Charlton Heston Presents The Bible | From Genesis To The Passion | Parable

[Music] how did the bible come to be the bible wasn't always a book or even a series of books in the beginning there wasn't even a written language the prophets and holy men who roamed these arid lands seeking the truth and preaching god's word as they perceived it were talking to illiterate audiences who could only be reached by the witnessed testimony of the spoken word their exhortations their songs and parables the testament of faith they offered were preserved and passed on from generation to generation through the telling of stories these stories were meant to be told aloud in the dark to people sitting around a campfire listening that's where i come in i'm a storyteller i'm not a priest or a scholar i'm going to take you with me on a journey a journey exploring the stories in the bible and the ancient land where they happened from the nile river to the top of sinai from the banks of the jordan to the walls of jerusalem illustrating them with great works of art and music from all the millennia of man's time on earth from that sublime moment when the first artist reached out to paint a bull bison on the wall of his cave to michelangelo's adam reaching out to touch the hand of god [Music] this is the old city of jerusalem built by king herod and destroyed by the romans in 70 a.d what you see now is mostly built during the crusades and after on the ruins of the ancient city jerusalem is a holy city to three religions the mosque the golden dome of the rock is built over the rock at the summit of mount moriah where abraham is said to have taken isaac to sacrifice him it stands on the temple mount in the exact spot where the sacred second temple of the jews stood in the time of herod there's the western wailing wall of the temple enclosure where devout jews come to pray the temple itself no longer exists the roman general titus tore it down stone by stone along with the rest of the city that wall is as close as you can get to the site of the temple without trespassing on the forbidden inner precincts just down the road there stands the church of the holy sepulchre built on the site where christ is said to have been crucified jerusalem is quite literally the largest religious center in the world and certainly the most spiritually crowded [Music] this is the southwest corner of the wall of the temple mount the rock of abraham on its summit was held by ancient tradition to be the center of the world in a sense the ancients were correct that rock and the wall which encloses it and thus the city which surrounds the wall is the spiritual ground zero of judaism and christianity you could say that this is the cornerstone of western civilization and so is this this is the king james translation of the books of the old and the new testament today we call it simply the bible the word bible comes from the greek biblos the book this is surely the book in its two testaments the bible stands as law and scripture for two of the great religions of the world and it shares with a third the muslim faith several of its significant figures and stories no book ever changed the world as this one did how did that happen just with stories words [Music] in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth the earth was without form and void the darkness was over all then the spirit of god moved upon the face of the deep god said let there be and there light light and god saw the light it was good so he divided the light from the darkness god called the light day in the darkness he called night and the evening and the morning were the first day now god said let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters and it was so god called the firmament heaven and the evening and the morning were the second day then god said let the waters under heaven be gathered together and let the dry land appear it was so god called the dry land earth the gathering together of the waters he called seas and he saw that it was good so god said let the earth bring forth grass and trees yielding fruit each after its own kind and it was so god saw that it was good and the evening and the morning were the third day then god said let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night let them be for signs to mark the seasons the days and the years let them be to give light upon the earth and it was so god made two great lights the greater light to rule the day the lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also and set them in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night and god saw that it was good and the evening and the morning were the fourth day then god said let the waters bring forth abundantly moving creatures that have life and foul that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven and he created great whales and every living creature that moveth in the waters after its kind and every winged fowl after its kind and god saw that it was good and the evening and the morning were the fifth day now god said let the earth bring forth living creatures the beasts of the earth and it was so god made the beasts each after his kind cattle and everything that moves upon the earth and god saw that it was good so at last god said [Music] let us make man [Music] in our own image after our likeness and let him have dominion over all the earth [Music] so the lord god formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul then god blessed him and said be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fall of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth but then god said behold i have given you every plant bearing seed upon the face of all the earth and every tree in which there is fruit to you which shall be for food and so to every beast of the earth to every fowl of the air to all upon the earth wherein there is life i give every green thing for food and it was so then god saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good in the evening and the morning were the sixth day thus the heavens and the earth were finished all the host of them so on the seventh day god ended his work which he had made and he rested these are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the lord god made them [Music] the earth says the bible was without form and void darkness was upon the face of the deep void indeed but before the creation what was there when there was nothing not even light how can we answer that stephen hawking the great physicist tried with another question were the rules of the universe so compelling he said that it created itself in the book of genesis there's only god whose very existence defines the universe god then chose to create man in his own image from the dust to the ground and for all of us after all only atoms the dust of the stars anyway i prefer michelangelo's immortal image of that sublime moment he shaped everyone's perception of god from archbishop to atheist he gives us an inspired vision of an almighty god and at his fingertip the perfection of his creation adam waking into life so on the seventh day god ended his work which he had made and he rested then according to genesis the very next thing god did was to plant a garden eastward in eden now where would that be no one knows of course but in this arid land the garden of eden would surely have been an oasis with water maybe like this one probably a lot greener how much greener just as green as he wanted it to be then the lord god planted a garden eastward in eaton and there he put the man he had formed and he called his name adam he put him into the garden to till it to keep it and out of the ground the lord god made every tree grow that is pleasant to the site and good for food the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and a river went out of eden to water the ground from thence it parted encompassed the whole land and the land was good and the lord god commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die now the lord god had formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air so he brought them to adam to see what he would call them and whatsoever adam called every living creature that was the name thereof adam gave names to all the fowl and the beasts but for adam there was no companion for him so the lord god said it is not good that the man should be alone i will make him a helpmate and god caused a deep sleep to fall upon adam and while he slept he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh thereof and from the rib which the lord god had taken from man he made woman and brought her to the man and adam said this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh and they were both naked the man and the woman and were not ashamed now the serpent was more cunning than any beast which the lord god had made and he said to the woman yay hath god not said ye shall eat of every tree of the garden and the woman said we may eat of the fruit of the trees which are in the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden god hath said you shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest you die he shall not surely die said the serpent for god does know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be like god knowing good and evil and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eye it's fruit to be desired to make one wise she took the fruit and did eat and gave also to her husband and he did eat with her and the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons then they heard the voice of the lord god walking in the garden in the cool of the day and adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of god amongst the trees of the garden and the lord god called to adam where art thou adam said i heard thy voice in the garden and i was afraid because i i was naked so i hid myself and god said who told thee that thou wasted naked hast thou eaten of the tree whereof i commanded thee that thou should not eat and adam said the woman now made to be with me she gave me of the tree and i did eat and god said to the woman what is this that thou hast done and the woman said the serpent beguiled me and i did eat and the lord said to the serpent because thou hast done this thou art cursed above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life i will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed he shall strike thy head and thou shall strike his heel to the woman he said i will multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children and to adam he said because thou hearkened unto thy wife and ate of the tree of which i commanded thee thou must not eat curse it is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life till thou return into the ground for out of it was thou taken dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return therefore the lord god sent them forth from the garden he drove out the man and the woman and placed cherubim at the east of eden and a flaming sword which always turned to keep the way of the tree of life this is the book of the generations of adam and the day that god created man in the likeness of god [Music] the likeness of god in every culture and every time man has tried to capture the face of god in paint and pencil bronze and marble of course none of us can say for sure whether anybody's gotten it right so far then there was that business with the apple when adam and eve ate the apple they were no longer simply god's creatures innocent as animals in the safety of the garden they chose to know blessed and cursed with the knowledge of good and evil they took their destiny in their own hands exiled from the garden after the fall they and their children forever would be impelled to find out to comprehend creation and understand the god that made them that's been man's noblest and most frustrating occupation ever since [Music] the story of cain and abel begins with a sacrifice sacrifice is a theme along with the image of a lamb that recurs often through these stories sometimes filled with terror and wonder they are wonderful wonderfully written and awesome in their impact on mankind and the world that impact has been enormous almost impossible to measure shaping the way we feel about right and wrong good and evil promises justice responsibility mercy love and god we see this in the next story where even the actual presence of god and the certainty of his judgment can't stop the animal reflex to rage and blood that seems bred in the bones of man part of the primal earth from which he's made an impulse which bits brother against brother and ends in the first murder maybe that's when god decided that sooner or later he would have to write down some rules because she would be the mother of all living adam called his wife's name eve and adam knew eve his wife and she conceived and bore kane and said i have gotten a man from the lord and she again bore his brother abel now abel was a keeper of sheep but cain was a tiller of the ground and in time it came to pass that cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the lord while abel he brought the choicest of his flock so the lord had respect unto abel and his offering but under cain in his offering he had no respect thus cain was very roth his countenance fell so the lord said to him why art thou wroth why hast thy countenance fallen if thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou doest not well sin lieth at thy door now it came to pass when they were in the fields that cain quarreled with abel his brother and rose up against him and threw him then the lord said to cain where is abel thy brother he said i know not him i'm my brother's keeper and the lord god said what hast thou done the voice of thy brother's blood cries out to me from the ground therefore art thou now cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand henceforth and thou tillist the ground it shall not yield unto thee her strength a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth and cain said to the lord my punishment is greater than i can bear behold thou hast driven me out this day and from thy face shall i be hid i should be a fugitive in the face of the earth and anyone that finds me shall slay me the lord said whosoever slayeth cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold and the lord set a mark upon cain lest any finding him should kill him so cain went out from the presence of the lord and dwelt in the land of nod in the east of eden then adam knew his wife again and begat his son again in his own likeness after his image he called his name seth and eve said god hath given me another seed instead of abel whom came slew and adam lived many years and begat sons and daughters so it came to pass when men began to multiply in the face of the earth and daughters were born under them that the sons of god saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them as wives and after that when their children were born to them these same became mighty men men of renown then man began to call upon the name of the and the lord said my spirit shall not always strive with man for he also is flesh his days shall yet be great in the earth there were giants in the earth in those days the story of cain and abel begins with a lamb sacrificed to god and ends with the first murder which is also the first fratricide i'm puzzled that god accepts abel's land but rejects cain's grain but some scholars point out that the original israelites were shepherd people who disdained their canaanite neighbors not only because they were farmers but because they lived in towns grew grain and grapes and worshiped pagan gods [Music] this hill is what archaeologists call a tell it's what's left of the ancient city of jericho the oldest walled city in the world dating back to before 8000 bc i'm literally standing on 23 layers of joshua civilization the israelites destroyed the city at the blast of a trumpet in the bulk of joshua and there is archaeological evidence that these walls did indeed come a tumbling down maybe in some earthquake i like the biblical notion they were knocked flat by the collective primal shout of a people chosen by god this stone tower uncovered by excavation of the lower levels is what remains of a granary marks one of the earliest known places where man settled down to till the fields grow grain and store it in a kind of a bronze age silo like this in a town the israelites disdained this preferring the pure life of the nomadic shepherd away from the corruption of city living in genesis the first book of the hebrew bible also known as the old testament a crucial story is the flood which all but wipes man from the face of the earth significantly a great flood is found in the oral and pictorial history of many peoples with no theological or geographic connection to the jews or to their middle eastern homeland in genesis god chooses to punish mankind his own creation for their sinful lives but he singles out one man noah to carry on to endure survive and begin again now it came to pass that the generations of the sons of adam multiplied and waxed fat they rode in the high places of the earth and ate the increase of the fields butter of kine and milk of sheep with fat of lambs and rams of the breed of bastion and to drink the pure blood of the grape and they said our hand is high and the lord hath not done all this but their grapes were the grapes of gall and their wine as the wine of dragons and at last the people had corrupted themselves they had forgotten the god that formed them and when the lord saw this he said they are children in whom is no faith i will hide my face from them and see what their end will be but then god looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt the earth was corrupt before god and filled with violence and god saw that the wickedness of man was in the earth and evil and it grieved him at his heart but he had made man so the lord said will this people rise up and go a whoring and forsake me then my anger shall be kindled against them and i will forsake them i will blot man whom i created from the face of the earth both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls of the air it repenteth me that i have made them but one man found grace in the eyes of the lord noah he was a just man in his generation and walked with god god looked upon him saying this man shall comfort us and call his name no