Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future, by Joel C. Rosenberg
There is a bit of a story behind this book, for me. It all started with a coupon. I had a coupon to buy a book by Mr. Rosenberg at a discounted price. I don't even remember the discount. He had written a series of fiction novels so I thought it was best to start with the first book in the series. That book was called The Last Jihad. (Reviewed on this blog here.) To summarize, that book was written before September 11, 2001, yet featured a hijacked American airliner by terrorists on a kamikaze mission. The book's publication was placed on hold in September 2001 due to the similarity of events that were unfolding. Many of the events in his subsequent books also hit headlines in real life. People began to wonder how this author could possibly be writing fiction that comes true.
So, he wrote Epicenter to explain his process. Working in a bookstore, I found a copy of Epicenter, and began flipping through it. I was fascinated, and it did not bother me that I had not read the rest of his fiction books because I thought, "Why read his fiction if I can just read the headlines and get the same story?" So when I got to chapter three, I decided, "Ok, put the book down, go back to work, buy this book, and read it at home." I found myself doing that a lot while working at the bookstore. A bookstore is a dangerous place to work.
So, I bought the book, and read through it carefully. I got about halfway through before life got in the way. I started school again, then I started a business. Finally, revolutions erupted in the Middle East and I told myself, "Don't put this off any longer." So I started the book again, from the beginning.
What I learned is that everything that is happening right now in the Middle East was predicted in the Old Testament by the prophet Ezekiel. Mr. Rosenberg takes Ezekiel's words and turns them into a plot line for his novels, and that is where the ideas come from. But it just so happens that the world is on that same plot line, and that is why the novels appear to be coming true in the news headlines.
The first four chapters of the book explain the prophecies, explain the differing theological views surrounding them, and explain logically from a political perspective why some countries are behaving the way they are behaving today. Also important in the first four chapters is an explanation of why it is necessary to view the world through the lens of scripture rather than the view of politics or economics. The lens of scripture gives the big picture, while other worldviews leave things out. The next ten chapters involve what future headlines we can expect to see, and since the book was written in 2006 and revised in 2008, I could see that some of those headlines had actually begun to appear in the three years since its publication. The final chapter is an explanation of why this information is important and needs to be taken seriously by Americans and anyone in the world for that matter.
The book was incredibly informative, persuasive, and written clearly enough that anyone can read it. There was a lot of additional information as well- an afterword, frequently asked questions, polling results explaining American attitudes toward the Middle East and prophecies, the actual scripture passages in case someone doesn't have a Bible or doesn't know where to find it in the Bible, and transcripts of interviews with world leaders. Although the book is not long by my standards, some people may look at this book of nearly 400 pages and find it too daunting to read. But actually, the book concludes on page 244. If you are interested in the afterword and appendices you can keep reading, but the main message is before that.
Once you are finished, if you are still interested in the subject matter, you can follow Mr. Rosenberg's blog here: http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/
I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Biblical prophecy or current world events. I would also recommend this to anyone who is confused by Biblical prophecy or current world events, and to anyone who is apathetic about the danger posed by the alliances of radical-thinking countries.
