A Sad Day

May 21, 2011...the end of the world.

Wait. I thought that was supposed to be Dec. 21, 2012 when the Mayan calendar runs out.

Or any number of other days which have come and gone in past centuries, including September 6, 1994, Harold Camping's other end of the world date prediction.

Just gonna take a wild leap here and guess this guy is wrong...again.

• Acts 1:17 "He (Jesus) said to them (his disciples), 'It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.'"
• Matt. 24:36  "Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son  —except the Father only."
• Matt. 25:13 "Therefore be alert, because you don't know either the day or the hour."
• Mark 13:33 "Watch! Be alert! For you don't know when the time is coming."
• 1 Thes. 5:2 "For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night."

A thief doesn't announce he's coming to your house. He doesn't plant clues for you to figure out. He shows up when you least expect it. It is possible the world will end tomorrow. As likely as it will end today...or the day after tomorrow...or next month...year...decade. It is possible. But if God said we aren't going to know, then I doubt He's coming on a day so publicized. It's not very 'thiefish.'

So is Camping all wrong?

•  Duet. 18:21-22 "And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." (Bold my emphasis)

Here's the sad thing...he's not all wrong. But he is terribly, terribly wrong about this...as he was before...and will most likely be again. As he is wrong about a frightening number of other things.

And he is giving the entire Christian body a black eye. We don't need any more of those. What with the adulterous affairs of Christian leaders, the church who pickets military funerals, and those who preach false doctrine, it's no wonder we are a laughingstock. But the Christian message is serious...life and death serious.

The LORD will come. There will be a great tribulation. The world as we know it will end.

Just not on Harold Camping's time table.

Until next time,
Becca