Judgment Day begins on Saturday May 21, 2011, exactly 6 months (one-half year) from yesterday.  This fateful information, long hidden by the complex language within the Bible has been revealed to those God has chosen in these End Times.  For those wishing to learn more – even at this late date, I submit the following for your consideration and edification:

1. Most people misquote Matthew 24:36 and say “oh, the Bible says that no one can know the date of the End;” they deliberately do not refer to the rest of Jesus’ sentence in the next verse, v. 37.

2. The “Son” in Mark 13:32 can refer to several who are denoted “son” in the Bible, thus Jesus Christ who is not the “Son” in this verse knows the Day and Hour of his return.  The entire Bible, 66 Books, from the first verse to the last is written to show that Jesus Christ is God, and those that claim that Jesus doesn’t know the precise time of the End are deeply confused about Him.  They don’t understand the most basic teaching of all the Bible: Hebrews 1:8, John 1:1ff, John 1:13, Col 1:16ff, etc.  Jesus himself said He was in Heaven while on earth.

3.  In Matthew 24:37 [the same sentence as v. 36] Jesus explains in detail just who WILL know the timing of the End—here Jesus cites Noah as an example, who, in Genesis 6 & 7 is warned 120 years ahead of the Flood in order to build the Ark, and then later is warned 7 days before the Flood.

4.  Further, several Scriptures make clear that only the Elect WILL know the timing of the End, but that unbelievers, and professing Christians whom God has deliberately deceived, will not — they’ll be caught by “The Thief In The Night.”  Citations in the Bible including I Thessalonians 5:1-11, Revelation 3:3 [see Revelation 16:15], Matthew 24:43ff, and Hebrews 10:25 all testify to this fact.  In II Thessalonians 2:11, it is indicated that God will blind many professing [false] Christians at the time of the End (see also Matthew 25:11-12).  In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says that “many” who profess to be Christians on Judgment Day, Sat May 21, 2011, will be sent to eternal damnation — eternal death — on Judgment Day.

5. Why do all the churches and most professing Christians fanatically jump to profess that “Oh, nobody can know”?:  the answer is that they do not WANT the world to End – they are satisfied with life on earth, and they actually fear Judgment Day; they don’t realize that MANY godly and faithful Bible teachers like Martin Luther, Sir Isaac Newton, and the leaders of the Westminster Assembly of 1648, as well as many Puritans knew that the date of the End is actually in Scripture. Luther and Newton both realized that date was in the era of 2,000 AD.

6. Serious Bible students the world over, and for the last 2,000 years, have known that God dealt with National [or corporate] Israel for 2,000 years, and then he destroyed them for their rebellion.  God warns/promises that He will absolutely do the same to the churches — see I Peter 4:17, Matthew 24:15-16, Mark 13:14, Luke 21:20-22, and Revelation 18:4, among other verses.

Just how does God show in the Bible that Saturday, May 21, 2011 is Judgment Day?  Books have been written about this, but briefly:

1. The Bible shows there have been 7,000 years from Flood to May 21, 2011 — to the day — starting with the 9,000 year “Calendar” of Genesis 5 and 11.

2. The Bible shows in detail there have been 13,023 years from Creation, 6,023 years from Creation to the Flood, and then 5,023 years to from the Flood to Calvary.  If you look further, you’ll see how God repeatedly uses certain numbers to symbolize ideas – like “23” symbolizes “Judgment” and “17” symbolizes “Heaven” – even the Reformers wrote of this spiritual meaning of Bible numbers 500 years ago.

3. The Bible shows there are 4,017 years from Jacob’s birth to the End, 3,017 years from David’s Coronation to the End, and 2,017 years from Bethlehem to the End.  Note how God is using “17” to symbolize “Heaven.”  Skeptics that are SERIOUS should note [ask any Israeli newspaper] that all world Jewry celebrated 1994 AD as the 3,000th anniversary of the Coronation of King David.  My family and I were, in 1993, invited to Jerusalem by a noted professor to be there in 1994 to celebrate.  Virtually all Bible scholars now understand that Christ was born in Bethlehem in 7 BC – even PBS [notoriously anti-Christian] acknowledges this in their recent “Christmas Special.” 

4. The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 lead to 1994 +17 = Judgment Day.  This is the Scripture that Sir Isaac Newton used in 1715 AD to deduce that Christ would Return in approximately 2,000 AD.

5. The Bible shows that the 430 years of Israel’s Sojourn in Egypt [“to the day”] X 3 = 1290 years [see this 1290 in Daniel 12:11].  Subtracting 1290 from 1887 BC [Israel’s entry into Egypt] yields 587 BC, the precise date of the destruction of [Solomon’s] Temple in Jerusalem.  Multiplying this 1290 by 3 again equals 3870 — the number of years from 1877 BC to 1994 AD [remember, there is no year “0”].  1994 marks the final end of the Church Age and beginning of the Latter Rain.  1994 +17 = the End.  Note also that if one takes the 480 year interval between Exodus and the commencement by Solomon of construction of the Temple mentioned in I Kings 6:1 and multiplies it by 3, the product – 1440 – represents the precise number of years between the Exodus and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem in 7 BC.

6. There are many Bible “proofs” that conclusively display that Christ will come on Saturday May 21, 2011, one day short of 6 months from today and that that date will be the first day of Judgment Day — a horrible day for most of the 7 billion alive in the world on that day.  You can view these proofs and more at familyradio.com.

To learn more, visit the following faithful websites below:

http://www.familyradio.com/ [download “We Are Almost There”]
http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/
http://www.bmius.org/
http://www.the-latter-rain.com/
http://www.wecanknow.com/
http://www.2011judgementday.com/
http://www.judgementdayismay212011.com/
http://www.areyouwatchingorsleeping.com/
http://www.gospelbillboard.org/
http://www.embeddedworks.com/
http://www.may212011.com/
http://www.may-21-2011.com/
http://www.may21st2011.com/
http://www.may-212011.com/
http://www.2011-the-end.com/

In addition to the many books and pamphlets from Family Radio, the book below available from barnesandnoble.com and other online retailers for $13 is highly recommended:

The Doomsday Code by Robert Fitzpatrick, a 350 page original [no quotations from others] Bible study.

One can perfectly know that the End is Saturday May 21, 2011 and not be saved.  Remember Lot’s wife?  Please see the booklet “I HOPE GOD WILL SAVE ME” for what the Bible says the true Gospel is…at familyradio.com [your printer needs approximately 25 sheets to download and print]. The King and over 100,000 in Ninevah were told they had 40 days to live, and they begged God for mercy [in the Book of Jonah]…God heard them. 