god said the end of all flesh has come before me but the earth is filled with violence and my way upon the earth is corrupted behold i will destroy all with the earth but go thou make the an ark of gopher wood the length of it shall be 300 cubits the breadth of its 50 cubits the height of it 30 cubits rooms shalt thou make in the ark and a window and a door set in the side thereof tar it within and without with pitch thus no it did according to all that god commanded him and the lord said unto noah for that i have seen thee righteous before me in this generation come thou in all thy house into the ark for behold i shall bring a flood of waters to destroy the breath of life under heaven and everything that is in the earth shall die but with thee will i establish my covenant thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons wives with thee now of every living thing of all flesh two of every sort must thou bring into the ark male and female fowls of the air and every beast on the earth after his kind two of every sort shall come with thee to keep them alive and take thou with thee of all food that is eaten gather it to thee it shall be for food for thee and for them do thou keep life upon the face of all the earth for i will cause it to rain forty days and forty nights and every living substance that i have made will i destroy and noah went in and his sons shem and ham and japeth and his wife and his son's wives with him into the ark and of beasts and the fowls and if everything upon the earth there went in two by two as god commanded noah two and two of all flesh they went in male and female and the lord shot them in and it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights and the waters increased and bore up the ark and it was lifted as the waters prevailed and the ark went upon the face of the waters till all the high hills under heaven were covered 15 cubits upward and the mountains were covered [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and all died that moved upon the earth foul and beast and creeping thing and every man all died they were destroyed from the earth and noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark and the waters prevailed but god remembered noah and the ark he made a wind to pass over the earth and at last the windows of heaven were stopped and the rain restrained and the fountains of the deep also and it came to pass at the end of forty days that noah opened the window of the ark and he sent forth a dove to see if the waters were dried up but the dove found no rest for her foot on the face of the whole earth so she returned to him he put out his hand and took her into the ark and he stayed yet another seven days and again he sent forth the dove and in the evening she came to him in low in her beak was an olive leaf plucked off so noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth he opened the ark and behold the face of the ground was dry the ark rested on the mountains of ararat and god spoke unto noah saying go forth upon the earth bring with thee every living thing out of the ark though noah went forth and all the creatures with him and builded an altar under the lord and god blessed noah and his sons and said to them be fruitful and replenish the earth for behold i establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you never will i again smite everything living as i have done neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth and for my token of the covenant which i make between me and thee and all upon the earth after thee for every generation i do set my bow in the cloud and it shall come to pass when i bring a storm over the earth that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud and i will look upon it and i will remember the waters shall no more become a flood and out of the ark was the whole earth overspread and the lord smelled a sweet saber and said in his heart i will not again curse the ground for man's sake while the earth remaineth seedtime and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease i will destroy man whom i created from the face of the earth i repent that i made them so god condemns the people he made in his own image except for one noah the first man in the bible to show the special individuality that separates humanity from the rest of god's creatures again and again we find them in the old testament the one just man who will do better bear the burden mark the path for mankind the next of these special men we find in genesis is noah's distant descendant an old very old childless man he seems a strange choice yet god picks him he sends him to a new land to be the father of nations abraham a towering figure in the old testament his example of the power of faith is a testament in itself resonating through the generations walk thou before me god says and be perfect again sacrifice is the theme [Music] now of the sons of noah shem ham and japheth after the flood under them were sons born in their lands in their families and by these were the nations divided the lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth the generations of noah they journeyed far and the lord dwelt in their tents they took them wives and begat nations now of the seed of shem was terror who begat abram in the land of er and the lord appeared unto abram and said get thee from thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house to a land that i will throw thee under thy seed will i give this land and abram took sarah his wife and all their substance and went forth but there was famine and the land could not bear him so abram journeyed on through egypt and the south and returned at last to canaan and the lord said unto abram lift up now thine eyes and look for all the land which thou seest to thee will i give it and to thy seed forever arise walk through the land and see then abram beheld all the plain of hebrew well watered as the garden of the lord and he dwelt there and built an altar saying i lift up my hand unto the lord the possessor of heaven and earth now abram's wife bought him no children and they waxed old but believed in the lord and when abram was 90 and 9 the lord came to him in a vision and said to him i am the lord that brought thee out of her to give thee this land but know that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve there four hundred years and abram fell on his face but god talked with him saying fear not i am thy shield the almighty god walk thou before me and be perfect thou shalt keep the way of the lord and i will know it then the lord said neither shall thou be called abram any more thy name shall be abraham for a father of many nations will i make thee and abraham said lord god what will thou give me seeing i go childless behold thou hast given me no seed the lord said kings shall come out of thee and he brought him forth saying look now toward heaven and count the stars if thou be able to number them so shall thy seed be and abraham lifted his eyes and looked but sarah laughed in her heart thinking shall a child be born to him that is old and the lord said nay but thou didst laugh is anything too hard for the lord thou shalt bear him a son he shall call his name isaac i will make him a great nation and the lord went his way but god did as he had spoken for sarah conceived and bore his son under abraham and they called their son isaac he held him and kissed him and said the smell of my son is as the smell of the field which the lord hath planted and he planted the grove and called there in the name of the lord so the child grew but it came to pass after that god did test abraham he came to his tent in the heat of the day and said to him abraham take now thy son thine only son isaac whom thou lovest and get the into the land of moriah and on a mountain i will tell thee of offer him there for a burnt offering so abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his men with him and isaac his son and the wood for the offering and went as god told him and on the third day abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place far off he said to the young men witchy here with the ass i and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you and abraham took the wood of the offering and laid it on isaac his son to carry and he took in his hand a knife and they went both of them together and isaac spoke to abraham saying my father he said my son and isaac said here is the wood for the fire but where is the lamb for the offering and abraham said my son god will provide himself a lamb so they went together and came to the place which god had told him of abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and he took isaac his son and bound him and laid him on the altar and abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son and the angel of the lord called out to him out of heaven abraham abraham lay not thy hand upon the lad saith the lord for now he knows that thou fearest god and because thou hast not withheld thy son thy only son he will bless thee as the stars of heaven and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou obeyed his voice so abraham took up his son and returned saying who can measure the spirit of the lord what man knows his plan [Music] [Music] isaac was born of a 99 year old man and a barren mother by the will of god god required abraham to offer his only begotten son as a sacrificial lamb a looming prelude to jesus some thousands of years later sacrifice runs like blood through both testaments of the bible but isaac is spared from his father's knife by an angel of the lord because god has plans for him abraham is the turning point god chooses him to become the father of his people promising isaac and his descendants a great destiny [Music] now let's go to the story of the man god sent to egypt joseph son of jacob lineal descendant of noah we first see joseph as a deeply alienated adolescent a dreamer like so many teenagers after him the egypt of joseph was a land of builders priests farmers administrators and many gods now they would have to deal with the god of abraham and among the sons of isaac was jacob and his sons were twelve but of them all jacob loved joseph because he was the son of his old age so he made him a coat of many colors and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all of them they hated him then joseph dreamed a dream and he said to his brethren hear this i pray you i dreamed we were binding sheaves in the field and lo my sheaf arose and stood upright and your sheaves bowed down the mine and his brothers said to him shalt thou indeed reign over us and they hated him yet the more so then in envy they conspired against him saying behold this dreamer come let us slay him we shall see what becomes of his dreams but one of them judah said slay joseph will let not our hand be upon him he's our brother shed not his blood let us sell him into egypt and when joseph was among his brothers they stripped him of his coat his coat of many colors and they took him and sold him to some merchants for 20 pieces of silver to be carried down into egypt then they killed a goat and took joseph's coat and dipped it in the blood and they took the coat to their father and said we found this we know not if it is joseph's but jacob knew he said it is my son's coat surely some wild beasts hath devoured him his sons could not comfort him he said i shall go down to the grave mourning my son and he wept for him so joseph was brought down to egypt and potiphar the captain of the pharaoh's guard bought him of those merchants who'd taken him but the lord was with joseph the egyptian captain was a good man joseph found grace in his sight and served him well so his master made him overseer over his house and all that he had and from that time the lord blessed the egyptians house for joseph's sake now joseph was a goodly and well-favored man so it was that his master's wife cast her eyes upon him lie with me she said but he said to her behold my master's committed all that he has to my hand he's kept back nothing from me but be because thou art his wife how then can i do this great wickedness and and sin against god still she spoke to joseph day by day to lie by her to be with her so one day joseph went into the house about his business when none of the men of the house was there within and she caught him by his garment saying lie with me and he fled and left his garment in her hand as her lord came home and saw her you've brought this hebrew to marcus she said he came to lie with me and i cried out he left his garment with me and and fled so the master's wrath was kindled he put joseph into pharaoh's prison still the lord was with joseph the keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners to joseph's hand he had the charge of them and the lord made all that he did to prosper then it came to pass that the pharaoh of egypt was wroth against his chief steward and put him into the prison where joseph was held and the captain of the guard charged joseph to guard him well so when joseph came to him in the morning and saw that he was sad he asked wherefore look you sadly and the steward answered i have dreamed a dream and none can tell me its meaning and joseph said meanings belong to god tell me your dream and the steward said in my dream with three branches of ripe grapes i took the grapes and pressed them into pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand and joseph said this is the meaning the three branches are three days within three days shall pharaoh restore thee to thy place he's steward as before but think on me when all shall be well with thee i pray thee for indeed i was stolen away out of the land of the hebrews and here they put me into this dungeon though i've done nothing and on the third day it came to pass as joseph had foretold pharaoh freed his steward from the prison and restored him again to his place yet the man forgot joseph in his dungeon till there came a time when pharaoh had a dream of seven cattle coming up out of the river fat and well favored and they fed in a meadow then out of the river behind them came seven other cattle lean and ill-favored and they did eat up the seven fat cattle so pharaoh awoke sore troubled he sent for all the magicians of egypt and the wise men as well and told them his dream but none could tell its meaning then said his chief steward i do remember when my lord put me in prison i dreamed a dream and a young hebrew there told me the meaning and it came to pass as he told me i am restored to my office so pharaoh sent for joseph and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon and pharaoh said i have dreamed a dream and none can interpret it i have heard said of thee that thou understand dreams and joseph answered pharaoh it is not in me god shall give pharaoh an answer so pharaoh told joseph his dream and joseph said what god is about to do he shows thee behold there come seven years of great plenty throughout all egypt but then shall come seven years of famine the years of plenty shall be forgotten famine shall consume the land of egypt now therefore let pharaoh find a man discreet and wise in the seven plenteous years let him gather all the food of those good years and hold it in store against the seven years of famine which shall surely come so egypt will not perish and pharaoh said to joseph since god hath showed thee all this none can be so discreet and wise as thou a man in whom is the spirit of god by thy word shall my people be ruled i will set thee over all the land only i will be greater than thou pharaoh took off his ring and put it on joseph's hand and arrayed him in fine linen with a gold chain about his neck he said i am pharaoh but without thee shall no man lift up his hand in all of egypt and it was so joseph went throughout the land as the hand of pharaoh he said god hath chosen me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction and in the seven plenteous years the earth was bountiful but joseph laid up a fifth part of the food of those years and stored it against the lean years to come so when the famine came over all the earth joseph opened all the storehouses and there was bread in egypt while the famine waxed soar now all countries came into egypt to buy corn because the famine was in their lands and the brothers of joseph came to and stood before him but they knew him not so joseph said to them come closer i pray you and when they came near he said i am joseph your brother whom you sold into egypt does my father yet live and they fell down before him but he said fear not am i in the place of god be not grieved that ye sold me into egypt it was not you that put me here but god ye thought evil against me but god meant it to bring good he has made me a lord in the house of pharaoh and throughout all egypt so now haste ye my brothers to my father bring him hither he shall dwell in egypt and here will i nourish thee and they went up out of egypt back again to their father and they told him joseph is yet alive he is lord over all egypt and jacob's heart trembled he believed them not but when he saw the wagons joseph had sent to carry him his spirit rose he said my son is yet alive i will go see him before i die and jacob journeyed with all that he had and while he slept for the night god came to him in the visions of the night saying jacob jacob fear not to go down into egypt for the air i will make of thee a great nation thy name shall be called jacob no more but israel so blessed by god jacob and all his seed all his sons and his son's sons came into egypt when joseph saw his father they embraced and wept for a long time at last joseph said the lord watched between me and me when we were absent one from another israel said only now let me die since i have seen thy face my brethren and my father's house are come on to me sir joseph and pharaoh said all egypt is before thee in the best of the land shall ye dwell so the children of israel dwelt in egypt and multiplied and these were the twelve tribes of israel and joseph he was a fruitful bow his hands were made strong by the mighty god of his fathers the shepherd the stone of israel the descendants of abraham and the family of jacob whom god renamed israel come at last to egypt with joseph's brothers to live in peace and plenty welcomed by a benign pharaoh the bible seems to say that these men flawed as they were survived because they all of them