Apocal-Update

They're back! 
It's that time again: the End of Days. Seriously, they really mean it this time.


To be fair, the date the world will end hasn't changed. It's the Rapture that was a little confusing. Remember when Harold Camping--an old geezer who, inexplicably, people pay attention to--said the Rapture would happen on May 21st, 2011? You know, it was the day that God's chosen ones would be whisked up to Heaven and dine on honeydew while the rest of us writhed in agony on an earth beset by fire, earthquakes, floods and general mayhem. Quite a few of those things have happened this year, though not with the gusto Camping predicted. The first problem he faced on May 22nd, 2011 was the fact that we were all still here, heretics and believers alike. But he cleared it all up two days later on Family Radio.

The Bible tells us that Christ has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God is a very compassionate God and while the law of God demands that there has to be punishment, it does not mean God is going to punish, and punish, and punish, and punish.

So the Man Upstairs is going to have mercy and compress all the suffering of the Rapture and end of the world into one day. He delayed the Rapture earthquake because He realized most of the damned wouldn't survive it and He wanted to make sure they all lived until the big reveal: the earth exploding in a fiery ball of doom! Maybe it could more properly be called End of Day? I imagine it will be like standing on the Death Star when Luke takes his shot.

Camping's followers spent their life savings and quit their jobs to travel around the country warning us to repent. They bought billboard space and festooned their front yards with signs. They marched around with colorful informational placards, handed out flyers, yelled at their neighbors. All about one specific date: May 21st, 2011.


And this was their thanks? A compassionate God? Many felt they'd been conned by the Almighty. After all their effort, they were still here, having to cope with their massive debt, their average kids, their crafting rooms bulging with unfinished scrapbooking projects. They'd need to refill that blood pressure/diabetes/high cholesterol medication they'd let lapse. How had this happened?

Luckily, Camping has an answer for them, too. God did come down to earth May 21st. But He did it quietly. So it was more of a soft Rapture, I guess. It was spiritual rather than physical, according to Camping. So those He marked for salvation that day didn't know it. Why? Camping says it's because if God had let people know it was a spiritual judgment, then "no one would have taken notice or feared God." Only because May 21st was declared as a physical Judgment Day did the world take notice.

Not to quibble with a prophet, but two things about this bother me. First of all, wouldn't anyone who was worthy have taken notice without the threat of violence? Wouldn't a spiritual judgment be enough? Is God trying to trick people into taking Him seriously? He sounds pretty insecure. Second, why would He continue to withhold knowledge of who is saved? Is He messing with the chosen or giving the rest of us false hope?

As for Camping, he told his followers to stop trying to save others after May 21st. Since judgment had already happened, that would be useless. He said his goal until October 21st was to "feed my sheep." Apparently, there are millions who've unwittingly been saved and need his teachings. How can Camping do this when no one knows who is worthy? Writing him a check might help him divine an answer for you. And make it as big as you want. If the world ends, who's going to cash it?

More:
3 Ways to Survive and Thrive on Judgment Day
Jesus is Coming Soon. Really, Really Soon. 


Still more:
Harold Camping Quits Evangelism, Focuses Only On the Saved - Christian Post
Family Radio Redesigns Website with No Mention of Rapture - Business Insider
Rapture: Harold Camping issues New apocalypse date - BBC News

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