hatever the final resolution of the war in Iraq, many Christian fundamentalists see the drama now unfolding on the sands of that ancient land as a harbinger of prophetic Biblical fulfillment about the end of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In books, lectures, web sites and even movies, the word is out -- TEOTWAWKI -- "The End of The World As We Know It" -- is here.

   Or so many believe.

   There is considerable speculation about whether George W. Bush, a man who has infused his domestic agenda with a muscular religious rhetoric, incorporates that religious belief into foreign policy. More obvious, though, is how many Bush supporters on the religious right perceive the events taking place in Iraq as prophesy come to fruition. A recent piece in the Washington Post by Bill Broadway notes that world events, especially the U.S.military move into Iraq has p[rovided believers with new reasons for interpreting the latest global events through the lens of apocalyptic ideology.

   "Anxious discussions have arisen on prophecy web sites, in Bible study groups and churches, and at such gatherings as last month's 20th International Prophecy Conference in Tampa, Fla.," writes Broadway. "Many see evidence of Iraq's significance in end-times scenarios in key passages of the apocalyptic book of Revelation."

   There and in other prophetic books of the Old and New Testament, the vocabulary of ancient times resonates with the headlines in today's real-time coverage of the war in Iraq. The final Biblical book (excluded in some early versions), Revelation, is considered by some as a roadmap to events now taking place. Chapter 16 includes the mention of Armageddon, the ancient site of Har Megiddo in northern Israel as well as the Euphrates River recently foraged by coalition tanks.

   "John," possibly the writer of Revelation tells of dramatic events, including one vision where an angel "poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East." Other angels blow trumpets, as armies gather for the final confrontation between good and evil.

   Many doomsayers say that the formation of the modern State of Israel initiated the prophetic countdown to the "end of days" complete with the rise of a sinister Antichrist, global discord and the persecution of the Christian church, the rise of a "false religion" and the penultimate battle at Armageddon. Depending on how you interpret the obtuse Biblical text, Jesus arrives in time to usher in a one thousand year reign of peace before the Final Judgment, or only after his followers establish a millennial kingdom -- more likely a theocracy -- to welcome him. Within this cosmic drama is the Tribulation, a seven-year period when the Antichrist is unleashed to carry out a horrific persecution of Christians. Some predict that during this time true believers will be transported to heaven in an event known as the Rapture, possibly to return later with the Messiah as part of a conquering army.

   It is a prophecy fueled by developments in the Middle East, particularly the war against Saddam Hussein.

   "Rev. Jerry Falwell believes fully, and unequivocally that we must go to war with Iraq to set in motion the cataclysmic events that will ensure the second coming of Jesus Christ," says Dr. Morgan Strong, former professor of Middle East History at State University of New York and a consultant to news programs and magazines. "War with Iraq will lead to the end of the World, as we know it ... Israel will be no more. Israel will be destroyed during the apocalypse. Any Jews that survive anywhere will be converted to Christianity."

   Strong adds that according to this eschatology (the study of ultimate end-times things), Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, Animists and everyone else will either perish in the conflagration or convert to fundamentalist Christianity.

   Not everyone swept up in the fever of end times ideology, though, believes that the war in Iraq is a major benchmark in the apocalyptic countdown.

   "My basic take is that stuff going on over there is no direct fulfillment of prophecy," said Pastor Mark Hitchcock of the Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. "Some people will say that this is the beginning of Armageddon ... but my whole view is more of a stage-setting kind of scenario."

   Hitchcock is the author of nine books on the weighty topic of Biblical prophecy, and says that the war in Iraq is more of a warm-up or catalyst for the severe and dramatic events yet to come.

   At Bob Jones University, a hotbed of apocalyptic fundamentalism, Dr. Stephen Hankins is fully convinced that while the war in Iraq is not the "endgame" of prophecy, humanity will soon face the events described in books like Revelation.

   "Armageddon isn't going to happen in Iraq in the next three months," Hankins tells reporters. Still, he maintains that humanity is on the doorstep of a battle pitting Jesus against a coalition of nations led by the Antichrist, to be followed by seven years of Tribulation and catastrophe.

