Mideast conflict studied for links to Bible
Pastor Dale Morgan
**Mideast conflict studied for links to Bible*
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
People who seek to align today’s headlines with ancient Scriptures have
been working overtime lately, monitoring the daily developments in the
Middle East.
Words spoken by Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Amos, and Ezekiel
are undergoing a new round of scrutiny as Israel battles the Muslim
guerrilla group Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
How — or whether — the 10-day-old conflict ties in with Bible prophecy
is a matter of debate in Toledo and around the globe.
“We’re getting comments from around the world,” said Todd Strandberg of
Omaha, who runs a Web site.. “Most of them are from the United States,
but for some reason, Australia is a big one.”
PREDICTING THE END
Although the Bible states in Matthew 25:13: “For ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh,” it has not stopped people
from predicting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the End of the
World. Here are a few selections from “The Date Setters Diary” compiled
by Todd Strandberg.
• 53 A.D.: Thessalonians panic when they hear a rumor that the day of
the Lord was at hand, fearing they missed the Rapture.
• 500 A.D.: A Roman priest living in the second century predicts Christ
would return in 500 A.D., based on the dimensions of Noah’s Ark.
• 1000 A.D.: The new millennium leads to hysteria, based solely on the
number 1,000; buildings are left unrepaired, farmers opt not to plant
crops, and prisoners are let out of jail because people believed the end
of the world was at hand.
• 1186: “The Letter of Toledo” warns everyone to hide in caves and
mountains because the world is going to be destroyed when the planets align.
• 1809: Mary Bateman, fortune teller, has a magic chicken that lays eggs
with end-time messages on them, including one that said Christ was
coming. She later is hanged for poisoning a wealthy client.
• 1910: The revisit of Halley’s comet is seen as an indication of the
Lord’s return. One enterprising man sells comet pills to protect people
from comet gases.
• 1988: The book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Is in 1988, by Edgar
Whisenant, creates a stir among churches. When the Rapture does not
occur, Whiesnant says he miscalculated by a year. His sequel, 89 Reasons
Why the Rapture Is in 1989, sells just a fraction of the numbers that
the original version tallied.
• 1991: Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan predicts the Gulf War
would be “The War of Armageddon ... the Final War.”
• 1998: Since 666 times three equals 1998, some see this as a
prophetically significant year.
• 2011-2018: For the past several decades, Jack Van Impe has hinted at
nearly every year as being the time for the Rapture. His new match uses
51 years as the length of a generation. If you add 51 years to 1967, the
year Israel recaptured Jerusalem, you get 2018. Once you subtract the
seven-year tribulation period, you arrive at 2011.
Mr. Strandberg, who is in the Air Force, said he works about eight hours
a day, seven days a week, compiling information about the End Times —
the days leading up to Earth’s final battle, Armageddon — for his Web
site, which has been in operation for 20 years, since the era of dial-up
online bulletin boards.
“I try to be practical with everything. My main goal is not to be
spectacular or push the conspiracy thing,” Mr. Strandberg said. “But God
says he is coming back, so sometime he is coming back.”
The latest round of fighting in the Middle East is being closely watched
for any signs of Syrian involvement — a step that some feel will lead to
the destruction of its capital city, Damascus, as described by two Bible
prophets.
Isaiah 17:1 states: “Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it
shall be a ruinous heap,” while Amos 1:3 says, “Thus saith the Lord; For
three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the
punishment thereof.” (King James Version).
“Cumulatively, Damascus will be eliminated as a city and there will be
nothing there,” said the Rev. Tony Scott, pastor of Cathedral of Praise
in Monclova. “Whether this is the war leading up to it or not, that is
what’s going to happen eventually.”
The Bible says Armageddon will start after Israel is invaded by armies
from the north, so any time military conflict strikes the Middle East it
is a something to pay attention to, Mr. Scott said.
“I think the story is this: This is the region from which the battle of
all battles is going to originate — in these cities, in these countries.
I don’t know if this is the war leading up to it or not, but I think it
should make people think about it, to realize that the Bible is real.”
Al Adams, an author of books on the End Times and host of a weekly
television show in Lafayette, La., also believes the Israeli-Hezbollah
conflict provides an opportunity to get people to open their Bibles.
“My main goal is to create awareness,” Mr. Adams said. “I’m sitting back
and watching this, and this really has potential to fulfill a couple of
prophecies that have not been done.
“Usually, seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled before your eyes is a good
chance to show people that the Bible is real and every word in it is the
living Word of God.
“If Russia gets involved, oh boy, this isn’t good,” Mr. Adams said,
because it could be the start of Armageddon — with Russia the “gog and
magog” that the Bible says will invade Israel.
Not all Bible scholars believe that the words of ancient prophets apply
to today’s citizens.
The Rev. Kenneth Mormon, a Toledo Catholic priest teaching at Mount St.
Mary Seminary in Cincinnati, said according to Catholic doctrine, the
messages of Isaiah, Amos, and other prophets were intended for the
people of their own time.
“Usually when we’re talking about Bible prophecy, we’re talking about
apocalyptic works. But the messages are directed to their own
contemporaries,” Father Mormon said.
“When God inspires an author to write for his people, he chooses a form
— a letter, a parable, a drama, a short story, whatever it is.
Apocalyptic writing is a kind of literature. If a prophet uses
apocalyptic writing, he phrases the message in terms of a vision, a
seer, with the symbolism explained to him by a heavenly messenger,” he said.
But although the message was intended for people living thousands of
years ago, the Bible is always relevant and modern readers will still
get something out of it, only in a different way than the prophet’s
contemporaries, Father Mormon said.
Gary DeMar, an Atlanta-based author who has written several books on the
End Times, also believes that many people are taking the prophets’
writings out of context.
“People who claim to interpret the Bible literally are very selective in
terms of what they interpret,” Mr. DeMar said in an interview. “In
Ezekiel 38 and 39, it obviously is about an ancient battle, the people
are on horseback, they have shields, the loot they want is cattle, and
this really has nothing to do with our time.”
Mr. DeMar, author of Last Days Madness, said it doesn’t make sense that
prophecy watchers are always looking to verses in the Old Testament,
while the New Testament is rarely cited.
“The New Testament is kind of an update of the Old Testament. It’s the
new covenant. Yet they have to continue to go back to the Old
Testament,” he said.
Neil Little, a Toledoan who has programs on WGGN-FM (97.7) in Sandusky,
said he is concerned that the networks reporting on the Middle East
fighting are not making any references to Bible prophecy.
“Nobody is bringing up that this is what was prophesied in Jeremiah and
Isaiah — that Israel would be bombarded,” Mr. Little said. “I understand
what the geopolitical issues are all about, but I believe the coming of
Christ is just around the corner. I preach it. I don’t want to scare
people, but Christians should know what’s going on.”
The Rev. Todd Hostetler of Toledo said Christians should always keep an
eye on the Middle East situation, but he does not believe the latest
conflict is a sign that doomsday is at hand.
“In Ezekiel 38:11 and 14, it says Israel is dwelling in safety,” Mr.
Hostetler said. “Israel will have no gates or walls, so they are secure
with their neighbors, indicating that in the End Times there will be peace.”
Armageddon cannot come until Israel experiences a time of peace, he said.
“There’s no reason to panic, but the events in the Middle East should
stir in us a desire to spread the Gospel. The clock is marching forward.
Step by step the Bible is being fulfilled.”