May 2000 Personal Letter | Zola Levitt Ministries

Dear Friends,

What exciting times these are for those really interested in Scripture. I have spoken at three prophecy conferences in three weeks. And what a shame prophecy is taught in so few churches. A theologian speaking at one of the conferences cited the absence of prophecy books in seminary bookstores, where future pastors get their learning. He had recently visited Moody Bible Institute and found next to nothing on that crucial subject in their bookstore. He referred to “trendy theologians” causing an anti-prophecy, anti-Israel slant, and he lamented that Moody used to be especially strong in prophecy, missions, etc.

At another conference, this time the important “God’s News Behind the News Conference” in Orlando, Florida, with thousands in attendance, a lady lamented to me that she cannot discuss prophecy with her son-in-law. She went on to inform me that her son-in-law holds a doctorate in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He thinks that Israel is unimportant, and she is totally frustrated with him.

The distinguished radio teacher, Ray Brubaker, was holding forth at the conference in Orlando, and he recalled a moment when his Moody Bible Institute education served him well. It seemed that he went to a Bible study where the regular teacher was ill, and a substitute attempted to take on the Book of Revelation. The substitute stammered that he really had little knowledge of that prophetic book, and said only a few platitudes before closing the lesson. Dr. Brubaker volunteered, and there followed a fine hour of intense prophecy study. As the aged Brubaker stated at the conference, “I had several terms in prophecy back at Moody Bible Institute a few years ago.” I doubt if a modern Moody grad would have been much help.

When Dr. McCall and I wrote our bestselling books, Satan in the Sanctuary and The Coming Russian Invasion in the 1970s, Moody Press was at the top of Christian publishing and was, most certainly, deeply interested in prophecy. Those books are still bestsellers with this ministry (the updated Russian Invasion is called Coming: The End). As Moody’s interest in prophecy died down in the 1980s, sales of our books curtailed until we took over the titles. When we offered them through our own ministry, they became bestsellers again, since the people who watch our programs and take our newsletter are still vitally interested in End Times prophecy and Biblical studies in general.

At these prophecy conferences, it seems as if it were no secret that the seminaries have deteriorated on this subject. When I mentioned it from the podium, eyes rolled at all three conferences, as if people were going to say, “Tell us something we don’t know!” Now, of course, these audiences are the best of the Bible readers in our society. They are not like the unaware young students registering at what they imagine to be venerable old seminaries practically having the reputations of great churches. The rank and file attending these prophecy conferences may not have as fine a suit or as polished a podium delivery as the average seminary professor these days, but probably they know much more Bible.

As to why this ministry is pursuing the seminaries and churches who are letting us down on studies of prophecy and Israel, I chanced across a remark in an editorial this morning: “The media controls the government.” Without someone watching, governments—and seminaries—would just run off on their own, and I’m afraid that is what has happened in the case of those seminaries teaching Progressive Dispensationalism. The Christian media itself is not completely trustworthy, but as a ministry totally dedicated to Biblical accuracy, we will be the “watchmen on the wall,” and we will report to you and to the seminaries themselves whenever we see obvious error. I know that Progressive Dispensationalism is a bit complex for our average reader, but in the upcoming newsletter, we will run a clear definition of it.

God seems to just keep sending people our way who continue making these points. I didn’t solicit either of these conversations. More on the deteriorating seminaries in our upcoming publications.

Mother’s Day is coming up. Don’t forget to call your mom! In keeping with Mother’s Day, the following article appeared recently in The Jerusalem Post International Edition:

For five months, a mother sneaked into her son’s army base on the northern border and joined him for night guard duty because he was afraid of the dark. What makes the story reported last week in Yediot Aharonot even more amazing is that no one on the base ever detected the mother’s presence.
The soldier has suffered from fear of the dark ever since the Gulf War, when he was 10. Determined to do regular army service, he refused to tell his superiors about his fears and tried to overcome them on his own.
His mother, fearing for his wellbeing, sneaked onto the base three times a week, when he had night guard duty, and engaged her son in long conversations until daybreak. Then she returned home.
At the same time, she turned to the military authorities with a plea that her son be transferred. The army agreed to move her son to a base on the home front, where he was not given night duty.

A sincerely happy Mother’s Day to all!

The Pope’s visit to Israel was all the news last month, but it really amounted to nothing much. It’s just odd that this Christian leader finds such comfort with the Moslems, undoubtedly his worst enemies on earth when push comes to shove (and it will). The Jews, the family of the Lord, are not nearly so close to the Pope, and he did not give the quality of audiences to the Israeli government that he did to the Palestinians who are primarily Moslems.

