Where has Harold Camping gone wrong?

The substance of a sermon preached in Newtownabbey FPC and available on the Church's Sermonaudio page

According to Harold Camping the Secret Rapture was supposed to take place on Saturday 21st May at 6 pm across the world.

Harold Camping for those who don't know of him by now is the President of Family Radio. This is a California based radio station group that has more than 150 outlets in the United States.

Camping is now known virtually the world over as the man who predicted that 'Judgment Day', as he described it, would take place on 21st May 2011. He had been announcing for sometime that Jesus Christ would then return to this world, that the righteous would be raptured up to heaven. He estimated that around 200 million people would be raptured, or about 3% of the world's population. There would subsequently follow five months of fire, brimstone and plagues, with millions of people dying each day. This would culminate five months later, on 21st Oct 2011, with the end of the world.

Camping arrived at this date by applying numerology to his interpretations of the Bible. Ten of thousands, and most likely hundreds of thousands, of US dollars where spent on a countrywide advertising campaign to warn of this Judgment Day. Followers sold their homes and used their money to spread the word. People had their vehicles liveried with this message to warn the masses.

However, 21st May has come and gone and there has been no evident rapture and no subsequent plagues etc falling upon the world. The explanation given as to why we did not see it happening is really very clear according to Camping. The coming of Christ was spiritual and that is why no one else has seen it. Camping has said: We didn't see any difference but God brought Judgment Day to bear upon the whole world. The whole world is under Judgment Day and it will continue right up until Oct. 21, 2011 and by that time the whole world will be destroyed.

So, in other words, even though Harold Camping was evidently so wrong, he was actually still right. We just don't see it, because.... well you and I just aren't Harold Camping.

However, it is worthwhile to ask: where has Harold Camping gone wrong?

Rapture to take place this Saturday!!

According to Harold Camping the rapture will take place on Saturday 21st May at around 6 pm.

To read more see here:
Belfast Telegraph - World will end this Saturday, May 21, warns preacher Camping
The Independent - US preacher warns end of the world is nigh: 21 May, around 6pm, to be precise

It doesn't take a great deal of Bible knowledge to see the folly of such claims. As sure as anyone sets a date or time for the rapture you can be sure it is wrong. So says the Word of God: 

Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Earthquakes etc are not a sign of the end. It never says this in the Bible anywhere. There have always been earthquakes etc in the world and they will continue. We are not to mistake their occurrence for end time events:
Matthew 24:5-8, For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

As pointed out in these reports Harold Camping has 'form' on this. He announced that the world would end in September 1994. It didn't happen! 

There is no rapture taught in the Bible, never mind a rapture on saturday 21st May 2011!

Worthwhile related articles to read are:
1. Reasons Why the Great Tribulation Must Precede the Church's Translation by Pastor J. Kyle Paisley
2. Why the Revelation of the Anti-Christ and the Apostasy must Precede the Coming of the Lord by Pastor J. Kyle Paisley