Going to have to be careful with this review, that I don’t ruin my novel for future readers. This is the best book I have read on the subject of the Gog/Magog Invasion of Israel as depicted in Ezekiel 38 & 39. Andy has convinced me to abandon my former position (that I got from Arnold Fruchtenbaum) that this invasion happens before the tribulation starts. The dilemma I had was that it takes seven years to burn the weapons and I couldn’t see this going into the millennium. But as Andy points out, Babylon will burn forever in the millennium, so why not have weapons burning for 7 years into the millennium?

For a writer, who has the nation of Israel as my story world (setting) during the tribulation, especially in the last third of the book, this book is a MUST. My main character is literally dwelling in the midst of the Jewish nation as it goes through the 7-year tribulation, so this book is a MUST.

I’ll admit, as a result of reading this book, I had to make some major changes to my plot to make my book true to Bible prophecy. Because I am striving to be true to Bible prophecy, it eliminates some decision-making for me as a writer; and something I learned in this book, made me revise my CLIMAX (yeah the part of the book where victory or defeat happens for my main character).

I also learned that my writer decision (as I work out the outline for the last third of my novel) to have one of my main characters become best friends with a Russian leader seems divinely inspired. I should be able to work this brilliantly into the climax.

Andy Woods, seems to me, the most Biblically accurate Bible teacher I’ve ever encountered when it comes to Bible prophecy. And this comes from a person who has devoted her entire life to studying Bible prophecy. This has always been a fascinating subject for me, which may explain why I am writing two novels in Bible prophecy settings (the tribulation and the millennium).

Around age 30, I read the entire Revelation commentary by Dr. Peter Ruckman, which greatly shaped me as a younger woman. I was what you call a “Ruckmanite” from about age 30 to 55. Ruckman believed the only English Bible translation that is reliable is the 1611 King James Bible. Unfortunately, I believed him when he said Westcott and Hort (involved in Bible translations other than the Textus Receptus from which the KJV was translated) were dangerous Jesuits who worked for the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus had to correct me on this. I also learned that it is not a TRANSLATION that is inspired, but the original text. Ruckman claims the originals are lost and, therefore, could not be the inspired text, cuz how could God LOSE his Bible? This is incorrect. We have enough of the originals to know what is in the Bible.

But Ruckman did do some things right. His literal method of interpretation is right on target and much of what he covered in his Revelation commentaries will happen, like a lot of the strange creatures that will roam tribulation earth. Literal method of interpretation just means you BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ and don’t say that everything you read is a symbol or metaphor for something else. I plan to have some scenes in which I will depict the tribulation world as I read in his Revelation Commentary. I just have to ignore the sections that are based on his belief that the English King James Bible is the only inspired text.

Andy Woods even outdoes Arnold Fruchtenbaum when it comes to Bible prophecy related to Israel. I have had several years now to reread the Bible (using my Parallel Bible) and to revise some of what I used to believe from Ruckman to a more accurate position. God has used Andy Woods and Arnold Fruchtenbaum to help me in this, especially in my views of what will happen during the future tribulation and the millennium.

However, my use of the King James Bible as quotes in my novel will work out great, since the King James Bible is in the public domain and I don’t need to get permissions from anybody to quote it in my novel.

I latched onto Fruchtenbaum and Woods, because one thing I learned from Ruckman is respect for the dispensational position. If you are a dispensationalist, you believe that God deals with mankind in different ways during different periods of man’s history. This means the plan of salvation changes for mankind, depending on where he is at on God’s calendar. It’s a little more complicated than this, but as I’m reviewing a Bible prophecy book and not writing a discourse on dispensationalists, all I have to say is that Andy Woods’s teachings (based on the dispensational position) seem very accurate to me. He helped me unlearn some incorrect teaching I have received from other sources.

Having read the Bible from cover to cover hundreds of times, and having read Ruckman’s dispensational teachings, I became firmly convinced that the dispensationalists have to be right, if you interpret the Bible by believing what you read, and not saying that everything is a symbol for something else. Even if you no longer believe that the King James Bible is the only reliable translation, reading the other reliable English translations does not demean the dispensational position.

So I have now latched onto Dallas Theological Seminary as my branching off point, after abandoning Ruckman’s teachings. From this, I learned to respect teachers who have graduated from this seminary (like Woods and Fruchtenbaum).

All I can say, is that after a lifetime of studying Bible prophecy, Andy Woods is the best teacher I have found online on this subject. When I was a Ruckmanite, I used to believe the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion happens at the end of the millennium. Andy Woods is able to debunk this easily. He has written two books, which I’ve bought to help me create my story world for Silver Skies. The other is The Coming Kingdom which should help me create the setting more accurately for my Silver Skies: The Millennium novel. I will be reviewing that book on this page later. Right now I’m reading a Bible prophecy book by another Dallas Theological Seminary grad/professor, John Walvoord, called Every Prophecy of the Bible. I really want to nail the Bible prophecy scenes in my novels and make them as accurate as possible. It’s not fair that Satan’s false teachings seem to always end up in the best writing and movies. It’s time for Bible scholars to get a good movie!

Andy sets up his book to answer the questions of Ezekiel 38 & 39 by answering the questions of WHO, WHEN, HOW, WHY related to the Russian hoard that will attack Israel during the tribulation.

I laughed when I read his commentary about how Russia will become Satan’s agent during the Ezekiel attack, as he mentioned how Russia took over Crimea as part of their aggressive tendencies. Though I may disagree with his assessment of Russia’s motives for this takeover, he does have a point that things are being set up perfectly for the Ezekiel 38 & 39 attack.

Unfortunately, because so much of what he teaches in this book will be in major plot points of my story, I had to ramble a bit in this review. I like it that Andy gets to the point, does not waste your time and backs up with convincing evidence all his points. You can tell a lawyer has written this book. Andy Woods is an attorney, and often presents his case using evidence. He does very scholarly research for this reason. He’s convinced me he’s right, and I am almost a Bible prophecy scholar.

And so, I believe that when it comes to the Ezekiel 38 & 39 attack, he is the most accurate on this subject. Those who take the Bible seriously and believe every word in it is true, will find much illumination into the mysterious depths of Bible prophecy in this informative work.

Written by: Gail Chord Schuler (Gabrielle Chana pen name)
The Middle East Meltdown: The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel
Date written: 2/18/2019
5.0 / 5 stars