Two days after his 95th birthday, on Monday, November 25, the Lord called Harold Lee Lindsey home. The prolific author and beloved “grandfather” of the modern Bible Prophecy movement leaves a loving family and a gargantuan fan base—although he would encourage us by pointing to Jesus Christ rather than himself.
Born in Houston, Texas, weeks after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Lindsey earned a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, and later worked with Campus Crusade for Christ in Southern California for about a decade before authoring one of the biggest-selling books of the 20th century, The Late Great Planet Earth. Written in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War, the book electrified the country and led to many people studying eschatology. It has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages.
No one could have anticipated such a sales tsunami, but the landmark title set the stage for increased evangelism and millions of people eagerly awaiting the Rapture. Lindsey went on to host the International Intelligence Briefing and the Hal Lindsey Report for years.
After decades of pushback from mostly mainline Bible scholars, Dispensationalism made a roaring comeback in the United States, propelled most by Lindsey’s influence. Scores of testimonies buttress the view that Hal Lindsey’s emphasis on evangelism and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the real point of studying prophecy.
Lindsey’s influence also extended to a flood of Christian tour groups to Israel. Interest in the Jewish state, in the light of prophecy fulfilled as the Jewish state began to repopulate the ancient homeland, swelled to unprecedented levels. As he wrote:
“The State of Israel may seem normal. But it’s not. It is no more normal than the restoration of a withered hand or the parting of a vast sea. Israel is not normal. Israel is a miracle!”
“Prophecy authenticates the message,” he liked to say.
Lindsey gave his personal testimony at a prophecy conference in 2013. He said that after a riverboat accident, he picked up a Bible and began to read. The book of Acts particularly caught his attention and he yearned for fellowship with believers. He was invited to a gathering at Rice University in the 1950s.
“There are turning points in every life and you are blessed if you don’t miss them,” he said.
After the Rice event—which, incredibly, dealt with Bible prophecy—Lindsey went back home and began studying his “copious” notes, along with his Bible.
“I stayed up all night. Being a draftsman, I drew a map and looked at the power blocs [in the international community]. I became consumed studying prophecy.” He said that after work each day, he’d go home and study the Bible for up to eight hours. His eyes were then opened to the great battle between good and evil. Lindsey saw that Marxism was becoming popular at Berkeley by 1960, when he started with Campus Crusade for Christ. His passion for the remainder of his life was evangelizing the lost.
This week, he heard the sublime words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
See you soon, brother!