Harold Camping's Rapture Prediction May 21, 2011

[Prodigal Son]

many of you, by now, have probably heard of Harold Camping and his prediction that tomorrow 6 pm EST will be the rapture. Maybe Sunday would be a good day for a post on what the reasoning was behind this very widely publicized event.

I do not hold to Mr. Camping's theory that tomorrow marks the rapture for many reasons, not the least of which is the clear statement that no man or angel knows the day or hour, but YHWH only. I also have a difficult time really believing that Mr. Camping is convinced of his prediction. This leaves many questions.

Could there be an agenda behind this, a reason for such a massively publicized campaign to let the world know of this prediction? Mainstream media seems very interested in covering it. He has put quite a bit of his own money into it, but the support is coming free of charge from FOX news.

The media rarely puts anything in front of the eyes of the masses which is not meant to steer thought in a preplanned direction. It may be as simple as making Christians seems like fools, yet i think even non believers are aware that this does not represent something most Christians support. Could there be a bigger agenda at play?

The means by which Camping supposedly came to the conclusion that the rapture would take place at 6 pm tomorrow involves calculations he has made based upon biblical numerological data, or his interpretation thereof. I have yet to find anywhere where this data is mapped out in completion so that we can all look at it. Most who follow his lead seem to be willing to do so even without this evidence presented to them in full.

I am interested to hear anyone's thoughts on what they believe this might be planned to accomplish for the enemy.

[Cyprium]

He apparently did this once before in 1994...i don't recall it getting any media attention then but for some reason it's certainly spread like wild fire this time. It's mind boggling for me trying to understand how this man's mind works. I agree with Prodigal Son that he doesn't...or should i say "didn't" believe his own prophecy. I don't believe he was simply deluded or incorrect. I think he knew all along what he was doing was completely against all reason, all sound biblical interpretation and all morality.

 

I do feel sorry for his congregation though...what did they give up (besides their senses) in pursuit of this fabrication?

 

So, it's 6:19 EST...no earthquake..no one flew past the window that i noticed. There are supposedly many atheist gatherings over this non-event where they planned to celebrate the lack of rapture. This should bolster their "faith" plenty.

 

"Atheists in different parts of the country were planning celebrations and get-togethers to mark the failure of Camping's May 21 prediction to come true.

In Oakland, the same city where Camping's network is based, over 200 people gathered at an atheist convention at a Masonic lodge where speakers jokingly took note of the Judgment Day pronouncement.

"It's kind of crazy, but there's actually a dark side to it too," said Stuart Bechman, national affiliate director of a group called American Atheists.

"There are a lot of silly and even unfounded beliefs that go on in the religious community that cause harm," he said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110521/ts_nm/us_apocalypse_prediction

[Prodigal Son]

Harold Camping is apparently not done making predictions. He has now said that the real rapture is going to occur on October 21st. He admits no mistake other than taking something literally which he should have taken figuratively. Besides the obvious false prophetic predictions of Camping, i read some other pretty disturbing things from him and in relation to these preditions in the following article excerpt:

"Harold Camping Concludes Silence, Predicts October 21 Rapture

An unapologetic Harold Camping made a new prediction Monday: the rapture is actually on Oct. 21, not May 21 as he originally proclaimed.

Camping offered no sincere apology when he spoke publicly Monday for the first time since his failed May 21 Judgment Day prediction. He insisted that his predictions have been right all along, only that his interpretation was more literal when it should have been spiritual.

Judgment Day on May 21 did come, said Camping. However, he clarified that the Judgment Day arrived in a spiritual sense rather than manifesting physically.

"On May 21, this last weekend, this is where the spiritual aspect of it really comes through. God again brought judgment on the world. We didn’t see any difference but God brought Judgment Day to bear upon the whole world. The whole world is under Judgment Day and it will continue right up until Oct. 21, 2011 and by that time the whole world will be destroyed," he proclaimed.

