What do you think?
Rate this book
Clash of Kingdoms: What the Bible Says about Russia, ISIS, Iran, and the End Times
From the bestselling authors of The Rise of Babylon and The ISIS Crisis, the essential guide for Christians about what Bible prophecy foretells concerning current events in the Middle East—especially the rise of ISIS and the resurgence of Russia—while providing a way to find peace and hope in the face of end times concerns. ISIS, Russia, and Iran are daily atop headlines and are among chief sources of intensifying unease among Americans about how current world conflicts will unfold. Using the Old Testament texts of prophets Ezekiel and Daniel as foundational passages, Bible experts Charles Dyer and Mark Tobey explain the connection between Bible prophecy and real-time events such as the growing alliance between Russia and Iran; the unsettling of the region as ISIS ravages countries and redraws boundaries; and the pull of Turkey and Saudi Arabia into the fray by Russian encroachment, Iranian meddling, and the United States’ inability to create and lead a coalition. Simultaneously, Dyer and Tobey provide practical encouragement and spiritual principles for finding comfort, strength, and perspective in an unsettling time while laying out a strategy for responding out of faith rather than fear in the face of end times concerns.
- GenresChristian
144 pages, Paperback
Published February 7, 2017
18 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Charles Dyer
32 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 18, 2017
This book is current and eye opening. It has lots of scripture references. I enjoyed it very much!
February 11, 2017
Exploring the Bible's Prophetic Texts -
For nearly thirty years now I’ve been encourage and thrilled with the writings of authors like Dyer, Tobey, Hitchcock, Ice, Horner, Lahaye, and their peers as they’ve explore the prophetic pages of the Bible. Their genuine love and respect for the Bible’s prophetic word has inspired me with a similar lifelong love of Bible prophecy and the promise of the messiah Yeshua’s return. Reading Charles Dyers and Mark Tobey’s new book Clash of Kingdoms reminded me of my first prophecy conference. The plane ticket was a gift from my mother for my 18th birthday and for a homeschooled kid from Arizona that trip to the other side of the continental US was an adventure I’ll never forget.
Today as Mr. Dyer and Mr. Tobey so aptly explain, the signs of the Messiah’s return are clearer and more numerous than they were nearly three decades ago. To be sure, the world stage has changed a lot since then, but as the authors of Clash of Kingdoms explain many of the bad actors in this prophetic drama are still present and waiting for their part in the final countdown to the Messiah.
Clash of Kingdoms: What the Bible Says About Russia, Isis, Iran, and the End Times is a well written overview of what the authors believe the Bible’s prophetic text described in the time leading up to the 2nd coming of Yeshua. Written from a pre-tribulational theological perspective the authors lay out a framework of end time events in seven easy to read chapters. The chapters include:
1. The Problem of the Nations
2. The Bear is Back
3. After ISIS
4. Duplicitous Iran
5. Picking up the Pieces
6. Israel
7. A Woman in a Basket
Of these chapters 1, 6, & 8 stood out to me. Chapter 8 was especially encouraging. There the authors explained why we as believers should not have the spirit of Fear but rather Faith in these increasingly tumultuous times. The books is rather short and can be read in just a few hours
* * * * * * *
In the spirit of respectful disagreement and what I hope is constructive criticism there were two areas where I felt the book could have used a more in-depth explanation of the authors point of view. They include:
• The author’s understanding of Ezekiel 38 & 39
• The author’s understanding of Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 weeks.
These two areas are foundational the authors framework of end time events described in this book and as such they deserve a thorough examination so the reader gets a real grasp of the basis for the authors eschatological beliefs.
***Regarding Ezekiel 38 & 39 the authors believe that this invasion of Gog & Magog takes place when Israel is dwelling securely sometime during or before the final 7 year tribulation. I think the authors could have better explained how they reconciled this interpretation with the multitude of references which show that “dwelling securely” (Yashab betach) is almost exclusively used in the Old Testament in reference to Israel’s status during the Millennium. The ancient Biblical promise of Israel dwelling securely in the Promised Land comes first form the Leveticus 25 & 26 and is a promise contingent upon Israel’s obedience to the Torah. Jeremiah 32, Ezekiel 28, 34, and Zech. 14 clearly describe Israel “dwelling securely” in their land as a millennial promise given to Israel during the reign of the Messiah.
