Doomsday Predictions Are Never Reliable

“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

My daughter called me on the morning of May 21 asking whether Jesus would come back at 6:00 p.m. that day as predicted by California preacher and religious broadcaster, Harold Camping.

“Do you think Jesus will return today, Dad?” She asked. “I don’t know, honey, and neither does the guy who is saying he will.”

This isn’t the first time Camping has predicted doomsday. He predicted doomsday on September 6, 1994. He twists Scripture to convince and scare his followers into believing that he actually knows the date and time the world will end. Now he says, his math was wrong and the actual date of the rapture was not May 21, 2011. It’s October 21, 2011.

National media state that Camping and his followers are part of the evangelical movement. I am offended by such claims. He and his followers represent a cult and are NOT part of any evangelical movement. Evangelicals believe what the Bible says, especially when it comes to the date and time of the rapture. Straight from the lips of Jesus we are told: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only No one, even Jesus, knows when God will instruct his son to return.” (Matthew 24:36) We need to stop trusting what Harold Camping says and trust what the Scriptures say!

The Bible actually predicts that men like Camping will come forward as if they have answers to the divine questions that no one else has. Scripture refers to them as “false prophets”. Here’s another warning, straight from the Jesus himself: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

One good thing did come from all the exposure Camping’s prediction received. Just like my daughter, the world stopped for a moment and people actually thought about the end of time. Is it true? Will Jesus really return one day? Will I be among those he will come and take with him?

The scoffers who have been here since the days of Jesus joked about Camping’s prediction and took it as an opportunity to make all of us who call ourselves Christians look silly for believing such “fairytales”. Camping did not and is not helping the cause of Christianity. But many of us took this time to evaluate our lives and asked ourselves if we’re living it in a way that would be pleasing to God.