   Other Bible watchers agree with Irvin Baxter, a pastor in Richmond, Indiana and the founder of Endtime magazine. He says, "Iraq fits like hand in glove" with prophecy from the New and Old Testament. Baxter also predicted high casualty rates from the U.S. military invasion, and warned that other countries will look upon the fight in Iraq as an opportunity to settle their own political accounts. China might try to occupy Taiwan, for instance, or India and Pakistan could wage full-scale war over the volatile Kashmir region. It's a precursor, says Baxter, to World War II and the holocaust predicted by John in the Book of Revelation.

   If there is any indication that belief in the end times is thriving in America, it is the phenomenal success of the "Left Behind" series of books authored by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

   The latest installment appears in bookstores this Tuesday. Whereas most books dealing with Bible prophecy are confined to religious outlets, the "Left Behind" series has reached a wide secular audience and sold a total of more than 50 million copies. The last four even reached the number one slot on the coveted New York Times bestseller list.

   LaHaye is a former pastor, Bob Jones University graduate and religious right activist who helped Jerry Falwell organize the now-defunct Moral Majority organization. Wife Beverly founded the Concerned Women for America. Falwell recently opened the Tim LaHaye School of Prophecy at his Liberty University, a strong signal of the popularity of end times belief in the nation's thriving fundamentalist subculture.

   LaHaye provides the theological doctrine underpinning the "Left Behind" series, while co-author Jerry Jenkins plays the role of wordsmith, fleshing in the plot and providing the characters. The storyline begins on the eve of the Rapture, as the horrors of the Tribulation descend. The installment "Armageddon" depicts Satan ruling the planet from his capital at New Babylon, Iraq.

   "Iraq is right where old Babylon was," says Rev. Elva Martin, head of the Word of Truth Assembly of God in South Carolina. She told the Greenville News that Saddam Hussein considers himself to be the reincarnation of King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon when the ancient Israelis were pressed into servitude. Believers like Martin also point to other passages from Biblical texts, including the reference to a "whore of Babylon" found in Revelation, who sits on seven hills. While some insist that this refers to the ancient city restored by Saddam on the banks of the Euphrates River, others say that it could also point to the Roman Catholic Church.

   The fatalistic views of many fundamentalist doomsday believers coupled with the horrific events said to be prophesied in Revelation disturb even some Christians.

   Dr. Melanie McAlister, associate professor of American Studies at Georgetown University said that the theology presented in the "Left Behind" books and movies may lead people to accept the inevitability of military conflict and other violence. She told the Washington Post, "LaHaye and Jenkins join a chorus of fundamentalist commentators who, despite their protestations to the contrary, have expressed a perverse enthusiasm for the spilled blood and millions of dead that will signal the Second Coming."

   McAlister added that many end timers will perceive events in the Middle East as "part of a divinely sanctioned plan," and "Because of that, there's both less we can do to stop them and perhaps less we should do."

   At the recent "Left Behind: What's It All About?" Bible conference in Amarillo, Texas, 1,200 seekers listened to a battery of speakers including Tim LaHaye discuss the events unfolding in the Middle East.

   Gary Frazier, who delivered a presentation on "Signs of the Second Coming," said that "Everybody is incurably curious about the future." He emphasized the role that Israel and other countries in the region are playing in the fulfillment of end times prophesy, and warned that events like terrorism and the formation of the European Union were all predicted in the Bible.

   "The whole world's in crisis," Frazier told the Amarillo Globe-News. "It's just not the conflict with Iraq. There's the war on terrorism, which is becoming a global conflict, and there are soldiers all over the place.

   "People everywhere know something's happening, and those with knowledge of Scripture know it's things that the Bible has prophesied."

   Frazier added that Christians will play a special role in the horrific events predicted in revelation.

   "It's thrilling to see God's plan unfold. But for the nonbeliever, they ought to be terrified."

   The Globe noted that many attending the prophesy conference were animated by what they were hearing. One church member said that current events proved the Bible's "divine nature." Speaker Ed Hindson agreed, and told his audience, "The message of salvation runs through the Book of Revelation."

   "Hallelujah!" Hindson declared. "The Lamb has cried out, 'Jesus is king!' and the good news is, we win!"

[text only]