Conservative commentator Glenn Beck took his family to Israel to walk through biblical history and meet survivors of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist massacre. He wanted his college-age children to see the country firsthand and understand the people and events behind the headlines.
But during a recent episode of “Overtime,” the broadcaster described a visit to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount that left him and his wife shaken. At a place tied to some of Scripture’s most significant events, Beck encountered what he described as a level of evil he had never experienced.
“On the Temple Mount I felt evil like I’ve never felt before,” Beck said.
He had expected the site’s biblical significance to stir his soul. Instead, he found himself calling his wife over so they could pray.
‘We Have to Pray Right Now‘
As Beck walked toward the Dome of the Rock, the atmosphere became deeply unsettling to him.
“I grabbed her and I said, ‘We have to pray right now,’” he recalled.
He asked whether she sensed what he was experiencing. According to Beck, she answered, “Oh, yes, I feel it.”
The couple prayed together despite the restrictions Beck described on non-Muslim prayer at the site.
He also recounted seeing litter, flies and poorly maintained areas. Yet his strongest reaction came during another moment near the southern temple steps.
Beck wanted to touch a doorway his guide associated with the ancient temple. He climbed toward it but stopped before reaching the frame.
“And I have never felt evil chase me away,” he recalled. “I’ve never felt anything like it. And I backed up.”
He called his wife over, wanting to see whether she would experience the same sensation.
“I wanted to touch the doorframe. I can’t make it,” he told her.
In Beck’s account, she stopped and responded, “Oh my gosh.”
The couple quickly moved away.
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‘The Difference Was Night and Day‘
The Jerusalem encounters came during a trip already filled with painful testimony.
Near the Gaza border, Beck’s family heard accounts from survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks. At the Nova music festival memorial, they spent hours reading about those killed.
Their journey also included museum vaults, ancient artifacts and excavations connected with biblical history. Beck wanted his children to understand Israel’s suffering while strengthening their faith in Jesus.
At the Garden Tomb, the oppressive atmosphere he described at the Temple Mount gave way to “unbelievable peace.”
Beck acknowledged uncertainty about the precise location of Jesus’ burial, discussing both the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He expressed his personal preference for the Garden Tomb.
There, his daughter noticed butterflies. Her observation struck him after the flies he had seen during the Temple Mount visit.
“The difference was night and day.”
‘Don’t Be Neutral in Your Life’
Beck also recognized a change in his prayers.
During earlier visits to Jerusalem, fear and uncertainty had driven him to ask God repeatedly for help. This time, his response became an outpouring of thanks.
“God’s real. He’s alive. And he’s tremendous.”
As he concluded his account, Beck spoke plainly about the spiritual battle he believes is intensifying.
“God is real. God is alive. God is very active in today’s world. Profound darkness is also very active. Evil is real.”
He urged viewers to seek God personally and respond to His invitation.
“God is on the move. Don’t be neutral in your life.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
