When the World is Going to End?
Some people say the future can be predicted. Yes, there's a truth on it. We can predict what will happen tomorrow, the next month or the next coming years based on past and present actual events. We can predict when the stock market will fall, when the next election will be, or what your next birthday would be. But predicting when the world is going to an end is something beyond the ability of man to see what is beyond time. The Bible is clear, in Mark 13:32, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Hence, it is a nonsense to say that the world will going to an end on the year 2000, or on May 21, 2011, or on October 21, 2011. These dates already passed away and yet mankind is still here setting another dates to come as the end of the world being December 21, 2012 while others even say, "No, it will be on the year 2015".
Whatever the reasons behind these claims, let us examine their propositions why these dates were picked as most likely the dates for the end of the world.
Y2K (Year 2000) or Millennium Bug
During 1960s to late 80s there was a widespread practice in all computer softwares to use two digits for representing a year rather than using 4 digits. This was done to save computer disk and memory space because these resources were relatively expensive in those times. As the year 90's approached experts began to realize this major shortcoming in the computer application softwares. In year 2000, the computer systems could interpret 00 as 1900 messing up all the computing work. For example if a program function is calculating difference between two dates, it would calculate a negative number. For example difference between 1 Jan 2000 and 31 Dec 1999 could be calculated as -100 years rather than 1 day. This was a major bug for the whole finance industry. The bug not only existed in computer software but it also existed in the firmware being used in the computer hardware. In general this bug threatened all the major industries including utilities, banking, manufacturing, telecom, and airlines.
In defense, it would be more catastrophic if the computers controlling weapons of mass destruction will interpret the year 2000 as 00 and would mean "nuclear annihilation of mankind".
"The Y2K problem is the electronic equivalent of the El Niño and there will be nasty surprises around the globe." (John Hamre, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense)
Read more: Y2K
May 21, 2011
The Bible lists very few specific dates for events, so calculating Judgment Day is a daunting task. It takes a healthy leap of faith to take the Family Radio summation as fact, but if the numbers are correct — and biblical evidence stands true — Judgment Day could indeed be upon us on May 21, 2011.
Most of us roll our eyes when we stumble across an apocalypse theory. But Family Radio has been proclaiming May 21, 2011, as the veritable Judgment Day, and the prediction has been getting a lot of attention. How could the network come up with such a specific date? NewsFeed crunched the numbers to see if the calculations could indeed signal the second coming of Christ, using passages from the New International Version of the Bible.
The Great Flood Struck in 4990 B.C. Family Radio president Howard Camping determined the date of the flood by cobbling together information from the Bible. Starting with the exodus of the Jews out of Egypt, commonly thought to have occurred in 1447 B.C., he counted back through each generation to form a timeline, reaching the year 4990 B.C. for the flood.
The accuracy of this date is paramount to Camping’s argument, but he seems to be one of a minority group in arriving at this number. Other biblical scholars say the flood happened around 2000 B.C.
Seven Days’ Warning of the Great Flood. “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” (Genesis 7: 4)
People had seven days to prepare for the great flood — an apocalyptic event in that time. This number serves as a benchmark.
Seven Days Equals 7,000 Years. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8)
Using the seven-day warning as a benchmark, Camping’s calculations take this passage to heart. He added 7,000 years to the great flood date of 4990 B.C. (accounting for the fact that Year Zero doesn’t officially exist in the Gregorian calendar we use today) to determine the date of the next destruction of humanity. But isn’t this number a bit contrived? After all, no other biblical event used a multiplier of 1,000. So why this one?
Month 2, Day 17. “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” (Genesis 7: 11)
The great flood occurred on 17 Iyar of the then standard Hebrew calendar, which 7,000 years later corresponds to May 21 in 2011.
Taking this evidence into account, Camping and his crew predict that earthquakes will shake the world at 6 p.m. on May 21. But many nonbelievers of the prediction, particularly religious ones, refute Family Radio’s claims using other biblical evidence. After all, would God truly reveal his plans in a calculated manner?
Read more: Judgement Day
October 21, 2011
Harold Camping realized that he made a mistake predicting the rapture was going to occur last Saturday (May 21, 2011). Bewildered, he realized while talking to a friend that the May 21 date was correct, but the rapture did not occur on that date as he thought it would.
"We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "The fact is there is only one kind of people who will ascend into heaven ... if God has saved them they're going to be caught up. (Camping, 2011)"
This is a beautiful statement because it leaves the door wide open from now until October 21st for the rapture to occur. Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
So there you have it. Harold had to learn the hard way that "No one knows about that day or hour" of the rapture. Luckily for us however; Mr. Camping does know the time and hour of the apocalypse, just not the rapture.
Read more: The End of the World