believed in god and were striving desperately to do his will they tried to do their best and keep their promises shakespeare says something useful about that in hamlet there's a divinity that shapes our ends refue them how we will still where does god lift his hand when for the patriarchs of genesis to know the purpose behind god's will was sometimes harder than it was to fulfill it [Music] i'm jordan heston i'm not a priest or a scholar i'm an actor i tell stories i want to take you with me on an odyssey along the way i'll tell you some of the oldest and greatest stories on earth the story is from the bible blurred by the centuries no one can really mark the birth of the early stories in the bible or put them firmly in any time or place we can't even be sure when the bible passed beyond the fragile grasp of simple oral tradition and began at last to be written down we do know that in 1947 the oldest surviving written text of the biblical stories was found here near the shores of the dead sea and the hills above this ancient essene monastery and wadi qumran i think it's appropriate that the discovery was made by a shepherd looking for a lost land history does not record whether the shepherd a bedouin named muhammad ever found his lost lamb but he did stumble in the most important biblical discovery of modern times searching in a cave in this ravine he came across some nondescript clay jars inside them were several battered leather bundles wrapped in decaying linen they seemed worthless the shepherd almost destroyed them until he remembered that foreign scholars sometimes bought the unlikeliest sort of trash he sold him for a few drop months inside the bundles were dozens of parchment scrolls for some time they drifted through the byzantine black market in which such artifacts are traded in the middle east eventually archaeologists identified the scrolls as biblical texts written in hebrew and predating any other such documents by at least a thousand years the dead sea scrolls contain almost every story in the old testament when god expelled adam and eve from the idyllic innocence of eden after the fall their descendants undertook a generational journey through this desert land over the centuries the sands long erased to the marks of their migrations but from keynes exile eastward in eden from the fathers seed through the countless generations noah and shem abraham and isaac jacob and joseph genesis traces the evolution of the people god is moving to a new land in each story god lays his hand on a single man flawed uncertain but guided by god each new patriarch moves to fulfill his inscrutable purpose who can measure the spirit of the lord what man knows his plan so at last we come to egypt with the greatest of all the epic dramas in the hebrew bible the story of moses echoing also through the christian old testament in the muslim koran will inexorably play out what it must have been like many millennia ago the height of pharonic civilization is hard to imagine these awesome weathered monuments still among the wonders of the world are only the bones of ancient egypt now there would come a new king in egypt some believe this was ramses ii grandson of seti the pyramids were already over a thousand years old when ramses was born but ramses would leave his own monuments all over egypt a legacy to commemorate his greatness his many victories and celebrate his own divinity long before moses was to lead the children of israel out of bondage free at last a young man joseph the great grandson of abraham and grandson of isaac brought them to a safe haven in egypt where they would prosper under the protective reign of a benevolent pharaoh [Music] when a new and hostile pharaoh arises to threaten them god chooses an infant he cast into egypt the seed of a man the man was moses the children of israel were fruitful the land was filled with it but at last there arose a new king over egypt and he said the children of israel are more and mightier than we come let us deal wisely lest they multiply and join against us therefore he set task masters over them they made the children of israel serve bitterly in hard bondage in the fields making brick but still they multiplied so pharaoh charged all his peoples saying these hebrews shall find no ease never shall the souls of their feet have rest in the morning they shall say would god it would night and at night they shall say wood god it will mourning the sword without and terror within shall destroy them and the heart of israel shall be cast down now therefore destroy every male among their little ones every sun that is born he shall cast into the river that i may lift up my hand to heaven and say i live forever but now the spirit of god moved in the land yoker bed wife of amram conceived and bore his son he was a goodly child when she saw him she said he shall live and she hid him three months and when she could no longer hide him she made for him a basket of bulrushes and daubed it with pitch and put the child there inside and she laid it in the reeds at the river's edge and his sister hid nearby to see what would be done to him now the daughter of pharaoh came down to bathe in the river with her maidens she walked by the water and when she saw the basket among the reeds she sent her maid to fetch it when she'd opened it she saw the child and behold the babe wept and she took pity on him she said this is one of the hebrews children i will take this child he shall be my son and a prince over all men because i drew him out of the water his name shall be called moses and so at last it came to pass that when moses was grown he went out of the city to his brethren and when he saw an egyptian striking one of the hebrews moses's anger waxed hot he lifted his hand and slew the egyptian then moses said surely when this thing is known pharaoh will slay me so he fled from the wrath of egypt and came at last to the land of midian and dwelt there and kept the flocks of jethro and jethro gave moses his daughter zifra and she bore him a son and moses was content he said i have been a stranger in a strange land but in egypt the children of israel cried in their bondage and their cry came up to god and god heard them and remembered now in the desert of midian where moses kept his flocks he came to the mountain of god called sinai and he looked and beheld a bush that burned with fire but the bush was not consumed and moses said i will turn aside to see this great sight and when he'd climbed to the place god called to him out of the midst of the fire moses moses and he said i am here and the voice said put off thy shoes from off thy feet but the place where i thou standest is holy ground i am the god of thy fathers the god of abraham the god of isaac and the god of jacob and moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon god and the lord said i have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in egypt and heard their cries for i know their sorrows therefore i will send thee moses and thou shalt bring forth my people to serve me upon this mountain and moses said who am i lord that i should go to bring israel out of bondage behold when i come to the people and say to them the god of your fathers has sent me they will not believe me they shall say what is his name and how shall i answer them and god said to moses i am that i am thou shalt say i am hath sent me to you this is my name forever and they will believe thee now therefore go [Music] and i will be with thee sinai a cruel desert of rocks and ragged mountains in ancient times this wasteland was a crossroads where bedouin shepherds wandered a safe refuge for a man fleeing from the wrath of pharaoh for moses this was his testing time in the wilderness in this cauldron of heat and isolation a man moses comes face to face with god the first step on a journey that would change the world [Music] put our very shoes from off thy feet for the place where on our standist is holy ground surely holy ground to jews and christians but also to muslims because of their reverence from moses they call it jabal musa the mountain of moses that's how far the shadow of the man moses reaches he was a man remember none of the three religions that reveres him calls him divine he was a man and flawed as all of us body was also surely a great man law giver and deliverer to the jews warrior prophet to muslims first among the prophets to christians the man of whom jesus said if ye believe moses so shall ye believe me [Music] uh driven into exile and content in marriage to a shepherd's daughter moses is drawn up the slopes of mount sinai to see the bush that burns but is not consumed here in this empty stoney land from a burning cauldron of power energy and light moses hears the voice of god commanding him to deliver his people who am i lord says moses that i should bring israel out of bondage a good question for a simple shepherd exodus describes him as slow of speech but he goes armed only with his unwavering faith the god of israel would deliver his people but first moses must act [Music] so moses went and returned into egypt with his wife and his sons and the staff of god in his hand and with his brother aaron he went into pharaoh and said thus saith the lord god of israel let my people go and pharaoh said who is this god that i should obey his voice i know not thy god neither will i let israel go you would keep these people from their labor with your vain words they are idle i do you would make them rest therefore there shall be more work for them go tell them thus saith pharaoh i shall not give you straw to make brick as before let them gather straw for themselves but the tally of brick must not lessen go now and work and when moses and aaron came forth from pharaoh the people turned from them saying wherefore did you sow you put a sword in their hands to slay slayes and moses said in his heart lord why hast thou sent me in thy name the lord said to moses i will make thee as a god pharaoh go again to him take my staff and stretch forth thy hand upon the river you shall multiply my wonders in the land and in this shall they know that i am the lord and moses did as the lord commanded he lifted up his staff in the sight of pharaoh and struck the waters and all the river turned to blood throughout all the land of egypt the waters turned to blood and the fish died and the river stank and the egyptians could not drink but the heart of pharaoh was hardened he hearkened not so moses said to him that thou mayest know there is none like unto the lord and he smote the dust of the earth with his staff and the dust became lice pharaoh's magicians could do nothing there were lice upon man and beast and the frogs came up out of the river and covered the land and they died in the houses in heaps then there came swarms of flies the land stank and the cattle died the people were stricken with sores save only the children of israel and the ministers of pharaoh said this is the finger of god but pharaoh would not listen he drove moses and aaron from his presence then did moses stretch forth his hand to heaven and the lord rained hail upon the earth fire ran along the ground and there was a thick darkness over all the land for three days the earth was covered and the green things broken and pharaoh's ministers cried to him how long shall this man be on us let them go that they may serve their god knowest thou not yet that egypt is destroyed then pharaoh called for moses and said take away from me this death moses spread his hands and the thunder ceased and he said how long will thou refuse to humble thyself thus saith the lord of israel let my people go and pharaoh said get thee from me so moses said yet will the lord bring one more plague upon egypt about midnight will the lord smite your firstborn from pharaoh on his throne to the captives in his dungeons and against the children of israel shall not a dog move his tongue and pharaoh said in great anger take heed you see my face no more for on the day you see my face again you shall surely die and moses said thou hast spoken well i will see thy face no more and he turned and went out from the city then moses called all the elders of israel and said to them this day shall be the beginning to you the lord hath spoken make ready to eat in haste this night of unleavened bread and lamb let each man take of the blood of the lamb and mark the door of his house and none shall go out till the morning for tonight will the lord smite the egyptians when he sees the mark upon your door he will not suffer the destroyer to come in but will pass over your house and this day shall ye remember forever and the people bowed their heads and did as the lord commanded and at midnight it came to pass as moses said all the firstborn of egypt were struck there was not a house where there was not one dead and a great cry rose up we'd be all dead men and pharaoh rose up in the night and called from his throne get you forth from among my people go serve your god and be gone and moses said we will go with our young with our old with our sons and with our daughters with our flocks and with our herds will we go we have seen this day that god liveth the children of israel did go up out of egypt in a mixed multitude on foot with their flocks and herds and moses said to the people hear o israel remember this day when the strong hand of the lord brings you out of bondage the lord went before them as a pillar of cloud to lead the way by night a pillar of fire so they came at last through the desert to the red sea and camped there but then pharaoh was told where they fled and his heart was turned again he said why have we done this to let israel go so he took his chariot and all the chariots of egypt with captains over everyone and pursued the children of israel in camping by the sea now when they beheld hero's host draw near they were sore afraid and cried out to moses were there no graves in egypt has start taking us away to die in the wilderness but moses said hold your peace the lord shall fight for you moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the waters were divided and made the sea dry land the children of israel went in the midst and the waters were a wall and the right in the left the egyptians pursued all pharaohs host after them through the sea then moses said fear not stand still and see the salvation of the lord again he stretched forth his hand the waters returned over all the hosts all died not one remained and moses cried who is like unto thee oh lord thou didst blow with thy wind and the sea covered them who shall live and now does this thou hast borne us out of egypt as an eagle bears his young upon his wings [Music] [Applause] [Music] thou hast borne us out of egypt as an eagle bears his young upon his wings moses's clarion shouted triumph and thanksgiving is one of the most glorious lines in the bible it marks the fulfillment of god's promise to deliver the children of israel from their generations of bitter bondage and pharaoh's breakfast it justifies the wisdom of god's judgment in plucking a slow-spoken shepherd from the slopes of sinai to serve as his mighty hand in this awesome undertaking i met a traveler from an antique land who said two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert near them in the sand the shattered visage lies whose frown and wrinkled limp and sneer of cold command tell that it's sculpter well those passions read which yet survive and on the pedestal these words appear my name is azamandias king of kings look on my works ye mighty and despair nothing beside remains boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away the subject of shelley's famous poem was the shattered visage of the great pharaoh ramses whose throne name osir matre became azamandius over the centuries and fueled the great poet's imagination though acting as the hand of god moses might himself have seemed to be the eagle that bore the israelites out of egypt he'd stood steadfast against the wrath of pharaoh calmed the people through the plagues god reigned on egypt and sustained their spirits through that fearful night of the first passover he'd led the children of israel out of bondage and through the red sea destroying pharaoh's chariot army now pharaoh was dead and the israelites were free only the wilderness lay ahead of them [Music] so moses brought israel through the wilderness they went many days and found no water the people were sore afraid but moses said to them ye murmur in your tents yet you have seen how the lord sustains you as a man to carry his son in all the ways that you go he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness you have lacked nothing the lord brings you onto a good land a land of brooks of water fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills that land drinketh of the rain of heaven he will give you water in due season the first rain and the last he humbles you and suffers you to thirst that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only the lord did not choose you because you were more in number than any people for ye were the fewest but because the lord loved you he redeemed you from the hand of pharaoh he leads you through a wilderness of scorpions and drought where there is no water who can bring forth water out of flint so beware lest you forget him who brought you forth out of egypt but still the people wept all that night crying what shall we drink would god we had died in egypt wherefore as the lord brought us into this land to perish here let us make a captain and return into egypt and moses said here now ye rebels must we fetch you water out of the rock and he lifted his hand and with his staff struck the rock twice and the water came out sweet and abundant and the people drank and camped there by the waters and the lord spoke to moses saying i have heard the murmuring of israel i will reign food from the heavens for you speak to them and say so and in the morning it was so on the ground lay food like the frost and moses said this is the bread the lord hath given you it is mannon take it and eat and they did so they took the food of the lord and the taste of it was like honey so the multitude went on the many thousands of israel journeying to the land which the lord had promised through days of gladness and solemn days and the glory of the lord was on them through all their journeys but at last the people wept again and chided