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Hal Lindsey (b. 1929) The Father of Apocalyptic Christian Zionism

Dr. Stephen R. Sizer

4.1 The Jews of the Bible and the Modern State of Israel
4.2 The Territorial Extent of Eretz Israel
4.3 The Significance of Jerusalem
4.4 The Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple
4.5 The Implacable Enemies of Israel: Communists and Moslems
4.6 The Fall and Rise of the United States
4.7 Europe and the Emergence of a Revived Roman Empire
4.8 The Coming Holocaust: Armageddon Theology in Practice
 

4.8.1 The Motivation for the War of Armageddon
4.8.2 The Strategy for the Soviet Occupation of Israel
4.8.3 The Samson Option: Israel's Response to the Coming Holocaust
4.8.4 The Extent of the Final Holocaust
4.8.5 Supernatural Deliverance from the Holocaust 

4.9 Dating the Second Coming of Christ
 

4.9.1 This Generation
4.9.2 The Anti-Christ is Alive and Well
4.9.3 Signs of the Times

5. Lindseyism and Charges of Anti-Semitism
6. A Summary and Critique of Hal Lindsey's Christian Zionism

1. The Significance of Hal Lindsey to Christian Zionism

Hal Lindsey is undoubtedly the most influential of all Christian Zionists of the 20th century. Although rarely quoted by others, he has nevertheless been described by Time as 'The Jeremiah for this Generation', and by the New York Times as 'the best selling author of the decade.'¹ His newest publisher describes him as 'The Father of the Modern-Day Bible Prophecy Movement,'² and, 'the best known prophecy teacher in the world.'³ He is apparently one of very few authors to have had three books on the New York Times best seller list at the same time.⁴

This chapter will explore the significance of Hal Lindsey within Christian Zionism, his dispensational hermeneutic, uncoventional view of prophecy and eschatology, his distinctive apocalyptic Zionism and his stand against anti-Semitism.

Lindsey acknowledges that 'The future is big business,'⁵ and has proved the axiom true. He is a prolific writer, the author of at least twenty books spanning 27 years, most of which deal explicitly or implicitly with a dispensational interpretation of the future, biblical prophecy and Christian Zionism.⁶ He hosts his own radio⁷ and television programmes, leads regular pro-Israeli Holy Land tours, and by subscription makes available a monthly Christian Intelligence Journal called Countdown as well as the International Intelligence Briefing⁸. Lindsey, along with fellow Zionist, Grant Jeffries, hosts a weekly news programme, International Intelligence Briefing on the fundamentalist Trinity Broadcasting Network television station.⁹

Lindsey's most famous book, The Late Great Planet Earth has been described by the New York Times as the '#1 Non-fiction Bestseller of the Decade.' It has gone through more than 108 printings with sales, by 1993, of more than 18 million copies in English, with estimates varying between 18-20 million further copies in 54 foreign languages.¹⁰

Despite dramatic changes in the world since its publication in 1970, Lindsey maintains that the prophetic and apocalyptic scenario depicted in the book is biblically accurate and therefore it remains in print in its original un-revised form. Sales increased 83% during August and September 1990 amidst fears in the United States that Saddam Hussein would drag the world into total world war. Paul Van Duinen, an executive of Lindsey's publishers, admitted, ' Often times we see during a crisis that people more actively turn toward God and things spiritual.'¹¹

Lindsey's popularity may be attributed to a combination of factors including his readable, journalistic style of writing, his imaginative, if apocalyptic, insistence that contemporary geo-political events are the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and, above all, his categorical assertion that the end of the world is imminent.

What makes Lindsey's writings distinctive, however, is that like J. N. Darby¹² and C. I. Scofield¹³, he confidently claims his interpretation of the Bible shows what will happen in the future.

Today, almost before I finish explaining a developing trend - it's already an accomplished fact.¹⁴

This book describes in more detail and explicitness than any other just what will happen to humanity and to the Earth, not a thousand years from now, but in our lifetime-indeed in this very generation.¹⁵

In this riveting non-fiction book, the father of modern-day Bible prophecy cracks the "Apocalypse Code" and deciphers long-hidden messages about man's future and the fate of the earth.¹⁶

Hal will be your guide on a chilling tour of the world's future battlefields as the Great Tribulation, foretold more than two thousand years ago by Old and New Testament prophets, begins to unfold, You'll meet the world leaders who will bring man to the very edge of extinction and examine the causes of the current global situation - what it all means, what will shortly come to pass, and how it will all turn out.¹⁷

Like Darby, Lindsey claims his novel interpretations to have been revealed directly and personally by God.

I believe that the Spirit of God gave me a special insight, not only into how John described what he actually experienced, but also into how this whole phenomenon encoded the prophecies so that they could be fully understood only when their fulfillment drew near... I prayerfully sought for a confirmation for my apocalypse code theory...¹⁸

His popularity may also in part, however, have to do with his tendency to revise those predictions in the light of changing world events. So for example The Final Battle (1994) is essentially an unacknowledged rewrite of the 'Late Great Planet Earth' (1970); 'Apocalypse Code' (1997) is a rewrite of 'There's a New World Coming' (1973); and 'Planet Earth 2000 A.D.' (1994, & 1996) are both revisions of 'The 1980's Countdown to Armageddon' (1980). Planet Earth: The Final Chapter (1998) is, the latest version in the 'Planet Earth' series.  

A good example of Lindsey's prophetic revisions concerns the future of the United States. In Planet Earth 2000 A.D. Lindsey specifically draws attention to a prophecy made in The Late Great Planet Earth as evidence of his prophetic accuracy. A comparison, however, shows that he has edited out the prediction of communist subversion which did not occur.

Without access to all Lindsey's books one would not necessarily be aware that he has adapted his material to fit the changing world since he rarely acknowledges his sources or uses footnotes. The Introduction to two of his books serves as a good example. Reading Planet Earth 2000 A.D. (1994), one is led to believe this, and not 1980's Countdown to Armageddon (1981), was the long awaited sequel to The Late Great Planet Earth (1970).

With the decade of the 1980's coming to an end, and the Second Advent still some way off, Lindsey also needed to revise the title if it was to remain in print. Without acknowledging he had rewritten the book, Lindsey changed his publisher and implied that Planet Earth 2000 A.D. was actually the sequel to The Late Great Planet Earth. Ten years on, and with the new Millennium fast approaching, the date has been removed altogether from the title in the latest edition, Planet Earth, the Final Chapter.²³

Lindsey also makes use of previously published material in his later books. Unattributed paragraphs and sentences from earlier works reappear with regularity. So for example, in two unrelated books, published just a year apart, the same sentences are repeated.

On one occasion in The Final Battle (1995), Lindsey even makes use of the same material in subsequent chapters.

  In criticising clergy for getting caught up in 'the save-the-earth gospel,' Lindsey reveals something of his estimation of himself,

Don't get me wrong. No one can deny that the earth is facing grave ecological crises. There is probably no one in the church that has done more than me in calling this fact to the attention of millions.⁴⁴

There is no doubt that Lindsey has had a profound and lasting impact on the American as well as British Christian scene. Indeed, the popular influence Christian Zionists such as Lindsey have had, even in American political circles, is highlighted by Don Wagner who claims that as long ago as 1980,

The election of Ronald Reagan ushered in not only the most pro-Israel administration in history but gave several Christian Zionists prominent political posts... Once the Reagan Administration opened the door, leading Evangelical Christian Zionist televangelists and writers were given direct access to the President and cabinet members. Rev. Jerry Falwell, Christian Zionist televangelist Mike Evans and author Hal Lindsey among them.⁴⁵

'White House Seminars' became a regular feature of Reagan's administration bringing Lindsey into direct personal contact with national and Congressional leaders. Lindsey subsequently became a consultant on Middle Eastern affairs not only to the Pentagon but also to the Israeli Government.⁴⁶

 
2. Lindsey's Literalistic Dispensational Hermeneutic

 Like other dispensationalists, Lindsey holds dogmatically to a literalist approach to biblical hermeneutics. He attributes the development of erroneous views concerning Israel to an allegorical, non-literal hermeneutic supposedly popularised by Origen.

