Thousands of years of human history stained by strife, death, and sin come to an end when the King of Glory returns to earth. The satisfying conclusion of the seven years of Tribulation covered by the Left Behind series portrays the return of Jesus Christ to earth in both glory and judgment. At the height of the battle between the forces of evil gathered at Armageddon and the remaining Christian believers at Petra and Jerusalem, nothing seems to be able to stop the Antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia. But God has another plan.
Jerry Bruce Jenkins is an American novelist and biographer. He is best known as the writer of the Left Behind series of books for Tim LaHaye and The Chosen novels to accompany his son Dallas's TV series. Jenkins has written more than 200 books, including mysteries, historical fiction, biblical fiction, cop thrillers, international spy thrillers, and children's adventures, as well as nonfiction. His works usually feature Christians as protagonists. In 2005, Jenkins and LaHaye ranked 9th in Amazon.com's 10th Anniversary list of Hall of Fame authors based on books sold at Amazon.com during its first 10 years. Jenkins now teaches writers to become authors here at his website. He and his wife Dianna have three sons and eight grandchildren.
I shall have to say, I REALLY liked this one. The entire story after Jesus came back to earth had me in tears. One part of me can't WAIT for that to happen - another part of me is scared that it'll happen too soon, because I'm not sure all my loved ones are saved yet.
This book touched me so deeply. The visuals of God speaking to each person at the same time, but each hearing their own name was just breathtaking to me. Especially to imagine that the reality, when it comes, will be even more fantastic that we can imagine. I am thankful to have read this and was left with beautiful images of Christ and God's love for each of us. Just wonderful.
I have to say I was most disappointed with this final installment of the Left Behind series. It was almost as if the authors let out a huge sigh of relief -- "We're finally there" -- and just copy/pasted from the Bible, along with a few poorly written insights from now one-dimensional characters.
The first issue with this book is the writing style. Overly simplistic, staccato writing -- no sense of flow, tension or relief. Almost static, I'd say. Additionally, the overuse of the word "himself" drove me absolutely berserk. "God Himself," "Jesus Himself," "Satan himself," "Carpathia himself," "the enemy himself," "Rayford himself," etc. etc. etc..... For goodness sake, find another way to express YOURself!
Additionally, if I may paraphrase a friend of mine, this installment is "obnoxiously Evangelical." I know the series as a whole has been criticized for its preachy agenda, but this book just went way over the top. Every few pages, the characters were crying, falling to their knees, and breaking out in worship songs -- all in unison. It was... well, embarrassing. When one million people at Petra broke out into "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and the "Hallelujah Chorus," I had to wonder how they were all so well-versed in Baroque music and four-part harmony. Was that part of the Bible study? I mean, come on! What is the point of worship when everyone is robotically "inspired" to do exactly the same thing at exactly the same time in exactly the same way?
Finally, I thought the representation of Jesus and the angels left a lot to be desired. I know that is a tall order to fill. But nearly everything they said was copy/pasted directly from the Bible. Is Jesus a broken record? He says the same thing over and over? He doesn't relate to anyone personally? Also, the reader was constantly -- CONSTANTLY -- reminded that each person heard Jesus in his or her native language, and that Jesus spoke to each person with his or her own name, and that everyone got this personal touch from Jesus, so no one was special.
I sincerely wish that the authors would have taken more time to come up with a satisfying end to such a long series. It could have been done so much better.
I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I finished this book, which i don't think was the reaction the authors were looking for. I read the entire series and I think it could have been consolidated into about half of what it was and made a much more solid story.
Problem one, a lot of the characters don't come to life for you and unfortunatly there the ones that stick around for most of the books. The interesting ones, like David Hassid and Ken get killed off quickly and your stuck with the not so interesting ones.
Problem two, Do the authors really think that the antichrist (who is indwelt by satan) and his people are realy going to that foolish and cartoony? That has always annoyed me through the entire set of books. When Carpathia was human they didn't portray him that way but as soon as Satan enters him, him and all his "higher ups" turn into bumbling idiots? I think that was a huge error on the part of the authors.
