Before we continue in what will be a very long post, I copied the excerpt from Camping's book from www.bible.ca that explains his reasoning. Also keep in mind that Camping is the same man who believes the tribulation period began in 1988 and ended in 1994:
TIMING OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN HISTORY 11,013 BC—Creation. God created the world and man (Adam and Eve).
4990 BC—The flood of Noah's day (6023 years from creation). All perished in a worldwide flood. Only Noah, his wife, and his 3 sons and their wives survived in the ark.
7 BC—The year Jesus Christ was born (11,006 years from creation).
33 AD—The year Jesus Christ was crucified and the church age began (11,045 years from creation).
1988 AD—The 13,000th year of earth's history. This year ended the church age and began the great tribulation period of 23 years (8400 days).
1994 AD—On September 7th, the first 2300-day period of the great tribulation came to an end and the latter rain began (commencing God's plan to save a great multitude of people outside of the churches).
2011 AD—On May 21st, the rapture will occur at the end of the 8400-day great tribulation. NO ONE will become saved from eternal damnation after Friday, May 21, 2011.
On October 21st, the world will be destroyed by fire.
ONE DAY IS AS 1000 YEARS The child of God has learned from the Bible that the language of Genesis 7 has a twofold meaning: Genesis 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
Historically, as God spoke these words, there were seven days remaining for Noah, his family, and the animals to get into the safety of the ark; but spiritually (and the Bible is a spiritual book), God was speaking to all of the people of the world and was declaring that sinful mankind would have 7000 years to find refuge in the salvation provided by Jesus Christ. How can we know that? We know this is so based on what we read in 2 Peter, chapter 3:
The context of 2 Peter 3 is extremely important! In the first few verses, God refers us to the destruction of the world by the flood during Noah's day. Then we find an interesting admonition that we ought not to be ignorant of one thing, which is, 1 day is as 1000 years, and 1000 years is as 1 day. Immediately following this bit of information is a very vivid description of the end of the present world by fire.
What could God be telling us by identifying 1 day along with 1000 years?
Since we recently have discovered the Biblical calendar of history on the pages of the Bible, we find that the flood of Noah's day occurred in the year 4990 BC. This date is completely accurate (for further information on the Biblical timeline of history, please go to: www.familyradio.com). It was in the year 4990 BC that God revealed to Noah that there would be yet 7 days until the flood of waters would be upon the earth. Now, if we substitute 1000 years for each one of those 7 days, we get 7000 years. And when we project 7000 years into the future from 4990 BC, we find that it falls on the year 2011 AD.
4990 + 2011 = 7001
Note: When counting from an Old Testament date to a New Testament date, always subtract one year because there is no year zero, resulting in:
4990 + 2011 – 1 = 7000 years exactly.
The year 2011 AD will be the 7000th year from the flood of Noah's day. It will be the end of the length of time given to mankind to find grace in God's sight. This means that the time to find refuge in Christ has grown extremely short. We are only a little ways off from the year 2011 AD!
THE RAPTURE: MAY 21st, 2011
We know that the year 2011 is the 7000th year from the flood. We also know that God will destroy this world in that year. But when in 2011 will this occur?
The answer is amazing. Let's take another look at the flood account in the book of Genesis:
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Faithful to His Word, God did bring the flood 7 days later in the 600th year, on the 17th day of the 2nd month of the calendar aligned with Noah's lifespan. It was on this 17th day of the 2nd month that God shut the door on the ark, securing the safety of its occupants and also sealing the fate of everyone else in the world outside of the ark. They would all now certainly perish in that worldwide catastrophe.
Earlier it was mentioned that the church age came to an end in the year 1988 AD. It so happens that the church age began on the day of Pentecost (May 22nd) in the year 33 AD. Then 1955 years later, the church age came to its conclusion on May 21st, which was the day before Pentecost in 1988.
On May 21st, 1988, God finished using the churches and congregations of the world. The Spirit of God left all churches and Satan, the man of sin, entered into the churches to rule at that point in time. The Bible teaches us that this awful period of judgment upon the churches would last for 23 years. A full 23 years (8400 days exactly) would be from May 21 st, 1988 until May 21st, 2011. This information was discovered in the Bible completely apart from the information regarding the 7000 years from the flood.
Therefore, we see that the full 23-year tribulation period concludes on May 21st, 2011. This date is the exact day that the great tribulation comes to its end, and this is also the most likely landing spot for the 7000 years from the flood of Noah's day.
Keep in mind that God shut the door on the ark on the 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah's calendar. We also find that May 21 st, 2011 is the end of the great tribulation period. There is a strong relationship between the 2nd month and 17th day of Noah's calendar and May 21st, 2011 of our Gregorian calendar. This relationship cannot be readily seen until we discover that there is another calendar to consider, which is the Hebrew (or Biblical) calendar. May 21 st, 2011 happens to be the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Hebrew calendar. By this, God is confirming to us that we have a very correct understanding regarding the 7000-year timeline from the flood. May 21 st, 2011 is the equivalent date to the date when God shut the door on Noah's ark. Through this and much other Biblical information, we find that May 21 st, 2011 will be the day when God takes up into heaven His elect people. May 21st, 2011 will be the day God shuts the door of salvation on the world.
