The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg

I am not a novel reader for many good reasons. A lot of it has to do with the old adage “truth is stranger than fiction” and I might add to that a lot more interesting. That said, I had two events come together recently that led me to read The Last Jihad by best-selling author Joel C. Rosenberg. Recently I had been watching Glenn Beck on CNN and he had Rosenberg on his program talking about the possibility that the current events in the Middle East are moving towards the end of days scenarios that are prominent in the Old Testament and the book of Revelation. This is not Beck’s usual fare and I was quite impressed that Rosenberg has actually been used in an advisory capacity to the Pentagon on this subject which itself is quite a surprise. The other event that led me to read Rosenberg’s book was that it was put on my desk by our Church librarian asking for my approval. Even though Rosenberg’s works are hot sellers in Christian bookstores across America, my librarian knows I feel books of the “fulfilled prophecy” genre are pretty much anathema (greek for “cursed of God”) to me (yes, I belong to that group of 12 or so who didn’t read any of the Left Behind series). So these two events happening in quick succession led me to at least a tentative conclusion that God wanted me to read this particular book and so I did. Here are my thoughts on The Last Jihad in no particular order of importance: 1.) It didn’t seem overly taut or riveting. I could put it down and I never sacrificed sleep so I could read just one more chapter. 2.) It did have a good tenable plot centered around nuclear intervention on Iraq in retaliation for an attempt to assassinate the POTUS, Queen of England, and Saudi Royal Family in a protracted terrorist strike. 3.) Even though the author is a Christian, he didn’t use the dialogue as a means of preaching to the reader. The references were certainly there and Christian faith was present but in a natural way. 4.) It sets forth an idea that would make Israel the center of world conflict: the discovery of the largest oil deposit in the world. With our current hunger for energy and other nations competing for crude oil, this could bring all the armies of the East and West if push came to shove. I probably won’t ready anymore of Rosenberg’s novels (unless God tells me to!) but I would recommend his work to anyone searching for novels concerning Biblical prophecy.