Needful but Run-of-the-Mill Dispensational Interpretation of Revelation
Amir Tsarfati is a popular and knowledgeable reporter of current Middle Eastern events and their prophetic implications from an Israeli, Messianic Jewish perspective. As a former Israeli Military Intelligence officer, Tsarfati's take on current events, often reporting from Israel or teaching in American Evangelical Churches, makes for great social media content. I've watched his YouTube channel and really enjoy his insights and sense of humor. However, his prophecy books, of which this is his latest, are not particularly insightful. The prophetic interpretation is run-of-the-mill dispensationalism, pre-trib and pre-millennial (which I ascribe to myself) but offering nothing radically different than a fifty year old Hal Lindsay bestseller. Now for those who want to understand that interpretation of the Book of Revelation, Amir Tsarfati's latest is well worth reading. However, he seems to repeat the most well-worn tropes of the 1970s-90s Golden Age of Prophecy Best Sellers involving a Western European Beast Kingdom and a world without the USA due to the Rapture emptying America of its Christians. Two of the most popular new views-- involving the role of Islam, especially the possibility of a restored Caliphate, and the likely return of antediluvian fallen angels during the tribulation-- are ignored. So for those like myself who have been studying prophecy incessantly since the early 80s, this will be somewhat lackluster and disappointing.
I am also not a fan of the chatty, snarky style of writing used by social media influencers like Tsarfati (Derek P. Gilbert is likewise guilty of this shortcoming) in their otherwise well-researched books. Contemporary turns of the phrase or culturally relevant humor sounds funny on video but dates itself rather quickly after only a few short years. I find this kind of writing grating. But it has became so common among modern "hip" Christian writers that I suppose it's expected by most readers. But it sounds lame to me.
For a basic overview of the dispensational, pre-trib and pre-millennial interpretation of prophecy, this book is recommended.