The King is coming. Just not on May 21, 2011

The King is Coming
(Bill Gaither)
Praise God, He's coming for me
The marketplace is empty, no more traffic in the street
All the builder's tools are silent, no more time to harvest wheat
Busy housewives cease their labor, in the courtroom no debate
Work on earth has been suspended as the King comes through the gate
Happy faces line the hallway, those whose lives have been redeemed
Broken homes He has mended, those from prison He has freed
Little children and the aged hand in hand stand all a-glow
Who were crippled, broken, ruined, clad in garments white as snow
The King is coming, the King is coming
I just heard the trumpet sounding and soon His face I'll see
The King is coming, the King is coming
Praise God, He's coming for me
I can hear the chariot's rumble, I can see the marching throng
And the fury of God's trumpet spells the end of sin and wrong
Regal rolls are now unfolded, heaven's grandstands all in place
Heaven's choir is now assembled, start to sing "Amazing Grace"
Praise God, He's coming for me.



If a search of Christian history was made, it would be very difficult to find many years without the presence of controversy concerning the Second Coming of Jesus. Ever since Jesus proclaimed His return, many different people and groups have demanded that they have the true “skinny” on the exact time of the event. This claim can be compared to one of the greatest heresies against Christianity. Gnosticism is based upon a claim that there is a privileged few that know the secrets of God. They posses a special knowledge. Those who have said that they now can tell you the time would not like to be compared with the aforementioned heresy. But, they cause the same amount of confusion.

Paul’s epistles to the church at Thessalonica addressed some of the confusions about the return of Jesus. People were concerned about friends and loved ones, which had died before Jesus came back for His Church. Also, some in the church were sure they knew the exact time of the event. They had stopped living a regular life. They sold their possessions. They tied up all of the loose ends of this life and were now waiting for the Christ. In other words, they were so heavenly minded that they had become no earthly good.

From that time in early church history to the present, there seems to be no time in which the confusion of new apocalyptic theories did not torment the Church. People would like to think that apocalypticism has only been present in our civilization during the last two centuries. This is not true. And, since this is not a book or dissertation on this phenomenon, but just a short informational article, a cursory review of just a few examples will suffice.

There was a group that came to prominence in the New Age movement during the 12th century. The Joachimites believed that Joachim of Fiore had figured out the “nuts and bolts” of Christ’s return. His theory was based upon an interpretation of the Bible that revolved around a strange understanding of the Trinity. If the Old Testament was the time of the Father and the New Testament was the time of the Son, then there is a special history, which is the time of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would act as a revealer of special information about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And oh by the way, Joachim identified the Antichrist as the present or future sitting Pope.

During the early 16th century, Thomas Muentzer organized a poor peoples’ revolt. He felt that it would usher in the return of Christ. The princes and rich ones of Germany slaughtered him, and over 5000 of his chosen ones. Jesus did not come to their rescue.

In the early 19th century, a prosperous farmer of upstate New York, by the name of William Miller, told of the fruits of his Bible study. He began to teach to any and everybody that Jesus would return in, or before 1843. When the new year of 1844 arrived, it became obvious that he had made an ‘oops’. His followers were known as ‘Millerites’. From this group came two strains of apocalypticism. They are the Jehovah’s Witness and Seventh Day Adventist of today.

Sometime during 1988, there was a pamphlet written and published by Edgar Whisenant with the name “88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return In 1988.” Although he had the credibility of being a NASA engineer, he lost that as a Bible scholar when 1989 arrived. Another movement met similar failure in 1993. David Koresh led his apocalyptic “Branch Davidians” in an attempt to usher in a new era. But, his predictions met the same fate as those before him who also were listening to the wrong voice, or voices.

Now, we are confronted with another prediction of future disaster on the Earth ushering in the Rapture of God’s people. Here we go again. Research into this movement shows that the main power behind this apocalyptic prediction is Harold Camping. Camping has managed to take the purchase in partnership of one radio station and build it into a worldwide network of over 75 media outlets.

Although there has been an attempt by Camping to hide his involvement in the “May 21, 2011 Judgment Day” movement, it is obvious from his latest publications that he and his worldwide media empire is the energy behind this enormous “Judgment Day” campaign. When questions arise about the origins of this apocalyptic event, those contacted respond with “It is a group of Bible students.”

There are a few giveaways about Harold Camping’s teachings that tie his movement with most of the earlier heretical theories about the Return of Jesus.
First, the leaders of these movements always claim that the churches of each era are apostate. Meaning that they all have stopped telling God-truth. (Gnostics anyone?) Secondly, these leaders announce that after many years of prayerful research God has spoken truth, a system, or a code by which they are able to tell, not predict, the exact time of the “Return” and the ”Final Judgment.” Finally, they preach a system of salvation that only applies to their followers. At this point it becomes obvious that the motive behind this campaign is one of power.

A few more topics in which Harold Camping departs from mainstream Christianity include annihilationism, the determination of true believers, and the ending of the Church Age in 1994. There are many other differences between Camping and mainstream denominations. But, it is that great number of apostates that have wandered off the “narrow road” not him. Who determined what the distinctions were and who was correct. It was not the Bible, nor Biblical scholars, or anyone other than Harold Camping. (How convenient!)

You may be asking what is the motivation of these people, and those to follow.
It is greed and power. Writing about the “Second Coming” is a billion dollar industry. Not all who publish are crooks and charlatans. But, these theological con artists write a major portion of this literature. Is there a better way to make friends and influence people? Claim that you, and you only, have the ear of God. There are plenty of people in this world who are clueless and helpless in any conversation about spiritual subjects. There are plenty of Oprah’s and Tom Cruise’s out there which have no clue themselves, but will always lead with a heresy, all the way to confusion.