“A future battle is not predicted to be fought there—only a gathering of the kings who were to descend upon Jerusalem and put an end to the established system. This did happen at the predicted time—A. D. 67-70—and culminated in the destruction of the old covenant relationship, Jerusalem, and the Jewish State. That is where the Roman general Titus gathered his army, along with the military support of other kings, for his assault upon Jerusalem. Josephesus, the Jewish historian, who lived during that era, wrote about this calamity. It happened over 1900 years ago.”—John Eoff.

If a renowned historian’s account can be admitted as evidence, “The Battle of Armageddon” is history. Too, the hill Megiddo, along with the surrounding valley, is not large enough to accommodate millions of combatants in a future, literal conflict. But assuming the Battle is not history, we would be compelled to understand it as a moral and spiritual conflict, which has been waged since the Christian movement began. I’m inclined to believe it’s a spiritual conflict, although there is strong evidence the Battle was literally fought when the Roman army surrounded and destroyed Jerusalem in 67-70 A. D. “Armageddon” points to a great battle. This we do not deny. The term, along with the context of Revelation 16, seems to indicate a spiritual warfare, as opposed to a flesh-and-blood warfare. Even the apostle Paul stated that we’re not involved in a physical warfare, but in a spiritual combat.

Example: If I wanted to convince people there were animal kings who ruled 2000 years ago, all I’d need do is turn to Jesus’ statement where he called King Herod a fox (Luke 13:31-32). There! I’ve proven my point. Herod was a literal, normal, fox—a four-legged animal. Just so with many prophetic interpreters and their “take it literally or don’t take it at all.”

These prophetic interpreters will turn to the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation, large portions of which are highly symbolic, and they see the leopard lying down with the goat, the cow feeding with the bear, the wolf and the lamb cohabiting, the lion eating straw like an ox, and a young child putting his hand into the viper’s nest without danger (Isa. 11).

These “prophets” interpret all these things literally. They fail to discern that the exquisite imagery of Isaiah typifies the Messiah’s government in this age, just as Isaiah 53 typifies the Lamb of God who was smitten for our transgressions. The Lord is saying through the prophet, in chapter 11, that an age is coming (and now exists) when there will be great peace and happiness in the new kingdom or reign, and it will be like a cow feeding with a bear or a wolf that lives with the lamb. Four-footed animals and their environments are not what Isaiah is talking about. He is addressing the peace and serenity that will reign in the hearts of God’s children in the redeemed society, the era of grace. That time is now, and has been for 2000 years.

So, yes, the “Battle of Armageddon,” or the battle between believers and the forces of evil, is in full force. At this moment, we’re battling Satan head-on. The battle will not end until our King returns and puts an end to all evil, at which time we will be transported to an extension of our golden age—heaven itself.

These brothers—and they are my spiritual brothers in spite of their point of view—see almost all symbolisms and figures of speech with a terrestrial, materialistic mindset. Bless their hearts, it's as though they can’t see above the clouds! They see Jesus’ kingdom as being of this world, yet Jesus himself declared, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). If Jesus’ kingdom (reign) is yet future and will be of this world, as the advocates of an earthly reign contend, Jesus must have been mistaken when He answered Pilate. I can’t accept that.

On the other hand, earthly kingdoms exist for only a season before they’re toppled. They engage in physical combat, winning some battles while losing others, are finally overran, never to rise again. Now we know why Jesus told Pilate His kingdom was not of this world. But our “Earth-First” brothers would have it of this world.

The journal in which this false prophecy appeared is a respected publication and goes into the homes of thousands of recipients. As we all know, his “trade barriers” prophecy failed. Nothing akin to his prophecy occurred in 1992. Such is the history of prophetic sensationalists. Over and over and over their prophecies fall by the wayside, only to attract the attention of new “prophets” who pass that way, pick up where the old “prophets” left off, give the old prophecies a new twist, and they’re on their way to making big bucks with their sensational messages. When will these “prophets” ever learn that God’s timetable does not necessarily correspond with theirs? If stoning false prophets were still legal, as it was under the old Law of Moses, these fellows would be goners! I don’t question their sincerity. I’ll leave that matter to the Lord. Hopefully, they can work it out together.

Hundreds of thousands of believers, including a member of my own family, were duped and fell suckers to their sensational rhetoric. I stayed up on December 31, 1999 till after midnight to “see the wonders” and “fulfillment” of their prophecies. I tuned in my television to watch the world fall apart! I was not surprised when I saw that nothing—absolutely nothing—happened. At 18 minutes past midnight on January 1, 2000, I wrote the following column and e-mailed it to all of my readers:

Dear Readers:

It is 12:18 a.m. on January 1, 2000, and everything seems to be functioning normally, not only in America but in other countries as well. The “Y2K Bug” flew in, but then made a quick exit. My suggestion is that all of the Y2K drama-contrivers who have played upon the emotions of hundreds of thousands of innocent believers dig a big hole, crawl back into it, and hibernate until the year 3000.

Furthermore, I suggest those Y2K sensationalists who have written books and made tapes depicting a national catastrophe reimburse those consumers who purchased their books and tapes and fell victims to their false omens. After all, let’s be fair about this thing.

False omens? By all means. Even Hal Lindsey and Grant Jeffrey, two great “prophets” among us, prophesied a catastrophe. Listen to their words:

“We are rushing toward the dawning of a new millennium on January 1, 2000. Remarkably, the entire world will face the greatest technological crisis in human history in less than eleven months when hundreds of millions of computer systems throughout the world will simultaneously fail. This crisis will massively impact virtually every area of our lives as the computers that control our financial, governmental, and business systems fail to read the year 2000 correctly.

“This conference will explore the incredible fulfillment of prophecy in our generation and will focus on the potential impact of the Y2K Computer Crisis to set the stage for the rise of world government, a cashless society, the appearance of Antichrist, and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.”