole time.
Stop! Stop!
No, no, no. We're good. We're good.
We're good.
I am my friend now. 32 years.
First time I will see the people, tourists, my friend.
Rent a car. Palestinians, not Israel.
Oh, wow.
So while we were traveling in Palestine, it was really interesting because we actually chose to rent a vehicle from a Palestinian business,
which means that we had a Palestinian license plate.
And what that did was it really allowed us to experience Palestine as a Palestinian.
Because if you have the yellow Israel license plate, you can go wherever you want.
But by having the white Palestinian license plate, we were only allowed to go where the Palestinians were allowed to go.
And it limited us a lot.
There would be something on the map that's like five minutes away,
but because we had that Palestinian license plate, it would take us like an hour to get there.
Because we had to go around the wall, we had to go around all these checkpoints and everything.
The wall was built in April 2002.
And that wall, it's a separation wall, but it's not a separation wall.
It's a wall that put a new border between Israel and the occupied territories.
The wall is like not just the wall divided Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the wall in all around of West Bank, actually.
If you move from Ramallah to Jerusalem or Jerusalem to Ramallah, there is a wall also.
There are other places actually here in West Bank.
If there is no separation wall, there is an electric fence.
It's dangerous to enter from that side.
That's why it's like Israel put electric fence all around of this area here to control more.
Behind this wall actually, it was like a Bethlehem land.
But since Israel built the wall in 2002, they are taking more land actually.
At least more than 30 percent of the land actually taken after 1948.
The wall affected the daily life of the city.
Because when you speak about a wall with 8 meters height surrounding the city,
it means that we are living under a very difficult situation and we are living inside a big jail.
Because it's not only the wall that we have surrounding.
We have the checkpoints, the Israeli checkpoints that are surrounding the city
that we need to pass by these checkpoints.
If we want to go to the north, to Ramallah for an example, and we want to go to the south, to Hebron,
there is an entrance of the east-north side checkpoint called container.
And we have in the east side another checkpoint in the entrance to the road 60.
Before the wall was built, life was easier for the Palestinians.
We used to cross to Jerusalem and in five minutes we can reach Jerusalem.
And all of the hospitals and the economic life is mostly in Jerusalem.
But after the wall was built, things have changed.
We can't go to Jerusalem anymore.
The numbers of the tourists are down and it's getting more difficult on the economy.
The Israeli occupation can close Bethlehem in five minutes if they want to do that.
And they can free Bethlehem in five minutes if they want to do that
because all the entrance of the city are on their hands.
I thought that that wall that I've seen pictures of online was separating Israel from Palestine.
But it's not.
Those walls and barbed wire and all that, that's within Palestine.
It's separating Palestine from Palestine.
Just making it super inconvenient to travel around in Palestine.
And we also notice that the places where these Israeli settlements are set up, they're not random.
It's all the biblical sites.
Anything that has any biblical significance, they just fence it off, wall it off, put up an Israeli settlement there.
Now, of course, stuff that has to do with Jesus Christ, they don't care about that stuff.
You can go to those sites all day long because they hate the Lord Jesus Christ.
But any Old Testament sites, they do their best to wall it off, make it an Israeli settlement, even though it's in Palestine.
And it's really obvious what they're doing.
Because a lot of these walls were only built two years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago.
What they're doing is just slowly every day taking more land from the Palestinians
and cramming them into smaller and smaller areas like a little reservation.
And the end game is clearly for them to just take over the whole country and for the Palestinians to be left with nothing.
So, this is the end of the show.
I hope you enjoyed it.
So, the city of Hebron is deep into West Bank Palestine.
It's not near the Israeli border, but yet you have all these walls, checkpoints, Israeli soldiers.
And that's because there are Israeli settlements in Palestine.
So, this is where they'll just have 100 Israelis here, 100 Israelis there, guarded by troops.
And they're just kind of slowly taking over more of the Palestinian land.
So, even though this is a Palestinian city, there are just all these little enclaves constantly popping up,
just taking back part of it for Israel.
This is called Ghost Town because this used to be a marketplace, lots of vegetables and fruits.
Now it's empty, which doesn't make sense at all.
They occupy this land.
They close the shops, but they don't use it.
There's no use for it.
This used to be a beautiful fruit market.
You can find pictures.
It's like every shop is open.
Now it's just empty, ghost town.
And they don't even use this space.
If I walk here, I don't know if I will come back or not.