Finally Ezekiel 39: 21-29 describes a period of time when Israel is will be dwelling securely in their land with none to make them afraid. While many see this as taking place before the millennium this exact phrase is use by Ezekiel in Chapter 34:23-25 to describe conditions during the millennium. In consideration of the fact that the book of Revelation describes a Gog & Magog invasion during the millennial reign of Yeshua when Israel is in fact dwelling securely in their land I think the authors understanding of the subject could have been more thoroughly explained to show how they reconciled these verses in their own interpretations.
* * * *
***Regarding the authors explanation of Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks, this prophecy is woven into nearly every aspect of the author’s eschatological framework. This prophecy is really important to the thesis of this book, yet in the book their explanation of the prophecy has several weaknesses which should be explained so the reader gets a complete sense of how the authors understand this great propehcy. Here are a few examples of areas in the prophecy which the authors really need to explain their reasoning to the reader:
1. The commandment to restore and build
2. The chronology of Ezra & Nehemiah
3. Biblical Time
First the commandment. In this book the authors based their starting point upon a commandment given by the Persian king Longimanus. This commandment is one of four Persian decrees often used when interpreting the prophecy of Daniel 9. As with many of their peers, the authors do not explain that “commandment” comes from the Hebrew word – dabar- which means word, speech or utterance. Dabar is used 1439 times in the Old Testament and of those the vast majority refer to the word of YHWH the living God of the Bible. In Daniel 9 the word dabar is used four times. Of those three clearly refer to the words of YHWH. For the readers sake the authors should explain why they believe the word of YHWH to “restore and build Jerusalem” mentioned in Zechariah 1, Haggai 1 and Ezra 6 does not qualify as the “word” of Daniel 9:25. It seems incongruent why the dabar of YHWH the very person who gave the prophecy of 70 sevens is not even mentioned when discussing this most wonderful prophecy.
* * * *
Second, in order to establish Daniel 9 upon a solid contextual footing the chronology of the 2nd temple must be addressed. In this book the authors use Dr. Harold Horner’s interpretation of Daniel 9. Based upon this interpretation they have the “commandment to restore and build Jerusalem” as given in the year 444 BC during the reign of the Persian king Longimanus.
The challenge of reconciling this date is the fact that according to Dr. Horner view Ezra and Nehemiah had to be contemporaries of Longimanus. This is problematic for many chronological reasons, the greatest of which is that the Bible records the death of Ezra’s father in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar. This then would make Ezra at his youngest a quarter of a century old than Moses. This same unreasonable age would apply to many of the priest and Levites of Nehemiah 10 & 12. As explained in Chapter 11 of their new book Charting the Bible Chronologically: A Visual Guide to God's Unfolding Plan, Hindson and Ice explain that the Exponential Decay Curve proves that the lifespan of humanity after the flood decayed to roughly 70-80 years. This great disparity in the ages of the 2nd temple era needs to be explained in a reasonable manner in order for Dr. Horner’s interpretation of the Daniel 9 to be taken seriously.
* * * *
Regarding the authors implied usage of a 360 day prophetic year as it applies to Daniel 9 and the 70 sevens, at the very least it should be explained that this year is based upon an extrapolation of a statement in Genesis 7-8 that counts 5 months as equal to 150 days. This extrapolations of the limited statements of Genesis assumes that this 360 day calendar was a solar calendar and not based upon calculated 12 month 30 day calendar common in antiquity. Many ancient cultures used a 360 calendar but they also understood that this calendar convenience was not representative of an actual solar year. The missing 5 days of the solar year sometimes called, “five days over the year” was often intercalated at certain intervals to keep the calendar insync with the solar year of 365.24 days. That the solar year was actually 365.24 days is proven by many ancient calendars. A 365.24 day year was also a major factor in the construction of the Great Pryamid, Stone Henge and it is one of the factors of the Biblical unit of measure known as the cubit.
In Genesis 1:14 the Bible defines the basics of the Biblical calendar as including cycles of both the sun and moon. This means that any Biblical “calendar” must include both cycles and their intercalations in order to be accurate. Biblically speaking it is clear that from at least the time Exodus onwards the Bible’s calendar consisted of a 365.24 day solar year and a 29.53 day lunar cycle. When Daniel 9 was given this was the calendar in use at that time. Further when Yeshua fulfilled the ancient Biblical holy days of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot, He did so based upon a Biblical calendar which used a 365.24 day solar year and a 29.53 day lunar month.
