Walvoord, John: Current Middle East Events ~ Are They Prophetically Significant

This morning, and he said that he was at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention this week. There's a front page article in the New York Times with an interview with Dr. Walvoord. Um, there's also, he said last night that Channel Eight was in touch with him so they could do some spending some time. He said it's interesting that there's more interest, it seems, in the secular press in regards to what's happening than it is in the religious press. Uh, that was very interesting. We are glad that Dr. Walvoord is here with us, and you may have a number of questions that you'd love to get a chance to ask Dr. Walvoord, and you don't have time after the worship service. We invite you back this evening, because this evening the entire time is going to be devoted to an open forum in which you'll have a chance to stand up and ask that question that's been burning in your mind all week that you'd want to ask Dr. Walvoord, and we'll be gathering together at seven o'clock this evening, right here in this auditorium, seven o'clock this evening, for a time of an open forum with Dr. Walvoord so you can get your, your questions answered. My friends, let's welcome Dr. John Walbert. It's been very refreshing to see the renewed interest in prayer and seeking the Bible as a source of information, seeking God as a means of help in our present crisis in our country. America has become quite secular, but whenever we have a crisis, we turn to God, and that has been the situation today. The present world situation, however, has revealed that both the secular world and many Christians are quite devoid of information as to what the Bible has to say about the end of the age. They have a vague sense that something's about to happen, and I've had questions from quite intelligent people say, is this the end of the world? Is this Armageddon? Is this the final chapter? And of course, they ask these questions searching for answers. The answer isn't simple, because in order to answer these questions, we have to delve in to the rather complicated series of events that the Bible portrays for the end time. In fact, many scholars just throw up their hands and say it's impossible to get it straightened out. It's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle where some of the pieces are missing, and yet I believe firmly that if we study the Bible carefully, interpret prophecy in its natural, normal sense, that we come out with a series of events that we can pin down and understand. Now, one of the first things that the Bible predicts in the end of the age, that is the end of the present age, is that there will emerge a ten-nation group that, from a biblical standpoint, will constitute a revival of the ancient Roman Empire. And this group will form a, a political union, and because of its power in the Mediterranean world, will undoubtedly control the oil situation. And could very well be that after this present conflict is over, United States has to retire, that this ten-nation group takes over. The Bible does not explain why they come together, what their power is, or what they do, but it simply says there are these ten nations. Now, our scripture passage is found in Daniel chapter seven. Daniel was given the amazing panorama of prophecy concerning the secular or the Gentile world, as well as that for Israel. And you recall when he was still a teenager that he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's image in chapter two of Daniel, which portrayed that there'd be four great empires, beginning with Babylon, which was the head of gold of that image. And then later on, fifty years later, after Nebuchadnezzar had long since died, uh, Daniel had a second, another vision of his own, rather, and this time he saw the same truth embodied in four beasts that are described in Daniel seven. And the first beast was a lion, which typified the Babylonian empire. The second beast was Medo-Persia, typified or represented by a bear, and the third beast was the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great that is pictured as a leopard. Now, you don't have to guess at this. You know, people say the Bible is written in symbolic languages, and nobody understands it. Well, it's true that there are a lot of symbols, but if you read the scriptures carefully, you'll find that the word of God itself interprets these. And of course, in chapter eight, as well as elsewhere in Daniel, these three nations are mentioned: Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. But there's a fourth beast represented in Daniel seven, and I want to read this verse, verse seven. After that, in my vision at night, I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast, terrifying, frightening, and very powerful. It had large iron teeth. It crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts. Now, this beast is not named in the book of Daniel, but of course in history, the empire that followed the that of the Persian of the Alexander the Great, the Grecian empire, was a empire known as the Roman Empire. It was in power when Christ was on earth. It was a Roman ruler that sent him to the cross, and it was by all odds the greatest empire of all history. It had the longest duration. It conquered Jerusalem in sixty BC and much of the