Everyone knows by now that the Rapture did not take place on May 21, 2011. The day came and went without any serious cataclysms like a great earthquake wreaking havoc across every time zone.
The San Francisco Chronicle managed to contact Harold Camping, the man behind the May 21, 2011 hype, on Sunday. Camping told the Chronicle that he was “flabbergasted” that the Rapture did not take place on May 21. In addition, Camping told the Chronicle that he was looking for answers, which for him means “frequent prayer and consultations with friends”. Several other media outlets report that many followers of Camping are also confused about why the Rapture did not take place on May 21 and are searching for answers.
Today I want to provide an overview of why Harold Camping failed to make accurate predictions concerning May 21.
- The main reason I believe it is important to write an article about why Camping’s predictions concerning May 21 failed is that there are likely going to be a lot of people looking for answers about why Camping’s prediction failed, particularly the followers of Camping.
- I also believe it is important to write this article to refute the notion that what happened on May 21 invalidates the Bible and Bible prophecy.
He Failed to Take the Bible at Face Value
Perhaps the main reason why Camping was wrong is that he failed to take the Bible at face value. In my critique of Camping’s May 21 prediction concerning the Rapture I highlighted several areas where his teachings violated what is found in the Bible, including his teaching of a 23 year long great tribulation spanning from 1988 to 2011.
- The two ways I can envision someone coming up with the idea of a 23 year long great tribulation spanning from 1988 to 2011 is to ignore the details concerning the great tribulation provided in the Bible or to not take the verses concerning the great tribulation at face value. Matthew 24:15-21 is clear that the abomination of desolation spoken of in Daniel (Daniel 9:27) must be established before the great tribulation begins:
| Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. | Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
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- Matthew 24:15 suggests that the establishment of the abomination of desolation is an event that people would see. Daniel 9:27 relates the establishment of the abomination of desolation to the end of (temple) sacrifice. Clearly, we on Earth did not see the end of temple sacrifice in 1988 as there was no Third Temple yet (in fact, we are still awaiting the establishment of the Third Temple).
He Took Bible Verses Out of Context
Camping also failed to consider the textual context of the Bible prophecy verses he cited. The most notable example surrounds Camping's great earthquake prediction.
- As I mentioned before, Camping cited the great earthquake mentioned in Revelation 16:18 to support his great earthquake prediction on May 21. Revelation 16:18 was taken completely out of context as Camping failed to consider that there are many events that still need to take place before that great earthquake comes. For instance, the kings of earth need to gather for the Battle of Armageddon (an event associated with the pouring of the sixth vial judgment-Revelation 16:12-16) before the great earthquake in Revelation 16:18 (an event associated with the pouring of the seventh vial judgment) can take place.
He Read Things that Were Never There
Camping relied on a very subjective interpretation style that sought to extract "hidden meaning" from the biblical text. Camping would subjectively assign symbolic meaning to numbers and interpret Bible verses in an allegorical manner.
While I read Camping’s work in preparation to write my critique of his May 21 Rapture prediction I noticed that he extracted meaning from Bible verses which made no sense to me when I took those same verses at face value. At some points it almost seemed like Camping was making up stuff to suit his purposes, especially when it came to how he discussed numbers and the supposed significance behind those numbers.
- For instance, Camping saw the number 5 representing “atonement”, the number 10 representing “completeness”, and the number 17 representing “Heaven”. Somehow Camping felt compelled to utilize a series of mathematical calculations to come up May 21 using these numbers-whose respective significance was determined by Camping. There were no instructions in the Bible to perform the calculations Camping performed to come up with May 21.
- Camping's analysis of the seven days in Genesis 7:4 is an example of how he extracted meaning from Bible verses that made no sense to me when I took those same verses at face value. When I read Genesis 7:4 at face value I conclude that God told Noah that He would begin the flood in seven days. However, Camping concluded that there was also a hidden, spiritual message in Genesis 7:4 warning that God would destroy the world in 7000 years, which in Camping’s mind coincided with May 21, 2011. Camping read something in Genesis 7:4 that simply was not there.
He Set a Date and Hour
Many of the Christians who voiced skepticism with Camping’s May 21 Rapture prediction cited Matthew 24:36 where Christ stated that no one except the Father knows the day and hour.
- Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Camping challenged this verse as much as one possibly can by not only naming a date for the Rapture but also the hour when he thought the Rapture would take place: May 21, 2011 at 6 P.M.
Conclusion
The May 21 hype is thankfully over. Camping’s failure should be a lesson to take the Bible at face value, to not ignore the textual context of the Bible verses you cite or use to build an argument, and to avoid reading things in a Bible verse which are not actually there.
Appendix: A Message to Camping Supporters
This message is targeted to anyone who believed in Camping's predictions concerning May 21...
I understand you may be enduring a very tough time right now. You probably made a significant emotional and perhaps even a significant financial investment in May 21. You are probably trying to reconcile the notion that the Bible is inerrant with the fact that the Rapture did not take place on May 21.
Please understand that the Bible did not fail you. Camping failed you. The Word of God did not fail you. A man failed you. The Bible never guaranteed that the Rapture was going to take place on May 21, 2011 or that a great earthquake would impact every time zone on May 21. Camping guaranteed these things and was wrong. His teachings concerning May 21 were unbiblical and the non-events of May 21 demonstrated that.
Please also understand that you are not rejecting biblical authority by rejecting Camping. Biblical authority and Camping authority are not the same thing. The Bible is not wrong. Camping is wrong. Camping is among many people in history who predicted the end of the world on a certain date and failed. Camping is distinguished because he's recently failed to predict the end of the world twice (1994 and 2011). Camping's failure should be a signal to you that his approach to biblical understanding is flawed.
