Hey it is May 20, 2011 or Doomsday Eve according to 89 year old Harold Camping. I tried to recall today how many times in my life I have heard predictions of the rapture or Judgment Day and those predictions have been wrong, but for the life of me I could not get a number because there were so many to remember. I know one thing though everyone of them has been wrong.In part, people keep doing this because everyone wants to know when and it is desire that causes people to have some whacked out interpretations of Scripture to justify their belief in setting dates. WeCanKnow.com is a great one for this May 21st, 2011 thing and if you scroll to the bottom they will give an explanation that some can know because they are not caught unawares like other Christians by the thief in the night. So lets add another motive to these people. Spiritual pride, they can't be wrong and they are more spiritual than the rest of us Christians.
My response to this is very simple. There is a great leap of logic from saying some will not be caught unawares to setting a date. The watchman on a wall is not caught unawares, not because he knows the date of the enemies coming but because he stays alert at ALL TIMES. There is a great difference between this and coming to the wall when on the day you have determined that the thief is coming.
The final thing to say is Matthew 24:36 - "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." What still boggles my mind is how many date setters ignore this. On the We Can Know website there is no mention of this verse. I know I looked and if your going to make such a claim you better have this verse up there to explain it away to prove your point, and low and behold, it is not on the homepage at all.
For me the open theist, I do not sweat this stuff anymore. Mostly because I don't believe prophecy works like a crystal ball. I also take 2 Peter 3:12 seriously about 'hastening the coming of the day of the Lord". In short God does not have a calender in heaven with doomsday circled. He is watching things relationally and the day will come simple when he decides the time is right and some things are not in his control like how humans react. Like a farmer watching his crops he will wait till all is ready and all have had a chance to reject him or accept him and he sees no other options for people to be saved then he will send Christ. He is looking for a situation, not a day. There is something Peter says we should be doing and none of it has to do with setting a date and sitting in room and waiting for his return. "Be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless." (2 Peter 3:13). That's everyday, not just the day before you think he is coming
It is also interesting to note 2 Peter 2 is entirely about false prophets which Peter condemns in the harshest language. Basically if you look at Deuteronomy 13 and 18 the tests for a prophet there are two things that make one a false one: 1) what he predicts does not come to pass or 2) he counsels the people to worship idols, he is to be put to death. Can't really do that these days but we should treat Mr. Camping as if he was dead because he has done this one before predicting Jesus' return on September 6, 1994. He was wrong so why anyone is giving him credence this time around is beyond me.
One thing that has been fun to watch is the entrepreneurs who will be the only real winners on this one with all the bumper stickers, t-shirts and other stuff with 'May 21, 2011 Judgment Day' on them. I predict that on May 22nd they will be laughing their way to the bank and only regretting that the day came so they can't make more money.
OK. Here is the throw down: Mr. Camping predicts that Jesus is rapturing the saints on May 21, 2011. I predict that the sun will rise on May 22nd, 2011 and nothing will have happened. Let's see who the real prophet is.
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