Amir Tsarfati: Authors Corner: Episode 1

Join Amir Tsarfati and Steve Yohn as they talk through their upcoming thriller, The Sick Man’s Rage! Why did they begin with October 7, how did they capture the mood of Israel during and after the horrific events, and what led them to focus on the country of Turkey – all are subjects they hash out in this fascinating, behind-the-scenes discussion. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://buff.ly/36cDNpo Order Amir’s new book “Discovering Daniel”: https://discoveringdaniel.com Follow us on social media: Instagram:   / beholdisrael   Facebook:   / beholdisrael   Telegram: https://t.me/beholdisraelchannel Visit our website: https://beholdisrael.org Public Reading of Scripture: http://beholdprs.org DVD’s & Digital Downloads: https://shop.beholdisrael.org Latest Middle East News: https://beholdisrael.org/news/ Bible Teachings: https://beholdisrael.org/watch-and-li… Articles: https://beholdisrael.org/articles/ Teaching Around the World: https://beholdisrael.org/teaching-aro… Bible Experience Tours: https://beholdisrael.org/bible-experi…

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hey Shalom everyone I’m Amir sarati and

we are here from connect in Galilee yes

we’re in the middle of a war and uh that

war um is putting in front of us many

challenges including this one recording

a a a a show that was supposed to be a

lot of fun and excitement and turned to

be almost Mission Impossible with all

the the uh uh rockets that are falling

all around us and I I warn you in

advance that there’s a good chance that

in the middle of of this uh program our

first ever author’s Corner program I

might have to uh take shelter uh in our

uh bomb shelter nearby should the air

raid sirens go off and we will get

notification on our phone so my phone is

next to me it might beep but hey thank

God we’re in a good shape and we are

determined to move forward and today

with me Steve Yan my friend Steve how

are

you I’m doing great doing great and and

I don’t want people to worry if you have

to run off again I I promised you that I

would still continue to entertain the

people with uh I don’t know standup

comedy magic tricks uh whatever it takes

to keep them entertained yeah I think

many of them uh would appreciate some

Middle Eastern dances or something like

that so that’s what I’ve got my

tambourines so there you go okay so um

Steve this is our very first author’s

Corner um program we we thought about a

a a way to basically explain to people

what the books that both of us worked on

are all about and of course of course

we’re going to start with the Thriller

series of near tavore because I think

there’s a lot of people around the world

in uh in America and English speaking

countries but also other countries uh

that uh can fuse our Thriller series

with some fiction books that have

nothing to do with our reality today and

so I’m just thinking

nothing could be more further from the

truth yeah our our books are so tied in

with with uh

reality um especially this this latest

book you know this latest book we we

start on October 7th and that’s why it

was such a difficult book for for us to

write and we went through so many

rewrites because we wanted to to

communicate what took place on that day

but do it in a way that was respectful

to the people who uh uh suffered that

day um but also do it in a way that was

very real not just for the victims but

for all of you who were were helpless

and stuck

watching uh what took place you couldn’t

do anything about it and we wanted to

bring that aspect in also and it’s it

it’s a it’s a difficult

first quarter of the book to read but

it’s important um and uh I tell you

every time I I read it there’s at least

two places in there that I start crying

because it’s just it’s it’s tough to

read yeah I remember Steve uh you’re

such a gift uh gifted uh fiction writer

and you you’ve written a few fiction

books before we we even began to work

together you worked on some uh with the

famous kicker of the Broncos Jason elim

one of them was Monday night Jihad and

and the first one was

what what was the first one that was the

first one Monday night Jihad okay so

what was the got it right back uh got it

right back over there okay so so I I

knew that you were a very gifted fiction

writer but I remember that after having

written um study books on Bible prophecy

and current events and uh uh books that

are uh going through certain specific

books of the Bible I knew that there has

to be a better way to approach people

that are interested in current events

but they are not interested in some

Bible study books and I remember that I

was thinking about um you know the

amazing mad operations that took place

and are still taking place I mean come

on beep beep hello uh um and um beep

beep yeah and but but but I thought that

this is a great way to explain also the

Bible because both of us have such

passion for Bible prophecy and both of

us want to uh get people’s attention to

not just world events and news you can

go lost with all the news but also

explain how it ties in with the word of

God especially when it comes to the

coming Ezekiel 38 war known as the war