If indeed the Prophecy of Daniel 9 was intended to use a 360 day solar year and a 30 day lunar month as Dr. Horner believes, at the very least a reasonable explanation must be made as to why the Bible keeps two kinds of calendars. Further it should be explained that those who hold a 360 day calendar believe that at some point before the final 7 year tribulation the Bible’s calendar will revert back to a 360/30 calendar. It should also be pointed out that the celestial readjustments required to change the Bible’s calendar back to such an arrangement will be quite earth shaking. (Remember by this theory it took the cataclysmic flood of Noah to give us the calendar we have today) I’ve often wondered why those who hold this belief do not talk about this coming catastrophic reordering of the lunar/solar cycles because it must take place at some point well in advance of the proposed 7 year tribulation in order for the cycles to be perfectly in sync by the time the final seventh week of Daniel 9 plays out. It seems rather unbelievable to me frankly that a catastrophe equal to or greater than anything mentioned during the great tribulation will take place before the final tribulation, yet it goes unmentioned in the Biblical record. If in fact the calendar is going to change at some point in the future it should be discussed.
In summary regarding Dr. Horner’s interpretation of Daniel 9 the above subject need to be discussed. Until they are dealt with in a contextual and reasonable Biblical manner Dr. Horners interpretation of the 70 sevens prophecy and any eschatological frameworks built upon it must be taken with a Berean’s skepticism.
* * * *
In conclusion if there is one principle I’ve learned from wonderful authors like Mr. Dyer and Mr. Tobey over the past three decades is that our understanding of Bible prophecy is a work in progress. None of us have all the answers. Each of us has a Berean’s responsibility to search the Scriptures to see if these things be so. My questions and disagreements with Mr. Dyer and Mr Tobey notwithstanding I'd encourage you to read their new book, Clash of Kingdoms: What the Bible Says About Russia, ISIS, Iran, and the End Times. See this wonderfully rich and important subject through their eyes and then open your Bible’s and see if these things be so.
Maranatha!
For nearly thirty years now I’ve been encourage and thrilled with the writings of authors like Dyer, Tobey, Hitchcock, Ice, Horner, Lahaye, and their peers as they’ve explore the prophetic pages of the Bible. Their genuine love and respect for the Bible’s prophetic word has inspired me with a similar lifelong love of Bible prophecy and the promise of the messiah Yeshua’s return. Reading Charles Dyers and Mark Tobey’s new book Clash of Kingdoms reminded me of my first prophecy conference. The plane ticket was a gift from my mother for my 18th birthday and for a homeschooled kid from Arizona that trip to the other side of the continental US was an adventure I’ll never forget.
Today as Mr. Dyer and Mr. Tobey so aptly explain, the signs of the Messiah’s return are clearer and more numerous than they were nearly three decades ago. To be sure, the world stage has changed a lot since then, but as the authors of Clash of Kingdoms explain many of the bad actors in this prophetic drama are still present and waiting for their part in the final countdown to the Messiah.
Clash of Kingdoms: What the Bible Says About Russia, Isis, Iran, and the End Times is a well written overview of what the authors believe the Bible’s prophetic text described in the time leading up to the 2nd coming of Yeshua. Written from a pre-tribulational theological perspective the authors lay out a framework of end time events in seven easy to read chapters. The chapters include:
1. The Problem of the Nations
2. The Bear is Back
3. After ISIS
4. Duplicitous Iran
5. Picking up the Pieces
6. Israel
7. A Woman in a Basket
Of these chapters 1, 6, & 8 stood out to me. Chapter 8 was especially encouraging. There the authors explained why we as believers should not have the spirit of Fear but rather Faith in these increasingly tumultuous times. The books is rather short and can be read in just a few hours
* * * * * * *
In the spirit of respectful disagreement and what I hope is constructive criticism there were two areas where I felt the book could have used a more in-depth explanation of the authors point of view. They include:
• The author’s understanding of Ezekiel 38 & 39
• The author’s understanding of Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 weeks.
These two areas are foundational the authors framework of end time events described in this book and as such they deserve a thorough examination so the reader gets a real grasp of the basis for the authors eschatological beliefs.