  The man most responsible for changing the way the Church interpreted prophecy is Origen... [He] powerfully introduced, taught and spread the allegorical method of interpreting the Scriptures, particularly in the area of prophecy. From this seemingly harmless fact of Church history evolved a system of prophetic interpretation that created the atmosphere in which 'Christian' anti-Semitism took root and spread. Using this method of prophetic interpretation, Church theologians began to develop the idea that the Israelites had permanently forfeited all their covenants by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah.⁴⁷

As has been shown in an earlier chapter, it was the consistent approach of the Post-Apostolic Fathers to interpret the Hebrew Scriptures typologically as the Apostles had done before them.⁴⁸ In his commitment to literalism, Lindsey does not appear to distinguish between figurative or typological approaches acknowledged by covenantal theologians from the allegorical methods of interpretation seen typically in pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism.⁴⁹ The distinction between these two methods of interpretation are significant since the former places particular emphasis on the historical context of passages as well as the way scripture interprets scripture. An allegorical approach finds eternal truths in the bible without reference to their historical setting. A typological approach highlights the way New Testament writers see Jesus Christ to be the fulfilment of many Old Testament images and types.⁵⁰ There is good evidence that a typological interpretation of the Old Testament was consistently followed by the Church from the 1st Century, and did not arise with Origen as Lindsey alleges.

Origen defended the historical sense of Scripture, tried to reconcile the historical and allegorical senses, attempted to interpret Scripture with Scripture, and was respectful of the church's tradition.⁵¹

Ironically, Lindsey admits to using typology on occasions. In explaining his hermenutical approach to interpreting the Book of Revelation, Lindsey makes the following assumptions,

How could this first-century man describe the scientific wonders of the latter twentieth century? He had to illustrate them with phenomena of the first century; for instance, a thermonuclear war looked to him like a giant volcanic eruption spewing fire and brimstone... Much of the symbolism John used was the result of a first century man being catapulted in God's time machine up to the end of the twentieth century, then returned to his own time and commanded to write what he had seen and heard. The only way that John could obey that instruction was to use phenomena with which he was familiar to illustrate the scientific and technical marvels that he predicts.⁵² Some writers have chosen to interpret each symbol quite literally. For example, a locust with the face of a man, the teeth of a lion, a breastplate of iron, a tail than can sting, and wings that make the sound of many chariots would have to be specially created by God to look just like that description. I personally tend to think that God might utilize in his judgments some modern devices of man which the Apostle John was at a loss for words to describe nineteen centuries ago! In the case just mentioned, the locusts might symbolize an advanced kind of helicopter. This is just one example of the fast-moving, contemporary, and often deductive manner in which I have chosen to approach the Book of Revelation. I realize I'll be accused by some of making wild speculations...⁵³

In Apocalypse Code (1997), essentially an unattributed revision of There's a New World Coming (1973), Lindsey's speculations become more dogmatic and categorical, and so phrases such as "might symbolize" become "actually saw."

Just exactly how could a first century prophet describe, much less understand, the incredible advances in science and technology that exist at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries? Yet he testified and God bore witness that he actually saw and heard things like:

• supersonic jet aircraft with missiles...
• advanced attack helicopters
• modern main battle tanks
• intercontinental ballistic missiles with Multiple Independently Targeted Reentry Vehicles tipped with thermonuclear warheads (ICBM's that are MIRVed).
• battlefield artillery and missiles with neutron-nuclear warheads
• biological and chemical weapons
• aircraft carriers, missile cruisers, nuclear submarines
• laser weapons
• space stations and satellites
• the new super secret HAARP weapon system (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program)⁵⁴

This is exactly the way a neutron bomb works. A soldier is hit by a burst of radiation that leaves only a skeleton within a nanosecond. How could Zechariah have known such a thing 2500 years ago? Once again, the Apocalypse code unlocks the meaning of something not understood for centuries, because the technology for such things did not exist until now.⁵⁸

Like Darby and Scofield before him, Lindsey also interprets references to ancient tribes and nations mentioned in Old Testament prophecies as applying to contemporary peoples and countries in the Middle East.⁵⁹
In Psalm 83, some 3,000 years ago, God gave a warning of what would happen in the last days... In these verses the Philistia or Philistines are the modern Palestinians. Tyre is modern Lebanon. Assyria is modern Syria.⁶⁰ Ezekiel 38 also talks about a confederacy of powers - including Russia and Germany - coming against Israel... Ezekiel Chapter 38, verse 8 describes modern-day Israel, after the Jews have returned from many nations and "are living securely."⁶¹ I know from my study of the Bible that the final great war includes Turkey as part of the Islamic grouping allied with Russia.⁶²
The great nations that do get Biblical reference are the Kings of the East, (China, India, Pakistan - all openly nuclear), Russia (Gog and Magog), Libya, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and so on.⁶³
On other occasions, with reference to Exodus 9:9, Lindsey is content to acknowledge, "Egypt is often used as a metaphor in the Bible for the "world" as oppesed to the Church."⁶⁴

It is not clear, however, when the term should be taken litrerally or as a metaphor.

To assist his readers in their understanding of otherwise obscure passages of Scripture, Lindsey also has the tendency to add words to biblical texts which are not there in the original. So, in The Road to Holocaust, for example, where Lindsey is anxious to stress how the promises made in Romans 11 apply to the State of Israel and not merely to Jews generally, Lindsey 'interprets' this passage dispensationally adding the word 'national' to the text.

The whole point of this passage revolves around Israel's being restored to a position of preeminence as a believing nation. This could not be true if those who are converted in the future are made part of the Church, since the national distinction would be lost... The exact meaning of the future 'riches of the world' and of the 'fullness for national Israel' is of utmost importance.⁶⁵

In a quotation of Matthew 24:15-18, Lindsey adds a reference to the rebuilding of the temple, necessary for this prophecy to refer to some future date,

Therefore when you see the Abomination which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place [of the rebuilt temple] (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains...⁶⁶

Lindsey's interpretation of Daniel 11:40-45 is similarly colourful,

This will be the sign that immediately precedes the Russian-led Islamic invasion of Israel... "At the time of the end the King of the South [the Muslim Confederacy] will engage him [the False Prophet of Israel] in battle, and the King of the North [Russia] will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He [the Russian Commander] will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land [Israel]. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon [Jordan] will be delivered from his hand...⁶⁷

Likewise, in quoting Ezekiel 38:15-16, Lindsey adds the word 'Russia' to reinforce his interpretation.

And you (Russia) will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you...⁶⁸

His preoccupation with reading the Soviet Union into Old Testament prophecies leads to some novel definitions of chronology and time. In commenting on Isaiah 10:25, for example, Lindsey insists,

Carefully note also that right after the LORD predicts the restoration of the remnant of Israel and the destruction of the Assyrian enemy (which must be applied to a yet future enemy), He says, 'VERY SOON my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their [Israel's enemies] destruction' (Isaiah 10:25) What the LORD called 'Very soon' has already been some 2700 years.⁶⁹

Lindsey's rather unusual understanding of time also extends to his view of prophecy.

 3. Lindsey's Unconventional View of Prophecy

 Integral to his literalist hermeneutic, Lindsey has largely been responsible for popularising a rather controversial approach to eschatology. In his first work, The Late Great Planet Earth, Lindsey surveys the apparent revival in interest in astrology, spiritualism and clairvoyancy. He then asserts,

However, compared to the speculation of most that is called prophetic today, the Bible contains clear and unmistakable prophetic signs. We are able to see right now in this Best Seller predictions made centuries ago being fulfilled before our eyes. The Bible makes fantastic claims; but these claims are no more startling that those of present day astrologers, prophets and seers. Furthermore, the claims of the Bible have a greater basis in historical evidence and fact.⁷⁰

In his third book, There's A New World Coming: A Prophetic Odessey, published three years later in 1973, Lindsey continues to take a comparative approach to prophecy, likening the claims of the Old Testament prophets to those of the druids of Stonehenge.