of Gog from the land of Magog so what we

actually did we created a series of

fiction books that are based on true

events and yet completely tied into the

different uh um uh

uh participants I would say uh in in

that war so

this first one so walk us through the

the the the first three so we understand

how we made it to this fourth one and

which which which uh uh uh uh part uh or

which country uh um we’re talking about

there yeah well the the first book

operation ytan really introduced us to

um

Iran and to the

um the the

militias uh I before writing that book I

wasn’t aware of the vast number of of

militias uh throughout Iraq throughout

Syria down in Yemen all connected to

Iran so the first step we took was to

let folks know that Iran is more than

just Iran uh Iran is also all those

other militias too and then we went to

the second book and the second book

brought in the tie of Iran with other

countries within the uh within the the

Gulf area there and show the difference

between Shiite

Iran and many of the Sunni neighbors

that were starting starting to become I

don’t know if you can call them friends

but at least uh uh you know neighbors

that you go and borrow a cup of sugar

from um you know the enemy of my enemy

is my

friend exact that’s exactly it yes and

then we came to uh Russia with book

three and

unfortunately book three out of the far

north was released at exactly the wrong

time because four days after the book

was released October 7th

happened and I remember that no one was

in the mood for entertainment anymore

rightfully so because we were all so

wrapped up in the the horror and the

tragedy of what took place um but what

out of the far north communicates is is

the tie in of

Russia and the long-standing history of

of a

um uh antipathy between uh Russia and

and Israel right but now which is

something by the way many people are not

uh you know acquainted with and you know

no one knows that it goes way back way

back yeah but that’s the same thing

that’s true with with turkey and with

our our new book sick man’s

rage turkey and Israel they can play

well on paper at times and in front of

the cameras but there is such a an

ingrained

hatred uh of uh by Eran of Israel and of

his leadership of Israel and a desire

to uh really for for

um um turkey to become the the hero of

Islam uh the hero of Sunni Islam and to

do

that taking out Israel that’s the way to

do it that’s the way to become the hero

because they used used to be they used

to be the Ottoman Empire the big Ottoman

Empire and now who are they they’re the

sick man of Europe the the seat of the

caliphate became the sick man of Europe

you’re right um and and and

again it’s scary how many times we’ve

written things that came to pass weeks

later it’s almost like uh we need to

think twice before we write something or

we need to or when we write it we need

to we need to know that it might take

place so we better write it in a way

that it won’t it won’t be too too much

uh you know even with with yeah know

with with this book our our our latest

book The Sick the sick man’s rage uh

when we began to write it oh actually

when we completed the manuscript uh we

didn’t know about in assassination in

tan of a Hamas figure we didn’t and yet

is Han was killed there uh assassinated

there in tan and and and now we’re

talking about another another thing that

is happening elsewhere and and you know

God knows when it will happen but it is

very

possible that it might happen in the

same goes with other things that we

wrote earlier haven’t

we I I I remember when we we sat in

Miami talking through the plot for this

book and we discussed the uh targeted

killing of

alarri and one of the ones on the list

that we were yeah that we were gonna go

after and it was only two three days

afterwards that you sent me a post yeah

that alluri was gone and you said we

better start looking for a new victim

so that’s just that’s been the nature of

the way our books have have have worked

yeah we write it and then we we see it

happening yeah and um so so here we are

with the operation Yukan we were more

dealing with Iran and its Shenanigans

but for the most part the plot was in

the Arabian Peninsula that’s why we

called it Yukan and we’ll we’ll probably

talk more about that when we do a

program on that book which by the way

was a bestseller everywhere but then we

move to um Iran itself and in the third

one we moved to Russia now we’re Landing

in Turkey so as as as people can see we

are targeting the main main countries

that are involved with the Ezekiel 38

War and the idea is to explain to people

that maybe

Ezekiel wrote about it you know 2800

years ago 2700 years ago but um

everything today points at how accurate

he he is um and um I mean who would

imagine you know even 40 years ago it

wouldn’t have been uh possible or it

wouldn’t even make sense that those

three countries one day will come

together against Israel and yet you know

today we see that so um

give me more of your yeah go ahead

that’s that’s what we carried through

these these books what what started

almost has a a distant Rumble of of hoof

beats with operation yakan from from far

