Patterns of Evidence’s “The Israel Dilemma” coming to theaters this month

Tim Mahoney in “The Israel Dilemma.” Photo courtesy Patterns of Evidence.

by Larry Brook

Central to the Jewish claim on the Land of Israel is the idea that the land was promised to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac by God, as part of an eternal covenant. Anti-Israel groups reject that idea.

Christian filmmaker and documentarian Tim Mahoney’s latest Patterns of Evidence film, “The Israel Dilemma,” explores the case behind the covenant. It will be screened in theaters nationwide on Nov. 13, 14 and 17.

“This film gives Jews, Christians, and anyone interested in the Middle East a framework of objective evidence for understanding God’s plan,” said Mahoney. “Beginning in Genesis 12, God promises to make Abraham a great nation and to give them the land of Canaan.

“From this and other ancient prophecies, and the evidence assembled in the film, we begin to see God’s firm foundation: He promised the Land of Promise to the Jews. This is part of His bigger plan for the world, and His plan will not be thwarted.”

Working with Jewish and Christian scholars and religious leaders — some of whom express skepticism over the Biblical accounts — Mahoney mainly uses archaeological evidence to corroborate events in the Bible. Citing Moses’ prophecies in Deuteronomy, the Israelites would go through five phases — establishing a kingdom, the kingdom being destroyed, the Jewish people scattered and then persecuted, and then the return.

Taking each of the five phases, Mahoney examines contemporary scholarship to corroborate Biblical accounts in the Prophets, and match them to Moses’ prophecies.

Until recently, there was a debate over whether the Israelite kings even existed because of a lack of archaeological evidence, but in recent years there have been archaeological finds — from Jewish and non-Jewish sources — referencing those kings and other Biblical figures in their time period. Accounts of the conquest of Israel in the 700s BCE are found in records of other groups in the region, along with the Babylonian conquest of Judea leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.

One of the debates in the film centers on the timing of the prophecies in Deuteronomy, with Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein making the case that it, and many other writings, were recorded after the events as a way of explaining what happened, perhaps around the fifth century BCE. Others point to the structure of the Hebrew in the book, as well as contemporary references from centuries earlier, such as the book having the structure of a treaty prevalent well before the time of the kings, to show it was written well before those events.

Regardless, it is seen as remarkable that the Jewish people would have such a story line, as in ancient times, defeated nations were mixed in with their captors after exile and their distinctions were lost, such as the Philistines being swallowed into the Babylonian captivity. Returning intact and reestablishing one’s kingdom was very unusual.

The meaning of the covenant is also explored, especially as related to the idea of chosenness, which is depicted as having greater responsibilities to be an example to other nations, not because of any inherent superiority. In the film, Israel is referenced as “the embodiment of God’s hope for all people.”

Among those interviewed in the film are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Rabbi Manis Friedman and Rabbi David Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute, along with many Biblical and archaeological academics around the world.

Friedman said Mahoney “has found archaeological and historical evidence for the entire story: going down to Egypt, coming out of Egypt, the Ten Plagues, the splitting of the sea, the giving of the Torah, the Hebrew language, and more… bringing heaven and earth together. It’s amazing.”

This film is Part 1 and goes through the destruction of the First Temple and the return to the land under the rule of Persian King Cyrus, leading to the construction of the Second Temple.

The second part will deal with the Second Temple and talk about the five stages as a cycle that will be repeated. After all, Amos notes that after the return, “they shall never again be uprooted,” and there would be the end of persecution. But that did not happen, as evidenced by the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and persecution that continues even after the modern-day return with the establishment of Israel.

It will be interesting to see how the second exile is treated in Part 2, as destruction and being scattered are portrayed Biblically as being the result of the Israelites turning away from their responsibilities under the covenant. According to Judaism, the Second Temple was destroyed by unwarranted hatred and internal division, while for centuries the church held that it was due to Jewish rejection of Jesus.

In the first film, while it comes from a Christian perspective, there isn’t much of anything that Jewish viewers would find questionable. Early on, there is one passing reference to a “fallen world,” and toward the end, there is a timeline of covenants labeled “God’s redemptive plan” that concludes with a “new covenant,” though the term is never spoken.

Taken from Jeremiah, Jews understand that to mean that at the end of days, the existing covenant with Israel will be refreshed and renewed, to be faithfully followed eternally. In Christian circles, the idea of “new covenant” has meant a whole new relationship with God based on acceptance of Jesus.

In recent decades, especially with the rebirth of Israel making prophecy come alive, more Christians have concluded that God’s original covenant with the Jewish people still endures and truly is eternal.

The film endeavors to show that ancient Israel has been in the Promised Land from the days of the Hebrew Bible and God’s promise to them continues today, and to combat the lies that the Jewish people have no right to be there.

Mahoney started an advertising and marketing firm in 1989, and in 2002 started exploring the Biblical story of the Exodus and the implications of questions about the Bible. He started interviewing some of the world’s leading Bible scholars, archaeologists and historians, establishing Patterns of Evidence. In 2014, he founded Thinking Man Films, which has produced several Patterns of Evidence films, on the Exodus, Moses, the Red Sea miracle and Mount Sinai.

In 2025, his new Heroic Pictures will launch its first major motion picture, “The American Miracle: Our Nation is No Accident,” based on the bestselling book by Jewish talk show host Michael Medved.