John F. Walvoord - Armageddon, Oil, and Terror: What the Bible Says about the Future

ARMAGEDDON

OIL

AND

TERROR

What the Bible says about the future

TYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS, INC., CAROL STREAM, ILLINOIS

ARMAGEDDON

OIL

AND

TERROR

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE FUTURE

JOHN F. WALVOORD

WITH MARK HITCHCOCK

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Armageddon, Oil, and Terror: What the Bible Says about the Future Copyright 1974, 1976, 1990, 2007 by JFW Publishing Trust. All rights reserved.

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The image on page 79 2006 by Scott Eric Cote. All rights reserved.

Designed by Stephen Vosloo Previously published in 1974 and 1990 as Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis by Zondervan under ISBN 0-310-53921-8.

First published as Armageddon, Oil, and Terror by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., in 2007.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Walvoord, John F.

Armageddon, oil, and terror: what the Bible says about the future / John F. Walvoord with Mark Hitchcock.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of Armageddon, oil, and the Middle East crisis. Rev. ed. c1990.

Includes bibliographical references.

eBook ISBN 978-1-4143-2082-3

1. BibleProphecies. 2. Middle EastPolitics and government1945- 3.World politics1945-4. Armageddon. 5. Civilization, Western. 6. Petroleum industry and tradeMiddle East. I. Hitchcock, Mark. II.Walvoord, John F. Armageddon, oil, and the Middle East crisis. III. Title

BS649.N45W34 2007

236'.9dc22 2006102644

Printed in the United States of America

13 12 11 10 09 08 07

7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

EVENT #1: The Middle East becomes the center of a desperate struggle for oil as demand exceeds supply, prices soar, and industrialized nations fight for economic survival.

EVENT #2: Islamic terrorism fueled by hatred of the West and Israel pushes the world to the brink of total chaos.

EVENT #3: Israel aggressively defends itself in a sea of enemiesbringing the world to the brink of World War III.

EVENT #4: American power and influence in the Middle East fade as the United States retreats to deal with the energy crisis and problems at home.

EVENT #5: To save Western civilization from total collapse, the Group of Ten world leaders create an iron fist to stop the chaos and assure the supply of oil to the West.

EVENT #6: In response to the Group of Ten, a new alliance of Islamic nations and Russia challenges the West, attacks Israel, and is destroyed.

EVENT #7: One leader seizes power by uniting the military and economic powers of the Westdeclaring himself world ruler.

EVENT #8: The world ruler breaks his peace with Israel, destroys the Temple in Jerusalem, and attempts to exterminate the Jewish people.

EVENT #9: The world ruler makes Iraq the new commercial and economic center of his world rule.

EVENT #10: The dragon of Asia, starved for oil and economic growth, challenges the world rulers control of the Middle East.

EVENT #11: Billions die in the worst series of disasters in the history of the world.

EVENT #12: The armies of the world clash in the huge Valley of Megiddo (Armageddon) in the final battle of World War III that begins just before the return of Jesus to planet earth.

DR. JOHN F. WALVOORD WAS NOT A PROPHET. But most would agree that he knew more about the prophecies of the Bible than any man who lived in the last century. During his long life he dedicated himself to the study of biblical prophecy in the original languages and the cultural context of the day in which the prophets spoke.

Dr.Walvoord was widely recognized as the dean of Bible prophecy scholars and teachers in the twentieth century. He taught thousands of seminary students at Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote and contributed to more than thirty books, traveled extensively, and spoke to audiences around the world. His contribution to the churchs understanding of what the Bible says will happen in the end times is inestimable.

In the late 1930s Dr.Walvoord declared that the Jews would return to their ancient homeland and Israel would become a new and powerful Jewish state. In the mid-1940s he repeatedly wrote that the Jews would be restored to Israel. His interpretation of prophecy led him to believe that Israel had to become a state amid its enemiesno matter what the odds. He insisted Israel had to be established and survive or end-time prophecies could not be fulfilled. His literal interpretation proved to be correct. The state of Israel was established in 1948. And Israel has miraculously survived one attack after another.

Over a period of five decades, Dr.Walvoord wrote numerous books and articles on topics related to the end times. Time and time again, he sketched out lists of end-time events that became headlines years after he put them in writing. While all of his works are important and valuable, in terms of popular impact, one of his books stands alone: Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis.

This classic book on end-time prophecy was originally published in 1974.The outline of events he had taught throughout the previous decades came alive in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War in Israel and the subsequent Arab oil embargo against the United States. Dr.Walvoord seized upon the interest in world events at that time as a unique opportunity to show how these events pointed toward the Bibles scenario for the end times.

The book, with very minor revision, was rereleased sixteen years later in 1990 in light of the Persian Gulf War. Dr.Walvoord often commented how even after sixteen years the prophetic interpretations in the book remained rock solid and required no major changes. The revised book hit the New York Times best-seller list and sold millions of copies. It has been translated into ten languages and is still studied throughout the world.

Dr.Walvoord was perhaps less shocked by the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, than many of his contemporaries. He had predicted the rise of Islamic terrorism. He had predicted that terrorism and access to oil would be at the center of end-time events that would rock the world.

Before his death on December 20, 2002, Dr.Walvoord told many of his students that he believed the rise of militant Islam and the war on terror might be the final piece to the prophetic puzzle. It does seem that a kind of prophetic shift of gears occurred on 9/11 when world attention was riveted on the Middle East.