If only Christians would actually listen to Jesus. You may not be a shocked that the rapture didn't happen on May 21, 2011, as Harold Camping said it would. However, are you shocked that he had support from an apparently large number of people? By now we shouldn't be. Harold Camping is a false teacher at best and needs to quit pushing his mathematical schemes for the consumption of believers who are weak-minded. Instead of the boy who called wolf, we have here the old man who cried shepherd. Though Harold may be done with his predictions this will happen again.
The sad thing here is that the world looks on and scoffs at the fact that Christians actually believe that Jesus will come back from heaven and judge the earth. I know there are some groups within Christianity that have so "spiritualized" the meaning of the Bible that there is no future prophecies to happen. But true Christianity has always held that there is a day of judgment set for this world. When people predict a date for Christ's coming and then fail, it encourages unbelievers in their rejection of the Bible's claims.
Romans 2:21-24 "You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,' as it is written.” (NKJV)
Watch and be Ready
Believers need to quit jumping on every wild prediction concerning prophecy that comes along and start listening to Jesus and the Bible. If I were to sum up Jesus' take on his own second coming it would be this, "“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." (Matthew 24:36 NKJV) For the rest of that chapter and also chapter 25, Jesus continues to harp on the fact that believers will not know the time of his coming. He warns them to be ready so they won't be caught off guard. Harold Camping will say that he is not contradicting the words of Jesus, but in the end he is. It reminds me of Eve in the garden, "Did God really say...." Did Jesus really say we wouldn't know the day or the hour? Somewhere along the line Mr. Camping's exalted view of his Biblical knowledge became detached from Jesus. He was more confident in his own calculations than the Bible and more importantly Jesus.
Harold is right about one thing. Believers should not be caught by surprise. Not because they have the date, but because Jesus has warned and even commanded us to live our lives in such a way that we are always ready for his coming. We see this supported again as Paul speaks to the Christians of Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. Paul tells them they shouldn't be caught by surprise. However there is no prediction of a day nor a indication that God will reveal to them the date before it happens. The reason for this is because Paul is not writing about his ideas and thoughts. He is giving them the world of the Lord Jesus.
So what does it mean to be ready and watching? Well it doesn't mean trying to determine the date through mathematical gymnastics. Nor does it mean selling all your possessions and moving to a compound in Montana, California, or wherever, and sitting on a hill looking into the sky. In the parables that Jesus taught on this subject is always about those who are doing the work of the master versus those who quit working for the master and start doing what they want. Paul adds the metaphors of being awake and being sober. You can't go to work if you don't get out of bed and if you show up drunk you will be a danger to yourself and others and you won't get your job done. Being ready is living this life awake to what God wants us to do and sober about our actions each day. So what do we watch? We watch and guard over our own soul and its faith in Jesus. The temptations of this world can draw us away through our own lusts from being faithful to the task that Jesus has given us.
So what is our task?
- To believe in Jesus as the Son of God, means of removing our sin, and the Truth of God. John 6:29
- To love and encourage other believers. John 13:34
- To proclaim Jesus everywhere we go and make disciples of those who believe. Matthew 28:19,20
A Day of Judgment is Coming
Harold Camping has not proven the Bible wrong. Rather, he has proven himself to be operating proudly in his own flesh. The Bible warns us that there is a day of Judgment set for this world.
Acts 17:30-31, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (NKJV)
2 Peter 3:5-7, "But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly." (NIV)
Peter warns that scoffing at the idea of a judgment will be quite common in the last days. They reject any evidence of a global flood, not because it doesn't exist, but because their lusts demand so. The earth and the heavens are reserved for a fiery judgment. Just because it has been 2,000 years doesn't mean it will never happen. In fact, I find it interesting that Peter mentions that to God a 1,000 years is like a day and his patience means salvation to more people. Sceptics like to cherry pick verses and say the disciples thought Jesus was coming in their day. The truth is they knew that he could come in their day, but they also knew from Jesus parables that it would longer than most would think and that they would be tempted to quit believing. Why would Peter mention a 1,000 years being the same as one day to God? Primarily because the Holy Spirit led him to do it, but also because he knew it could be beyond his life. He was actually following Jesus' words. He was watching and ready.
Are you watching and ready?