Mediterranean world by that time, and went on for many centuries after Christ, and had the greatest influence upon the world and its culture, its architecture, and so on, of any of the empires of the past. But it finally passed from the scene. The Roman Empire is non-existent today. But it goes on to say in this passage that it had ten horns. Now, in the history of the Roman Empire, it never had ten horns or anything that could be recognized as ten horns. How does this get its fulfillment? Well, you see, in the Old Testament, whenever it prophesied the future, it frequently would skip from the first to the second coming as if there were no time period between. Now, we live in between those two events, so we know the difference between the first and second coming of Christ. But, uh, people in the Old Testament, even the prophets that wrote the scriptures and the twelve disciples, were totally ignorant of this. They thought the first and second coming of Christ was the same event because it is often presented in the same, uh, verse, almost the same breath, as if there was no time period between. So it's a very common thing for the Old Testament to jump from the first coming to things that relate to the second coming, as it does here. And so it doesn't record the history of the Roman Empire for the nineteen hundred years that have passed, but it does describe these ten horns. Now, we're not left to guessing as to what those ten horns are. In verse twenty three of this chapter, rather twenty four, it says the ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. In other words, the ten horns are ten kingdoms. In other words, it predicts that there will be a ten-nation group. Now the passage goes on in Daniel seven eight to describe an eleventh horn and a little horn that uproots three of the ten horns. And as you read on in the passage, it's obvious that this eleventh horn is a man, a person, and he gains control of three of these ten countries. But then in verse uh twenty three, it goes on to say that his power and his control is so great that he devours the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. And this introduces something that's never happened, and that is an empire that takes the entire globe in its way. Now, the world empires of the past obviously didn't cover the whole world. It covered the Mediterranean or Western Asia and Southern, uh, Europe, perhaps, and Northern Africa, but that was it. But this word is the word for the globe, the whole earth. Introduces something that was never fulfilled in the Old Testament, of course, isn't true today. Now it tells us that this person who gains control of these ten countries has such power that eventually he puts a peace treaty on Israel. It's mentioned in Daniel nine in another very difficult passage, Daniel nine twenty four to twenty seven. where he describes seventy sevens, or four hundred and ninety years, as comprising the history of Israel in the future. And to simplify this, may I say that four hundred and eighty three years, all but the last seven, were fulfilled literally just before the crucifixion of Christ. It mentions in verse twenty six that the Messiah, the coming one, is cut off, referring to the death of Christ. But the last seven years were never fulfilled, and like the Old Testament prophets in, in Daniel seven, the, uh, present age is just not taken into consideration. But the last seven years described here culminate in the second coming of Christ, and that seven years is still ahead. Now, as we study this passage in Daniel nine twenty seven and other passages, it becomes clear that that last seven years is divided into two parts. In the first part, the peace treaty is observed, and apparently Israel will be able to relax its military preparedness that it has now, and it'll think that it's perfectly safe under the protection of this peace treaty. But in the middle of that seven years, something happens, and there's a lot of debate as to what causes it, but in any case, this ruler becomes so powerful that he becomes what Daniel seven said he would do, devour the whole earth. He sets up a world dictatorship, apparently by proclamation, and scriptures indicate that no one is strong enough to stand against him. Now, because he does this, he breaks his covenant with Israel. He assumes that he is God himself, and so he attempts to kill anybody who doesn't recognize him as God. So he begins the persecution of Israel. He also begins the persecution of those who are Christians who refuse to acknowledge him as God, and multiplied thousands of people, a multitude, the Bible says, that no one can number, are killed and become martyrs to this man. But because he's an evil man, an atheist, and because he's allied with Satan, God begins to pour out the terrible judgments, the catastrophes described in the book of Revelation from chapter six through chapter eighteen. Now, if you tried to study that, I think you'll agree that this is a difficult section, and some scholars just throw up their hands and say no one can understand it. But I think if you read it through and just take what it says and believe it, you'll get the point. In chapter six, it says a fourth of the world is destroyed. In chapter nine, it says a third of the remainder is destroyed. And then skipping all the other catastrophes that are mentioned, in chapter