Review by javelin276 -- Roadmap to the End of Days
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javelin276
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- Latest Review: Roadmap to the End of Days by Daniel Friedmann
Review by javelin276 -- Roadmap to the End of Days
[Following is a volunteer review of "Roadmap to the End of Days" by Daniel Friedmann.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Roadmap to the End of Days, by Daniel Friedman
This book is a detailed study of bible prophecy from the Jewish perspective. It highlights biblical interpretations using Jewish culture and theology, the native religion of the writers of the Old Testament.
The book begins with an overview of the concept of the "End of Days", what that means to us today. He gives us a synopsis of what different faiths believe, highlighting the similarities between the different beliefs. These thoughts are discussed in reference to their origins in ancient writings, both scriptural and historical to place them in context, leading into a discussion of how these concepts relate to the philosophies we hold today. At this point the author shifts and presents us with a timeline, suggesting that there is an ultimate end date for mankind's struggle inherent in the ancient texts, provided we don't somehow accelerate the timeline through our own actions.
The author anchors his timeline using the Jewish Seder Olam Rabbah, which places Adam and the beginning of mankind in 3760 BCE. This implies the Millennium begins in 2240 CE about 222 years into our future. This view removes the urgency from his discussions, since he views the abrupt changes at the end of the 6th 1000 years well after our lifetime. Ussher's timeline drawn from the King James Bible places Adam at 4004 BCE and the end of the 6th 1000 years at about 1996, which we know is not quite correct since Israel was not invaded by a 200M man army in that year. Two other major timelines are the Thiele chronology and the Septuagint, which differ as well. Needless to say, there is much debate over which timeline is correct, or if any of them are spot on. The author doesn't address the possibility of other timelines, he simply presents the one he believes in, and proceeds from there.
An overview of the history contained in the Old Testament and other historical records is then presented, giving us a more detailed view of the history of the nation of Israel. He presents this with the knowledge that mankind has a habit of repeating past mistakes, that history has a way of repeating itself. It presents the struggle between two halves of mankind, one side pressing for belief in God and order, the other pushing us away from God into chaos. This struggle is brought out in a discussion of the battles between the House of Israel led by Moses and the Amalekites, the archetypical nation opposing Moses as they attempt to enter the land of promise. The discussion continues with this struggle, as he presents us with the history enveloping Israel throughout the Bible up into the Roman era.
As a side note, I found myself referring to the author's reference notes constantly and I found myself looking up additional material online as I read. Being able to keep up with the inferences in the book was important to me, I wanted to make sure I understood the author's viewpoint on specific topics and where he was drawing his information from. I also wanted to keep up with the opposing views, there are a number of differing lines of thought on this subject. The large number of references provided in the book were very helpful, allowing the reader to follow along and verify events, dates and items as needed. This also helps satisfy the reader that the author has done his homework, leaving very few stones unturned as he proceeds with his argument. At this point in the text the author presents an overview of his entire book, and points the reader to the graphs and charts in the Appendix.
The book then covers events leading into the End Times, including the battle of Gog and Magog, the emergence of Messiah Ben Joseph and Messiah Ben David, the gathering of the Jews into Israel including the lost ten tribes, the restoration of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, the resurrection of the dead of Israel, always from the perspectives gained from Jewish scripture and literature. He also includes an account of how the creation story is an overview of all of man's history, patterns we can use to discern the events of the future. Study of these historical patterns is used to compare past history to events in recent times, and later in the book to extend the sequence of events into the End Times. This section comprises the meat of the book, covering a lot of ground in the process.
Overall I found the book to be very intellectual and enlightening. I rate this as a 4 out of 4 stars. It covers a very difficult subject in an easy to follow manner, accessing information from a Jewish historical perspective you may not have encountered before. I found it interesting that the author avoided the New Testament and the Book of Revelation entirely, choosing to discuss the reasons behind the general flow of events rather than delve into a specific order as most eschatologists do. He sticks to a more Jewish historical study rather than bringing up all of the debate material surrounding a more exact flow of vents as presented in the New Testament. If you are looking for a checklist of End Times events, this is not what the book includes. The focus of this text is to establish an Old Testament basis of historical patterns, then to extrapolate those patterns into the future in a more general manner.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in bible prophecy and eschatology, it outlines a number of bold concepts I haven't seen before anywhere else.
