The End of the World?

With only a few minutes until the 6 PM deadline when Christ returns, according to Harold Camping, I wanted to share a few thoughts on this topic.

Firstly, I wonder if Camping may be of Jehovah's Witness background. The Watchtower has been predicting the end of the world for years now and each time they are wrong. Camping even made an identical prediction in 1994. This would seem to indicate that he is a false prophet according to Deuteronomy 18:22 which states:
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. ~ Deuteronomy 18:22
What gets me is how Camping could think he can accurately predict the end of the world to the exact time when Jesus clearly said, "“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mark 13:32).


I find it sad that so many are subscribing to Campings false theology. Many people, believing Camping to be correct, are actually afraid. However, Jesus gave us the signs to watch out for before His coming (Matthew 24), and I’m quite sure that not all of it has happened yet (though much of it is happening now). I only pray that this will be a spiritual wakeup call for people who will realize their desperate need of Christ; We may not know the day or the hour, but it is certain that Jesus is coming soon.

On a funny note, we had some Jehovah’s Witnesses show up at our door this morning- probably trying to make some last minute recruits before the deadline tonight. :)

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[e] but My Father only.... Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:36, 42-44)

And with that, it's exactly 6PM! I don't see anything happening yet! :)

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Addendum, May 23, 2011
This morning, as I was thinking about Camping, a Scripture came to mind which caused me to look at Matthew 24 a little more closely. The following are my thoughts/reactions to Camping's predictions; it is rather long, but well worth the read.


When will the end of the world take place? In Matthew 24, Jesus' disciples came to Him asking Him that very question:


"Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?'” (Matthew 24:3)

Jesus answers them by pointing them to a number of signs to look for:

"And Jesus answered and said to them: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come'" (Matthew 24:4-14)

In the rest of chapter 24, Jesus goes on to expound on this. No doubt, we have seen much of this happen already in the form of religious persecution, wars, natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and the like; but there are a few things I would like to point you to:

1) Jesus said that one of the signs of the times was this: "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." From time to time, people do arise who claim to be prophets of God. Harold Camping and his May-21-end-of-the-world prediction is the most recent example. Camping should have known better, since Jesus not only says that false prophets will abound, but He also says that no one knows the day or the hour later in Matthew 24. See Deuteronomy 18:22 for God's criteria for a prophet.

2) While Camping did not directly claim to be the Christ, he did take the authority that belongs only to God by stating that he knew the exact day and hour - Here are Jesus' words on that, also taken from Matthew 24:

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, *but My Father only*. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,  and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:36-44).

3) Jesus clearly says that the end of the world will not come until the Gospel has been "preached in all the world." While many, many places have witnessed the Gospel due to missionaries and Christians who have fearlessly trekked into distant countries to share the Good News, there are still some unreached, remote areas that have never heard the Gospel. While I am not sure that we will ever know if we have reached "the ends of the earth" with the Gospel, God knows -- and that is when the end will come.

There is so much more to be said about this topic; and in fact, Jesus said a lot more on this in the remaining verses of Matthew 24 -- I recommending reading the whole chapter for yourself.

You may also want to check out this article which covers the reactions to Camping's false prediction: http://bit.ly/lEdzeH In the article, one man's reaction was, "I did what the Bible said." This demonstrates the level of deception caused by Camping. If people had really read their Bibles, they would have known that Camping could never be accurate in this prediction. We must weigh everything by the Word of God. (Update: Camping may be speaking tonight, the 23rd, on his failed prediction; be on the lookout for that. UPDATE: Despite the fact that Camping is "flabbergasted" about his failed prediction, he has set a new date for the end of the world: October 21, 2011)



So remember Jesus' words the next time someone tries to predict the future, and especially when they try to predict when Jesus will come back:

"...many false prophets will rise up and deceive many."

"Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!" ~ Mark 13:35-37 


For more, please see my Open Letter to Harold Camping.

Comments

  1. Haha! Totally agreed. The only time Jesus isn't going to come is when everyone's waiting for Him. He comes like a thief in the night.

    ReplyDelete
  2.  This is a great, but hilarious post! It's 8 here... I'm still waiting! :D

    ReplyDelete

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