A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF HAL LINDSEY'S

"THE FINAL BATTLE"

Introduction

Hal Lindsey has written several books and they are filled with theological errors which have caused many to abandon their faith and led many into "Christianity" without being born from above while some have been truly saved.

Hal is not alone in propagating false teachings. There are thousands of men just like him who have spent very little time studying the Scriptures under the tutelage of the HOLY SPIRIT (I Yochanan-John 2.27), and a good deal of time studying commentaries and books about eschatology. Virtually all of the so-called "prophecy experts" have little grounding in the Scriptures and are in need of being taught the "elementary principles of the oracles of YAHWEH" (Ibriy-Hebrews 5.12).

I recommend that every self-proclaimed "prophecy expert" lay aside all of his commentaries and books on eschatology and study the Scriptures alone for several years before they continue teaching on prophecy. They need to let the HOLY SPIRIT speak to them and shut off the voices of their peers. Once one man makes an error it quickly spreads to most of the prophecy teachers.

In his book, "The Final Battle," Hal continues to propagate some major errors concerning Biblical prophecy. In the introduction he tries to defend his position by explaining his conclusion based on the Bible is the same as that of Joseph De Courcy Jr., who bases his on secular intelligence sources--"the world is headed for a monumental history-altering series of catastrophic events" (p. xv). This argument is invalid for many "prophecy experts" and "intelligence analysts" said the same thing before the first two world wars, and during the start of the Iran-Iraq War.

He contends that the world is headed toward the final battle, "a holocaust that can only be halted by an extra-terrestrial intervention" (p. xv), and that this war is "just one of many signs of the times--just one indication that we have entered the final stage of human history as we know it" (p. xv).

Some of these "signs" are: famines and plagues (Leviy-Matt. 24.7; Lk. 21.11), earthquakes (Lk. 21.11) and volcanoes, changing weather patterns (Lk. 21.25,26), rise of false prophets (Leviy-Matt. 24.11,24), the rebirth of the state of Israel, and the reclaiming of Jerusalem by the Jews.

Hal and most prophecy teachers do not understand that all of the events spoken of in the Olivet Discourse take place during the Great Tribulation (Leviy-Matt. 24.21) and not before. The famines, plagues, quakes, unusual oceanic activity (not necessarily weather), and false prophets we see today are not a fulfillment of YAHSHUA'S prophecy.

Throughout the Assembly Age these problems have plagued the world and the current increase is not unusual. It appears as though it is, especially the quakes because we have better recording equipment. The plagues in the past have been far more severe and deadly than those of recent times. The Black Plague claimed one-third of Europa's population and the influenza plague

of the 1920s claimed more than 20 million people. There have also been severe famines in the past that make the recent ones look like time of plenty. There has yet to be a significant increase in false prophets.

The prophecy teachers who said the last generation started on November 2, 1917, with the Balfour Declaration (a letter that the British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote to Lionel Rothschild a homeland would be established for Israel in Palestine) have no Scriptural basis for it. The idea that YAHSHUA speaks of a last generation prior to the Great Tribulation in His Olivet Discourse is erroneous. The generation that does not pass away is the one that lives through the Great Tribulation (Leviy-Matt. 24.32-35). He simply said that the people alive when the Great Tribulation started would not die out of old age before He returned.

The parable of the fig tree has nothing to do with Israel. It is simply an illustration He uses to emphasize that the Great Tribulation will not drag on for decades, but will conclude in a short period of time. We know it lasts only seven years from another passage of Scripture (Dan. 9.27). YAHSHUA will return to establish His Millennial Kingdom soon after the Great Tribulation starts just as summer quickly follows the blooming of the fig tree.

Hal and most prophecy teachers think the establishment of the nation of Israel is a fulfillment of the fig tree parable and other passages. It is not a fulfillment of the fig tree parable for it is simply an illustration as I have explained. The Ibriy people will be living in Israel during the Great Tribulation because Gog attacks them (Yechezqel-Ezekiel 38.1-39.16).

The reclaiming of Jerusalem is not Scriptural. There is no prophecy that the Ibriy people would reclaim Jerusalem prior to the Great Tribulation. They will have access to it and build another temple to offer sacrifices, but only for three and a half years. In the middle of the Great Tribulation the beast stops the sacrifices of the Ibriy people (Dan. 9.27) and also captures the city deporting half the population (Zek. 14.2; Lk. 21.24).

There is nothing in Scripture that leads one to believe the Ibriy people will regain control of Jerusalem before the Great Tribulation. As soon as they have total control they will build another temple and resume animal sacrifices. That didn't happen in 1967 and won't happen until the beast makes it possible through the confirmation (Dan. 9.27) of a world wide peace treaty (I Thes. 5.3) that includes Israel (2 Yahshua-Isa. 28.15).

Hal is correct that in saying there will be a time of sliding morals (2 Tim. 3.1-5), an increase in knowledge (Dan. 12.4) and a global government. For some reason he does not cite the Scripture for the latter (Apok-Rev. 13.7,16,17). Three correct signs out of nine listed isn't bad--that's 33 percent.

Hal concludes his introduction belaboring the fact that Israel is being pressured to make peace with the Arab nations which will only be a false peace followed by a catastrophic war between them. He quotes De Courcy to prove his point and then he asks his readers, "Doesn't this sound like what I have been saying for the last thirty-five years?" (p. xx).

I do not understand why Hal and his ilk continually cry about the Middle East peace negotiations. They know there must be a false peace (I Thes. 5.3) followed by war (Lk. 21.24) so why keeping whining about it as if they might stop the fulfillment of Bible prophecy? I would think they would support it so they could get to Heaven quicker. Could it be they want to prolong their stay on Earth? Do they like it here too much?