False Prophets

It looks like Harold Camping did it again.  Just as when he predicted the end of the world in 1994, his prediction/mathematical calculations were wrong in 2011.  (I would love to know what "error" he found in his 1994 calculations, though.)  However, it didn't stop the media from making a huge deal out of the possible doomsday today.  But, Christians who have actually read their Bibles already knew there was a good chance today would not be the day of the rapture.

1. Jesus warns his disciples, and us, about end-times prophets.  In particular, Luke 21:8 (all Bible quotations are from the NRSV): And [Jesus] said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and 'The time is near!'  Do not go after them."  
2. On the subject of prophets, the Bible has a very good test for determining false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:22): "If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken.  The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it."  Since we already knew Camping prophesied falsely in 1994, we knew we did not have to worry about what he said.  If God had wanted us to know May 21st was the day of the rapture, I imagine He would have found an honest broker.
3. Camping kind of put himself in the position of God (Mark 13:32): "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
4. Jesus uses the analogy of coming like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44).  I find it hard to believe a thief would post advertisements in the New York City subway and on the National Mall giving the date and time he is going to rob your house.

Now, if those of us who profess Christ and have read the Scriptures knew this, why was there so little heard from us on this matter?  One, the media don't want to focus on reasoned discourse.  They focus on sensationalism anymore.  Two, we weren't sure May 21, 2011, at 6 p.m. local time, wasn't going to be the second coming.  As stated in point two above, we just don't know.  Camping could have gotten a lucky guess.  And three, this kind of thing has happened so many times in the past, we have been a bit jaded by it.

Unfortunately, Camping and his group have done damage to Christianity.  He has scared people, believers and possibly some unbelievers, without cause (well, except maybe his own fame).  And he has allowed the addition of skeptics who will question if Jesus is even coming again, and perhaps the entire Christian faith.  They will scoff and point out this false prophecy, even though it is hardly in line with true Christian belief.  And of course, there is the whole thing with the people who spent their life's savings or donated it to Camping.  They will have some hard times ahead.

Yet, I am convinced some good has come out of this incident.  First, I imagine many people at least paused and considered what they had done with their lives, and how they would feel if there was not going to be a tomorrow to make things right.  Second, we may have gotten a glimpse into why God won't let us know the date and time of the second coming.  We saw the believers of this false prophecy withdraw into their families and their churches, which is human nature.  When facing the unknown, we tend to withdraw into comfortable surroundings.  However, this is not what God wants of us.  He wants us out there in the world, being examples of His love.  Pleading the case of the widow and the orphan.  Working for justice for the oppressed.  He doesn't want us spending the last week of our lives huddling in churches waiting for Him to come again.  He wants us working for the "least of these," instead.