The True Easter Story

Explore 2,000-year-old tombs much like the one that held Jesus and experience the vibrant history and culture of Israel. Teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan reveals the fascinating truths surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus in this v...

The True Christmas Story

Tiny Bethlehem lay in the shadow of the Herodian, the magnificent home of Herod the Great. In this remarkable program, Ray Vander Laan leads a tour through the palace ruins, the modest dwellings of Bethlehem, and other historical sites in Israel. ...

Volume 1

Travel to Israel and radically change your understanding of the Scriptures. Wet your feet in the Jordan River and impact the culture with life-giving water. Show your trust in the Lord's provision by offering up first fruits at Jericho. And cleans...

Volume 2

Filmed on location in Israel, Faith Lessons is a unique video series that brings God's Word to life with astounding relevance. By weaving together the Bible's fascinating historical, cultural, religious, and geographical contexts, teacher and hist...

Volume 3

Pack your bags. We're going on a journey. A quest to uncover Scripture and its meaning across history. Filmed on location in Israel and throughout the Middle East, the Faith Lessons DVD series is an adventure in biblical learning. You will discove...

Volume 4

Pack your bags. We're going on a journey. A quest to uncover Scripture and its meaning across history. Filmed on location in Israel and throughout the Middle East, the Faith Lessons DVD series is an adventure in biblical learning. You will discove...

Volume 5

Experience the Bible for yourself! This in-depth video Bible study-shot on location and featuring teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan-will help you understand the New Testament better by giving you abetter understanding of the Old Testament.

Volume 6

During his ministry in Israel, Jesus called and trained disciples, His "talmidim." Their job would eventually be to bring His message of redemption to all the nations, Jew and Gentile. What would happen when they began to make disciples ...

Volume 7

Becoming a disciple of Jesus demands more than merely a deep commitment to the text and complete devotion to Christian community. The Messiah is king, and believers are called to pick up their crosses in daily pursuit after becoming like Him. Come...

Volume 8

This five-session small group Bible study, God Heard Their Cry, by noted teacher and historian, Ray Vander Laan, is volume eight of the 12-part Faith Lessons series. In this volume, Vander Laan illustrates how God answered the cry of the Israelite...

Volume 9

When the Israelites left Egypt, they were finally free. Free from persecution, free from oppression, and free to worship their own God. But with that freedom comes a new challenge - learning how to live together the way God intends. In this ninth ...

Volume 10

Ray Vander Laan takes us on a journey through Sinai and Israel, a region that is still largely desert but at times filled with lush, bountiful places. We will discover how Jesus called people to live in the Promised land. What can we learn during ...

Volume 11

God's story culminates with the intense devotion of his people in this 11th volume of the Faith Lessons series. Discover how their passionate faith prepares the way for Jesus and his ultimate act of obedience and sacrifice at the cross. Then, be c...

Volume 12

Throughout the Bible, the desert functions as an image of discord, of loss of control, and of separation from the safety of society. Barren and deadly, the wasteland places of the text meant certain death without access to resources. Many times Go...

Volume 13

As they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, the Israelites not only agreed to partner with God by worshipping Him as king, they also took on a mission: become a kingdom of priests in a prodigal world. This had been God's plan for His people from the...

Volume 14

It’s easy to think of the Bible as a collection of short stories, but each one makes up a greater story – one story of a God who created the universe and entrusted it to His human partners to care for it. They were unfai...

Volume 15

Like the Roman Empire, today’s governments or organizations can become centered on power and believe their messages are the “good news.” As Christians, we’re called to proclaim God’s name in all the earth (1 Chronicle...

Volume 16

How do you live in a culture where the worldview conflicts with Christianity? Learn from Paul as he presents his beliefs to the most powerful court in Athens and settles among the Greco-Romans of Corinth, who valued wealth and class, worship of mu...

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Lesson 2.1

Lesson 3.1

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Lesson 5.1

Lesson 6.1

For a first century Jew, to follow a rabbi meant to "be covered with the dust of his feet." When Jesus called His disciples, it was implied that they would begin this process of becoming like Him by following closely in His footsteps. Tr...

Jerusalem Geography

Hinnom Valley This valley formed the western boundary of the Upper City of Jesus' time; it began along the Western Hill and ended where the Tyropean and Kidron Valleys meet.Just west of Jerusalem, this valley was at one time the city sewage dump, ...

Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley

Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley marked the western and southern edges of Jerusalem, beginning along the Western Hill and ending where the Tyropean and Kidron Valleys meet. In the Old Testament, it was often the site where people of Judah sacrificed thei...

Jerusalem: Hezekiah's Water System

The main water supply for the city of Jerusalem was the spring of Gihon, which flowed out of a cave on the eastern side of the hill on which the city stood. The Hebrew word means "gushing out" and was given because the spring does not ha...

