This book does a fine job of dramatizing the Bible prophecies of the End Times and provides good Bible teaching, too.
This is a dramatization of the Bible’s end times prophecies. It’s the middle book of a 3-book series (in three books the author delivers a tale that took over a dozen books in the old Left Behind series). A friend recommended this series and I’ve just read the first two books.
This book depicts events after the rapture of Christians (that’s in book 1). It shows the horrors that will be faced in the first half of the seven-year tribulation. The author (Donna VanLiere, known for “The Christmas Shoes”) says she didn’t feel she could adequately depict how bad that time will be. Perhaps that’s so (it will be beyond terrible) but she did a plenty fine job of dramatizing the horrors of the tribulation based on the book of Revelation.
She also shows the courage of the tribulation saints (people who become Christians during the tribulation) and some of the ways that God will reach out to people and call them to join His family (E.G., these tribulation saints, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the two witnesses in Jerusalem who preach strongly and point out the evils of the antichrist and his minions).
Besides telling the dramatic fictional story, the author includes a section (“Where in the Word”) that provides the Bible support for the story. This section is written so that regular folks can understand it, but well documented with plenty of references to the Bible and other Christian writers. The novel will entertain the reader even as the “Where in the Word” section is educational and a good resource for the future. Hopefully many readers will be drawn to their savior.
This series by Donna VanLiere and the “Tribulation Pilgrims’ Progress Series” (by Mark Tredecim) are independent of each other, but dramatize and teach about the same Bible prophecies. They have some interesting connections in their fictional tales. E.G., both place the rapture on a weekday, at a moment just before the noon hour (Eastern time). Both also place the Ezekiel 38 war between the rapture and the tribulation (the Bible does not specify whether it will be before the Tribulation or instead during the early days of the tribulation).
These are just interesting coincidences, as neither author has received any inside message from God and they did not coordinate their writing. Amusing note- both series include a point where one fictional character tells another character, “let’s go, Brandon.” When art is based on Bible Prophecy, odds are good that life will imitate art.
Official Site for Mark C. Tredecim, author 