Related Stories:

 

Countdown to Judgment

  

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

  

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

  

It is Finished: God’s Final Warning

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part I

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part II

Assembling the Timeline of History – Part III

  

Assembling the Timeline of History – Part IV

Daniel the prophet experienced visions of what would take place as this creation was nearing it’s end.  But Daniel was told by God to “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:9).  Notice that the wording is not “till the end of time,” as in lasting for eternity.  Rather, this information was to be revealed to us as the last period of our existence was unfolding.  In the final prophetic book of the Holy Bible, Revelation, chapter 6 paints a picture of Christ removing the seals and disclosing what we are to know.  Chapter 8:1 reads, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”  As indicated in Part III, this half hour can be understood to be the first half of the great tribulation.  And recall that we identified this time period as beginning simultaneously as the church age ended, on May 21, 1988.  We can conclude, therefore, that it would have been impossible for anyone, including those in the churches, to accurately comprehend our end time situation before 1988.

Parts I, II, and III journeyed through the timeline documentation of the Bible, with everything eventually fitting together like a puzzle.  But could there be an error somewhere?  How could we be absolutely certain that this critical message is correct for the 7 billion people on the planet?  Wonderfully, God has given us many additional proofs, so that those who are watching (studying the Bible), can be sure that all of this is indeed accurate.

Every word in the Bible has been carefully placed there by God’s direction, though all of it has been written down by men and women.  Jeremiah 36:2-4 is a great example of the prophet Jeremiah receiving a message directly from God that would finally be part of the Bible: “Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee…Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.”  Numbers are words also, and the Bible is full of numerical sizes, quantities, times, etc.  However, when we search very vigilantly, we notice that some numbers come up over and over again concerning a particular spiritual subject.  We can then identify a number as possibly being a sign that we are on a path toward spiritual truth, depending on the context.  Some of these number associations are as follows:  2, a figure of those bringing the gospel in whatever circumstance is being discussed; 3, a number found frequently in the Bible near the time of the cross can symbolize God’s purpose; 5 can focus on the atonement, when Jesus Christ paid for the sins of those he had planned to save by suffering and dying; 7 points toward perfection or perfect fulfillment of something; 10 or multiples of 10 refer to the completeness of what is in view; 13 is repeated in discussing the end of the world; 17 often relates to heaven itself; 23 is found many times in the Bible as an identifier of God’s wrath or judgment; 40 is placed in the Bible from time to time to stand for a period of testing; and as in number 23, the numbers 37 and 43 also reflect God’s anger or judgment upon mankind.

Additionally, God has given us various examples of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in the Bible, giving us license to study his word employing these techniques.  Furthermore, we are told in II Timothy 2:15 to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  Truth is usually hidden in parabolic language, and we are to break down and compare the gospel message word by word.  Often the various larger numbers can be reduced to their factors to supply proofs and shed spiritual insight as well.  For example, as we mentioned in Part III of this discussion, the 153 fish in John 21:11 caught in the net and pulled safely to shore were a representation of all those who will be with God in heaven during the 153-day day of judgment.  153 breaks down into 3x3x17.  3 is God’s purpose, and 17 reflects those in heaven.  Genesis 41:32 states a clear principle for the doubling of things in the Bible, as in the repetition of the number 3 in this case.  “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.”  The spiritual meaning of 153 in this case, then, is:  God’s established purpose (3×3) is all God’s chosen (the fish) will be in heaven (17) during this time (153 days).

As we stand on the very end of the timeline, we have the unique historical perspective of looking back over all of the previous events and comparing their intervals and durations.  It’s as if God is allowing us to see His layout of the progression of our time as He would have planned it before earth’s formation even occurred.  Creation in 11,013 BC to the great flood in 4990 BC spans 6000+23 years.  From the flood to the death of Christ on the cross in 33 AD covers 5000+23 years (inclusively).  And from creation until the end of time in 2011 is 13,000+23 years!  Breaking all this down, 6 refers to the 6 days of creation, 5 identifies with the coming atonement, and 13 points to the end of the world.  They are all over the completeness (1000) of their period of time, and all end in judgment (23), giving us more assurance that we have an accurate timeline.

Looking at the number of years between many of the other important dates in the Bible, we can also see spiritual significance, as these numbers divide to tell a story.  In Part III, we discovered that the duration between tribulations was in multiples of 1290 years.  1290 breaks down into 3x10x43, symbolizing that God’s purpose (3) through the completeness of this time (10) would end in judgment (43).  From the time when Christ died on the cross in 33 AD until the day of judgment in 2011 is 1978 years, or 2x23x43, meaning those bringing the gospel throughout this period (2) would end up facing God’s wrath (23) and judgment (43).

The precision of the length of some eras is also worth mentioning.  Israel’s exile in Egypt is described in Exodus 12:41, “And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.”  Israel then wandered in the wilderness for 40 years to the day.  Recall in Part III that the church age lasted exactly 1955 years from Pentecost on May 22, 33 AD to the day before Pentecost, May 21 1988.  The 8400 day great tribulation is exactly 23 years, and the 153-day day of judgment is exactly 5 months long (May 21, 2011 to October 21, 2011).

The length of the various periods or eras themselves also show spiritual significance, supplying further evidence of the accuracy of earth’s calendar of events.  The 430 years in Egypt is 10×43, a time ending unexpectedly in God’s complete (10) judgment (43).  Israel was a nation for 1480 years, or 40×37, a period of testing (40) ending in God’s wrath (37).  Also, National Israel had 3 kings representing Biblical time, then split apart, with each nation led by 20 additional kings through this era.  Both divisions had a total of 23 each, and the complete total was 43, and so both numbers are telling us that they would experience God’s anger and destruction.  The church age lasted for 1955 years, or 5x17x23.  This is very convincing, as the atonement on the cross in 33 AD (5) would bring heaven for those he had planned to save (17) and judgment for everyone else (23).  One more example is the 8400 day great tribulation, which can be reduced to 3x7x10x40.  We could read this as God’s purpose (3) is the perfect (7) completion (10) of His testing program (40).

As if all this evidence wasn’t enough, there were two more proofs that really locked in the accuracy of the timeline work.  These were discovered after the decades of research declared the conclusions summarized thus far, including the end dates.  The first involves a series of verses in II Peter Chapter 3, “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  The Bible goes on to talk about the final destruction of the universe by fire.  Here God is making a connection between the great flood and the day of judgment, and stressing the importance of comparing a day to a thousand years.  When we review what happened in Noah’s day, we read that he was given a 7 day warning that the flood waters were coming.  If we substitute a thousand years for each of Noah’s warning days, we end up with a 7,000 year warning.  Noah’s flood occurred in 4990 BC, and 7000 years later is 2011, the last year of our universe! (Remember to subtract one year in going from BC to AD as there is no year zero.)  The warning to the people of Noah’s day is also a warning to everyone on earth today.  Genesis 7:11 states that the flood began on the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Biblical calendar of Noah’s day.  In checking the Biblical (Jewish) calendar of our day, the 17th day of the 2nd month in 2011 is May 21, the first day of the day of judgment, 7000 years later to the very day!