sixteen you have seven more great catastrophes described as vials or bowls of the wrath of God that are poured out on the earth, and each brings a judgment that extends to the whole world, and the last one is the most terrible of all. It's described as a great earthquake, so great that it levels the cities of the nations, the cities of the Gentiles, apparently Israel is exempt, and islands disappear and mountains disappear. If you tried to write a story, fiction story, that was a picture of horror, you couldn't exceed what the Bible says. All you have to do is to believe it. Yes, prophecy is sensational. You don't have to make it that way. It's by its very nature, and it's prophecy, that it is sensational. And I would estimate that seventy five to eighty five percent of the world is destroyed. Now, at the same time, a world war breaks out, and the land of Israel is the battlefield, and nations of the world begin to rebel against this world ruler because he hasn't brought peace and plenty as they'd hoped. Instead, he brought catastrophe and multiplied millions of men, uh, vie for power in the land of Israel. Armies from the north, tremendous army from the east, described as two hundred million in chapter nine, and armies from the south, from Africa, and they fight it out. In fact, they're fighting it out right up to the day of the second coming. And on that day, according to Zechariah fourteen, one to three, there'll be house to house fighting even in Jerusalem. Now, when Christ comes, the whole heaven is going to be ablaze with the glory of God, and the procession begins from heaven to earth as millions of saints and angels come from heaven to earth to share in the millennial reign of Christ, his thousand-year kingdom. When Christ comes, he puts to death all those that wickedly oppose God, including his armies. He rescues both Jews and Gentiles that have been saved in that time, that survived somehow, and establishes this kingdom on the earth of righteousness and peace. And this is what we call the millennial or the thousand-year kingdom of Christ, which is defined for us many times in the Old Testament. The length is given to us in Revelation chapter twenty. And at the end of the Revelation twenty, of course, our present earth is going to be destroyed, a new heaven and a new earth created, and the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, will descend from God, a city some fifteen hundred miles square and fifteen hundred miles high. That's bigger than any city in Texas, as far as I know. And it's going to be the home of all the saints of all ages. Now, it's a little hard for us to absorb all these tremendous facts and figures and events, but perhaps you can remember it this way, that after the rapture, there will first of all be a period of preparation, beginning with the letter P, that involves the ten nations and this ruler that emerges that controls them. The second period is one of peace for three and a half years after the seven-year treaty is imposed, there'll be three and a half years of peace. And then three and a half years of persecution, trouble, or what Christ called the Great Tribulation will take place. And Christ said it was so terrible that if he didn't stop it with his second coming, there wouldn't be any human beings left living in the world. And so when he comes back, he will judge the world, judge the wicked, and rescue the righteous and start his kingdom. Now, it's rather obvious that what we're seeing today is not the end of the world. The world has gone on for more than a thousand years. The question is, is it Armageddon? Now, the word Armageddon is found in Revelation chapter sixteen as it describes the final world war just before the second coming. And the word Armageddon comes from the Mount of Megiddo. Arm is mountain, and Mageden is Megiddo. If you go as a tourist to Israel, it'll take you to this hill. It's just about eight hundred feet high in northern Israel, and to the west is the Mediterranean. You can see it from the top of this hill, and to the east there's a broad valley running some twenty miles in. And uh, Arm- Armageddon, according to Revelation sixteen, will be the converging point for the millions of people who will be involved in that final world war. Now, actually, they'll be all over the Holy Land, some two hundred miles at least north and south, and from the Mediterranean all the way to the Euphrates River. It's going to be at one tremendous battlefield, and that's what Christ is going to greet when he comes in his second coming. So Armageddon is not now, it's down the road. Now, the word Armageddon is sort of like the English word Waterloo. You remember Waterloo was where Napoleon met his final defeat, and while it's a geographic location, the word Waterloo has sort of come to mean anybody's disaster or final hour. And so likewise, the word Armageddon in the popular mind is a time of divine judgment, uh, end of something that God is going to bring on the world, and so they want to know when this is going to happen. Now, why should we as Christians be interested in all this? Well, first of all, uh, it's biblical, and God has given us these facts in order for us to understand what history is going to unfold in the future. We have an idea that ultimately God is going to triumph, ultimately sin is going to be judged, ultimately these