Through these stones, 4000 years ago, priests could site the sun, moon and stars and predict with exact accuracy the seasons, sun risings and eclipses of the sun and moon... There have been many, throughout the centuries of man's long history, who have sought to predict the course of human events, but none have had the incredible accuracy of the ancient Hebrew prophets.⁷¹

In 1994, looking back at the popularity of The Late Great Planet Earth, Lindsey challenged his critics,  

Not surprisingly, then, I'll confidently hold up my track record against that of any modern-day astrological charlatan or New Age clairvoyant.⁷²

 
Lindsey appears therefore to believe that predictive accuracy is the hallmark of divinely inspired prophecy. In taking a comparative approach to prophecy he has been criticised for blurring the distinction between biblical and occult sources.⁷³ Ironically, the last chapter of The Late Great Planet Earth is entitled, 'Polishing the Crystal Ball,'⁷⁴ while a paragraph heading in There's a New World Coming, describing the Book of Revelation, is entitled, 'John's Chain of ESP'.⁷⁵

 Lindsey makes a second questionable assumption regarding prophecy. He assumes that biblical prophecy is essentially futuristic and predictive, that is, the foretelling of the future, and the future of the State of Israel, in particular.

The center of the entire prophetic forecast is the State of Israel. Certain events in that nation's recent history prove the accuracy of the prophets. They also force us to accept the fact that the 'countdown' has begun.⁷⁶ The information in the book you're about to read is more up-to-date than tomorrow's newspaper... I think you will be surprised to see what kind of predictions were made almost two thousand years ago!⁷⁷ ...it is intended to analyze what will occur in the decade we have just entered.⁷⁸ The world is spinning out of control - or so it seems. But, as you will discover, everything is in order. God told us these things would happen - in advance...⁷⁹ These weapons are so new, so secret, and so deadly that few people outside of military circles even know such weapons exist. But God knew, and he told Zechariah all about them when he was given details of another, upcoming battle for Jerusalem.⁸⁰

 
Following Darby, Lindsey believes 'prophecy is prewritten history'.⁸¹ In so doing he detaches predictions concerning the future from the covenantal context within which the prophecies were given. Lindsey's view is at variance with the Hebrew prophets who consistently stress that their intention is to call God's people back to the terms of their covenant relationship. Their role was not primarily to reveal arbitrary and otherwise hidden facts about predestined future events.   The prophet speaks the Word of God. He appeals to his people to be true to Yahweh, the God of the covenant... He comes to his people with a threat or with words of comfort. Insofar as his message touches on the future, he does point to events down the road. But the prophet never makes predictions as such. His message is conditional; it is tied in with God's promises, on the one hand, and his threats, on the other.⁸²   Authentic biblical prophecy was always conditional rather than fatalistic and given within the context of the covenant between God and his chosen people. It was the false prophets who flattered the people with promises of peace and prosperity without specifying the covenantal preconditions of repentance and faith.   The true prophets were not concerned with authenticating their prophecies by presenting predictions that came true. In fact, some of the predictions didn't come true at all. When Micah prophesied that Jerusalem would be plowed as a field and turn into a heap of ruins, his words led to repentance under King Hezekiah. As a result, the Lord held back his judgment He had in mind (Mic. 3:12; Jer. 26:17-19).⁸³  Since Lindsey, like other Dispensationalists, believes God gave the Middle East to Abraham's Jewish descendants as an unconditional and everlasting possession, he does not acknowledge a correlation between the prophetic message and covenant relationship. Instead, he understands the prophets to be predicting predetermined events thousands of years later, giving an 'exciting view'⁸⁴ of human destiny.

 Three millenniums of history are strewn with evidence of their prophetic marksmanship and to ignore their incredible predictions of man's destiny and the events which are soon to affect this planet will be perhaps the greatest folly of this generation.⁸⁵ Hal Lindsey claims to have uncovered prophetic puzzles throughout the Bible. Hidden away within these enigmas are specific predictions concerning the present and imminent future. In the wake of the 'Bible Code' debate, Lindsey rewrote There's a New World Coming, renaming it Apocalypse Code claiming to have deciphered, 'long-hidden messages about man's future and the fate of the earth.'⁸⁶ To do so Lindsey performs 'acrobatic stunts',⁸⁷ twisting biblical texts to fit his future scenario, propounding what some critics regard as a 'new form of Christian Gnosticism,'⁸⁸ since only those who read his books will be able to understand them.

Perhaps we could speak of a post-Rapture complex in Lindsey's hermeneutics. As a result of this complex, all sorts of ancient prophecies about nations that have disappeared must be modernized, right down to the weaponry used in warfare... In his books, Hal Lindsey uses Biblical prophecy to open a supermarket in which he sells the curious inside information about the near future, especially World War III.⁸⁹

Responding to criticism that he did not foresee the collapse of Soviet Communism, Lindsey carefully denies that he himself ever claimed to a prophet.⁹⁰ He does, however, confess to making 'a series of predictions'⁹¹ and is happy to quote others who believe he is a prophet. For example, Lindsey allows his publishers to use the accolade of Time magazine that he is "The Jeremiah for this generation.'⁹² Reviewing the prophecies made in The Late Great Planet Earth, 25 years later, Lindsey lists 23 of these predictions and then asks the rhetorical question, 'Did I miss any?'⁹³

The back cover of The Final Battle (1995), which is an amplified and significantly more politicised rewriting of The Late Great Planet Earth, says,

You couldn't get a better picture of what World War III will be like without being bodily transported into the future. Hal Lindsey has done it again! ⁹⁴

  4. The Distinctive Apocalyptic Zionism of Hal Lindsey

The titles of Lindsey's books show an increasingly exaggerated and almost pathological preoccupation with the apocalyptic.⁹⁵

His books are replete with dogmatic and categorical assertions of the imminent destruction of the world.

  We are the generation the prophets were talking about. We have witnessed biblical prophecies come true. The birth of Israel. The decline in American power and morality. The rise of Russian and Chinese might. The threat of war in the Middle East. The increase of earthquakes, volcanoes, famine and drought. The Bible foretells the signs that precede Armageddon... We are the generation that will see the end times... and the return of Jesus.⁹⁶ Lindsey has been described as, 'a long haired reincarnation of Scofield.'⁹⁷

This may be because of the similarities between the pessimistic pronouncements of both authors.

Lindsey's book, The Final Battle, is a good example of "Armageddon Theology". It includes this statement on the cover,

  Never before, in one book, has there been such a complete and detailed look at the events leading up to 'The Battle of Armageddon.'"¹⁰⁰

Lindsey asserts that the world is degenerating and that the forces of evil manifest in godless Communism and militant Islam are the real enemies of Israel. An apocalyptic scenario is predicted, centred upon a great battle at Megiddo between massive continental armies that will attempt but fail to destroy Israel.

Based on his interpretation of Ezekiel 38 & 39, and selective quotations from speculative 19th Century commentators, Lindsey insists the references to Gog, Rosh and Tubal reveal that the chief enemy of Israel in the final days will be Russia.

