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Twenty-Three Years of Tribulation is Enough …Now Get Ready for Harold Camping’s Judgment Day Chapter 26, the False Prophet – Part 1 by Doug Krieger
Now, this “article” is rather extended – so, since most of you will find it cumbersome, don’t despair – it’s worth the read – we cover quite a bit…everything from Camping to space-time travel; you’ll see. Actually, I wanted this article released just a little after Judgment Day – but maybe I’ll just make it under the wire (May 20, 2011) to prove a point; but just because Harold’s a little wacky on his calculations doesn’t mean there is not a “solution” to the math problem – there is, but obviously, after multiple attempts, I as a former math teacher (literally) would pull him aside and “go through the steps” – “Harold, you flunked! Perhaps some more remedial work is necessary . . . .” On the other hand, “Don’t Worry – Be Happy” is not the backdrop the Almighty wants. In order to “plot and plan” for the lead up to the “end of days” there are certain mathematical equations which the Almighty has laid out in order for us to “understand” His purposes. You may laugh or get upset about that, but that is precisely what the books of Daniel and Revelation, as well as many other texts, indicate. You see, and as it turns out, the Mayans, the Greeks, the Arabs and a host of mathematical cultures and climes – including the Chaldeans of Babylon – all “knew that something was up.” Also, that it could be determined or expressed by astronomical means, careful observation and, eventually, mathematically demonstrated to prove it was always there and could be manipulated to communicate reality or possible and probable relationships, dates, distances, weights, and various measurements. It has been rightly conjectured by the likes of Sir Isaac Newton, among others, that the “ancients” most likely possessed what Newton called “perfect knowledge” or in Latin: prisca sapientia. He knew it was embedded in the Bible; therefore, he spent decades searching for it, for in it, he affirmed, that the Almighty would, in the end of days fully disclose His purposes for His creation. Now, that’s what many astrologers, mystics, gurus, enchanters, channelers, hucksters, false prophets and folks like Harold Camping confirm as well – the only thing is, many, if not most of their calculations are fraught with fundamental misconceptions and erroneous data. But remember, Jesus elaborated upon His end-time’s theme – that it would be surrounded by deception, false christs and false prophets, evil seducers and, in sum, it’s a minefield out there but there is the other side . . . and that’s where, by God’s grace, we’re headed! Deception is truth distorted; nevertheless, there is truth. Just because it took Edison around a thousand (some say 10,000) tries to discover the practical lightbulb, doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done . . . someone had to discover it! Researchers and authors Tom Horn and David Flynn – especially in Flynn’s Temple at the Center of Time, Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012 – believe it was, in fact, “right in front of him (Newton) . . . . The technology to unveil it did not exist until now.” (Tom Horn’s book endorsement for Flynn’s research on Newton’s quest and subsequent discoveries.) Prophetically speaking – we’re not supposed to know about “the day nor the hour” when the Second Coming shows up…Jesus will come when He’s supposed to, right? In the meantime we’re supposed to evangelize – in fact, according to Rick Warren and a growing field of “prophets” among American believers, “the future is about world evangelism” – that’s the message the Church needs NOW! We don’t need to hear the rant of an old man named Harold Camping and his “numbers racket” – after all, isn’t this “obsession about numbers” nothing more than a grandiose distraction; besides, doesn’t the Lord want to speak to us without a bunch of encryption that has to be decoded? I’m following Jesus; and, after all, I’m not “looking unto” Dan Brown of Da Vinci Code fame! I suggest you reread Dene’s latest tome entitled: THE VALLEY OF DECISION – so you can decide if you’re going to be “wise” or align your indifference with the “wicked” – for, as Daniel clearly states: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever…many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand” (Daniel 12:4, 10). Listen up – as Dene McGriff enjoins: You’re either for us or against us! This Bushian remark is absolute. If you “choose wisely” you will, as it says in Daniel 12:4: “But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book until the time of the end. [Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great.” Or, as the Literal Targum translation states: “As for you, Daniel, obscure the matters and seal the book until the time of the End: let many muse and let knowledge increase.” So – it’s time to start “musing” – it’s time to “run to and fro and search anxiously through the Book” – it’s time for “God’s purposes as revealed by His prophets” to “be increased and become great.” Why? So you can be puffed up in your own wisdom? NO! So He can impart His wisdom into you so that you shall “shine like the brightness of the firmament” because you will “turn many to righteousness” and so shine like the “stars forever and ever” – so that you will “be purified, made white and refined!” What, world evangelization by being wise? ABSOLUTELY! And a whole lot more – but if you are determined to abide in your ignorance and/or indifference – then, dear friend, dear brother or sister, whether you know it or not, you are siding with, guess whom?
