The Dig In Podcast w/Johnny Ova

Johnny Ova
  • 4.8 (20)
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Updated Biweekly

Dig In is hosted by Pastor Johnny Ova of Sound of Heaven Church. Each episode features thoughtful conversations with scholars, historians, and thinkers from all backgrounds as they explore the Bible through context, culture, and curiosity. Johnny invites guests to go beyond surface-level beliefs and into the deeper truths of Scripture, history, and the character of God. This is not a podcast for debate or division, but for those who want to grow, wrestle with tough questions, and discover the beauty of God's redemptive story. If you're ready to dig into the Bible with honesty and depth, this show is for you.

  1. What Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria Taught Israel with Dr. Christopher Hays

    4d ago

    What Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria Taught Israel with Dr. Christopher Hays

    The Bible didn't drop out of the sky. It was written by real people, in real places, surrounded by some of the most powerful civilizations the ancient world ever produced. Egypt. Babylon. Assyria. Their literature, their laws, their prayers, their creation stories. All of it was in the air when the authors of the Hebrew Bible sat down to write. And they weren't ignoring it. Dr. Christopher Hays is the D. Wilson Moore Professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He holds a PhD from Emory, an MA in Egyptology from UCLA, reads six ancient languages, and is the author of Hidden Riches, the leading textbook on comparative study between the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East. In this conversation, he walks us through what happens when you place the Bible side by side with the texts of Israel's neighbors. From Mesopotamian prayers that sound like the Psalms to Egyptian wisdom literature that mirrors Proverbs to Assyrian propaganda that Isaiah turned on its head, this episode will reshape how you understand the origins of Scripture. In this episode you will learn: - Why the Old Testament is an Ancient Near Eastern text and what that means for how we read it - How Mesopotamian prayers called Dinger Shah Dibba incantations parallel the language of the Psalms - What the Enuma Elish and the Memphite Theology reveal about what Genesis 1 is actually doing - Why Egyptian influence on the Bible has been massively overlooked and what it teaches us - The striking connection between the Instruction of Amenemope and the book of Proverbs - How the Code of Hammurabi and ANE treaty forms reshape our understanding of the Mosaic Covenant - Why God functioning as the lawgiver in the Torah is a radical departure from ANE norms - How Isaiah used Assyrian imperial propaganda against the empire itself - Why Isaiah 24 through 27 is not apocalyptic and what it actually describes - How new archaeological evidence ties Isaiah 24-27 to the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Josiah - What it means that Scripture "breathes in" the surrounding culture and "breathes it back out" in a new form Get Dr Hayes Book: Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East- https://a.co/d/0cBF0ZNK Fuller Faculty Page: https://fuller.edu/faculty/christopher-hays/ Stay Connected with Dig In Website: https://johnnyova.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova Get Johnny's latest book- The Revelation Reset: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSHTP16Q

    40 min
  2. A Tale of Two Swords: The Untold Story Behind Saul's Final Battle w/ Dr. Chris McKinny

    Jun 22

    A Tale of Two Swords: The Untold Story Behind Saul's Final Battle w/ Dr. Chris McKinny

