The Passing Of Bible Prophecy Great Hal Lindsey - Generations Changed Forever

Hal Lindsey, a best-selling author and host of "The Hal Lindsey Report," went home to be with the Lord on November 25th at the age of 95, leaving behind a long list of individuals and ministries whose lives were changed through his labor for the Lord.

Lindsey was born in 1929 and graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary at the age of 38, the same year as the Six-Day War in Israel, which resulted in the Jewish people retaking their possession of Jerusalem after nearly 2,000 years. Lindsey's bold stand and love for Biblical Prophecy led him three years later to write what the New York Times described as the number one best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970s, "The Late Great Planet Earth."

Hal's book appealed to an audience that consisted of both the saved and the lost, drawing on the search for insight into the earth's future in a culture where astrology and fortune-telling had become heavily popularized. Instead of setting out a list of predictions from the mouths of men, Hal detailed how God had provided an understanding of the future of planet Earth with 100% accuracy.

"The Late Great Planet Earth" was powerful. It began by establishing why the Hebrew prophet's precise predictions given by God stood in contrast to the many others who claimed to know the future through mysticism, stargazing, and drug use. Lindsey revealed the history of fulfilled Biblical prophecy and dove deeply into how future prophecies connected to events seen on the current global stage.

As a result of the book, numerous eyes became open to the relevance of prophecy today, the sound teaching of our blessed hope, and the significance of the nation of Israel. By 1990, the book had sold twenty-eight million copies and was translated into over fifty languages.

While inevitably, many attacked and scoffed at Lindsey, even after his death, "The Late Great Planet Earth" was used by God to spark widespread interest in Biblical Prophecy, eternally impacting countless individuals and helping to raise up generations of ministry leaders to study and teach on the subject.

By God's hand, many trusted ministry leaders we know today stumbled across Lindsey's book in their early years. In numerous cases, the impact laid the groundwork for them to take their first steps in their walks with the Lord and prompted them to begin their ministries. It is startling to discover just how many ministries would be directly affected by Hal's service to the Lord.

Jan Markell is an author, the founder and president of Olive Tree Ministries, and host of Understanding the Times radio, often described as "radio for the remnant," which is heard on over 1,000 stations nationwide.

It was in the mid-70s that Markell cracked open Hal Lindsey's "The Late Great Planet Earth."

"I knew Hal fairly well, having brought him to the Twin Cities on two occasions," Markell told Harbinger's Daily. "His book, The Late-Great Planet Earth, was a game-changer for many, including me. He made sense of theology that few understood well at that time. But his most important contribution is that he convinced millions of readers that Israel, indeed, was the key to our past, present, and future."

"I read his book in 1974, the same year I made my first trip to Israel, and my life was forever changed thanks to both," she recalled. "I would not be doing what I am today without both experiences."

Erick Stakelbeck, who is the host of the Watchman Newscast and Stakelbeck tonight on TBN, recounted being in his early 20s when his father gave him a copy of Lindsey's book.

"I was living in the world. I believed in God, and I had that old Catholic fear of God but wasn't walking with the Lord," he explained. "My dad was in a Bible study at his factory where he was an electrician, and a group of guys were talking prophecy and Israel. They were big Hal Lindsey fans. They gave my dad the book, and he passed the book on to me."

Stakelbeck was astonished by the contents of "The Late Great Planet Earth," having always had an interest in world events.

"I followed it all very closely. I said, 'Man, the chess pieces are moving, and this is unfolding now!" Stakelbeck described. "I went to confession as a good Catholic boy at the time, and the priest said, 'It's been three years; why have you come back?' And I said, 'Well, I just read this book,' and I explained everything in it. He said, 'You can't take that seriously; it's all allegory!'"

"I left the church, and that day, the gears were turning in my head," he remembered.

Stakelbeck later moved to Washington, D.C., where he began reading the Bible. "It was like the scales were lifted from my eyes," he said. In 2009, Stakelbeck traveled to Israel and, upon his return, gave his life to the Lord.

Olivier Melnick, whose books and ministry are dedicated to evangelism and combating antisemitism, described to Harbinger's Daily how the Lord used "The Late Great Planet Earth" to bring him to a saving knowledge of Christ.

"As a French Jew, son of Holocaust survivors, the last thing on my mind in my early twenties (1983) was to consider who God was and if I needed Him in my life," he explained. "Soon after I met the young girl who is today my wife of 41 years, she directed me to the messianic prophecies of the Tanach (Old Testament)."