far off you could hear that that that

something was coming and it it continued

to grow when we hit by way of of

deception that the sound was louder and

louder as we we saw Iran for for who it

was and and the the plans they had

against Israel and then we got to out of

the far north and the the Thundering was

even louder as we see these two um

countries becoming allies and now we

come to sickman’s rage and we hear those

those hoof beats all jelling together as

they they unify and start rushing South

towards Israel Y and that’s exactly what

we see

in Ezekiel 38 yeah so let’s talk more

about the purpose of the new book and

remember this is the latest installment

of a series uh that for now has four uh

installments uh Yan operation yokan by

way of deception out of the far north

and now the sick man’s rage let’s talk

about uh the you

know challenges

that uh we had in writing this but

people don’t understand what it takes to

come up with uh the idea and then

implement it when it comes to

books well we knew we wanted to

communicate what took place in October

7th but the question is how do you do

that and how do you do that with respect

honoring people but than giving the

reader as much of an

inside look at the events of October 7th

as someone who is you know thousands of

miles away uh as much of an inside look

as we we can get so we we we tried a

number of different routes but we

finally settled on going into the Nova

festival and that’s that’s how we give

people an inside view but we also let

people see from the outside as that that

that wonderful wacky team from Carl um

they were not wacky on October 7th

uh nobody was wacky on October 7th

everyone was

experiencing um the horrors of what was

going on because everyone knew people

everyone had relations uh relationships

with people everyone knew someone who

was uh uh either um uh injured or killed

on that date so we finally got to a

place where we’re able to communicate

that but a a I think it’s an important

reading that’s one of the things we want

to make sure we wanted this to stand as

a a testimony to people where you know

we’re

already almost a year off and you hear

people um denting what took place some

people say never happened you know some

students in the streets they think that

the war started on October 8th with

Israel initiating it and then I’ve seen

multiple interviews when somebody

confronts them with October 7th and the

events they they never heard of it it’s

like the world start it’s always like

that with the Palestinians history only

starts when it’s easier for them um and

uh no one looks beyond it but but when

this is a modern day Holocaust denying

uh and we you know if they can deny

something that happens less than a year

ago how much easier it is for them to

deny the Holocaust of Europe uh you know

in the 1940s but but I think that was

the challenge and this is why I

challenge people to to take this book

not only as a thriller and as a great

way to understand the Bible but also as

a testimony to the horrors of October

7th to let people understand that these

things indeed happened and I’ve got the

footage I’ve got the audio we’ve got the

testimonials of the perpetrators as well

as the victims everything is on the

table and we wanted to tie in those

Horrors

with the big picture of um you know

reality in in the word of

God and then we also because of our our

bigger picture of of uh the oncoming

hoof beats and and the oncoming storm of

Ezekiel 38 we that well we need to bring

turkey in on this how are we going to

bring turkey in on this and then our

dear friend president erdogan gets up in

front of everyone and says hey Israel if

you harm anybody on our on our uh land

then you know we’re going to come after

you and you’re going to regret it he

even used he even used the term even

used the term will invade Israel I mean

Y and and again you you sent to me that

little clip and said I guess we’ve got

our inroad don’t

we and again perfect and again that’s

the scary part the scary part is every

time we write

something um it’s either happens or when

we think about writing something we get

confirmation that actually it is how

things are going to go so um that’s and

it’s it’s not because we’re we’re great

prophets or anything like that but it’s

because we know the scripture

we know because we know the scripture we

know what’s coming next absolutely and

and again we know the big picture now we

may not know the ins and outs and we we

may not know the smaller details and by

the way I think actually we even come up

with good ways to even know the the

little ones but but the big picture is

there and it not only that it will not

change it cannot change there is no way

the word of God can ever change you know

I’ve been in I I’ve been interviewed uh

in some secular space um programs on on

in X on Twitter and and all of them were

secular people and they they asked me

things about current events and I told

them look guys I respect you you’re all

experts in your

Fields but I can tell you what’s going

to happen not because I’m smart not

because I’m super intelligent it’s

because I know that the the word of God

is the