The second proof that presented itself in the last few years has to do with number of days.  There is Biblical precedence for counting days.  If you recollect in Part III, Daniel declared the 1,335 days of Christ’s ministry, and we showed conclusively that this was an accurate prediction.   Jesus died on the cross April 1, 33 AD.  Counting inclusively from His death to the day of judgment on May 21, 2011, we get a total of 722,500 days.  This breaks down to (5x10x17) x (5x10x17).  This translates into the message that Christ atoned for sin on the cross (5), and then after the completion of this period of time (10) God’s people will be in heaven (17), as they receive their spiritual bodies and the salvation plan ends.  This message is doubled, so it is established by God, and he will surely bring it to pass.  Could this be just coincidence?

Because of God’s love for mankind, he is saving a great multitude in our day, giving us great hope for the gift of salvation.  We are instructed to seek him, and we have the wonderful privilege as human beings of pleading directly to God for mercy right up until May 21.  On Saturday, May 21, 2011, exactly 7,000 years after the great flood began, it will be the end of the 7 day week for the 7 billion people on earth.  The rapture of God’s elect, as well as a great earthquake introducing the world to the horrors of the next 5 months, will both occur.    On October 21, 2011, this 13,023 year demonstration of the glorious attributes of Almighty God will be completed.

Vince Des Roches resides in Napa Valley, California.
His website – http://www.areyouwatchingorsleeping.com/  – contains a great deal of information on history’s timeline, end times, and God’s Salvation Plan.

  

Related Stories:

 

Countdown to Judgment

  

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

  

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

  

It is Finished: God’s Final Warning

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part I

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part II

Assembling the Timeline of History – Part III

As the timeline of history was starting to be put together a half-century ago, no one imagined that we would also be able to eventually know the exact timing of the end of it all.  Part I of this discussion traced work from the Old Testament, taking us from creation in 11,013 BC to the period of the kings of the nation of Israel.  Part II completed the Old Testament calendar and explored the evidence of the time of Christ on earth around 2000 years ago.  Finally, all of this effort has paid off, as we can pinpoint the key end dates of our universe.  Keep in mind that the Bible was written down over a 1500-year period by dozens of different people.  Yet, when we tie everything together, each date fits precisely into a well-planned and perfectly executed schedule.  The various Biblical patterns and systems, often focusing on time and numbers, are our proofs that we have been guided to truth very accurately.

Though we are to look internally into the Bible to find truth, it must direct us to the timing of something special out in our world if we are to realize that we are near the time of the end.  We need a reference point, a time marker, to begin putting together the final pieces of earth’s calendar.  We are given that clue in Mark 13:28, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near.”  National Israel is often characterized as the fig tree in the Bible, and this particular chapter is focusing on signs of Christ’s return.  This verse, in essence, is anticipating the return of Israel as a viable world nation, something incredible to have predicted, considering that they were completely destroyed back in 70 AD.

The Nation of Israel became a legitimate country on Pentecost, May 14, 1948.  Mark 13:28 above says that means that “summer is near,” surely hinting at future dates in history.  To figure out this reference to summer, we have to take another look at three of ancient Israel’s annual feast days.  Passover and the accompanying Feast of Unleavened Bread were observed in the spring, a reminder of Egypt’s trials, and of finally leaving Egypt.  Spiritually, it pointed to Christ as the sacrificial lamb, who is the first of the first fruits.  Approximately 50 days later, the people celebrated the Feast of Pentecost, in which the first fruits of harvest were gathered from the spring planting.  Then, near the end of summer in the 7th month, Israel observed the Feast of Ingathering, in which they rejoiced over the final harvest of the year. However, a year in the life of the Israelites was actually a condensed representation of the entire salvation program throughout history.  The three feast days correspond to three seasons, in which external representations of the Kingdom of God reflect God’s work of salvation (harvesting souls) in three distinct eras.  These eras are spoken of metaphorically as periods of rain (Joel 2:23), which naturally lead to a harvest.  Ancient national Israel represents the first season, the first of the first fruits.  The symbol of the Kingdom of God then shifted to the churches in 33 AD, as they became a picture of the fruit brought in on the Feast of Pentecost.  Finally, as we will see more clearly, God’s plan includes a final great gathering of individual people into his eternal flock near the end of the world, characterized by the Feast of Ingathering, and labeled the latter rain.  The phrase “summer is near,” then, means that this last large salvation effort would begin shortly after Israel became a nation once again in modern times.

In searching out the next important end date, we again look to the Jubilee Year, a time every 50th year for Israel to free all the servants and declare the gospel of salvation.  It’s interesting that there is very little Biblical commentary about its actual observance, and so its real purpose is for us to figure out end times in our day.  The battle of Jericho, described in the book of Joshua, is an actual event that is also a parable of the end of the world.  Checking the original Hebrew wording very carefully, Joshua 6:4 correctly translated reads “seven rams’ horns of the jubilees,” pointing to two Jubilees overall.  The start of the church age was the first Jubilee, in which the Holy Spirit was poured out (Acts chapter 2), but Acts 2:17 and Joel 2:28 refer to pouring out the Holy Spirit again in the last days, a second Jubilee.  Counting 50 year intervals from 1407 BC, when Israel entered the land of Canaan, the first Jubilee Year after Israel became a nation in 1948 is 1994.  (Remember, in going from BC to AD subtract one year, as there is no year zero.)  This year would seem to be the likely year for the start of the final harvest of souls.

To find more Biblical data to corroborate the importance of the year 1994, we can look for time patterns.  As mentioned in Part II, Jacob was born in 2007 BC, David became king in 1007 BC and Jesus was born in 7 BC.  With these 1000 year increments, it follows that 1994 is exactly 2000 years from the birth of Christ, with all dates in Jubilee Years- hardly a coincidence! This 2000 year interval is depicted as the 2000 cubit space (Joshua 3:4) between the ark of the covenant (God) and the people of Israel as they crossed the Jordan river into the promised land of Canaan.