You need only to take a globe to verify this exact geographical fix. There is only one nation to the 'uttermost north' of Israel - the U.S.S.R... General Dyan's statement that 'The next war will not be with the Arabs but with the Russians' has a considerably deeper significance, doesn't it? Just think for a moment how incredible a thing we are considering here. How could Ezekiel 2600 years ago have forecast so accurately the rise of Russia to its current military might and its direct and obvious designs upon the Middle East, not to mention that fact that it is now an implacable enemy of the new state of Israel? How could men like Chamberlain and Cummings, for that matter, one hundred years ago have so clearly seen the rise of Russia to its present world-threatening position? The answer is again, it seems to this writer, obvious, Ezekiel once again passes 'the test of a prophet'.¹⁰¹
Lindsey offers detailed illustrated plans showing future military movements of armies and naval convoys, including the American 6th Fleet, leading up to the battle of Armageddon.¹⁰² He claims these cataclysmic events indicate the imminent return of Jesus Christ as King of the Jews who will rule the world from the rebuilt Jewish temple on the site of the destroyed Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.¹⁰³

  Lindsey believes that the great battle of Armageddon is imminent and unavoidable. His motive for writing is to shock people into believing in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Only then can they be raptured to heaven and avoid suffering in the coming global holocaust. Like a sinking ship, Lindsey portrays a world in which there is no hope or purpose, other than trying to get off as quickly as possible. There is therefore no point in trying to care for the world or getting involved in charitable or humanitarian work. Every human tragedy, be it earthquake, hurricane or war merely adds to the mounting evidence and proves his contention that the end of the world is nigh.

  You won't find another book quite like this one. We will examine why and how the world is hurtling toward disaster... My background as a student of prophecy allows me to place all this information in perspective in a way that is sure to lead many people to the ultimate truth about the coming global holocaust - and, if they are open, to a wonderful way of escaping it. Read this book. Learn from it. Pass it on to your friends. It may be the last chance some of them will ever have to avoid the horrible fate this book describes.¹⁰⁴

According to Lindsey, the key to deliverance from Armageddon is bound up with God's purposes for, and our attitude toward, the Jews.

  4.1 The Jews of the Bible and the Modern State of Israel

 Lindsey's empathy for the Jews is highlighted in his emotive description of a visit he made to the Western Wall.

The wall is a symbol of the unity of the Jews as a race and of their ancient ties to God. Even battle-hardened soldiers wept when they first approached the wall. I stood by many a Jew when he first touched the wall, and all have felt that at last they had come home. So did I.¹⁰⁵

He also claims to have been motivated by concern for the Jews in writing his first book,

In writing The Late Great Planet Earth, I had the Jews constantly in mind. I prayerfully and deliberately sought to present my prophetic case in such a way that it would especially appeal to them. It has been published in more than fifty foreign editions and has been instrumental all around the world in bringing tens of thousands of Jews to faith in Jesus as their Messiah. I run into them everywhere. They continue to write to me from virtually every part of the world. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, was reading it shortly before he died. Since everything in his room has been kept the way it was before he died, a copy of The Late Great Planet Earth remains on his desk. A friend of mine who is one of Israel's top military commanders passed out hundreds of copies of the Hebrew translation to the Israeli Defence forces, even though he personally hasn't as yet believed in Jesus as the Messiah.¹⁰⁶

Lindsey's sympathies clearly lie with the State of Israel rather than with her Arab neighbours, the Palestinians, or even with the ancient indigenous Christian community of Israel and the Occupied Territories. Under a heading 'Why the Bias?' Lindsey insists,

Because Israel is a pro-Western, democratic nation committed to the ideals of free speech and press, there is good access for journalists... And because Israel is a staunch U.S. Ally, it is always under the microscope... This kind of distortion and bias has placed Israel center stage in the court of world opinion and helped to make the Jewish state something of a pariah nation. Funny, how that's just what the Bible predicted for Israel in the last days.¹⁰⁷

Lamenting the isolation the United States experiences in the United Nations when vetoing repeated censure motions against Israel, Lindsey points out,  

Up to the time of the 1991 Madrid Conference, the Arabs were 'called upon' to 'comply,' 'desist,' 'refrain' etc. four times. Israel was 'demanded,' ordered,' etc. to do General Assembly bidding three hundred and five times. The UN voted six hundred and five resolutions between its inception and the Gulf War. Four hundred and twenty nine of those resolutions, or, sixty-two percent of the total of the UN's resolutions were against Israel or its interests.¹⁰⁸

Israeli society is far from homogeneous politically. While the majority of secular Jews favour a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, Lindsey identifies with the fundamentalist settlers and political far right.

...it was a pity that Israel chose to recognize, negotiate and compromise with sworn enemy and terrorist Yasser Arafat... It was a risky tactic - one fraught with danger not only for the Jewish state but for the entire world. The stage is now set for the kind of explosive developments students of Bible prophecy have long anticipated. What the Israelis have actually done by establishing autonomous Arab states in Jericho and Gaza is to create the kind of bridgehead in Israel that Arafat has, until now, only dreamed about.¹⁰⁹
Lindsey's preoccupation with Israel is largely due to his dispensational presuppositions which distinguish Israel from the Church in the present and future purposes of God, although the origins of this theological position are never discussed, nor attributed in any of his writings apart from three pages in his latest book.¹¹⁰

Like other dispensationalists, Lindsey insists that the promises of blessing and protection made to Abraham are unconditional and eternal and that it is specifically the State of Israel rather than merely people of Jewish descent who are the beneficiaries today.

There has been much infidelity in Jewish history, and their present worldwide dispersion and persecution have been their divine discipline. However, God made unconditional promises of eternal blessings to the Jewish patriarchs and will someday restore the Jews to a position of special favour with Himself... God has promised never to abandon His chosen people, no matter how despicably they treat Him (Romans 11:1,2). The divine hand of protection of the Jews during their recent Six-Day War was just a token of that protective care.¹¹¹ ...God clearly reveals that the tree into which we Gentiles have been grafted contrary to nature is still the Jew's own olive tree. The simple meaning of this is that the covenants are still valid to the physical race of Israel. Their fulfilment only awaits that predicted time when God will bring them back to faith again.¹¹²

Rather than apply these ancient promises to the Jewish people generally, Lindsey quite specifically, and increasingly more explicitly, applies them to the State of Israel and Israeli citizens.

The God of Israel has sworn in the prophecies that He will not forsake the Israelis, nor let them be destroyed.¹¹³ To Israel as a nation were made unique promises... All other nations received blessings only through Israel. They were the only nation that was promised a specific plot of land, a city, and a kingdom on an earth from which the original curse would be removed.¹¹⁴ Unless one goes off into allegorical la-la land, these prophecies literally demand a National restoration of Israel as a distinct and unique believing Nation in the future kingdom.¹¹⁵
To reinforce the link with the Jews of the Old Testament, in his later books, Lindsey increasingly refers to Israeli citizens as 'Israelites'¹¹⁶ as well, the land as 'Judea and Samaria'¹¹⁷

One of Lindsey's strongest critics is David Chilton. With regard to the promise in Romans 11 that many Jews would recognise Jesus as their Messiah, Chilton insists,

The Bible promises the restoration of Israel as a people, but not necessarily as a State; nothing requires that the two must go together. Even assuming, that there is still a State of Israel when the Jews are converted, Israel would simply be one Christian nation among many, with no special standing. The people of genetic Israel will be part of the covenantal tree of life, but there is no longer any religious significance belonging to Palestine.¹¹⁸

To even classical dispensationalists, such as Schuyler English, who revised the Scofield Reference Bible in 1967, Israel as a State has no prophetic significance during the 'church age' until after the so-called 'rapture'.

An intercalary period of history, after Christ's death and resurrection and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 has intervened. This is the present age. During this time God has not been dealing with Israel nationally, for they have been blinded concerning God's mercy in Christ... However, God will again deal with Israel as a nation. This will be in Daniel's seventieth week, a seven-year period yet to come.¹¹⁹

Daniel 9:24-27 states,

"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

25"Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."  

Lindsey believes,  

...this amazing prediction of the future events of Israel's career sets forth a divinely ordained time period of 'seventy weeks' of years (490 years) in which God would, in specific ways, deal with the sin of the nation, bring in everlasting righteousness, and send the Messiah to the world. This allotted time period was like a great divine 'time-clock'... Countdown began clicking off April, 444 B.C.E... Then Daniel predicted a strange thing. He said that after sixty-nine weeks of years (483 years) had clicked off on this allotment of time, the Messiah of Israel would be revealed to the Jews and then killed, and the city of Jerusalem and their Temple would be destroyed and their 490 year special time allotment would be temporarily cut short by 7 years...