things are going to fulfill their prophecies precisely as the word of God says. It's also true that it doesn't all happen at once. Now, if you search this, you'll also see that this Iraq war, Hussein, and uh, all that he's doing is not a part of biblical prophecy. Neither was World War I and II. Now, whenever we have a conflict, there's always someone that emerges that says, this is it, you know. I understand one Dallas pastor's already preached a sermon. I listened to the tape of it, where he's sure that Hussein is the Antichrist. Well, I think he's wrong. Uh, the Antichrist comes out of a Roman background, not an Arab background, and of course the ten-nation group hasn't emerged yet, and so this man can't emerge, so he's not the person. But he's going to go the way, I think, of Mussolini and Stalin, Hitler, and others who some people thought were the Antichrist. No, this is not that, but what it is, is a setting of the stage, a setting of the stage for events that follow, and someone has described it as something that occurs before the curtain goes up, but the props are being put in place for the final act. But the final drama, beginning with this ten-nation group, is the curtain going up, and it hasn't happened yet, and probably will not for some years to come. Now, you and I as Christians are interested in this because we believe that the rapture of the church is first, and we studied that last week. It's the wonderful event when Christ comes from heaven to the air above the earth, and he commands Christians who have died to be resurrected, and living Christians to be changed, meet him in the air, and then proceed to heaven. And our prospect is that we're going to be in heaven while all these end time events take place. Now, scholars differ on this, of course. Some try to drag you through the whole tribulation, but I... they don't explain how that can be a blessed hope. Uh... I think Christians should be willing to be martyred, but you can't hardly call it a blessed hope or a joyful experience. And I think instead that the rapture is first. But there's a problem here, because in the doctrine of the rapture, as in First Thessalonians four and First Corinthians fifteen, other passages, there are never any signs given. It just predicts the event will occur. It doesn't tell us what happens before it. Now, this is quite in contrast to the passages on the Second Coming. There you have all these events I've talked about, the the ten-nation, nation, the dictator, the seven-year treaty, the Great Tribulation, the world war, Armageddon, all these things have to take place first. So the second coming of Christ to the earth to reign is down the road, you see, at least some years, it's not immediate. It could be many years because we do not know how long these introductory things will take. So we have a problem, and people said, well, if the rapture is not dated, how do we know it won't be another nineteen hundred years? It's one thing for something to be imminent that is possible, it's another thing for it to be soon. Now, is there any evidence that's soon? Well, yes, as I sometimes have explained, some of you may have heard me, what we're seeing in the world today is a preparation of the world for events that will follow the rapture. Now, if that's the case, and the rapture hasn't occurred, then these events become signs of the rapture. I saw in the Dallas paper an account of a man that bought his Christmas presents early. He's walking down the street in November, and a friend met him, said, my, Thanksgiving must be close. Now, what is the logic of that? Well, Thanksgiving is a month before Christmas, and if Thanksgiving hasn't occurred, then the, the fact of Thanksgiving must occur first, you see, and so it is with the rapture. We're seeing signs of events after the rapture, and therefore the rapture itself could be near. Now, what are some of these signs? Well, we haven't seen the ten nations yet. We haven't seen the dictator yet. We haven't seen these final chapters. How do we know? Well, there's certain things happening that haven't happened before, and here we have to go back, get a little perspective. You see, Bible teachers have been teaching end time events for a long time. There are many major prophecy conferences in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Huge crowds came out to hear prophecy speakers, and they had nothing to go on as far as history was concerned. All they had to do is predict that in the future, sometime Israel would go back to the land, sometime these things would happen, but nothing had happened. But now in the last fifty years, what's happened? Well, first of all, fifty years ago, when Bible teachers said Israel would go back to their ancient land, they were told that'll never happen. They've sinned against God. They're, they're, they've sinned away their day of grace, and therefore there'll never be any revival for Israel. Well, they sort of forget that the church is not the product of works. We're saved by grace, and God extends grace to Israel too. In fact, the Bible expressly says he's going to forgive them and restore them, and there's many passages in the Old Testament that predict they'll be gathered from all over the world. And so we have four million Jews in the land. Now, I don't know if you get the theological significance of this, but you