There is another 1/3-2/3 time sequence that is even more convincing for verifying that 1994 is a special year.  As the Holy Bible has three seasons, it also has three tribulations.  These are periods of great trouble, in which the underlying spiritual lesson is that the anticipated salvation has been interrupted.  The first tribulation focuses on 1877 BC, when Jacob had to leave the promised land of Canaan after two years (23 months) of a seven-year famine.  The key date of the second tribulation is 587 BC, when Judah, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, 23 years after Judah had lost its independence.  The interval between these two events is 1,290 years.  We can study Daniel 12:11 to learn about this tribulation pattern.  “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days.”  The Bible is saying here that the time span between events when God is no longer paying for sin is in multiples of 1,290 days.  However, Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34 are two examples where God allows the substitution of years for days, thus 1290 years fits. The third tribulation is spoken of in Matthew 24:21 as “great tribulation,” and the context is near the end of time.  If we count 2 times 1290 years (2,580) from the second tribulation in 587 BC we do land right on 1994.  How could this be a time of great trouble if God is saving a great multitude of souls?

We have to realize that if 1994 is the start of the 2nd Jubilee, the 1st Jubilee, the church age, must have already ended.  If there is a great harvest, it must be taking place outside of all the churches.  This is certainly a “great tribulation” for all of the denominations of the world.  The end of the church age is the next date we must find.   In looking at the first two tribulations, we can see that they are each of two parts, separated by the main, terrible event.  These first parts feature the number 23 (23 months and 23 years), and are a period of famine, either physically or spiritually.  Again we go to the book of Daniel for help, (8:13-14) “…How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?…Unto 2300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  We can take one more piece of information from Revelation 8:1, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”  The book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, speaks of the great tribulation as “1 hour” in a number of places.  God is teaching that during the first part of the great tribulation, virtually no one was being saved (silence in heaven), which of course is a spiritual famine.  Going back in time 2300 days from 1994, we can now feel confident that sometime in 1988 the church age would end, and the great tribulation would start.  Note that 1988 is 13,000 years to the very year from creation.  The great tribulation would proceed for 2300 days with no salvation taking place throughout the world, and then the final harvest would begin.

Recall that in Part II of this study, the Jubilee Year was memorialized every year on the 1st day of the 7th month.  In 1994, that memorial fell on September 7.  Using that as the logical start of the latter rain ingathering, backtracking 2300 days puts us on May 21, 1988, the day before Pentecost.  It makes sense that the church age would start on Pentecost in 33 AD and end on the day before Pentecost, exactly 1,955 years to the very day, as Pentecost happens to be May 22 in both years.

We must now look for the ending of the great tribulation.  The first 2 tribulations highlight the number 84 in their total duration.  Jacob’s famine lasted 84 months (7 years), and Judah’s captivity ended after 840 months (70 years).  Also, the first part of each tribulation is about 30% of their total tribulation time.  If the great tribulation began with a 2300 day period, the pattern would dictate that the total length of time would be 8400 days.  Counting 8400 days from May 21, 1988 we end up at May 21, 2011, which is exactly 23 years to the very day!  That means that the second half of the great tribulation lasts for 6100 days, or 17 years.

Matthew chapter 24 again helps us with our calendar.  Verse 29 reads: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened…”  On May 21, 2011, all those that God saved will receive their glorified spiritual bodies and ascend into heaven – the salvation plan will be completed.  However, for those left behind, it will be the beginning of the 5 month day of judgment.

The nation of Israel had one final observance, the 8 total days of the Feast of Tabernacles.  It pointed to the fulfillment of God’s word, a tribute to the Bible itself, of which the completion of the judgment process is the final act.  The feast of Tabernacles in the Biblical calendar in 2011 ends on October 20.  However, the completion of Solomon’s temple, a picture of God completing his eternal church in heaven, had its dedication extended 1 day, as the people couldn’t travel home on a Sabbath day (II Chronicles 7:10).  This actually moves the date of the end of the universe 1 day to October 21, 2011, when the earth and all it’s works will be burned up (II Peter 3:10,12).

From May 21, 2011 to October 21, 2011 is 153 days, or exactly 5 months.  John 21:11 talks about 153 fish caught in the net and pulled to land, a metaphor for those safely in the arms of Christ during this time.  Revelation 9:5 addresses the 5 months specifically: “And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months…”  This is the extra final punishment mentioned in Luke 12:47 for those who are not taking this message seriously.

Vince Des Roches resides in Napa Valley, California.
His website – http://www.areyouwatchingorsleeping.com/  – contains a great deal of information on history’s timeline, end times, and God’s Salvation Plan.

  

Related Stories:

 

Countdown to Judgment

  

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

  

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

  

It is Finished: God’s Final Warning

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part I

  

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part II

Nothing is random or haphazard in the Bible, though it may seem that way at first reading.  In Part I, we carefully organized all of the early Biblical time data and put together a precise timeline, with creation as year zero, and the great flood coming in the 6,023rd year.  We ended the discussion with the nation of Israel being split apart into Judah and Israel, 10,082 years after creation.  The exhaustive study of the chronology of the kings of these two divisions discloses that Israel was destroyed by Assyria in the 10,304th year, and Judah and the temple in Jerusalem were destroyed by Babylon in the 10,426th year.

 Archaeological and historical records show that Pharaoh Thutmose III, the Pharaoh in power in Egypt during Israel’s exodus from his country, died in the Red Sea while pursuing them in 1447 BC (year 9566.)  Secular records also document that King Ahab, a wicked ruler of Israel, ended his reign in 853 BC, which was the 10,160th year.  One more comparative piece of historical evidence is the appointment date of Judah’s King Zedekiah in 597 BC, or year number 10,416.  The interval between these dates is the same in Biblical and historical accounts- 594 years and then 256 years.  We can now align our modern day calendar with the Biblical calendar to provide meaningful dates for events discussed in the Bible.  If 1447 BC was 9,566 years after creation, the beginning of our universe was actually 1,447 + 9,566, or 11,013 BC.  The flood of Noah’s day occurred 6,023 years later in 4990 BC.  Abraham entered the land of Canaan in 2092 BC, and Jacob’s family left Canaan and entered Egypt in 1877 BC.  Forty years after the exodus from Egypt, the young nation came into Canaan in 1407 BC.  Construction of the great temple by King Solomon started in 967 BC, and the nation was divided 36 years later in 931 BC.  Also, we can now compute the destruction date of the 10 tribes of Israel to be 709 BC, and the end of the 2 tribes of Judah to have occurred in 587 BC.

As discussed earlier, the tower of Babel and the resulting division of the land into continents during Peleg’s era can now be dated as sometime between 3153 BC and 2914 BC.  This traumatic event coincides precisely with the theory that it triggered the start of the Mayan calendar (in 3114 BC), and man’s earliest writings (around 3100 BC).

