Rediscovering Israel, Author Q&A with Kristi McLelland

We are honored to share Ms. McLelland’s Q&A with us about her new book Rediscovering Israel. We talked about hope in the midst of sadness, trips to the Holy Land and rest. A special thanks to Icon Media Group for making this interview possible!

Modern Witnesses (“MW”): Hi Ms. McLelland, we want to congratulate you on your new book Rediscovering Israel: A Fresh Look at God’s Story in Its Historical and Cultural Contexts. Your book was released just days before the Oct 7 attack on Israel. Did that horrific turn in events and history change anything for you either literally or perspective-wise?

Kristi McLelland (“KM”): It’s an interesting question here. This is actually the second time this has happened to me. Lifeway released my Jesus & Women Bible Study in March 2020 – days before Covid hit— and I was not able to travel to Israel during with teams that month. But it felt like something was birthed right at the same time as my travels to go to the Holy Land “died.” Something rose as something fell.

The Rediscovering Israel book released on October 3, 2023. It was just 4 days before the tragic events of October 7, 2023 (and beyond). This time I was sitting in the Newark airport, waiting to board my flight to Tel Aviv. The very day I was going to Israel, I could not get there due to the horrors of that day. I have no idea why the timing of both of these things being released into the earth coincided with such hard world events.

My heart has been committed to a fierce hope in the midst of fierce sadness. I have been committed to respond in the only ways I know how – prayer, lighting lights and being FOR the Kingdom coming to earth as it is in heaven. My hopeful expectation for the new book, Rediscovering Israel, is NOW that it would be a timely word of encouragement, inspiration and hopefulness centered in the faithfulness of the living God throughout the generations. The Bible is the best and truest Story ever told, and it seems the perfect time to remind people of that ever-ancient and yet right-now Story that the Lord has given to us in the Bible.

“The Bible is the best and truest Story ever told, and it seems the perfect time to remind people of that ever-ancient and yet right-now Story that the Lord has given to us in the Bible.”

MW: What has inspired your Middle Eastern focus? When did this begin?

KM: It started when I had the chance to study in Egypt and Israel in 2007. I am a visual, embodied learner. I need to see it, touch it and take it in with all of my senses. Studying the biblical stories in their historical, cultural, geographic and linguistic contexts set my heart on fire. I felt I was going home with Jesus to get to know him in his first century Jewish world. It changed me forever, and has shaped my biblical focus and emphasis ever since.

MW: You lead pilgrimages in Israel. What is your favorite place to visit in Israel?

KM: This is a question I often get, and I always liken it to asking a parent, “Which one of your kids do you love the most?” I don’t have a favorite place or site. It’s the whole of the Land for me – the faithful record of the living God in many places throughout many generations. You can never unsee what you will see when you go to the Holy Land. It gets lodged inside of you. Memory and remembering become spiritual practices that take you back again and again to remember the experience of embodied learning in the very places where some of the biblical stories took place.

“You can never unsee what you will see when you go to the Holy Land. It gets lodged inside of you.”

MW: What does “eating the Word of God” mean to you?

KM: For me, it moves the Bible from being something to simply read to something living to interact with. It is living and active and so am I. It is life with life each and every time someone sits with the Word of God. Why would I just want to read it, know it when I can take it in, enjoy it with others in community, and experience it? It’s the difference in perceiving from afar and growing in the intimacy of up close and personal.

MW: What have been the biggest differences when looking at the Bible through a Western versus Middle Eastern lens?

KM: The one thing that changed forever the way I experience the Bible is found in the opening question or focus of inquiry. Here, we often ask, “What does this teach me about me?” In the East, the question is, “What does this teach me about God?”

The first question takes us in and down. The second question causes us to look up and out. Each story in the Bible is showing us who the living God is, what He’s like and what it’s going to mean for us to walk with Him. It ignites us and quickens us learn who He is and how we can see heaven come to earth as we walk with Him. It’s the difference in being a spectator and a participant in the grand Story of the Bible.

MW: What is your favorite Israeli cultural idiom and/or custom included in the Bible?

KM: The Jewish calendric rhythms of Sabbath are deeply moving to me. Celebrating that 7^th day again and again draws us into that deep rest. We cease our work to remember God’s work. What is that work? That He is even now making all things new! A deep and profound restoration, renewal and redemption are at work. We wake up into this work of God each every day of our lives.

“We cease our work to remember God’s work. What is that work? That He is even now making all things new!”

MW: As we approach the holidays, what are some lessons we, as Christians, can take from Hannukah?

KM: The word “Hanukkah” means “dedication”. I think the calendar with its holidays is an invitation for us to rededicate ourselves to Jesus and to recommit yet again to walk in his ways. It’s so interesting to think that Jesus lived his birth, but he never celebrated anything resembling Christmas. He DID, however, celebrate Hanukkah. He knew this holiday during his earthly life and ministry.

MW: What are your top three essentials? (It can be anything you don’t leave the house without…)

KM: Coffee, golf, great books.

MW: If you had to define Christianity in one sentence, what would it be?

KM: Defining Christianity is honestly something I don’t think about. What I would say here is that I believe the Bible is telling the story of who God is, what He’s like and what it means to walk with Him. And that in Jesus, we are seeing heaven come to earth and being invited to follow him, walk in his ways and to participate in this grand coming of the kingdom of God.

Buy your copy of Rediscovering Israel, here.

About Ms. McLelland:
Kristi McLelland is a professor at Williamson College and bestselling author who teaches the Bible in its historical, cultural, geographic, and linguistic contexts. After studying in Egypt and Israel in 2007, Kristi began leading biblical study trips to Israel. Kristi’s trips, as well as her in-person and online courses and resources—including her popular “Pearls” podcast—position Westerners to discover the Bible within the context in which it was written. 

Find more from Kristi at: KristiMcLelland.com

Until next time, keep witnessing!