The End Is Near, But
Not Here
Now that May 21, 2011
has come and gone without a rapture,
many people (including Christians)
are ridiculing Harold Camping who
boldly predicted and expected to be
taken to Heaven on that day. It has
been reported that Family Radio
(Camping's media organization) spent
about $100 million notifying the
world that a pre-tribulation rapture
would occur on May 21. Now that the
predicted date has passed and the
money has been spent, Camping and his
followers have been widely ridiculed
in the media. Because the passage of
time has proven Camping wrong, he has
attempted to deflect some of the
criticism by saying that May 21 was
“a spiritual date.” Camping
now says the Church will be raptured
on October 21, 2011. Skeptics, of
course, view Camping's new date as
"kicking a worthless can further
down the road."
I feel sad for those
who sold their homes, cars and
possessions in anticipation of a May
21 rapture. I also feel sad for Mr.
Camping and those who put their faith
in his prediction. Yet, at the same
time, we have to admire the faith and
courage of those people who sold
their homes, cars, and possessions
because they fully believed that life
on Earth was over! That's right, they
FULLY believed and their actions
confirmed it! History proves over and
over again that spiritual beliefs
have no bearing on reality. God
permits us to believe whatever we
want to believe, but our beliefs may
have nothing to do with reality. ALL
but eight people believed Noah was
wrong. What effect did this have?
About 100 thousand people believed
Jesus would return in 1844. What
effect did this have? Perhaps as many
as 100 million Christians believe
there will be a pre-tribulation
rapture. What effect will this have?
Our beliefs, faith,
hope, and sincerity have no effect on
God's plans and this can be a hard
pill to swallow. Certainly, God will
do all that He has promised to do
when the fullness of time is reached,
but only when the fullness of time is
reached. Therefore, sincerely
believing that something will or will
not happen (and setting a date for
it) is a matter of intellectual
assent and intellectual assent is not
to be confused with faith. The Holy
Spirit knows each of our hearts. He
is pleased when we live up to all
that we know to be right and true and
God always rewards those who live by
faith. (Hebrews 11:6) The Bible is
clear, ". . . . The righteous
shall live by faith!" (Romans
1:17) Therefore, I am praying for
those who were deeply disappointed
with May 21. I am praying that they
will NOT abandon their faith in God,
but instead that they will abandon
their prophetic paradigm – their
intellectual assent to a
pre-tribulation rapture.
Whenever faith brings
us to a dead end street, there is a
painful, but wonderful opportunity to
spiritually mature. This process
enables growth in grace and faith.
When faith and reality do not align,
it is
time to restudy and
rethink God's Word. Human beings
cannot and do not know the future.
Only God knows with certainty how the
future will unfold. He has given us
certain clues in the books of Daniel
and Revelation, but prophetic faith
(events awaiting fulfillment) is not
to be confused with prophetic fact
(events that have taken place).
After many years,
Abraham and Sarah grew tired of
waiting on the Lord for the promised
son. When the reality of what God
promised did not appear, their faith
ran out. Rather than restudy and
rethink God's Word, Sarah set out to
fulfill the Lord's promise and
Abraham went along. You know the
dismal result. There is a significant
difference between faith and
presumption. Faith waits on God,
believing that when the fullness of
time is right, God Himself will
produce the evidence – the
things hoped for, the evidence of
things unseen. On the other hand,
impatience leads to presumption.
Millions of Christians have become
impatient. We want to see our
prophetic faith fulfilled "right
now." There is a ground swell of
desire among Christians for a
pre-tribulation rapture or the return
of Jesus – but no matter how
sincere the desire, man cannot
produce either event.
I believe Mr. Camping
became a victim of his own creation.
He produced a time line from Bible
texts that made perfect sense to him
and he then convinced others that his
paradigm (actually, a private
interpretation) was valid. Today,
everyone now knows this truth:
Camping’s paradigm and God's
Word do not align. It is very
unlikely Mr. Camping and his
followers could have been dissuaded
from their conviction. When
intellectual assent and faith are
mixed together, nothing but bitter
disappointment can force a person
into another way of thinking.
Based on what I have
observed, Mr. Camping is a man of
considerable faith (as was Abraham).
Camping (and many followers) acted
according to their faith. Camping
spent $100 million to tell the world.
I have read how one follower cashed
out his retirement plan to buy
$140,000 in newspaper ads. What
faith! We can summarize these actions
by saying, "Right heart –
wrong head." I have heard it
said that "genuine
Christians" would never do such
a foolish thing – sell their
possessions or give everything they
have to help others hear about the
return of Jesus. What nonsense.
Christians who are unwilling to live
by faith are worse off in many ways
than those who are willing to live by
faith and fail. It is far better to
exercise faith and fail, than to walk
by sight and do nothing for God. God
knows that the human race is full of
people having right hearts and wrong
heads and He also knows that millions
of people would be happy to do His
will if only they actually knew His
will! When our beliefs are shattered,
two options usually surface. We can
either abandon the Lord as Peter did
in Pilate's judgment hall or return
to the Word of God for a better
understanding of His truth.
God's Word is truth
but our understanding of God's Word
is always incomplete. Harold
Camping's public failure and
humiliation should be a present
reminder of this fact. Instead of
condemning Mr. Camping and his
followers, we need to encourage them
to restudy and rethink the elements
of their faith. We should commend
them for their faith. Their failure
may be fodder for skeptics and
critical Christians, but they have
shown the world what faith in God
actually does! Where there is no
possibility for failure, faith is
impossible. Faith involves risk;
otherwise, there is no room for
faith.