Judah and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC, and then Babylon in turn was conquered by the Medes and Persians in 539 BC.  In that year, King Cyrus sent the exiled Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, which started 2 years later.  There are good secular records of the Persian Kings, as well as various Bible verses to help with the dating.  In Jeremiah 29:10, God declares that after 70 years (after they lost their freedom in 609 BC), he would cause the people to return to Jerusalem.  The temple was rebuilt and dedicated in 515 BC.  The book of Ezra speaks of this event as during the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius (522-485 BC).  The prophet Nehemiah began to rebuild a wall around the city in 445 BC, and it was completed in 433 BC (Nehemiah 2:1, 5:14).  The latest entry chronologically in the Old Testament is in the book of Esther, concerning the 10 sons of Haman.  Verses 3:7 and 9:1 speak of the 12th month of the 12 year of the reign of King Ahasuerus, which would be 391 BC.

The Bible is silent for 384 years until the New Testament message begins in the year 8 BC, focused on the life of Christ.  Several events in His life are very significant, and we can now pinpoint these dates using some secular records and many pieces of information found in the Bible.  Galatians 4:4 speaks of the birth of Jesus as a perfectly planned time in history, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”  Wicked King Herod was ruler when Jesus was born, and he wanted the baby dead.  Magi came following a star to find Jesus, and King Herod asked them to search for him and report back as to the location.  When the Magi did not return, Matthew 2:16 states that Herod ordered all boys in Bethlehem 2 years old and younger to be killed. This order must have been 2 years after the Magi saw the star.  Good secular records document that Herod died in 4 BC, so Jesus was born in 6 BC or earlier.  Luke 2:1,5 speaks of a world tax decreed by Caesar Augustus when Mary was with child.  Historical documentation proves that this tax was instituted in 7 BC.

Backtracking for a minute, when Israel came out of Egypt in 1447 BC, God instructed Moses that the nation was to observe feast days and sacrifices once they reached the land of Canaan in 1407 BC.  These activities were actually signs pointing to the life of Christ and His salvation program.  One of those customs was the Jubilee Year, which was to be observed every 50 years.  And one of the feast days was the annual Day of Atonement.  Leviticus 25:9-10 ties these together nicely:  “Then shall thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the 10th day of the 7th month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.  And ye shall hallow the 50th year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land…and ye shall return every man unto his family.”  This symbolized that Christ atones for our sins, and that he gives us liberty from the bondage of our transgressions.  7 BC, the birth year of Christ, is a Jubilee Year, and the Feast of Atonement in that year using the Jewish Biblical calendar translates to October 2, Christ’s actual birthday.

In Luke 1:36, the Bible tells us that when Mary conceived Jesus, her cousin Elisabeth was 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist.  Elisabeth’s husband Zacharias was a priest, and he served in the temple in the 2nd half of the 4th month every year (Luke 1:5, I Chronicles 24:10).  Luke 1:23-24 informs us that when he finished his service, he went home and she conceived soon thereafter.  When we work out all the details, Zacharias went home about July 6, 8 BC, Elisabeth conceived approximately July 9, Mary conceived about 6 months later on January 9, 7 BC, and Jesus was born 38 weeks later on October 2, 7 BC.  One more proof that we are on the right track is that Jacob’s birth was 2000 years earlier in 2007 BC and King David, who typified Christ, became King 1000 years previous in 1007 BC!

The Baptism of Jesus Christ really symbolizes the announcement that the savior was here to begin his ministry on earth.  In Luke 3:1-3 we read that in the 15th year of the reign of Caesar, John the Baptist did baptize Christ, which historical records tell us would have been in 29 AD.  Luke 3:23, translated literally from the original Greek says, “And Jesus Himself was about 30 years beginning”.  Jesus would have been baptized at about 35 years old, not “about 30”, so the question must be asked “beginning from when?”.  Matthew 2:15 gives us the solution, stating “…Out of Egypt have I called my son.”  Jesus would have been at least 2.5 years old leaving Egypt, making it 32.5 years or less in 29 AD since He had been out of Egypt.  One note that must be mentioned, in counting from BC years to AD years, you have to subtract one year, as there is no year zero.

The death of Christ is obviously a very important event, and we can know the day and the year accurately.  The Bible is quite clear that Jesus died on a Friday, and was entombed before the Saturday Sabbath began on Friday at sundown (Mark 15:42-43).  Passover, another Jewish observance, demonstrated that Christ was the sacrificial lamb, shedding his blood to pay for our sins.  It was to be the 14th day of the 1st month, designated by moon phases, not days of the week, and in 33 AD that was April 1, a Friday.  In other nearby years, Passover did not fall on a Friday, leaving April 1, 33 AD as the clear and accurate choice.

Although there are some other proofs requiring more complex studies, we can tie together the announcement date and the date of Christ’s death conclusively by applying Daniel 12:12, written about 500 years before the birth of Christ, “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1,335 days.”  This is speaking about the Lord Jesus, who must wait to come at an appointed time, and then do his work on earth for a period of 1,335 days.  Christ’s work was finished on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the earth, and the church age began.  Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, was another National Israel tradition, and its observance was always 50 days after the first Sabbath after Passover.  In 33 AD, Christ died April 1, the next Sabbath was April 2, and Pentecost was May 22.  Counting backwards through the calendar 1,335 days from Pentecost, we arrive at September 26, 29 AD (if we count the first and last days).  Is September 26 the day Christ’s work began – when he was announced and baptized?  The Jewish people had also been instructed to observe a memorial of the Jubilee each year on the 1st day of the 7th month (Leviticus 23:24), a yearly reminder that Christ is the essence of the Jubilee, the savior.  In 29 AD, September 26 was indeed the 1st day of the 7th month, the memorial of the Jubilee!

We can now summarize the dating of the significant events of Christ’s life.  He was born on the Day of Atonement in a Jubilee Year, October 2, 7 BC.  Christ was announced and baptized on the memorial of the Jubilee, Sep. 26, 29 AD.  He died on the cross on Friday Passover, April 1, 33 AD and resurrected two days later on Sunday April 3.  Finally, he completed his work on Pentecost, May 22, 33 AD when 3000 souls were saved (Acts 2:41), starting the church age.

Clear historical records demonstrate that Jerusalem was finally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.  We also know that, by studying the life of Apostle John, that the Holy Bible was completed in about 95 AD.

[Part III will explore the Biblical evidence that we are indeed in the very final days of this Creation.]

Vince Des Roches resides in Napa Valley, California.
His website – http://www.areyouwatchingorsleeping.com/  – contains a great deal of information on history’s timeline, end times, and God’s Salvation Plan.