Problem three, There was so much scripture in this that you lost the story. I understand Jesus and the angels speaking in scripture but every character answering every question with scripture got beyond resonable. I found myself skipping pages just to find the storys. I think you can portray the information without copy and pasting scripture and still make the point and letting the story flow. This book doesn't do that.
I enjoyed the way they portrayed Jesus and his angels, the sadness Jesus felt when faced with people that didn't come to believe in him. I liked the portrayal of the Old Testament people and kept hoping to see them mention Mary but they never did.
Overall, not a great ending but not terrible either, just not what I was looking for.
For sheer unintentional comedy value, you can't beat this final (almost) volume in the LEFT BEHIND saga. At last the PRINCE of PEACE returns, and what does HE do? Slaughters people by the millions! But they're sinners, so it's okay. No really, it's okay! HE says so.
I read this mainly for the gory bits: JESUS CHRIST LORD OF LORDS blasting people apart with his Voice o' Doom; Chucking the AntiChrist and False Prophet into Hell; throwing everyone else who wasn't a True Believer into Hell... and HE is supposed to be the hero! And I suppose HE is. This series is, after all, the ultimate revenge fantasy.
For all the supernatural boom-boom and Flame-Chucking that takes place, the only really interesting bits were the scenes that picked up from the previous book - such as Rayford's predicament and rescue, and Leah (was it Leah? Who cares) fixing up his busted leg. Those bits had a sense of reality to them. When THE LORD OF LORDS finally appears in the sky on his White Horse, Jenkins describes it with the enthusiasm of a weather report. Y'know, sunny with a chance of Jesus. After that event, however, the main characters go from protagonists to spectators, and they become as useful as an abstinence lecture. Just sit back and watch the Judgin'!
I decided to hold off on a big review until I'd finished the whole series, so except for a few notes here and there (and a few attempts of full reports at the beginning) this is the review of the whole series.
The Left Behind series chronicles a "what if" journey of the events in the New Testament's Book of Revelations. From the moment when a good portion of Christians are raptured, the rest of the world is left wondering what happened. Many already know and are left to attempt survival over the next several years, through the rise of the Antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia, several plagues, and the final battle between Satan and God. The story starts with a core group of new believers and branches out through the rest of the series, bringing in new characters, taking out some key ones, and throwing some action, some surprises, and a lot of scripture into the mix.
This series is popular among the Christian set. As a Christian myself, I was able to appreciate the origins of the story and the faith that these events could truly happen. However, for non-Christian readers, much of the series, especially in the final book, is spent rehashing Bible verses and could easily become tedious. I even grew bored at some of the end scenes that seemed to be drawn out a little longer than I felt necessarily. Yes, the event was "Glorious" but it was a bit overdone.
Beyond the small continuity errors and the rushed political (yet still somehow tedious) parts of the book, I found some of the main characters highly annoying. The side characters are what made the stories. Unfortunately, most of them lasted two books if they were lucky. Whether the core group was over-developed or under-developed, I found myself sighing in exasperation with Rayford's whininess and Chloe's inherent stupidity. Buck wasn't so bad, but even he had eye roll moments.
I've talked to a few non-Christians who've read this series and they enjoyed the "science fiction" aspect of it. I believe Christian readers will enjoy it as a telling of part of the Bible. Even with the annoying characters I really enjoyed it, but I'll be the first to admit it's not for everyone.
I should have left this book behind at the library! Out of all 12 books, this one was by far the most ridiculous. I can't believe I read them all - I'm still not sure how I managed that feat!
The authors stretched the arrival of Jesus to 400 pages. I could have done it in four sentences. (Jesus comes. Bad people die. Good people are reunited with their loved ones. The end.) At this point, the characters are almost cartoonish. Carpathia and Leon are so ridiculous, they could have been in the movie Dumb and Dumber. Even Jesus was disappointing - and he was Jesus!
I think I'm done with these books. No 'Left Behind: The Kids,' no prequels. I think the authors missed the money they were making so they continued the saga for as long as possible. They will have to continue it without me!
