WND and Another Apocalyptic Paperback

WorldNetDaily puffs another apocalyptic book, under the headline: “Surprise! Russia not about to invade Mideast, says new prophecy theory”:

Even though Russia has advanced south into Georgia, a best-selling new Bible prophecy book says suggestions this signals an imminent march into the Middle East are mistaken. Instead, says Bill Salus, author of “Isralestine,” the world is about to be surprised by a different kind of devastating regional war involving Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Conflict in the middle east? Who could have guessed it? Salus explains:

“The stage is not adequately set for the highly publicized Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian-Iranian nuclear-equipped consortia of nations to invade Israel. Psalm 83 comes first, and then Ezekiel 38 follows on its heels like a Goliath shadow. There are two distinct invasions of Israel, one building upon the other, with both occurring sequentially in the Middle East.”

Psalm 83 is a prayer by Asaph for God to destroy Israel’s enemies, who are plotting together. The New Jerusalem Bible notes that the Psalm “enumerates ten traditional enemies of Israel whose hostility was maintained to a late date, see 2 Ch 20:1seq; Ne 2:19; 1 M 5:3seq”. However, while Biblical scholars see the “late date” as some time during the Biblical period, Salus, like many other Anglo-American Biblical literalists over the past few hundred years, reads such passages as prophecies referring to our near future.

Salus’s book is Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East. A blurb can be found on Amazon.com:

…As per Psalm 83, destinys [sic] design for this great army is a head to head confrontation with a formidable Arab confederacy consisting of Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians, Saudi Arabians and Egyptians. This Arab coalition has been developing in its fledgling stages since 1948 and will climax and officially confederate in the very near future. The Israeli Defense Force will decisively defeat this offensive and prove to be the exceedingly great army of Ezekiel 3710. They will expand their territory, become regionally superior, take prisoners of war and exploit the resources of these conquered Arab nations. In that condition they will become one of, if not the wealthiest nations on earth. It is from that position of empowerment that the Jews will dwell securely in the Middle East. Subsequently the world stage is set for the Russian Iranian led coalition of nations, which will form against Israel as prophesied in the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39. This nonfiction thriller is carefully designed to cautiously navigate the reader through the end times calendar.

Salus also provides a modest profile (link added):

Bill is the up and coming talent, whose author styling appeals to scholars and laymen alike…Bill Salus is an expert at explaining the prophetic relevance of current Middle East and world events. Readers appreciate his unique insights, and sensible, rather than sensational approach to understanding the Bible. He allows prophecy to speak for itself, rather than modernizing it into newspaper exegesis… After the events of September 11, 2001, along with the encouragement of Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum the founder of Ariel Ministries, Bill embarked upon a tireless path of discerning prophecies that apply today…People all over the world are learning through his steadfast efforts, that prophecy is not just for the scholarly, but also for every common man, woman, and child…EXPERIENCE 1992 to present Author of Christian Prophecy Books and Devotional Articles 1972 to 1992 Professional Musician EDUCATION Degree in Business Administration Cypress College…

Fruchtenbaum is a Messianic Jewish speaker and writer; like Hal Lindsey, he is a graduate of the Dallas Theological Seminary.

Salus had the good idea of putting a website address on the cover; alas, however, it has a “.net” suffix when it should be “.org”. The actual website is here. It carries several endorsements: as well as Fruchtenbaum, support comes from David Reagan of Lamb & Lion Ministries, Tom Horn of RaidersNewsNetwork, Terry James of Rapture Ready and – curiously – from Penny Usherwood, Post Grad Professor in Middle East History and Current Events at Cal State University (“Thanks to unprecedented research by eschatology expert Bill Salus, and an amazing prophecy that has been hidden from most until now, the world is in for a surprise that could effect every man, woman and child. Groundbreaking!”).

Salus’s approach dovetails to some extent with that of Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat, who warn of a “Muslim anti-Christ” and of an Islamic “Beast empire”. However, he also has a slightly different perspective:

The Hebrew prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah declared approximately 2600 years ago, that their God Jehovah would someday destroy “all the gods of the earth”. Perched atop a lofty god-list inclusive of Satan, Shiva, Vishnu, and hundreds of other imposters, sits Allah. Part two of this three-part study explores the two primary prophetic episodes that extinguish Allah, and expire Islam. In essence we will discover how Allah surrenders his Akbar (i.e.- greatness)…Prior to issuing this decree against the false gods, Zephaniah 2:4-10 describes the I.D.F. takeover of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as parts of Northern and Central Jordan. As my book Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East points out, additional Arab soil is annexed by the I.D.F. at this time.

Amazon says the book is published by “HighWay”, but in fact it comes to us through Tom Horn’s Anomalos Publishers. Anomalos’s other authors include Hilmar von Campe, whom I introduced here.

There appears to be some confusion over how to spell Salus’s name: the book calls him “Bill Salus”, but in some places – such as this RaidersNewsNetwork article – he is “Bill Salhus”. This is the same Bill Salhus who works as a mortgage broker with a firm which offers 40-year mortgages, so presumably we don’t need to worry about the end of the world until at least 2048.

