Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wants Christians to know just how deeply their faith is connected to Israel, so he’s made a road movie while traveling along Israel’s Route-60 which is also known as the Biblical Highway and the Road of the Patriarchs running from Nazareth in the north to Beersheba in the south.
It takes in Biblical locations like Bethlehem, Bethel, Shiloh and Hebron which are in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
Mr. Pompeo explained to The Christian Post: “It’s where many of the stories that are important to Christians are told.”
The devout Christian explored the trail with Jewish former US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman. They followed in the footsteps of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David and Jesus.
“We got to travel some of the same roads that Jesus traveled in this movie, and we tell these stories about His earthly life. I think every Christian can see that, and they’ll know it from stories they learned when they were in Sunday school; they’ll know it from stories in their Bible study that they’re doing today. They’ll get a chance to see some of the places that are, frankly, pretty difficult to get to sometimes,” Mr. Pompeo said, adding that he now felt a stronger connection to stories he had previously only ever read about.
“I just remember thinking to myself how deeply connected our faith is to the land, to this place and to these people, and we should never forget the centrality of Judea and Samaria to our faith. It reinforced my understanding of the specialness of the place, the specialness of the nation of Israel, and its centrality to us as believers in Jesus Christ,” he asserted.
Mr. Friedman told the Christian Post that when he became ambassador in 2017, he was dismayed to discover the US State Department prohibited government employees from visiting Biblical sites. But under Mr. Pompeo, this policy changed, and while in office, Mr. Friedman led an initiative to encourage more Americans to experience those sites.
“I love this territory. I’m the son of a rabbi, I grew up studying the Bible, I grew up immersed in all these Biblical stories, Here’s where they happened. This film takes a lot of the stories, values, people and heroes, and it takes them from the world of legends, the world of myth, and brings them to the world of truth. When you see it, you believe it. I got such a kick out of doing this and walking through the steps of all our Biblical heroes that I’m just so happy to share that with other people.”
The film from the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Fathom Events, will be screened in US cinemas from September 18-19.
Photo: Fathom Events