ultimate um way to understand um as God

says I will um you know I will tell you

things that have not yet done um that’s

what he said to Isaiah um but but the

thing is and then I told them I told

them look I know we are going to win

this War I know Iran is going to

sacrifice Hamas and then when hisbah

will be in trouble Iran is not going to

help it and because Iran cares about

Iran and eventually Iran will just dump

all of its uh proxies and hop on the

wagon of big countries such as Russia

and Turkey and and here we are Steve

we’re trying to explain all of this in

such a way that even someone who wants

to run away from

reality will understand

reality um so I think that’s the

delicate challenge here is is to make it

good read but also explain and explain

things and put together all the parts of

the puzzle so then they see the big

picture and um and and you know so far

because of that we were able to get

those semi secular book because they’re

not PR all you

know uh uh hardcore Bible study books we

were able to get them on the shelves of

where tell us yeah yeah well just just

about anywhere you want to go and

they’ve been in in uh Target and Walmart

and and Hobby Lobby and um Hobby Lobby

Barnes & Noble not as many bookstores

around as there used to be but uh uh all

the ones that that you can find we we’ve

been there and these

novels there there have been people who

have asked why why fiction when I mean

you you write such such a a clear

non-fiction that that that spells

everything out but there’s there’s

different kinds of readers and people

learn in different ways and there’s

people who are visual Learners there are

people who are tactile Learners there’s

people who are auditory Learners and

there’s people who learn through a story

and other people who just want the facts

ma’am um so this the what the the novels

give us is that opportunity to reach all

Learners that’s true all people yeah um

so that that they can also uh absorb

understand get a grasp of what God is

doing amen um through this war that’s

taking place now and the overall picture

of Ezekiel and leading us to the end

times yeah I I agree with you and I also

I also want to say that um you know I

remember I was praying

Lord what are better and maybe even uh

more unique and original ways of uh

getting the

gospel um on the bookshelves of some you

know big stores so non-Christian secular

people will you know think that oh that

that that looks like a nice book I want

to read and so I think the challenge was

and it still is how do we communicate

eventually bottom line the

gospel in books that are packed with

fiction and current events and and real

current events so and I think uh from

many reports that I got from many people

around the world because the books the

previous books have been already

translated to multiple languages and we

have amazing amazing uh reviews um from

you know people who literally were

exposed to the gospel for the first time

and then moved to read the Bible after

this one and so um you know I think this

is this is an important

thing another thing that we that we

offer yeah another thing that we that we

offer through these books is just good

clean

entertainment yeah I was uh I I’m I’m

always listening to books as I drive

here and there and then when I work out

and and I just finished listening to uh

uh Clive C C’s latest book which I think

Clive kussler has been dead forever but

other people are writing his books now

and it wasn’t until about 30 minutes

into it that I realized I haven’t heard

anybody swear in this whole

book and it was it’s so refreshing

because before that I had I had listened

to I won’t mention who but i’ I’ve I’ve

listened to a number of of other books

and it’s just there’s so much swearing

and there’s sex and there’s so much

stuff that has me constantly hitting

that fast forward button on my on my

audible um and this these books are just

for for people of all ages where they

can listen and not be afraid of what it

is they’re going to hear or afraid of

what it is their teens are going to hear

as they listen to them and and and they

get a big dose of action and and the it

is a thriller and but again it’s action

and it’s is it’s a thriller that is

completely realistic and based on true

events and true reality so it’s very

easy to connect with it um yeah

hello um so so I think this is this is

and is not funny that we’re able to

teach the Bible using Israel in

disbelief Russia in complete you know uh

disbelief and and turkey promoting a

different religion and yet and Iran as

well and we’re able to use all of this

to bring

forth a fresh way to uh look into the

word of God um so um what do you think

is the biggest challenge in writing the

sick man’s rage uh because we we touched

a lot of things that I think the

common person that is hearing the news

is not aware of such as for example the

maavi vatan and other things terms that

are only known to

experts yeah yeah

uh

Iran is very loud and very active Russia

is very loud and very active turkey is

very loud but not as active

so to try to come up what’s that not yet

not yet exactly exactly so to to try to

come up with a a plot that fits the

