LCG: No Rapture on May 21, 2011

Harold Egbert Camping

According to Harold Camping, Jesus will return today. We in LCG disagree. And here is part of today’s commentary on that:

Commentary: May 21: No Rapture, Not Judgment Day!

By James Ginn | Saturday, May 21, 2011

Radio stations, billboards, RVs, and circulars have recently been flooding the public with predictions of Judgment Day and the end of the world occurring in 2011. These messages claim the Bible has foreordained May 21 as Judgment Day and the time of the “Rapture”–with the end of the world supposedly coming on October 21. The organizations behind these messages emphatically state that there is no possibility they may be wrong. In fact, they guarantee these claims. But are they true? Should we panic? Absolutely not! Here is proof of why these claims are false and should be ignored….

Do not panic! While May 21, 2011 may or may not bring major news events, one fact is certain: May 21 is not the Judgment Day, nor will it bring a “rapture.” Do not be carried away by anyone who says to you, “’Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23). Many prophetic milestones that must occur before Christ’s return simply have not yet occurred (Luke 21:31). Though God certainly does tell of a future return of Christ and a judgment on the earth, Scripture definitively reveals that this absolutely will not occur on May 21, 2011.

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Jesus will not return on May 21, 2011 (and actually, since Harold Camping said it would be 6:00pm in the local time zones, and it is long past that in Australia, now, he has already been proven wrong). There simply have not been enough fulfillment of the required prophecies that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 for this date to have been possible. Notice, for one example, that Jesus returns after the tribulation and various heavenly signs:

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. (Mark 13:24-27)

25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:25-28)

Despite Harold Camping’s writings indicating that the Great Tribulation began in 1988, it has not began yet (see also Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2011, 2012, or 2013? ). Furthermore, the heavenly signs that Jesus claimed would precede His return simply have not happened. All who believe that Jesus will return on May 21, 2011 need to notice that those “signs of the times” (cf. Matthew 16:3) have not yet manifested themselves and Jesus is not coming in two weeks.

Harold Camping’s date is causing some people to denounce prophecy:

Rapture talk creating a buzz, but critics say it’s all about the money

Detroit Free Press – ‎21 May 2011

Participants in a movement saying today will be Judgment Day gather May 13 in New York City. If the prediction duds out, some people have decided the Mayan calendar calls for some kind of doom on Dec. 21, 2012…

Some critics say setting dates — there have been many throughout history — actually harms Christianity because false predictions buttress the nonbelievers. This week’s frenzy, they say, is less about faith and more about pop culture and money.

The iniquity of false prophets such as Harold Camping and others (like some with the Mayan 2012 date) has and will turn various people off about prophecy (Ronald Weinland also comes to mind). More will feel comfortable being scoffers. And this rise of scoffers who will not believe in prophecy is also foretold in the Bible by the Apostle Peter:

1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation — as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:1-16, NKJV)

So, despite false predictions, Mayan prophecies, scoffers, and the assertions of many, Jesus will return. And we are to look forward to His return as the Apostle Peter wrote. Jesus will return no earlier than 2018 (and probably later) as certain biblically-required steps have not yet happened (Daniel 9:27; cf. Matthew 24:15,21,29-30).

Those who are interested in the truth about Harold Camping, Ronald Weinland (who even claims to be one of the two witnesses), Mayan prophecies, and when the Bible shows that Jesus can return, may wish to study the following articles:

Harold Camping’s Teachings About the End of the World Do Not Agree with the Bible Harold Camping teaches that the rapture will be on May 21, 2011 and the world will end on October 21, 2011. What does the Bible show?
What is the Appropriate Form of Biblical Interpretation? Should the Bible be literally understood? What do the writings of the Bible, Origen, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Augustine show?
Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? There have been many false leaders–here is some of why you should be concerned about them.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory.
Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected? What does the Bible really teach? Does the Church flee or is it taken up just prior to the great tribulation? Who really is left behind?
Concerns About Ronald Weinland’s Church of God-Preparing for the Kingdom of God Ronald Weinland falsely claims to be one of the two witnesses God is raising up and that the end will come in 2008 (first April 17th, then June 2008, now December 14, 2008). Why does the Bible show that Ron Weinland is a false prophet? He also has at least one other view that suggests that he is not part of the Church of God.
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2011, 2012, or 2013? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? Are there Mayan calendar predictions for change in 2012? Changes were centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans. Do Mayan/Hindu/Hopi/Buddhist/New Age/Nostradamus prophecies have any value here? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012? How might the next pope be involved in 2012?
Who Are The Two Witnesses? What is their job? What does the Bible reveal? What has the Church of God taught on this subject? Might even Roman Catholic prophecies give some clues here?