Any soldier can shoot me and bring a knife and throw it next to my body, and that's all, you know.
The story is ready.
The story is done that he tried to stab a soldier.
They destroyed our future, they destroyed our life, and they want to push us to leave,
and they don't want us to live like normal people, you know.
This used to be all shops and Palestinian homes.
Now it's closed.
You can see the barrels, the wall, the barbed wire.
This used to be full of Palestinian shops.
You can see all the Israeli flags here.
I feel quite stupid that it's me who is telling this because it should be a local, but it's not possible.
Locals can't be here.
When I was a child, this area was really busy, and a lot of people are coming to the area.
It was really crowded, you know.
And as you see, the houses are empty, and we can see Israeli flags.
It's for the Israeli military units, so there are soldiers on the roofs up.
So they keep buying the roofs for controlling, for evacuating, for making our life hard,
for making it really a ghost town.
It's really sad.
No people, very empty, and very scary even, you know, because there is no one here.
You see Hebron, and especially this part, it wasn't like that in the old days.
It used to be crowded, busy, active. Why?
Because Hebron is the biggest city in the West Bank, capital of economy, industry, factories, big salesmen.
And even in agriculture, we take number one in the grapes.
That means everybody from all over the West Bank and from Gaza Stream, Bedouin, villages,
they used to come to this market every morning to buy their goods, to do their shopping,
and to pray in the Ebrahimi Mosque, and to leave late in the afternoon and the evening.
Not anymore. Nowadays, you hardly see people, and all that happened after the year 2000,
until 2003, they used to call curfew, until they managed and they succeeded to kick a lot of Palestinians from this area,
and to empty the area.
They are changing the identity of the city.
So they are already now changing the name of the streets, the name of the neighborhoods.
And in Hebron, in one kilometer square, we talk about more than 20 checkpoints,
more than 100 obstacle movements. There is 1800 lipstick laws.
There is more than 1014 houses are empty.
And empty, why? Because they tried to push us to leave, and some were evacuated
because of the security reason that they use always against us to take the houses and to take the land.
You see, we don't dismiss a kind of protection, because the Jewish settlers, they live on top.
And they go up to that ceiling, and they start throwing all kinds of garbage, and the trash on top of us.
Sometimes it goes further, more than that, by pouring at people liquid, dirty water, bleach, urine, sewage, rotten eggs.
They piss in plastic bottles, and they throw them on us, and I'll show it to you in a minute, when we move.
And all the harassment, it happens in front of the soldiers' eyes.
We've got two military army watching towers, two soldiers, two snipers, day and night, 24 hours to protect them on both ceilings.
One on my right-hand side over there, and the other tower on the left-hand side.
We do complain, and we shout to the soldiers, at least stop them, give us a chance to live in peace or to live a decent life, they ignore us.
That means, shut your store and go home. But we are not going to shut our stores.
We are determined to stay, we are not going to give up as long as we live, because this is our homeland.
So, Sreka is living here in this occupied house, together with her mother.
And they refuse to move out, because otherwise it would mean that a settler would move in.
So, Sreka is living behind the cage there, because that protects her windows, her house, from the stones that settlers are throwing.
Unfortunately, she can't use the door here to go out, but she has to use the back door,
and she has to go across the neighbour's door.
This one is the newest, occupied Palestinian home.
It used to be owned by Palestinians, but a few years ago it was taken over by the settlers.
So, this is one way to occupy more land. First the settlers come, then it gives a reason for the army to take even more land, because they are there to protect the settlers.
The Israeli army here, 2,000 soldiers almost, they always tell us, we are here to protect the settlers, not you.
We are here to protect them only.
Don't let the media control you. Don't let anyone in the world to control you.
You are occupied as I am occupied, you know. You are occupied by mentality. They are occupying you by mentality.
I am not equal, you know, to the animals. The cats here have freedom more than me.
The internationals here have freedom more than me, rights more than me in my city, you know.
In my own city, where I was born, where my grand-grand-grandfather was born. I don't have any rights here.
So, using Google Maps for directions in Palestine is just completely unusable, because no matter where you are or where you are trying to go, the first thing it does is just takes you to Israel.
I mean, we are right next to where we are going. We are like 10 minutes away, but instead of just giving us the route for that little 10 minute drive, it wants to just take us all the way to Israel up and over and do a 3 and a half hour drive.