    Two swords forged in the land of the Philistines. Two kings. One throne. And a literary motif so intricate that scholars have been misreading it for generations. The death of King Saul at Mount Gilboa is one of the most dramatic moments in the Old Testament. But what most people don't realize is that a misinterpretation of the archaeological evidence at Beth Shean has distorted how scholars understand what happened to Saul's body, his armor, and his sword after his death. The text doesn't say what we've been told it says. And once that mistake is corrected, an entire narrative thread running through 1 Samuel 13 to 31 suddenly comes into focus. In this episode of The Dig In Podcast, Johnny Ova sits down with Dr. Chris McKinny, Associate Professor of Biblical Archaeology at Lipscomb University's Lanier Center for Archaeology, senior staff archaeologist at the Tel Burna project in Israel, co-host of the Biblical World Podcast, and on-screen host of the upcoming feature documentary Legends of the Lost Ark. Dr. McKinny has spent over a decade excavating in the land of the Bible and his research on the death of Saul reveals one of the most sophisticated literary devices in all of ancient literature. Together we explore the full arc of David's rise and Saul's fall, including: - Why the only two swords in Israel belonged to Saul and Jonathan and what that means for the narrative - How Goliath's sword becomes a story device that tracks David's entire journey from shepherd to king - The real reason Saul's armor and head were not taken to Beth Shean but to the land of the Philistines - What archaeologists got wrong about Beth Shean and the Philistine temple identification - How the sword motif connects to the Ark of the Covenant as part of a larger literary structure - Why David never used the sword against Saul and how the narrative builds that restraint into the climax - The significance of Nob, the tabernacle, and the sword of Goliath waiting for David - How the geography of the Jezreel Valley, the Shephelah, and the coastal plain shaped the entire conflict - What Judah the Hammer's sword in 1 Maccabees reveals about how ancient readers understood this motif - How this corrected reading elevates the biblical authors as world-class storytellers This conversation takes us into the archaeology, the geography, and the literary genius of the biblical authors in ways most readers have never considered. Check out Dr. Chris McKinny's work: Legends of the Lost Ark (in theaters April 12, 14, and 15, 2026): https://www.legendsofthelostark.com/ Biblical World Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biblical-world/id1566455453 Stay connected with The Dig In Podcast and Subscribe. Website: https://johnnyova.com/ Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova Get a copy of Johnny's latest book about the book of Revelation: https://a.co/d/02v5yH7A

    1h 5m
  3. The Gospels Early Christians Wish Existed with Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel

    Jun 15

    The Gospels Early Christians Wish Existed with Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel

    What do we actually know about Jesus’ childhood? Not much. The canonical Gospels say surprisingly little about the birth and early life of Jesus. Matthew gives us only a few verses about the Magi. Luke tells us about the manger and one story of Jesus at the temple at age twelve. After that, the story goes silent. But early Christians were not satisfied with the silence. In the centuries after the New Testament was written, believers began creating new stories to answer the questions the Gospels left unexplored. Who was Mary before the birth of Jesus? What was Jesus like as a child? Who were the Magi really? In this episode of The Dig In Podcast, Johnny Ova sits down with Eric Vanden Eykel, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Ferrum College and author of The Magi: Who They Were, How They've Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate. Dr. Vanden Eykel is a leading scholar of early Christian apocryphal literature and has spent years studying the texts that shaped Christian tradition but never made it into the Bible. Together we explore the fascinating world of early Christian writings, including: • The Protevangelium of James and how it shaped what Christians believe about Mary • Why the three kings of the Christmas story are not actually in the Bible • The Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the strange stories about Jesus’ childhood miracles • How early Christians filled in the gaps left by the Gospels • Why some texts became Scripture while others did not • How tradition helped create the nativity story most people picture today This conversation takes us into the questions early Christians were asking, the stories they wrote to answer them, and what those stories reveal about the development of Christian belief. Check out one of the latest books by Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel. The Magi: Who They Were, How They've Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate- https://a.co/d/0avwBxrt Stay connected with The Dig In Podcast and Subscribe. Website: https://johnnyova.com/ Subscribe on Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@UCdD6qAedykU7b4fgNPsPogw Get a copy of Johnny's latest book about the book of Revelation: https://a.co/d/02v5yH7A

    48 min
  4. Babylon Before the Bible: What Mesopotamia Reveals About the Old Testament with Dr. Joshua Bowen

    Jun 8

    Babylon Before the Bible: What Mesopotamia Reveals About the Old Testament with Dr. Joshua Bowen

