Will Jesus Return On May 21, 2011?

Harold Camping and his ministry friends at Family Radio have created quite a buzz over the last several weeks with the prediction that Jesus Christ will return to rapture Christians out of this world on Saturday, May 21, 2011. There is not enough room in a single blog post to cover all of the dimensions of what is affectionately known as eschatology [end times] in Christian theology. For the purpose of this blog I will make a broad stroke summary of end times and then address more specifically the issue of whether we can we calculate the specific day and time of Jesus’ return.

Eschatology simply means the “study of last things”. This is one of the most fascinating areas of Christian theology because it deals with the issues of death and eternity. Eschatology also touches on the core issue of Christian hope. Christian hope is not an “I hope so” response as when a parent asks a child if he did well on his math test at school. Rather, it is an “I know so” response of certainty based on the truth of God’s Word and the faithfulness of His character. By repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ a person can have the certain hope of eternal life in heaven.

While there is a wide variety of opinion in Christianity on when Jesus will return there is a unified belief that Jesus will return. Some Christians believe that Jesus will return in an event known as the Rapture to call Christians home to heaven before the period of redemptive history known as the Great Tribulation. This is known as the Pre-Trib View. The doctrine of the Rapture comes from 1Thessalonians 4:17 where the apostle Paul wrote to address the Thessalonian believers who were upset because their loved ones were dying and Jesus had not come back yet. They were confused about what would happen to their loved ones in reference to eternity in heaven and how it would all work out. Paul wrote, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1Thessalonians 4:13-18; emphasis added). The phrase caught up is where the doctrine of the Rapture is anchored.

Some Christians believe that Jesus will Rapture the Christians in the middle of the Great Tribulation. This is known as the Mid-Trib View. Others believe that Jesus will return at the end of the Great Tribulation. This is the Post-Trib View. Regardless of when Jesus will return, the certainty of his return is an encouragement to Christians to live faithfully in this life and it is a warning to non-Christians that one day it will be eternally too late to respond in trusting faith to God’s gracious gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

There are some things we can know about the nature of Christ’s return. It will be a future event. The return of Christ is something we are waiting and looking forward to happening. It will also be at an unexpected and unknown time (Mark 13:32-37). Camping and his friends want to try and say that this Bible passage does not apply any longer. The problem with such a view is that it is self-serving with no supporting evidence. That would be like a person who is on trial for murder simply dismissing his behavior because he does not feel that the law against murder should apply anymore. Jesus himself made the declaration in Mark 13:32-37 and nowhere in Scripture does God ever negate or undo Jesus’ teaching on the fact that no one but God the Father knows the appointed time of Christ’s return. We also can know that the return of Christ will be a visible return in the same way that his ascension after the resurrection was visible (Acts 1:11; 1Thess 4:16).

What Harold Camping and his ministry friends have done is to take their position of believing that Jesus will return before the Great Tribulation and to set a specific date for the event. They believe that the actual date of the return of Christ can be calculated using historical events accompanied by biblical prophecies. First and foremost, this is an obvious contradiction of Jesus’ teaching in Mark 13:32-37. The best way to verify someone’s Bible teaching is to compare what they say to what the Bible actually teaches. Unfortunately, in this case Camping is wrong because he directly and blatantly goes against the clear teaching of the Bible.

This is also not the first time that Camping has made end times prophecies. Apparently he made an apocalyptic prophecy in 1994 which did not come to fruition has he had declared it would. In the Old Testament God told His people to beware of those who would offer empty prophecies because they were not His messengers. The best way to verify someone’s prophecy is to see if what they prophesied happens. In 1994 Camping was shown to be a false prophet; therefore, there is no credible reason for listening to him again.

There are many Christians who would argue that the signs of the times are ripe for the return of Christ. I would agree. But so would Christians throughout all of history. The disciples of Jesus Christ in the New Testament believed Jesus would return in their lifetime. We can know that the Lord is near (Matthew 24:33), but it appears this has been the conviction since the time of the apostle Paul (Philippians 4:5).

What are we to do with the signs of the end times? The signs are not for us to calculate. Rather, the purpose of the signs of the end times described in the Bible are to prevent us from being deceived or made anxious by claims that Jesus has already returned or a person’s claims to be Jesus (i.e., David Koresh, Heaven’s Gate Cult, etc). There is a second purpose for the signs which is to function as a call to action. Since the return of Christ could happen at any moment, we should live with an eager watchfulness about how we live. The return of Christ should create urgency in people to be about doing God’s will.

I believe that Jesus could come today or he could return in 1000 years. God’s will is not for me to determine but to obey. And what God has revealed about His will regarding the end times is that His children are to live with purity and urgency. Regardless of when Jesus will return, I believe we should heed the words of Christ himself, “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” (Mark 13:37).