Jesus himself had thoroughly studied this prophecy of Daniel and related its meaning to his disciples... Then he added something which Daniel hadn't predicted, but Moses had: '...Jerusalem would be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled' (Luke 21:23, 24)... For nearly two thousand years now, this prophecy has been a horrible reality in the life of God's chosen people... Even though Israel is now partially back in her ancient homeland, she isn't at peace with the world around her...

We have one thing to give substance to our hope for Israel. We know that God will never break a promise and He still owes Israel seven years of her allotted 490 years in which to bring about righteousness in her land and purge her people of sin. Then God's Messiah will come again to Israel and give to those of His chosen people and the world who receive Him, the Kingdom of God which He promised so long ago.¹²⁰

Lindsey does not explain how he fits the nearly 1878 year gap between 70 A.D. and 1948 into Daniel 9:24-27. The seven years he claims is still 'allotted' to Israel during which they will be 'purged' is actually a euphemism for the 'tribulation' in which Lindsey believes many Israelis will suffer and die in the nuclear war of Armageddon. In order to strengthen his argument that the prophets predicted the restoration of Israel in 1948, Lindsey believes that Moses predicted two separate destructions of Israel in Deuteronomy 28:49-52 and 28:62-66. The passages actually state,

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Deut. 28:49-52)

You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods--gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. (Deut. 28:62-66)  

Lindsey claims these verses teach that,

  Just before the Hebrews conquered the Promised Land, Moses predicted that Israel would twice be destroyed as a nation and twice be driven out of the land because of persistent unbelief. He also predicted that the first destruction and dispersion would come by the hand of one mighty nation. He specifically predicted that in this dispersion the Israelites would be taken captive into this one invading nation (Deuteronomy 28:49-57). This prophecy was fulfilled when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C. And took the survivors back to Babylon as slaves (2 Chronicles 36:9-21)...

When Moses predicted the second destruction of the nation, he warned that the second dispersion would be much more extensive and severe than the first... This part of Moses' prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Titus and the Roman Tenth Legion crushed Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and scattered the surviving Jews throughout the known world... Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Zechariah and many other prophets predicted Israel's second restoration as a nation in the 'latter days'. They predicted that the Jews would return to their ancient homeland after a long and terrible dispersion among the nations, and that they would miraculously become a nation again (Ezekiel 36, 37). The most important factor in these prophecies is that God promises the Jews that once they have returned in the second restoration, their nation will never be destroyed again.¹²¹

Lindsey neglects to point out that the warnings uttered by Moses in Deuteronomy 28 were not predictions of future events but conditional warnings, dependent on whether the Israelites kept the covenant. In between the two selective passages which Lindsey highlights, Moses also warned that the Israelites would suffer all the plagues witnessed in Egypt if they were disobedient, something Lindsey conveniently ignores.

More significantly, the passages Lindsey quotes do not actually specify that the Israelites will be taken captive 'into this one invading nation', nor that two distinct dispersions would occur. The reference in Deuteronomy 28:63-66 which Lindsey claims predicts a second universal exile actually goes on two verses later to indicate that Egypt, still a feared and great power in Moses day, would be their return destination. Lindsey's insistence on two dispersions is itself a very selective reading of Jewish history ignoring the earlier Assyrian conquest of Tiglath-Pileser in 721 B.C. when the ten tribes of the Northern kingdom were deported and absorbed into other parts of the Assyrian Empire.

Instead of following the position of Schuyler English and other traditional dispensationalists, Lindsey develops his own innovative scheme claiming that there is great significance in the events of 1948 and especially 1967. He insists, 'The center of the entire prophetic forecast is the State of Israel,'¹²² and Israel is the 'center of world destiny.' ¹²³

Lindsey's entire reading of the Bible and of contemporary events in the world are shaped by this conviction and perspective.

In 1970, in The Late Great Planet Earth, under the sub-title 'Keys to the Prophetic Puzzle', Lindsey explained why his interpretation of contemporary events concerning Israel is more reliable than previous attempts. Then in 1980 Lindsey reiterated this conviction more dogmatically, insisting the 'rebirth' of Israel to be the only 'sign' that the 'countdown' to Armageddon had begun.

Lindsey bases his interpretation of contemporary events largely on the prophecies of Ezekiel 37-39, and, in particular, the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Most commentators see in these chapters the promise of the return of the remnant from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah.¹²⁶

Lindsey, however, chooses instead to apply them to 1948 and 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem.

Some 2600 years ago Ezekiel showed that the Jewish nation would be reborn after a long world-wide dispersion, but before the coming of the Messiah...¹²⁷ Ezekiel 37:7-8... Is phase one of the prophecy which predicts the PHYSICAL RESTORATION of the Nation without Spiritual life which began May 14, 1948... Ezekiel 37:9-10... Is phase two of the prophecy which predicts the SPIRITUAL REBIRTH of the nation AFTER they are physically restored to the land as a nation... The Lord identifies the bones in the allegory as representing 'the whole house of Israel.' It is crystal clear that this is literally predicting the restoration and rebirth of the whole nation at the time of Messiah's coming [Ezekiel 37:21-27].¹²⁸

In like manner, where first Century Christians understood Jesus to be warning them to flee Jerusalem because of its imminent destruction, Lindsey claims that Jesus was actually predicting the restoration of the Jews to Palestine in the 20th Century.

But the most important sign in Matthew has to be the restoration of the Jews to the land in the rebirth of Israel. Even the figure of speech 'fig tree' has been a historic symbol of national Israel. When the Jewish people, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, under relentless persecution, became a nation again on 14 May 1948 the 'fig tree' put forth its first leaves.¹²⁹
Nothing, however, in Matthew 24:32 indicates that Jesus intended his hearers to understand that he was promising Israel would become a nation once more. The New Testament is silent on the question of whether the Jews would ever become a national state again. Nevertheless, Lindsey has popularised the notion that the return of Jewish people to Palestine since 1948 is the fulfilment of biblical prophecy. Lindsey speaks repeatedly of the 'rebirth'¹³⁰

of Israel, insisting,

The nation of Israel cannot be ignored; we see the Jews as a miracle of history.'¹³¹ ...all the unconditional covenants... Were made only with the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as a unique nation.¹³²

This logic leads Lindsey to suggest that had the Jewish people accepted Jesus as their Messiah, the rest of the world would not have been offered the Gospel.

The Gospel and the age of grace would not have come to us Gentiles unless Israel had fallen into unbelief.¹³³

Aware of criticism of attempts to apply biblical prophecy to contemporary events, Lindsey qualifies his own particular interpretation, but in so doing advocates both a massive secularisation of biblical prophecy as well as a questionable 'second chance' way of salvation for the Jews.

Right here a careful distinction must be made between 'the physical restoration' to the land of Palestine as a nation, which clearly occurs shortly before the Messiah's coming and the 'spiritual restoration' of all Jews who have believed in the Messiah just after His return to this earth. The 'physical restoration' is accomplished by unbelieving Jews through their human effort. As a matter of fact, the great catastrophic events which are to happen to this nation during 'the tribulation' are primarily designed to shock the people into believing in their true Messiah (Ezekiel 38; 39).¹³⁴

In The Road to Holocaust, Lindsey draws a distinction between those who are Jews racially and religiously from those who are regenerate Jews, claiming only the latter are God's chosen people.

The Regenerate Israelite has always been the True Israelite. This group combines together both the racial and spiritual factors that the Bible describes as 'the remnant of Israel.'... The Bible reveals the insufficiency of being only a racial and religious Jew... The Bible has always taught that only the racial Jew who is born spiritually is a true Israelite and heir to the eternal promises... And that they continue to be God's special people.¹³⁵

Lindsey does not accept that the privileged status of covenant people was taken away from the Jews at some time between Pentecost and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. Based on his interpretation of Romans 11, Lindsey argues, in line with classical dispensationalism, that the Church will be replaced by Israel as the people of God on earth,

...at some point in history - very soon, I believe - God's special focus and blessing is going to shift back to the Jews. At that moment, the Jews will once again be responsible, as God's representatives, to take His message to the whole world. This mission - incomplete and seemingly impossible for the last 2,000 years - will be accomplished by the 144,000 Jewish Billy Graham's in seven years.¹³⁶

In his latest work, Lindsey continues to insist on a radical distinction between the church and Israel.

