Joel C. Rosenberg. Inside the Revolution. Tyndale, 2009.

Look among the nations, and see;
      wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
      that you would not believe if told. Habakkuk 1:5

Joel Rosenberg is best known today for his novels. We have reviewed a pair of novels that make up the first two books of a trilogy about the Shiite Muslim Twelfth Imam. Inside the Revolution is nonfiction, but it covers some of the same material that the trilogy covers. Indeed, one can argue that Inside the Revolution contains background research for the novels.

At one point, for example, Rosenberg quotes a high-ranking Iranian defector who said that Iran would not test an atomic bomb until they had created five to eight of them. That is what happens in his novel The Twelfth Imam.

He also points out how at various times, especially in Iran in the 1970s and even after several terrorist attacks on the United States, that the American government and press was largely ignorant of what was going on. This is reflected in several characters in the trilogy. He sums it up noting that the idea of religion motivating people seems irrelevant to secular Western elites and that, in the Middle East, concessions are “evidence of weakness” (61).

Rosenberg divides Inside the Revolution into three parts. The First part, “The Radicals,” outlines the ideologies of both Sunni and Shiite radicals. When the book came out, Bin Laden was still alive, but we can understand that ISIS, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood have similar theologies and practices.

Although the Iranian Shiites are more apocalyptic because of their belief in the Twelfth Imam, the approaches of Iranian radicals and their allies like Hezbollah and Hamas are similar.

In his novel The Twelfth Imam, Rosenberg notes that the Shiites do not address anyone as an Imam. That term is reserved for those eleven historical leaders descended from Mohammad and the one yet to come. In Inside the Revolution Rosenberg tells us that people would refer to the Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as an Imam. While Khomeini never used the term himself, he also never corrected anyone who addressed him that way.

Both his successor, the Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian Prime Minister Ahmadinejad seemed to have come out of nowhere to their high positions. Both men spoke of Khomeini as an Imam, and both have promoted the cult of the Twelfth Imam. Rosenberg believes there were things going on behind the scenes to facilitate their promotions.

Rosenberg relies on hundreds of sources, documents, books, interviews from all sides. He makes a convincing case, even if some of the material is dated.

The most sanguine part of the book is the second section entitled “The Reformers.” These are Islamic moderates who interpret the Quran differently from the radicals. The first section is summed up as “Islam is the answer: jihad is the way.” The second section begins, “Islam is the answer, but jihad is not the way.” Here we meet some democratically oriented leaders in the Islamic world who have had some success in spite of the radicals in their midst. These people include Afghan Hamid Karzai, Iraqi Kurd Jalal Talabani, and Iraqi Shiite Nouri Al-Maliki.

The men all see potential in some kind of democratic republic bringing together the disparate tribes and religions in the region. There is a great sense of optimism. Even though it appears the average Muslim is not crazy about the radicals, we have seen that the moderates have not had an easy time dealing with the radicals like ISIS, Hezbollah, the Taliban, and similar groups. Still Rosenberg sees hope.

One example Rosenberg details is Morocco, an Islamic but pro-Western country. Since the writing of this book, there have been crackdowns on non-Islamic behavior and religion, but it is still more tolerant than many places. One Moroccan leader tells him “Bin Laden is not a Muslim” and “terrorists are creatures of chaos” (355). Since the book came out in 2009, there have been some setbacks for the democratic moderates, but the people profiled in this section have a vision that may be worth sharing.

The third section stands out as something new and not especially political: “Islam is not the answer, and jihad is not the way: Jesus is the way.” Rosenberg presents some of the same scenarios as A Wind in the House of Islam. Rosenberg is a storyteller, so he mostly tells testimonies of the people in the Near East who are sharing the Gospel message and those who have become Christ followers.

Some are evangelists, whether underground or in the open. Some use media such as radio, the Internet, satellite television, CDs, DVDs, or the printed word. Rosenberg calls these people “The Revivalists.”

Some follow the pattern of Paul in Acts 19:37, that is, they present Jesus and the Gospel directly, without any mention of any other gods or religions. Others are more apologetics oriented—they raise critiques of Islam and the Quran to demonstrate the historical accuracy and truth of the Bible. Both approaches can be effective.

Rosenberg tells some stories of people whose names he has to change, and in some cases even the country where they are living. Other are public figures such as Father Zakaria Botros from Egypt who has a daily television program. Nearly all have been threatened, some have been arrested, and others even killed. Some like a man he calls Samir were former terrorists.

As was documented in A Wind in the House of Islam and Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, many of the conversions are remarkably supernatural. Jesus or some Christian message often comes in dreams. One woman living alone had been watching a Christian DVD she had been given. The DVD ended with a call to repent based on Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” She took the message literally, opened her apartment door, and Jesus was standing there!

One chapter of interest to Christians is titled “The Theology of the Revivalists.” There are five core beliefs they all have in spite of some differences in doctrines and practices.

1. God loves all mankind.
2. All mankind is sinful and separated from God.
3. Jesus Christ is mankind’s only hope of salvation.
4. A person must individually choose to follow Jesus Christ as savior and Lord.
5. Christ followers are commanded to love their neighbors and their enemies and to make disciples of all nations.

Inside the Revolution notes that while most of the Revivalists are MBBs—Muslim Background Believers—some are what he calls NCBBs—Nominally Christian Background Believers. An NCBB is one was culturally a Christian or raised with some kind of connection to the Christian religion but who at some point had a born again experience based on item #4 above.

Rosenberg points out that a number of different countries, not just Israel, appear in Bible prophecies about the End Times. Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Libya are explicitly named. Other places have different names from the time when the books of the Bible were written. Iran in the Bible is called Persia or Elam. The region covered by Iraq is included in Babylon and Chaldea. The Kurds are descendants of the Medes.

Although Rosenberg takes a standard British or American dispensationalist view of prophecies concerning Israel, he is more optimistic than say, Bob Finley, about the re-gathering of the nation of Israel.

Many Arabs, Iranians, and others in the Middle East are not happy that Israel became a country on May 14, 1948, that millions of Jews have moved to Israel, and that the Israeli military has become powerful and highly effective. Nevertheless, a growing number of Revivalists are beginning to realize that these recent historical events—as difficult and painful as they have been for themselves, their families, and their fellow countrymen—are actually fulfillment of ancient biblical prophecies and thus further evidence that we are in the last days. (477)

Rosenberg has researched his subjects well and tells their stories as a novelist would. If nothing else, Inside the Revolution gives us some idea of current events and helps us appreciate the research that went into his novels.

Other books by Joel C. Rosenberg reviewed here:
Dead Heat
The Last Jihad
Damascus Countdown
The Twelfth Imam
The Tehran Initiative