After a tour to the Holy Land, it’s easy to forget the many lessons you’ve learned and the sites you’ve seen. The Holy Land can soon seem a distant land again. But it doesn’t have to.
(Photo: Pilgrims on Mount of Olives. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
One of my recommendations for making your holy land tour stay with you for years includes getting some great resources that will last you a lifetime.
In this post, I’ve highlighted the best of what I suggest you pick up after your Holy Land tour. I include videos, pictures, devotionals, and atlases.
Start with Pictures 
You have pictures of you in the Holy Land. You can’t buy those. But you’ve probably noticed that your own shots of biblical sites are, well, less than ideal. Not only that, you didn’t visit every site.
If a picture paints a thousand words, then thousands of high-resolution pictures are even better. I use the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands every week on my blog, and I have used them for years in my teaching and personal Bible study. I have found nothing better or as exhaustive.
The best deal is the Israel Collection—which I use. But you could get one volume at a time.
Take a look at the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands and see why this photo collection is so unique, so valuable, and so useful.
Bible Atlases
The most basic resource for studying Bible lands is a good Bible atlas. It’s a great way to look up sites while you’re reading the Bible.
Good atlases provide more than maps; they teach the importance of geography as it relates to history, archaeology, topography, and climate.
(Jesus’ Public Galilean Ministry. Map courtesy of Satellite Bible Atlas)
Several outstanding atlases are available today. Here are two that I use and recommend:
- Zondervan Atlas of the Bible, by Carl G. Rasmussen. This is a revision of Dr. Rasmussen’s excellent NIV Atlas of the Bible. This was the first atlas I seriously read and used, and its text is excellent. Dr. Rasmussen has also produced a more condensed, “essential” version of this atlas, which may interest more beginners.
- The Satellite Bible Atlas, by Bill Schlegel. Produced by a Christian professor who has lived in Israel for many years, this new Bible atlas has 85 full-page color maps with biblical events marked on enhanced satellite imagery, accompanied by geographical and historical commentary. The atlas also comes with digital versions of the map, perfect for searching your atlas in Evernote.
Devotional Books
The greatest benefit of a Holy Land Tour is its contribution to your spiritual life. It clarifies God’s Word, and the Lord uses Scripture to change lives. Several devotional books make the explicit connection between the Bible lands and your life. Not surprisingly, a couple of my recommendations are my own devotional volumes:
Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus: A Journey Through the Lands and Lessons of Christ—This book provides an engaging, inspiring, and humorous travelogue that mingles the life-changing truths of Jesus with a walking tour of the Holy Land.- Going Places With God: A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible—These 90 devotional readings, each based on a specific place in the lands of the Bible, are combined with pertinent Scripture, practical quotes, photographs, maps, and a daily prayer to help you apply the truths of each devotional to your daily journey of faith.
- Thirty Days in the Land with Jesus and A Voice in the Wilderness. These are two books by Charles H. Dyer. Dr. Dyer has been to Israel dozens of times and brings to his writing a perspective that is as practical as it is informed.
DVDs
If you’d like to combine seeing the land of Israel with great preaching by Chuck Swindoll, helpful site information (by me), and creative portrayals of biblical characters by Reg Grant, I know you’ll enjoy the Experience the Land and the Book DVDs.
- This resource took 3 trips to Israel and 4 years to produce.
- You’ll see God’s Word taught on-location in places like old Jerusalem, Caesarea, the Mount of Beatitudes, and even aboard a boat on the Sea of Galilee.
- It’s ideal for group or individual personal Bible study.
Here’s a video preview:
Tell me what you think: What other resources have you found helpful in studying Bible lands? To leave a comment, just click here.