So, anytime we put anything into Google Maps the whole time we are here, this is the kind of result it gives us.
So, the only way to really do anything with this map is to just get out of the directions and just kind of zoom in and then just navigate it yourself.
You know, you just have to figure out your own route. But if you hit directions, then it just pulls up this crazy route that is totally unusable.
It's like Google just doesn't even want to acknowledge that these Palestinian roads even exist.
But it will eventually put you on the Palestinian roads after they take you on a 3 hour detour through Israel. So, it's crazy.
If you need a hitman, this is a hitman for hire. If you need someone dead, that's who you call.
You hire someone to kill you.
Don't want blood on your hands? Want to be free from Ramadan? Call. Call us please.
It's painless.
Look, there's another one up there.
I'm really curious. What does that laugh say?
Okay, it should be right here on the left. Jacob's Well. That's it.
That's it. Church is there, so you know you're in the right spot.
So, we just need to find Barking, and then hopefully it's not just closed.
I mean, it had all good Google reviews. Nobody said anything.
Well, actually one person said, why do you not let the Hebrews? But everyone else seemed to be loving it, except that one Brazilian.
This is cool.
So, do you do tours? Can you explain what this is?
You just lower that? No, it's right here.
We just drove all the way from the background here to see this.
Yeah, but we have three minutes left.
Okay, well, we just want to enjoy those three minutes.
So, we just use one of these cups and drink it, or what?
Sorry? Is this what we use? Yeah, this is the water.
How are you doing, sir? Are you okay?
Yeah, I mean, we're all using that same cup, so.
So, can you tell us anything about this?
Sure, I don't have time to. I need to go home.
Can we pay you?
Sorry, I'm just asking for the lunch time. The church is closed from one to two. Just close your camera, please.
Okay.
A few days. Let's go.
Let's just go, guys. He's not helping us.
Okay.
It's like, if it closes in three minutes, then tell us to leave in three minutes, you know?
It's like, it doesn't make any sense to just panic five minutes earlier.
This is like the biggest jerk ever.
Yeah.
Read it in the Bible.
He said, open up the Bible and read it for yourself.
Yeah, it's like, no wonder he's in such a bad mood. If I lived in this city, I'd be in a bad mood, too.
So, we're in Nablus right now, and this is the biggest, busiest, most bustling city that we've seen in Palestine, and it is very hard to get around by car.
Everybody's walking. There are just floods of people walking, and it is very slow progress in a car. Just stop and go.
All the roads are just jammed. We're just trying to get out of here because we're just stuck in the worst traffic we've ever seen.
But this is, biblically, the city of Shiloh, right near Shechem.
So, it's that general area of Shiloh and Shechem.
Remember, the tabernacle was pitched as Shiloh for a while.
Several Bible stories took place in Shechem.
You know, in Shechem, if you remember, Jacob's daughter, Dinah, was basically defiled in Shechem.
And two of her brothers went in there and killed everybody.
So, that's Shechem, and this is where we're at. This is where that took place.
And, of course, it's just a huge city. It's very, very busy, and we're just trying to make our way out as quickly as we can.
We're trying to get to Mount Gerizim so that we can see Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
What was that?
That was gunfire.
Yeah, that was gunfire.
That was violence down there.
Unless they're celebrating New Year's Eve early.
That was gunfire for sure.
Yeah, there was like a machine gun fire down there.
But I did read online that Nablus is the seat of activism.
So, I think the most violence in Palestine happens in this area.
So, it makes sense that we just heard those gunshots.
And it's going on right now.
So, we're live from Mount Gerizim covering the gunfire that's happening down in the city of Nablus.
The Palestinians are getting restless down there.
I don't blame them because we've been irritated by all the walls and barbed wire and checkpoints ourselves.
We're driving around with a Palestinian license plate.
Our driver looks like he's just as Palestinian as the day is long.
And then we got this brown guy sitting in the front seat.
And so, we're getting treated like Palestinians everywhere we go.
But it's kind of good that we rented a car with a Palestinian license plate.
Because we're actually getting treated exactly the way that they would get treated.
So, it's really sad here the way the situation is.
And we're not 100% sure that they're not shooting at us.
Because we are kind of in an unauthorized area.
We're on the wrong side of the fence right now.
But I thought we were painting a different picture.
People would love that though.
You're right. Cut!
Okay, go ahead and delete those gunshots.
We're trying to make Palestine look like a nice place to go.
It was fireworks.