Errata: I couldn't get Table A.1 to appear in my eBook reader... I had to convert the epub to a pdf in order to view it.
******
Roadmap to the End of Days
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4 out of 4 stars
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Roadmap to the End of Days, by Daniel Friedman
This book is a detailed study of bible prophecy from the Jewish perspective. It highlights biblical interpretations using Jewish culture and theology, the native religion of the writers of the Old Testament.
The book begins with an overview of the concept of the "End of Days", what that means to us today. He gives us a synopsis of what different faiths believe, highlighting the similarities between the different beliefs. These thoughts are discussed in reference to their origins in ancient writings, both scriptural and historical to place them in context, leading into a discussion of how these concepts relate to the philosophies we hold today. At this point the author shifts and presents us with a timeline, suggesting that there is an ultimate end date for mankind's struggle inherent in the ancient texts, provided we don't somehow accelerate the timeline through our own actions.
The author anchors his timeline using the Jewish Seder Olam Rabbah, which places Adam and the beginning of mankind in 3760 BCE. This implies the Millennium begins in 2240 CE about 222 years into our future. This view removes the urgency from his discussions, since he views the abrupt changes at the end of the 6th 1000 years well after our lifetime. Ussher's timeline drawn from the King James Bible places Adam at 4004 BCE and the end of the 6th 1000 years at about 1996, which we know is not quite correct since Israel was not invaded by a 200M man army in that year. Two other major timelines are the Thiele chronology and the Septuagint, which differ as well. Needless to say, there is much debate over which timeline is correct, or if any of them are spot on. The author doesn't address the possibility of other timelines, he simply presents the one he believes in, and proceeds from there.
An overview of the history contained in the Old Testament and other historical records is then presented, giving us a more detailed view of the history of the nation of Israel. He presents this with the knowledge that mankind has a habit of repeating past mistakes, that history has a way of repeating itself. It presents the struggle between two halves of mankind, one side pressing for belief in God and order, the other pushing us away from God into chaos. This struggle is brought out in a discussion of the battles between the House of Israel led by Moses and the Amalekites, the archetypical nation opposing Moses as they attempt to enter the land of promise. The discussion continues with this struggle, as he presents us with the history enveloping Israel throughout the Bible up into the Roman era.
As a side note, I found myself referring to the author's reference notes constantly and I found myself looking up additional material online as I read. Being able to keep up with the inferences in the book was important to me, I wanted to make sure I understood the author's viewpoint on specific topics and where he was drawing his information from. I also wanted to keep up with the opposing views, there are a number of differing lines of thought on this subject. The large number of references provided in the book were very helpful, allowing the reader to follow along and verify events, dates and items as needed. This also helps satisfy the reader that the author has done his homework, leaving very few stones unturned as he proceeds with his argument. At this point in the text the author presents an overview of his entire book, and points the reader to the graphs and charts in the Appendix.
The book then covers events leading into the End Times, including the battle of Gog and Magog, the emergence of Messiah Ben Joseph and Messiah Ben David, the gathering of the Jews into Israel including the lost ten tribes, the restoration of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, the resurrection of the dead of Israel, always from the perspectives gained from Jewish scripture and literature. He also includes an account of how the creation story is an overview of all of man's history, patterns we can use to discern the events of the future. Study of these historical patterns is used to compare past history to events in recent times, and later in the book to extend the sequence of events into the End Times. This section comprises the meat of the book, covering a lot of ground in the process.
Overall I found the book to be very intellectual and enlightening. I rate this as a 4 out of 4 stars. It covers a very difficult subject in an easy to follow manner, accessing information from a Jewish historical perspective you may not have encountered before. I found it interesting that the author avoided the New Testament and the Book of Revelation entirely, choosing to discuss the reasons behind the general flow of events rather than delve into a specific order as most eschatologists do. He sticks to a more Jewish historical study rather than bringing up all of the debate material surrounding a more exact flow of vents as presented in the New Testament. If you are looking for a checklist of End Times events, this is not what the book includes. The focus of this text is to establish an Old Testament basis of historical patterns, then to extrapolate those patterns into the future in a more general manner.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in bible prophecy and eschatology, it outlines a number of bold concepts I haven't seen before anywhere else.
Errata: I couldn't get Table A.1 to appear in my eBook reader... I had to convert the epub to a pdf in order to view it.
******
Roadmap to the End of Days
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: Roadmap to the End of Days by Daniel Friedmann
