The Late Great Planet Earth: Revisited
I was rummaging through some old boxes over
the weekend and came across my copy of Hal
Lindsey's monumental work, The Late Great
Planet Earth (LGPE).
I thought it would be interesting to see how Hal's
opinion on eschatological events has done over
the last 20 years since its original publication. I
know when I became a Christian in the early
'70s, LGPE was almost required reading among
Christians on college campuses. Everyone was so
sure that the rapture was just around the corner
that we would read our Bible with The New York Times in one hand
and LGPE in the other.
What's so special about these days we live in? As you may know, it's
been 40 years (one generation) since the creation of the state of Israel
in 1948. Let's see how the key players in Lindsey's drama are doing
today.
Israel - Of course Hal's main character is the nation of Israel (Jesus
really plays a bit part in this book). He sees the return of the Jews to
Palestine in 1948 as a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Hal uses
the parable of the fig tree (Matt. 24:32,33) to predict the near return of
Our Lord. Quoting Matt. 24:24 he says, "A generation in the Bible is
something like 40 years. If this is a correct deduction, then within 40
years or so of 1948 all these things would take place [i.e. the rebirth of
Israel, the repossession of Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of the
Temple]." (p. 43) Since the first two events had already taken place by
the time LGPE was written, Lindsey is batting zero in this department.
We're no closer to seeing the third Temple built than we were 20 years
ago. (Unless that secret stockpile of Temple building material is on its
way to the Holy Land.) I guess Hal's still waiting for an earthquake.
(p. 47)
Russia - "Gog and Magog" according to Hal. Where is this terrible
menace from the North today? Well, it's no secret the Soviet Union is
undergoing the most significant internal change since the communists
came to power 70 years ago. Openness and restructing are the words
heard in the SU today. Communism is crumbling, and it seems that
Christians are having a greater impact on their society than at any
other time in recent history. "Rosh" and "Tubal" are turning out to be a
toothless lion. We should continue to pray for Christians in the SU, that
their impact for Jesus would be felt around the whole country. Even
Gorbachev is said to be a baptized Christian.
Persia - the ally of "Rosh". Lindsey wrote, "Watch the actions of Iran
in relation to Russia and the United Arab Republic. This writer
believes that significant things will soon be happening there." (p. 56)
We're still watching and waiting.
Ethiopia - or "Cush" will help Russia invade Israel. Ethiopia today is a
quivering mass of social decay, engrossed in total war against its own
people. I wouldn't count on Ethiopia coming to the aid of Russia in the
countdown to Armageddon.
Egypt - Nasser's been dead for some time now, Hal. And, believe it
or not, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty 10 years ago. With the
exception of the death of Sadat and the return of most of the Sinai to
Egypt, things have been pretty quiet ever since.
China - the so-called "Yellow Peril". Remember Hal's vision of 200
million Chinese communists pouring over the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers into the battle of Armageddon? I think the Chinese have more
important things to worry about in Tianamen Square.
Europe - a.k.a. the Revived Roman Empire, a.k.a. the beast with 10
horns, a.k.a. the European Economic Community, a.k.a. the United
States of Europe. Lindsey's anti-Christ would come out of Rome
revived. (p. 87ff) Lindsey said, "Imagine that. A ten-nation economic
entity." (p. 86) Well, we're up to 12 nations now and still counting.
Seems the EEC is too busy trying to develop a coherent economic
policy to worry about fathering the anti-Christ. Wait until Hungry,
Poland and East Germany apply for membership.
So those are the main players. Hal felt that the US would not be
involved much at this point in time. It seems that, unlike Europe and
Russia, we're not mentioned in the Bible. There's a section on p. 108
entitled, "Stay tuned for the facts." Well Hal, we're still tuned in, but
where are the facts?
According to Hal the "secret rapture" will be any day now. Seven
years later, Jesus will return to earth and set up His millenial kingdom.
According to his reading of Matt. 24:30, Hal pictured "a gigantic
celestial image of Jesus flashed upon the heavens for all to see." (p.
162) I wonder if Sony and Ted Turner will have anything to do with
this remarkable extravaganza?
In his final chapter, "Polishing the Crystal Ball", Lindsey takes an
official turn at prognostication. A lot of the stuff is pretty wide of the
mark. For instance he tells us to keep our eye on Israel to "become
fantastically wealthy and influential in the future." (p. 173) Not exactly
what we see happening in the Middle East today. It seems Israel's
influence is limited to beating up Palestinians on the West Bank, and an
occasional romp into Lebanon.
Some things are surprisingly close to what's happening today. He
wrote, "Look for drug addiction to further permeate the US and other
free-world countries." (p. 174) But it didn't take a rocket scientist
writing from the perspective of the late '60s drug culture to come to
that sort of conclusion.
What made LGPE so popular? I'm not sure, but I think it had
something to do with the counter-culture of the late '60s/early '70s.
Kids were looking for something, anything, to make some sense out of
life. The Vietnam War was the big news, not to mention the ongoing
developments in the Middle East. The 1967 war made Israel seem
invincible in the eyes of the world.
Dispensational Literalism had overtaken many churches as a reaction
to the ongoing spread of liberalism in mainline denominations. Anything
that was part of the "back to the Bible" movement was taken seriously.
One good thing about LGPE was that it made people read their Bibles.
We didn't read all of it at first, and many of us soon came to realize
that Hal was leaving out some important pieces of the puzzle. So much
so that without those pieces the puzzle was unrecognizable as biblical
truth.
Lindsey made us think that the gospel was in retreat and that the only
way out for the church was the "secret rapture". Jesus said just the
opposite. He told Christians that we would have victory in the world as
long as He was King and on His throne. He made it clear to us that
Satan is bound and cannot thwart His plans. (Matt 12:29) He said,
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and
sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is
full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so
that the birds of the air come a nest in its branches." (Matt. 13:31) The
gospel of the kingdom will go forth until the day when "the kingdom of
this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and
He shall reign forever and ever." (Rev. 11:15) Let us pray that that
work of advancing the kingdom will continue unhindered.
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