Judgement Day Tomorrow?

May 21 Billboard

Harold Camping and his organization, familyradio.com, has been creating quite a stir the last few days with their Judgement Day prophesy! Camping and his believers have predicted that Judgement day will be not in the distant future, not in a few years, but they have given the exact date! Yes, they have predicted that tomorrow, May 21, 2011 will be Judgement Day, and that all those who find favour in God's eyes will be caught up in a rapture while the earth will experience great earthquakes! But it doesn't end there as he further goes on to predict that the earth and the universe itself will all be destroyed in five months time, on October 21, 2011!

It seems Camping has not only mislead himself, but has mislead many others in his delusion, even here locally, as one of his believers stole the show on Religious Hard Talk just a few nights ago. The May 21 believers are so convinced of this that they have embarked on a massive campaign, which has resulted in many large billboards being placed all over the US and even here in Jamaica! There are also floods of Google ads and other forms of electronic media being used to propagate this baseless prediction.

Camping and his followers, however, despite claiming to be followers of God has completely disregarded the very word of God himself, which states that only God knows the exact time when He will brig fourth his judgement on those who fail to serve him. The Bible states in several books that only God himself can say when this great day will be:

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
-Matt 24:36 (New International Version (©1984))

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
-Mark 13:32 (New International Version (©1984))

"He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority."
-Acts 1:7 (New International Version (©1984))

However, Camping chose to ignore these scriptures and feels he is more special than even God's only begotten son and has made his prediction for God's day of Judgment. So much so that he has taken it upon himself to predict that it will be May 21, 2011. The Bible itself did make a prediction that is certainly true, that there shall be false prophets that will mislead. Camping and his following have proven what they are since it is already May 21, 2011 in half of the earth and nothing has happened thus far. But Camping is not the first who thinks he can beat God's word with his own prophesy and he shall certainly not be the last. The Bible has warned against people like him and they have manifested themselves, misleading many.

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Propehcy, Prophecy and Prophets!

While browsing through The Gleaner's website an article caught my attention. The tittle of the article was, "Prophets reveals signs for 2008". This sent me into a flashback to last year when the self proclaimed prophet, Pastor Phinn, 'prophesied that the the Prime Minister Portia Simpson and her party would win the General Elections held late last year. However, it seems the, now unseen prophet, turned out to be a false prophet when the PNP was defeated at the polls. But this embarrassing fall from grace that the so-called prophet Phinn suffered did little to squelch the flames of the several religious leaders who proclaim to be prophets.

It seems propecies are the order of the day this year! According to the article there has been 62 predictions already for 2008 made by various so-called prophets and prophetesses. Prophecies range from the quiet obvious to seemingly ridiculous claims of the future. Some foresee an increase in crime here in Jamaica, while others see a much brighter future as the predict that the country will see financial prosperity. But these 'prophecies' are not limited to only our small island of Jamaica! Oh no! There are proclamation of doom for our Caribbean neighbors and countries far across the globe as it is claimed that "Bangladesh should brace for widespread epidemic, while India and Puerto Rico are expected to experience a series of natural disasters". In another article, one bishop claims to have received a special plan from God that will put Jamaica on a course for sustained success and has called for a meeting with him an the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition!

I know in a religious country like Jamaica a lot of persons believe in these religious leaders who claim to be prophets and flock their churches. however, I am very skeptical of these so-called self proclaimed prophets as the Bible itself said that there will be false prophets and their prophecies that would mislead many. Anyone can get up and say he/she is prophet/prophetesses and make predictions, especially when these predictions are made based on obvious trends. What are your thoughts on these 'prophets'/'prophetesses' and their many 'prophecies'?

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