    The Old Testament was not written in a vacuum. It was written inside a world. A world of clay tablets and cuneiform, flood epics and creation myths, law codes carved into stone centuries before Moses climbed the mountain. Dr. Joshua Bowen has spent his career decoding that world. And what he found does not diminish Scripture. It puts it in focus. Dr. Bowen holds a Ph.D. in Assyriology from Johns Hopkins University and is the founder of Digital Hammurabi. He reads Sumerian, Akkadian, and Biblical Hebrew, and has spent years working the primary cuneiform sources that form the ancient backdrop of the Hebrew Bible. In this conversation, we cover the Mesopotamian parallels to Genesis, the flood traditions that predate Noah, the law codes that share striking overlap with the Torah, and the theological genius behind how Israel reworked those traditions to say something no surrounding culture was saying about God. In this episode you will learn: - Why the ancient Near East is essential background for anyone who takes the Bible seriously - How the Enuma Elish and Genesis 1 interact and what that interaction actually means - What the Gilgamesh Epic reveals about the biblical flood narrative and why borrowing an earlier story does not undercut the theology - How the Laws of Hammurabi, Ur-Namma, and Eshnunna relate to the legal material in the Torah - Why the goring ox law appears in nearly identical form across multiple ancient law collections - How Israel used surrounding mythology as a polemic, arguing theologically through the very stories the surrounding nations told - What Genesis 1 is doing in response to the Enuma Elish and why Yahweh does not even have to fight - How the Babylonian exile shaped Israelite identity and the final form of the Hebrew Bible - Why understanding these ancient texts deepens rather than destroys a serious reading of Scripture Get Dr. Bowen's book: Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery?: https://www.amazon.com/Did-Old-Testament-Endorse-Slavery/dp/1734358629 Explore Digital Hammurabi: https://www.digitalhammurabi.com Stay Connected with Johnny Ova: Website: https://johnnyova.com Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova Get Johnny's latest book: The Revelation Reset: https://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Reset-Johnny-Ova/dp/B0C9SFQX4J

    1h 8m
  5. The Bible's Most Mysterious Figure and the Scribes Who Rewrote Him with Dr. Robert Cargill

    Jun 1

    The Bible's Most Mysterious Figure and the Scribes Who Rewrote Him with Dr. Robert Cargill

    Melchizedek appears just three times in the entire Bible. Twice in the Hebrew Bible. Once in the New Testament. And yet entire priesthoods, theological systems, and centuries of Christian doctrine have been built on top of this one figure. So who was he really? And what if the text was changed to hide his true identity? Dr. Robert Cargill, Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa, former editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, and one of the most recognized biblical archaeologists in the world, sits down to walk us through the evidence. His Oxford University Press book argues that Melchizedek was originally the king of Sodom, and that ancient scribes deliberately altered Genesis 14 to distance Abraham from a city God would later destroy. That single scribal edit sent ripple effects through the Psalms, into the book of Hebrews, and straight into the foundation of Christ's priesthood. This conversation takes you inside the Hebrew text, into the caves of Qumran, through the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Pseudepigrapha, and into the hard question of what archaeology can and cannot prove about the Bible. In this episode you will learn: - Why Melchizedek is one of the most leveraged figures in biblical history and how different groups used him for their own purposes - The textual and grammatical evidence that Melchizedek was originally the king of Sodom, not the king of Shalem - Why scribes changed a single word in Genesis 14:18 and how that edit reshaped centuries of theology - How the tithe in Genesis 14 may have gone the opposite direction from what English translations suggest - What the Dead Sea Scrolls actually are and why they changed how scholars read the Bible - What the Pseudepigrapha (1 Enoch, Jubilees, the Genesis Apocryphon) reveal about what Second Temple Jews actually believed - How the book of Enoch rewrites the flood story to solve an ethical problem in Genesis 6 - The most common types of bogus archaeological claims and how to spot them - Real archaeological discoveries that illuminate the biblical text, from the seal of Hezekiah to the Tel Dan inscription - Why Dr. Cargill believes archaeology should never be used as a tool for evangelism - The story of the Greek Orthodox archaeologist whose answer about faith and science changed everything Dr. Robert Cargill's Books: Melchizedek, King of Sodom: How Scribes Invented the Biblical Priest-King (Oxford University Press) - https://a.co/d/0e3LmMWE The Cities That Built the Bible (HarperOne) - https://a.co/d/04VqTMt6 Dr. Cargill's Website: bobcargill.com Dr. Cargill's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UC6TIKnUUWEhh1nspJ62komg Stay Connected: Website: Johnnyova.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova Get my book! The Revelation Reset: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZSM695Y

