Judgement Day May 21, or is it?

Date-setters are here again!

Large bill boards, internet sites, vehicles plastered with the news, you-tube all are proclaiming that the rapture will take place on May 21 (this year!) followed five months later by the end of the world.

This is based on some of the following points:

• a new way of calculating Bible chronology, which puts creation at 11013 BC and the Flood at 4990 BC.
• combining a day/age system (one day=1000 years, justified from 2 Pet.3:6-7) with statements about the Flood to place the second coming 7000 years after the Flood, i.e. 2011 AD.
• exact dates are also based on parallels with the Flood story
• the “church age” (a term not found in the Bible) finished in 1988 (not sure why 1988), setting off the great tribulation of Matt.24:21. At this time, according to www.ebiblefellowship.com, “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 of time.”
• The tribulation lasts 23 years, so finishing also in 2011.

Thus on May 21, expect to see all the dead raised, more devastating earthquakes and bodies scattered across the earth.

On October 21, expect to see the destruction of the universe, including all unbelievers, by fire. But then you won’t be alive to see it if these predictions are correct.

Much could be said in response to this latest wild speculation. My main concern is that it will cause people to scoff at the very idea of a last judgement or the second coming of Jesus Christ, and that is dangerous, because these are clearly predicted in the New Testament and may come at virtually any time. We do need to be ready for His return. There will be horrendous consequences for failing to repent. Read Acts 1:11; 1 Thess.4:13-5:11; 2 Thess.1:6-12; Rev.1:7; 20:11-15 among other passages; and the historic creeds of the church which all declare Jesus will come again and judge the living and the dead.

But these events will probably not be on May 21 or October 21 this year.

Here are some reasons why I say this:

1. Jesus warned us that no one knows the day or hour of his coming (Matt.24:36), indeed this is the point of the comparison with the Flood: “they knew nothing until…” (Matt.24:39), so also “you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt.24:42). See also Acts 1:6-8. 2 Pet.3, which the authors appeal to for calculating dates, actually warns that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Pet.3:10) and implies that the time is not actually fixed, as God is waiting for more people to repent (2 Pet.3:9,12).
2. there is no compelling evidence that 1988 is prophetically significant or that the Holy Spirit left all churches on May 21 that year. I myself was pioneering a new church in NSW, Australia, then and God kept saving people and healing them after that date as before. I’m sure most people could relate similar experiences. 1988 was, of course, Australia’s bicentenary year, but I doubt if that is relevant!
3. the assumptions behind all these calculations are very different to a “normal” reading of Scripture (e.g. the 23 years tribulation instead of seven or three and a half) and seem very plastic.

Are we seeing the end of the world or the beginning of a new cult? Both Seventh-day Adventism and Jehovahs Witnesses came out of efforts to calculate the date of the End.

Dear Reader, forget about date-setting but do be ready at any time by putting your faith in Jesus Christ.