He redeemed the Church (both Jew and Gentile who trusted in Him) at the Cross. That is an accomplished fact. Israel's national redemption in accordance with the Abrahamic covenant takes place at the Second Advent.¹³⁷

An alternative reading of the New Testament would suggest that, while the apostles Peter and Paul could appeal to the historical link between the Jews and their privileges (Acts 3:25; Romans 9:4-5, 11:28), time was running out and that there was a limit to that appeal. In the plan of redemptive history, the rejection of the Messiah by the majority of Jewish people led to their rejection under the terms of the covenant. In Acts 3:22-23 Peter applies the Mosaic warning of Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and Leviticus 23:29 to his generation and makes their response to Jesus Christ the critical test.

For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' (Acts 3:22-23)  

Likewise, Paul explains how only those who believe in Jesus Christ, including both Jews and Gentiles, are now the true children of Abraham.

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." (Romans 4:13-17)  

Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:6-9)  

The New Testament therefore insists on a limited time when the initial offer of salvation would be made to the Jews as the chosen people of God. This was probably confined to the generation that witnessed the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Failure to respond to the claims of Christ led to the removal of the covenant status and privileges from the Jewish people and their application to the Church (1 Peter 2:9-10). Paul goes so far as to describe the consequences as a complete reversal of the status of Jews and Gentiles. 'Jerusalem' symbolic of the Jews who had rejected Jesus Christ were now regarded as the offspring of Hagar not Sarah.  

²⁴These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother... ²⁸Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise... ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." ³¹Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:24-31)  

Ignoring the flow of redemptive history, the status of Israel under the terms of the Hebrew covenant, and ultimately the impact of their rejection of Jesus Christ, Lindsey applies conditional and superseded Old Testament promises made to Israel, at times to the contemporary State of Israel and on other occasions to Jews who believe in Jesus as their Messiah. This ambivalence is perpetuated in Lindsey's speculations concerning which, and how many, Israelis will survive the war of Armageddon, explored later.  

4.2 The Territorial Extent of Eretz Israel  

Christian Zionists clearly see the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 as highly significant, signalling the end of 2000 years of exile. They have therefore actively encouraged Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe to make Aliya, seeing this as another 'Exodus.'¹³⁸

The settlement and integration of the Occupied Territories within Eretz Israel, now imbued with the evocative biblical names of 'Judea and Samaria', is deemed essential to maintain Israeli security as well as to fulfil the land promise made to Abraham and his descendants. In this Lindsey was the first and probably most successful to popularise a Christian Zionist reading of Scripture and contemporary events since 1967.

What the average Israeli understands-in part because their sons and fathers and brothers fought to gallantly to gain this high ground-is this... Giving away the Golan Heights might be enough to cause a political uprising among the Israeli people. But if it isn't, surely concessions that involve Judea and Samaria would be. There are 100,000 Jewish settlers living in these lands now. They are biblically Jewish lands. To evacuate Jews from them would be an enormous psychological blow to the whole concept of Jewish nationhood. Frankly, such an attempt might be enough to trigger a civil war.¹³⁹ And God has promised the land of Israel to the Jews forever. Period.¹⁴⁰

Lindsey is at his most critical when contemplating the implications of a 'land for peace' resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

If Israel would just give the Palestinians a homeland, the Arabs would be satisfied and peace would reign. If you believe that, I have some lakefront property in the Sahara Desert I'd like to sell you.¹⁴¹

Having listed the various military threats Israel faces from Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and other Arab nations, Lindsey finds negotiation incomprehensible.

...despite all of these facts, Israel has still agreed to give up more occupied land in the Gaza strip and Jericho and is discussing turning over more strategic territory in Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights. This series of developments was enough to make the most confident warriors scared.¹⁴² With its all-consuming desire for peace at any price, Israel has now placed itself in an indefensible position.¹⁴³

Speaking of the Wye, Oslo and Hebron Accords, Lindsey offers this pessimistic assessment.

Basically, the agreement calls for Israel to surrender more land in exchange for Arafat's promises to abide by the agreements he has already signed. Something for less than nothing is the best way to term it.¹⁴⁴ 'Land for Peace!' Is the cry heard 'round the world. In 1993 we saw Israel bullied and blackmailed into turning over more land to the Arabs - this time to its sworn enemy, the terrorist Yasser Arafat. Objective military and intelligence say any more land concessions would be strategically foolhardy... Further land concessions would leave Israel with indefensible borders and no effective conventional deterrent against attack. The world should take note that if it stands by and lets Israel be over run, the Samson Option is still very much in readiness... Does the world really want to force Israel to rely exclusively on nuclear weapons for its defence? ¹⁴⁵

Although the rhetorical answer is presumably 'no,' Lindsey predicts, yet again, an apocalyptic scenario.

There is no question, in reviewing Bible prophecy, that a cataclysmic, apocalyptic war will engulf the Mideast prior to the return of Jesus Christ. In this nuclear age, it makes sense to us that the mass annihilation we read about might be the result of a nuclear exchange. Because the Bible talks about mass destruction by fire, this scenario seems to make sense. 'And I will send fire on Magog [Russia],' Ezekiel recorded. If faced with annihilation you can count on Israel to protect its civilian population by any means necessary... Its clear that the Bible can't be talking about any other time in history but today.¹⁴⁶

Quoting a defence expert, Joseph De Courcy, Lindsey insists,

The absolute minimum territory Israel requires to deter war is the territory it is controlling today... If Israel gives back Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, it woill simply no longer be able to defend itself against the Muslim nations with conventional weapons.¹⁴⁷

4.3 The Significance of Jerusalem

Lindsey insists that the occupation of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967 by the Jews was another significant sign of the imminent return of the Messiah, since unfulfilled prophecies concerning the Jewish people must occur within the ancient city.

Jerusalem's importance in history is infinitely beyond its size and economic significance. From ages past, Jerusalem has been the most important city on this planet... More prophecies have been made concerning Jerusalem than any other place on earth.¹⁴⁸

He concedes that the status of Jerusalem is contested, claiming, in the context of the Oslo Peace Accord,

The Arabs still demand Jerusalem as the ransom price for any lasting peace. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu went on record in Washington repeating his promise that Jerusalem will never be divided.¹⁴⁹

Nevertheless, Lindsey insists, pessimistically, Arab aspirations are futile.

As the Bible tells us, the dispute over Jerusalem and Israel's borders will never be settled by any peace agreements nor any whiz-bang diplomatic breakthrough. Jerusalem, the Bible says, will be a stumbling block for the entire world... In Luke 21:24, the Bible tells us that 'Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.' We are literally witnessing the end of the times of the Gentiles.¹⁵⁰

A year later, Lindsey is more specific and emphatic in his dispensational timing,

We are literally witnessing the last hours of the times of the Gentiles. God's focus is shifting back to His people Israel.¹⁵¹
Lindsey interprets the prophecies of Zechariah 12-14 as foretelling events that are about to happen including a fearful siege of Jerusalem by the Soviet army.¹⁵²
It is clear from these chapters that the Jews would have to be dwelling in and have possession of the ancient city of Jerusalem at the time of the Messiah's triumphant advent.¹⁵³ There couldn't be a more perfect modern-day description of what was predicted hundreds of years ago in Zechariah 12-14. There it tells us that the last war of the world will be started by a dispute over Jerusalem. We've got that dispute right now. As a matter of fact, the West helped guaranty the world a dispute over Jerusalem by forcing the Israelis into a pact with the Palestinians.¹⁵⁴

How much of Jerusalem will be left standing when Jesus returns is a matter of speculation, given Lindsey's terrifying description of the war of Armageddon.

