The May 21 Deception

Since we’re getting close to May 21, 2011, I figured I would address Harold Camping’s latest prediction. Surely everyone has heard by now, that according to Harold Camping, the world will end on May 21, 2011. First will be the rapture, and then the destruction of the earth by earthquakes. This might make an interesting disaster movie, but its hardly biblical.

So how does he come to this date? I’m glad you asked. In short, its poor exegesis and bad math, based on a faulty premise. His starting point is the flood, which he says occurred in 4990 B.C. Camping then somehow links 2 Peter 3.8 to Genesis 7:4.

Genesis 7:4
4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made. ”

2 Peter 3:8
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

His theory is that per 2 Peter 3:8 the seven days in Genesis 7:4 mean that it will be 7000 years from the date of the flood until the destruction of the earth. Wow, silly me, I just thought that Genesis 7:4 meant that it would be seven days until the rain started, and that 2 Peter 3:8 simply meant that time is meaningless to God, what seems like a long time to us is quick to Him.

There are several things wrong with this. First, its based on a faulty premise. Jesus makes it quite clear that no one will know the hour of His return, so we are wasting our time trying to figure it out. Instead, we should always be ready. For a detailed explanation of the rapture see my previous post, The Rapture.

The next problem we have, is that his math is all wrong. His calulations simply don’t fit with the biblical timeline, as clearly traced through the genealogies. When we tally the genealogies, we come up with a creation around 4000 B.C. and the flood around 2400 B.C. Camping dates the flood before the creation! For a more detailed look at the timeline, see my previous post, The Age of the Earth.

As you can see, he is all wrong, but its not the first time. He previously predicted the rapture to occur in 1994. When it didn’t happen, he blamed it on a mathematical error. He refigured and arrived at the current date, he still can’t add! This 1994 error alone, makes him a false prophet.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22
21 And if you say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? ’—
22 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.

As if that’s not enough, there’s more. He also claims that after the earth is destroyed by earthquakes on May 21, that it will be annihilated by fire on October 21. Hmm. . . Can the earth be destroyed twice? Can you say. . . False prophet?

See ya on May 22.

Tagged: apologetics, Bible, Christian, cult, education, eschatology, judgment, May 21, rapture

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