see, for nineteen hundred years, God has been calling out his church, and this didn't provide any progress for prophecies regarding Israel. And, uh, the church has been composed of both Jews and Gentiles on an equal basis, and the partition wall between is broken down. We are one in the body of Christ. Now, suddenly, in the lifetime of many of us here today, God's beginning to deal with Israel as a separate people again. And here they are back in their ancient land since nineteen forty eight, recognized as a political state. Now, this is signaling to us that God is about to change dispensation. Our present age is about wound up. The progress of the church is about finished. The rapture may occur, and then God will begin to deal with Jews and Gentiles separately, as he did all through history, except for the present age. And so this is a sign to us. In fact, it's also a sign of God's prophetic program being fulfilled for Israel. You see, you had to have a, uh, nation organized as a political state in order to have the peace treaty. You see, now we have a political state. The next step, stage two, is this peace treaty mentioned, a seven-year peace treaty. Now, this, of course, hasn't come and can't come until this Middle East ruler emerges, and I do not believe he can emerge as long as the church is here. So we have a time factor here. Then, of course, they're going to go through three and a half years of terrible trouble in the Great Tribulation, and then the remnant of Israel will be restored to their ancient land when Christ comes back in his second coming. That'll be stage four, when the restoration is complete. But the fact we have stage one already is sort of a sign that God's beginning to move in that direction. So the fact that Israel's there is important. Then prophecy teachers, of course, pointed to the fact that there'd be a world government. And fifty years ago, we were fighting World War II, and obviously a world government didn't seem possible. The nations of Europe had been fighting each other for years, and even the preliminary stage of a group of ten nations seemed impossible. They said it'll never happen. Well, World War II ground to a halt, and what came out of it? Well, first of all, we have the common market of Europe. Here are the nations that formerly fought each other are now working together in economic union. And even the secular press is telling us that it isn't going to be too long before they'll be united States of Europe. I saw a heading to that effect more than ten or fifteen years ago in secular papers. In other words, the things they said would never happen are beginning to take form because that's what the Bible predicted. Now, I do not believe that the common market of Europe or any group that's formed in Europe, it will in itself solve the prophecy of the ten nations. But the ten nation group will undoubtedly include some European nations, though it's not named. Italy was, of course, the capital country, France, Spain, Greece, these were important countries, and the whole Mediterranean area was Roman, of course, and probably includes Syria and Egypt and other countries. Ten nations, we do not know the names, but ten nations will get together. But then the world government idea, how would that ever come about? Well, they pointed to the fact that after World War I, we had the League of Nations, and it fell apart because our Congress wouldn't go along. They thought we were pretty safe behind an ocean. They weren't interested in another world war. And so with the League of Nations, the idea of a world league fell apart. But then after World War II, with the advent of the atomic bomb and the fact that oceans no longer protected us with missile warfare, we now have what we call the United Nations, one hundred and fifty nations. Now, this is not what the Bible predicts, but it's obviously a setting of the stage because there's millions of people, intellectuals and other leaders, that tell us that a world government is the only way out for world troubles, such as the atomic weapons and other difficulties. And so they're predicting that they will come when there will be a world government. And according to the Bible, they're right. Unfortunately, to be an evil government when it comes, and something that's going to bring disaster on the world instead of benefit. But they're right. We're living in a time when, for the first time, a world government is possible. You see, for the first time in history, the physical components of a world government are here. You have to have rapid transportation, and of course we have giant planes carrying supplies from the United States to Saudi Arabia, for instance. This is common practice now. We have rapid transportation. We have immediate communication. You can telephone around the world. I've done many times, Australia, Sweden, so on. You just dial their number if you have it and go through. It's like a local call. It's amazing. And then, of course, every day now we're seeing war scenes in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Communication, immediate. Well, that's absolutely necessary for a world ruler. And then there's other things. He's going to control the economy of the world, and of course we have giant computers that do that. He's going to control missile warfare, such as it is, and he can threaten any nation