***Regarding Ezekiel 38 & 39 the authors believe that this invasion of Gog & Magog takes place when Israel is dwelling securely sometime during or before the final 7 year tribulation. I think the authors could have better explained how they reconciled this interpretation with the multitude of references which show that “dwelling securely” (Yashab betach) is almost exclusively used in the Old Testament in reference to Israel’s status during the Millennium. The ancient Biblical promise of Israel dwelling securely in the Promised Land comes first form the Leveticus 25 & 26 and is a promise contingent upon Israel’s obedience to the Torah. Jeremiah 32, Ezekiel 28, 34, and Zech. 14 clearly describe Israel “dwelling securely” in their land as a millennial promise given to Israel during the reign of the Messiah.
Finally Ezekiel 39: 21-29 describes a period of time when Israel is will be dwelling securely in their land with none to make them afraid. While many see this as taking place before the millennium this exact phrase is use by Ezekiel in Chapter 34:23-25 to describe conditions during the millennium. In consideration of the fact that the book of Revelation describes a Gog & Magog invasion during the millennial reign of Yeshua when Israel is in fact dwelling securely in their land I think the authors understanding of the subject could have been more thoroughly explained to show how they reconciled these verses in their own interpretations.
* * * *
***Regarding the authors explanation of Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks, this prophecy is woven into nearly every aspect of the author’s eschatological framework. This prophecy is really important to the thesis of this book, yet in the book their explanation of the prophecy has several weaknesses which should be explained so the reader gets a complete sense of how the authors understand this great propehcy. Here are a few examples of areas in the prophecy which the authors really need to explain their reasoning to the reader:
1. The commandment to restore and build
2. The chronology of Ezra & Nehemiah
3. Biblical Time
First the commandment. In this book the authors based their starting point upon a commandment given by the Persian king Longimanus. This commandment is one of four Persian decrees often used when interpreting the prophecy of Daniel 9. As with many of their peers, the authors do not explain that “commandment” comes from the Hebrew word – dabar- which means word, speech or utterance. Dabar is used 1439 times in the Old Testament and of those the vast majority refer to the word of YHWH the living God of the Bible. In Daniel 9 the word dabar is used four times. Of those three clearly refer to the words of YHWH. For the readers sake the authors should explain why they believe the word of YHWH to “restore and build Jerusalem” mentioned in Zechariah 1, Haggai 1 and Ezra 6 does not qualify as the “word” of Daniel 9:25. It seems incongruent why the dabar of YHWH the very person who gave the prophecy of 70 sevens is not even mentioned when discussing this most wonderful prophecy.
* * * *
Second, in order to establish Daniel 9 upon a solid contextual footing the chronology of the 2nd temple must be addressed. In this book the authors use Dr. Harold Horner’s interpretation of Daniel 9. Based upon this interpretation they have the “commandment to restore and build Jerusalem” as given in the year 444 BC during the reign of the Persian king Longimanus.
The challenge of reconciling this date is the fact that according to Dr. Horner view Ezra and Nehemiah had to be contemporaries of Longimanus. This is problematic for many chronological reasons, the greatest of which is that the Bible records the death of Ezra’s father in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar. This then would make Ezra at his youngest a quarter of a century old than Moses. This same unreasonable age would apply to many of the priest and Levites of Nehemiah 10 & 12. As explained in Chapter 11 of their new book Charting the Bible Chronologically: A Visual Guide to God's Unfolding Plan, Hindson and Ice explain that the Exponential Decay Curve proves that the lifespan of humanity after the flood decayed to roughly 70-80 years. This great disparity in the ages of the 2nd temple era needs to be explained in a reasonable manner in order for Dr. Horner’s interpretation of the Daniel 9 to be taken seriously.
* * * *
Regarding the authors implied usage of a 360 day prophetic year as it applies to Daniel 9 and the 70 sevens, at the very least it should be explained that this year is based upon an extrapolation of a statement in Genesis 7-8 that counts 5 months as equal to 150 days. This extrapolations of the limited statements of Genesis assumes that this 360 day calendar was a solar calendar and not based upon calculated 12 month 30 day calendar common in antiquity. Many ancient cultures used a 360 calendar but they also understood that this calendar convenience was not representative of an actual solar year. The missing 5 days of the solar year sometimes called, “five days over the year” was often intercalated at certain intervals to keep the calendar insync with the solar year of 365.24 days. That the solar year was actually 365.24 days is proven by many ancient calendars. A 365.24 day year was also a major factor in the construction of the Great Pryamid, Stone Henge and it is one of the factors of the Biblical unit of measure known as the cubit.
