Joel Rosenberg discusses worldwide nuclear threat, Israel's judicial reform controversy and more on TBN’s 'InGrace with Jim Scudder, Jr.'

God is shaking the world right now and, in His sovereignty, allowing Satan to do horrible things so that more people will look to Him as the only source of their security and hope, according to Joel Rosenberg in a recent interview on TBN’s show, InGrace with Jim Scudder, Jr.

“Whatever religion, whatever finances, whatever health they had, whatever political ideology – none of it is going to matter. And God, in His mercy, is shaking people, shaking the world physically, economically, politically, spiritually, so that we all give up anything we're holding on to other than Christ,” Rosenberg added.

In a wide-ranging interview, Rosenberg talked about the worldwide nuclear threat, the current turmoil in Israel following 13 weeks of political and civil unrest surrounding judicial reforms and his new novel, “The Libyan Diversion.” He also shared his thoughts about what God is doing, why He is allowing difficult circumstances and what we can expect as believers in Jesus.

Turning the discussion to the Russia-Ukraine War, Rosenberg said Russian President Vladimir Putin, after more than a year of fighting and losing, is now openly threatening to use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield.

“I would say it's a better than 60 over 40 chance that he does. I pray that he doesn't. But I think he's losing. Putin is being humiliated,” Rosenberg said, adding that Putin may take measures that would open a window for more leaders to threaten the use of nuclear  weapons as a means of getting what they want.

Rosenberg added that the U.S. Biden administration’s soft response to the nuclear threat is only going to enable other world powers to consider using such force.

“How the West going to respond? I mean, what could the United States do? I don't see any support.”

Putin's been the first guy out of the gate, the first evil dictator to go, 'I want something. Now is the time to get it.' Putin didn't invade anybody when [former U.S. President Donald Trump was in power, right? Whatever you think about Trump, Putin didn't invade anybody.”

Iran is thinking, ‘Well, if we're ever going to break out and go get the bomb, maybe these next two years, maybe that's the window.’ They just said they're going to enrich to 84%, that's just shy of military nuclear weapons grade uranium,” Rosenberg said, adding that Chinese leader Xi Jinping, “the most dangerous man in the world” is watching events unfold.

"And then you got China thinking, ‘Well, we want Taiwan. Maybe we have a two year window. Maybe this is the moment.’ Biden's surrender in Afghanistan and his slow response in Ukraine has created an open field for every bad guy in the world; ‘What should we go get that we currently don't have?’

During the interview, Rosenberg discussed the current status of Israel’s political situation surrounding the controversial judicial reforms that have led to massive protests of hundreds of thousands of Israelis across the State of Israel for more than 13 consecutive weeks.

Rosenberg stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “the comeback kid” after becoming Israel’s premier last November following a fifth election, didn’t address any issues about the judicial reform during his last political campaign.

“Netanyahu ran on three main issues: ‘I'm going to stop Iran from getting the bomb; I'm going to make peace with Saudi Arabia; and I'm going to continue to develop and expand the booming Israeli economy.’ So it's a benefit for everybody. Great. That was a very unifying message."

“But the issue that was No. 4 four on his list – he didn't talk about it that much – was judicial reform. And that issue is the issue that he's driving first.”

“His argument is that the Supreme Court here is left wing and completely out of control,” Rosenberg explained. “Basically, the Supreme Court justices appoint themselves and find the next person that's sort of like them" and that the it "keeps striking down laws that [Netanyahu] has passed over the years or even appointments.”

“The Supreme Court has to be reined in,” Rosenberg argued. “It has to have checks and balances. But on the other side, the legislation says that the Knesset can overturn a Supreme Court decision by 51% of the legislature,” which Rosenberg said Netanyahu's coalition needs to negotiate because “it can't be the way it is," adding that people are scared and they are protesting because "they're afraid that fundamental civil rights, human rights will be overturned.”

Rosenberg believes that Israelis are absolutely safer with Netanyahu at the helm if Israel were to be facing full-on nuclear war, and that we should pray for him to know how to navigate the current judicial negotiations and bring it to a point of unity.

Rosenberg, a best-selling writer, will release his new novel “The Libyan Diversion” on May 16. In this installment of the series, the main character, a former secret service agent who works for the CIA continues his hunt for the world’s most dangerous terrorist who lures him to Libya, where his attentions are diverted discovering the terrorist's plan for a mass casualty event to be 1,000 times worse than 9/11.

When asked if he thinks the premise of his novels, which are widely read by political leaders and influencers worldwide, have the ability to change the course of history, Rosenberg responded: “God's Grace has allowed the CIA, the FBI to catch a lot of people,” adding that, “The bad guys only have to get it right one time. The defense has to get it right every single day, every moment. So when you add 4.5 million people that you have no idea who they are, just walking around in the country, your odds of having missed one or two 10 or 50 go up. It was only 19 people. Nineteen people on 9/11 changed America forever.”

In his final words of the interview, Rosenberg weighed in on his thoughts about God’s sovereignty and why He is allowing the difficult events we read in the news about Israel and worldwide.

“Jerusalem is the epicenter of hope,” Rosenberg said, “This is where God decided: ‘That's my city. That's my mountain. That's my son. That's the cross. That's the empty tomb. This is where I'm going to do it all. Anyone who needs hope in their life  – for eternal life, for peace in this world, for peace that passes all understanding, for wisdom, for it all – it comes from Jerusalem.”

“It all comes from Christ,” Rosenberg added.

“Satan hates this place, because it's the epicenter of God's plan. Satan hates Israel because God loves Israel. Satan wants to turn this city into a city of bloodshed because God calls it Jerusalem, the City of Peace. Satan wants to destroy and desecrate the Temple Mount. Why? Because God wants it to be holy. Satan is the ‘anti’ of everything that God is. And so everything that God has chosen and loves, Satan is against it."

“So this is the hope, Rosenberg continued, “If we fixate on the Messiah that has come and the reason all these bad things are happening in the world – the pandemic, the invasions, the earthquakes that just have taken out hundreds of thousands of souls and destroyed millions of lives, millions of homes in Turkey and Syria – and all the other bad things that are happening in the world.”

“It’s not judgment yet, judgment is coming, but we're not there yet. What this is, is God keeping His Word when He said in the Hebrew scriptures, ’I will shake all the nations.’”

“These are not peaceful times," Rosenberg concluded. "This is the most stressful era, I would argue, certainly since World War II. And I think it's going to get worse. So we've got to cling to Christ and He's our only answer. And the sooner we get that and live that way, the better. Amen."

Watch Rosenberg’s full interview on InGrace with Jim Scudder Jr. on Wednesday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. or click here.