Thoughts From the Heart of Chan: Vids

Thoughts From the Heart of Chan: Vids:

'via Blog this'

Vids

These are all videos I have personally taken during my time in the Middle East. They are all available in up to 1080 HD quality and address everything from historical sites to the Bible and political issues. They are organized into the pertinent categories with descriptions under the bulk of them. Continue to check back as I will add more as I am able. For more content, see my Youtube channel.

Key:

(D) = I audibly comment on this video. Usually in the discussions, I will point out something biblically significant (archaeologically, historically, or geographically).

All other videos = bare footage.

Jerusalem

The Pool of Siloam Fills up After Rain (D)



I was out walking around the city one day when I stumbled upon rainwater from the last evening spilling over and once again filling up the Pool of Siloam (Shiloaḫ). This pool sits at the end of Hezekiah's Tunnel on the southern end of the City of David. It was not discovered until 2004 by Ronney Reich and Eli Shukrun. Until then, it was thought it be located in a spot further west, but this pool has bee shown to be a couple hundred years later (from the Byzantine period). The pool of Siloam is referred to in the New Testament (John 9:1-12). This is where Jesus sent a man born blind to wash after he rubbed mud on his eyes, and it is one of the seven signs in the gospel of John (2:23). My only mistake in the video is to say that Israel has a "rainy season and a wet season." Israel has a wet season (October-April) and a dry season (May-September). See my post on rain in Israel for more of how this affected the worldview of the biblical authors. I also found a helpful PDF with more information on the Pool of Siloam if you are interested.

Orthodox Jews Worship at the Western Wall on Shabbat

Orthodox Jews gather at the Western Wall on Shabbat. Don’t let the video fool you; the bulk of the country is not religious but secular. Still-this is the real deal.

Geography of Israel

Overview of the Jezreel Valley from Tel Megiddo (D)

In this video, I explain what the Jezreel Valey is, and why Megiddo is such na important site in ancient Canaan. My only mistake is to say that King Saul was hung on the walls of Mt. Gilboa. He was killed there, and his body was hung on the walls of Beth Sha’an, a city near the slopes of Mt. Gilboa.

Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

A Walk Down Inside of the Separation Wall in Bethlehem

This is a video of the Palestinian side of the separation wall surrounding most of the West Bank. The graffiti here is a way for the people to work out their pain in art.

Christmas Eve in Bethlehem

Silent Night in Manger Square

Every year, thousands gather to Manger Square for Christmas Eve festivities. Before the concert in Manger Square was cancelled due to rain, I nabbed this video showing the Square with Silent Night in the background.

Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at St. Catherine's Church

A short video of the traditional midnight mass at St. Catherine’s Church, the Roman Catholic Church attached to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and other Palestinian officials were there for the event.

Egypt

A Look at the Great Pyramids of Giza




A Jeep Ride to an Egyptian Temple in the Sinai desert

While we were in Egypt, Arab bedouin took us an hour into the Sinai desert in Land Cruisers. There, we hiked up a mountain to find an ancient Egyptian temple at Serbit el-Khadim. Here’s a bit of what the drive was like.

Sunrise on Mt. Sinai

After waking up at 2:30am and climbing the traditional site of Mt. Sinai for sunrise, this is what we saw.

Inside a Sleeper Train to Aswan

I had no idea you could sleep on trains before my Egypt trip. What a great way to optimize travel time. This sleeper train is going from Cairo to Aswan, Egypt.

A Nile Boat Ride to the Philae Temple



A Walk Through the Egyptian Temple to Isis

This walk through the Egyptian temple to Isis shows some features that were common to all temples in the ancient world, including the biblical tabernacle and Solomon’s temple. God meets people where they are and uses things they are familiar with to communicate to them. Instead of inventing a new way that he would dwell among his people, he used a template Israel would have been familiar with from their world.

We start our walk outside the first pylon and move into the inner court. Then we go up a ramp and enter the ‘holy place’ before moving into the holy of holies. Notice how the temple gets progressively more narrow and secluded as move into the place where the god (here Isis) dwelt. The open air courts were public, and only the priests were allowed in the more intimate places of the temple (as with Israel).

Pharaoh Ramses III Funerary Temple (Medinet Habu)

Taken at Medinet Habu at the funerary temple of Ramses III. All the paint you see is original, over 3,000 years old.

Dancing with Nubians at Aswan

In the mudbrick house of a Nubian family in Aswan, Egypt. The family gave us tea and let us hold their pet crocodiles. This is some of what happened when they brought in the village musician to sing to us.