There has been a lot of attention focused on a former Civil Engineer, Sunday School teacher and Elder in the Christian Reformed Church named Harold Camping. His broadcasting company, Family Radio, broadcasts his Bible program by radio, television, short wave and Internet, and recently spent over $100 million on an information campaign announcing the end of the world on May 21, 2011.
As you and I now know, it did not happen. Many have cited the words of Mark 13:32 (as well as Matthew 24:36): “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Yet, as it has happened in the past, many were convinced of Camping’s interpretation, selling their possessions, preparing themselves for the inevitable “rapture” that was bound to happen. It happened in 1843, when William Miller, a Baptist layman and amateur student of the Bible, predicted the return of Jesus. When it did not happen, he predicted another date, October 22, 1844, a date which later became known as the Great Disappointment. Part of Miller’s movement actually survives to this day; Seventh-Day Adventists. Another group made “famous” from predicting the end of days are Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The concept of a rapture of the saints before a tribulation is actually a rather recent development in Biblical interpretation, developing only about 200 years ago and the popular Darby study bible. The Scofield Reference Bible is based on Darby’s interpretation of different time periods being marked by God’s changing relationship with humanity. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and Matthew 24:29-31 are commonly cited as “evidence” of this plan for the chosen in Christ to be removed prior to the end of the world.
The Book of Revelation (not Revelations) is often interpreted through the lens of predicting the future. Revelation is first a collection of letters to churches under the charge of the writer as their bishop; secondly it is a series of “visions,” understood fully only by those within those churches, that encourages the faithful to endure hostility and torture in the name of Christ until Christ condemns those hostile to the faith, with the faithful rewarded for their endurance. In other words, Revelation is a love letter to those who are faithful. One day I will teach Revelation as the love letter it actually is.
Too many times, it is a poor or limited interpretation of a scripture passage that causes a problem. Taking passages from Thessalonians and adding them to Matthew may create a compelling concept, but it was not what Paul intended when he wrote to Thessalonica, nor what “Matthew” was intending when he wrote 24:29-31. What the Bible says is not the problem; poor interpretation on what it actually means is the issue.
What about the end of the world? I’m not sure we really are called to be that worried about it. It would have been nice if Camping had gave thought about Jesus’ words in Matthew 25: feeding the hungry, giving drinks to those who thirst, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring the sick, visiting the imprisoned instead of spending $100 million on billboards, trucks, and broadcasting “his prediction.” Perhaps the truth is that the end of the world has already come, and it came through Jesus Christ. The world was judged by God 2000 years ago by a Roman criminal. He came not to condemn but to save. We can already know the world’s future; it will be fully in God’s presence someday.
Together, lets focus on the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned and let the end of the world happen whenever God chooses. We already know what is expected to those who believe in Jesus Christ. If we are already involved in heaven’s work on earth, why would we be anxious to leave it?
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