Customer Reviews
Excellent information for the discerning Christian - By: Romayne Wright, 21 Mar 2008 
If you're interested in Christian prophecy & seeing how the current signs of the times fit in with it, then this book will certainly provide some food for thought. Joel has to be one of the most unique authors of this age, given how uncannily close to real life his fictional storylines have been, so I tend to pay some attention to what he feels factuallly is happening in the world, but like many true Americans, I do feel he tends to concentrate perhaps too much on the US's role in much of what is up ahead. And personallly I feel it's got next to no role at alll, other than to perhaps precipitate much of what is going to happen in the likes of the Middle East. Ezekiel outlined very clearly the aftermath of a nuclear attack on Israel, so we know it will happen at some point, but we also know that unlike the US & many other countries of the Middle East that Israel will survive, because the whole of human history is geared around it - it's very existence is proof of the validity of scripture, as God ordained & stated throughout His Word that it would do so despite everything the world would bring against it. But Joel does outline a lot of very solid facts in the book that I appreciated, & some amazing ones too like the huge numbers of Muslims becoming Christians despite the very real threats of death that are then brought against them by family & friends, & thus I found the book overly encouraging while being very informative.
Watch therefore... - By: E. K. Thomas, 26 Feb 2008 
The two previous reviews give a fairly comprehensive insight into the contents of Epicenter & it only leaves me to affirm that this is an excellent book that gives Christians an insight to the unfolding of prophetic events up to our present time & the likely scenario in the future. Joel Rosenberg is very well informed & has contacts in high places which give him access to facts & details denied to most of us. He does not claim to be able to spell out the details of future events, but he does indicate some of the main events that we can expect to see & at the same time he does raise awareness & stimulates Christians to be on the alert to current events & the relevance of biblical prophecy in our day.
Highly recommended.
A Thought-provoking Book on Very Important Issues - By: David De Sousa, 29 Dec 2006 In his first non-fiction book, New York Time's best-selling novelist Joel Rosenberg, an evangelical Christian from an Orthodox Jewish background, takes the reader on a journey that includes interviews with Israeli, Palestinian, & Russian leaders, previously classified CIA & White House documents, complemented with a powerful narrative that will fix your attention on how events are connected, from biblical prophecy to recent headlines.
Absolutely an excellent book on a very delicate topic that is affecting & will affect our world. Rosenberg shows us the power of the Scripture in understanding the past & the present, & even more important: in predicting the future. A Thought-provoking reading that is well worth for Christian Readers & any reader as well.
With everything that is going on in the middle east & around the world, in such places like Iran, Iraq, Russia, & China: the invasion of Iraq & the violence of the post Sadam's Iraq, Iran's president vows to wipe Israel, & more it is nice to have the analysis & the point of view of a well respected Christian writer.
Valuable but incomplete and slightly flawed - By: Pieter, 05 Nov 2006 This fascinatng book examines the future through the lens of biblical prophecy with an emphasis on Ezekiel 38 & 39. The book is valuable but incomplete in a sense, as it ignores important information on events that might trigger the War of Gog & Magog & almost completely silent on what might follow it as far as Europe is concerned.
In the introduction the author sets out his intent with Epicenter, which is to explain how he got to write his best-selling novels & to answer questions like: How serious is the Iran nuclear crisis? Why is Russia selling nuclear technology & arms to Iran? What is the future ofhe Arab-Israeli conflict & of Iraq? What are the dangers of expansionist Islam?
Chapter 2 deals with the process of the writing & publication of his prescient novels The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option & The Copper Scroll, whilst the next looks at the genesis of Jihad. Chapter 4 explains that the lenses of politics & economics should be complemented by a third, which is the lens of scriptural prophecy. That is the way to understand global events in three dimensions.
Chapter 5 examines those prophecies that have already been fulfilled, like the restoration of Israel & its spectacular economic growth. The prediction here is that massive oil & gas reserves will be discovered in the Holy Land. The gross domestic product of Israel is already much higher than that of a country like Egypt with more than ten times the population of Israel.
Chapter 7: A Czar in Russia, explores the identity of the peoples mentioned in the prophecies of Ezekiel: Gog, Magog, Rosh, Meshech & Tubal, from a historical & linguistic perspective. There is already no doub that Russia is sliding into fascism & the quotes from Putin are disturbing. Belarus is a natural allly & never tasted any real freedom after the collapse of the USSR. The next chapter shows how Russia has already joined the Axis of Evil & looks at the Iranian leader's threats against Israel & the West.
The identity of the other nations that will join Russia in the assault on Israel is explored in chapter 9. Russia is extending its military allliance with Iran to include other countries of the Islamic world & more. Here one cannot ignore the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) that already, as of the time of this writing, includes the People's Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan & Uzbekistan.
Cush is thought to mean African countries like Sudan, (but could include South Africa), whilst Put refers to North African states like Libya, Tunisia & Algeria. Gomer might be Turkey & Azerbaijan & Beth Togarmah is most likely the Stans of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan & their ilk.
There will also be other alllies, mainly from the Islamic world. The author notes that Egypt & Iraq are definitely not part of this allliance, but he fails to point out that neither Syria nor Jordan is mentioned. He does talk about the regional powers that will realize that the invasion is about stealing the wealth of Israel (Sheba & Dedan) & Western Countries raising a protest but doing nothing to help Israel (Tarshish).
Russian ambitions for expanding into the Middle East are investigated in chapter 10. The author's meeting with a Russian fascist makes for chilling reading. Recent revelations about Russian intentions during the 1967 & 1973 wars show how close Russia was to getting directly involved against Israel. The next chapter describes what will actuallly happen to the Anti-Israel allliance: supernatural destruction through earthquakes, pandemics, fireballls & hailstones, & in the confusion they will turn on one another.
The next three chapters deal with Iraq as increasingly prosperous, the building of the Third Temple, the increase in the numbers of Messianic Jews & a big story totallly ignored by the mass media: how Muslims are turning to Christ in increasing numbers in Central Asia, Iran, North Africa & the Middle East. The author is of the opinion that Babylon in Iraq will be the future seat of the Anti-Christ. I am not so sure about that. It might rather be another city in Europe that becomes the capital of a resurgent Europe, the last incarnation of the Roman Empire.
The last chapter offers advice on what to do in light of these terrifying events, on a personal, local & international level. This includes making people aware of the prophecies & supporting Israel spirituallly & materiallly.
Appendix 1 consists of frequently asked questions & the anwers, Appendix 2 is the results of a national survey of American attitudes towards Bible prophecy & Appendix 3 provides the full text of Ezekiel 38 & 39. The book is illustrated with maps throughout & concludes with endnotes by chapter.
My problem with Epicenter is that it completely ignores the possibility of a localised war (Psalm 83 & Obadiah) in the Middle East that might be one of the triggers of the Gog-Magog War. This could be a war against Hezbollah, Hamas & their supplier Syria. In such a scenario even Jordan might be involved. This will explain why these countries are not mentioned in the Ezekiel prophecy - because they will be thoroughly defeated & Damascus might be no more. This humiliating defeat might be a pretext for Russia & Iran to attack Israel. It might also explain why no country will come to the defence of Israel & why the United Nations will sanction such an attack.
In addition, the author totallly ignores the role of the European Union. The spectacular destruction of Russia, Iran & Central Asia might trigger such panic in the EU that it causes a religious revival that enables ten of these countries to unite under an Emperor to revive the so-callled Holy Roman Empire. In such a scenario, Rome will be the religious centre of this superpower, definitely not Babylon in Iraq.
