“INSPIRING BIBLICAL, HISTORICAL LESSONS”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
ROUTE 60: THE BIBLICAL HIGHWAY features former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and David Friedman, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel. They visit biblical sites along Route 60, a 146-mile highway running down the middle of Israel. Their journey begins in Nazareth, where Mary saw the Angel Gabriel, travels to the valley where Joshua, Moses’ successor, created an altar of stones, and stops at Joseph’s tomb and Jacob’s Well, where Jesus met the Samaritan woman. They visit the Temple Mount and the places where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead in Jerusalem, plus Hebron, where Isaac and Ishmael buried their father, Abraham, and Beersheba, where Abraham lived most of his life.
ROUTE 60 is an inspiring, informative visit to the Holy Land. One of its greatest assets is that it visits actual archeological sites from the Bible. This gives the Bible a strong sense of historical credibility. In addition to its biblical content, ROUTE 60 promotes the biblical roots of Israel and the United States. It also discusses the Abraham Accords, which established peace between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors.
CONTENT:
(BBB, CC, PP)
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Very strong biblical worldview with Jewish references honoring the Hebrew patriarchs, especially Abraham, and discussing some of the history and meaning behind the stories of Joshua, the Prophet Samuel, King David, and King Solomon as well as strong Christian content honoring basic Christian history and faith, including the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, with a Pro-Israel perspective that also strongly honors the Jewish, Christian and biblical roots of the United States, with a discussion of the importance of the Abraham Accords engineered by President Trump’s administration that resulted in treaties between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors, and promoting Trump’s establishment of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by Trump deciding to move the U.S. embassy there, plus the movie discusses the ecumenical significance of King Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8:22-53, where Solomon prays to God in Verses 41 through 43 that, when Non-Jews come to the temple to pray to God, that God will answer their prayers “so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name”
Foul Language:
No foul language
Violence:
No depicted violence, but some references to war
Sex:
No sex, but there’s brief references to King David’s adultery with Bathsheba, the death of the infant associated with that affair but followed up by the birth of Solomon, who became David’s heir
Nudity:
No nudity
Alcohol Use:
No alcohol use, but some references to vineyards in Israel
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs; and,
Miscellaneous Immorality:
Nothing really objectionable.
MORE DETAIL:
ROUTE 60: THE BIBLICAL HIGHWAY features former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who visit major biblical sites along Route 60, a 146-mile highway that runs north and south down the middle of Israel, begins in Nazareth, Jesus’s hometown, goes through Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, travels to Hebron, where Isaac and Ishmael buried their father, Abraham, and ends in Beersheba, where Abraham lived most of his life. Inspiring as well as informative, ROUTE 60: THE BIBLICAL HIGHWAY focuses on the biblical roots of Judaism and Christianity, with references to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, King David, King Solomon, the Apostle Peter, and the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also offers hope that peace can be established between Israel and its Arab neighbors through the Abraham Accords that Pompeo and Friedman worked on during President Trump’s administration.
The tour down Route 60 begins in Northern Israel in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. Pompeo discusses the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary to tell her about the birth of the Savior, Jesus, in her womb. Friedman mentions that Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa are nearby. Mount Carmel is where the Prophet Elijah challenged the pagan prophets of Baal to a test, which showed that Elijah’s God was the One True God. Mount Gilboa is the site where King Saul fell on his sword in his final battle with David.
Fifty-one miles south from Nazareth is the valley between Mount Elba and Mount Gerizim, where Joshua, the successor to Moses, read the blessings and curses the people
of Israel would incur if they obey or disobey God’s Law. Pompeo and Friedman visit the altar of stones not hewn that Joshua built to commemorate this event. They also visit Joseph’s Tomb and Jacob’s Well, where Jesus presented the Gospel to the Samaritan women.
Eighteen or so miles further south, the men visit the place at Shiloh, where the Hebrews ended their wandering and Joshua set the Tabernacle. The site is still an important gathering place for Jews in Israel. Friedman notes that the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets for the Ten Commandments, the Staff of Moses and other artifacts. The Ark remained in the Tabernacle there for 369 years, when the Israelites moved the Ark, but the Philistines soon captured it. Pompeo and Friedman note that Hannah prayed to the Lord there for a child. The Prophet Eli thought she was drunk but blessed her when he realized she was making a special appeal to God. Hannah soon gave birth to the Prophet Samuel, who was trained by Eli to take over Eli’s duties after Samuel answered God’s call (see 1 Samuel 2:1-2 and 1 Samuel 3:8-10).
Before getting to Jerusalem, Pompeo and Friedman visit Bethel and the rock where Jacob had his vision of a ladder from Heaven, on which he saw angels ascending and descending. In the dream, God promises Jacob that Jacob’s descendants will inherit the land of Israel and that all people on Earth will be blessed through his “seed.” The next morning, Jacob commits himself to the service of God for the first time in his life. Later, however, the Kingdom of Israel splits into a Northern Kingdom and a Southern Kingdom, and King Jeroboam of the Northern Kingdom placed a temple at Bethel but put a golden calf inside. Two hundred years later, the Assyrians invaded the Northern Kingdom and dispersed the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom, who were never heard from again. Friedman notes that the same thing will happen to the United States of America if the people forget God, their history and the biblical roots which gave America its wisdom and values.
In Jerusalem, Pompeo and Friedman visit the Pool of Siloam, where Peter healed the cripple, who then walked with Peter to the Second Temple, as recorded in Acts 3:6-8. They also visit the Western Wall with Schmuel Rabinovitch, the Rabbi in charge of the Wall. The Rabbi tells them that, during his dedication of the First Temple, King Solomon not only prayed for the Jews and their relationship with God, but he also prayed that Non-Jews who visit the temple area to pray to God could also have a close, prayerful relationship with Him.
In Jerusalem, Pompeo and Friedman also visit the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which mark four important moments in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the lives of His apostles. For example, the behind the Church of the Holy Sepulchre lies Calvary, the place where Jesus was crucified. Within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are the last five of the Stations of the Cross that Jesus walked to Calvary. The Church also contains the cave where Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians say Jesus was laid to rest but rose from the dead.
The rest of ROUTE 60 includes a visit to Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, where Jesus was born and where angels alerted the shepherds in the fields about the birth of their Savior, and a visit to the site in Hebron where Isaac and Ishmael buried their father, Abraham, and where Abraham’s wife Sarah is also buried. Finally, Pompeo and Friedman visit Beersheba, where Abraham lived most of his life. Beersheba is the beginning of the Nation of Israel and the beginning of the Throne of David, the Throne in Heaven from which the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, rules the Earth.
ROUTE 60: THE BIBLICAL HIGHWAY is an inspiring, informative visit to some of the most important and interesting places and events in the Bible, both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament documents. One of the greatest things about the documentary is that it visits actual archeological sites. This gives the movie a very strong sense of historical accuracy and depth, which, in turn, lends historical credibility to the faith that religious Jews and Christians place in the Bible and its description of world-shaking historical events. As many scholars have noted, the Bible is mostly a collection of historical documents that relate the historical relationship between the Creator God and human beings for the last 4,000 years, and beyond. Within those historical documents are basic moral guidelines and words of wisdom. Also accompanying those historical texts documents are several books and stories of practical wisdom and worship, such as Ecclesiastes (written by King Solomon), Psalms (written by King David, King Solomon, and other Hebrew leaders and prophets) and the Book of Job, a man who proclaims, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes. . . .”
In addition to its biblical content, ROUTE 60 promotes the biblical roots of Israel and the United States. It also discusses the Abraham Accords, which established peace between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors.