People here are very festive, my friend.
Very festive this time of year.
It's the Muslim holiday of Eid.
They're celebrating Muslim holiday of Eid.
And so, very festive.
Lots of fireworks today.
Yes, yes. Get that on your flim.
There's fireworks.
And every day.
Okay, they're shooting at the woman as well.
There's a lot of shooting going on down there.
They're doing more shooting than we are.
We've got two cameras rolling.
But there's actually more shooting going on down there than there is up here.
Okay, so do you hear where those gunshots are coming from?
That's the well.
Okay, you want us to do it right now?
Okay, we can't lie about it and just make...
We can't just make Palestine look like freaking Disneyland.
Okay?
We've got to be honest, Paul.
That was real, guys. That's real.
Oh, my God.
One more time.
When I was first approached about being part of this project, I jumped on it.
Because I knew that exploring the biblical site would open up the scriptures to me.
And I hope that's what this film has done for you.
I hope it's really just showed you the lands where the stories and the word of God take place.
But something else that happened while I was on this trip is it really opened my eyes to the Palestinian people.
You know, as an American and as a Christian, the Palestinian people are often villainized to me.
And when I came out here and I saw them and I met them, I spent time with them and I saw their hospitality,
I realized that they're people just like anyone else.
They're lost and they need the gospel.
The reason why we made this film is that so many evangelical Christians have gone to Israel.
They've taken the Holy Land tour.
They've gotten the Zionism infomercial from the time they got off the plane to the time they flew back to the U.S.
But most of the time, they barely even set foot in Palestine, if at all.
And Palestine is actually a really cool place to visit.
Half the stories in the Bible took place in what is today Palestine.
And the people there are super friendly.
We didn't feel in danger at all.
We never felt unsafe.
I mean, we just had a great time.
And what we realized visiting Palestine was that it's actually a great place to go.
In fact, I would say Palestine is probably the friendliest place that I've ever been in my life.
People were inviting us into their houses.
They were treating us like family.
They were treating us like we were their best friends.
And these are people that need the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They don't need to just be hated and persecuted and treated like garbage just so that we can fall over ourselves
in order to facilitate the Zionist state of the special chosen ones, which are not even God's people in the New Testament.
Because the Bible makes it crystal clear that we, as believers, we're the circumcision.
We're Israel.
The Bible says that the promises were made unto Abraham and to his seed.
And the Bible says if you are in Christ, you are Abraham's seed.
It doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile, bond or free.
If you're in Christ, you're the seed of Abraham.
You're the chosen people.
The Bible says there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
And in God's sight, there's no difference between the Jew and the Palestinian.
They both need Jesus.
They're both human beings.
They're both people for whom Jesus Christ died.
The reason that we call the film Beyond Jordan is that a lot of people just have a very narrow view of what the Holy Land is.
And it's just on one side of Jordan.
It's just this one area called the modern state of Israel.
But there's really more to the Holy Land than that.
There's Palestine, and then there's also the modern day country of Jordan,
where many of the children of Israel live and where a lot of the biblical sites are located.
The reason that the film is called Beyond Jordan is because that phrase in Scripture is used a lot.
And it's really used about both sides.
The east side and the west side are both referred to as the land beyond Jordan.
And in Mark chapter number 3, verses 7 and 8, the Bible says this,
But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea,
and a great multitude from Galilee followed him and from Judea,
and from Jerusalem and from Edumiah and from beyond Jordan.
And they about Tyre and Sidon and a great multitude,
when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
The ministry of Christ did not only impact the nation of Israel,
it impacted the entire world.
And we hope that you'll take from this film that the message of Christ
is not just for one land or for one region.
It's for the entire world.
It needs to be preached to all nations, and it needs to go beyond Jordan.
So we're on our way to the...
I'm not recording.
I don't even know what I'm going to say.
We're on our way to the Holy Land.
All right, now I'm recording.
We're on our way to the Holy Land.
And I'm really excited about this.
Paul's excited.
And we're going to see all the great sights.
You know, the...
We just have a...
I mean, the big ones, like, lots of caves.
I'm not nervous about the trip.
I've just made peace with the fact that we may die.
And when we're in immigration, we need to be, like,
as serious as a heart attack.
We need to be real stoic.
When I say something about Brazilians, just know I mean Jews.
I don't even talk crap about the Jews.
But I do, okay?
It needs to stop.
It needs to stop now.