It was mentioned that this was the second Papal visit to Israel (why isn’t the Pope there on a constant basis if he’s interested in Jesus Christ, a born-and-bred Jewish Israeli who never left that country?). But we should realize that the previous Papal visit was 12 hours long. In 1964, the Pope entered Galilee for an extremely short sojourn in which he received no Israeli leaders at all and made crystal clear that the Church had nothing to do with those awful Jews. I wonder what our Lord, who said, “…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40), would say to that.

I did like it very much when the Pope, like anyone else, put a written prayer into a crack in the Western Wall. Evidently this validated the idea that this retaining wall was a part of the ancient Jewish Temple and that God’s sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, was right behind it. In effect, the Wall is God’s mailbox, and people put prayers in there all the time. There’s even a fax number, 011-972-2-561-2222, for sending your prayers, or you can email them at:

Arafat appeared on “This Week” and was interviewed by Cokie Roberts. He performed his usual indignant dramatics, asking her, “Where are you from?” When she answered, “Louisiana,” he exclaimed, “And so, would you like to be moved to Australia?!” The comparison is false, of course. No one in the world is asking the Palestinians to move out of Israel, and certainly not to some distant, unrelated place. Naturally, it would make perfect sense if they lived in Jordan with the rest of their Palestinian brethren who speak their language and worship their god, and that would solve the Middle East problem overnight. Or they could cooperate with the Israelis and become the first Arabs in the world to move into modern times, and that, too, would solve the problem overnight. But in any case, nobody is asking them to move to Australia—least of all the Australians.

Why is it that when we have high-priced gasoline, we don’t mention that the Arabs, largely in charge of OPEC, are responsible? How is it that Israel is constantly criticized in the liberal press, but the Arabs get a free pass even when they behave the way they do?

The Dallas Morning News calls Israel the “most holy—and battle-scarred—corner of the world,” though there hasn’t been a battle in Israel since 1948! Columnist Tony Blankley wrote in The Washington Times in reference to Jerusalem, “…the lands once trod by Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus.” He ought to know that of those three, only Jesus visited Jerusalem. That city is not mentioned in the Koran, and, however emotionally they may protest, it is not really holy to the Moslems. The Muskogee [Okla.] Daily Phoenix reported in a front page article that Mecca has a shrine which houses “God, called Allah in the Arabic language.” That small town newspaper has the agreeable policy of printing the reporter’s name and phone number along with the article, and so I called Robyn Bradshaw at 918-684-2922 to tell her that Allah is a different god than most of her readers worship. She claimed that it was not her job to discern between gods and that she was “quoting a source.” She did add that it would have been better to say “according to…” Give her a call and straighten her out. As for President Clinton meeting with the dictator of Syria, don’t get too excited. The Levitt Letter has predicted since the 1991 meetings in Madrid that peace with Syria was impossible, and we still hold that position. But the two has-beens enjoyed good meals and drinks on their respective supporters, the American taxpayers and the Syrian slaves.

Clinton’s useless junket, also involving unsuccessful visits to India and Pakistan, took 77 Air Force planes and cost us $50 million!

As you’re reading this, we are taping a series on “The Seven Feasts” along with footage of Israeli homes while we’re on our Spring Tour.

See the Land for yourself! Our next tour is June 7–16. It is a Kibbutz Tour, which means we’ll stay in comfortable kibbutz guesthouses in the Israeli countryside instead of the four- and five-star hotels we frequent on our other tours. The Kibbutz Tour is our most economical, and it is timed so that teachers and students can see the Holy Land during their summer break. Our itinerary is the same as our Deluxe Tour, except for the addition of an actual archaeological dig—tools and instruction provided, of course! We will visit all the major Biblical sites such as Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the Mt. of Beatitudes, the Jordan River (where you can be baptized just as our Lord was), the Western Wall, the Mt. of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, the Garden Tomb (which is now empty), Masada, and the Dead Sea. You will also see the breathtaking Golan Heights and visit the Old City of Jerusalem. See the original Dead Sea Scrolls and tour Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial. Call Diana or Becky at 214-696-9760 during office hours for information, or call 1-800-WONDERS for a full-color brochure. [Or click here.]

Starting in early September, we are introducing the Ultra Grand Tour. Cruise with us aboard a luxury liner, see the islands of Mykonos, Patmos, and Rhodes, visit Athens with its ancient Parthenon and Acropolis, tour Corinth, Mars Hill, and Ephesus, Turkey. Then we will join the Deluxe group for a full tour of Israel before visiting Petra, the city carved out of rose-red mountains. You may choose to join us only for the Deluxe Tour, or opt for Greece and Israel, or Israel and Petra, or the Ultra Grand Tour. You have several options from which to choose, and any of them are wonderful opportunities to rejoice in the lands of the Bible.

And remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Your messenger,

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