moses saying who shall give us meat to eat we did eat in egypt freely fish cucumbers and the melons but now there is nothing but this manner and moses heard them and said to the lord what shall i do with these people have i conceived them they be almost ready to stone me did i father them that thou should say to me carry them in thy bosom they weep to me saying give us meat where should i have meat for all these people so the flocks and the herds be slain for them or all the fish of the sea [Music] i am not able to bear all this it is too heavy for me but the lord said to moses is the lord's hand waxed short thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass or not and moses went out and told the people the lord will give you meat and you shall eat not one day or ten but a month until it comes out your nostrils because you wept before him saying why came we out of egypt but miriam and aaron spoke against moses they said hath the lord indeed spoken only to moses and there a young man ran and told moses and joshua said my lord moses forbid them but moses said thus thou envy me would god that all the people were prophets so the lord would put his spirit upon them and moses and the elders went into the camp but there came forth a wind now and the lord spoke suddenly to moses and aaron and miriam here now my words if there were a prophet among you i would make myself known to him my servant is moses to him will i speak then moses said to them oh ye have heard the voice of god i stand between the lord and you lest he be afraid god is not a man that he should lie if he's spoken and shall he not make it good because he loved your fathers he brought you out of egypt therefore rise up israel we have stayed long enough in this place turn you and take your journey to the great river strong is thy dwelling place you have set your nest in a rock only take heed lest ye forget your god then after three months they came at last to the wilderness of sinai and camped there before the mountain and it came to pass in the morning that there were thunders in a thick cloud over the mountain then came the voice of a trumpet and the people trembled and the mountain quaked but moses said fear not god is come to pull you and he climbed up into the thick darkness where god was he stayed many days and many nights cloud covering the glory of the lord but when he came not down the people gathered before aaron said to him up aaron you shall make us gods to go before us as for this moses we know not what has become of him so aaron said to them break off the golden rings from the ears of your wives and your daughters bring them to me and the people did so they stripped off their ornaments all the spoils of egypt and brought them to aaron and he beat the gold into plates and fashioned a golden calf and said this be thy god o israel yet far off in the mountain moses drew near where god was and heard him now hearken moses i teach you that they may live i declare unto you my ten commandments let them not depart from thy heart all the days of thy life but teach them then these words the lord spoke with a great voice i am the lord thy god thou shalt have no other gods before me thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain remember the sabbath day to keep it holy honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land thou shalt not kill thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbors and the lord spoke with moses as a man speaks to his friend and when he'd made an end he gave him two tablets of stone written with the finger of god and the writing was the word of god [Music] [Music] throughout the last four books of moses god gives him very specific and detailed instruction on many matters chapters on the construction of the ark of the covenant details of worship and sacrifice pages of specific tribal law and punishment all of which moses commits to memory it's interesting to note that throughout the entirety of both testaments the bible god only writes down his instructions once when he delivers his ten commandments to moses having declared his commandments with a great voice god gives moses two stone tablets written with the finger of god the phrase written in stone has since become a common idiom for permanence you're not likely to change something carved in stone especially in god's hand that seems to be what god has in mind moses is to make these commandments preeminent over god's other pronouncements [Music] interwoven with christ's 11th commandment that you love one another the commandments are the common foundation for the ethical philosophy of western civilization this stone may have been worn down a little over the centuries but the covenant remains again we see across the centuries the power of the written word as the new testament will tell us later in the beginning was the word moses is also a tragic figure of classic dimension a tragic hero by definition is a great man brought down by a fatal flaw in his own nature after his triumph in delivering the israelites from bondage at god's command and direction moses led them through the years of wandering in the wilderness of sin for moses this must have been an internal odyssey as well he was struggling under the stress of a burden of command unmatched in history he had to hold the confidence of a fractious people keeping their spirits high through the deprivation of the desert yet above all always responding to the precise instructions of the lord god somewhere in those desperate years his iron will or his own self-doubt or perhaps his pride hubris the fatal failing of great men brought him into conflict with god he delivered the law and the children of israel to the very banks of the jordan within sight of his goal but he was only to look across the river at a promised land that god would deny him moses remains one of the last and greatest voices of god until christ [Music] and the lord spoke with moses as a man speaks to his friend and when he'd made an end he gave him two tablets of stone written with the finger of god and the writing was the word of god so moses turned and went down from the mount and his face shone so he came to where joshua waited who said there is a noise of war in the camp but moses heard the voice of god who said go get thee down for thy people have corrupted themselves and they came to the camp where the people drank and played naked before the golden calf and moses saw this in his anger waxed hot he cried out hath the lord brought you out of the iron furnace to be unto him as ye are this day i call heaven and earth to witness how ye have set before you now life and good and death and evil he that is on the lord's side let him come to me and moses cast the tablets from his hands and broke them beneath the golden calf and the people feared and the wicked fell on their faces but then the fire went out from the lord the earth opened and swallowed all they went down alive and the pit closed upon them they died before the lord till at last moses stood between the dead and the living saying now pardon this people that beseech thee thy mercy hold off thy fierce wrath o lord or blot me from thy book [Music] and the plague was stayed but the lord's anger was kindled against israel he made them wander in the wilderness forty years until all the generation that had done evil was consumed but at last there came a morning on the plains of moab when the lord spoke to moses rise up moses rise up get thee up this mountain and behold the land which i give unto israel thou shalt see that land before thee but thou may not go there thou shalt be gathered unto me i shall give thee rest and moses said let the congregation of the lord be not his sheep which have no shepherd set before them a man who can lead them and the lord said take joshua put some of thine honor upon him and they will put thy name upon the children so moses turned towards the camp he was old but his eye was not dim he said how goodly are thy tents oh israel then he called the elders to him saying here o israel thou art to pass over jordan this day i have led you 40 years in the wilderness where ye groped at noon day as the blind grope in darkness ye have been a rebellious people from the day that i know you yet ye are my people and behold here this day is the stars of heaven for multitude may the lord god make ye a thousand times many more than you are may he bless you and keep you and none make you afraid then moses called joshua he laid his hands on him and said be strong and of good courage for thou must lead this people into the new land the lord was angry with me for your sake he said that i may not go over jordan i must die in this land but you shall go over all shall go and possess that good land and when the lord shall have brought thee to that land he swore to thy fathers a land of wheat and honey where you shall like nothing with houses full of all good things which he build not and vines and olive trees which ye plant not when ye shall have eaten and are full then keep thou these words in thy heart let not the people forget what your eyes have seen love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers in egypt when you cut harvest in the field and forget a sheaf go not again to get it let it be for the stranger for the fatherless and the widow so you shall remember that ye were slaves in egypt between your brethren and the stranger judge righteously for all men our brothers be not afraid if you turn aside from god then the anger of the lord shall smoke against you but if you seek the lord you shall find him if you seek with all your heart and all your soul the lord thy god is a merciful god when ye are in tribulation if you turn to the lord he will not forsake you and as truly as i live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the lord now go proclaim liberty throughout all the lands unto all the inhabitants thereof thus moses blessed israel and they hearkened unto him then joshua led the host over jordan jordan [Music] and moses went up into the mountain of nebo and the lord showed him all the promised land from gilead and judea unto the utmost sea then god said to him this is thy place so moses died there no man knows his sepulcher even unto this day but there arose not a prophet since in israel like unto moses whom the lord knew face to face [Music] behold his mighty hand so god at last brings his people to that good land he promised first to abraham the exodus can be described as the core of the jewish experience as a people a nation and a faith it was god's promise fulfilled with moses as the instrument of his will revered by three religions sacred to none this flawed and angry man showed god and the world the capacity of the human spirit and there arose not a prophet since in israel like unto moses whom the lord knew face to face i'm jordan heston i'm not a priest scholar i'm an actor i tell stories i want to take you with me on an odyssey along the way i'll tell you some of the oldest greatest stories on earth stories from the bible [Music] in the beginning was the word john chapter 1 verse 1. wonderful lines several centuries before jesus was born the hebrew prophet isaiah foretold the coming of the messiah in the older testament with these words unto us will a child be born he shall be called the prince of peace and of his kingdom there shall be no end righteousness shall gird his loins the wolf shall lie down with a lamb a little child shall lead them and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the lord he will bear our grief yet we will esteem him not like sheep we have gone astray so like a lamb will he be brought to slaughter jesus this promised messiah well not many would even ask at the time though maybe some of those who were in the stable that first night and saw the star thought of isaiah's prophecy [Music] the romans built this amphitheater here at batshian and others like it all across the empire from scotland to mesopotamia in retrospect rome was ideally placed for the spread of the faith that began with the birth of a baby of whom no roman was aware later if the roman governor in judea heard of jesus's ministry he had no interest in it roman policy was tolerant of the many religious sects that flourished throughout the empire jesus would have been only one of many wandering preachers in the troublesome jewish province of the four men who first wrote the whole story down matthew mark luke and john it's possible that at least one knew the disciples or may have even been one himself late in the fourth century saint jerome a monk working in bethlehem translated the first complete edition of the two testaments from greek in hebrew into latin giving the bible growing stature not only a scripture but his literature he wrote in contemporary latin so they called it the vulgate latin bible it was copied recopied and carried across europe part of the crucial core of civilization and jerome was sainted for his work even as latin was falling out of use the monks and priests who carried his translation were literally spreading the word printed and written or spoken these stories are made to last they were strong enough to change the world all because of a young jewish rabbi who got in trouble with the authorities and was crucified there's been more ink and blood spilled over this man since they nailed into the cross than over any single human being in history here's how it happened in the words of john luke mark and matthew in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god all things were made by him and without him was nothing in him was life and the life was the light of men there would be a man that was the true light that lighteth every man he was in the world and the world knew him not he came onto his own and his own received him not who was born not of the will of man but of god so the word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth the only son of the father jesus called the christ now the birth of jesus was this way in the days of herod the king of judea the angel gabriel was sent from god to a town in galilee named nazareth to a maid espoused to a man named joseph and the maiden's name was mary and the angel came to her and said hail the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and when she saw him she was troubled the angel said fear not mary for thou hast found favor with god behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and call his name jesus and of his kingdom there shall be no end and mary said behold the handmaid of the lord be it according to thy word and the angel departed and mary said my soul does magnify the lord and my spirit is rejoiced in my savior behold henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name he has put down the mighty and exalted them of low degree he's filled the hungry with good things in remembrance of his mercy to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet in the way of peace now it came to pass that in those days a decree went out from caesar augustus that all the world should be counted and all went to be tallied everyone to his own city joseph also went up from galilee out of nazareth into judea to a city of david called bethlehem to be counted with mary his wife who was great with child and so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and because there was no room for them in the inn she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger now there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and lo the angel of the lord came upon them and the glory of the lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid but the angel said to them fear not but behold i bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all men for unto you is born this day in the city of david as savior which is christ the lord and this shall be a sign unto you he shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising god and saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men [Music] and as the angels were going away from them into heaven the shepherds said one to another let us now go to bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the lord hath made known to us and behold there came wise men saying where is he that is born king for we have seen his star in the east in bethlehem and lo the star went before them all till it came and stood over where the young child was when they saw that they rejoiced and they came with haste and found mary and joseph and the babe lying in a manger and when they came into the stable and saw the child with mary they fell down and worshiped him they opened their treasures and gave to him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh and when they'd seen him they made known abroad what was told them of this child and all that heard them wondered at these things but mary kept all things and pondered them in her heart [Music] and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising god and when they were departed behold the angel of the lord appeared to joseph in a dream saying arise and take the child and his mother and flee into egypt and be thou there until i bring me word for king herod will seek the child to kill him so joseph arose and took the child and his mother by night and departed into egypt but when he was in egypt behold the angel appeared again in a dream saying arise and go back to the land of israel for he who sought the child's life is dead so with the child and his mother he came back into israel and he dwelt in a city called nazareth so that which was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled he shall be called a nazarene now there was a man in jerusalem who was just and devout named simeon and the holy ghost was upon him thus it was revealed to him that he should not see death until he had seen the christ and he came into the temple when the parents brought in the child jesus to do for him after the custom of the law then he took him up in his arms and said lord now let thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation a light to the glory of thy people israel and joseph and his mother marveled so the child grew and waxed strong in spirit filled with wisdom for the grace of god was upon him now his parents went every year to jerusalem at the feast of the passover and when he was 12 years old they went according to their custom and when they'd fulfilled the feast as they returned the child