For all you book lovers…I thought I’d post about my recent book discovery. I have heard about this book for quite some time but only purchased it this month. Joel Rosenberg, the author, wrote a book called the Last Jihad a few years ago. The tale was quite original. The book was about a terrorist controlled American commercial airpline that was in route to to take out the nations capital. This book was released prior to 911. Needless to say, Last Jihad got quite a bit of attention after the fact. I didn’t read this one though I would like too. Many said “Wow – who would have thunk that?:) Obviously Joel did rightly predict it.

The Ezekial Option is a political fiction but based on the premise of Ezekial chapters 38 and 39. These chapters are interpretted by many to be an end times prophecy concering the last days where Russia and other countries march on Israel and God supernatually intervenes to protect Israel. I thought the book was awesome! I couldn’t put it down. I struggled a bit in parts because the person who would get the most out of it would be more politically educated and better educated in world history. This author is well connected politically and has served in advisory positions for many of our nations whose who. (Including Rush Limbagh actually:) As a result, his presuppositions in this fiction seem very well grounded based on his knowledge of current affairs, world history, and scripture. Of course it is written AS fiction but it builds a good case of possibilities and opens up your mind to the what if’s of end time prophecy. To be honest, the whole thing was so eerily believable that parts of it almost creeped me out a bit!

If you were a Left Behind series fan, I would highly recommend this book to you.

Jim and I watched Joel Rosenberg on the History channel this week. They ran a series on the Antichrist and Joel was one of many that they interviewed. We were very very disappointed in the INCREDIBLE bias of the producers. They were amazingly unbalanced and ultimately made a mockery of God’s word. They painted Christians to be fanatical crazies who place their faith in fantasy because of their deep need to believe in the power of good to overcome evil. Made me think of Satan in the garden and his methods for tempting Eve. He simply mocked and patronized what God’s directive to Adam and Eve was. It worked. He still uses the same tactics in battle because, obviously, they still work. It was very sad to me to listen to this cultural representation of our world paint a picture of prophecy as folklore.

On the topic of prophecy though, I for one find biblical end time prophecy to be very difficult to grasp. It was written with a veiling intended so this isn’t surprising, but still I wish that it were easier to interpret. For this reason, I am cautious about cemeting myself into a specific phrophetical view. By culture, and tradition, my family holds to dispensational premilleniamism. Jim and I have had a lot of discussions about this in the past year and we both have decided to remain uncommitted on this. We have not done in depth personal studies to the degree that we need to on end times prophecy and so we hesitate to say that we are complete supporters of “blank”. We both feel that the Ammilleniasts make some pretty interesting observations that are worth at least our investigation, and we have always supported the scriptural support for PreMill….so jury is still out for us:). We are engaging in some studies right now and are trying to read parrallel viewpoints to help us decipher what we thing has the most scriptural support. In fact, tonight we are going to listen to a radio broadcast that supports one particular theory of thought just so that we can get better grounded on all sides.

Either way though, one truth remains the same across the board. Jesus IS going to return for His people. None of us will know the “when” but I do think it is important to do our best to educate ourselves in regards to what scripture say’s about the end times. My gut feeling is that many things that seem to allude us now will be obvious in hindsight. We’ll shall see:)…..

These are the kinds of postings that tend to scare people – I realize. I have a few friends that I suspect will write me and say “Doni – once again I have no idea what in the world you are talking about.” No worries. There is plenty of room scripturaly for a variety of opinions on this topic and I for one, am quite certain that on this topic, concrete answers will forever allude me. If you have no idea what I am referencing, I would say “time and place”. Foundation of scripture needs to be built first before this pilgrammage begins so I would suggest concentrating on other areas of scripture first.

I will close with this:)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!