I can't believe I'm done with the series! I started with the 3 prequels so 15 books in all! I heard of this series on another site and am so glad I did. It has deff. revived my christian walk....which before these books really wasn't much of a walk at all! Honetly it had pretty much ceased.
These books sparked MANY questions for me personally and have led me to a hunger to find out more. I know these books are fictional but they still leave you asking what if it were tomorrow? Would I be left behind? Before reading these books I have to admit I would have been. NOT after I can tell you that!
I can honestly say these books have changed my life. I know many will laugh at that as I've read some of the other reviews on the bad writing etc. I dont think the writing was that bad but besides that I think you have to look at it deeper.
This is one of the most powerful books my husband and I have read. We took turns reading it and reading it aloud to each other. We laughed, we cried and we were awed by the writing. I know it is a fiction novel, but it touched our hearts in many ways. We have every book in the entire Left Behind series and have read each one, more than once. We especially loved this one!
Jeannie Walker - Award Winning Author of "I Saw the Light"
4.5/5 There were so many beautiful moments. The fact that they used so much scripture to back up their chracterization of Jesus and the angels was impressive and not unrealistic. I loved how each character’s interaction with Jesus was written. In my opinion, the authors honored the Lord with this book.
I finally finished this series!! Although it took a while to read I enjoyed it a lot. It was interesting to see Revelation put down in a book series (even though their theology was off on some things). I think these authors did a great job in this book of expressing the awe that the characters felt when Christ can back.
That was SUCH A LETDOWN. 11 books of buildup and you cop out and fill it with bible verses to just add length (imo). So much for epic battle. That was thrillless, unimaginative, and infuriating. To then turn into EXACTLY what you fought against....tsk tsk.
One absolutely vital aspect of writing good fiction is ensuring that whatever aspects of the fictional world you create have limits and logic. For example, in Harry Potter people can do insanely cool and exceptional things with Magic, but they can’t do magic without a wand. This helps to give a story stakes, powerful characters limits in their power, and the imagined world some semblance of logic. This is not the case in the Left Behind universe. In this world, if a character is a tech wiz, they can hijack every tv signal remotely from anywhere in the world and broadcast their sermons if it helps the plot move forward. If a character is a pilot, they are able to fly any plane from any era with no practice. If the good guys need a new safe house, not only do they find one, they are also able to set up years worth of technology and infrastructure by sending one smart dude two weeks ahead. It feels like Tim and Jerry just pull whatever they want out of their ass to push along these lifeless stories.
Also because Tim and Jerry don’t understand how to write memorable characters they do this thing at the top of every book where they list off the believers and the enemies. They have to remind the reader who each of the characters are because no one in these books has any discernible characteristics or personality traits. They all have the same voice, sense of humor, lack of personality, and it makes it incredibly difficult to differentiate any of the characters from one another, or care about what happens to any of the characters. Here is a link to Jerry’s writing course so you can learn to write books like his: https://jerryjenkins.com/online-creat...
Woot woot! More blackface!!!
They literally are so out of ideas that in this book they literally play a dvd of a sermon and they just have a manuscript of it in this book. Really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
40% of this book is just a character preaching a sermon and like a BUNCH of people coming to Christ.
One of the characters (I don’t remember who because they are all the same) was musing about how people could still choose not to be Christians. “We’re people insane? No she decided they were self-possessed, narcissistic, vain, proud, and in a word evil. They saw the acts of God and chose the pleasures of sin over eternity with Christ. And when they changed their minds in the meantime, God had hardened many hearts.” To any current Christians reading this that are still surprised why people leave the church: can you see why people may not believe your gospel is good news? Can you understand why people don’t see your god as loving? Can you understand the disillusioned person looking for answers elsewhere? Apparently the only characteristic of God that isn’t infinite is his patience.
The scene where Jesus comes back, is meant to be this cathartic and victorious moment, but it ends up being kind of horrifying. Jesus just comes down and says the scripture more or less and it kills all the nonbelievers so he’s literally saying “hey guys, I’m the prince of peace but you guys are all gonna die.“ I get that this is all part of scripture but the cognitive dissonance between the supposed loving God and a guy had it that very clearly takes pleasure in viciously murdering. His creation is on full display in this scene.