The Bible also makes clear that Jerusalem - the focal point of the endtimes fighting - will be vanquished by Israel's enemies in the hours just before the Lord comes. In fact, it seems that the destruction of the holy city is the final straw that angers God and provokes Jesus' return.¹⁵⁵

He nevertheless looks forward to a better day after Armageddon, when, during the Millennium,

Jerusalem will be the spiritual centre of the entire world... all people of the earth will come annually to worship Jesus who will rule there.¹⁵⁶

4.4 The Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple

Right now, as you read this, preparations are being made to rebuild the Third Temple.¹⁵⁷

Lindsey not only regards the founding of the State of Israel and capture of Jerusalem as the fulfilment of biblical prophecy but insists, controversially, that the Jewish Temple must also be rebuilt. Initially, in 1970, he insisted this would have to be in place of the Dome of the Rock.

There remains but one more event to completely set the stage for Israel's part in the last great act of her historical drama. This is to rebuild the ancient Temple of worship upon its old site... There is one major problem barring the construction of a third Temple. That obstacle is the second holiest place of the Moslem faith, the Dome of the Rock. This is believed to be built squarely in the middle of the old temple site. Obstacle or no obstacle, it is certain that the Temple will be rebuilt. Prophecy demands it.¹⁵⁸ This quote reveals Lindsey's basic ignorance of Islam. The Temple Mount on which the Dome of the Rock and Alaqsa Mosque are built constitutes the third most holy shrine to Moslems after Medina and Mecca not the second as Lindsey erroneously asserts here and repeats later in There's a New World Coming.¹⁵⁹

Dispensationalists like Lindsey believe in the imminent rebuilding of the Temple based on the somewhat enigmatic passage of Daniel 9:24-27. The sanctuary already appears to have been destroyed in verse 26 yet sacrifices are brought to an end in verse 27 and then the 'abomination that causes desolation' desecrates the Temple.

After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." (Daniel 9:26-27)  

On the basis of a rather tenuous interpretation, Lindsey confidently argues,  

This prophecy speaks of sacrifice and offerings which demand that the Jews rebuild the Temple for the third time upon its original site. At that point, Judaism and Islam will be placed on an inevitable course of war over the site, a war that will start Armageddon. Many prophecies demand rebuilding of the ancient Temple, indicating that the event is a significant prophetic sign (see Matthew 24:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4). Therefore any move toward that direction is a crucial clue to what hour it is on God's prophetic timetable.¹⁶⁰

Lindsey insists Jesus concurred with this interpretation.

Of course, for Temple rites to be stopped in the last days, we know they must be restarted. The words of Jesus Himself in Matthew 24:15 require that a new holy place be built and a complete sacrificial system re-instituted. And since only a consecrated temple can be defiled, this prophecy shows that the physical Temple must not only be rebuilt, but a functioning priesthood must begin practising once again.¹⁶¹

He also sees evidence for the rebuilding of the Temple in the instructions given to the Apostle John to measure the Temple in Revelation 11:1-2.

The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation about the year A.D. 95. This means that the Temple... was non-existent for the twenty-five years preceding John's writing... What Temple, then, was John referring to? There can be only one answer - a yet-to-be-built structure!¹⁶²
Lindsey quotes Israel Eldad, an Israeli historian, who claims that devout Jews, 'some of whom are in powerful positions in the Israeli government' expect the Dome of the Rock to be destroyed, whether by natural or supernatural intervention, and the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt very soon after.¹⁶³

Lindsey quotes Eldad again three years later,

"When the Jewish people took over Jerusalem the first time, under King David, only one generation passed before they built the Temple, and so it shall be with us." When asked about the problem of the Dome of the Rock being on the Jewish Temple site, he replied with a wink, "Who knows, perhaps there will be an earthquake!" What Eldad said in jest may be just the thing that will happen.¹⁶⁴

Clearly, in 1970, Lindsey believed that the Dome of the Rock would need to be destroyed in order for the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt. He even appeared to know the exact location of the former structure.

Archaeologists have uncovered a pillar from Solomon's porch as the first major find from the Herodian Temple. From its location in relation to the Wailing Wall they have now ascertained where the ancient Holy of Holies in the Temple was located. Imagine my emotions as I stood under a sign at the Wall which read in Hebrew: 'Holy of Holies, 10 Metres,' with an arrow pointing towards a spot thirty feet behind the existing Wall in the direction of the Dome of the Rock!¹⁶⁵

By 1983 Lindsey had changed his mind about the location of the Herodian Temple. Based apparently on the findings of a 16 year investigation undertaken by Dr Kaufman of the Hebrew University and published in the Biblical Archaeology Review, Lindsey now claimed,

I also believe that this discovery has accelerated the countdown to the events that will bring the Messiah Jesus back to earth. The reason for this belief is that the predicted Third Temple can now be built without disturbing the Dome of the Rock. ...the Temple and its immediate guard wall could be rebuilt and still be twenty-six meters away from the Dome of the Rock. ¹⁶⁶

Having discovered the true site of the Herodian Temple, in 1980 Lindsey proceeded to find scriptural verification for this new location.

Revelation chapter 11 indicates this very situation: 'I was given a reed like a measuring rod and told, 'Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshippers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.'' (Revelation 11:1,2 NIV). The outer court, which includes the area where the Dome of the Rock is situated, was given to the Gentiles. So this prophecy accurately reflects the situation that is present today... All of these things are tremendously exciting to those who know Bible prophecy. We are literally in the very last days of the Church Age. The Temple will be rebuilt soon!¹⁶⁷

In 1994, Lindsey heightened speculation still further with the following assertion.

I remember my whole body tingling with excitement when I measured the distances on the Temple platform and realized that God had left out the outer court because it allowed for the Gentile temple to remain alongside the rebuilt Jewish Temple during the Tribulation. Folks, the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, can already be heard as He approaches the doors of heaven to return. The Temple is the last sign that needs to fall into place before events irreversibly speed toward the return of Jesus.¹⁶⁸
Despite being aware of the hypersensitivity felt by Moslems about the Temple Mount area and their justifiable fear that Jewish and Christian fundamentalists might try to destroy it again,¹⁶⁹ Lindsey assumes that, since a Jewish Temple could now be built alongside the Dome of the Rock, the Moslem authorities would tolerate this, so that the Jewish Temple could become 'the greatest tourist attraction in the world'.¹⁷⁰
But lets think even more practically. Not only would the Temple become a unifying force for Israel's diverse and pluralistic society, it would also, without doubt, become the greatest tourist attraction in the world. Its basic economics. Imagine what a new Temple would do for the Israeli economy, which relies so heavily on tourism. The Temple would also serve to attract more Jews from all over the world-and... The Bible tells us that eventually all of the dispersed will return to their homeland. The Temple would serve as a kind of spiritual magnet. This, too, would fit into the prophetic scenario, which indicates that Israel is destined to play a major role in the world and experience vast wealth, power and prestige in the last days. Why else would the Antichrist choose to set up his throne in Jerusalem unless Israel had moved center stage in the world's political and economic picture.¹⁷¹

Lindsey points to the existence of two talmudic schools training some 200 Levite priests and the accumulation of vessels and clothing necessary to perform sacrifices, as further proof of the imminent plans to rebuild the Temple.

Near the site of the Temple, the seminary of Aterat Kohanim (Glory of the Priests) is reviving an extinct class of Jewish priests and their servants known as Levites so they will be ready when the ancient prophecies are fulfilled and the Temple, twice destroyed, is rebuilt.¹⁷²

Lindsey's belief in the imminent rebuilding of the Temple is reinforced by his understanding of Jesus' words in Matthew 24.