  

Related Stories:

 

Countdown to Judgment

  

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

  

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

  

It is Finished: God’s Final Warning

  

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part I

Biblical scholars over the centuries have felt certain that in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the 5th and 11th chapters were somehow a record of counting time for the new planet earth.  It wasn’t until the second half of the twentieth century that the mystery was finally solved.  These chapters consist of a series of verses naming a person, how old they were when they “begat” a descendant, and also how long they lived.  The descendant follows the previous ancestor in each subsequent verse, and so the begat age and total age are marked off down through the bloodline as their record of history unfolds.  Chapter 5 starts with Adam, who lived to be 930 years old, and ends at Noah (of the great flood) and his 3 sons.  Chapter 11 continues with Noah’s son Shem, who lived to be 600 years old.  After 10 total names, this chapter’s list ends with Abram, known later as Abraham.  Did Adam, Shem and others really live that long, or do these numbers represent something else?  There is no other information in the Bible that would make us think that all of these age numbers are somehow spiritual in nature.  Therefore, we must accept them as true Biblical facts, and build from there. 

The key to putting together the calendar of history from Bible data is to first construct the timeline as year numbers ascending from creation.  This strategy gives creation the designation “year 0,” and each subsequent event marks the next known significant year in history with a larger number.  For example, as Seth was begat by Adam 130 years after Adam’s creation in year 0, the birth of Seth marks year 130 in our ascending calendar.  We then continue to build the timeline as intervals between important Biblical events, moving farther from creation in increasingly larger numbers.  When we finally fill in the more recent Biblical dates, we can compare them to secular records in our modern calendar, and align the 2 calendars together.  For instance, if event X is found in the Bible to be 10,000 years after creation, and the same event in accurate secular records occurred in 1000 BC, that would tell us that creation took place in 11,000 BC.  We could then fill in the modern calendar dates for the entire timeline of history, as recorded in the Bible. 

The main difficulty with this approach is that each date depends on the accuracy of the previous date.  If a date is off by even 1 year, the entire timeline after that date will also be inaccurate.  In looking at these two chapters, does the time counting shift to a new generation when the descendant was begat, or when the ancestor died?  Numerically, this makes a huge difference, and it has caused confusion until our day.  Many of these verses mention that the ancestor had other sons and daughters, but they are not named.  This is telling us that the ones showcased here were special, the patriarchs, the ones who carried the calendar down the blood line from the previous progenitor.  If these people mark the time, their births must have begun that respective segment of time.  The question is – when were they actually born?  In other places in the Bible, “son” can mean son, or grandson or great-grandson.  Could “begat” also be flexible in that it sometimes refers to son, but other times means someone farther down the family tree? 

In checking the Bible for Seth, Genesis 4:25 declares:  “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth:…”  Seth is a direct son of Adam, and “called his name” emphasizes to us that this is the case, as a father would normally name his own son.  The patriarch calendar, then, continues with Seth when he is born in year 130.  When the patriarch calendar is dealing with a father-son relationship, the son takes over as the time marker when he is begat by his father, who remains alive, but is then no longer keeping Biblical time. 

Although the two chapters in Genesis have four additional father-son patriarch relationships, most of the others show no similar Biblical evidence.  In these cases, the descendant must have been either a grandson or great-grandson, but not a direct son.  So, when the descendant was begat, the patriarch’s wife actually gave birth to the descendant’s father or grandfather, creating an extra generation or two that is not mentioned at all.  When the calendar is not discussing father and son, the next patriarch in the bloodline takes over at birth, which is actually the same year the previous patriarch died.  Luke 3:36-37 helps to prove that this is correct.  It documents the names in Genesis 5 and 11, but in reverse order.   However, in Luke, there is an extra “Cainan” between two patriarchs in the Genesis 11 list, a different person altogether.  This is not a mistake, but rather it’s God showing us that there can be other generations between these time keepers.

There is one more good proof that this methodology is correct.  In Exodus 12:40 we read:  “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years.”  This is a time bridge, placed in the Bible to help us gain understanding.  Israel was enslaved in Egypt for exactly 430 years, but the calendar was also maintained in the Bible by patriarchs in the nation.  When we carefully work out all of the Biblical data and add up the length of time these people lived in Egypt, we also get a total of 430 years.  This shows us that as one patriarch died, another would be born and thus take over representing the calendar in the same year.

Returning to Genesis chapter 5, the names continue all the way down to Noah, who we can now show was born in the 5,423rd year of planet earth.  There is certainly a lot of confusion about the timeline around the flood, and part of it relates to finding the correct birth years of Noah’s sons.  Genesis 5:32 says:  “And Noah was 500 years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”  Okay, did Noah’s wife have triplets, or was this the birth year of his first son, with the other two born over subsequent years?  If the latter, which son was born first?  Shem starts the patriarch calendar in chapter 11, so he is the important time keeper.  We also know that the three children are direct sons because of other statements in the Bible.  Genesis 7:11 tells us that Noah was 600 when the flood began, and so this puts the start of the flood in our calendar 6,023 years from creation.  As mentioned above, Noah’s first progeny was born 500 years after Noah was born, which was also 100 years before the flood started, year number 5923.  Proceeding to Genesis chapter 11, we see important information in verse 10:  “These are the generations of Shem: Shem was 100 years old, and begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood:…”    2 years after the flood started, Shem was 100, so he would have been born 98 years before the flood in year 5925 to carry on the patriarchs’ role.  Noah’s first son was born in 5923, but the patriarch, Shem, was born 2 years later.  To simply conclude that Noah’s first born was the patriarch Shem would have thrown the calendar off by those 2 years!

It should be noted that halfway down the patriarch calendar in chapter 11, Peleg represented the years from 7860 to 8099 after creation.  During this period, the tower of Babel and the division of the continents must have occurred (Genesis 10:25, I Chronicles 1:19).  In other words, around 2000 years after the flood, God split the land into continents and divided up the people to begin to develop our modern day diversity of languages and cultures.

Abram (Abraham) was a direct son of Terah, and the last name in this patriarch list.  However, his birth in year 8846 is also tricky to discover.  As with Noah, Terah had 3 sons (at the age of 70), but the Bible doesn’t say directly when Abram was born.  Genesis  11:32 and 12:4 solve the puzzle.  Terah died in Haran at the age of 205, and Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran, which was the same year.  Doing all the math, Terah was 70 when the first son was born, 130 when Abram was born, and then Terah died 75 years later. 

Abram entered the land of Canaan, the promised land, the same year that he left Haran.  His son Isaac was born when he was 100 years old, as stated clearly in Genesis 21:5, 8,946 years from creation.  The next step in the calendar is again easy to understand.  Genesis 25:26 mentions that Isaac was 60 when the next Bible patriarch, his son Jacob was born (year 9006).