“Tens of thousands of foot soldiers dropped their weapons to grab their heads or their chests, they fell to the knees and screamed, as they were invisibly sliced asunder their innards and entrails gushed to the desert floor while those around them turned to run they too were slain. Their blood pooling, and rising in the unforgiving light of Christ.” Is this a Jesus people want to know about? Is this a Jesus worth following?
Also, Jesus returns and literally only quotes scripture. He has 0 original lines. He quotes scripture but doesn’t give references so in this universe Jesus is technically plagiarizing himself?
After Jesus returns, all of the Christians become obsessed/infatuated/hyper fixated on Jesus. Is this what heaven is? Is this the culmination of humanity? Essentially all of the characters give up their free will alongside all of their individuality and attention. For Tim and Jerry heaven is just joining the hive mind. More or less we cease to be human.
Also people still eat meat in heaven or earth 2.0 or whatever they call it.
After Jesus comes basically all of the Christians that are left live in a communist paradise that has officially eliminated the need for money and people just give each other what they need. What if… and hear me out… we just did that now… what if… and just listen for a sec… we did that stuff to make that happen today?
Lol they literally brought up DL Moody. You gotta shout out the og or something?
If almost every one of your books is under 5 bucks maybe you should take a bit more time to think before you write something better. Quality over quantity my brother in Christ.
One of the characters that Tim and Jerry forgot about was thinking about what one of her “loving Christian friends” told her before the rapture: “Don’t think yourself into hell (or left behind).” Whoa…
Also all of the rules for the millennial kingdom is so weird. I don’t get it. Someone mansplain this to me better thank Jerry did.
After Jesus returns instead of like talking to Jesus and getting updated instructions, they just read the NIV BIBLE❤️. Don’t talk to the guy just read the translation of a translation of a translation written 2000 years after. Nice Jer-bear 🧸.
Okay no lie probably 50% of the dialogue in this book is just scripture. Don’t let the 20 New York Times bestsellers fool you, Jerry is a bad writer.
The Book of Revelations is a difficult book to understand. The end times in the Left Behind series has really left me baffled. I thought I knew what was going to happen during the 7-Years Tribulation and the Coming of the Lord. Most of the calamities prophesied are set to destroy the unbelievers and ones with the mark of the beast, not the ones with the mark of Christ. Although, many will be martyrs for Christ during this time and tortured and killed by the Antichrist's army. I definitely see an in-depth study is in order for the coming year. Sorry for the long and drawn-out notes below. I don’t want to forget, and I will need to compare what the novel says against what the Bible says, when that time comes.
This book actually gives a pretty good account of what it could possibly be like at the end of the 7-Year Tribulation, fighting the Armageddon War, and when Jesus returns to reign over the earth for a thousand years, called the Millennium.
It starts with the ruin of New Babylon, which meant more than just smoke and ashes. New Babylon was responsible for food distribution, commerce and pay for the entire world. It has come to a complete halt. But Carpathia plans to re-establish his throne in Jerusalem. And since now in the middle of the Armageddon War, he believes that by annihilating ALL the Jews and revolters, there will be peace and paradise here on earth.
(Just a note that Satan wasn't some hideous looking monster in the novel. When he exited Carpathia's body while in Solomon's Stables underneath Jerusalem to express his disgust with Carpathia, he was a bright golden angel with a beautiful white light and long blond hair. (Satan can change into many forms to deceive the people.) But, he also contained heat, enough for it to feel like a fire underground. The horses and forces stampeded out in a panic, trampling all over and killing each other.)
As Carpathia prepared for the final positioning of the Armageddon War, the clouds began to gather. The sun and the moon lost their light as unseen meteors screamed down to earth worldwide. Once again, Christians would be protected from their impact. A stall, then lightning followed...thousands of bolts per second filled the sky, hit the earth. Thunder so loud you had to cover your ears. Carpathia's army sitting and waiting for him and his word to attack outside Petra, were in a chaotic state. The lightning stopped just as suddenly as it began. Thick boiling clouds hung low in the eerily quiet atmosphere, and pitch blackness, except for the artificial lights on earth, returned.