Jerusalem: Hezekiah's Water Tunnel

This tunnel was created by Hezekiah's workmen more than 700 years before Jesus. Working from the spring of Gihon on one side, and the western slope of the ridge of Jerusalem on the other, two teams of workmen created a tunnel by chiseling through ...

Jerusalem: The Cave of the Spring of Gihon

The water flowing out of this cave, the source of the spring of Gihon, is the reason Jerusalem was built on the ridge above.The spring provides more than 34,250 cubic feet of water per day. The water runs from the cave a short distance (about 33 f...

Jerusalem: The Eastern Gate

This gate was built in the sixteenth century, long after New Testament times. Several years ago, the Herodion remains were accidentally uncovered below this gate, indicating that it was probably built over the one used when Jesus visited the templ...

Jerusalem: The Midway Point in Hezekiah's Tunnel Where the Workers Met

The photograph shows the spot where the tunnelers met nearly at midpoint. The ability of these people to cut this small tunnel without modern instruments or tools is astonishing. The fact that they were only 10 feet off horizontally and none at al...

Jerusalem: The Southern Stairs

This photograph shows the southern stairs as viewed from the west, looking onto the stairs and Herod's massive Temple.On the right side of the photo is a straight joint in the wall. This is the beginning of Herod's extension of the Mount to the so...

Jerusalem: The Temple

This view is of the Temple, looking west. The Temple was one of the greatest buildings commissioned by Herod. The front was 170 feet high and 170 feet wide. The back portion was 170 feet high and 115 feet wide.The building was made of white marble...

Jerusalem: The Temple Mount Colonnade

The enormous Temple Mount of Herod had a 45-foot-wide colonnade around it. The eastern colonnade was called Solomon's Colonnade and was used by Jesus and the early Christians as a place of meeting and teaching. More than 40 feet high, the roof of ...

Jerusalem: Western Wall

This section of the Temple Mount Wall dates from the time of Herod. The Temple stood on the floor above the wall shown here. This particular wall would have been more than 40 feet above the street in Jesus day. The Roman destruction of the Temple ...

Jerusalem: Wilson's Arch

Located below the Old City of modern-day Jerusalem, Wilson's arch extended high above the street in Jesus' time. The arch supported a bridge across the Tyropean Valley from the Upper City on the Western Hill.Like Robinson's Arch (both of these we...

Jesus and the Jewish Revolts

Whereas some Jewish people sought salvation through political and military might, Jesus lived out completely different truths. He often warned his followers not to participate in a political method of bringing God's kingdom.Even though Jesus was c...

Jesus Definition

The promised Messiah, lived a remarkable life as a Jewish rabbi. Through his ministry, death, and resurrection, God fulfilled his covenant promises.

Jesus in the Synagogue

Jesus spent a lot of time in synagogues (Matt. 4:23). He taught in them (Matt. 13:54), healed in them (Luke 4:33'35; Mark 3:1-5), and debated the interpretation of Torah in them (John 6:28-59).His life seems to have followed Jewish education patte...

Jesus the Rabbi

The term rabbi in the time of Jesus did not necessarily refer to a specific office or occupation. That would be true only after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed (70 AD). Rather, it was a word meaning great one or my master which was applied t...

Jesus' Baptism

The Baptism of JesusOne of the greatest events to occur in relationship to the Jordan River was the baptism of Jesus. The gospel accounts tell us that a dove descended from heaven and hovered over the water as Jesus was baptized. A voice from heav...

Jesus' Genealogy

God's plan for the birth of the Savior unfolds through the people he chooses to be in Jesus' ancestral line.For example, Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho, hid two Israelite spies and believed in Yahweh. Because of this, she and her entire family wer...

Jesus' Power Over the Sea

During his ministry, Jesus demonstrated his authority over the sea and its destructive power. He walked on the stormy water (Mark 6:47-50; Matt. 14:22-33; John 6:16-20). And he calmed the storms on the sea (Mark 4:35-41; Matt. 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-2...

Jew Definition

At first, this was the name for someone from the tribe of Judah. Later it came to be used for anyone who was from the family of Jacob (Israel).

Jewish Feasts

Jewish Feasts In the Old Testament, God instituted a religious calendar for the Israelites to follow. Within each year, there were seven specified feasts (Lev. 23), four in the spring and three each fall. Through these feasts, the Jewish people ce...

Jewish Revolts

The Revolt Begins In AD 66, a Gentile in Caesarea offered a pagan sacrifice next to the synagogue's entrance on the Sabbath. Jewish citizens protested, so Jerusalem authorities ended all foreign sacrifices in the temple, including those to Caesar....

Jezreel Definition

City gaurding the Valley of Harod and the route from the Valley of Jezreel to Beth Shean. Here Ahab and Jezebel had a summer palace, Ahab stole Naboth's vineyard, and Jezebel was killed.

Jezreel Valley Definition

Means "valley of Megiddo." A fertile, agricultural valley whose strategic location led to frequent battles for control over the world trade route between the west and Mesopotamia. Used by biblical writers as the symbolic setting of the f...