0 for 2: A rapture predicter's record

Now that wasn't even close. 21 May, Judgment Day came and left, not with a bang but a fairly energetic whisper. The 89-year-old former civil engineer Harold Camping made his predictions based on mathematical calculations and they were wrong. This wasn't the first time he erred. In 1994 he said something similar, although I don't know if he took out as many billboards then. A former colleague of his wrote last week on the blogosphere, "In 1994 he wrote a book claiming that the Rapture would take place on September 6, 1994. It did not, and neither did he repent of his false teaching nor apologize to the masses that he deceived." Now the end blog

In reply to the original:

The Christian Science Monitor (one day I'll write about how Christian Science is neither Science nor Christian) reported in a whimsical manner under the banner of "Apocalypse Not: Harold Camping wrong – again – about 'The Rapture" CS Monitor

In baseball terms Camping is 0 for 2, a whopping .000 percentage batting average. Not exactly the kind of record you want for a prophet, even one who works for a non-profit organization like Family Radio.

Now it's easy to pick on him after the (non) event. But that's not the point of this blog. The point is that he was right about something. Wrong about date and time, to be sure, but right about the reality ...Jesus is returning!

One of the things my Orthodox Jewish rabbi (Maurice D. Solomon of @KehilathIsraelSynagogue in @KansasCity) taught me back in 1971 was that the Tenach, the Jewish Bible, pictures two messiahs. One is the Messiah son of Joseph, and the other is named Messiah son of David. He told me that we as Jews have a choice. We can live godlessly and when the time comes God would have to send Messiah as a suffering one to die for us (humble riding on a donkey, Zechariah 9) or we could live godly and the Messiah would come on the clouds, and bring his kingdom to earth (Zechariah 9!).

Rabbi Solomon's ideas, which are historically very Jewish, helped me understand how Jesus could be the Messiah. The reality of Israel's sinfulness is something which most every prophet, real ones, like Bible prophets, taught. 19 times in the books of 1 and 2 Kings we read phrases like, "Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin." The prophet Micah said, "On the other hand I am filled with power — With the Spirit of the LORD — And with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel his sin." (3.8) Even King Solomon admitted to God, "When they sin against Thee (afor there is no man who does not sin) and Thou art angry with them and dost deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near..." (2 Chr. 6.36)

In other words, there is not an Israel that isn't sinful and doesn't need repair. Therefore, the humble, donkey-rider Messiah is not only an option, but God's only option to help us.

That's one of the many reasons why I believe Y'shua is the #Messiah of Israel, and our only Saviour. But that's not the end of the story.

What Rabbi Solomon missed was that Messiah would not be one OR the other, but he would come twice. And it's the 2nd coming, the apocalypse that Camping and so many address.

The Bible IS true, and Messiah would come on a donkey to save us, by dying on the Roman cross and healing our souls. Then he would come again, after time, to restore all things as he desired. To vanquish, to do final repairs, to make the world the place he originally designed.

So although H Camping got the date wrong, the real story is that there will be a final date, the return of Jesus, when all wrong is righted, and when all the believers will live with God forever. On that you can bet. I'll get 1 for 1 on that one. 1.000-- nice batting average.

When? I have no clue. But the issue is to be ready. My long-time friend @ErnieGruen used to say, "Jesus didn't say, 'Occupy about when I'm coming.' He said, 'Occupy until I come.'(Luke 19.13)" God wants us to believe in Him, to trust Him with our lives, to share His love with others, and help others find peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, until Jesus returns.

It's already 23 May here in Sydney. It could be today. Or tomorrow. Or in 90 years. I really don't know. But I DO know that Jesus will return. That's worth bannering and putting up a billboard, to be sure.