Appropriately, Amazon has a special offer if you buy the book with The Temple At The Center Of Time.

9 Responses

  1. “In essence we will discover how Allah surrenders his Akbar (i.e.- greatness)…”

    Mr.Salus obviously doens’t speak Arabic. “Akbar” means “is/are great” or “greater”, not “greatness” (which is “kubr”).

    I can’t fathom those who are obsessed with the Middle East yet won’t bother to learn its major language.

  2. Israelistine? you have to be jesting, sir.

  3. It is sad to read from those who speak with suck eloquence, yet know next to nothing about what they speak..and I’m not talking about Christaians

  4. May I recommend Shoebat’s work, God’s War on Terror, unlike Salus book which minimizes Psalm 83 as a battle that happens prior to the tribulation, Shoebat explains in depth this battle. Salus work is of an amatuer and stems from an assumption that the east plays no part in the great trib. You might be shocked to know that the highest-caliber commentators of old believed that Islam plays a major role in the coming Antichrist threat. John Wesley interpreted the Iron in Daniel 2 as Islam (Works, 1841). Hilaire Belloc foresaw Islam‘s rise. Gregory Palamus of Thessalonica interpreted the martyrdom of Christians during the Great Tribulation to come from Islam. Josiah Litch interpreted Revelation as the ushering in of Islam. He even described the magnitude of Islam’s role as Antichrist to the extent of calling it the “general agreement among Christians, especially protestant commentators.” Cyril of Jerusalem (315-368 A.D) in his Divine Institutesbelieved that Antichrist will proceed forth from the region of ancient Syria, which today extends from Syria well into portions of Asia Minor (Turkey). Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (560-638) and Maximus the Confessor (580-662) identified Islam with Antichrist and lived through Islam’s invasion of Jerusalem. Maximus was also an important theologian and scholar of the early Church who helped defeat the Monothelite heresy referred to the Muslim invasions as “announcing the advent of the Antichrist.” John of Damascus (676-749) Was another very important figure in the early church. In his famous book, Against Heresies associated Islam as forerunner of Antichrist. Eulogius, Paul Alvarus and the Martyrs of Cordova (9th century)Believed Muhammad to be a false prophet and the precursor to the Antichrist.3 Many are aware that Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation, believed that the Turks were the Kingdom of Antichrist. John Calvin interpreted Daniel 2 eastern leg as the Eastern-Roman Islamic Empire and Daniel 11:37 applied to the Muslims. 5 Even Jonathan Edwards who was the great American congregational preacher, revivalist, and president of Princeton University and like Luther and Calvin, saw Islam as one of the premiere elements of the Antichrist Kingdom. Calvin even interpreted Islam shall fall at the sound of the great trumpet Islam falling at the sound of the great trumpet definitely carries Islam into the Great Tribulation and not as many of our modern prophecy analysts who allege Islam is removed prior to Christ coming. Sir Robert Anderson was perhaps one of the best prophecy experts who unlocked the seventy weeks of Daniel in his remarkable book The Coming Prince insists to focus on the Levant (Eastern) parts rather than the Adriatic (West.)
    Reagan is obviously wrong in his attempt to say that Antichrist must be European.

    Countless Bible commentators identified Islam, such as Selnecker, Nigrinus, Chytraeus, Bullinger, Foxe, Napier, Pareus, John Cotton, Thomas Parker, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and George Stanley Faber.

  5. None of those preachers or theologians were familiar with historical-critical methods of Biblical scholarship – all of them read into the text ideas that they found religiously congenial, rather than considering authorial intent in historical context.

    Anyway the fact that writers saw Islam as “announcing the advent of the Antichrist” more than a thousand years ago works against the idea rather than for it.

  6. I have gotten several emails pointing to Bill Salus’ theory dealing with Psalms 83 and Ezekiel 37:10 in his book “Isralestine”; asking what I think.

    In times like these is it easy to allow the news and information to cloud ones judgment and point to things saying “this is Bible Prophecy.”

    Hey, I am willing to say that I have done it myself too.

    But what I want everyone to remember is what Acts 17:11 states:

    Act 17:11 (KJV) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

    While I was in Dallas a few weeks ago I appeared on Dave Reagan’s Show, “Christ In Prophecy.”

    Dave invited about 12 or so of us to come on and he gave us 10 questions to answer.
    One of those questions was about Psalms 83.

    Here is what he asked…

    What do you think of the new thesis that Psalm 83 prophesies a war that Israel will win against its Arab neighbors, resulting in true peace for Israel?

    Good question.

    As many of you know, I work hard to really examine scripture and apply proper hermeneutics.

    One of the best definitions of proper hermeneutics is found in the introduction chapter of “In The Footsteps Of The Messiah: a Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events” by Dr. Arnold G.Fruchtenbaum.

