The Apocalypse Revisited

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. 

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.  Revelation 13:1-2

 I'm so old that I was a teenager when Hal Lindsey's book The Late Great Planet Earth was published at the beginning of the 70's. It was Lindsey's interpretation of the events leading to the return of Christ and it became arguably the bestselling book of the decade, with millions of evangelicals around the world buying copies and earnestly reading it. Every few years Lindsey published another end-times prophecy book which essentially attempted to explain why he wasn't wrong in the previous one. 

I was working a a Christian summer camp when Late Great came out and there were intense discussions which scared the bejabbers out of everyone. The confusion led one young woman to fall on her knees outside one evening to welcome Jesus as the heavens were aglow -- it was the Northern Lights. 

In Lindsey's convoluted reasoning the Soviet Union was the Bear of the book of Revelation and the apocalyptic bruin was coming to get us. If I recall correctly the precursor of the European Union would be part of the end-times scenario as well. There is a long history of evangelical suspicion of the Soviet Union/Russia, with Billy Graham decrying the godless communists back in the 1950's.

Isn't it bizarre that today, when Russia poses a real and dire global threat, it has so many evangelical Christians in the U.S. on its side? For years one of the biggest supporters of Vladimir Putin has been none other than Billy Graham's son, Franklin. Franklin invited his followers to pray for Russia prior to the invasion of Ukraine.  Lots of others regard Putin as more Christian than their president, Joe Biden, because Biden, a practicing Catholic, supports LGBTQ2 and abortion rights. Somehow Ukraine is the aggressor in the current war for reasons that just aren't anything more than bafflegab. The shift over the decades is mind-boggling and its as though everyone on the theological right has lost all memory of the Red Scare days or the Hal Lindsey frenzy. 

In my estimation Putin is the face of evil and has been for nearly two decades. He does have a propensity for horses, so who knows, he may be Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We should check in with Hal...