The president of Family Radio said he agreed to speak because many people have been asking and that he had to "honorably" face that.

"Are you ready to shoot yourself or go on booze trip or whatever?" Camping said of people's questions to him.

"I can tell you very candidly that when May 21 came and went, it was a very difficult time for me, a very difficult time. I was wondering, 'What is going on?'" he said, speaking from the organization's headquarters in Oakland, Calif.

The 89-year-old radio broadcaster said he prayed and reviewed the Bible and concluded that he had been looking at the Bible more factually than spiritually.

"The Bible is a very spiritual book. There are a lot of things that are very factual, very factual, of course, but there are a lot of things that are very spiritual. How to know whether to look at it with a spiritual understanding or a factual understanding is hard to know," said Camping....

Camping's latest predictions had resulted in chaos among his followers and others who believed him. Some quit their jobs, others sold all their possessions before the rapture date, and one mother tried to kill her two children....

Speaking on the kind of person that will be raptured and ascend to heaven, Camping commented that being a Christian plays no role in salvation.

"It has nothing to do with religion,” he said, noting Hindus and those of other faiths can be raptured. “If God has saved them then they're going to be caught up."

http://www.christianpost.com/news/harold-camping-breaks-silence-pre...

"The Bible is a very spiritual book. There are a lot of things that are very factual, very factual, of course, but there are a lot of things that are very spiritual. How to know whether to look at it with a spiritual understanding or a factual understanding is hard to know,"

Is the implication that a fact can not be spiritual and spiritual things are not fact? The use of these two terms "fact" and "Spiritual" as if they were direct opposites has no place in rational logic and certainly not coming from a "Christian pastor".

"Camping's latest predictions had resulted in chaos among his followers and others who believed him. Some quit their jobs, others sold all their possessions before the rapture date, and one mother tried to kill her two children"

He feels no responsibility towards anyone who sold their possessions, quit their jobs and so i assume feels no responsibility for this horrible incident of a mother attempting to kill her two children. Many incidents of mothers trying to kill their children in an attempt to spiritually save them have a demonic element.

"Speaking on the kind of person that will be raptured and ascend to heaven, Camping commented that being a Christian plays no role in salvation.

This statement should be the only indicator anyone needs to know that Camping has not been speaking the words of YHWH. Where is the necessity of Yahushua? Where is the gospel message He gave, that He, and He alone is the only way to the Father? What is the point of all the money Camping accepts to further the spreading of the gospel message if the gospel has no necessary power to save? This position he takes, more than anything else, convinces me that this man knows precisely what he is doing and that he is not simply mistaken. I have never read anything by him that mentions our Savior.

[Cyprium]

"I say this because in the last couple of days there have been a few postings stating that America has now passed its point of no return. In other words its fate is now sealed."

Honestly, i think America past that point a long time ago. After US leaders chose to be complicit in the murder of thousands of people in the twin towers, i can't imagine the US being under the blessing of YHWH any longer. That's not the first crime against humanity that American leaders, politicians and military have been a party to. Wherever we are in the world, i think it might be safe to say that His people are the ones who receive His blessing. No nation on Earth has a government that honors Him.

I think what we're seeing in terms of destruction from storms, earthquakes, etc., is a sign of the end times that's been ongoing and increasing in severity all over the globe.

America has no future as a nation, it's already existing as an animated corpse. Something which can really raise my hackles is to hear people say in patriotic rapture "God bless America". America as a nation deserves no blessing, it's leaders and many of its people are depraved beyond conscience. Instead we should be saying "God bless His people, wherever they are."

[Bean]

'an atheist convention at a masonic lodge'.. um.. lol.. anywho.. what the excess coverage of the prediction caused i think is maybe more notable than the proposition itself.. which is disturbing on so many levels already.. but the fact that a 2012-obsessed John Q Public saw a major network hyping up this particular piece of 'news' is possibly more damaging than the story is on its own.

