Kingdom Come: The Final Victory

Very disappointed. This book took what is supposed to be wonderful subject matter and made it boring and uninspiring.

As literature, don't bother. Plot lines come and go with poor to no resolution. Very, very little happens. The vast majority of the book is focused on a few months 93 years into the millennium. What plot there is is focused entirely on the authors' overly-literal interpretation of a single verse to mean that nonbelieving children will drop dead at 100 years old. (These start at 93 years millennium+7 years tribulation.) And this book has the same problem as the last where it's seriously padded by regurgitating scripture. They could at least have Noah describe the flood in his own words. But no, they basically have him show more recite Genesis 6-8. Repeat for Caleb and Joshua. Repeat for David. That's thirty pages of padding right there. As literature, it's very bad.

But I was really more disappointed on a theological level. No surprise here, but these authors have an extremely literal interpretation of passages, and I believe they are very wrong in a couple areas. The main one is the return of a sacrificial system. Yeah, yeah, they found a verse, but it flies in the face of the Entire. New. Testament. The old covenant is *fulfilled* and the idea of needing to slaughter animals daily for a thousand years seems like something Paul would have some choice words about. Similarly, either I should be following the Jewish feast schedule now (and Paul does say I don't need to), or it doesn't fit in the millennium either. The fulfillment of the old covenant is a big deal in the new testament. It shouldn't be casually discarded because you find a verse or two in a prophet. I'd argue you should be questioning your interpretation of prophecy first.

The other issue was with the behavior of the raptured or tribulation-martyred believers. They've come back with Jesus and can't die. But they're a letdown and I expect better of them. One of the main conflicts is one non-believing child sowing some strife in the childrens' ministry. It's really obvious who the problem is. Really obvious. Multiple characters notice all the problems and express them. But the back-from-heaven crowd who should know better seem to have lost all discernment. They know sin is active, but can't be bothered to lock their doors. When documents full of lies appear, they'll take it at face value and suspect their own kid, who's obviously a believer, just because the piece of paper says so, when there's a known nonbeliever on the loose. They should have perfect fellowship with God, but none of this merits any attempted communication. (But they'll lecture children for not being mature enough.) Worse, one of these returnees gets angry over the conflict. It's not righteous anger; it's sin. If the end state of sanctification and seeing Jesus face to face is a lack of wisdom or discernment, with a side of continued sin, then that would be a major letdown.

You can say that Jesus is wonderful until you're blue in the face (and they do, and He is), but please, do a better job of making the new world a place I'd want to be. (And oh yeah, the actual new heavens and new earth? And the final battle before it? Next to no coverage. About ten pages. Not a clue what eternity will be like. Probably boring.) I'd like to see good authors paint a vision for the future that's actually compelling. show less

This book read without much of a story line, as if the authors were trying to milk whatever was remaining from the franchise.

The theology was like sugar water mixed with urine that was called lemonade. Though I am a Christian, I am not a follower of LaHaye's dispensationalism, and it left me wondering a lot of things. Are we bound to follow the law and feasts in the kingdom to come? So why not today? How is it that people who were in Heaven, in perfection, come back to earth to live in a very imperfect world? Is that not like getting a taste of the most delicious dish you've ever had then told you have to wait 1000 years to eat the rest?

I remain a believer in Christ, but I am farther from LaHaye's version of Christianity than I was when show more I started reading these books. show less

Quite an unsatisfying ending to a series that seemed to lose most of its steam by the latter half. Instead of keeping readers interested in a plot that should hold an immense potential for suspense and drama, you find biblical quotes splattered all over the pages in substitution of a real story. Arguably the ending is already a done deal since the story is following a pre-established storyline, but it seemed like the author's used that as an excuse to put no imagination to the ending of the series. In the end, the bible was used a crutch rather than a platform for creative interpretation.

"Kingdom Come" met my expectations for the polished duo of LaHaye and Jenkins. When the timeline for the plot needed to cover 1,000 years in under 400 pages, I was a bit sceptical that they could pull it off. They came through by using roughly the first half of the story to give a detailed account of the world under the authority of King Jesus.

The only ones in the new kingdom were Christians left on earth after King Jesus judged the nations. Those Christians who had died both before and during the triulation returned with Jesus and ruled under Him. The mix of immortals and naturals quickly re-established the nations on earth.

Even though Satan was removed from the earth, those who were born to the naturals had the choice of obedience or show more rebellion to King Jesus. The only conflict in the plot was the internal agonies that Christian parents felt on seeing their children rebel and the attempts by their friends and family to persuade them to change their minds.

While the authors limited the plot to follow the prophecies given in the Bible, they did an excellent job of building up to a climax and bringing both the book and the series to a grand completion. show less

This is the final book in the Left Behind series. It is a bit of a disapointment after the excitement of the previous books. It is a look at what the world will possibly be like when Christ comes back to rule for 1,000 years. It skips thru the years/centuries at a breakneck pace. With no real enemy to fight the book just comes off as boring. The Biblical figures such as Noah, Caleb, Joshua and David even come off as a bit standoffish. As they are supposed to be the guest speaker at the COT (a school for the Children of the Tribulation) they even come off as mundane. While they do give you pictures in your head of how it might be, it just doen't do what I imagine it to be , justice.

They were really dragging out the idea by this stage. I didn't enjoy this book at all, which is a shame because I loved the rest of the Left Behind series.

All of the Left Behind books are provacative and page turning. I read them all at least once a year.