You know how, Lindsay, I'll challenge anybody
to begin reading your book. There's a new world
coming and be able to put it down. This is something.
And I want to ask you, who did the cover? This
is marvelous. On the back of it is a picture
of you and your wife. Where was it taken? At
Stonehenge in England. Oh. We were making a film
on the occult at that time. We thought it was,
as young people say, a funky picture that kind
of was relaxed. Oh, it's great. I know. But this
cover has a story in itself because it was put
together by Alan Halge and Norm McGarry. And
both of these men came to believe that Jesus
is their Savior through reading The Late Great
Planet Earth. And they said, the next book you
write, we want to do the cover. And they did.
And I think they did a marvelous job. And what's
on the inside of the cover is very revealing.
Do you want to know something? This is what people
cannot understand. And the truth of it. Flesh
and blood have not revealed this unto thee, but
of my Father which is in heaven. And these things
are only spiritually revealed. That's the reason
a man can have all of his degrees. from the standpoint
of the world, can be very intellectual. And yet,
when it comes to deep spiritual things, know
practically nothing. And take some little old
say to God who can neither read nor write, can
know more about the deep. Isn't God marvelous?
You know, not only is he marvelous, but he has
a great sense of humor. Look at little kid. Ain't
he great? Catherine Kuhlman, ain't he great?
Well, so many people who knew me before I came
to know Jesus Christ. known me since have said
God has a great sense of humor to make a writer
out of you. And he does. There's no question
about it. That's exactly. Just a little bit of
what's on the inside of this book. I do not believe
that John on the Isle of Patmos knew what he
was really told to write and what he saw. I don't
believe he really grasped it all. That's right.
I don't believe it. That's the miracle of it
all. But you know, as I have studied the predictions
about the future, and I've seen all of these
things fitting together in today's newspapers.
The book of the hour, I believe, is the book
of Revelation. And yet, as I've traveled and
I've spoken and I've talked with people, I say,
I don't understand that book. And yet, it's the
only book in the Bible that promises a special
blessing to anyone who will read it. But don't
you believe that it has been a closed book until
now? Yes, it has. We've not needed it until now.
Now we're beginning to get the interpretation.
The Holy Spirit is giving the interpretation
because it's being fulfilled now, today, the
very moment of how we're here speaking. I believe
that Dr. Scofield, who edited the Scofield Bible,
made a very astute observation when he said that
he believed that the things that were predicted
in the book of Revelation would not be fully
understood. until world events began to fit into
these things and unlock the meaning. He spoke
truth. He did, and that's what's happening. You
know, as I was studying the book of Revelation,
I saw there were a great number of symbols. For
instance, in Revelation chapter 9, John said
that he saw something that looked like locusts.
and that it had the face of a man, and it made
a noise like many chariots rushing to battle.
And I looked at that, and I said, well, now,
how in the world can I understand that? Because
obviously he's giving a composite description
of something. And I began to ponder this book,
and I said, God, I need a key. I need a key to
understand this. And as I studied, it began to
take shape. Over and over again in the book of
Revelation, John said that he actually saw and
he actually heard the things about which he wrote.
And he was commanded to write about what he actually
saw. And then it just clicked like that. I said,
wait a minute. How would a first century man...
write about things of a highly technical and
scientific age like the latter part of the 20th
century. He was put in a divine time machine
and shot right up to the end of the 20th century,
and he was permitted to actually see what was
going to happen. And so when he wrote about the
things he saw, he was saying, well, it looked
like, because he had to use phenomena with which
he was familiar. Now take this thing. that I
was talking about in Revelation chapter 9. We
have a big, husky, Jewish guy that is in my school
here next to UCLA, the J .C. Light and Power
Company, as the people call it. And he was in
the Green Berets in Vietnam, and we were reading
this passage, and he said, well, I'll tell you
one thing. I think I know what he's describing.
He's describing a helicopter, particularly. A
cobra helicopter or one like it, because he said
they look like a locust. They have big windows
so that you see the face of the man who's guiding
it. And he said it makes a noise like many chariots
rushing to battle. You know, it could be. Oh,
it's exciting. It could be right. And then I
was studying in Revelation chapter eight, which
is just one of the many descriptions. of the
great war that's going to break out in the Middle
East. Now, the last time I was on the program,
we talked about that. You know, the Bible predicted
this definite pattern of events, how Israel would
become a nation again. The Arabs would unite
under Egypt. The Russians would become united
with the Arabs against Israel. There'd be an
army in the east that could feel an army of 200
million men. And there would be a revival of
the ancient Roman Empire in the fall. The oil.
