Book Series - The Last Jihad

I have just finished reading the last book in the the series of five by Joel C. Rosenberg. I discovered this series of novels quite by accident. I first read his book, Epicenter, a non-fiction work about the prophecies of scripture that are being fulfilled in our time. It was a good book to help understand the unfolding events of the Middle East. When I began reading Epicenter, Rosenberg made frequent references to his novels that were set in the near future leading up to the rapture. Having read and enjoyed all of the Left Behind series, which begins with the rapture and runs through the Second Coming of Christ, I thought I would enjoy Rosenberg's novels also.

At the time he wrote Epicenter, Rosenberg had only finished three of his five novels. I ordered all three of those from Amazon.com. I received the first two books in short order, but I was soon notified that the third book was out of stock. After reading the first two I was hooked, and went to my library to find the third and fourth volumes. The fifth has just come out in the last month or two. I did not think the library would have it yet, so I went ahead and ordered it.

One of the characteristics of the novels is that the fictional events tend to foreshadow future events. In the first book Rosenberg writes about a plane being used as a weapon to attack the United States. He says the book was about 90% finished on September 11, 2001, when we were in fact attacked with not one, but four commercial airliners. Before the book went to the publisher, he reworked the earlier chapters so that everything that was happening happened in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. He also wrote about the United States invading Iraq before our April 2003 invasion. He wrote about the attack of a US diplomatic convey in Gaza, and that also came to pass. In his forward to the final book, Rosenberg prays that the events of that book do not come to pass.

The books are action packed thrillers. They involve Jon Bennet, a Wall Street operative who is recruited to be an advisor to the president, and Erin McCoy, a CIA agent who becomes his sidekick. The book is full of action and excitement that keeps you wanting more. Rush Limbaugh described it as reading like an episode of the Fox TV series, 24. As you might expect a love interest develops between Bennet and McCoy, as each takes turns rescuing the other from a wide array of villains. The series is unapologetically Christian, with believers frequently and urgently sharing the gospel with non-believers. There are however some very likable characters who are killed while contemplating the claims of the gospel. The reader has to feel a sense of disappointment that if that character had lived just a little while longer, they likely would have come to faith in Christ. These characters serve as a warning of the brevity and uncertainty of life.

I would highly recommend the books to anyone who enjoys high action thrillers with a Christian world view. However, like the Left Behind series before them, I think they could have a great appeal even to non-believers.

The Books in order are: The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, The Copper Scroll, and Dead Heat.

Buy the Books on Amazon.com, Joel C. Rosenberg

War of Gog and Magog - Book Review

I just finished reading a book that was recommended by my friend Derek Leman. Derek is a leader of a Messianic Jewish congregation in northern metro Atlanta. I first met him at a minister's meeting in our association, and couldn't wait to book him in our church. We've had him here twice. Our people love to hear him teach, and I'm quite impressed with him myself. I'm also in the middle of reading one of the books Derek has written, A New Look at the Old Testament.

EPICENTER by Joel C. Rosenberg Rosenberg is the grandson of Jewish Russian Immigrants. His grandparents were orthodox, but his father rejected his faith when he left home. His mother grew up Methodist, but neither parent really knew the Lord when Joel was born in 1967. His background has given him a keen interest in the history of the Jewish and Russian people. He has written a series of fiction works about terrorism that have had an eerie way of coming true, sometimes before he's even finished them, or between sending them to the publisher and having them released. Much of his accuracy comes from his willingness to simply believe what the scripture has to say about the last days. But much more I believe is simply divine revelation. For example, in The Last Jihad he writes about terrorists who use hijacked planes to launch an attack in the United States. There are some differences in his novel and reality. The planes were private, not commercial. The target was Denver, not New York and Washington. But considering he had already written all but the last two chapters when 9/11 actually happened, it's hard not to see divine revelation playing a part. This is just the first of several instances he chronicles where he wrote a fictional account, and reality soon imitated art. I believe God is revealing this to him to let Christians know that we need to listen to him. Rosenberg does an excellent Job of walking the reader through Ezekiel 38-39 and explaining the coming events of the war of Gog and Magog. He provides a convincing argument that Magog is modern Russia, and that Russia's current alliance with Persia (modern Iran) is foretold in Ezekiel. Rosenberg explains why we need to see a nuclear showdown with Iran as a real possibility, and why it is important we act before it is too late. He challenges his readers to have an exit strategy for this coming nuclear holocaust, and tells them just how to do it.