The world needs to hear the whole story of Israel.Thank you for helping us tell it.

Before we argue about Zionism, do we know what the Bible means by Zion?

We hear the word Zionism everywhere, but we may be talking about very different things. 

In the opening conversation of our series, we start with the question underneath the debate: What is Zion? We follow the word through Scripture, from the stronghold David captured to Jerusalem, God’s holy mountain, and the longing of Jewish exiles. 

We explore the promise of return, the connection to Jesus the Messiah, and the prophets’ vision of nations coming to learn God’s ways. 

Along the way, we distinguish the ancient longing for Zion from modern Zionism and introduce the questions we’ll take up as the series continues. Our goal is to help us explain what we believe and understand why.

What would it take to reopen a 2,000-year-old water system that's sat behind a line since Oslo?

That's the question behind the final episode of our Border series.

Fifteen minutes south of Jerusalem, in the town of Efrat, a group gathers that doesn't come together often: a Member of Knesset, IDF officers, a rabbi, the mayor, a filmmaker - pulled together in under 48 hours to walk into Solomon's Pools.

Together, we trace the pools back to the Book of Ruth, stand where an Iranian missile struck just over a mile away, and hear how a mapping decision during Oslo quietly put a biblical landmark out of reach. 

The conversation moves from Bethlehem's disappearing Christian community to a restoration vision that could open this site back up - and to a Member of Knesset's case for why it matters now.

Beyond the border in Syria. Along the border in Gaza. Within the border, here in Efrat. This is the one that goes inside.

Most people know October 7th from news reports. But on the ground - at the Nova Music Festival, in kibbutzim, in bomb shelters 15 seconds from danger - the reality is far more personal and complicated. 

We walked these sites with Mati, a kibbutz agricultural worker who has lived here since 1978 and witnessed October 7th from inside his home. Mati shares what it was like to be in the toilet when the alarm sounded, to receive a call that terrorists were shooting at Palestinian workers in his fields, to slowly understand - through Facebook posts and calls to friends - that something unprecedented was happening. 

But beneath the immediate violence lies a deeper wound: an intelligence notebook found at Kibbutz Mefarsim revealing that Hamas had meticulously mapped every detail - where the doctor lived, the security chief's phone number, which gates had which locks, where the generators were. 

That intelligence came from a trusted Palestinian worker who had lived on the kibbutz for 30 years. A man Mati knew well. A man Mati can no longer speak to. 

The episode explores the layers of this betrayal and asks the question that haunts many: how do you rebuild trust after this?

Headlines tell you there's a war on Israel's borders. But they don't explain why it matters, who's fighting, or how 50 years of history shapes today. 

Ilan Schulman - kibbutznik, IDF paratrooper, intelligence officer, and PhD scholar of Syrian cities - walks us through the real complexity. 

Syria isn't one nation but ~200 tribes loyal to different interests. 

Understanding jihadists requires reading the Quran, not just analyzing weapons. 

The Ottomans' 500-year control of this region echoes in today's geopolitics. 

Iran builds power through schools and hospitals, not just missiles. 

And the 1973 Yom Kippur War - which nearly destroyed Israel - reshaped military philosophy that still drives strategy today.

Why would Jesus curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season?

It's one of the most puzzling moments in the Gospels - until you understand the Jewish context. 

Filmed from the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, we explore the prophetic significance of the fig tree, the meaning of Bethphage, and why Mark intentionally places the cleansing of the Temple between two scenes involving the tree.

Together, these events reveal a powerful message about authentic faith. The leafy fig tree becomes a symbol of religious appearance without spiritual substance, while Jesus' actions in the Temple expose a system full of activity but lacking the fruit God desired.

This episode will change the way you read one of Jesus' most misunderstood miracles and challenge every believer to ask: Are we bearing fruit, or simply growing leaves?