What's Next?: God, Israel, and the Future of Iraq - Softcover

Dyer, Charles H

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802409075 ISBN 13: 9780802409072

Publisher: Moody Publishers, 2004

Synopsis

Charles Dyer, a Middle-East expert and officially licensed Israel tour guide, helps sort out the complexities of violence in the Middle East—the ancient hatreds and the current crises. His extensive travel in Iraq, Israel, and elsewhere allows him to offer a unique 'you-are-there' perspective. Weaving together expert insight, personal stories, and the view of faith, Dyer guides us on a remarkable journey through a treasured and tortured land.

About this title

About the Author

CHARLES DYER (B.A., Washington Bible College; Th.M. and Ph.D., Dallas Theological Seminary) served as provost and dean of education at Moody Bible Institute before becoming Professor-at-Large of Bible at Moody and host of The Land and the Book radio program. Before coming to Moody, Charlie served for 20 years in multiple administrative and faculty roles at Dallas Theological Seminary - ultimately serving as Executive Vice President under Chuck Swindoll. In addition to his role as host of The Land and the Book radio program, Charlie is an Old Testament scholar and an authority on Middle Eastern history and geography. He also serves as Associate Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Sun City, Arizona. Charlie has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East for more than 30 years, leading more than 80 trips. He is the author of numerous books, including A Voice in the Wilderness, What's Next?, The New Christian Traveler's Guide, Character Counts: The Power of Personal Integrity, and Thirty Days in the Land with Jesus. His most recent book is The Isis Crisis. Charlie and his wife, Kathy, have been married for more than 40 years and have two grown children.

Reviews

Atypically for a work of fundamentalist Christian eschatology, this primer takes the historical past of the Middle East as seriously as its prophetic future. Dyer (The Rise of Babylon), provost at the Moody Bible Institute, has a slightly revisionist interpretation of end-times prophecy, one informed by recent upheavals in Iraq. He contends that the Babylon discussed in Revelation is not, as many scholars believe, a recrudescent Rome but a reconstructed Iraq. Awash in oil wealth, the new Babylon will seduce the world economically and participate in complex political wranglings with a pan-European superstate during the seven-year run-up to the final assaults on Israel and the Second Coming. Based on passages from Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation, Dyer's is a not entirely implausible exegesis of Biblical prophecy, but while it may lure the Left Behind audience, it is somewhat peripheral to the book's main focus on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Spanning the century from the birth of Zionism to the al-Aqsa intifada, Dyer's account of the conflict is more even-handed than the usual fundamentalist cheerleading for the Israeli side. He argues that American evangelicals should support Israel, but acknowledges some Palestinian grievances, insists that God sanctions Palestinians' rights to the land they live on and even gives a sympathetic profile of a former PLO terrorist. Dyer's humanization of Palestinians seems partly an effort to reassure readers about the safety of travel in Israel (he has a sideline in guided tours of the Holy Land), but his nuanced, readable treatment makes this a good introduction to a region that is of central concern to fundamentalists. 8-page photo insert not seen by PW.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802409075
• ISBN 13: 9780802409072
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 140