Several years ago one of my favorite websites to frequent was Bible and Interpretation. I appreciated the news updates as well as the articles, which came from a variety of perspectives. For lack of funding, the site went dark. Today the site is back with a new design and the promise of regular updates and essays. I’m delighted to see its return and am sure that it will be worth checking in on. If you find it valuable over time, consider sending a contribution.
After four years of development, I am pleased to announce the latest CD produced by BiblePlaces.com/ LifeintheHolyLand.com.
Views That Have Vanished: The Photographs of David Bivin is a collection of never-before-seen photographs taken in Israel and the surrounding areas in 
the 1960s.
The CD is full of unique shots and beautiful views from a land that has changed dramatically in the last four decades.
You can read more about the collection on BiblePlaces.com’s companion site, LifeintheHolyLand.com, and see some “then and now” shots here.
A word about the price. The collection includes more than 700 photographs, yet we are selling the CD for only $20 (through October 31). That includes free shipping in the U.S. The CD is worth much more than this—we guarantee it. For less than 3 cents a photo, you get everything in high-resolution jpg format and PowerPoint files, with notes by David Bivin and me.
Two “Then and Now” presentations were a late addition and a bonus to the collection. The CD is so packed that we had to put one of the “Then and Now” presentations online, because we did not want to leave out anything else (the link to that presentation is on the CD).
We have previously featured photographs from this collection on this blog here and here.
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I’ve been collecting items of interest over the past week:
Archaeologist Shimon Gibson claims that a concert near Jaffa Gate would damage antiquities (JPost).
A Christian organization in Colorado Springs is spending $2.3 million on a replica of the Western Wall, and a building to showcase it. 50 million tons of stone will be brought from Israel.
King Tut comes to Dallas on Friday.
The JPost Magazine has a profile of Eilat Mazar, currently excavating in the City of David. She says,
“I work with the Bible in one hand and the tools of excavation in the other. The Bible is the most important historical source.”
The ESV Study Bible, which was mentioned before here, is due out in a couple of weeks and its visual components (maps, charts, drawings) gets further explanation in an interview with Justin Taylor.
Leen Ritmeyer, renowned for his architectural work on the Temple Mount, is now offering some of his excellent work in affordable PowerPoint files.
I’ve just added Ferrell Jenkins’ Travel Blog to the blogroll.
This is not new, but I do not remember really recognizing all that is here before, so perhaps you did not either. The Archaeological Study Bible website has many dozens of photos, charts and maps (medium-resolution) available for download. You can find your way around from here, or go directly to Introduction, Old Testament, New Testament, or Maps.
David Padfield has photos of a Roman army enactment performed at Jerash. There are 15 free PowerPoint-size images.
If you’re an image junkie, you’ll save time downloading images from the last two sites if you have a download manager. (I use Free Download Manager with FlashGot on Firefox)
Shana tova (happy new year)!
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The Biblical Archaeology Society is offering a free 70-page e-book entitled “Island Jewels: Understanding Ancient Cyprus and Crete.” The pdf file includes five articles and one book review, all previously published in Archaeology Odyssey or Biblical Archaeology Review. You can get the e-book here by signing up for their newsletter.
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A new book is out this week that I want to recommend highly. Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ combines passion with humor in a unique “tour” through Jesus’ life. Author Wayne Stiles has not written a “life of Christ” book, nor has he produced a work recounting the geographical background of Jesus’ ministry. What he has done, through his deep knowledge of Jesus’ life and land, is to take the reader on a delightful and challenging journey to the physical and spiritual places where Jesus lived and taught.
Stiles’ skill as a writer and “tour guide” makes the book engaging and rich with insights. As a pastor for many years, Stiles is gifted in making lofty ideas of Scripture readily understandable to the average person, and he does so with many fun anecdotes and helpful analogies from his travels in Israel.
From Bethlehem, to Galilee and Jerusalem, and ending in Patmos, the book largely travels “in the footsteps of Jesus.” Here is a snip related to the wilderness:
I have walked in the wilderness where Satan tempted Christ, just west of where He was baptized. Good grief, what a place. This is the wilderness of Judea where God shaped the character of the future King David in “the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4). Here David prayed, “my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1). David wasn’t kidding. Endless piles of rocks, steep hills, no trees, modest vegetation, little water, slight shade, and lizards. As far as my eye could see, it was empty, dry, and depressing. I tried to imagine the silence, solitude, and struggle Jesus would have endured here for over a month. But I could not.
We can barely stand to fast for a day or two. Can you imagine fasting forty days? Jesus did so in preparation for temptation—and became desperately hungry and needy. And in His moment of need, the devil slipped in. He waits for moments like these.
“If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3).
The devil is no idiot—and also no gentleman. When he tempts, he plays dirty. No rules. No concessions. No mercy. He waited for a moment of vulnerability and then tempted Jesus to satisfy His legitimate need for food in an illegitimate way: “Turn this stone to bread—use your power to gratify your need.” What a cheap shot. Every stone would then become a temptation. And believe me, the Wilderness of Judea has plenty of stones! Jesus’ reply—although He was physically hungry—showed that He was spiritually full.
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
If you haven’t yet been on a trip to the Holy Land, you’ll enjoy visiting it virtually through this book.
If you have been, you’ll see it in ways that you haven’t before, even if you’ve visited countless times.
This journey combines so many of my favorite things in one book: the places of the land of the Bible, the life of Christ, fascinating stories, excellent writing, and God-exalting, people-challenging truth.
Pick this up for your next plane ride to Israel (or anywhere) and enjoy!
From earlier previews of the maps, illustrations, and study notes, I think that the ESV Study Bible will be a very useful resource for those interested in biblical geography and archaeology. The Bible includes more than 200 full-color maps, and 40 stunning, up-to-date illustrations. (For one example of “up-to-date,” look at the Pool of Siloam on the Jerusalem illustrations.)
The Bible is due out on October 15, but the publisher wants everyone to know just how good this Bible will be before then. To that end, they have just begun a blog. I’d draw your attention to the post on the Gamla synagogue, with its outstanding reconstruction drawing (which you can download in high resolution). Leen Ritmeyer gives his perspective on the illustration he helped to create here.
If you want to know more about the Bible, there’s a 5-minute video overview that shows off some of the beautiful illustrations.
One thing that I don’t think I’ll ever understand is how books like this can be so affordable ($31.50 online).
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