Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 17, 1991 TAG: 9102180225
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It's not quite time for Armageddon - the final battle between Christ and Satan, he said, but the current Middle East crisis marks the "beginning of the last journey. There is no way any more we [ministers] can duck the issue."
So they must tell others to "heed and obey" the word of God.
"If you've got something you want to do for God, I'd advise you to get on with it quickly, very quickly."
Whorley, pastor of Tanglewood Baptist Church in Roanoke County, was in the Fishers of Men Christian Bookstore on Brambleton Avenue last week, where he outlined the teaching he is doing at his church and on his WEFC television program.
He is one of the apparently growing numbers of ministers across the country who are dealing with the books of the Bible often perceived as detailing the coming end of the Earth.
Reports from around the country indicate a growing interest in biblical books of prophecy, as well as other literature attempting to explain those prophesies.
In the Roanoke Valley, secular and religious bookstores report selling out of the most popular titles on the subject, as well as maps, flags, pins and other items related to the Persian Gulf war.
Last week at B. Dalton Bookseller in Valley View Mall, manager Andy Via said the majority of sales there have been secular, primarily related to warfare. But as he was being interviewed, a customer checked out with what has been a national best-seller on the issue, "Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis." It was for her "news junkie" husband, she said, who can't get enough to read about the crisis.
That book, which has been given national exposure in everything from Time magazine to Billy Graham Crusade telecasts, has become difficult to find in many bookstores despite reports that the publisher, Zondervan, put in an order for 1 million copies in the current reprinting.
In it, John F. Walvoord outlines a popular interpretation of biblical prophecy of the end of the world in light of recent events in the Middle East. Walvoord, the former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote the book in the mid-1970s. A revision was put together last fall after the invasion of Kuwait, and the large-print, 235-page book is now peppered with references to the current crisis.
Walvoord and others see Saddam Hussein as a successor to the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar, whose downfall is predicted in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
Nebuchadnezzar ruled the Babylonian Empire from 605 to 562 B.C., during which he conquered Judah and deported most of its residents to Babylon. He is held in disrepute for having exiled the Jews from their homeland and in particular for despoiling Jerusalem.
Walvoord, 80, says current events in the Middle East are "setting the stage" for a years-long process of disaster and tribulation on Earth. A revival of the Roman Empire, involving a confederation of 10 Mediterranean nations, will precede the rapture, or gathering up of "all true Christians" to heaven with Christ.
There will then be 3 1/2 years of peace, followed by 3 1/2 years of "unparalleled disaster and war." Christ will then reappear and lead the destruction of Satan's forces at Armageddon in Israel.
Christ will begin a 1,000-year reign on Earth, Walvoord says, before the creation of the "new heavens and new earth."
The theology is not unique to Walvoord, but the fact that he wrote this book 15 years ago probably lends it a credence that has not yet been gained by some of the publications rushed out in the past few months, according to Ted Powitz, manager of the Baptist Book Store on Williamson Road.
Powitz had sold out of a second order of the book last week, as had several other booksellers, but he was expecting more.
In the meantime, "The Rise of Babylon," focusing more on Saddam's self-comparisons to Nebuchadnezzar and his attempts to rebuild Babylon, is being prominently displayed in religious and secular bookstores.
"Since August, sales have just gone crazy. We can't keep them in," said Sam Shackleford, owner of Fishers of Men in Southwest Roanoke County.
Whorley, the pastor at Tanglewood Baptist, teaches a slightly different version of the end times than Walvoord describes in his book.
Isaiah prophesies that "Saddam gets nuked," Whorley said, in a passage describing the desolation of Babylon. Revelation further prophesies the destruction of the atmosphere, after which people are burned and "gnaw their tongues in agony."
Dr. Elmer Towns, who recently taught the Pastor's Bible Class during Sunday school at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, pointed out what he sees as Saddam's links to ancient Babylon.
Again, while his overall description of the prophecies would be similar to Walvoord's, he views the predictions somewhat differently.
Towns predicted the "revived Rome" that will dominate the world will include Russia. Walvoord believes the Soviet Union will be a separate force, and that a future, impotent United States will not be directly involved in the final struggles at all.
Towns concluded his lesson with a reminder of the dangers of trying to predict the future, a sentiment that would be shared by the large body of biblical scholars who deny that the apocalyptic literature was intended to be read as an accurate predictor of the end of the world.
BIBLICAL PROPHECY/ DEFINITION OF TERMS/ Apocalypse: The Greek word for revelation. The term also is applied to a particular type of biblical literature - the last book of the Christian Bible is called The Apocalypse in some versions - written generally between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. Some people believe it predicts current events as well as events that may have happened in biblical times. Specifically, they believe clues to events that will happen at the end of the world are revealed in the literature, particularly the books of Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament. Other scholars believe this type of literature was designed primarily to encourage believers in times of persecution and is not to be read as predictions of Christ's second coming or the end of the world.
Armageddon: The final, deciding battle between good and evil, in which Jesus Christ is expected to lead his forces against Satan. Comes from the Hebrew word for the mountain of Megiddo in northern Israel, where some believe the battle will occur.
Rapture: The anticipated calling up of Christians to be with Christ in heaven. In many interpretations of Scripture, this supernatural event is expected to precede the battle of Armageddon.
Great tribulation: A period of intense suffering preceding the second coming of Christ.
Second coming: The return of Jesus Christ to Earth.
Millennium: Jesus' reign of 1,000 years on Earth, expected by some to follow the battle of Armageddon and precede the creation of a "new heaven and new Earth."
by CNB