Jesus Christ predicted an event which would trigger a time of unparalleled catastrophe for the Jewish nation shortly before His second coming... With the Jewish nation reborn in the land of Palestine, ancient Jerusalem once again under total Jewish control for the first time in 2600 years, and talk of rebuilding the great Temple, the most important sign of Jesus Christ's soon coming is before us... It is like the key piece of a jigsaw puzzle being found... For all those who trust in Jesus Christ, it is a time of electrifying excitement.¹⁷³

Although Lindsey's speculations are popular and have an immediacy in terms of interpreting contemporary events, they bear little relation to the events described in Matthew 24. Many commentators note that the predictions of Jesus were fulfilled in the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. when Jewish Zealots desecrated the temple using it as a fortress against the Romans. Eusebius, for example, the 4th Century Bishop and historian refers to the eye witness accounts of Josephus, the Jewish historian of the 1st Century, to show how these predictions of Jesus had already been fulfilled.

It is fitting to add to these accounts the true prediction of our Saviour in which he foretold these very events.¹⁷⁴
Lindsey ignores this historical position preferring to interpret Matthew 24 as prophecy still awaiting fulfilment. So when Jesus promised these events would be witnessed by 'this generation'¹⁷⁵, Lindsey understands 'this' to be his own generation.¹⁷⁶

There is no room for negotiation or debate on this issue, Lindsey is emphatic.

So the rebuilding of the Temple is significant not only because of the potential firestorm it will create between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East. It is also a critical development in the entire prophetic scenario. The Bible makes it clear that in the last days the Antichrist will establish his reign in the Temple of Jerusalem. Therefore, the Temple must and will be rebuilt.¹⁷⁷

4.5 The Implacable Enemies of Israel: Communists and Moslems  

Lindsey claims biblical warrant for his hostility toward Communism and Islam.  

Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah all said that a nation to the extreme north of Israel would achieve great influence and become a threat to the whole world. They said this power would be Israel's mortal enemy. The prophets predicted that this nation would launch an all-out land and sea attack on Israel, the Arab nations and the continent of Africa. This country, Bible scholars agree, is the Soviet Union. A line drawn due north of Israel crosses only one land mass - Russia. And the three tribes Ezekiel predicted would people the nation to the north are in fact the ancestors of today's Russians. Throughout its history, the single most consistent motive of the Soviet Union's military invasions has been the acquisition of warm water ports for its merchant and naval fleets. ¹⁷⁸ As previously quoted the Russians will make both an amphibious and land invasion of Israel. The current build-up of Russian ships in the Mediterranean serves as another significant sign of the possible nearness of Armageddon.¹⁷⁹

Lindsey's speculations concerning Russia show remarkable similarity to those of earlier Dispensationalists such as Arno Gaebelein.

  Attempting to keep pace with the dramatic geo-political changes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Lindsey insisted in 1981 and 1994 that his shifting views of Russia, were nevertheless both predicted in the Bible.

While at the time believing Russia had a preordained destiny to dominate the world, attack Israel and precipitate a nuclear holocaust, in 1980 Lindsey nevertheless berated successive American governments for allowing the Russians to gain this military superiority. He does not explain how on the one hand he believed this to be the fulfilment of biblical prophecy yet 'incomprehensible'.

The United States was far ahead in the nuclear arms race until the end of the 1960's. Then the situation began to change rapidly. The change occurred because of the U.S. leadership's almost unbelievable misreading of the Soviet goals and intentions. In light of the clearly-stated communist goal of world domination and their constant efforts to attain that status, it is incomprehensible to me that America allowed the Russians to take the lead in the arms race. To understand how the U.S. slipped into this perilous position we must review some recent history.¹⁸⁵
Lindsey provides five pages of graphs to show how Russia had by the 1980's gained military superiority over the United States in conventional forces, tactical aircraft, military personnel, combat ships, tanks, artillery, anti-ballistic missiles, interceptor aircraft, strategic bombers and nuclear warheads.¹⁸⁶

Lindsey laments,

Beginning with President Kennedy, each U.S. Administration has grossly misjudged the goals of the Soviet Union and communism in general. Each successive administration has hoped that its own example of fairness and good will toward the world would somehow encourage the communists to abandon their drive toward world domination.¹⁸⁷

Lindsey repeats this inexplicable contradiction, one the one hand criticising the U.S. Government for allowing the Russians to gain superiority, while at the same time claiming this to be their divinely determined destiny.

In carefully researching this chapter, one thing came through with sickening clarity: The foreign policies of the western nations, especially the U.S., have done more to aid the tremendous buildup of Soviet power than has any other single factor... The Soviet Union and its satellites have now reached the position of military superiority and strategic world power to fulfill their predicted dreadful role in history. The pages of Ezekiel's and Daniel's prophecies are beginning to look like today's headlines.¹⁸⁸

With the demise of the Soviet empire, Lindsey's predictions appeared more like 'yesterdays' headlines. Nevertheless, in 1994, despite the fall of the Communist government, Lindsey continued to speculate a possible revival of the Russian threat.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, I criticized Ronald Reagan and George Bush for making foreign policy based on the life and health of one man - Mikhail Gorbachev. It is even more true today that the United States is taking a great gamble - because of its rapid savaging of our whole military-industrial complex - that Boris Yeltsin will prevail and turn Russia permanently away from its expansionist, imperialist dreams. That's a gamble, by the way, that the Bible prophecies hint may lead to our destruction.¹⁸⁹

By 1995, just a year later, Lindsey was now extolling Reagan's foreign policy and denying that it was ever predicted in Scripture that the Soviet Union would gain world domination.

In fact, the Soviet Union was on the verge of dominating the world militarily in the period leading up to 1985... Fortunately, a confident and bold leader, Ronald Reagan, was elected president of the United States and set in place policies which resulted in a series of reversals - militarily and economic - for the Soviet Union. I believe God's providential hand was working behind the scenes because it was never on the cards for the Kremlin to rule the world.¹⁹⁰
With the gradual demise of Russia as a world power, and the disintegration of her communist empire, Lindsey began to switch his emphasis to Islam as the real threat to Israel and world peace.¹⁹¹

It is interesting to observe this transition.

Throughout his books, but increasingly in the latter editions, Lindsey denigrates Arabs generally and Palestinians, in particular. He appears to show little understanding or compassion for their plight. Instead he offers a novel reinterpretation of the events of 1948.

Although the new Israeli government pleaded with them to stay and fight together for a common homeland, all but a handful crossed over into Jordan to wait for total victory against the Jews.¹⁹⁶ The Palestinians are determined to trouble the world until they repossess what they feel is their land.¹⁹⁷ While it is true that "the Palestinian issue" is a mere mirage, an excuse for hating Jews and Israel and turning the world against them, it is also true that the radical Islamic world will never accept the existence of the Jewish state no matter what concessions it makes toward peace.¹⁹⁸ ...there is no such thing as Palestine.¹⁹⁹ ...the Palestinians who have attempted to usurp control ovewr a city that holds no genuine significance for them and a land they never particularly wanted until the Jews occupied it again.²⁰⁰

Lindsey's antipathy toward Islam, expressed in quite inflammatory remarks, is typical of Christian Zionism generally.

  'All Moslems see Israel as their enemy'²⁰¹

The Arab nations are united in their fanatical obsession to destroy Israel.²⁰²
The Arab nations consider it a matter of racial honour to destroy the State of Israel.²⁰³ The Middle East is a powder keg, all right. But its not because of Israeli policies. Islam, with its grand and global ambitions - not Israel - is the culprit.²⁰⁴ There will be no peace in the Middle East as long as the world entertains the Arab's fanciful visions of dividing and conquering Jerusalem. Peace would only be possible, if, by some miracle, the Arabs realized that their ambitions for military and economic hegemony over Israel were delusional. Don't hold your breath... the Arab world has been successful at framing the debate over the Middle East as a struggle between downtrodden Palestinians and powerful, heavily armed Jews...²⁰⁵ Agreements in the Arab nations don't mean the same thing they mean in the Judeo-Christian world. Islam not only has a track record of re-interpreting, denouncing and reversing settlements, such actions are actua