http://tinyurl.com/3t3gyg2
First of all, if May 21 is legit, I will be the first to find my professor and my friends up in heaven and punch them in the face because they are in Israel when all of this "will" go down.
But with that said, I believe I won't have this opportunity. Harold Camping, the leader of this Judgement Day movement, has been wrong once before (calling Sept. 6, 1994) and he is likely wrong again.
My reasoning? He pulls one Old Testament scripture (Gen7:4 saying giving a time of destruction of the earth as 7 days) and then a New Testament scripture (2 Peter 3:8 saying 1 day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day to God) and coming up with some pretty ridiculous math to bring Judgment to May 21, 2011. I have my Math degree...and have had some class that mention "special" numbers in the Bible...but Harold's thought process is ridiculous. and remember, these verses are taken WAYYYYY out of context...so always remember to think about what these authors were going through when these passages were written. As my professors always say, "CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT." And when you pull two verses out of the Bible...guess what you have left....A BIBLE!! A recording of peoples lives as they have lived under God and with Jesus in their real lives!!
All of this to say, we have NOTHING to worry about. Do not go sell your house, do not go spend your life savings...because the followers of this movement HAVE!!! The disappointing thing is that they have thousands of followers, but even they say only about 144000 will actually make it to heaven...hmmmmmm.
May we remember some verses of scripture that Jesus himself and his followers taught us from the beginning:
Matthew 24
36"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.
39-44"The Son of Man's Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up.
As Peter said, "false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1). John in Revelation said Jesus was coming but never said when.
And when Timothy’s mentor Paul spoke about this he said: For "evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13), and "the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Finally, there are some good things we can take from these people who are looking forward to May 21. Though we might think these people are a little nutty for waiting for May 21 at 6pm (according to you time-zone, that is when it will "happen" for you), I have to pat them on the back for being EAGER to see the face of God and their Savior Jesus!! And let it be known, I am just as eager! We are called to be eager!!
My heart is burdened for these people who have followed this movement with all their heart. What if we see May 22? What happens then? What happens to the hearts of these people. My first thought is that they will fall away from the faith...and that is sad. My heart prays for these people that they may not be discouraged, that they continue to follow Jesus just as hard as ever before. And i have the same prayer for myself and all of you when the light breaks on May 22 and we are brushing our teeth and preparing for worship.
And please know that none of us know when this will happen, not even Jesus. So it could happen May 20, June 30, or nov. 29, 2059. Until it happens, be ready. Live your life for God, doing what Jesus did: Loving God and Loving People.
And these people that follow May 21 show us something else…
Everyone is searching for something…
When we believe Jesus, his death, resurrection and returning, we have the greatest mystery in the world…because it is TRUE!
And whenever the day does come...I can only echo Casting Crowns...OH GLORIOUS DAY.... :)
UNTIL NEXT TIME....
