What is happening in the Middle East today? | with Joel Rosenberg

Episode 109 – With the 20th anniversary of 9/11 barely behind us, how are we to understand the Middle East today? How should Western Christians approach Israel and all things Jewish? What about Bible prophecy in light of the Jewish state today? Who are the enemies and the allies of the West, and of Israel, in the Middle East today?

Stephanie is joined by Joel Rosenberg, New York Times bestselling author of novels and nonfiction books with nearly 5 million copies in print, to celebrate our show's 2nd anniversary this month. Their conversation was so fascinating that we will publish it in two episodes this week (episode 109, this one, and episode 110 on September 15, 2021).

Watch the live recording of this fascinating conversation on our YouTube channel and make sure to subscribe: 

An evangelical Christian, dual U.S.-Israeli citizen and global influencer living in Jerusalem, Joel Rosenberg embodies the Gospel Spice mission to inspire you to taste and see that the Lord is good, through an in-depth experience of the cultural flavors of Scripture. Joel is an unmatched storyteller with a contagious passion for Christ and his people. This makes him the ideal Gospel Spice anniversary guest! Not to mention, Stephanie has been a fan of his books and political analyses for almost 20 years now.

In his latest book, Enemies and Allies, Joel asks, “do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace?” One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous alliance that could threaten the Western powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. is drawing down its military forces in the Mideast and focusing on matters closer to home. Where’s it all heading? Enemies and Allies takes readers behind closed doors in the Middle East and introduce them to the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the change.

Today, Joel also tells us about his Jewish family and growing up in America, before moving to Israel with his wife Lynn and his four sons in 2014. We talk spices and Jewish flavors – spiritually and literally! Joel takes us on a tour into Jerusalem—its streets, flavors, smells and most importantly, its uniquely global culture today. How is the Jewish Christian church doing today? Make sure to listen to find out! How can we understand what is happening in the Middle East today, from Afghanistan and Tehran to Jerusalem and Amman? Joel Rosenberg joins us to share a sobering truth about our world today: “To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it.” This applies spiritually, but also politically today more than ever, as history has shown.

Then we move on to more personal things: how does Joel study Scripture in general, and prophecy in particular? How does his expertise on all things Mideast inform his thriller writing? What should we Christians know about the Middle East today to understand our world? How does our perspective on Israel inform our faith? And, how does prophecy build faith?

We talk about expanding our view of God to make Him our delight and glorify Him – a topic near and dear Stephanie’s heart, as you might know!

How does Joel use his thriller-writing talent to sneak in other topics? Well, you GOT to hear Joel’s analogy of the meatloaf smoothie. It’s got to do with leveraging our entertainment culture to share the gospel, and it is irresistible.

And then, how should Christians view Israel? This is a heavy question with answers ranging from disdain, to ignorance, to idolatry. Joel brings a balanced, discerning view that is sure to inform your approach to all things Jewish—spiritually and yes, politically too.

This leads us to a conversation about the famous Abraham accords that normalized relationships between Israel and 4 Muslim nations in 2020: how do these breakthrough accords inform our attitude as Christians today? How about Iran? How about Afghanistan and the role of the US in the Middle East today?

MORE ABOUT JOEL ROSENBERG

Joel has been profiled by the New York Times, the Washington Times, and the Jerusalem Post and has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs in the U.S., Canada, and around the world. As a sought-after speaker, he has addressed audiences at the White House, the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol, the Israeli president’s residence, the Israeli Knesset, the European Union parliament in Brussels, and business and faith conferences in North America and around the world.

Joel became famous in 2002 when writing novels that had the uncanny tendency to become reality. He says, “Before my first political thriller was released, I had never in my life been on national television. Nor had I been on but a few small radio shows. But when The Last Jihad was published in November of 2002, I suddenly found myself interviewed on more than 160 radio and TV programs. Sean Hannity. Rush Limbaugh. Michael Reagan. Fox News. MSNBC. I had the opportunity to talk to more than twenty million people in less than sixty days.

The media was intrigued that anyone could have written a novel that opened with a plane hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists flying a kamikaze attack into an American city and then led to a war between the United States and Iraq over terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. They were even more intrigued that I’d begun writing nine months before 9/11 and had finished the book before any of it had ever happened for real. How was this possible? Did I work for the CIA? Did I have some sort of inside information? To each host I would explain how after more than a decade in Washington as a senior advisor to a number of U.S. and Israeli leaders including Steve Forbes, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Natan Sharansky, I had decided to write a political thriller about a War on Terror I was convinced was coming and how such a war might be triggered. I explained the research I had done, and the process I’d gone through of writing a first novel.

Such questions only intensified after my second thriller, The Last Days, was published in October 2003. It opened with the death of Yasser Arafat and an American president pushing hard for peace and democracy in the Middle East. Thirteen months after it was published, Arafat died, and two months later President Bush decided to make democracy in the Middle East the centerpiece of his second term agenda.

What was particularly odd was that the first few pages of Days put readers inside a U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza as part of the peace process that would involve an Israeli pullout from Gaza and the West Bank when that convoy was attacked by a massive explosion. Just two weeks before Days hit bookstores, something terrible happened. A U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza as part of the peace process was suddenly attacked by a massive explosion.

Among the readers of his books are Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former President George W. Bush, former CIA Director Porter Goss, former Delta Force Commander General Jerry Boykin, former senior White House advisor Jason Greenblatt, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Israeli Interior Minister Natan Sharansky, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, and many other US, Israeli, Arab and other foreign leaders.

Joel’s latest non-fiction book, “Enemies and Allies,” releases this week and is already poised to become a global bestseller (you can order it here: https://joelrosenberg.com/non-fiction/). Do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace? One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous alliance that could threaten the Western powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. is drawing down its military forces in the Mideast and focusing on matters closer to home. Where’s it all heading? Enemies and Allies will take readers behind closed doors in the Middle East and introduce them to the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the change.

Make sure to go to and subscribe at Allarab.news and AllIsrael.com for regular updates. For more information, visit joelrosenberg.com and follow Joel on Twitter (@joelcrosenberg) and Facebook (facebook.com/JoelCRosenberg).

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