jesus tarried behind in jerusalem and joseph and his mother knew not of it but supposing him to have been in the company they went a day's journey and thought him among their kinsfolk and friends and when they found him not they turned back again to jerusalem seeking him so it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the scholars both hearing them and asking them questions and all that heard him were astonished and his mother said to him son why hast thou dealt us with us behold thy father and i have sought thee sorrowing and he said to them how is it that she sought me know you not that i must be about my father's business [Music] they understood not what he spoke to them but he went with them to nazareth and was still a son to them so jesus increased in favor with god and man so the word was made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth now they understood not what he spoke to them yeah i expect so this boy jesus would have been a very remarkable child ready by then to turn to his father's business this is the temple at capernaum very liked the kind of synagogue where jesus spoke up out of turn a voice at the back of the room that would not be silenced through the early stories in genesis god is visibly there strongly involved controlling events though less so for the later prophets but in the new testament jesus seems to act alone armed with his own divinity but finding his own way there's no mention of god's guidance even as a boy he seems to know his own road though perhaps not its end in the old testament god selected leaders from the men of his people and guided them down the road he chose now he sends another messenger his son to find his own path and teach a new doctrine of peace in places like this on the shores of galilee the voice of god echoes through the old testament in the new we hear him only twice most significantly when his son is baptized here in the river jordan the baptist himself was regarded by some as the messiah that christ chose to be baptized by him seems to be his father's wish in preparation for his ministry maybe god is pleased with both men let us gather by the river as the gospel song has it and be baptized [Music] now in those days when jesus was about 30 years of age there came john the baptist preaching all round about jordan with the voice of one crying in the wilderness make ye ready the way of the lord make his path straight every valley shall be filled and every mountain in hills shall be brought low the crooked shall become straight and the rough way smooth and all men shall see the salvation of god and the people wondered in their hearts about john whether happily he might be the christ but john answered them i indeed baptize you but he that comes after me is mightier than i after me comes a man who was before me and i knew him not whose shoes i am not worthy to tie he shall baptize you with the holy spirit and jesus came from galilee to john to be baptized in the jordan john hindered him saying comes thou to me i need to be baptized by thee but jesus answered suffer it still for it thus becomes us so jesus was baptized and as he came up from the waters the heavens were rent asunder and a voice came saying lord my beloved son in thee i am well pleased then jesus full of the holy spirit was led from jordan into the wilderness to be tempted by satan he was there forty days and forty nights and ate nothing and when he hungered then the tempter came and said to him if thou be the son of god command this stone that it become bread and jesus answered him it is written that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of god so satan brought him to jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him if thou be the son of god cast thyself down from here for it is written he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest thou dash thy foot against the stone jesus answered it is said thou shalt not tent the lord thy god then the devil taking him up to a high mountain showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory in one moment of time and the devil said to thee will i give all this that power is mine and whomsoever i will i give it if thou therefore wilt worship me all shall be thine and jesus said to him get thee behind me satan it is written thou shalt worship the lord thy god and him only and the devil departed and behold angels came and ministered unto jesus and he returned in the power of the spirit into galilee and they went out of fame of him through all the region and he taught in the synagogues being glorified by all from that time jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and he came to nazareth where he'd been brought up and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up to read and he was given the book of the prophet isaiah when he opened it he found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set free them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the lord and all wondered at these words and they said why is not this the joseph's son is not this the carpenter the son of mary the brother of james and joseph and judah and simon and are not his sisters here with us they were offended but jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house now in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil who cried out with a loud voice let us alone what have we to do with thee thou jesus of nazareth hath thou come to destroy us i know thee o thou art the holy one of god but jesus said hold thy peace and come out of him and the devil threw the man down and came out of him and heard him no more and they were all amazed saying what a word is this he commands the unclean spirits and they come out can it be that they know him for the christ so the fame of him went round about into every place now when the sun was setting all those that were sick came to him and he laid his hands on everyone and healed them and when it was day he departed into the desert the people sought to stay in that he should not leave them but he said i must preach the kingdom of god to other cities also for therefore am i said and he preached in the synagogues of galilee passing by the sea of galilee he saw simon and andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishers and jesus said to them come ye after me and i will make you fishers of men and they left their nets and followed him then another came and said noah stop me and jesus said i saw thee before when i was under a fig tree and the man said thou art truly the son of god then jesus answered because i said i saw thee under a fig tree believeth thou verily thou shall see greater things than these and to another he said what seek ye and the man answered we have found him so jesus said come follow me he called unto him whom he would and they went and of those disciples he chose twelve simon whom he called peter and andrew his brother james and john philip and bartholomew matthew and thomas james the son of elfaeus and simon called zelotes and judas the brother of james and judas iscariot who also was the traitor this is the monastery of saint george built at the foot of the cliff where it's believed jesus struggled with satan during his testing time in the wilderness throughout history in many cultures including our own wilderness is a testing ground a solitary rite of passage for young males in both testaments of the bible and in some other faiths as well it's far more than that it is a crucible to try men's souls as with many monasteries this bleak desert location was chosen as a safe place to preserve and protect the mounting pages of holy rip the monks gathered here over the ages [Music] [Music] the dictionary defines sermon as a religious discourse delivered in public by a clergyman as part of a religious service jesus wasn't a clergyman and he didn't speak at formal services though you could call him a rabbi that means teacher i think sermon on the mount seems the wrong title too it reads to me more like a big open camp meeting must have been quite a crowd great numbers from all judea it says they're beginning to hear about this new young rabbi so they come and they hear something great [Music] now there came great numbers of them that were troubled from all judea to hear him and be healed and they were healed a whole multitude sought to touch him or even the hem of his garment such power came from him then he came down with him and stood on a level place on a mountain with his disciples and he lifted his eyes and said blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of god blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy blessed are they that hunger now for they shall be filled blessed are they that weep now for they shall laugh blessed are the meek but they shall inherit the earth blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of god and blessed are ye when men shall hate you and cast out your name is evil for my sake rejoice in that day for so did they under the prophets but woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did they to the false prophets woe unto you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep woe unto you that are full now for ye shall hunger think not i came to destroy the law or the prophets i come not to destroy but to fulfill so i say unto you which hear love your enemies do good to them which hate you bless them that curse you and pray for them that he'll use you you've heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say to you that you resist not evil whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him also the other give to every man that asks of thee and if him that taketh away thy goods ask them not back again as you would that men should do to you do ye also to them for if you love those who love you what thanks have ye sinners also love those that love them and if you do good to them of whom ye hope to receive what thanks have you sinners do even the same but love your enemies and do good hoping for nothing in return and your reward shall be great then ye shall be the children of god be merciful as your father is merciful judge not and you shall not be judged condemn not and you shall not be condemned forgive and ye shall be forgiven give and it shall be given unto you good measure running over for with the same measure you use it shall be measured to you and he spoke to them in parables saying can the blind lead the blind shall not both fall into the ditch how can satan cast out satan a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit so by their fruits shall you know them do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man brings forth evil straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and few there be that find it and i say to you truly i am the door seek and you shall find knock and it shall be opened to you if your son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father will you give him a stone if ye know how to give to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give and when you pray be not like those that stand in the streets and pray in repetitions thinking they shall be seen by men but enter into thine inmost chamber and pray to thy father after this manner our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and bring us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever then a woman in the crowd lifted her voice and said blessed is the womb that bore thee and he said yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of god and keep it why call you me lord lord yet do not the things i say hear you then the parable of the sower behold the sower went forth to sow and as he sowed some seeds fell on rocky places and the birds came and devoured them thus when anyone hears the word of the kingdom of god and understands not then cometh the evil one and snatches away that which has been sown in the rocky places of his art but he that hears the word and understands it he verily bears fruit in his heart a hundred fold take heed therefore how you hear but so is the kingdom of god as if a man should cast seed upon the earth and sleeps and rises night and day and the seed springs and grows he knows not how if you say what is the kingdom of god like i say unto you it is like a grain of mustard seed cast into a garden where it grows into a great tree and the birds of the air lodge in its branches therefore whoever heareth these words and does them i liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded on a rock and when jesus had ended so then there came his brethren and his mother and waiting nearby they sent to him where the multitude sat about him and the people said to him behold thy mother and i brethren seek for thee but he answered who is my mother or my brethren and he looked around at those who said about him and said behold my mother and my brethren for whosoever shall do the word of god he is my brother and my sister and my mother then jesus went from there and came into the coasts of judea on the far side of jordan and again there came to him great multitudes and again he taught them they brought young children to him that he should touch them and his disciples rebuked them but when jesus saw this he was much displeased he said to them suffer the little children to come unto me forbid them not for if such is the kingdom of god verily i say unto you except ye turn and become his little children ye can in no way enter that kingdom and he took the children up in his arms and laid his hands on them and blessed them and said whosoever shall receive this little child in my name receiveth me and whosoever receiveth me receiveth not me but him who sent me and there were the lame the blind the dumb and the maimed they fell down at his feet and he healed them and all wondered to see the dumb speak and the maimed hole the lame walk and the blind sea and the disciples seeing jesus heal one who'd been blind from birth said good master who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind and jesus said why callest thou me good there is none good but one that is god neither this man nor his parents sinned this was so the hand of god should be made manifest in him i must do the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work then came certain pharisees and they said to him who had been born blind how were thine eyes opened he answered by a man called jesus he said to me go to the pool of siloam and wash and i went and washed and i see then they said this man is not of god because he keepeth not the sabbath day for it was the sabbath they said what sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes he said he's a prophet then they said give god the praise we know that this man is a sinner he answered whether he be a sinner i know not but one thing i know that i was blind and now i see but they said again what did he to thee he answered them i've told you already wherefore would you hear it again will ye also be his disciples then they said thou art his disciple is for this fellow we know not from whence he is the man said why here's a marvelous thing ye know not from whence he is and yet he has opened mine eyes since the world began never was it heard that anyone opened the eyes of one that was born blind now jesus heard and said to them i am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but be free jesus came again early in the morning to the temple and the people came to him and he sat down taught them then the pharisees brought in a woman and he sat her before him and said master this woman was taken in adultery in the very act now moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned but what say is thou and jesus leaned down and wrote in the ground with his finger as if he heard them not and they asked him again he looked up and said that him among you that is without sin cast the first stone and they went out everyone and jesus was left alone with the woman he said to her woman where now are thy accusers have no man condemn thee no man lord she said and jesus said neither do i go and sin no more this is the sea of galilee where jesus recruited a couple of fishermen christ recruiting his disciples is one of my favorite stories in the gospels there is no record that he actually recruited in the strictest sense or even talked to them he saw them casting a net fishing and he said come after me i'll make you fishers of men and they came instead of heeding the pharisees warning or threat jesus leads his little band to jerusalem he goes immediately to the temple probably climbing these very steps to the temple mount where he drives out the money changers devout jews were forbidden to pay the temple tax with roman coins because they had graven images on them so they bought plain coins from the money changers who charged a fee jesus was outraged that they were making money from the service of god on the most sacred spot in the city his provocative act however was a dangerous challenge to religious authority there's both anguish and anger behind his vision of the destruction of the temple o jerusalem jerusalem ye stone the prophets less than 40 years later the romans did level the temple along with most of the city leaving not one stone upon another as christ had foretold and they went forth from thence through galilee where he would not that any man should know him for the pharisees it said get thee hence from here for herod will kill thee but jesus answered here must i walk still today and tomorrow and the days following for i know whence i came and whether i go but ye know neither whence i came nor what i do though he spoke these words no man took him because his hour was not yet come nonetheless many of the multitudes turned back and walked no more with him but jesus marked it not because he knew from the beginning who they would be that believed not and also who would betray him jesus therefore said to the twelve would ye also go away simon peter answered lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of life thou art the christ and jesus smiled and said and thou art peter upon this rock i will build my church unto thee will i give the keys of the kingdom and even death shall not prevail against it he told his disciples how he must go into jerusalem saying to them the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of man they understood not but they were afraid and jesus said to them foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have