"I was not impressed. I just wanted to marry her, not read the Bible. She insisted on not being unequally yoked and challenged me to read 'The Late Great Planet Earth,'" Melnick remembered. "I read the book every morning on my way to work on the Paris subway. Its short chapters on fulfilled prophecies of the First Coming drew me in and convinced me that if they had indeed been fulfilled 100% accurately, what was left for the future would also be 100% accurate."

"Then I got to the Rapture, and I freaked out. Would I be left behind?" he recalled wondering. "Hal Lindsey's small book had a life-changing effect on me, and one night in July of 1983, I gave my life to Yeshua."

"Years later, I met Hal Lindsey at a conference and told him my story," Melnick noted. "I had brought the book with me, and he kindly signed it. He wrote 'Merci Beaucoup,' meaning 'thank you very much' in French. In retrospect, I would like to say Merci Beaucoup to Hal Lindsey for writing the book that led me to my Jewish messiah and changed my life forever."

Pastor Tom Hughes, the founder of Hope for Our Times and 412 Church, highlighted how the documentary on Hal Lindsey's book in the late 70s started him down the road to accepting Jesus.

"Hal Lindsay was very influential in my ministry over the years for various reasons," he underscored. "Whether you are pre-trib or not, he has inspired entire generations--plural--to look at the prophecies regarding the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ."

"The book was published in 1970. I saw the documentary of 'The Late Great Planet Earth' in 1978. I went to this theater in downtown Riverside, California--actually by myself, nobody wanted to go," Hughes noted. "It sparked an interest in me. Prior to that, I was all about psychics, astrology charts, and Nostradamus."

"Then I went and watched that movie, and it sparked my interest in the Bible," he emphasized. "I didn't get saved until 1988, but it was Bible prophecy that got me started."

Ron Rhodes, an author and president of "Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries," before he came to Jesus, grew up in a "showbiz" family and attended a liberal church that rejected the Second Coming of Christ as a literal event.

He began working with Pat Boone, who pointed Rhodes to read "The Late Great Planet Earth."

"I had never heard of the Rapture, of the Tribulation, the Anti-Christ, or anything," he underscored. "It made a big impact on me, and I became a Christian. I dumped Hollywood and went to Dallas Theological Seminary--and I haven't looked back."

"That was around the time when that book became really huge. The Late Great Planet Earth popularized Bible prophecy," Rhodes said, adding that following its publication, many people became inspired to write on the topic.

Christian author Jonathan Brentner told Harbinger's Daily, "Hal Lindsey's lasting impact on me happened during my college days in the mid-1970s. His book, The Late Great Planet Earth, awoke me to the realization that the Rapture could happen at any moment."

Brentner went on to read Lindsey's book "Satan Is Alive and Well on Planet Earth," which he said "first opened his eyes to how our adversary works in the world and in opposing us as believers."

Dr. David Jeremiah is a pastor, author, and founder of the international broadcast ministry "Turning Point for God." Jeremiah recalled graduating only a few years apart from Lindsey at Dallas Theological Seminary and feeling honored to have been connected in a small way to "The Late Great Planet Earth."

"I began my pastoral career in 1969 when my wife, Donna, and I, along with seven families, started Blackhawk Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana," he described. "In 1970, the second year of my pastoral ministry there, Hal Lindsey published a book entitled The Late Great Planet Earth. The book came out a few years after the Six-Day War in the Middle East when people were focused on the remarkable events unfolding in Israel."

"This book brought the message of biblical prophecy into everyday conversation," Jeremiah highlighted. "In his book, Lindsey took the theological truths he had learned in seminary regarding the prophetic portions of Scripture, as well as insights from his own subsequent studies, and connected them to events in the present and future."

It was later that Jeremiah would meet the co-author of "The Late Great Planet Earth," Carole Carlson, who would assist him in publishing his own books on Biblical Prophecy in the 1990s.

While the authors of "The Late Great Planet Earth" have passed away, Jeremiah emphasized that "they're still alive today," not only in the presence of the Lord but also through the books they penned and helped others to write.

From his books, articles, sermons, weekly "Hal Lindsey Report," and tours of Israel, Hal Lindsey's ministry was used by God to bring the often belittled topic of Bible Prophecy to the forefront of people's minds.

Harbinger's Daily has been privileged to point people to his trusted ministry work for the last decade. Like many others, we were greatly blessed by his insights and partnership.

Lindsey finished the race strong without breaking his pace. His love for the Lord and desire to reach people with the truth of God's Word led him to continue laboring in ministry until only days before he passed away at the age of 95. It is a joy to know that on the 25th of November, 2024, Lindsey heard the long-awaited words from the Lord, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).

Originally published at Harbinger's Daily