    Similar rules are also found by Dr. C.C. Ryrie’s well acclaimed book “Systematic Theology” as well as his book “The Premillennial Faith”.

    The basic rules are as follows…

    • First rule is what is called The Golden Rule of Interpretation,
    • The second rule of interpretation is The Law of double reference.
    • The third rule of interpretation is The law of recurrence.
    • The fourth and last rule A text apart from the context is a pretext

    So how did I answer Dave Reagan?

    I said I find many faults with this theory on many counts.

    1. First and foremost, the theory is not based in proper Biblical hermeneutics.

    2. It rejects the “Golden Rule of Interpretation.”

    When the plain sense of Scripture males common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning, unless the fact of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.

    3. It rejects the rule of “a text apart from the context is a pretext.”

    To explain further, the theory pulls scripture seriously out of context and is being presented as meaning something that it is not.

    The primary leg on which the theory stands is taken from Ezekiel 37:10 where three words are pulled from the verse… “Exceedingly Great Army.” Clearly this is not speaking of a military force when viewed in context. It is talking about a large body of people.

    4. It takes from the allegorical and applies it literally and takes from the literal and applies it allegorically.

    We see this in Ezekiel 37:10 where the allegory “Exceedingly Great Army. “ is being made into a real army or the IDF as the theory proposes

    It makes allegorical the IDF when in Psalms 83 it is God who is being addressed and petitioned. It is also God through Christ Jesus who executes the judgment upon the enemies of Israel in the Last Days, not the IDF.

    5. The lens this theory uses is the lens of global events trying to prove scripture. Where proper interpretation is when one looks through the lens of scripture and reviews global events.

    It is scripture which is the absolute truth, we do not need outside sources or events to prove what is already plain and true…God’s Word.

    Now, although scripture is used to try to prop up this theory, it falls short regarding rule #1 and #4 of hermeneutics as I have pointed out.

    6. Finally, and I have to say this is kind of stickler for me. If it is the IDF who wipes out the enemies of Israel as the Psalms 83 / Ezekiel 37:10 theory proposes. Why does Christ need to come back in victory saving Israel when Israel can do it herself?

    That was the major contention I had with this theory, it has stolen Christ’s victory in saving the apple of His eye the people of Israel. It is Christ who is the victor as it states clearly in scripture, not the IDF.

    I say all of this because often when things “outside” are taking place, we tend to lean upon our own understanding vs. what God’s Word REALLY SAYS.

    Again, I have done this myself.

    We so badly want to know the “secrets of the ages” and come up with “new things,” theories and ideas. But when one bends the rules or tosses them out completely like this theory has, you can basically use the bible to prove that grass is blue and the sky is green.

    Now probably many of you read this book and think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But I challenge you to go back and look at it with proper hermeneutics in mind.

    In regards to the show I did with David Reagan, I did not want my answer to come as a surprise to the author of the theory, so I sent him a copy of my notes.

    His reply” I appreciate your honesty, but still respectfully disagree. – Bill

    Today so many people are stepping away from solid Biblical hermeneutics because they “respectfully disagree.“

    Hey, I didn’t write the rules, I just apply them trying to be a good Berean vs leaning upon my own understanding.

    Personally I blame many of the seminaries who are teaching “feeling and emotion” over the written word of God, logic and critical thinking.

    Because of a very loose view and lack of proper interpretation of scripture “new theories” like the Psalms 83 / Ezekiel 37:10 are rising to the surface.

    Scripture tells us about “new things”…

    Ecc 1:9 (KJV) The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

    Because of what is taking place in the Middle East right now, it has given people the cause to jump on board this and other wild ideas.

    People need to give pause for what is true and not run on emotions or stand on a world’s view.

    People have forgotten about being a good Berean like we are called to be in Acts 17:11.

    A world’s view has won out over having a Biblical view.

  7. I read Israelistine, to be frank
    1-Salus is an amatuer and has no background on the Middle East or the Arab Israeli wars. This is obvious from his terminology which are typical western errors.
    2-He takes one verse and applies huge claims behind it.
    3-He forgets that the essense of Psalm 83 is not simply 1948, 1967, 1973 Yom Kippor (which by the way he knows nothing about) but the Psalm is that the enemy will “know that you whoes name is the Lord”, the Muslims will not know the Lord until he comes.
    4-Fruchtenbaum said it best, the essense of this Psalm is a battle with Christ.
    5-Salud removes Christ from the scene of this Psalm.

    Israelistine is better published under fiction. The author concludes claims from his own conjecture.

  8. […] The NEIN Blog, where he lauds Bill Salus’s preposterous Israelestine book (which I blogged here) and revels vicariously in recent Israeli military actions. The blog  is “a supplemental […]

  9. […] that one here. Next, back to Hitchcock: “2012, the Bible and the End of the World” by Mark Hitchcock: […]

Leave a Reply to Apocalyptic Paperbacks and DVDs Explain Disastrous Events: Earthquake Edition « Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.