    50 min
  6. What Your English Bible Can't Say w/ Dr. Alison Gray

    May 25

    What Your English Bible Can't Say w/ Dr. Alison Gray

    The Hebrew poets didn't write safe words. They stacked image on top of image, layered metaphor on metaphor, and built texts designed to hit you in the chest. But when those words crossed into English, something got lost. The raw emotional power. The vivid word pictures. The sounds, the rhythms, the physicality of a language that was built to be felt, not just read. In this episode, Dr. Alison Gray, Director of Studies in Old Testament Language, Literature, and Theology at Westminster College, Cambridge, pulls back the curtain on what your English Bible simply cannot deliver. From the spatial drama of Psalm 18, where height means safety and narrowness means despair, to the stunning revelation that the Hebrew word for compassion literally means "wombs," this conversation exposes an entire dimension of Scripture that most believers have never encountered. In this episode you will learn: - How metaphor functions as the backbone of Hebrew poetry, not decoration but the primary vehicle of meaning - Why the spatial imagery in Psalm 18 (high vs. low, wide vs. narrow) unlocks the entire emotional architecture of the poem - What "metaphor clusters" are and how Hebrew poets deliberately piled images to overwhelm the reader - The specific emotional and theological losses that occur every time Hebrew poetry is translated into English - How the Hebrew accent marks called "taste marks" shaped the oral performance of the Psalms - Why reading Job through the lens of trauma literature makes sense of its contradictions and fragmented voices - The dangerous church tradition of sanitizing lament and why the Psalms of agony were never meant to be resolved quickly - What the British Sign Language Bible Translation Project reveals about the physicality already embedded in Hebrew Scripture - How the Hebrew word for compassion (rachmayim) literally comes from the word for womb - Why "slow to anger" in Hebrew actually means "long of nose" and what that tells us about how the ancient world pictured emotion Dr. Gray's Book: Psalm 18 in Words and Pictures: A Reading Through Metaphor (Brill, 2014) https://brill.com/display/title/23722?language=en Westminster College: https://www.westminster.cam.ac.uk/academic-staff/dr-alison-gray Winter School in Ancient and Biblical Languages: https://www.westminster.cam.ac.uk/biblical-languages BSL Bible Translation Project: https://bslbible.org.uk/ Stay Connected: Website: Johnnyova.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova The Revelation Reset: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKSLQXWQ

    42 min
  7. The Purity System We Never Understood with Dr. Jonathan Klawans

    May 18

    The Purity System We Never Understood with Dr. Jonathan Klawans

    What if almost everything you were taught about Old Testament purity laws was wrong? Most Christians hear "impurity" and immediately think sin. We've been taught that the purity system was about moral failure, that sacrifice was primitive and empty, and that Jesus came to sweep the whole oppressive thing away. Dr. Jonathan Klawans, Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Boston University, says we've collapsed two completely different categories into one confused mess, and it's been distorting how we read the Bible for centuries. In this conversation, Dr. Klawans walks us through the critical distinction between ritual impurity and moral impurity, two systems the Hebrew Bible treats as entirely separate. Ritual impurity comes from things like childbirth, menstruation, and touching a corpse. These aren't sins. They're natural, unavoidable, sometimes even commanded. Moral impurity is something else entirely: idolatry, sexual transgression, bloodshed. These defile the land, pollute the Temple, and if left unaddressed, drive out God's presence. We dig into why the prophets weren't rejecting sacrifice but calling out theft and injustice. We explore how sacrifice functioned as imitatio Dei, the imitation of God, from the careful shepherding of unblemished animals to the priest examining the kidneys and heart. We discuss how both Christian and Jewish traditions have imposed later theological frameworks onto ancient texts, and what it costs us when we do. And we ask the hard question: What was Jesus actually doing when he interacted with purity and the Temple? Dr. Klawans is the author of four books with Oxford University Press, including the award-winning Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism and Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple. In this episode, you will learn: - The difference between ritual impurity and moral impurity and why conflating them causes so much confusion - Why becoming ritually impure was sometimes unavoidable and even commanded - How moral impurity defiles the land and the Temple, and what happens when it goes unaddressed - What the prophets were actually criticizing when they seemed to reject sacrifice - How sacrifice functioned as imitatio Dei, imitating God through the entire process - The role of sacrifice in attracting and maintaining God's presence - How supersessionist frameworks (both Christian and Jewish) distort our reading of ancient sources - What really happened to Judaism after the Temple's destruction in 70 AD - How to understand Jesus's interactions with purity and the Temple BOOKS: Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple: https://a.co/d/0bXkmvkj Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism: https://www.amazon.com/Impurity-Ancient-Judaism-Jonathan-Klawans/dp/0195177657 Boston University Faculty Page: https://www.bu.edu/religion/faculty/jonathan-klawans/ STAY CONNECTED: Website: johnnyova.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova The Revelation Reset: https://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Reset-Reclaiming-Optimistic-Eschatology-ebook/dp/B0D2TXFX3J