A great light in the shape of the cross appeared in the sky for the world to see. Even Carpathia’s GC army of millions surrounding Jerusalem and Petra with their atomic bombs could see this and all the promises God has promised, yet still refuse to recognize Him. Carpathia remained so vain and arrogant, he had the news media GCNN following him around and shining a great light on him as he continued to lie about his winning the war and pronounced the end of the Jews. Meanwhile, ¾ of his army had been annihilated just by Christ’s Words. Seventy-five ton hail fell to earth crushing millions. As it melted with the blood of the millions slain, blood filled the valley 4 feet deep. Then the great earthquake rocked the world and flattened mountains into the sea as the Mount of Olives was raised above the earth and became Christ's new throne from which he will reign the world for 1000 years.
There seems to be several periods of resurrection. The first resurrection of life (all those who have died before the Rapture) will rise at the time of the Rapture. Between a short interval of the Glorious Appearance of Jesus descending from the clouds and the actual start of the Millennium, the first resurrected of those who made it into the Millennium, and the Old Testament saints and the ones who were killed or were martyrs during the 7-Year Tribulation will be judged. These will have glorified bodies, aged to the prime of life. Those killed will receive special recognition and eternity with Christ, but those who were martyrs for professing God’s words and drawing other’s to Christ, will receive an eternal crown and live as prophets with the Lord. NOTE: There will still be millions who make it through the 7-Year Tribulation who will still be sentenced to hell. They will line up on Jesus’s left side and with His Word, the ground will open up and the masses drop into the earth, and into Hades until the last and final judgment after the 1000 years of Christ’s reign here on earth. The new heaven and earth comes after this.
Christ throws the Antichrist and the False Prophet into the pits of hell, and throws Satan into a cage in Hades (kind of a temporary holding place in hell), for the next 1000 years. This Millennium period is not “Heaven on earth” just yet. People who entered this Millennium alive will be able to still procreate. Those who arrived alive, and those born during the Millennium, will age, but age very slowly as in the days of Noah. Life will be lived as usual, except Christ will be center of this world. They will work the ground and grow food, each for their own family. They will build homes for their own family, not for others to inhabit. EVERYONE WORKS ! (Isaiah 65:18-24). Sin will still be able to enter into this period of time. It is believed that if you are born in the Millennium, that child will grow up to 100 years, and if found disobedient and unbelieving to Christ and His laws, he or she will presumably drop dead at that time. Otherwise, believers will live throughout the 1000 years and enter into a second and final judgment for the actual Heaven on earth. This judgment is called the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelations 20).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The first 5 or so books really captured my imagination and left me wanting more. By the time I hit the 8th book or so I wanted to enjoy the books but found myself just wanting to complete the series.
I started this series in January and have compelted all 12 books before Easter.
Sometime I may pick up one of the pre-qual books but not any time soon.
This entire series was great! It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and made me excited for the next book to come out. It wasn't a "preachy" book but at the same time did witness. My review will be the same for all the books in the series. Well worth reading!!
I can’t believe I read this whole book this evening. It was so good! The ending felt so much like a dream! I can’t believe it’s over. I sure will miss all these amazing characters.
I really thought I would like this better, but I found it dragged a bit. A few thoughts while reading, when Jesus came down initially, I thought he sounded incredibly egotistical. Rayford has a thought while Jesus is speaking, that basically these were all egotistical things to say but that he was struck by who humble Jesus was as he was just repeating facts. I’m not sure, I still think these things weren’t necessary and it’s sad they were included cause they were egotistical and doesn’t make Jesus sound much better than the anti-Christ. However, I know some people took issue with how Jesus came down and slaughtered the non-believers and, yes, it did read pretty harsh, but taking the entire context and biblical teaching for this scenario, this was all predicted and happened as a last resort, after they have refused him over and over and over. So, while it was a harsh thing to read, understanding the whole picture here was important. The very last chapter was good, I loved everyone being reunited! And I absolutely love that Rayford acknowledged that he didn’t understand everything that was going on, what to feel, and how to act, but that he knew it would make sense with time. I think that was import as it was as realistic a thought that one could get! This book dragged at times, but it was good at the end! Very interested to see what the last book has in store for us!
