It is easy to dismiss Harold Camping’s prediction of a May 21, 2011 Rapture as simply the proclamation of man who should not be taken seriously. However, we should be cognizant of the fact that people like Camping are going to great lengths to tell the public that they know when the Rapture will place because there are major, negative consequences associated with this activity.
- Today I want to discuss how Camping’s date setting (the practice of assigning an exact time for Christ’s return) is harmful to us.
2 Peter Chapter 3 tells us that there will be scoffers in the last days who will ask mockingly “Where is the promise of his [Christ’s] coming?”
- 2Pe 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
- 2Pe 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
- 2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
- 2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
The people who scoff are those who highly doubt that Christ will come again. There may be a variety of reasons why there will be people who will doubt that Christ will come again and/or think that the notion of Christ coming again is ridiculous. Here are just a few:
- One obvious reason is that many people are not Christian.
- Another reason is that some people do not believe that the Bible teaches the Rapture.
- One emerging reason why some people may think the notion that Christ will return is ridiculous is that there have been prominent people who’ve gone to great lengths to promote a certain Rapture date and end up being wrong.
The effort to promote May 21, 2011 has gone far beyond placing billboard advertisements in several major U.S. cities. Some Camping supporters have painted warnings on their vehicles that “Judgment Day” is coming on May 21, 2011. In addition, there are people outside the U.S. distributing brochures to people on the street.
Camping’s position as a man who runs a global broadcasting organization and the great extent his organization has gone to promote May 21, 2011 has attracted a lot of media interest/attention concerning the May 21 prediction. Camping’s prediction has been reported by several major news outlets in the United States including:
For those living outside the U.S., these websites attract a very large number of readers. In fact, some of the articles about Camping’s prediction have several thousand people commenting on them.
- If you read the comments that are left on these articles you can see the cynicisms and utter disdain that some people have towards Bible believers. Some people associate the followers of Camping with all fundamentalist Bible believers without knowing that Camping and his followers are in the vast minority. In addition, I’ve read a few people comment that they’ll lose all respect for fundamentalists if nothing happens on May 21, 2011.
- Unfortunately, many people do not spend the time to check the facts. People read an article and quickly make a judgment about all Bible believers instead of realizing that many Bible believers are not fans of Camping.
In addition, just last week Jay Leno, a popular late night American talk show host and a comedian, referenced the May 21 billboards in the first 40 seconds of his opening monologue on national television in the U.S.
Leno misrepresented the story by claiming that “Bible experts” are saying that the world is going to end on May 21, 2011. Leno also mocked the prediction by jokingly citing one-time events (like the NBA champions losing to the worst NBA team) as “evidence” that the end of the world was near.
- While Camping’s prediction deserves to be dismissed, the manner that Leno mocked the prediction may have damaged the reputation of people who study the Bible in the eyes of many people. Leno’s statement that “Bible experts” are predicting this (not just Camping) and his jokes about one-time events encouraged his audience to not take real Bible experts seriously.
Date setting can be a tempting thing to do for a prominent person or a person seeking to become prominent since it can help them gain notoriety. However, date setting is an extremely perilous practice because it can lead to people losing confidence in real Bible experts and can turn people into scoffers when the Rapture does not transpire on the specific date a “date setter” identifies. Therefore, I urge people out there to resist the urge to claim to know the exact time when Christ will return.
We can identify clues and events that tell us whether Christ’s Second Coming is approaching or is near, but we cannot identify the exact time of Christ’s Second Coming. Remember, only the Father knows the exact time:
- Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