We should talk about how this trip is going to just revolutionize your thoughts about Pastor Anderson.
Because number one, we're on a trip to the Holy Land.
Number two, he just got done rebuking us for talking too much crap about the Jews.
Can you guys just calm down for a second so we can film something?
Hopefully we're going to be floating in the Dead Sea because we want to,
not because we've been murdered and deposited there.
I'm in a tunnel, and on the other side of this tunnel is the Promised Land.
I'm looking forward to seeing Bethlehem, you know, of course, where Jesus was born.
I think that's the number one sight that I want to see.
And, you know, lots of caves.
Okay, so there's another tunnel.
A lot of tunnels.
I just really want to go up to the top of Mount Nebo so that I can come down and say,
I've been on the mountaintop, and I've seen the Promised Land.
So what do you guys think about the baptism site, huh?
You wish you would have brought your swim trunks?
I think this is just a winning spot, period.
Winning.
Hashtag winning.
Oh, you have it in your bag, Pastor. Can you bring your bag up here?
You're talking to Jimenez, right?
Last time I go on a trip with someone who has the same name as me.
I'm very frustrated.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed the tour so far, but at this point I need to let you in on a little secret,
and that is that this entire film has been filmed in Phoenix, Arizona.
And we...
Okay, closing material at Petra. This is the second round.
Round two. Fight!
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.
Am I looking at your camera, Bob?
Yeah.
Okay.
Ugh.
It brings tears to my eyes.
So they focus in on Deuteronomy where God mentions Mount Gerizim as being the place of God's blessing.
Yeah, and just right over there.
I'm not done yet.
Hey, hey, let me finish.
Can I finish?
They focus in on Mount Gerizim as being the place of God's blessing.
Just give me a second because I don't remember what to say after that.
There you go, there you go. Just give me a second.
And in the past, whenever I've thought about taking a trip...
Oh, wait, I got something, Paul. I got something usable.
All right. Never fear.
Let me through it.
You're just tired of it.
Can I do it with him yelling?
Yeah.
And yet we were able to go to the site where Jesus was baptized.
We were able to go on the mountain where Moses died.
We were able to go.
Where else did we go?
Whenever I do stuff for Paul, there's always someone in the back screaming at me.
No.
Lo araby.
English.
We're not going back down there, right?
We're getting out of town.
Abort the mission.
We've got enough shots of the woman at the well.
So this modern highway that we've been traveling down is the Jericho Road,
that famous road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Back in Bible times, it was known as being a pretty dangerous road, a lot of thieves.
And in the parable of the sower...
You said sower.
Parable of the sower.
Paul, now that they're shooting down at the woman at the well, you think we can skip that?
We need that footage.
There's birdie tires in front of it.
All right, let's do the whole thing from the top.
Maybe today will be my lucky day.
Really?
The whole thing?
The whole thing.
Wow.
Are you joking?
No.
Is this a joke?
Why not?
It's funny.
I like it.
I like your sense of humor, Paul.
I like you a lot, Paul.
You very funny American, Paul.
Oh, man.
Okay, let's take it from the top.
Okay, I don't know.
Round two.
I don't know if I can.
I just hope that when they watch it, they're not stupid enough to try to do what we did.
You know that's going to happen.
Maybe this would be like a disclaimer.
Yeah, yeah.
Don't try this at home.
At home.
We don't take responsibility for anybody.
How did you try to go to these places?
In no way do we get to them.
Are you done eating it now?
Mmm, so good.
Guava.
You've probably learned a lot about the Bible lands through this film, but we'd like you
to know the main message of the Bible, which is salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that you can know for sure that you are on your way to heaven, and we'd
like to just explain to you some things in order for you to be able to know that you
are on your way to heaven.
The first thing you need to understand is that you are a sinner.
The Bible says in Romans chapter number 3 and verse 10,
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
The Bible here is telling us that nobody is without fault.
None of us are perfect.
In Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, the Bible goes on to say this,
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The Bible defines sin as the transgression of the law.
When we break God's law, we've sinned, and the Bible says here, for all have sinned.
There's not one human on this earth that is not a sinner.
Now the reason you need to understand that, that there is none righteous
and that we are all sinners is because of this.
In Romans 6 23, the Bible says,
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The first part of that verse tells us that there are wages for our sin, which is death.
The word wages means payment.
It's what you earn.
When I go to work, I earn money.
