Books

The best thing to read before the trip is Scripture. My advice is to consider reading some of these books after the trip, rather than before. They will be much more meaningful to you at that time. Having said that, here are some books that I’ve found helpful. Bear in mind that a wide range of opinions exist on some of these topics, and given my “conservative view” of the Scriptures, I don’t always agree totally with the authors’ opinions.
For Bible study resources, in addition to the wealth of information on the various links, and making use of Bible study, I highly recommend the following:

“The Jewish New Testament” & “The Jewish New Testament Commentary” by David Stern
(available electronically at www.logos.com)
"Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus" by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg
“The Baker Atlas of Christian History” by Tim Dowley
“Holman Bible Atlas” by Timothy Brisco
“Zondervan Handbook to the Bible”

For stimulating books that are a fairly-easy read, I’d suggest picking up these:

“Constantine’s Sword” by James Carroll
“Echoes of His Presence” by Ray Vander Laan
“The Jews in the Time of Jesus” by Stephen Wylen
“Listening to the Language of the Bible” by Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema
“Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth” by Peter Connolly
“My Father Abraham” by Marvin Wilson.
“New Light on The Difficult Words of Jesus” by David Biven
“They Loved the Torah” by David Friedman
“Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus” by David Biven and Roy Blizzard
“Walking the Bible” by Bruce Feiler
“Yeshua, A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church” by Ron Moseley.

For additional study, you might consider some of the following:

“Archaeology of the Old Testament” by Alfred Hoerth
“Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts” by Crossan and Reed
“The Fall Feasts of Israel” by Mitch and Zhava Glaser
“The Feasts of the Lord” by Howard and Rosenthal
“God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism” by Abraham Heschel
“God’s Appointed Times” by Barney Kasdan
“Jewish Sources in Early Christianity” by David Flusser
“Jewish Spirituality, A Brief Introduction for Christians” by Lawrence Kushner
“The Jews in the Time of Jesus” by Stephen Wylen
“Judaism and the Origins of Christianity” by David Flusser
“The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” by Alfred Edersheim
(available electronically at www.logos.com)
“The New Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” by John Foxe, rewritten by Chadwick
“A Pinch of Incense” – Vol 2 of The Christian History Project
“Regions on the Run” with set of maps from Biblical Backgrounds (www.bibback.com)
“Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel” by David Stern
“The Sacred Bridge” by Rainey and Notley
“Sketches of Jewish Social Life” by Alfred Edersheim
(available electronically at www.logos.com)
“The Veil is Torn” – Vol 1 of The Christian History Project
“With Jesus in Jerusalem” by Bargin Pixner
“With Jesus Through Galilee” by Bargil Pixner
“JPS Torah Commentary Series”
(soon to be available electronically at www.logos.com)

Wyn's Favorite Websites

Start By Exploring These Sites:

Ask Moses
Archeological Sites In Israel
Bible History Online
Biblical Backgrounds
En-Gedi Resource Center

Follow the Rabbi
Hebrew for Christians
Jerusalem Perspective
Judaic-Christian Studies
Lambert's Library

Other Helpful Sites Include:

A Guide To Jewish Religious Practice
AMF International
Ancient Hebrew
Ancient Scripts
Ariel Ministries
Art Scroll
Bar-Ilan University Parashat Hashavua
Behind The Name
Bible and Archaeology
Bible Antiquities
Bible Archeology
Bible Gateway
Bible Interpretation
Bible Places
Biblical Holidays
Biblical Language Center
Dig The Bible
First Fruits of Zion
Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
Gems In Israel
Holy Land Photos (free)

How the Temple Walls were Built
Israel Antiquities Authority
Jerusalem University College
Jewish Encyclopedia
Judaism 101
Legends of the Jews
Mayim Hayim
Nate Long
New Testament Resources
Omniglot
Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean
Sermon Central
Shoresh
Society of Biblical Literature
Study of Judaism and Christianity
Survey of Israel - Maps
The Bible in Pictures
The Jerusalem Post
The Tower of Babel
Torah Resource

Software

There are several good Bible Study software packages available. Probably the best free package out there is ESword at www.e-sword.net. It integrates several versions of the Bible and has a number of commentaries and other resources included too – all for free.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most expensive package (and in my opinion, the best) is the Logos Scholar’s Library. It comes in regular, silver, and gold editions, with each level getting bundled with more and more resources. And even if you get the gold version, there are literally hundreds of other resources available, and more are constantly being produced. All resources are searchable, and interlinked, so it makes it easy to search through hundreds of resources in just seconds (or sometimes minutes – I do wish it were a bit faster). Check it out at www.logos.com.

I bought the regular edition of the Scholar’s Library a few years ago. For most people that will provide more than enough resources for personal study. Because of my needs, I eventually upgraded to the silver and then the gold editions. Plus over the years I’ve added a bunch of additional resources to the package in the areas I am most interested in.

Ariel Ministries Messianic Collection (Fruchtenbaum)
Dictionary of Dieties and Demons in the Bible (van der Toorn, Becking & van der Horst)
Encyclopedia of Judaism (Neusner, Avery-Peck, & Green)
Essential IVP Reference Collection (excellent value!)
History of Jewish People in the Time of Christ (Shürer)
IVP New Testament Commentary Series
Jewish New Testemant and Commentary (Stern)
Jewish Sects of the New Testament Era (Weiss)
JPS Bible and Torah Commentary Collection
JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words (Eisenberg & Scolnic)
JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions (Eisenberg)
JPS Tanakh
Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg)
Nelson’s Ultimate Bible Reference (excellent value!)
Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Mishnah (Neusner)
The Rabbinic Messiah (Huckel)
Ultimate Archaeology Collection

I also recommend the Morris Proctor training seminars. If you pay that much money for the software, it’s worth the time and added expense to attend one of these two day seminars. It really helped me make this powerful but complex tool much easier to use and understand. Be sure sign up for their free newsletter too, as it often has some useful tips, at www.mpseminars.com.