When Jacob was 130 years old, he was told by God to leave Canaan with his family and go live in Egypt, as there was a terrible famine.  Genesis 47:9 gives us this age fact, putting the year at 9136.  His family remained in Egypt for exactly 430 years, growing as a nation until their exodus in year 9566 (Exodus 12:40-41).

 

 After finally escaping from Egypt, Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years (Deuteronomy 29:5) under the guidance of Moses, until finally reaching the land of Canaan 9,606 years from creation.  During this period, Moses wrote down the first five books of the Bible, dictated directly from God.  These included the patriarch calendars from Genesis, accurate time information about people, most of whom lived thousands of years previously!  The Bible tells us that Moses was well educated in Egypt (Acts 7:22), but knowledge of the ancient patriarchs certainly would have been impossible without Divine guidance.

The Holy Bible gives us another wonderful time bridge to allow us to jump ahead in history.  In I Kings 6:1 we read:  “And it came to pass in the 480th year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign over Israel,…that he began to build the house of the Lord.”   Throughout this period, Israel was ruled over by various judges and then King Saul and King David.  The Israelites left Egypt in year 9566, so King Solomon began to build the great temple in the 10,046th year.  This marked the end of King David’s and King Solomon’s 4 year co-regency, and the start of the 36 year sole reign of King Solomon.  One has to be careful with the facts, as each king reigned 40 years, but 4 years were overlapping (I Kings 1:46, 2:11,11:42).  At the end of King Solomon’s reign in the 10,082nd year from creation, the nation of Israel was divided.

National Israel was separated into two nations, the 10 tribes of Israel and the 2 tribes of Judah.  Both divisions each had 20 kings which marked the passing of time, with many Biblical references, but sorting out the dates is incredibly complex.  There were 2 methods of time keeping based on the kings’ reigns, the accession year system and the non-accession year system.  In the first system of counting, the reign began the first full year after the initial partial year.  All the kings of Judah and the last 12 kings of Israel used this method.  In the non-accession method, the first partial year was the official first year of reign, which added one additional year to the total.  The first 8 kings of Israel followed this method.  There were numerous co-regencies, dynasties, blood lines crossing over- a plethora of details to work through to carry the calendar through this era.  When finally resolved, however, many of these periods of rule could be matched to secular records, allowing the Biblical timeline to be converted to modern day dating.

  

Vince Des Roches resides in Napa Valley, California.
His website – http://www.areyouwatchingorsleeping.com/  – contains a great deal of information on history’s timeline, end times, and God’s Salvation Plan.

  

Related Stories:

 

Countdown to Judgment

  

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

  

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

  

It is Finished: God’s Final Warning

  

  

 

A message crafted by an ancient intelligence millennia ago…

 

encoded with a message critical to the hopes of all mankind…

 

transmitted to and dutifully recorded by human scribes…

 

who were unaware of the import of the words they were writing…

 

published in a collection of books that have been read, studied, and debated for centuries…

 

the true meaning of which is unlocked at a point in history when enlightened men have gained the ability to decode it…

If you were guessing that this is the plot of an upcoming Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich (creators of Stargate and Independence Day) film or a new Dan Brown (author of Angels and Demons, The DaVinci Code, and The Lost Symbol) novel, you’d have guessed incorrectly.  The scenario summarized actually concerns God, the Bible, the various Books of the Old and New Testaments, the writers of those books, and the Parousia, Rapture, Judgment Day, and End of Time respectively.

And, according to Harold Camping, Founder and President of Family Stations, Inc. – a Christian ministry with global radio and Web broadcast facilities, God has revealed May 21, 2011 as the date for Jesus’ Return and October 21, 2011 as the date on which the Earth and Universe will be destroyed and replaced by the New Creation, God’s everlasting Kingdom.

To understand Mr. Camping’s teachings, one must consider their philosophical underpinnings.  Mr. Camping believes that the Bible is the infallible and only Word of God through which He speaks to His people – that is, those whom he has chosen from before the foundation of the world.  At the time of the Rapture, these are the ones – both those alive on that date and those resurrected from their graves – whose bodies will be transformed into their eternal glorified bodies and who will meet Jesus in the air.  The remainder of the world’s population and lifeless remains of the rest of mankind that will spew forth from the Earth as a result of the great worldwide earthquake of May 21, 2011, will face God’s wrath during the Day of Judgment, the 153-day period concluding with the destruction of the world and universe on October, 21, 2011.

To determine these dates accurately and validate the legitimacy of these predictions, Mr. Camping relies upon two other fundamental principles:  first, Biblical passages must be interpreted in the context of the Bible as a whole, and second, scripture must be compared with scripture to ascertain its true meaning.  Mr. Camping views the Bible as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  Thus, while Bible stories may provide historical accounts of actual occurrences, they also are an allegory – symbolizing events and participants in the present day.  And so, the Biblical nation of Israel often symbolizes the Christian Churches and Jerusalem represents Heaven.

But, accurate analysis of the Bible and knowledge regarding the timing of the world’s end depend upon revelation from God, a revelation to his true believers that Mr. Camping asserts could not take place before the commencement of the Great Tribulation.  As evidence, he points to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament.  In the 12^th Chapter of Daniel, God is speaking to Daniel about end-times and instructs him to “shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4).  In Revelation Chapters 5 through 8, Christ opens a book with seven seals.

Mr. Camping, analyzing these chapters in the context of the Bible as a whole, indicates that the book in Revelation is the very same book mentioned in Daniel.  According to Mr. Camping, the final seal on that book was broken on May 21, 1988, the date that he correlates with the beginning of the Great Tribulation – a 23-year period ending with the Rapture on May 21, 2011 and commencement of the Day of Judgment.

During the Great Tribulation, Mr. Camping posits, Satan is loosed on the Earth, and his rule extends even to the Churches.  Thus, true believers, those chosen by God who will join Jesus at the Rapture, have left the Churches and those remaining, including clergy, are following and proselytizing a false Gospel and actually engaging in apostasy.  Needless to say, Mr. Camping’s teachings are not popular among those in the traditional Christian denominations.

Yet, Mr. Camping is undeterred, unequivocal, and supremely confident in spreading the Word as he perceives it.  He points to a number of “proofs” provided by God that indicate that his calculations have been done accurately.  These proofs rely heavily upon numerology.