Believers and non-believers alike toil amongst earth during its worst days. The saddest part of it is the absolute worst is yet to come, as enemies of the antichrist and he himself have not yet bowed to the glory of God.
Earth seems at a stand-still as the Tribulation Force with more grief and struck with seeming hopelessness still wait for the return of Jesus the son of God. Is he really coming? Or were their calculations wrong? Is the time that they predicted off because it was ultimately His timing?
Meanwhile the enemy continues his triumph as he assembles his global army to station at Megiddo. Nicolae has already performed wonders and made a display of supposed Messiah-like traits. He plans to condemn the world with the worst war in all of mankind.
But that is before the final bowl judgements where harsh punishments are dealt to the ones who refuse to believe will lead to the most important event in new history.
That is the return of Christ.
I didn't mean the intro to be very long but I have kept away from giving a written review to this book for so long. Just to say here finally I felt this book has greatly impacted me. I was amazed by how some events were portrayed.
A big one that surprised me was Satan making an appearance. As he was already indwelt with Nicolae he temporarily manifests in a spiritual form, talking to the people of the army that he hopes will do so for him. As he orders them and the antichrist, the physical man is lying on the ground in pain as if the separation is keeping him bound- like a predatory bird pushing its talons onto him while he is in his submissive state.
And there was another one I might not spoil directly here. I found it fascinating.
And yes while there were a lot of pluses there were some things keeping me from giving this a full five stars; I thought the part where all the people on the earth end up getting judged was kind of rushed considering how it was portrayed. Also too many spiritual events happen. The series had them happen here and there and yes the world might end up at a place where God might have to show signs and wonders (ones not done by the Antichrist) but it was too much here and I think some of the books preceding too. Still I feel this book deserves attention.
If you have read some of the book series and at least kind of liked it you will find this a great to eventually pick up yourself. It should be a goal to read up to this one because it's totally worth it. I myself plan to one day read the next one (which had plots/ideas admittedly not put into the early entries so they were spilled into this one. Still a part of the timeline though it deals with the millennium of Christ as He rules the earth).
After that I might read some, or if I can, all of the spin-off books (minus the "teen" version of this series, the only spin-off penned by Lahaye himself). I just think these books are that good.
To leave you on an interesting note I remember feeling comfort the day I finished this book. Someone had later driven me home and I happened peer at the sky. The sun was near setting giving the heavens a pink and orange hue and I could see a small pile of clouds, resting triumphantly as if they were almost hiding something.
It got me wondering: One day the clouds will have God's army descend to the earth, all of us riding on horses. Someday.
Wow wow wow. Okay, where do I begin?? I really liked this series. It is a very cool view of the end times. I found myself cheering on the Tribulation Force and alternatively laughing and rolling my eyes at Carpathia’s foolish plans and Fortunato’s clumsiness. I LOVED the part when Jesus came back. I had waited 12 whole books for that to happen! I truly cannot wait for Jesus to come back. I think some people think that Jesus appearing will stop our lives and it won’t be that great, but this book helped me understand that it WILL be great. It will be like earth, but no sin, and Jesus as king!! You could see him every day on the news! How exciting that will be!
"The Global Community Unity Army, spearheaded by Antichrist himself, filled the horizon, even when George backed up onto the slopes and looked through solar powered Uberbinoculars."
Update, p. 100: So, it seems that some of the bad guys have "nuclear sub machine guns" - not even sure how those would work - and the good guys have set up a Webzone where Jews can convert to Christianity, just as Scripture foretold. And we've just learned that Potentate Nicolae Carpathia may not be what he seems.
*
Another quote, this one from Scripture, and inadvertently fabulous: "All the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (134). I do so wish the authors had identified the brand of wine in question. Cupcake? Franzia? Maybe Ripple?
