What if ancient Israel didn't start out believing in one God? In this groundbreaking episode, Oxford Professor Emeritus Dr. John Day reveals how archaeological evidence and biblical texts themselves show that early Israelites worshipped multiple deities from the Canaanite pantheon. With over 40 years of scholarship and doctorates from both Cambridge and Oxford, Dr. Day takes us on a fascinating journey through the religious landscape of ancient Canaan, where Yahweh was originally just one god among many, including El, Baal, and even goddesses like Asherah who was worshipped alongside Yahweh in the Jerusalem temple.

Dr. Day traces the revolutionary transformation from polytheism to monotheism, showing how Yahweh absorbed attributes from other gods like El (becoming equated with him) while rejecting others like Baal. We explore how mythological creatures like Leviathan were borrowed from Canaanite sources, why "Israel" contains the name El rather than Yahweh, and how true monotheism didn't emerge until the Babylonian exile with Second Isaiah's radical declaration: "I am Yahweh, and there is no other." This conversation will challenge and deepen your understanding of how the biblical faith developed over centuries.

In this episode you will learn:

• Why Deuteronomy 32:8-9 suggests Yahweh received Israel as his portion among 70 gods
• How El and Yahweh were originally separate deities who later merged into one
• The shocking evidence that some Israelites worshipped Asherah as Yahweh's wife
• Why Baal was rejected while El was embraced in Israelite religion
• How the seven-headed Leviathan from Canaanite mythology became part of Yahweh's identity
• The difference between monolatry ("worship only one god") and monotheism ("only one god exists")
• King Josiah's radical 621 BC reformation that centralized worship in Jerusalem
• Why the Babylonian exile was the catalyst for absolute monotheism
• How these Canaanite connections appear in the New Testament (Beelzebub, Revelation's seven-headed dragon)
• Why understanding this evolution enriches rather than threatens faith

Guest's Work:

Get Dr. Day's groundbreaking book "Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan": https://a.co/d/h6gCyuG

Also check out his extensive work on Genesis: "From Creation to Babel" and "From Creation to Abraham"

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#BiblicalArchaeology #AncientNearEast #Monotheism #Canaanite #Yahweh #BiblicalStudies #ChristianHistory #OldTestament #HebrewBible #AncientIsrael #BiblicalScholarship #ChurchHistory #Theology #ReligiousStudies #DigInPodcast

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How does the Old Testament connect to the New Testament? What’s been fulfilled in Christ, and what timeless truths still shape our lives today?

In this episode of The Dig In Podcast, Pastor Johnny Ova sits down with Dr. Geoff Harper, Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at Sydney Missionary & Bible College. Together they explore the richness of the Hebrew Bible, the importance of intertextuality, and how themes from Leviticus, covenant, and sacrifice come alive when viewed through the lens of Christ.

This conversation will challenge the way you read Scripture and encourage you to engage the Old Testament with fresh eyes.

📖 Dr. Harper’s Book: Teaching Leviticus

📘 Also check out Johnny Ova’s book The Revelation Reset

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Pastor Brian Zahnd joins Johnny Ova to unpack what he calls the kaleidoscopic cross, a bold, multi-layered view of the crucifixion that challenges everything you thought you knew.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Why the cross can’t be reduced to one meaning
• The problem with penal substitution and transactional theology
• How art, poetry, and ancient voices unlock new angles of the cross
• Why Christian nationalism distorts the gospel
• How the cross shapes the way we live, not just what we believe

This is a powerful conversation that connects theology, justice, beauty, and mystery, all through the lens of the crucifixion.

📖 Grab Brian Zahnd’s book: The Wood Between the Worlds

📕 Get Johnny’s book: The Revelation Reset

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Visit Pastor Johnny's Long Island Church, Sound of Heaven

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What does the book of Lamentations reveal through the cries of its children? In this powerful conversation, Pastor Johnny Ova sits down with Dr. Timothy Yap, Lecturer in Historical Theology and PhD in Old Testament studies, to uncover the overlooked voices at the heart of Jerusalem’s fall.

From starving infants to abandoned sons and daughters, Lamentations paints a haunting picture of suffering, resilience, and survival. Dr. Yap shows us why these passages matter, how they speak to modern crises of war and famine, and what it means to grieve with God at the center.

📖 Episode highlights include:

• Why children play such a unique role in Lamentations
• How Hebrew terms reveal age groups and social classes in crisis
• The shocking betrayal of mothers, and the nurture of Daughter Zion
• The tension of God’s sovereignty, raw lament, and lasting hope
• What ancient lament teaches us about modern suffering and survival

🔥 Don’t miss this deep dive into Scripture that will change how you see both grief and hope.