    42 min
  8. The Key to Revelation Has Been in Your Bible the Whole Time w/ Dr. Greg Beale

    May 11

    The Key to Revelation Has Been in Your Bible the Whole Time w/ Dr. Greg Beale

    The Book of Revelation is one of the most debated, most misunderstood, and most avoided books in the entire Bible. But what if the key to unlocking it has been sitting in your Bible the whole time? In this episode of The Dig In Podcast, Johnny Ova sits down with Dr. Greg Beale, one of the most influential New Testament scholars in the world and the author of the legendary 1,300-page NIGTC commentary that many consider the greatest ever written on the Book of Revelation. Dr. Beale holds a PhD from Cambridge, has taught at Westminster Theological Seminary, Wheaton, and Gordon-Conwell, served as President of the Evangelical Theological Society, and currently serves as Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Dallas. What unfolds is a masterclass in how to read Revelation the way it was meant to be read. Dr. Beale reveals how nearly every verse in the Apocalypse is saturated with Old Testament allusions, from Daniel to Exodus to Ezekiel, and how those connections completely reshape the way we understand the most debated symbols in the book. He walks us through how Daniel serves as the structural backbone of Revelation, how Babylon is far bigger than one ancient city, how the number 666 is not what most people think it is, and how the entire biblical story has been building toward a temple that covers all of creation. This is not theory. This is Scripture interpreting Scripture. And once you see it, the Book of Revelation will never look the same. In this episode you will learn: - Why nearly every verse in Revelation echoes something from the Old Testament and why that changes everything - How Daniel bookends the entire Book of Revelation and sets up its central theme - What John was actually doing with the Old Testament when he wrote the Apocalypse - How the Exodus story frames God's work through Christ and the church in Revelation - Why Babylon represents something far larger than an ancient empire - What the number 666 actually means and why it's probably not what you've been told - How the Garden of Eden was the first temple and Adam was the first priest - Why the Bible's story is building toward a temple that covers the entire earth - What recapitulation is and why it matters for understanding the seals, trumpets, and bowls - Dr. Beale's top commentary recommendations for every perspective on Revelation Guest: Dr. Greg Beale Website: gkbeale.com Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis And Interpretation- https://a.co/d/0cFNsl1K Stay Connected: Website: Johnnyova.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejohnnyova The Revelation Reset by Johnny Ova: https://a.co/d/0bWpTiPJ

    43 min
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4.8
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About

Dig In is hosted by Pastor Johnny Ova of Sound of Heaven Church. Each episode features thoughtful conversations with scholars, historians, and thinkers from all backgrounds as they explore the Bible through context, culture, and curiosity. Johnny invites guests to go beyond surface-level beliefs and into the deeper truths of Scripture, history, and the character of God. This is not a podcast for debate or division, but for those who want to grow, wrestle with tough questions, and discover the beauty of God's redemptive story. If you're ready to dig into the Bible with honesty and depth, this show is for you.

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