nature of of

erdoan uh the nature of the country that

was the biggest difficulty what is it

that they would do and how would they go

about it would they be out there and and

and upfront and and big bold attacking

and would we see it coming or are they

more of the sneaky kind that will come

around when you aren’t uh when you

aren’t looking for them and know you’re

the ones that come from behind and stab

you in the back yeah so that’s amazing

don’t want to say too much about it but

no exactly I was about to say please

stop it right there

um but um you see I think writing these

Thriller uh series is one of the fun

things both of both of us had to the

privilege of doing in in some very

difficult times in our lives uh times

when we lost dear family members and and

also times when you almost uh we almost

lost you Steve and uh it seems like God

has a different plan um and um our our

days are numbered but uh their number

can be longer than or more than we think

and um and so I’m I’m I’m very

very thankful that God kept you with us

um throughout all of this thing because

I I truly believe I truly believe that

God is using you Steve in a very Mighty

way and in in in a sweet spot where you

are doing what you love do you know

doing and yeah and and so it’s as it has

been forever now the best um experience

of sitting with you and writing uh those

Thrillers and also having you helping me

with the teaching books uh that I wrote

um earlier and and even in between those

Thrillers so you know I want to thank

you for uh being such a a vessel that

God uh is definitely using and um if do

you have final words to say

um as we wrap up this uh first author’s

Corner uh program which by the way it’s

not only about my teaching books or our

Thrillers but also both of us from time

to time will even host someone else and

ask him questions about his book so do

you have any any last words to

say well I just I I want you to know

that that uh all of us here here are are

praying for you and your family I know

how difficult this time is uh for you to

be sitting here uh in in in your your

office and um having this kind of

conversation where uh when outside

around you um there are barges that are

being fired over uh the the Border um

that speaks so much to to you your

character but most of all your

faith and the fact that you are trusting

God completely that whatever happens

happens you know that you are safe in

his hands and that that he is he is

watching over you so I mean it’s just

it’s a it’s it’s a blessing to to work

alongside you to call you a friend and

uh not just a friend but also a a

writing partner and uh um it’s just it’s

a blessing God has blessed me greatly so

thank you well thank you Steve and uh

and again uh folks this has been our

first ever author’s Corner program and

there are many more to come unless the

Rapture happens and we’re gone which I

prefer that of course but um until then

um we would like to not only uh tell you

that you may want to purchase that book

but also explain what the books are all

about the idea behind him and of course

challenge you not only to get one and

read it but also to give it to a

non-believing friend that is interested

in current events and yet is running

away from the word of God I think this

is a wonderful way to to kind of uh tie

them into or give them the hook that

will bring them back to opening their

Bibles for the first time and try to

probably even just verify that what we

talk about really is written in a Bible

that was written uh more than 2500 years

ago so this is the challenge that we

have for all of you not only to help us

with with with you know getting

attention for for these books but for

the most part if if there is one reason

we write them is to bring people to the

saving knowledge of the Messiah and

those who believe in him you are are um

missionaries here of of getting this

incredible piece that I think even a

non-believer would enjoy reading and get

them

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to have this appetite to want to know

more and also if you you know I’m sure

you can agree with me Steve reading

those books really explains a lot that

is happening today to the common person

that is watching the news it’s not even

about only the Bible I mean they even if

you filter the

biblical part of it you get tons of

history and tons of um you know

knowledge about culture and geography

and people and so I think there’s so

much that um you know we can glean from

these fiction trailers don’t you think

so yeah who would you rather have

explained Russian history to you some

pamphlet that you pick up from the

library are all the crazy people at Carl

talking back and forth and if you don’t

know what Carl is pick up the first book

operation yokan and you will that’s

right well Steve it has been pleasure to

uh to have you here on this program and

thankfully God is good and no rocket

alarms interrupted us today and so thank

you everyone for being with us today and

until next time Shalom and God bless you

Shalom from Denver Colorado and from

galile Israel thank you God bless you

and shalom

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