Harold Camping...a servant of Satan?

Harold Camping, voice of Family Radio, has spun yet another doomsday scenario and date—and thousands were again awaiting a “rapture.” This false prophet was wrong again! Why? What does the Bible really say about where events are going?

Scores of millions—and in virtually all nations—wondered whether May 21, 2011 would begin the countdown to the end of the world. The masses saw ads on billboards, in newspapers, on the Internet and elsewhere. Great numbers were captivated by the possibility of imminent destruction. Fear was everywhere. So was confusion. Thousands of believers thought they would vanish into heaven on this day.

Radio preacher Harold Camping had painted a stark picture for May 21: a great worldwide earthquake, “such as the world had never seen”—dead bodies thrown out of graves to be “shamed”—and believers “raptured.” The earth would be bathed in blood for five months—and destroyed on October 21.

May 21 came and went like any other day—nothing happened.

Realization began to dawn on Camping followers: no rolling earthquakes starting in the South Pacific and crossing the globe—graves still closed—and true believers still here. The prophecy failed. But some things did happen.

A distraught 14-year-old Russian girl scrawled a note in her diary: “We are not righteous people, only they will go to heaven, the others will stay here on Earth to go through terrible sufferings.”

The writings, obtained by Russian news agency RIA Novosti, indicated the prediction that “Judgment Day” would arrive Saturday May 21, 2011, was too much to bear. Her final entry said, “I don’t want to die like the others. That’s why I’ll die now.”

On May 21, she hanged herself.

A Taiwanese man reportedly also committed suicide by jumping to his death. A California woman attempted to kill herself and her two daughters weeks earlier, slitting their throats then her own, in an attempt to escape Earth’s doom.

Other stories began to unfold, less tragic, but still painful. Some now face bankruptcy. They had quit their jobs ahead of an expected “rapture” and emptied retirement accounts and savings in order to send all the funds to the Judgment Day group. Others had alienated family and friends through their fixation on the “end of the world.”

Terror. Panic. Hysteria. Suicide. Financial ruin. Embarassment. Depression. Disillusionment. Anger. Confusion. Feelings of betrayal. Many of you wrote us describing your feelings.

After two days of silence, Mr. Camping held a press conference. He stated, “I don’t have any responsibility. I can’t be responsible for anybody’s lives. I am only teaching the Bible. I am not teaching what I believe, as if I am the authority. I am just simply teaching what the Bible says.”

Another "Great Disappointment"

In the week preceding May 21, Mr. Camping stated in interviews heard the world over that he could not entertain the possibility this day would not mark the rapture and the beginning of the end. How did he explain a Judgment Day that failed to materialize, despite assurances that “The Bible guarantees it”?

When his prophecies fail, Mr. Camping will have only two options: admit he is a false prophet—highly unlikely—or spin events by claiming his prophecy was fulfilled in some mysterious fashion…Prepare now for the spin!”

The spin arrived on schedule. It took the form of a common tactic among false ministers—“spiritualizing away” events and scriptures that are literal in meaning. “The Bible is a very spiritual book,” Mr. Camping said. “There are a lot of things that are very factual, very factual, of course, but there are a lot of things that are very spiritual. How to know whether to look at it with a spiritual understanding or a factual understanding is hard to know…The fact is when we look at it more spiritually then we find that He did come…God brought judgment day to the whole world…It will continue to October 21, 2011 and at that time the whole world will be destroyed.”

The long game of deceit continues…

How to know a false prophet

Many know Mr. Camping falsely suggested “Judgment Day” would likely occur May 21, 1994. History repeated itself 17 years later, but this time carrying the “guarantee.”

Both errors would be impossible with a prophet of God. Why? The apostle Peter wrote, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy...” (II Pet. 1:19). God’s prophecies are certain. They never miss. Not one!

Harold Camping will not admit his prophecy failed—but no false prophet would, or the game ends.

God’s instruction regarding prophets is “If you [ask] in your heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?” (Deut. 18:21). God’s answer? “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him” (vs. 22).

Men can presume to speak for God. It happens every day. Therefore, you must know if God sent a man—or if the man sent himself.

The true prophet Ezekiel recorded, “Son of man [Ezekiel], prophesy against the prophets of Israel...and say you unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear you the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord God; woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing” (13:2-3).

Harold Camping: Servant of God or Servant of Satan?

This is a serious matter to God—and it should be to you! Mr. Camping cannot be a servant of God. God tells you, “You shall not be afraid of him.” Do you—will you—believe God? In light of the chaos, death and destruction that Mr. Camping has left in his wake, it would be more appropriate to suggest that Mr. Camping is a servant of Satan!

You Decide!