On Harold Camping and the Rapture (May 21, 2011)
Harold Camping predicted that the Rapture will occur, with certainty, on May 21, 2011. Well, it’s May 22, 2011, and we’re all still here. Why? Because Mr. Camping ignored Scripture to get where he did.
Chief among texts ignored by Mr. Camping was Matthew 24:36-44:
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
In other words, we simply don’t know when the Judgment is coming. But, we can be assured in the words of Jesus that he will return. Therefore, we should stay vigilant and live as though it could happen at any time.
But this gets better and better. Mr. Camping arrived at the date using numerology, which means he ignored the texts condemning sorcery, and Deuteronomy 4:19:
And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
Since Mr. Camping has ignored or rationalized so many Scriptures, then one more shouldn’t be a problem for him. This next one is a doozy. He now has to explain to us why, in light of Deuteronomy 18:20-22, that anyone should remain his follower:
“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, orwho speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.” And if you say in your heart, “How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?”— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Camping predicted the date of the Rapture, said it was a certainty, and it didn’t come to pass. Therefore, he has met the biblical definition of a false prophet, and we need not pay him any mind. Why should anyone continue listening to him? I await his reply.
Share this:
Posted on May 21, 2011, in Apologetics, Bible Thoughts, Religion and tagged Christianity, Eschatology, Harold Camping, May 21, Rapture. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Josiah Concept Ministries 
“Camping predicted the date of the Rapture, said it was a certainty, and it didn’t come to pass.”
Twice!
Wow big mistake hey fella?? Yep Mr. Camping you twice failed to accurately predict the end times first in 1994 and now in 2011. What is your next blunder?? I think you should stop now trying to play God and just read and believe the words in God’s Bible that you profess to know so well because it is all true every last word all the way to Revelations.
I am sure glad I am not him because all he did now was provide comedy material for all the talk show hosts mono-logs and be the Butt of all of their jokes – – what a fool!! Yea man take my word and stop playing and thinking you are God before they “the guy’s in white coats” come and get you and put you away in a rubber room and throw away the key.
Did you think for one minute that God was going to allow you to make him out a liar on the fact that he says ” I am the only one who knows the time and day when I will declare The Judgement Day no man not even my son Jesus knows the Day of Judgement” So again, why did you Mr. Camping think you knew something Jesus doesn’t even know about?? I mean – – Come on now already. Pray hard Mr. Camping that God will forgive you for causing such a world – wide panic over nothing at all!! For Shame Mr. Camping Shame on you!!!
Yours Randy
From Milwaukee WI.
folks please understand Mr. Camping dont care about anything any one has to say. From the verry start he knew he was lien spitting out snakes and spiders from his mouth. What his plan was all along was to make a proffit from the hopes of other christans. And boy did he make a profit, he earned through donations over 20millon dollers, OVER. And without braken any man made laws. The worst thing is hes not loosing any sleep over this, infact hes proably planning a vacation. Im so sorry for all of you, please remember that god help those who help themselves so let your rapture start from within, then see heaven come for you.
Ignoring scripture was hardly the biggest mistake he made…
Well, Georgie, you and I are going to have vastly different perspectives on what Camping’s biggest mistake was owing to our different worldviews. You’re implying, I bet, that his biggest mistake is Christianity. Obviously, I disagree. His Christianity might be the one redeeming quality Mr. Camping has. If he submits himself to his local church, they could (hopefully) correct his misconceptions.
I think the biggest mistake he made was combining several small false teachings into one big false teaching. Two wrongs don’t make a right. The Rapture is total nonsense, his date for the flood is arbitrary, and his interpretation of Genesis 7:4 is unsupported by the text. Further, his connection of 7:4 to 2 Peter 3:8 is dubious. There’s no reason to assume that the seven days mentioned in Genesis 7:4 is anything but seven actual days until the Flood begins. That statement isn’t a prophecy; it’s a simple declarative statement. (Prophecy in the Bible is cyclical rather than predictive anyway; that’s why we say that Jesus as the sacrificial lamb typifies the Passover lamb, or why Matthew allegedly “misuses” the OT in Mt 2:15).
That said, I’m glad you hung around after my initial overreaction. I like to have dialog with interested people. People who show themselves capable of listening and learning–so far, I think you fit that bill. It goes both ways. I try to learn, and skeptics like yourself have taught me things. For example, I used to be a Young Earth Creationist until I realized that arguments against a global Flood, both from atheists and Christians, have a lot of merit and a global Flood is just not feasible.
Pingback: What Actually Happened. « Der Gothmann: The Humanoid Boogie