Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of reductive and stereotyped views of ethnoreligious groups in Israel.

Israel functions in Left Behind as a symbol of changing global politics and a herald of the end times. In terms of biblical context, the book of Revelation highlights conflict in Israel as a precursor to the apocalypse, suggests that the Antichrist will make a seven-year deal with Israel, and predicts the conversion of 144,000 Orthodox Jews to belief in Jesus as the messiah. The catalyst for Israel’s position in global politics is the invention of Rosenzweig’s fertilizer formula, which is heralded as a lifesaving invention that allows Israel to become “an export capital, the envy of the world, with virtually zero unemployment” (8). This description is significant because it emphasizes the burgeoning fertility of Israel, both in terms of produce and financial potential. Israel is represented as needing protection, and it becomes a target for other world powers after the invention of the fertilizer.

The authors also emphasize Israel as a chosen nation, which is used as proof of God’s existence. Both the Russian attack and the emergence of the two prophets at the Wailing Wall are considered key proofs that the disappearances were actually the Rapture.