God's Word is true and
it can be trusted, but there are
three standing principles which
Christians cannot ignore at this late
hour:
1. True Bible study
will never put the Bible in a state
of internal conflict. Contrary to
public opinion, the Bible does not
teach conflicting things. This is a
matter which most Christians do not
fully appreciate. In other words,
until we understand everything said
in the Bible about a topic, we cannot
be sure of anything said about the
topic. There are many "apparent
conflicts" in the Bible and
resolving them is not easy, but
necessary. Camping's prophetic views
are flawed because he has put the
Bible in a state of internal
conflict. He has ignored or
misinterpreted Bible concepts and the
passage of time has proven twice
(1994 and 2011) that his schematic is
wrong.
2. Before Noah and his
family entered the ark, God confirmed
the end had come by sending the
animals into the ark. Unclean animals
arrived in pairs and clean animals
arrived in groups of seven. Think
about this: God knew the world would
think Noah was crazy, but Noah's ark
was not proof that a flood was
coming. The orderly arrival of the
animals was THE divine sign that
should have attracted the attention
of the antediluvians. God's humble
and silent creatures entered the ark
on a divine cue, but who was paying
attention?
In a similar manner,
the books of Daniel and Revelation
outline a clear sequence of events
that will transpire prior to the
Second Coming. When we see this
sequence begin, we will know that the
end has come. Until the sequence
begins, the end is not here. Do not
sell your home, assets or quit your
job until you see the sequence begin.
The only exception to this counsel is
a divine revelation. If God
personally tells you to do such and
such, then do it by all means –
but do not ask or expect others to do
the same. When God has something to
say, He speaks for Himself. We must
not put words in God's mouth. If God
calls you to be a prophet and
requires you to say something to
others as His spokesperson, then
speak and if the Bible and the Holy
Spirit validate your testimony, your
calling is true. If the Bible and the
Holy Spirit do not validate your
testimony, your calling is imaginary.
3. Anxiety is
increasing. The world is economically
distressed. The world is ecologically
distressed. The world is
geophysically distressed. The world
is politically distressed. Population
is relentlessly increasing each day.
Resources are dwindling. It is
obvious we are in a pressure cooker
that has no vent. The flame
underneath the cooker is getting
hotter and a great explosion is
inevitable. When will the final 1,335
days begin? I don't know. I don't
know. I don't know. I do believe that
we are living on the door step. I do
not know when we will enter the 1,335
day countdown to Christ's appearing.
Therefore, I continue to lay plans
for next year. Even though I am
watching and waiting for nuclear war
and the casting down of the censer,
life goes on and my endeavor for the
Lord must continue.
Even though this
coming August contains a date of
interest, I continue to make plans
for next year because a date of
interest IS NOT a date of importance.
When the censer comes down and the
global earthquake occurs, my plans
for the future will be terminated and
God's plan for the future will
unfold. Until that happens, God
requires His children to faithfully
keep about their work and endeavors.
Tragedies and calamities are
everywhere and they are increasing.
People need help. People need
encouragement and consolation.
Currently, there is no
evidence (corporately speaking) that
God wants His people to sell their
possessions and quit their jobs.
However, there are many places where
we can financially help those who
have lost everything. We have a
tremendous opportunity to help those
who are questioning God's love. We
have an opportunity to explain what
faith in God really means. We have an
opportunity to increase Bible
literacy. People need to understand
that faith in God begins with
surrender to God’s will –
to go, to be, and to do as He
directs. Faith is refined through
trials and tribulation, patiently
trusting in God with steadfast
determination. You can know that your
faith in God is viable when the
Comforter puts a peace within your
soul that passes understanding. It is
described as being happy without
knowing why you are happy!
If you happen to know
one of Camping's followers, reach out
and comfort them. Strengthen their
faith and if possible, invite them to
restudy and rethink their
understanding of the Bible. The end
is close, but not here. Until the end
arrives, use your talents for the
Lord! Study the following parable
that Jesus told because it
specifically pertains to those who
would live near the end of days:
Matthew 25:14-30:
"Again, it will be like a man
going on a journey, who called his
servants and entrusted his property
to them. To one he gave five talents
of money, to another two talents, and
to another one talent, each according
to his ability. Then he went on
his journey. The man
who had received the five talents
went at once and put his money to
work and gained five more. So also,
the one with the two talents gained
two more. But the man who had
received the one talent went off, dug
a hole in the ground and hid his
master's money. "After a long
time the master of those servants
returned and settled accounts with
them. The man who had received the
five talents brought the other five.
'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me
with five talents. See, I have gained
five more.' "His master replied,
'Well done, good and faithful
servant! You have been faithful with
a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share
your master's happiness!' "The
man with the two talents also came.
'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me
with two talents; see, I have gained
two more.' "His master replied,
'Well done, good and faithful
servant! You have been faithful with
a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share
your master's happiness!' "Then
the man who had received the one
talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I
knew that you are a hard man,
harvesting where you have not sown
and gathering where you have not
scattered seed. So I was afraid and
went out and hid your talent in the
ground. See, here is what belongs to
you.' "His master replied, 'You
wicked, lazy servant! So you knew
that I harvest where I have not sown
and gather where I have not scattered
seed? Well then, you should have put
my money on deposit with the bankers,
so that when I returned I would have
received it back with interest.
"'Take the talent from him and
give it to the one who has the ten
talents. For everyone who has will be
given more, and he will have an
abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from
him. And throw that worthless servant
outside, into the darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.'"
Larry Wilson
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