*
This just in: apparently, Jesus is supposed to destroy the Host of the Unrighteous by spitting swords at them (191). How cool is that? This remains hearsay, however. Almost halfway in and JC still has not entered the building.
*
Still can't get over those nuclear sub machine guns. Why didn't they use more of those at the Siege of Jerusalem in Vol. 11?
*
Oh, day-um, JC is in the house (200-225). He's 900 feet tall and his voice makes people's blood boil and explode within their veins. Because he is a God of Mercy. Also knives.
*
"The piercing glare of the purity of Christ would make easy His ruling the nations with an iron rod" (243). So, just to be clear, we're trading in one dictator for another? Because that's what "iron rod" says to me.
*
I have reached the summa of the authors' eschatology and theology: "And Jesus had killed them all" (258).
*
"And the plague with which I struck all the people who fought against Jerusalem was this: their flesh dissolved while they stood on their feet, their eyes dissolved in their sockets, and their tongues dissolved in their mouths...Such also was the plague on the horses" (276) - because Jesus was all about cruelty to animals.
*
Well, Mssr. Carpathia has been brought to his knees, and one of Christ's Chosen wants to call him the "Supreme Impotentate" (308). Get it? Impotence jokes are funny. Meanwhile, JC is imitating Walter White from Season 5 of Breaking Bad: "Say my name."
Finally! After reading 5,850 pages (yes I really did count them all) Jesus came.
This was my least favorite of the who series (well, actually The Rising is my least favorite ... but that's because it felt so evil.)
The reason I didn't like this book is because nothing really happened (yes, I realize that sounds absurd knowing that Jesus came). The book was made up of about 325 pages of scriptures and preaching about about 75 pages of actual story line (yes, that's probably a little exaggerated, but it sure felt that way.) In between the preaching the authors tried to throw in some story ... but even then nothing really happened. Rayford was seriously injured (but lived). All the believers who were sick or injured were healed (what a miracle). Jesus came. And there were a couple battles (which really don't count as battles).
I thought the 'battles' were kind of creepy. The bad guys tried to shoot and kill the believers, but they were protected (shocker). Then Jesus comes and all he does is opens his mouth and the bad guys get cut open, their innards are no longer inside of them and they start writhing in pain and dying. I thought it was kind of creepy ... not glorious.
What should have taken 4 sentence took 398 pages. Jesus comes. Bad guys die. Believers are reunited with their families. The end.
I just don't think I can read Kingdom Come. I've already read 6,046 pages ... I don't think I can take another 354.
Anyone that follows me knows I'm only reading this because I set a goal to get a date on every book on the great American read in Goodreads. I have to say all of these books make me laugh at the extraordinary number of logical fallacies that Tim LaHaye tries to pass off as profoundly insightful. This book highlights how much of the previous books were taken from other sources. My guess is that at least one fourth and possibly as much as half this book is Bible quotes. Unlike the other books, it is christ this time, who is loved for killing, hurting, and other evils, but the same acts are hated when the antichrist does them. In all the other books, this pair off was god and antichrist. This book is again full of the usual fear-mongering that is the core of the series. I was astonished that Tim LaHaye painted a white man black in this one. I guess his racism leaves him uncaring about the long and oppressive history of blackface, but then no evil is left justified in this series. I have been trying to figure out why anyone would want to reduce their faith to the level of a child's comic-book and can only conclude that they don't reason about their religion.
I'm attempting to finish this series on principle only. I didn't enjoy the author's writing style. The phrase "It was all I could do to ...." popped up way too often. The story got a bit repetitive and things seemed just too convenient and not in a "because God meant it to be so" sort of way. It was more of a lack of creative ways to make a story line progress.
I absolutely loved this book. The times where the Lord is speaking to the saints brought me to tears. Although no one knows what God or Jesus will say when he does return, everything that was said was based on Scripture. I was lifted up, encouraged, and brought closer to God through this book.
Read this as I sat with Mom during her final days this side of Heaven. Was exactly what I needed to be reading. In the midst of grief, I found a wonderful peace for myself and a happiness for Mom. LaHaye and Jenkins did a fantastic job creating word pictures of what is to come.