Tomorrow, May 21, 2011 the world as we know it is supposed to come to an end. It’s been predicted, that the Lord Jesus Christ will return sometime around sundown Jerusalem time, gather up His flock and usher in a new heavens and new earth.
It won’t happen. As Sunday May 22nd dawns around the world in all time zones, life will be continuing... there will be no evidence that Christ returned or the world had come to an end.
The fellow responsible for this most recent “end of the world” prediction is pictured here, Harold Camping, with his fickle finger pointing upward, no doubt pontificating about the fate of the world. He’s been doing this for a long time. His first failed prediction came in September 1994... he sort of apologized but kept right on working his predictive schemes. I think he’s obsessed with trying to nail down the exact day and time of Christ’s return.
If Mr, Camping were speaking from any normal pulpit, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another half-baked religious eccentric wrongly predicting the apocalypse. But this fellow has access to an audience that far exceeds the normal pulpit. Every day Mr Camping, an 89-year-old former civil engineer, speaks to his followers via the Family Radio Network, a religious broadcasting organization funded entirely by donations from [scared] listeners. Through the generosity of his [gullible] listeners his network now owns 66 radio stations in the US alone with assets in excess of $120 million. So, by way of this elderly man's ubiquity on America's airwaves and billboards, his unlikely Doomsday message is almost impossible to miss. The “prediction business” seems to be a cash cow for his little empire.
He claims to be a biblical scholar, at least one who knows scripture. But he’s really not a scholar at all. He’s a numerologist. Camping sees patterns in numbers “hidden” in the Bible that he believes unlock prophecy and by this “special knowledge” he’s able to predict the world’s end.
Would you like to know how he came up with his prediction? I thought you would. Take a look at the essence of his calculation that led to tomorrow’s date of May 21, 2011...
First the basics of his numerological formula: the number Five (5), Camping says, equals "atonement." the number Ten (10) represents "completeness." The number Seventeen (17) means "heaven." So here’s how he reached his conclusion for the May 21, 2011 prediction:
Christ hung on the cross April 1, 33 A.D. He then leaps forward to April 1 of 2011 A.D., he does a subtraction of 2011 minus 33 which equals 1,978 years.
Camping then multiplied 1,978 by 365.2422 days - the number of days in each solar year, not to be confused with a calendar year.
Next, Camping says that April 1 to May 21 encompasses 51 days. So he adds 51 to the sum of the previous multiplication total, and it equals 722,500.
Camping then concluded that (5 x 10 x 17) x (5 x 10 x 17) = 722,500. Or put into words: (Atonement x Completeness x Heaven), squared.
Did you figure out how his calculations worked out to 5.21.2011? Neither did I. It’s not my intent to be insulting [oh yes it is] but his calculations are just plain goofy. The Bible does not have hidden codes or numerological calculations that must be uncovered to reveal future events. If he’s really read his Bible, the same Bible I’ve read numerous times, he would know that!
I have to illustrate how this sort of predictive goofiness works. You can use numbers to prove anything if you have an agenda that demands a certain outcome. Let me show you how easy this can be done. You can decide the formula and assign values. I worked the following out myself so the math is very simple and it works! Here goes...
First, let me establish the following numerical assumptions and toss out a few Bible verse to give you the impression it’s all Biblically sound:
Number One (1) is the number that represents unity: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Ephesians 4:5... "one Lord, one faith, one baptism."
The number Three (3) is the number that represents divine perfection: The Trinity consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; Three bear witness (1 John 5:8).
Now comes the stretching and reaching... Let’s consider the Three appearances of Christ past, present, future; Let’s consider both the Tabernacle and the Temple because they consisted of three parts: The Court, The Holy place, The Sanctuary.
Okay, here comes the “divine math”...
1(Father) 1(Son) 1(Holy Spirit), 111, x 3 (this is the number of divine perfection, "and these three are one") = 333, the trinity. Let’s “Double” that number... to greatly increase our assurance that this is in fact established by God and will shortly come to pass. I’ll use Genesis 41:32 to support this assertion, flimsy as it is. Doubling it equals 666. Wow... isn’t that the mark of the beast? Yikes!
This numerological calculation, of course incredibly Biblically sound and proven by hidden codes [NOT], has just proved that the Beast of Revelation is in fact the Truine God!
Anything else you would like me “prove” for you?
Here’s the rock-solid facts: God’s Word of Truth is available to all, not just those who seem to think by some special skill or knowledge they can crack some non-existent numerical code hidden in the biblical text. There’s a harmful elitism and mysticism in saying we need some sort of special knowledge to understand part of God’s message to us. God warns that He has hidden things from the wise and revealed them to babes (Luke 10:21). “Babes” is a metaphor for the innocent and honest of heart who seek to know God and His truths.
We can certainly find useful and helpful mathematical references in the Bible to help us understand certain aspects of God’s message to us. That being said, we MUST never use math in attempts to unlock so-called unrevealed mysteries of the Bible. God has given us Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, not numerology or hidden codes, to help us understand His Word. Such attempts in using numerology to predict what can’t be predicted are hated by God and place those who put their faith in such things in a tenuous position, as His Word has clearly told us... He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortune-tellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. (2 Kings 21.6 and 2 Chronicles 33.6). (Read also Samuel 28.3-25). I make fools of fortune-tellers and frustrate the predictions of astrologers. The words of the wise I refute and show that their wisdom is foolishness (Isaiah 44.25).
So what about old Harold Camping? Will he be shamed and embarrassed and say "I was wrong" about his failed prediction of Christ’s return on May 21? Probably not. Nor will he make amends or refunds to the thousands of people who believed his predictions, sold all their possessions and gave his radio empire their life savings.
An untold number of people have tried to predict the Lord's return by using elaborate calculations, what they believe are “end-time signs” and various time tables. They can’t no way, no how, begin to predict what only God the Father knows. THIS is what the BIBLE says regarding knowing dates and predicting the return of Christ... "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36) He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. (Acts 1:7)
Of one thing I am convinced... whether today, tomorrow, next month or next year, this sort of thing will happen again and again. People will continue to believe the misleading nonsense of men who know nothing of God’s time table... nothing more than you do.
READ your Bible with an open mind and seeking heart and you will understand “how to live your life” ready and prepared for Christ’s return... whenever He comes.
