The number of books about the End Times—the rapture, Armageddon, and other doomsday events foretold in the biblical books of Revelation, Ezekiel, and Daniel—are on the rise. Following the pandemic and amid escalating global tensions as well as environmental concerns, Christian publishers say they are acquiring more books now than in years past on how to live faithfully in the present and properly prepare for End Times events.
“We are looking for books that not only try to decipher what the Bible is describing, but also how we live now,” says Kim Bangs, editorial director at Chosen Books, an imprint of Baker Publishing. Bangs attributes a greater interest in the End Times to social media, where crises happening around the world are shared. “When you see in real time what the Bible says will happen in the End Times, you start to pay attention and ask questions,” she says. “We seem to be closer to the end than ever before.”
Chosen’s recent release, Prophetic Forecast by Joshua Giles, a popular conference speaker and lead pastor of Kingdom Embassy Worship Center in Minneapolis, Minn., “talks about life events and what to do about them, and includes a message of hope,” according to Bangs.
Titles in the Christian prophecy category often top bestsellers lists. For example, Harvest Prophecy’s Revealing Revelation: How God’s Plans for the Future Can Change Your Life Now by Amir Tsarfati debuted at #2 on PW’s Trade Paper list for May. (The accompanying workbook debuted at #7 on the same list.)
An imprint of Harvest House launched in April 2021, Harvest Prophecy aims to publish nine books a year. Speaking to PW as group, the Harvest Prophecy team of three editors say they have seen “a strong surge of interest because there is so much happening in today’s world that parallels End-Times signs given in the Bible.”
The imprint also launched a website, harvestprophecyhq, less than a year ago to meet a growing demand for content related to biblical prophecy. “One of our goals for the website is to demystify Bible prophecy and make it accessible,” the team says. “To do that, we post blogs weekly on a variety of topics related to Bible prophecy, provide answers to frequently asked questions, and promote biblically-sound resources.”
Harvest Prophecy’s Prophecy Pros podcast was launched two years ago and now has over 430,000 downloads. The team sees End Times books meeting Christian readers’ need for assurance that God’s plans for the future remain on track. “We can be filled with hope because God’s promises about Christ’s return, heaven and eternity will come to pass,” they say. “Bible prophecy proclaims that a glorious future lies ahead.”
Forthcoming titles from Harvest Prophecy include The Chronological Guide to Bible Prophecy: An Illustrated Panorama from Genesis to Revelation by animation producer and prophecy expert Todd Hampson (Oct.) and an updated edition of 2014’s As it Was in the Days of Noah: Warnings from Bible Prophecy About the Coming Global Storm by Jeff Kinley (Nov.), speaker and founder of Main Thing Ministries and The Vintage Truth podcaster.
At W Publishing, “We are purposeful about publishing timely releases which raise awareness of what the Bible says about the End Times so believers will have hope and guidance during what can feel like tumultuous times,” says Damon Reiss, v-p and publisher. He points to W’s long-time relationship with Dr. David Jeremiah and his Turning Point ministry as a valuable asset in the prophecy genre. W is publishing two new books by the prolific author this year: After the Rapture: An End Times Guide to Survival (released on June 7), and The World of the End: Jesus’ Final Warnings about Earth’s Final Days, slated for publication in October.
Additional End Times books from W Publishing include The 50 Final Events in World History: The Bible’s Last Words on Earth’s Final Days by Robert J. Morgan (out now), an overview of the book of Revelation and guide to interpreting current events, and Global Reset: Do Current Events Point to the Antichrist and His Worldwide Empire? by Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley, which offers "answers to the questions everyone should be asking about current world events and how they may be ushering in Christ’s return," according to the publisher.
Books on the End Times from other publishers include:
Armed for Victory: Prayer Strategies That Unlock the End-Time Armory of God by Alan DiDio (Destiny Image, July 19). Pastor and podcaster Didio offers spiritual warfare tactics to equip End-Time believers for victory to come.
Bible Prophecy Handbook: A 90-Day Guide to the End Times by Carol Smith (Barbour, Aug. 1). A reissue of Smith’s review of passages from Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation that unveils what the Bible says about the future.
Upside-Down Apocalypse: Grounding Revelation in the Gospel of Peace by Jeremy Duncan (Herald, July 5). Duncan draws on nonviolent theology to guide readers through the book of Revelation to a nonviolent triumph in the End Times.