nests but the son of man hath nowhere to lay his head if any man would come after me let him leave all and take up his cross and follow me then peter said lo we have left all we have followed thee and jesus answered there is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children for my sake but he shall receive eternal life in the world to come but many that are first shall be last and the last first for whosoever would save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it and what shall a man get for his life so when at last they had come into jerusalem all the city was moved saying who is this this is jesus the prophet of nazareth of galilee and jesus went into the temple of god cast out all of them that sold and bought in the temple he overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves and said to them it is written my father's house shall be called a house of prayer ye have made it a den of thieves and as he went out from the temple one of his disciples said behold how it is adorned with goodly stones and jesus said as for these things behold there shall not be left one stone upon another all shall be thrown down and they asked him master but when shall these things be and what sign will there be and jesus sighed deep in his spirit and said why do you seek a sign dearly i say unto you there shall be no sign when you see a cloud rise out of the west you say there comes rain and so it is and when you see the south wind blow you say there will be heat and so it comes you could read the signs of the sky and the earth how is it you cannot read the signs of this time suppose you that i am come to give peace on earth i tell you no but rather division there shall be houses divided son against father and father against son and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet for nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes all these are the beginning of sorrows oh jerusalem jerusalem you kill the prophets and stone them which are sent to thee i would have gathered thy children together and you would not behold your house shall be left desolate and you shall not see me until the time comes when you shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the lord take ye heed behold i have foretold you all things and in those days after that tribulation the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light the stars of heaven shall fall and then shall we see the son of man coming in clouds with glory and the great sound of a trumpet and then shall he send his angels and shall gather all nations from the four winds from the uttermost parts of the earth and all shall be before him then shall the sun say come he blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for i was hungry and ye gave me meat i was thirsty and ye gave me drink i was a stranger and ye took me in naked and ye clothed me i was sick and he visited me i was in prison and ye came to me then shall the righteous say lord we did not these things unto thee and the son shall answer them in as much as ye have done this unto one of the least of my brethren ye have done this to me take ye heed i say when all these things be done heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away but of that day and that hour knowest no man no not the angels in heaven therefore take ye heed watch and pray we know not when the time is the son of man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave to every man his work and his watch watch she therefore for ye know not when the master cometh at even or at midnight at cockcrow or in the morning and what i say unto you i say unto all watch what i say unto you i say unto all watch [Music] jesus's dark prophecy fills his followers with fear many abandon him leading him to walk to his destiny alone heaven and earth shall pass away he says but my words shall not pass away i'm jordan heston i'm not a priest or a scholar i'm an actor i tell stories i want to take you with me on an odyssey along the way i'll tell you some of the oldest and greatest stories on earth the stories from the bible [Music] i come now to the tragic and triumphant coda the new testament the passion crucifixion and resurrection and we return full circle to the city of jerusalem where our story begins and ends [Music] [Music] oh [Music] after the fall of rome christianity was ideally placed in time and space to flourish through the abandoned structure of the roman empire but the bible was still not widely disseminated nevertheless christian monks in britain began preaching in the saxon tongue as britain grew the bible was translated several times into the maturing richness of the english language king alfred the great was credited with personally translating part of one version here's moses exhorting the israelites in old english abraham scott from shafter freya sosa speared with modern man roth there micklin hand in modern english that's it is the eternal god of abraham creation's lord who this camp protects valiant and powerful with that mighty hand the 15th century brought a major milestone in human history the invention of the printing press the awesome power of the written word was multiplied a thousand thousand times when it could be duplicated and circulated this was of lasting immeasurable benefit to the world and as it happened to the christian faith what do you think was the very first book johan gutenberg ever printed on his new machine of course the gutenberg latin bible in 1456 by the 16th century thanks to gutenberg the bible was available to anyone who could read if you read latin william tyndale made the first definitive translation into english and published it but the english church prescribed its circulation suspicious of the inherent power of the printed word written in language people could understand a bishop bought most of tyndale's stock and burned it i'm glad so tyndale i'll have money to print more and the world will cry out at the burning of god's word in the end they burn tyndale then henry viii authorized the publication of an entirely new translation based on tyndale's work he called it the great bible and ordered it distributed to every parish church in england so that all manner of persons rich poor priests and laymen lords and ladies husbands wives may learn all things later there were enough restrictions on this freedom to make one robert williams right in the fly leaf of his copy i keep sheep i bought this book price 14 pennies when it was proclaimed that shepherds might not read it i pray god amends that blindness his prayer was answered before long under henry and his daughter elizabeth the first the great bible was read all over britain elizabeth was succeeded by james the first scots king of england soon after he took the throne he decided to commission a new definitive english translation of the bible classically educated himself he appointed six different panels of 47 scholars in all who do the work they met separately in westminster oxford and cambridge each group working on different chapters for a new english text based on both greek and hebrew sources as well as the extant english translations it was to replace when this was done each panel sent representatives with its new text to a fourth panel which wove it all into a final text to be submitted to king james it was worth the work in 1611 after seven years of effort the king james bible was published and aside from its ecclesiastical purpose was recognized as a great work of literature it's described not only as a monument of english prose but is the only great work of art ever created by a committee after nearly four centuries it's still used in english-speaking churches all around the world just as important the king james bible along with shakespeare has helped shape the language itself this means more and more as the use of english grows throughout the world becoming the lingua franca of our time if it can be said of any single published work this is surely the bible why is the king james translation so good so clearly the best what makes any writing good strong simple sentences vivid active verbs and nouns colorful images good dialogue when it's as good as this it also touches the heart now let's begin the end of the story or the end of the beginning when jesus and his disciples entered the city the time of quiet preaching was passed jerusalem was not a quiet city pilate the roman governor had to deal with the zealots and other rebel groups the priests of israel had to deal with false prophets who distracted the people the new ideas of jesus were not yet widely understood or accepted but they were popular that made him dangerous all four gospels describe the gathering storm as jesus surely now knowing his destiny goes to meet it the pharisees a strict jewish sect at the time would certainly have found christ's preaching objectionable smelling danger maybe blood in the air some of christ's followers begin to fade away though his original disciples stand fast for the moment [Music] now there was much murmuring among the multitude concerning him some said he's a good man but others said nay but he leads the people astray still jesus went up into the temple and taught saying my teaching is not mine but here's who sent me if any man wills he shall know whether i be of god or whether i speak for myself some therefore said is this he whom they seek to kill hello he speaks openly and they say nothing to him can it be that the rulers know that this is the christ but some answered we know whence this man is but when the christ cometh no one knows whence he is jesus said ye know me and know whence i am but i am not come of myself but from him whom you know not now the pharisees heard the multitude murmuring and the chief priests sent officers to take him where he stood but when they heard him cry if any man thirst let him come to me and drink some of these men said this is of a truth the prophet this is the christ still some said what does the christ come out of galilee if not the scriptures said that the christ cometh out of bethlehem still no man would lay a hand on him the chief priest said to them why did you not bring him are ye also led astray the officers answered there was never a man who spoke so now after this jesus appointed other disciples and sent them two and two into every city and place and he said to them the harvest is at hand but the laborers are few therefore go your ways yet beware i send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves still into whatever city ye enter say to them the kingdom of god is nigh i send you to tread upon serpents and scorpions yet nothing shall hurt you for your names are written in heaven now the feast of unleavened bread brunei which is called the passover and many went up out of the country to jerusalem to purify themselves they asked there for jesus in the temple saying what think he that he will not come for the priests had commanded that if any man knew where he was he should tell it that they might take him so the pharisees took counsel how they might do this and they sent forth spies saying master we know thou art true and teaches the way of god and charis not for anyone tell us therefore what thinks thou is it lawful to give tribute to caesar or not and jesus said to them show me a penny and they brought him a penny and he said whose is this image and superscription and they said caesars and he said then render unto caesar the things that are caesars and unto god the things that are god's so they held their peace and went away now since the passover was at hand the priests and the scribes and the elders of the people gathered together in the palace of the high priest who was called caiaphas and consulted how they might take jesus by craft and kill him but they said not on the feast day lest a tumult arise among the people now jesus was in bethany at this time in the house of simon the leper and as he sat at meat the woman mary magdalene came with an alabaster box of precious ointment and poured it on his head when judas iscariot saw this he said to what purpose is this waste this ointment might have been sold for much money to give to the poor and they all murmured against her but jesus said to them why trouble you the woman just wrought a good work the poor ye have always with you but me you have not always she has poured this ointment for my burial and i say verily wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world there this also shall be told what this woman hath done and satan entered into judas though he was one of the twelve and he went away to the chief priests and said to them what will you give me if i deliver him to you they weighed and gave him 30 pieces of silver and from that moment he sought to betray jesus [Music] [Music] this is the hall of the last supper the room's been rebuilt often most recently by the crusaders but this is said to be the place where jesus gathered his disciples for that fateful dinner the night of his betrayal i said before jerusalem's a city crowded with spiritual significance one floor down lies the tomb of david ancient king of israel do you suppose jesus knew that more important does he see the web of plots around him the small traps laid he handles the question of paying roman taxes easily enough does he know judas will defect even before judas does in these last scenes these central issues the core of the new testament is jesus the messiah my teaching is not mine but his that sent me he says and with these words seals his fate but first is the feast day passover he will not be taken then the priests say lest there be an uproar among the people so there's time for a quiet meal with the disciples the breaking of bread and wine the first communion and for jesus the last passover now the first day of the feast the disciples did as jesus had appointed them and made ready the passover and when it was evening he came with a twelve and satted meat and as they did eat jesus rose from the supper and took a towel and girded himself and poured water and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them so he came to peter who said lord thou shall never wash my feet and jesus answered if i wash thee not thou hast no part with me what i do thou knowest not now but thou shalt hereafter year clean but not all are clean so he sat down again and said know you what i've done you call me master and lord and ye say well but still i say to you that one of you shall betray me his hand is with me on the table twelve looked at one another doubting and said to him one by one lord is it i and he answered he that dips his hand with me in this dish the same shall betray me the son of man goeth as it is written then judas said master is it i jesus answered thou hast said what thou doest do quickly now no man at the table knew what he spoke to judas who went out straight away and it was night when he was gone jesus said children yet a little while i am with you so now a new commandment i give unto you that you love one another even as i have loved you by this shall all men know ye peter then said lord wither goes though jesus answered whither i go thou canst not follow peter said lord why can i not follow thee i will lay down my life for thee jesus answered wilt thou lay down thy life for me first sit down and count the cost ye know not what ye ask peter said even if i must die with thee i will not deny thee and jesus answered verily verily i say unto thee the shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice for i say this which is written must be fulfilled so he took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them and said take eat this is my body and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them and they all drank of it and he said this is my blood of the new testament which i shed for you but i will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until that day that i drink it new in the kingdom of god let not your heart be troubled in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you and if i go i come again that where i am there ye may be also and whither i go ye know the way thomas said to him lord we know not wither thou goest how know we the way jesus said i am the way and the truth and the life no one cometh unto the father but by me philip said lord show us the father jesus said have i been with you so long and thus thou not know me philip i am the father you know him he abides with you i will not leave you desolate get a little while and the world beholds me no more but ye behold me because i live ye shall live also let not your heart be fearful if you love me rejoice because i go and now i have told you i will speak with you no more for the world cometh arise let us go hence that the world may know that i love the father and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the mount of olives and jesus said to them behold the hour cometh yea is come that ye shall be scattered every man and leave me alone in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer i have overcome the world so they came at last to a place named gethsemane and jesus said to his disciples g here while i pray and watch and he went forward a little and fell in the ground and he said oh my father if they'll be willing take away this cup from me nevertheless not what i will but what thou wilt be done and in an agony he prayed and his sweat was his great drops of blood falling down to the ground and as he rose up from prayer he found the disciples sleeping and he said to peter what could you not watch with me one hour the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and again he went away and prayed and spoke the same words and when he turned he found him asleep again for their eyes were heavy and he said to them sleep on now take your rest it is enough the hour is come behold the son of man is taken and while he spoke judas came and with him a band of soldiers with swords and torches jesus therefore went forth and said whom seeky they answered jesus of nazareth and judas came to him and said hail master and kissed him and jesus said friend do that for which thou had come then they came and laid hands on him and took him now peter had a sword and drew it and struck one of the high priest's servants and jesus said put up thy sword this cup the father hath given me shall i not drink it so the chief captain bound him and jesus said to him are you come out to