Filmmaker Tim Mahoney’s film Patterns of Evidence: The Israel Dilemma – Ancient Prophecies will be in theatres November 13, 14, and 17. Interviews conducted by Mahoney in 2007 with Benjamin Netanyahu, Shimon Perez, Rabbi David Hartman, archeologist Gabriel Barkay, and Israel Finkelstein and their comments on Israel’s right to the land start off an investigative film.
The attack on October 7, 2023, again questioned Israel’s right to exist, so the documentary goes back to prophecies about the land and how God fulfilled them. This includes God’s warnings that God would allow the people to be scattered if they broke the covenant made with Him, and the promise of restoration.
As usual, in the Patterns of Evidence approach, evidence is presented along with commentaries from both sides of the issue. The film reveals tremendous archeological evidence that confirms prophecies regarding the Holy Land and Israel’s history. The stunning photography reveals the beauty of the land and shows close ups of archeological artifacts. Mahoney hopes people will watch and learn, stating:
Most people don’t have a historical understanding of the nation of Israel or what ancient prophecies the Bible has given showing God’s covenantal involvement with the Jewish people past, present, or future. This film, The Israel Dilemma, asks whether there is any credibility to what was written in the Bible about Israel. The audience will see evidence demonstrating God’s activity throughout history affirms the scriptures. I also want people to be aware that God might be forewarning us of significant changes in the world that were foretold by prophets several thousand years ago. The question is, how should we respond?
Tim reviews the promises of the covenants, and the promise to Abraham to make his descendants into a great nation. God gave His people predicted prophesy as a testimony of His ability to know the future.
Five predictive prophecies reveal God’s plans to build their kingdom, destroy it when they disobey, scatter the people, allow them to be persecuted, and then restore them to their land. The history in the Bible reflects these events as happening and archeology confirms the events and many people involved.
Archeological evidence shows the discovery of inscriptions made by enemies’ of Israel with David’s name and the house of David, accounts of the conquests, and persecution of the Jews in captivity. Evidence at Lachish, Jerusalem, and Megiddo confirm the historic accounts in the Bible of the Assyrian and Babylonian sieges and captivities.
More than six hundred inscriptions in Hebrew including pottery sherds, bullas, and seals attest to past events. In the past non-biblical archeologists pointed out the lack of evidence for the existence of King David or his kingdom, but recent discoveries refute those arguments.
As ever, in a Thinking Man Film, the audience views the proofs and hears arguments from both sides to make informed conclusions. Mahoney’s own journey to find evidence led to his Patterns of Evidence Films. He relates his journey:
My family raised me to believe the stories of the Bible, but as you get older, you are challenged to think other things and not to follow the path of the Bible or Christianity. I wanted to know if what I was believing was true. While investigating the first film, Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus, I had a crisis of faith because I was told there wasn’t any evidence for the Exodus event. However, this crisis only lasted a short time, and it was a supernatural circumstance that led me to new evidence confirming the Exodus events. Since that time I have heard of hundreds and even thousands of testimonies of people who have been encouraged in their faith and some to come to faith because of the evidence brought for in these Patterns of Evidence films. So I believe it has been my calling to make these types of films that demonstrate that the Bible is a true historical document revealing God’s activity in history.
It’s been a continual struggle over the land since the end of World War II when the UN returned the land to the Jews. They believe the Torah is their deed to their homeland. More information can be found at https://www.patternsofevidence.com/israel/ including trailers. It provides many details for people to watch and then discuss the contents. A second part will be available next year.