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📚 Check out Johnny’s book The Revelation Reset

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What did the ancient world really believe about the gods? And how did humanity move from countless divine beings to the bold claim that there is only one God?

In this episode of The Dig In Podcast, Pastor Johnny Ova sits down with Dr. Michael Hundley, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Memphis and Ph.D. graduate of the University of Cambridge. Dr. Hundley’s research focuses on the intersection of the human and the divine in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. He has taught at Georgetown, Syracuse, and other universities, and is the author of several books exploring how ancient cultures understood gods, divine councils, and the rise of monotheism.

Together they unpack:

• The religious landscape of the ancient Near East before Israel
• Why Israel’s God stood apart in a world full of competing deities
• The role of wars, exile, and empire in shaping faith and exclusivity
• How angels, demons, and divine councils fit into the bigger picture
• Why monotheism still influences culture, morality, and identity today

This conversation will change the way you think about the Bible, ancient faith, and the story of how one God came to stand against the gods.

Grab Johnny’s book: The Revelation Reset — a fresh, scripture-rich look at the Book of Revelation and why it matters

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or watch on YouTube.

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Today on The Dig In Podcast, Johnny Ova welcomes Dr. Guy MacLean Rogers, one of the world’s leading historians of the ancient world, for a deep dive into the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD. This is the moment that forever changed Jewish life, shook the Roman Empire, and influenced the rise of Christianity.

Dr. Rogers is Professor of History and Classical Studies at Wellesley College. He earned his PhD in Classics from Princeton University, has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and All Souls College, Oxford, and is an award-winning author. His acclaimed book, For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of the Jews against Rome, 66–74 CE (Yale University Press), was named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice. You can grab it here: https://a.co/d/chKjInN

In this conversation we explore:

• The explosive tensions that led from uneasy peace to open revolt in Judea
• Josephus, Roman inscriptions, and archaeology as our key sources
• Messianic and apocalyptic expectations in the first century
• The siege of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple under Titus
• How Rome celebrated this “victory” and what it meant for the empire
• How Jewish life shifted from sacrifice to scripture after the temple’s destruction
• The ripple effects on the early Christian movement

This is not just history, it’s the story of identity, empire, and faith colliding in one of the most dramatic turning points of the ancient world.

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What did worship in ancient Israel actually sound like? Were the Psalms quiet devotionals, or loud, communal songs that echoed through the temple courts? In this episode, Dr. Kevin Foth, Academic Dean at Prairie College and author of Semantics and Poetics of the Righteous and the Wicked in the Psalms, joins Johnny Ova to bring the Psalms to life.

Together they explore how the Psalms were sung, the instruments and voices that may have filled the temple, and how these songs carried Israel through exile, injustice, and joy. We also dive into why lament was central to worship, how Israel wrestled with God’s silence, and why these ancient songs still challenge and comfort us today.

📖 Check out Dr. Foth’s book here

🎥 Watch the full conversation and more episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johnnyova

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Visit Apostle Johnny's Church on Long Island.

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In this powerful episode, Pastor Johnny Ova sits down with Prof. Steven Mann, chair of the seminary at Azusa Pacific University and a leading expert in speech act theory, Old Testament theology, and biblical narrative. Together, they explore how God’s words throughout Scripture are not just spoken statements but active forces that create, command, bless, warn, and transform.

Prof. Mann explains how the lens of speech act theory helps us understand the Bible on a deeper level. From Genesis 1 to Jonah, from covenant to correction, from prophecy to poetry, this conversation unpacks how divine speech functions across the Old Testament. You will never read “And God said…” the same way again.

We also explore how this theme connects to the New Testament and the identity of Jesus as the Word made flesh, offering a full-picture view of how God's speech is both consistent and redemptive across the entire biblical arc.

📚 Resources by Prof. Steven Mann

• Words Creating Worlds: Old Testament Narratives and Speech Act Theory (Lexington Books, 2025)
• Run, David, Run! (Eisenbrauns, 2013)
• “Let There Be Cain: A Clash of Imaginations in Genesis 4” – JSOT 46.1 (2021): 79–95
• “Ask and You Shall Intercede” – Bulletin for Biblical Research 29.2 (2019): 208–224
• “Performative Prayers of a Prophet” – Catholic Biblical Quarterly 79 (2017): 20–40
• “You're Fired: An Application of Speech Act Theory to 2 Samuel 15.23–16.14” – JSOT 33.3 (2009): 315–334Steve_Mann_Publications…

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New episodes drop every two weeks. Like, comment, share, and subscribe to stay connected as we dig into the Bible with clarity, context, and curiosity.

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