because you can send a missile anywhere in the world in thirty minutes, and this, of course, will give him power, even though he loses that power towards the end of the Great Tribulation. So we're living in a day when, for the first time in history, a global empire is a physical possibility, and of course that's what the Bible predicts. I get the impression, I think you do too, that things are moving pretty fast. Who would have guessed a year ago we'd have a big army in Saudi Arabia? Anybody suggested that would, would have been told they were crazy, but there it is. And due to the need of maintaining the flow of oil for the whole world, we're there fighting it out. And so we have these rapid moving events. Now, what do all this signal? Well, if the world is moving on in all these respects to the events that will follow the rapture, then the rapture itself could be very near. I don't think there's ever been an hour in the history of the world or the church when they have more right to believe that it could happen today. And this, of course, confronts us, because if it happens today, every Christian will be instantly removed, and that's quite a dynamic thing because some of our leaders in politics and the war and so forth are Christians. They're suddenly going to be gone. It's going to create quite a difficulty in the world, but for us it's also a difficulty if we're not ready for that event. I know the press, the secular press has asked me again and again, what should we do about it? Well, what we should do about it is to get right with Jesus Christ by putting our trust in him. And you know, it's so important to be born again. I'm afraid there's a lot of people, church members, good moral people, good, well educated, cultured, refined, and not doing very much bad, but they've never been born again. It's supernatural, you see. It happens when you have a personal transaction between you and Jesus Christ, and it's not difficult. Christ said, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. You can't come to Jesus Christ in sincerity and faith and believe him, believe that he's the Son of God, believe he died on the cross for your sins and rose again, believe he has the power to forgive you and restore you. You can't do that without being saved. If there's any question in your mind, by all means, settle that question by a personal transaction or talk to someone who can help you. It's so important in our present context to know for sure that we are a child of God. I've had the experience in prophecy conferences having people have been in evangelical churches where the gospel's been faithfully preached for thirty and forty years, and suddenly wake up when they realize what's head prophetically, that they're not born again and have come to Christ. But what a tragedy if Christ had come before they were ready, they'd have been left behind. And that word is true today for you and for me. We need to be sure about our personal faith. And then, of course, if what I'm saying is true, when the rapture occurs, you're going to leave everything behind. You know, when a person dies, they say, how much has he left? And of course, it's very simple, he's left it all. A moment after you die, you're a pauper, you don't own a thing. And so it's very important, the more worldly goods we have, the more is the responsibility to handle it, uh, in a way that's well pleasing to God. I don't think this means we have to give away everything. The Bible's exhortations are not very frantic, they're very sober. Be not troubled, comfort one another, be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. They're very sensible, down to earth exhortations, but it does mean that we have to face realistically our stewardship of time, of money, of commitment. The Lord's coming soon. We may not have forever to get the job done. And I think, obviously, what we should do is be as generous as we can within the limits of our time and money. And so this is not a simply a theoretical problem. It's not just a crisis. God wants us to respond. That's why he's told us about things to come, but he's also told us how we can put our trust in Christ and have peace. And I've mentioned before to several, I was sort of troubled about this war situation. I just didn't like to see this war coming to life. And then I remembered the words of Christ. He said, there'll be wars and rumors of wars until the end, but be not troubled. Why not? There's reasons for being troubled, but the point is we can trust God to work it out. And even though there are hard things to accept in the will of God, we can trust him, and we have the ultimate hope of being in his presence forever. And that's the bottom line, isn't it? And the important thing, it really isn't what's happening in the Middle East. The important thing is what's happening in your heart, in your mind, in your faith and commitment. Shall we pray? Our Father, so we thank thee for thy word and that we're not left in the dark, and while there's much that we do not completely understand, the important things are clear. We know what we should be doing about our present situation. So speak to our hearts according to our needs, and help us each one to put our trust in Christ and be committed to him and spending our lives in the way that's well pleasing to him until he comes. For we ask in Christ's name, amen.