take me as a thief with swords when i was daily with you in the temple you stretched forth no hand against me but this is your hour and this is done then the disciples forsook him and fled [Music] the events of that final supper and the night in the garden are full of terror and betrayal and faith and friendship and wonder christ who's faced this from almost the beginning has to decide what to tell the 12 of them and how that done he wants most to get it over do it he says to judas jesus comforts the 11 loyal apostles that are left then goes to the garden to meet the soldiers maybe he thinks they'll be waiting there with swords one strong bloody stroke and it would be done but they're not the garden's empty he must wait for the first time in the entire testament his will falters perhaps for one moment he's not the christ but the man struggling this mortality and praise please don't let it end this way this is said to be the very garden this the very rock where jesus prayed for strength from this moment he is who he is he smiles at his sleeping friends he can they really have been sleeping that's the sort of human frailty that to me rings true jesus calls his betrayer friend he greets the soldiers like guests in his garden he practices what he preached they take him and his disciples run away every man of them runs away this is the via dolorosa in the old city of jerusalem the buildings are more recent but these stones are original jesus may have stumbled here as he dragged his cross up towards the hill of golgotha to his destiny there's still the trial to come and the cross the lines of inevitability are closing towards a climax which perhaps could be foreseen but not avoided i think jesus knows this now philippians says it very well christ equal with god was made in the likeness of men as a man he was obedient unto death even the death of the cross [Music] now they led jesus away to caiaphas the high priest and peter followed afar off they brought him even into the palace of the priests where we assembled all the elders and scribes but peter was standing without in the court when they'd kindled the fire he sat with the servants and warmed himself then the chief priests and all the councils sought for witness against jesus to put him to death but found none though many bore witness against him for they agreed not to gather but at last came two false men swearing this fellow said i can destroy the temple of god and build it in three days and the high priest arose and said to him answers thou nothing what is it which these men witness against thee but jesus held his peace so the high priest said i command thee by the living god that thou tell us art thou the christ and jesus said ye say that i am why ask thou me ask them that have heard me they know the things which i said then the high priest said what need we any further witnesses we ourselves have heard from his own mouth you've heard the blasphemy what thinky they answered he is worthy of death then the men that held jesus spit in his face and mocked him and others blindfolded him and struck him saying prophesy to us oh christ which is he that struck thee now peter still set without warming himself when a maid came to him and said art thou a disciple of this jesus and he denied saying i know not what the sayest and then another maid saw him and said to them that were there this fellow was also with the nazarene and with an oath he denied again i know not the man and after a while another that stood by said to peter surely thou art one of them without a galilean thy speech betrays thee and he swore man i am not and at once the crowed and peter remembered the words of jesus before the crow thou shalt deny me thrice and he went away and wept now judas when he knew that jesus was condemned repented so he brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the priests and said i have sinned i have betrayed innocent blood and they said what is that to us see thou to that so he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and went away and hanged himself when the morning was come all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against jesus to put him to death and when they'd bound him they led him away and delivered him up to pilate pilate therefore said to them what accusation bringing against this man they answered if this man were not an evil doer we should not have delivered him up to rome pilate said take him according to your law and judge him the priest said it is not lawful for us to put any man to death but we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to caesar saying that he himself is christ a king and pilate asked him art thou the king of the jews and jesus answered thou sayest i am a king to this end am i come into the world that i should bear witness unto the truth and pilate said to him what is truth now again the priests accused jesus so again pilate asked him answer is thou nothing behold how many things they accuse thee of but jesus no more answered anything not even one word so the governor said to the priests i find no fault in this man but they were all the more urgent saying he stirs up the people throughout all judea now at this feast the governor was want to release to the people one prisoner whomsoever they would so pilate called together the priests and the people also though the priests had delivered jesus to him for judgment so pilate said to them he brought me this man and having examined him before you i find no fault in him nothing worthy of death has been done by him i will therefore chastise him and release him for your passover would ye that i release to you this king of the jews now there was one named barabas who'd made rebellion and for this and for murder lay bound in prison so now the priests moved the people so that they cried out not this man but bearer verse the governor said to them which of the two would ye that i released to you they said barabbas pilate said to them what shall i do then with jesus and they all cried let him be crucified then pilate said why what evil is he done but they cried out the more crucify him and these voices prevailed so pilate to content the people released barabbas whom they asked for and delivered jesus up to their will the soldiers took him and scourged him and they plated a crown of thorns they put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple garment so they brought him out again and pilate said to the people behold the man but they cried out as before away with him away with him crucify him when pilate said shall i crucify your king they answered we have no king but caesar [Music] and they mocked jesus saying hale king of the jews [Music] so they took the robe from him and led him away to crucify him jesus went out bearing the cross for himself but as they led him on the way they took hold of one simon of cyrene and laid the cross on him to bear it after jesus and a great company of people followed after and women also be wailing and lamenting but jesus turning to them said daughters of jerusalem weep not for me weep for yourselves and for your children for the days are coming when they shall say blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never gave suck then shall they say to the mountains fall on us into the hills cover us for if they do these things in the green time what shall be done in the dry and when they were come to a place called golgotha that is to say the place of the skull they gave him wine to drink mingled with gall when he tasted it he would not drink then they crucified him and sorted his garments casting dice among them what every man should take [Music] with him they crucified two thieves the one in his right hand and the other on his left and now it was the third hour and they sat up over his head his accusation this is jesus the king of the jews now many read this for the place where jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in hebrew and in latin and in greek the priests therefore said to pilate right not the king of the jews but that he said i am king of the jews pilate said to them what i have written i have written and the people stood there watched him also the elders nodding their heads and saying he saved others himself he cannot save let him come down from the cross now and we will believe him one of the thieves which were hanged railed at him saying if thou be the christ save thyself and us but the other rebuked him saying thus thou not fear god we received your reward for our deeds but this man has done nothing and he said to jesus lord when thou comest into thy kingdom remember me and jesus said i say to thee today shalt thou be with me in paradise there standing by the cross of jesus for his mother and his mother's sister mary and mary magdalene now it was about the sixth hour and the darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour the sun's light failing and about the ninth hour jesus cried with a loud voice my god my god why hast thou forsaken me [Music] and then he said it is finished and cried [Music] father into thy hands [Music] and thus he gave up the ghost [Music] this is the church of the holy sepulchre built in the hill of calvary or golgotha meaning the place of the skull many believe it to be the sight of the crucifixion the story can be told for the awesome drama it surely is whatever else it may or may not be neither pilate nor caiaphas is a villain both are committed men which is more than can be said for peter here pilate as roman governor shows jesus to the people homo he says behold the man the mob rejects his offer of clemency allowing pilate to wash his hands for the matter jesus hardly speaks he certainly makes no effort to defend himself or even seek mercy he too is committed to this end am i come into the world that i should bear witness under the truth perhaps pilate's comment is the most telling what is truth and who knows the answer to that the resurrection has been endlessly debated but is of course ultimately neither provable or disprovable it's said by some to have happened here on the second day after christ was crucified in 1883 general gordon of khartoum spotted a hill with a strange skull-like look to it beneath the hill was a garden which research showed may have belonged to joseph of aramacia there's a small tomb carved from the living rock there's a track where a stone could be moved to seal the entrance or rolled away whether christ's tomb was here or beneath the church of the holy sepulchre is for theologians and archaeologists to debate to me it doesn't really matter [Music] the resurrection is the crux of the new testament the focal point of the gospels christ having delivered his message to mankind and accepted the burden of their sins comes back from the grave both to reassure his disciples to forgive peter's denial and significantly to provide reliable living witnesses to his resurrection and inspire them to spread the word he'd given them all four gospels describe this in detail still to accept this witness requires an act of faith the very act of faith which i suspect was the entire point of christ's teachings and the new testament itself now the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent entwined from the top to the bottom and when the centurion that stood by overall saw what was done he said truly this was a righteous man and all the people that came there smote their breasts and cried and all that followed him from galilee and the women stood afar off beholding these things and now when the even was come because it was the day before the sabbath a man named joseph of arimathea a good man and righteous who'd also been a disciple came and went in boldly to pilate and asked for the body of jesus and pilate gave him leave so joseph took him down from the cross and wrapped him in fine linen and laid him in his own new tomb which was hewn out of a rock and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and mary magdalene and mary the mother of jesus and also mary who came with him from galilee beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested on the sabbath day according to the commandment now as it began to dawn on the first day of the week they came to the sepulcher the rising of the sun and they said among themselves who shall roll us away this stone from the door but when they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away in entering into the tomb they saw an angel sitting on the right side his appearance was as lightning and his garment white as snow and he said to them why seek the living among the dead jesus the nazarene who was crucified is risen he is not here come see the place where the lord lay so go your way tell his disciples that he goeth before you but ye shall see him as he told and peter ran and looked wondering at what was come to pass for they had not known that he must rise again and they rose up and returned to jerusalem rejoicing the lord has risen mary magdalene stood still at the sepulcher whipping and as she turned she saw jesus standing there but she knew him not supposing him to be the gardener she said they have taken away my lord and i know not where they've laid him and jesus said to her mary whom see thou and she said to him master so he said to her mary touch me not but go to my brethren and say i ascend unto my father and your father to my god and your god and she went and told the disciples that she had seen the lord and what he'd spoken but one of them thomas said unless i see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger there i will not believe so that evening jesus came where the disciples were and stood among them and said peace be unto you and to thomas he said preach hither thy finger behold my hands and thomas answered my lord and my god then jesus said thomas because you've seen me ye believe but blessed are those that have not seen and believe and to simon peter he said simon son of john lovest thou me and peter answered yeah lord thou knowest that i love thee and jesus said to him tend my sheep and to all he said as the father hath sent me even so i send you go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation [Music] of the things which jesus did they should be written everyone i suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books which would be written [Music] [Music] [Music] in the beginning was the word and the word was god and the word endures words in riches define us they mark our place in time and in the universe [Music] the holy land has inspired countless artists writers and filmmakers over the years and it's easy to understand why the lands of the middle east represent the cradle of western civilization and the birthplace of its greatest book the holy bible when charlton heston first traveled here in the mid 50s while portraying moses in the film the ten commandments he too was captivated the more he studied for that role the more determined he became to understand the texts from which it sprang over the next forty years he repeatedly found himself performing biblical stories in different venues but that wasn't enough in his heart he knew he would one day return to the holy land so he could better understand the origins of the stories he had come to know and love for the next 30 minutes you'll walk with him as he travels this terrain once again you'll come to understand how his personal odyssey took shape as the television event charlton heston presents the bible i think the most unusual aspect of this whole project is the way we're treating the stories in the bible long before the egyptians had invented papyrus or before the phoenicians had invented writing for that matter these stories were being told the way we're telling them that's what they were designed for to be told around campfires in the dark by by storytellers who passed them on in an oral tradition from generation to generation you can imagine the storyteller selecting some likely young lad and saying look you can stay in my tent and i'll take care of you and see that you get fed and nobody gives you a hard time but you've got to learn these stories because when i die you've got to pass them on i think we're doing something absolutely unusual and i think it you have to be an actor to do this because that's what i do i'm not a rabbi or a priest or a teacher or a professor or a scientist or a historian none of those things and tell stories and these are the best stories there ever were the project was ambitious heston's producers his son fraser heston and john stronach assembled a crew of 60 and after mapping out a tight five-week shooting schedule departed for israel and egypt so that heston could tell these timeless stories in their original settings one of the amazing things about this production is how it started with this little kernel of an idea that chuck had to do the bible and over the last year and a half it's turned into his personal odyssey through the holy land and what's what was going to be just a short little documentary is now a major television event we wanted to create something about the bible that has never been done before we wanted to make a performance piece that consisted of the bible as a great work of literature as a great work of art aside from its value as a religious document which is also remarkable but our purpose was artistic and the best thing i did on this picture was hire the director tony westman who is an old friend of mine a documentary filmmaker he's won some awards in canada and he's since become a very imminent uh director of photography and television i would like to do an exit from the jeep i'm getting a mixed size just kidding kind of you stop maybe you come up to about there you do a little glass around under the thing like that like that yes no words no words when we had the original redaction that chuck had done we realized that we had a lot of words but we had no script we had no film and we needed a structure in order to make it work so in the course of shopping around it was suggested that we have commentaries so we began to think about commentaries and writing about things but we said well what are we going to say we only have one or two minutes each time we stop for a little commentary we realized it needed more than just telling the stories and i needed to know more about where the stories took place and fraser and tony both said why don't we set this in the course of doing your research