In other words, in having the great tribulation period conclude on a day that identifies with the 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah's calendar, God is without question confirming to us that this is the day He intends to shut forever the door of entry into heaven: The Bible teaches that on May 21st, 2011, only true believers elected by God to receive salvation will be raptured (taken up) out of this world to meet the Lord in the air and forever be with the Lord:
THE END OF THE WORLD: OCTOBER 21st, 2011 By God's grace and tremendous mercy, He is giving us advanced warning as to what He is about to do. May 21st, 2011 will begin this 5-month period of horrible torment for all the inhabitants of the earth. It will be on May 21st that God will raise up all the dead that have ever died from their graves. Earthquakes will ravage the whole world as the earth will no longer conceal its dead (Isaiah 26:21). People who died as saved individuals will experience the resurrection of their bodies and immediately leave this world to forever be with the Lord. Those who died unsaved will be raised up as well, but only to have their lifeless bodies scattered about the face of all the earth. Death will be everywhere.
The Feast of Tabernacles / Ingathering was said to be in the end of the year even though it was observed in the Hebrew 7th month, which is not the end of the year. The reason for this is that the spiritual fulfillment of this particular feast is the end of the world. The date October 21st, 2011 will be the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the last day of earth's existence.
On October 21st, 2011, God will completely destroy this creation and all of the people who never experienced the salvation of Jesus Christ along with it. The awful payment for their sinful rebellion against God will be completed by the loss of everlasting life. On October 21st, 2011, all of these poor people will cease to exist from that point forward. How sad that noble man, made in God's image, will die like a beast and perish forever.This wasn't a topic that I was going to weigh on but the more information and articles I started coming across, I felt obligated to speak my peace. Number one, people trying to predict the end of the world has been an ongoing fallacy of mankind ever since the days of the early church. We still exist on planet earth which means there have been a lot of false prophecies being thrown out there for the last 2,000 years. Now, I'm a believer of Christ returning and this world being done away with for a better one. But we are not given the exact time of when this is to occur in the Bible (which is where Camping claims his information comes from).
From the book: "We Are Almost There" by Harold Camping and Brian Miller D.S.
Grand Rapids, MI
What is the most important thing for us brothers and sisters is to be living out our faith on a daily basis, to endure. One of my most recent entries on the main website entitled THE END IS ABOUT ENDURANCE was posted in order to remind us that no matter what happens, if we simply are concerned about enduring in our faith, we will be fine. For if the world ends, then we've endured. But if the world doesn't end on Saturday, then we will still endure because maintaining our faith is what we're about. If we are raptured or not raptured, it's of no consequence because we're sticking with God no matter what. This is the safest way to go.
At the risk of being too blunt, if we are giving into predictions and a lot of this prophecy nonsense that is out there today, then we're not focusing on what is important. Brothers and sisters, there are distractions out there that are intended to get us to fall away from the faith and shipwreck our faith. These distractions could be right within the church that you are attending. Be careful and do not be quick to accept what is coming out of people's mouths.
Now let's talk about prophecy. I did a whole entry on this entitled PROVING THE PROPHET over a year ago. The Bible gives us a way to test if someone is a true prophet or a false prophet. It's simple and it is based on whether their prediction comes true or not. Brothers and sisters, pay attention to this because many false preachers have been excused and continue to be excused for their false prophecies and when we do that, we run the risk of being deceived. Take some time and Google:
-Benny Hinn prophecy during the 90s that God will wipe out the homosexual population
-Harold Camping's 1994 prophecy of the end of the world
-Benny Hinn prophecy that Christ will appear on stage with him at one of his events
-Jehovah Witness founder Charles Russell prophesying wrong several times about end of world in 1900s
Read more false predictions by clicking HERE (courtesy of www.bible.ca).
When we tolerate false prophecies that are blatantly opposed to the truth, we'll open ourselves up for even greater deception. We must realize that we are being tested in our faith and how we respond to these "prophecies" will show whether we are truly trusting in the Lord or we are trusting in the crazed fanatics of man.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
(2 Peter 1:20-21 - KJV)
Herein lies one of the biggest problems about all of these failed prophecies--they are nothing more than the private interpretations of men. Were other believers on a mass scale aware of a May 21, 2011 date before Mr. Camping announced it or are they just responding to his private interpretation. If you look in the New Testament, Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude are all referring to the same end. In the Old Testament, you had numerous prophets referring to the destruction of Israel and Judah and also the coming of the Messiah (Jesus Christ). Why is it that I'm only hearing about May 21st from Mr. Camping?
Personally, I believe the predictions in Matthew and the epistles were directly for the people of that time because they felt the direct implications of having their worlds turned upside down. The words "everlasting kingdom" mean a lot when you find the church outlasting both Jerusalem and the Roman Empire and still continues today. I believe that Revelation has been mostly fulfilled. But whether you believe me or not, we need to agree on the need to endure in the faith.
While I'm not into calling fellow believers by titles or even into the money-making seminary institutions, I concur with what Albert Mohler posted on his blog HERE. To set dates about the end of the world is indeed arrogant and no calculations using letter sequencing or anything else is going to reveal to us the specific time and date of God's plans.
Endure brothers and sisters. Do not live like the world will end in two days. Live a consistent life.
Blessings.
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