In Genesis 1:14 the Bible defines the basics of the Biblical calendar as including cycles of both the sun and moon. This means that any Biblical “calendar” must include both cycles and their intercalations in order to be accurate. Biblically speaking it is clear that from at least the time Exodus onwards the Bible’s calendar consisted of a 365.24 day solar year and a 29.53 day lunar cycle. When Daniel 9 was given this was the calendar in use at that time. Further when Yeshua fulfilled the ancient Biblical holy days of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot, He did so based upon a Biblical calendar which used a 365.24 day solar year and a 29.53 day lunar month.
If indeed the Prophecy of Daniel 9 was intended to use a 360 day solar year and a 30 day lunar month as Dr. Horner believes, at the very least a reasonable explanation must be made as to why the Bible keeps two kinds of calendars. Further it should be explained that those who hold a 360 day calendar believe that at some point before the final 7 year tribulation the Bible’s calendar will revert back to a 360/30 calendar. It should also be pointed out that the celestial readjustments required to change the Bible’s calendar back to such an arrangement will be quite earth shaking. (Remember by this theory it took the cataclysmic flood of Noah to give us the calendar we have today) I’ve often wondered why those who hold this belief do not talk about this coming catastrophic reordering of the lunar/solar cycles because it must take place at some point well in advance of the proposed 7 year tribulation in order for the cycles to be perfectly in sync by the time the final seventh week of Daniel 9 plays out. It seems rather unbelievable to me frankly that a catastrophe equal to or greater than anything mentioned during the great tribulation will take place before the final tribulation, yet it goes unmentioned in the Biblical record. If in fact the calendar is going to change at some point in the future it should be discussed.
In summary regarding Dr. Horner’s interpretation of Daniel 9 the above subject need to be discussed. Until they are dealt with in a contextual and reasonable Biblical manner Dr. Horners interpretation of the 70 sevens prophecy and any eschatological frameworks built upon it must be taken with a Berean’s skepticism.
* * * *
In conclusion if there is one principle I’ve learned from wonderful authors like Mr. Dyer and Mr. Tobey over the past three decades is that our understanding of Bible prophecy is a work in progress. None of us have all the answers. Each of us has a Berean’s responsibility to search the Scriptures to see if these things be so. My questions and disagreements with Mr. Dyer and Mr Tobey notwithstanding I'd encourage you to read their new book, Clash of Kingdoms: What the Bible Says About Russia, ISIS, Iran, and the End Times. See this wonderfully rich and important subject through their eyes and then open your Bible’s and see if these things be so.
Maranatha!
March 16, 2017
Relating Biblical Prophecy to Today’s Headlines
Reading the news about conflicts in the world today, it’s tempting to wonder what the Bible has to say about the current state of tension. Dyer abd Tobey explore what scripture has to tell us about the conflicts: Israel’s place in the center of Middle East tensions; Iran’s role in trying to reclaim the power from the past when Persia was a major nation; the rise of Isis; and Russia’s role in trying to regain the power of the cold war era.
The book is quite short, only 106 pages, but packed with information. The focus is on end-times prophecy. Are we nearing the time when the Messiah will return? Their reading of current events in relation to what the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, says suggests that forces are coalescing to bring about the conditions for a major change in the world.
The book relies heavily on the prophecies found in Ezekiel and Daniel. I was familiar with the book of Daniel, but I found their analysis revealing. It caused me to go back and read the book because I felt I had missed so many underlying parallels to today.
This is a good book if you’re interested in end-times prophecy. The book is short, but it gives a good background and may encourage you to explore the area further.
I received this book from Booklook Bloggers for this review.
Reading the news about conflicts in the world today, it’s tempting to wonder what the Bible has to say about the current state of tension. Dyer abd Tobey explore what scripture has to tell us about the conflicts: Israel’s place in the center of Middle East tensions; Iran’s role in trying to reclaim the power from the past when Persia was a major nation; the rise of Isis; and Russia’s role in trying to regain the power of the cold war era.
