Book Review: The Ezekiel Option

I finished reading The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg. It’s a very, very gripping book - hard to put down! Before chapter one starts, the author says, “The journey that follows is fiction. The prophecy upon which it is based is true.” Here is part of the prophecy from the Bible.

Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. I will knock your weapons from your hands and leave you helpless. You and all your vast hordes will die on the mountains. I will give you as food to the vultures and wild animals. You will fall in the open fields, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign LORD. And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” - Ezekiel 39:1-6

What Joel does in this books is paint a picture of what the “Gog and Magog” invasion prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39 might be like. The story is fast-paced. The chapters are very short (I love that) so you’re always jumping back and forth between different groups of people in different places. The main characters are well-developed and interesting (especially the old Mossad agent, Mordechai). Here is a cut-and-paste synopsis of the story.

When the richest oil baron in Moscow is killed, Moscow suddenly teeters on the verge of political chaos. Tehran races to complete its nuclear arsenal. Washington finds herself dangerously divided from her European allies. And in the dead of night, in the hills overlooking Jerusalem, a senior White House advisor uncovers a chilling ancient conspiracy as real as the morning headlines. Woven through the writings of the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel, more than 2,500 years old, are eerily prescient descriptions of modern countries then unborn, modern alliances then unformed, and an imminent day of unspeakable terror. Now, with the clock ticking down to war, two Americans are caught in the crossfire, wondering, Is the last judgment at hand?

I would classify the story as a mystery/suspense with some moments of action and drama (two of the main characters are in love with each other). If you combined the prophetic theme of the Left Behind Series with the action/suspense elements of the Jack Ryan Series, you would get something like The Ezekiel Option. If this is appealing to you, read chapter one. If you like chapter one, buy the book!

You can read an article about the Ezekiel prophecy here: Magog Revisited by Chuck Missler. It’s interesting to note that this prophecy couldn’t have been fulfilled until Israel became a nation again in 1948, meaning that now it can happen. Also interesting is the fact that the nations Ezekiel prophesied 2,500 years ago as being the enemies involved are presently full of Islamic fascists that make no secret of wanting to “push Israel into the sea” (president of Iran (Persia) also says the holocaust is a “myth”). And Russia (Magog), well, they’re not exactly know for their love of the Jewish people.