I love Bible Prophecy and I love to read. Over the years, I have accumulated a library of thousands of books. I am always on the lookout at used bookstores, flea markets, and garage sales for another volume to add to my collection. My wife worries about where we will store my growing collection, but we seem to find room. So, almost daily, I come home with another book.
People who know of my love for books often ask: What are the best Christian books on Prophecy? To answer that question, I offer the following suggestions:
Surveys
One of the best overall books on Bible prophecy that has ever been published is Things to Come by Dwight Pentecost (Zondervan, 1964). It is scholarly and comprehensive, written for serious, college-level students.
The book that really opened the eyes of the world to Bible Prophecy is Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (Zondervan, 1970). The New York Times has certified that it was the number one bestselling book in the world (except for the Bible) for ten years, between 1970 and 1980.
Perhaps the most unusual book ever published on Bible prophecy is Dispensational Truth by Clarence Larkin (Reverend Clarence Larkin Estate, 1920). Larkin was a draftsman who devoted his talents to illustrating prophetic concepts with fascinating charts and diagrams. This is a classic that will keep you up all night.
Interpretation
Nothing is more important to the understanding of Bible prophecy than the principles of interpretation that are applied to it. An excellent introductory book for the general reader is How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself by Tim LaHaye (Harvest House, 1990).
Symbolic
Perhaps the least understood area of prophecy is symbolic prophecy, sometimes called prophecy in type. About half of Herbert Lockyer’s book, All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible, is dedicated to this important topic (Zondervan, 1979).
Two books concerning symbolic prophecy that are easy to read and are full of useful insights are Christ in the Tabernacle by Louis Talbot (Moody Press, 1978) and Jesus in the Feasts of Israel by Richard Booker (Bridge Publishing, 1987).
Old Testament Prophets
I am a fan of the late J.R. Church. He wrote an excellent book on the prophets titled They Pierced The Veil (Prophecy Publications, 1993).
A magnificent introduction to all the Old Testament prophets is provided by Leon Wood in his exceptional book, The Prophets of Israel (Regular Baptist Press, 1979).
I wrote my book, The 12 (Beacon Street Press, 2022), to help you gain a deeper understanding of the messages of the 12 Minor Prophets.
Israel
Dr. David Reagan’s Israel in Bible Prophecy (Lamb and Lion, 2017) is an excellent panoramic survey of Israel in prophecy.
An excellent book that relates prophecy to the history of Israel, particularly modern history, is called 25 Messianic Signs in Israel Today (Beacon Street Press, 2007). It was written by Noah Hutching, the former president of Southwest Radio Ministries and former host of The Watchmen on the Wall radio broadcast.
Daniel
An outstanding verse by verse commentary on Daniel was also written by Noah Hutchings. It is simply entitled, Daniel The Prophet (Beacon Street Press, 2021). It is fun to read as well as inspirational.
No book of the Bible has been attacked as viciously by theological liberals as the book of Daniel. A tremendous defense of the book’s integrity can be found in a volume called Daniel in the Critic’s Den by Josh McDowell (Campus Crusade for Christ, 1979).
Revelation
Many excellent studies have been published about the book of Revelation. For the general reader, the two best are Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain by Tim LaHaye (Zondervan, 1973) and There’s a New World Coming by Hal Lindsey (Vision House, 1973). Lindsey’s book is the best one he has ever written.
For those who desire to dig deeper, The Revelation Record (Tyndale House, 1983) by Henry Morris presents a detailed verse by verse analysis. Dr. Morris is the distinguished founder of the Institute for Creation Research.
Dr. Larry Spargimino’s No Uncertain Future (Beacon Street Press, 2021) is a wonderful study guide commentary that is great for home Bible study.
An outstanding introduction to Revelation and the various methods of interpreting it is a book by E.F. Webber titled A Study in Revelation (Southwest Radio Church of the Air, 1952).
The Rapture
The important controversy over the timing of the Rapture has been best addressed by John Walvoord in two of his books: The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation (Zondervan, 1976) and The Rapture Question (Zondervan, 1979). Walvoord is the former President of Dallas Theological Seminary. Another fine book on the topic is The Rapture by Hal Lindsey (Bantam Books, 1983).
Tim LaHaye has written a very powerful and exhaustive defense of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture entitled No Fear of the Storm: Why Christians Will Escape All the Tribulation (Multnomah, 1992, later re-published as Rapture Under Attack, 1998).
I was privileged to be a part of an excellent book on the Pre-Tribulation Rapture titled Will the Church Go Through the Tribulation? (Beacon Street Press, 2021). The book is a collection of eleven essays by seven authors who consider different sections of the Bible to see, practically, if Christians will be subject to the Tribulation.
Signs of the Times
One of the best prophetic writers to emerge in recent years is Ed Hindson of Liberty University. His books are solidly biblical and down-to-earth, readable by the average Christian. He has written two outstanding studies of the signs of the times: Final Signs (Harvest House, 1996) and Earth’s Final Hour: Are We Really Running Out of Time? (Harvest House, 1999). Another excellent writer in the field of Bible prophecy is Dave Hunt of Berean Ministries. He has produced a very insightful study of the end time signs in his book, How Close Are We? (Harvest House, 1993).
Fiction
The Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Larry B. Jenkins present a fictionalized story about the Rapture and the Tribulation that is based upon biblical prophecies. This series is published by Tyndale House and broke all sales records for prophetic books. The series of novels has become a best-seller even when compared to secular books. The first of the volumes, entitled Left Behind, was published in 1995.
Every book written by Jonathan Cahn is outstanding. He speaks like a modern-day prophet. He uses fictional characters to write about factual Bible Prophecy. The Harbinger (Front Line, 2011), The Mystery of the Shemitah (Front Line, 2014), The Book of Mysteries (Front Line, 2016), The Paradigm (Front Line, 2017), The Oracle (Front Line, 2018), and The Harbinger II (Front Line, 2020) were all best-sellers and are modern classics.
This list is not comprehensive. I could have easily added books by David Webber, Grant Jeffrey, Mark Hitchcock, Ron Rhodes, David Jeremiah, and many more authors. These are just some of my favorites. It is my hope and prayer that this list will encourage you to pick up some of these books and go deeper into your study of God’s Word.