The book is quite short, only 106 pages, but packed with information. The focus is on end-times prophecy. Are we nearing the time when the Messiah will return? Their reading of current events in relation to what the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, says suggests that forces are coalescing to bring about the conditions for a major change in the world.
The book relies heavily on the prophecies found in Ezekiel and Daniel. I was familiar with the book of Daniel, but I found their analysis revealing. It caused me to go back and read the book because I felt I had missed so many underlying parallels to today.
This is a good book if you’re interested in end-times prophecy. The book is short, but it gives a good background and may encourage you to explore the area further.
I received this book from Booklook Bloggers for this review.
February 14, 2017
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Blogging For Books/Thomas Nelson. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]
This book tries to have the best of two worlds. On the one hand, this immensely short (barely over 100 pages) volume seeks to profit from widespread concern about international affairs and prophecy [1] centered around Jerusalem, Israel, and the Middle East within mainstream Christianity. On the other hand, the authors want to avoid leaving themselves open to accusations that they are profiting off of fear and are foolishly engaged in setting dates about end time prophecy. To their credit, the authors of this book are seriously trying to encourage readers to have faith in God as the master of history and prophecy, rather than to live in fear over the apocalyptic moods that can result from watching and reading too much news in our contemporary world. I do not feel that the authors manage to entirely avoid giving in to the temptation to profit off of the fear that many people have about the contemporary world situation, but they certainly deserve a great deal of credit for recognizing the need to place prophetic speculation within a larger framework of divine providence.
The contents of this immensely short book, barely longer than pamphlet size, are extremely straightforward. The authors divide their material into eight chapters after beginning with a foreword and an introduction to look around and be wise. The chapters deal with the problem of nations being divided into those who like Israel and those who do not, and then move on to look at Russia, what happens after ISIS, the rise of Iran, the destabilization of Europe, the central position of Israel, the rise of Babylon, and the need for readers to have faith and not fear after having read a particularly unpleasant set of speculations. It is pretty safe to say that things will not turn out exactly as the authors claim, and somewhat mystifying why this short book required two writers when a fluent writer with a modicum of knowledge about the headlines and Bible prophecy could likely have knocked this book out in a week or two of writing. One would think that two writers would only get in each other's way unless they divvied up the material to make it even shorter of a writing process.
This is not a bad book, but the book has less information about end-time prophecy than someone like me is used to. It is more notable what is not said than what is said. On the positive side of the ledger, the authors manage to avoid making speculations although their writing is clearly meant to pump up a belief that end times are upon us. Equally notably, while the authors have a fair amount to say against Obama's approach to Israel, they have nothing at all to say about Trump or his own foreign policy, which has included more positive feelings towards Russia than the authors possess. On the negative side of the ledger, the authors appear not to be aware of the larger relevance of God's promise to Abraham that He would be for those who were for His descendants of promise (the children of Jacob) and against those who were against them. By focusing so much attention on Israel and surrounding areas, the authors make large areas of the world (including the main audience of the book, namely the United States) largely peripheral to the entire discussion of end-time prophecy, which is a puzzling choice.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
This book tries to have the best of two worlds. On the one hand, this immensely short (barely over 100 pages) volume seeks to profit from widespread concern about international affairs and prophecy [1] centered around Jerusalem, Israel, and the Middle East within mainstream Christianity. On the other hand, the authors want to avoid leaving themselves open to accusations that they are profiting off of fear and are foolishly engaged in setting dates about end time prophecy. To their credit, the authors of this book are seriously trying to encourage readers to have faith in God as the master of history and prophecy, rather than to live in fear over the apocalyptic moods that can result from watching and reading too much news in our contemporary world. I do not feel that the authors manage to entirely avoid giving in to the temptation to profit off of the fear that many people have about the contemporary world situation, but they certainly deserve a great deal of credit for recognizing the need to place prophetic speculation within a larger framework of divine providence.
The contents of this immensely short book, barely longer than pamphlet size, are extremely straightforward. The authors divide their material into eight chapters after beginning with a foreword and an introduction to look around and be wise. The chapters deal with the problem of nations being divided into those who like Israel and those who do not, and then move on to look at Russia, what happens after ISIS, the rise of Iran, the destabilization of Europe, the central position of Israel, the rise of Babylon, and the need for readers to have faith and not fear after having read a particularly unpleasant set of speculations. It is pretty safe to say that things will not turn out exactly as the authors claim, and somewhat mystifying why this short book required two writers when a fluent writer with a modicum of knowledge about the headlines and Bible prophecy could likely have knocked this book out in a week or two of writing. One would think that two writers would only get in each other's way unless they divvied up the material to make it even shorter of a writing process.