That's right. And that all the nations would
begin to. be concerned about Israel and the Arabs
in the Middle East, and now the oil has brought
that to a reality because all nations of the
West and the industrial nations need that oil.
Well, as all of this develops, we know exactly
how the last war is going to start. The Arabs
will attack in the future, only in the future
time, and I don't believe it's far off. The Russians
will come in with a mighty army. They will sweep
in. They will. And then there will be this great
battle. The 200 million man army from the Orient
will come in. The Western nations will come in.
And it says that there will be something that
I believe is a great nuclear exchange take place
in the world. It says that there will be a third
of the trees and a third of the grass thrown
up like that. And then... a third of the sea
will die and a third of all that has life in
the sea will die and a third of all ships will
be destroyed. And then it says, a third of all
fresh water will be polluted and become poison
and a third of the light that reaches the earth
will be filtered out so that it doesn't reach
the earth. You know, I was studying this passage
and John said that something that looked like
a great mountain flaming with fire would be cast
into the ocean and this would begin to cause
all of these events and in revelation chapter
6 he speaks of something that looked like a shower
of shooting stars coming down upon the earth
i believe he was describing in terms of his own
understanding from the first century a nuclear
war Because intercontinental ballistic missiles,
when they are launched in a mass and they come
down on target, they look like shooting stars.
When they go off, well, just to be frank, I talked
with some men who are in the aerospace industry
and also some who are part of our atomic energy
program. They know what's going on. They know
what we have. And they said that within 30 minutes,
we could have this break loose on Earth. If there
was a war that started in the Middle East that
was all out and a nuclear exchange took place,
it could happen exactly as it's predicted here.
In other words, there is already weapons of war
on station, ready to be launched, that could
do exactly what John is predicting right here.
And when you fit this into the whole pattern,
that for the first time in history, Israel's
a nation again after being scattered and all
of these other things, the Arabs united against
them, the Russians against them, the Orient in
Red China with a 200 million man army, the West
rapidly reviving as the old Roman culture. Drawed
with hooks in the jaws of the nation. Yeah, and
then we now have weapons of war that can do exactly
what is being predicted here. It just shows that
the time is at hand. One is a fool not to believe
the Word of God. That's the reason that the Bible
needs no defense. Do you know the hour of which
we're living? Hell, Lindsay, do you and I fully
realize that we are seeing prophecy fulfilled
in a greater degree today, right now, while we're
talking, than we have seen since the first coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ? I have to pinch myself
sometimes just to say it. It's really happening.
I know about these things, and yet I have to
pinch myself. Mentally, we know. Right. He gives
us the revelation of the Word. We know it. Things
that were promised 39 centuries ago, things that
were promised 412 years after the flood, are
being fulfilled even while you and I are speaking.
No. I'd like to read something that is taking
much more of a dramatic effect on me. It's in
Matthew chapter 24, where Jesus had just given
many signs of his return. He had been asked by
his disciples, what would be the sign of his
return and of the end of the age? He said, learn
a parable of the fig tree. When the fig tree
puts forth its leaves, you know summer's near.
Then he said, when you see all these things,
Speaking of the predicted signs, he said, no,
I'm at the door ready to return. When you're
at the door, it's pretty, it's all. That's about
as close as you can get, isn't it? Practically
in the house. And he said that that generation
would not pass away until all was fulfilled.
In other words, the generation that saw all these
signs coming together simultaneously. And I believe
we're at one. This generation, people living
right now. Are going to see it. This generation
will see the complete fulfillment. of all these
things that we've been talking about. I believe
that with all my heart, and I believe it's time
that everyone listening to our voice realize...
If you think also in connection with the things
we're talking about, he also says that there'll
be a suffering. calling it a tribulation, such
as the world has never seen and neither will
it ever see again. Some of these things that
we gripe about and complain about, remember,
it's just a few luxuries are being taken away,
you know. We don't have anything to complain
about now. But there is coming a tribulation
upon the earth, a suffering that time has to
be shortened flesh be able to withstand and this
generation is going to experience that that's
in the word of god but you know as people are
watching us they may be sitting in a house that's
a little colder than that right uh it's a nuisance
not to have as much gasoline as we used to have
and all across this country as i travel and i
speak i find that people are really shook and
yet this is only the beginning We've been talking
about this for 18 years. But it's not really
suffering. Not yet. And this is only the beginning
of what is predicted. That's right. And this,
we have not yet reached the beginning of the
tribulation. Right. That's right. All of this
is just a little forerunner. That seven -year
period. Ah. That's all the tribulation will be,
as you said, the most horrible period that man
has ever known. And, you know, people ask me,
they say, well, Hal, if you really believe. that
this is the generation that's going to see this
horrible period come, how can you be optimistic
about the future? Ah. And you know what I'm going
to say? Because I say I don't expect to be here.
