It's the End of the World............Not

I am deeply disturbed. Apparently the rapture is tomorrow and I am going to have to miss it. Instead I am taking my son to Walt Disney World for his birthday, which takes precedence. So instead of the rapture, I have to instead be part of the 5 months of torment that Harold Camping has oh so prophetically foretold. I cannot even really be a part of the worldwide earthquake that he has predicted for tomorrow, as I have plans then too. I am bummed that I miss it, but that is life!

I remember the both the story of the boy who cried wolf and chicken little with his falling sky. When I think of them I am reminded of Harold. This is not the first time that he has predicted the rapture and the end of the world. The last time that he predicted the sky was falling was September 6th back in 1994. He turned out to be wrong. Maybe since I will be on vacation for this one I can catch the next one Harold predicts.

So what happens when you misinterpret the world's ending? Do you admit that maybe you were wrong and you do not know more than the angels in heaven or Jesus Himself? Not if you are Harold. He decided that he had done some faulty math, but is convinced that this time he is right.

The sad thing is that there are people who are getting caught up in his prophetic falsehoods. We are warned about this in Matthew 24:11, "and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." It is said again in Matthew 24:25, "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." as well as in Luke 21: , "He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them."

Finally, in 1 Timothy 4:2-5 it says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things..." I don't know about you, but I feel that guys like Harold are predicted in the New Testament repeatedly. In an act of fairness, let us look at how he gets his dates?

Let us look at the Biblical insight that is used here. For starters, the date of the creation of the world as well as the flood is known by Harold based off of........conjecture and some faulty math? He has listed his method, but it would appear to be pretty faulty pencil whipping mixed with speculation that he calls Biblical truth, just like the last time. Take a number here and a number there, pull from the New Testament then the Old Testament until you get what you want. Pretty standard, really.

He then talks about the church age. Never read about a church age, yet Harold claims that it ended in 1988. He claims that the Spirit of God left the church in 1998 and that Satan has ruled the church ever since. Don't know about my church, maybe he means that his is ruled that way.

 So anyway, after the church age ended Harold claims that we began the first 23 years (???????) of the great tribulation. The first 2300 days of the great tribulation began and ended conveniently in 1994 (his first end of the world date). This we will call Great Tribulation I (GT I for short). Then GT II began, which ends in 2011. According to him, Judgement Day then comes on May 21st, 2011.

He says that the world will end 150 days after May 21st based off an irrelevant quote from Genesis about the flood. Yet in Revelation 11 it says that there will be 2 who will witness for 1,260 days and then will be killed and not buried for another 3 1/2 years. I have not heard of this happening in any great city as foretold in Revelations. Maybe God talked to Harold and told him not to worry about the prophets?? Harold takes parts of a whole and tries to mix and mash them where he wants them, omitting what does not fit when it does not agree with him and banging the pieces with his hammer until they fit if he wants them. This is faulty reasoning at best, and false teaching at its worst.

Just to clarify, I am in no way claiming to either be a historical or a Biblical scholar, nor do I claim to be a prophet. I'm just saying that much of the research that I have seen does not mesh with this guys claims last time or this time. I too used my hammer in kindergarden to make the pieces fit where I wanted them to. I can relate, but in this case I believe in the words of Christ and the apostles over Harold. Sorry Harold :(

Back to being serious for a minute. The clincher to his untruths is in the Bible itself. In Matthew 24:36 it says,“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says, "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them..."

It is reiterated in Matthew 24:42-44 ,“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

According to the New Testament, we are to not know the time that the end will come because we should be ever vigilant. If we knew when the end was coming, some could rely on not serving God until the last days. By not knowing when the end comes, it will be easy to separate the faithful from the unfaithful and the just from the unjust. Do not be misled, live each day following the two truths that Christ laid out for us. Love God with all your heart, strength, mind and soul and love your neighbor. Talk to you all Sunday!!