This is not a bad book, but the book has less information about end-time prophecy than someone like me is used to. It is more notable what is not said than what is said. On the positive side of the ledger, the authors manage to avoid making speculations although their writing is clearly meant to pump up a belief that end times are upon us. Equally notably, while the authors have a fair amount to say against Obama's approach to Israel, they have nothing at all to say about Trump or his own foreign policy, which has included more positive feelings towards Russia than the authors possess. On the negative side of the ledger, the authors appear not to be aware of the larger relevance of God's promise to Abraham that He would be for those who were for His descendants of promise (the children of Jacob) and against those who were against them. By focusing so much attention on Israel and surrounding areas, the authors make large areas of the world (including the main audience of the book, namely the United States) largely peripheral to the entire discussion of end-time prophecy, which is a puzzling choice.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2010...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
August 24, 2022
The Zechariah's prophesy of the women in the basket makes no sense without a literal future Babylon. A city rebuilt as an economic, and perhaps a spiritual powerhouse. Babylon is where mankind first united to oppose God, it would make sense that it would play a major role, in man's final rebellion.
October 15, 2017
A most read. It opens your eyes to see what's happening in the world this days.
February 27, 2019
Would have liked more details and elaboration but it set up a good understanding.
February 17, 2017
The book for review is “Clash of Kingdoms: What The Bible Says About Russia, Isis, Iran, and the End Times” by Charles Dyer and Mark Tobey with a foreword by Dr. David Jeremiah.
According to the back of the book this is the essential guide to what scripture foretells about current events in the Middle East and a road map for finding peace and hope.
The topics covered include the problems of nations, how the bear is back meaning Russia, Isis, Iran trying to rebuild the Persian power and how the world picks up the pieces. That is a whole lot going on.
Each chapter starts with a scripture to give you an idea of what you are about to read. But there are also scriptures sprinkled inside each chapters to reinforce what the Bible says in reference to the specific countries and their tactics used. Prophecies from the Bible are also mentioned to bridge the gap between the events and where it can be found in the Bible.
I have to admit I rarely read a foreward let alone an introduction but I read both for it interested me. While this might seem small for me it was huge. What I also liked was the size of the book at just 106 pages. It sets out what it wanted to accomplish without bogging us d own with back story that we might not read or find boring. This was an interesting book and while I have read similar books on this subject matter this one was more in-depth about specific regions instead of generality.
But while I enjoyed the book from the synopsis I did expect a bit more referencing to give it a nice well-rounded novel.
According to the back of the book this is the essential guide to what scripture foretells about current events in the Middle East and a road map for finding peace and hope.
The topics covered include the problems of nations, how the bear is back meaning Russia, Isis, Iran trying to rebuild the Persian power and how the world picks up the pieces. That is a whole lot going on.
Each chapter starts with a scripture to give you an idea of what you are about to read. But there are also scriptures sprinkled inside each chapters to reinforce what the Bible says in reference to the specific countries and their tactics used. Prophecies from the Bible are also mentioned to bridge the gap between the events and where it can be found in the Bible.
I have to admit I rarely read a foreward let alone an introduction but I read both for it interested me. While this might seem small for me it was huge. What I also liked was the size of the book at just 106 pages. It sets out what it wanted to accomplish without bogging us d own with back story that we might not read or find boring. This was an interesting book and while I have read similar books on this subject matter this one was more in-depth about specific regions instead of generality.
But while I enjoyed the book from the synopsis I did expect a bit more referencing to give it a nice well-rounded novel.
February 10, 2017
I received a complimentary copy.
-
The book is going to appeal to people who believe in faith and God. It is a shorter read but do not let that take from its content. It opens more thinking points in the topics provided. I feel like this will give you what you take from it and nothing more.
-
The book is going to appeal to people who believe in faith and God. It is a shorter read but do not let that take from its content. It opens more thinking points in the topics provided. I feel like this will give you what you take from it and nothing more.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews