Joel Rosenberg’s first novel was bound to be a bestseller. The first page puts you in the cockpit of a hijacked jet, maneuvering for a kamikaze attack into an American city, which leads to war with Saddam Hussein. Yet The Last Jihad was written nine months before 9/11 and over a year to Iraq’s invasion. The book hit the New York Times list for 11 weeks, reaching #7; it soared to #4 on Wall Street Journal’s chart, and #1 on Amazon.com.

Joel’s next thriller was as eerily prophetic. It opens with the death of Yasser Arafat and an ambush of a US diplomatic convoy in Gaza. Six days before printing of The Last Days, a US legation is attacked in Gaza, and 13 months later Arafat expires. The book zoomed to bestseller rolls, capped by Hollywood options.

Two more fictions had uncanny and unnerving ways of coming true. The Ezekiel Option is about a Russian ruler allying with Iranian tyrants who acquire nuclear weapons to erase Israel from the face of the earth. On the very day it was published in June 2005, Iran elected a new president who vowed to accelerate a nuke program and “wipe Israel off the map.” Six months later Moscow signed a billion-dollar arms deal with Tehran. The Copper Scroll tells of untold treasures buried in the hills east of Jerusalem. It seems to presage Jewish plans to build a Third Temple that incites Arabs today to riot. Two million copies of Joel’s books have sold worldwide.

In hundreds of reviews Joel has been ribbed as a CIA and labeled a modern Nostradamus. When an interview was arranged Monday, my first impulse is to ask him to show us his crystal ball. What he fishes out of a briefcase is the Bible . “It’s all there,” says the evangelical Christian. He’s always asked where he gets his predictions, and to make more forecast . “All I do is relate current events with Scripture,” Joel reveals. “Matthew 24 talks of end-times as nations rise against nations; of famine, pestilence and earthquakes; of hatred, betrayal and false prophets. Luke 21 tells of the same fearful omens; of plagues and roaring seas; of persecutions of believers in Jesus.” Joel’s plots also draw from Old Testament. Jeremiah 24, in which the fig tree symbolizes Israel, is for him now materializing in the nation’s agro-industrial rise from desert. “What’s happening in the world? Israel’s rebirth is the super sign,” he enthuses while pointing to Ezekiel 36, 37, 38 and 39. Joel wouldn’t ascribe his ability to foretell events as a gift from the Holy Spirit: “that’s for others to judge.” What he does via his novels is connect the dots of present affairs to show that God speaks of these in the Holy Book. In short, conversion is his aim.

Joel will do just that in a series of forums in Manila. He has lunched with religious figures and the President. On Jan. 21, Thursday, 7 p.m., is a Leaders’ Conference at the Crowne Plaza ballroom, for biggies in business, government and academe (dinner tickets at P2,500). An Epicenter Meeting follows on Jan. 22, Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at the 5th Floor CCF, St. Francis Square (P500 at the main hall, P200 for the overflow). Last is a Youth Symposium on Jan. 23, Saturday, 3 p.m., also at 5/F CCF, St. Francis Square (P150). Joel is to discuss Russia’s fanning Iran’s bellicosity against the US and Israel, and its impact on RP. But that’s only as takeoff for Bible teaching of love for neighbor and even for enemy. (His Joshua Fund is an education as well as charity institute for victims of war in the Middle East, be they Jewish, Muslim or Christian; Israeli, Palestinian or Arab).

Joel is in town because of the Philippines’ key role in Israel’s renewal. On Nov. 29, 1949, during the UN partitioning of the Holy Land, Israel was three votes short of recognition as a state. Then came ayes cast in sequence by Liberia, Haiti and RP — making, Joel insists, Bible prophesy come true. He laments that Manila of late is taking the other side, condemning Israel for war atrocities in Gaza in a report that mentions not 2,000 provoking missile strikes on civilian targets by Hamas and Hezbollah militias. Joel has special ties to Israel and Bible. His dad descended from Jews persecuted in Russia, and his mother a Gentile, but who both re-baptized as evangelicals.

I’m principally interested to hear Joel expound on his first nonfiction. Epicenter tutors you to predict by sharp analysis and biblical sourcing. Joel also unmasks Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s belief that the world is ending, and that annihilating the US and Israel would hasten the coming of an Islamic Messiah. From Islamic, Jewish and Christian eschatology (end-times theology), he foresees ten newspaper headlines, four of which intrigue me most:

• “Kremlin joins ‘Axis of Evil,’ forms military alliance with Iran”;

• “Moscow extends military alliance to include Arab, Islamic world”;

• “New war erupts in Middle East as earthquakes, pandemics hit Europe. Africa, Asia”; and

• “Muslims turn to Christ in record numbers”.

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“If you put off loving your neighbors today, you will remain an unloving person tomorrow. Genuine love is today. Love today and tomorrow’s love will find its way.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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