 

how about the next contrived story be some 'really authentic' clay tablet that warns the world ends in 2012.. i mean we do live in an age where it all sounds made up.. anything goes.. but seeing the news report it makes it 'valid', of course.. and a 'valid fear' is one that people tend to be OK with.. and we know heightened anxiety = easier control.

 

there are plenty of things the enemy accomplished with this first round.. for one.. they found out yes, people are listening, and yes, people are concerned.. also, they succeeded in advancing the weirdness of the publicized world.. which makes people uneasy.. they've made Christians look crazy.. they've got people thinking about the end.. and about judgment and not hope.

 

hypothetically, but frankly.. a believer who knows the world will end tomorrow would not give 'part' of his fortune up.. he would give all of his fortune up.. he would promote the gospel of peace.. he would be crying salvation in the square.. not harping judgment from an ivory tower.. which is what it sounds like Camping did.

 

how's this second round going to go.. what happens between then and now will probably determine how much publicity it gets a second time.. let's all pray he doesn't kill himself or anyone else just to make it 'true' for them.. he says the world will be destroyed on 10-21-11.. so when is the 'rapture'? i mean that doesn't even make sense in his demented world of logic, let alone in the rest of the world of reason.

 

it's a good opportunity to be telling the truth about salvation, and the Savior's return.

[Bean]

apparently he suffered a stroke last Thursday the 9th.. not sure what will happen on Oct. 21st but i just seriously doubt it will be a so-called rapture, the end of the world, or anything of that nature.

[Prodigal Son]

Camping's prediction is not simply a prediction of disaster, but one of prophecy. An impossible prophecy since His word states that no man or angel has that information. He predicts the timing of the return of Messiah and that is a prediction we have been well warned not to make.

 

If he has had a stroke it occurs to me that perhaps YHWH took that measure to chastise him. The crime of being a false prophet according to His word is a death sentence so this is perhaps quite a mercy and he has this opportunity now to understand the gravity of his mistake and repent.

[Cyprium]

"FALSE PROPHECY Causes HUNDREDS KILLED
-by Jacob Prasch.

As most of you are aware I am at this moment in North Vietnam
helping the much persecuted Hmong people of the tribal mountain areas.

After listening to a translation of Camping’s prediction 7,000 of these people (known in The West as Montagnards) gathered on a mountain praising God – their suffering at the hands of the Communist regime was about to end because Jesus was returning that day in May to establish a new kingdom.

The police and military police slaughtered many of them at gunpoint beheading two pastors. Others were arrested . I am told by Hmong pastors that so many were shot dead that they were buried in mass graves bulldozed over in an episode that I read about in Britain but did not understand the magnitude of until I got here. I am now trying to clean up the mess at the request of local Hmong leaders. I spoke to a secret convocation of Hmong pastors only yesterday who came to Hanoi, explaining to them about false prophets and false teachers..."

more here: http://www.johnthebaptisttv.com/2011/07/14/false-prophecy-causes-hu...

This is a huge tragedy and i have no doubt that these poor people were deceived by the Harold Camping prophecy and took actions which were not discreet because of it, therefor putting themselves in a position to be brutally murdered by their wicked rulers.

There is, though, i think a greater story here...and one that is somehow encouraging instead of dismal. In spite of the climate of great oppression that they live in, where declaring their faith in Yahushua can get them, killed....these people have persisted in their faith steadfastly. They died praising Him...i can't think of a more honorable way to end a mortal life. These are the sorts of people who should be our heroes as far as one can have human heroes.

They shouldn't be remembered for having been fooled by a false prophet, but rather remembered for the fact that they stood on a mountain and praised Yahushua without fear in the face of murderous evil. Now they have rest from their labors. May we all be that brave for His name's sake in the face of whatever comes.

[Cyprium]

Amen Barry....how awesome will it be to see these same people returning in victory in their bright white robes.