But when I sin, what I earn is death.
Now when the Bible talks about death, it's talking about more than just a physical death.
In Revelation chapter number 20 and verse number 14, the Bible says this,
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Here we learn about a second death.
See, when the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, it's not just talking about a physical death.
The physical death is just the first death or the initial death.
But then when an individual gets cast into the lake of fire, that is the second death.
In Revelation 21 8, God actually gives us a list of who's going to hell.
He says,
But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters.
And then he goes on to say this,
And all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Now the reason that God gives us this list of really bad sins, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters,
and then at the end he adds a sin that we've all committed when he says,
And all liars.
He's trying to explain to us that there is none righteous.
No matter how good you are, you're not good enough.
In fact, James chapter number 2 and verse 10 kind of puts it all together.
It says,
The first thing you need to understand and what I'm trying to explain to you is that we're all sinners.
And because we're sinners, our sin has condemned us to hell.
Now you don't have to go to hell and God doesn't want you to go to hell.
But you need to understand that you are condemned to hell and you need to be saved from hell.
Romans 6 23, the first part of the verse said,
The Bible explains that God has a gift he wants to give you.
And that gift is eternal life and it's through Jesus Christ.
Now there are some things you need to understand about this gift.
In Ephesians chapter number 2 and verse 8, the Bible says this,
It says,
The Bible tells us the gift of salvation is from God.
And it's not of works, meaning you don't have to earn it.
Today many people believe that they have to live a good life in order to go to heaven.
Or they have to repent of their sins in order to go to heaven.
Or maybe they believe they have to get baptized or go to church.
But the Bible tells us that the gift is not of works.
You don't have to earn it.
You don't have to pay for it.
Now because it is a gift, someone did have to pay for it.
And that person was Jesus Christ.
In Romans chapter 5 and verse 8, the Bible says this,
The message of the gospel is that Jesus came to this earth.
He lived a sinless life.
He never sinned.
He died on the cross and was buried.
And he resurrected from the grave three days later as a payment for our sin.
Now there are a couple of things you need to believe about Jesus.
You can't just believe that he was a good man or a prophet.
You have to believe what the Bible says about him, which is that he was God in the flesh.
John 1 says this,
Later on in the chapter in verse 14, he says this,
As of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Now that only begotten of the Father is of course Jesus Christ.
John 3 16, the most famous verse in the Bible says this,
The message of salvation is that Jesus, who was God in the flesh, paid for our sins.
And he offers us the free gift of eternal life.
Now there's one more thing you need to understand about salvation.
And that is that it is eternal life.
In John 3 16, it's called everlasting life.
In John 3 15, it says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The first part of John 3 36 says,
Now what that means is that when God gives you salvation,
it will last forever.
It doesn't mean that you're going to live on earth like some sort of immortal.
But what it means is that when you die physically,
you will not die the second death of being cast into the lake of fire,
but you'll go live with God for eternity.
And it will last forever.
Titus 1 2 says this,
See the Bible says that our hope for eternal life is that God cannot lie.
Once he gives it to you, he'll never take it away.
Now that doesn't mean that you can live on this earth without any consequences.
Of course we know that on this earth there are consequences for sin.
We reap what we sow and God chastises his children.
But there's nothing you can ever do that would cause God to take away your eternal life.
God wants you to be saved.
And he tells you how to do that.
In Romans 10 9 he says this,
Now he says if because you get a choice.
He says,
He says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
But it's more than just saying words.
He says this,
See the gift of salvation has to be accepted.
And the Bible tells us that in verse 10,
With the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Verse 13 says,
If you believe what I've showed you from the word of God.
If you believe that you're a sinner and your sin has condemned you to hell.
But Jesus came to this earth, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life.
Died on the cross, was buried and resurrected as a payment for your sin.
That you don't have to earn it, you don't have to work for it.
All you have to do is receive it.
And once you have it, he'll never take it away.
Then God simply asks you to by faith call upon him to save you.
If you believe that, I would like to help you word a prayer.
Now this prayer does not, this prayer in and of itself does not save you.
It's the faith in your heart that saves you.
But if you believe it, just pray with me and repeat after me.
Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I deserve to go to hell.
I'm confessing my sin to you and receiving your gift of eternal life.
I'm not trusting in myself, I'm only trusting in you. Amen.
If you've prayed that prayer, I'd like to congratulate you on receiving the gift of eternal life.
Thanks for listening.