And that's Scripture. I believe it. You know,
Jesus said, Worthy to escape all these things.
He made a way of escape for Noah. Before the
floods came, before God himself shut the door,
he made a way of escape. Always, even in wrath
and in judgment, God remembers mercy. Right.
And remember the church is precious. Oh, hell,
Lindsay. I don't think you and I fully realize
how precious is the church. The real church.
The real church. It's the gift that God the Father
gave his son. It's the bride of Christ. And the
tribulation isn't for the perfecting of the bride
of Christ. No, it's for the judging of a Christ
-rejecting world. That is exactly right. Therefore,
he's made a way of escape. The bride of Christ,
the bridegroom, will come and catch the bride
up before the real tribulation begins. That's
the mercy of God. It surely is. Isn't that exciting?
It is exciting. I don't expect to be here. I
don't either. The day is coming, as Jesus said,
like in the days of Noah. He said that his coming
will be exactly like that. Well, in the day of
Noah, they had a prophetic warning. Yeah. Then
God removed his people who believed in him. Then
judgment fell. And he said it will be the same
in the future, right now. Our very voices right
now are giving a prophetic warning. Look, the
time is coming. One day this prophetic warning
is going to be over, and God is suddenly and
mysteriously going to take his people. Jesus
said there'll be two working in the field. One
will be taken, the other one will be left. Paul
said that will happen in the twinkling of an
eye. Just vanish like that. Everyone who has
truly believed that Jesus Christ died for their
sins. and accepted him into their life, they
will just suddenly vanish without warning. And
he said, the others will be left to go through
this horrible seven -year period of judgment.
And that's when God removes his people. Then
falls judgment on the world that wouldn't accept
his grace. And I believe that people can still
believe in Jesus Christ, even after the rapture,
because it says in Revelation 7, there'll be
a multitude. A multitude that can't be numbered
that will. Millions. But they will go through
the most horrible period of human history. And
the Holy Spirit will not be here, but they'll
be saved by the Word. Right. They'll have the
knowledge of the Word. Do you know what I've
done? Just confidentially. I have made nearly
2 ,000 tapes for radio tapes so that after I'm
gone... I'm not going to be here. I'm a part
of the bride of Christ. When the bridegroom comes,
I'm going to be gone. Don't look for me. I'm
going to be gone, you know. I'm going up. I'm
going to look down and say, I told you so. I
did my best to give out the warning when I was
here. But I have also left about 2 ,000 30 -minute
tapes to be played on the radio to give the word
out. The Word. Because there'll be thousands
who have rejected the Word even while you and
I are talking now. But after we're gone, they'll
be glad to hear the Word preached. I'm preparing
for it. What you and I are talking about is so
real, I'm making preparations for it. That's
wonderful. And I think that we should be preparing
things either in writing or on tape that can
be left behind so that when people suddenly...
hear of these funny people called believers in
Jesus Christ disappearing, they can have survival
instructions. And I think we should leave them.
I believe that. And do you know that at the first
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, what was it,
26 prophecies fulfilled in 24 hours? Prophecy
is being fulfilled just that rapidly now. It
certainly is. Remember, those of you who are
listening, forget about hell, Lindsay. Forget
about Catherine Kuhlman. You don't have to even
remember my name. But we sit here trying to give
you the word of warning. God always, before any
great catastrophe, before any judgment, God in
his mercy has always given a warning before a
judgment. If he can use the lips of Hal Lindsey,
if he can use the writings of Hal Lindsey, if
he can use this vessel, as I'm talking to you
now, to tell you, be prepared. Be prepared now.
How do you prepare? Accept the Christ. It's the
greatest security in the world. It's the only
real life insurance there is. Nothing else is
death insurance. We're talking about eternal
life insurance that's found in the very Son of
the Living God. Look up and say, I accept the
divine Son of God as my Savior just now. Hear
that prayer. For Jesus' sake we ask. Amen.