you research all your parts do it that way we'll get a jeep and give you here's your sketchbook and you can go around and find out about sinai and about the sea of galilee and i played moses but i never crossed over jordan just like him the purpose with coming here was the holy land was the religious center of the world in terms of the top three religions and so that became the seminal idea which really launched the thing that became the script that we have today is we began to think of the idea of a pilgrimage we began to think of chuck as the person who indeed through his history as an actor uh began to to reassert his his thinking not so much in a dramatic sense as more of a historical and a literary and poetic sense and so his long exposure with the with the text gave him a lovely understanding of the of the territory of the text and it became important to uh to communicate that in a story-like way and so by having a pilgrimage where he's in fact coming to the whole event and looking at these things it became just a natural kind of a thing probably one of the most amusing things that i have to continually laugh about it's my own ignorance about the bible now i'm in a crash course trying to learn not only the bible itself but all the historical little bits that before and after that that follow tony brings to this project a tremendous sophistication he understands already understands music understands film as an art form and history and literature he had his own personal conversion on mount sinai during a location scout where he went up to the top of the mountain and he said well i don't know what religion it was but i really felt that i could feel the presence of god up there everyone on the crew recognized the awesome power of the landscape and it quickly became clear that the power of the film would lie not just in heston's performance on the stage of a 1st century roman amphitheater but in his on-the-scene commentaries was not enough to provide a little background information heston would invite the viewer to come along as he immersed himself in the history of the region and the stories absolutely stupid okay it'll be like this then this is the beginning tim on action voice of god how was that you like that all right here we go okay let's go please quiet please the voice of god echoes through the old testament in the new we hear him only twice most significantly when his son is baptized here the river jordan the baptist himself was regarded by psalms the messiah christ chose to be baptized by him seems to be his father's wish in preparation for his ministry maybe god is pleased with both men let us gather by the river as the gospel song has it and be baptized i think probably the most exciting aspect of this whole project is the fact that chuck is getting a chance to do something that came directly out of his own nature and his own convictions uh not a part that someone handed him and said here you are step into this roll i think he's been waiting all his life to do this now the serpent was more cunning than any beast which the lord god had made and he said to the woman yea hath god not said ye shall eat of every tree of the garden and the woman said we may eat of the fruit of the trees which are in the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden god hath said you shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest you die he shall not surely die said the serpent for god doth know that in the day you eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be like god knowing good and evil the use of on-screen artwork became another important facet of the project there was no shortage of paintings to choose from for centuries all the great masters focused on religious subjects we started a database it became a project in its own we had something like 1500 paintings in our database and some sculptures and etchings which were either exemplary of certain artwork painted about specific stories uh michelangelo's creation of adam etc or were general paintings which we could use like a master shot to illustrate a scene to illustrate perhaps is a wrong word too to photograph something that cannot be photographed how do you how do you do the creation in the bible well we have wonderful paintings turner sunsets and o'keefe landscapes and beer of yosemite park and things that you know the natural world things of that sort so we got very excited about this and we realized that this in itself was almost an entire project just as these great paintings enhanced heston's performance the historical settings added weight to his commentaries most important location of all was jerusalem a holy place not to one but to three of the world's great religions the producers needed a base of operations a setting in which the stories themselves could be told eventually they settled upon a recently discovered roman amphitheater north of jerusalem an appropriate location given that rome controlled jerusalem in the time of christ and later ensured the spread of christianity wonderful thing about this place for filming a picture like the bible is that it's a real place it's a real amphitheater with real stones and people actually sat in these seats and watched a performance perhaps not unlike this one although on a different subject two thousand years ago when you shoot in a place like this there is an ambience there is a kind of a thing that you pick up from the stones just by touching there and it's the same stones that the romans walked on something happens it doesn't happen in a sound stage we thought about shooting this on a soundstage at one point this portion the performance portion but we realized that you know what could we do no matter how much budget we had set aside for we couldn't begin to duplicate something like these actual pillars and among the sons the location was indeed an essential ingredient of the producer's vision but it had its drawbacks simple shots like this one required a great deal of planning the challenges were magnified when water became the setting nevertheless the producers knew that certain shots were crucial to enhance the commentary about noah and the flood heston and his crew of 60 set sail on the red sea today this body of water bordered by egypt israel and jordan is one of the world's most intense political flashpoints but it also played a crucial role in the ancient hebrew culture thus in spite of the difficulties it posed the producers realized that no other setting would do finally after hours of arduous labor heston and crew got the shots they needed and in the end it all looked effortless the days became even more grueling when the production moved to the desert another landscape that figures prominently in the stories of the bible filming started each morning before dawn even as the incessant desert winds moved horse sand to the faces of heston and the crew the sun pushed the temperature to a searing 125 degrees by 10 am the heat would become unbearable and the crew would break from ten to four find what little relief they could and then return to complete the task at hand shooting until nightfall in this case the script was succinct one line chuck climbs a lonely sand dune and sees the pyramids but getting that single shot took most of one day during production the morses of nature in this harsh yet beautiful environment tested both heston and his crew ultimately however it all proved to be worthwhile the majesty of this landscape is a constant presence in the stories of the bible in many ways it shaped the key figures of both testaments i've been asked about working with my father many times in the course of my career i've made four or five pictures with him now and i know him pretty well we get along very well we're also friends as well as business associates and we're colleagues we own a company together but we also work together as artists and fortunately we work in different fields so there's not a conflict of interest there chuck is an actor i'm a director and a writer and a producer so we get on pretty well and i think our relationship is an advantage like many good creative partnerships chuck's one fault might be that he is so professional so concerned about responsibility he'll sometimes turn into an assistant director on the set and push himself too hard and want to push the company move things along and i'll have to go up and i'll say chuck you know let us worry about what time it is you worry about the performance you worry about the creative aspects of it we'll tell you if we don't have time for another take if you want another take take the damn take it doesn't take that much time to do one extra take what takes time is screwing around trying to put it back together when you haven't done it right in the first place so i think chuck's great strength the other side of that coin is his sincere desire to be both an artist and a professional at the same time and i think that that really shows in his work actually through the early stories in genesis god is visibly there strongly involved controlling events though less so for the later prophets well fraser and chuck have done a lot of films together three or four actually and this project is really extremely stimulating for both of them it's uh was basically chuck's idea to do the the bible as literature presenting it as an actor would and fraser immediately said that's a great idea and all of a sudden here we are in the negev photographing these glorious mountains and i'm tagging along to take pictures as i always do i remember when uh the indiana jones series came on tv i was watching the pilot and i was watching it with some friends and there's the scene where the young indiana jones is dragged over to england he's forced by his parents to read the classics and i thought well i had to do that and then he has to study all the latin and the greek and all of that well i had to do that too and then he goes to cairo and they climb the pyramids and his mom has a governess and she drags him to the top of the pyramids and i thought well my mother dragged me to the top of the pyramids and she also dragged me to the mines of yucatan and all these other wonderful places and somebody said to me well you must sort of identify yourself with indiana jones and i said no no my mother is indiana jones not me heston and his crew may not have faced the dangers encountered by indiana jones but they did have to overcome many hazards during production one scene in the negev desert called for shots from the top and the bottom of an 80-foot bluff then there was that business with the apple when adam and eve ate the apple they were no longer simply god's creatures innocent as animals in the safety of the garden since there were no trails the entire crew including heston had to climb down through a cleft in the rock using safety ropes everyone made it but the danger didn't end there a movie crane is balanced with the utmost care had the camera end dropped just a bit below the wheels that balance would be lost and the camera crew and crane would have tumbled over the cliff we've had a lot of excitement with this film on the set and even off the set the day that we climbed up on that giant tell that looks down over the uh the ruins of betjen of course chuck felt he had to climb climb the stairs instead of taking the jeep up the back way it was it was windy and cool and very exhilarating on that peak it all turned out beautifully over the course of my life i've had the opportunity to go to many of the places that some cultures feel are very spiritual like easter island and machu picchu and places around south america and other places but coming to sinai i really had the feeling that if there was ever a place that god was going to give somebody some rules this would be it everyone on the crew embraced the spirit of discovery that permeates the great biblical texts from adam and eve onward inspired by these timeless stories of hardship and faith the crew felt a growing sense of purpose there was an awareness of the spiritual which made this production unique even to veterans of the industry heston of course had experienced all this before nearly 40 years earlier the great director cecil b demille had cast him in the role of moses now in a homecoming of sorts he was returning to the location where he had shot his first scenes in the ten commandments and where moses himself is said to have received the law from the hand of god heston may not have found god on that mountain but in the process of filming the ten commandments and now charlton heston presents the bible he certainly found moses as in many other aspects of the film we were very fortunate in that it came together at a time when we could utilize a crew that we that we worked with before tony's been on a couple of other pictures with fraser and chuck i have and we're basically all doing whatever it needs to get it done we're not just wearing one hat okay stand by for a picture please quiet please turns out i'm the first female first aid that charlton testing has ever worked on a movie but ironically i'm also someone he's known since i was two years old the first couple of days were rocky and uh i found that charlton hessen was calling me sir and then not getting a little flustered about it so he being a or being able to rationalize calling me sir even though he's known me since i was a little girl what he actually came up with is that in the cartoon peanuts there is a very tomboyish character named peppermint patty and all the other characters call for sir so once he found that motivation he got relaxed about it i got relaxed about it and he calls me sir as well as through some of the israeli grips one of them called me sir and then it said i mean baby here we came the american group came up you know 12 000 miles across the ocean and met met the israeli group and we went to work right away and there was an immediate integration these guys are professionals just the same sense that we are i mean there's an equality of professionalism and knowledge sometimes a language problem but but the techniques for filmmaking are the same whether it's here or in the u.s or wherever and we just went right to work and it's been a delight you know we sit around at night you know we all go after we finish we go take a swim or maybe go down and have a drink at the bar go out to dinner it's been a lot of fun i've made some made some friends here and i know it's been a reciprocal thing it's been mutual respect admiration the mutual respect and team spirit that permeated the production was something that heston had come to expect many years earlier in his book charlton heston's hollywood he recalls shooting the scene of a young moses coming down from mount sinai after his first encounter with the burning bush i suddenly had an idea he wrote and i turned to mr demille and said i think i should go barefoot in this scene demille was silent he had a reputation for doing things his way and heston knew that but he felt strongly and so with trepidation he made his case god he said had just commanded moses to take off his shoes because he was walking on holy ground moses is excited bewildered the last thing he would have remembered to do was to put his shoes back on when heston finished demille looked at him for what seemed like an eternity then said quietly i think you're right we'll do it put our first shoes from off thy feet a place where on our standist is holy ground movie making for always a lot of people using a lot of equipment so it's usually pretty noisy but a few moments ago i took a walk around the edge of this big rock here and there's an egyptian temple which is about 3 000 years old and for a moment while there it was absolutely quiet there was not a sound beyond the sound of my own the limit of my own hearing it was really very nice film locations are indeed noisy chaotic places but confused never each man and woman had a very special job to do and they did it with grace and precision in fact in the course of filming something remarkable happened a diverse crew consisting of americans canadians israelis muslims christians and jews all banded together in pursuit of a common goal that of bringing to life the greatest stories ever told by one of the greatest storytellers of our time what amazes me about this undertaking is not only the challenge the opportunity the rewards the satisfaction of doing this material in this way in these places but that i'm the first one to do it i can't believe nobody else has done it before when charlton heston presents the bible finally premiered on the arts and entertainment network it was immediately praised as a monumental achievement the new york times called heston's performance powerful while the wall street journal noted that the film was steeped in spiritual passion the success of the project was certainly due in part to heston's lifelong fascination with the stories of the old and new testaments over the years he had come to know and understand these magnificent tales what's more he had come to feel a sense of awe whenever he spoke the words attributed to adam moses and other heroic figures of the bible the impact of the series must also be attributed to heston's brilliance as an actor few other performers of any generation could have brought to this project the subtle intensity that it so richly deserved but the true key to this project's success was the work on which it was based as heston and his team so skillfully demonstrated the stories of the bible from the tale of creation to the passion of christ carry with them a quality that is beyond description they strike at the very essence of the human experience and therefore continue to speak to us believers and non-believers alike to this day

Channel: Parable - Religious History Documentaries

Views: 10,790

Keywords: parable, parable channel, parable documentary, religious history, religious history documentary, bible documentary, bible documentary bbc, jesus documentary, bible readings, bible readings for sleep, bible readings audio, bible readings for today, bible podcast, bible podcasts to listen to, bible podcast for sleep, charlton heston, heston heston bible, heston heston bible movies, king james text, king james bible with text, bible sleep, bible mode, bible movie, bible fil

Id: zhOxBBVhKKg

Length: 220min 30sec (13230 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 25 2022