Mr. Camping, like many others Biblical scholars, attributes spiritual significance to certain numbers.  The number 3, he asserts is representative of “God’s purpose.”  The number 5 signifies “atonement” or “redemption.”  10 or 100 or 1,000 represent “completeness.”  The number 17 is associated with “heaven.”  And, 23 signifies “destruction.”

While it is not my intention to present all of the proofs revealed, I will highlight the techniques employed to give readers a sense for their nature and substance.  Mr. Camping has calculated that Jesus’ crucifixion took place on April 1, 33 A.D. and bases this date on a study of the Biblical information on Jesus’ life along with known historical data.  The Crucifixion marked the beginning of what Camping refers to as the Church Age, that ended with the commencement of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 1988.  The length of the Church Age, therefore, was 1955 years.  The number 1955 is the product of three prime numbers:  5 x 17 x 23.  Thus, “atonement” or “redemption” brings “Heaven” or brings God’s “destruction,” a phrase echoing 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 – “¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”

Furthermore, there are 722,500 days between Jesus’ crucifixion and his return on May 21, 2011.  722,500 is the product of two repeating sets of spiritually significant numbers:  5 x 10 x 17 x 5 x 10 x 17.  Mr. Camping interprets this as “The atonement or redemption demonstrated by Christ’s suffering and death on April 1, 33 A.D. (the number 5) is 100% completed on May 21, 2011 (the number 10) when all the true believers are raptured into Heaven (the number 17).”  The sequence is doubled to “indicate that it has been established by God and will shortly come to pass” in accordance with Genesis 41:32, “And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.”

In 1970, Camping published a book entitled The Biblical Calendar of History in which he calculated the date of the Creation as 11,013 B.C. and of the Great Flood as 4,990 B.C.  According to the Genesis account, the Great Flood occurred on the 17^th day of the second month of the Hebrew calendar.  This equates to May 21^st of our modern calendar.  In 2 Peter 3:8, God stated, “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.”  If you add 4,990 + 2,011 and subtract 1 (to account for the fact that there was no year 0), you arrive at the number 7000 – making May 21, 2011 exactly 7,000 years from the date of the Great Flood.  And by May 21, 2011, the world is projected to have nearly 7 billion people inhabiting it.  Oh, by the way, did I mention that the number 7 represents “spiritual perfection?”

Is Harold Camping correct that on May 21, 2011, this world will be “perfected” with Jesus’ return to collect the true believers and usher in 153 days of God’s wrath and judgment ending with total annihilation of mankind and this universe and creation of a new Heaven and new Earth?  Or, will he join such notables as William Miller, a Baptist preacher and founder of what would become the Seventh Day Adventist Church who concluded that Christ’s Second Coming and the end of the world would occur sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844, or for that matter himself, who questioned (albeit without his current level of conviction) whether 1994 might signal Jesus’ long-awaited return?

Obviously, the jury is still out on this question.  Yet, if you consider yourself to be a Christian, is the thought of Christ’s imminent return a source of hope or fear for you?  And, whether a Christian or not, do you number yourself among the many who intuit events portending imminent disaster?

Is Harold Camping a prophet of the Lord or a product of a civilization drifting aimlessly from crisis to crisis while desperately seeking answers?  Is time running out?

 

For more information, visit the Family Radio Website (http://www.familyradio.com/) where you will find literature (http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/frame/) providing information of intricate detail on the subjects discussed in this article.

Related Posts:

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day!

  

Harold Camping: False Prophet or Herald of God?

  

It is Finished: God’s Final Warning

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part I

 Assembling the Timeline of History – Part II

Assembling the Timeline of History – Part III

  

Assembling the Timeline of History – Part IV

  

Judgment Day: Less than One-Half Year Away

 

A Word of Warning

Signs of the Times

May 21, 2011: Judgment Day Scenario Unfolds

Much has been written and spoken about the year 2012 and, as that year approaches, much more will be.  Modern day prophets have predicted the coming Apocalypse and based their suppositions upon ruminations regarding the end of the Mayan Calendar, cryptic passages from the writings of Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, and an alleged celestial alignment of the galactic and solar planes in that year.  Additionally, NASA scientists have indicated that a solar storm will reach Earth in 2012 with potentially devastating impact upon electrical power grids worldwide, and other researchers have theorized that a polar shift could occur at approximately that time.  With so many potential catastrophes on the horizon, is it likely that 2012 will be the end?

 

Throughout documented history, seers, prophets, and ordinary people have concluded that the world was coming to an end in their lifetimes.  Following the crucifixion of Jesus, his followers believed that his return and establishment of his Kingdom on earth was imminent.  And, throughout the intervening centuries, many have perceived signs that led them to predict the coming end.

 

Some have calculated a specific date or time period for that end.  In the U.S., one of the most famous instances of this phenomenon occurred in the 1800’s.  In approximately 1823, William Miller, a Baptist preacher and founder of what would become the Seventh Day Adventist Church, studied Biblical prophesy and concluded that Christ’s Second Coming and the end of the world would occur sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844.  When the year between those dates came and went, his movement, that grew in the years leading up to his predicted end into a national campaign, modified their predictions – ultimately settling upon October 22, 1844 as the final day.  That day would come to be known as the Millerites’ “Great Disappointment,” and William Miller would continue to await the world’s end until his death in 1849.

 

Of course, end times prophecy did not end with William Miller.  The approaching new millennium produced the perfect conditions for the revival of prognostication regarding the end of the world.  With the 1970 publication of “The Late, Great Planet Earth,” written by Hal Lindsey and Carole Carlson, predicting the world’s end became an industry unto itself.  Hal Lindsey has since written numerous other books on the same subject and is a fixture in cable television network produced documentaries about end times.  Televangelists preach the world’s end, the coming or present Tribulation, and Christ’s imminent Return – all the while raking in huge contributions from their followers.

 

Setting aside the fact that the predictions of all end times prognosticators to date have been erroneous and considering that there are some reputable scientists who foresee impending disasters in the not too distant future, might not 2012 be the end?  The real answer is that it doesn’t matter.  All of us will experience the end of our own worlds at the times of our deaths.  If 2012 ends the worlds of everyone at once, there is nothing that anyone will be able to do about it.

 

Yet, if there is a growing belief that 2012 may indeed be the end, perhaps it may cause many to reevaluate their lives, to consider the things that are most important, to say the things they have always wanted to say, and to become the best expression of the people they have always wanted to be.  Perhaps, people around the world collectively will come to an epiphany in the realization that our world is but an infinitesimal part of the universe and that the survival of any of us is intimately interconnected with that of all others.  And, if enough of us are transformed in this way, maybe the Mayans had it right, and 2012 will end the old world and begin the new.

 

But, if 2012 is the end, we at Write On New Jersey will be here to report it to you as it happens.