Epicenter - book review

Just finished reading Joel C. Rosenberg's Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future. This is one of the library books I mentioned the other day. After skimming through some of the chapters, I was curious about the author's views of the end times since he based much of this book on future headlines to watch for based on "the third lens," Scripture. Using mostly Ezekiel 38 & 39, the author discusses things such as a czar rising in Russia, raising fears of a new cold war and also Russia's coming alliance with Iran and how those nations will lead an attack against Israel (war of Gog and Magog) among other things.

Since Joel believes the Genesis 12:1-3 promise to Abraham about blessing Israel holds true even today, I was interested when I saw on page 242 that the author wrote the following:

According to the Scriptures, blessing Israel means

• praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)
• bringing good news of God's love to the afflicted (Isaiah 61:1)
• rebuilding the ancient ruins (Isaiah 61:4)
• caring for the poor (Deuteronomy 15:11)
• being a "light to the nations" of the Middle East (Isaiah 49:6, NASB) -- that is, blessing Israel's neighbors and her enemies, not just Israel herself

Pretty interesting book. I'll be eager to see if the author is correct as I scan the news headlines in the coming months or years.