Listen, Israel’s in the land – and, yes, the “signs of the time” are all around you – don’t give us this baloney that “it doesn’t pay the bills” – and besides, J. Lee Grady thinks McGriff and Krieger have gone off the deep end with that freak show, Family Radio’s Harold Camping or 88 Reasons Why Jesus is coming back in 1988. Just because the Seventh Day Adventists, the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses missed Judgment Day around 1844 to 1914 and everything in between doesn’t mean there isn’t “gold in them thar hills” – there is! Just because Whisenant’s and Camping’s 1988, 1994 and now 2011 are off doesn’t mean the “truth is NOT out there!” The Last Days are fraught with antichrists and false prophets everywhere – IT’S A MINEFIELD OUT THERE. A LITTLE TALK WITH JESUS Reread Matthew 24 and the first thing you’ll read about the “end of the age” goes like this: “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). Now, that’s a fine way to open up Your last chat with the disciples, isn’t it? Why not open with something positive? Like: All’s well that ends well; or something like that? No? The tone is being set from the get go – it sounds like You’re saying: “Listen guys, you want to know how this thing ends? Alright, look out; deception will be rife in the land. Don’t be so gullible – even the very elect are open for deception and deception big time!” Lord, that’s what it sounds like; am I right? “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). O.K. I get it . . . well, I think I get it . . . . “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). Wait a minute – You’re repeating Yourself . . . maybe I didn’t get it the first time? As a matter of fact . . . “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23). O.K. Again, I’m starting to get it – sounds like You’re not going to be hiding out somewhere, like in the wilderness or maybe up in Canada somewhere . . . . am I doing better? “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24). Lord, I’m really getting this. You’re making it really clear to me – “false christ” and “false prophets” and “false hideouts” – with all kinds of “signs and wonders” – Wow, can I handle that? I bet I will . . . I can’t wait to prove to You I can discern these phonies. Am I doing better? “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it” (Matthew 24:26). Lord – You’re really trying to drive home the point. If I tell you “I get it” – that doesn’t seem to impress You that much. And, what’s this statement that Matthew and Mark pulled out of their hats when You started talking about that awful “Abomination of Desolation?” Right in the middle of Your statement, quoting Daniel the prophet, Matthew and Mark jump in and say: “Whoever reads this, let him understand” (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14). What if I can’t? Is that an order? Man, I’m in big trouble if I can’t discern nor understand – Lord I really need Your help and I need it NOW! I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT – SO WHY WORRY – BE HAPPY – BESIDES, I GET BUMBED OUT OVER PROPHECY
Furthermore, Israel’s isolation grows daily. Blamed as an apartheid state a la the infamous anti-Semitic Ted Pike (See here: Can Christians Defend Old Testament Killing of Canaanites?) and castigated by Hamas and news of “fresh outbreaks” to oust her from the sliver of land “she illegally took from the Palestinians.” (See: Violence Spreads Along Israel’s Borders As Palestinians Coordinate Protests – 05-14-15) – so it’s time to bad-mouth all pre-millenarians who support the Israeli State! But, “don’t worry – be happy” – it’s not my problem . . . . Grief, let’s just be positive – after all, “Don’t worry – be happy” does have its rewards, somewhere out there; besides, don’t you think a “positive gospel” is a jazzy gospel and doesn’t honey attract more bees than bitter herbs? Besides I lost my job, my house, my marriage broke up, my health – I’m a mess – and I got time for this? Hey, I’m livin’ in the last days, that’s for sure – my last days! Most of the world’s just trying to survive, pay the bills and live the dream (well, some of them). And we’re waiting for Jesus but we’re “occupying ‘till He comes” by doing, not going off the deep end like the Happy Camper Harold. Furthermore, we’re busy about the “purpose driven life” – God has a wonderful plan for my life and I need to find it. This business about “God’s purposes” is far too esoteric for this brother. Right? Better to get down on prosperity, my prosperity and paying my bills, being responsible and finding a life-mate who’s compatible with my needs – yep, better to find a church which caters to my “felt needs” in any event….so it goes, ad nausea, ad infinitum. I’ll probably get in a little Body Gospel to keep in shape while I’m at it – that is, if I have time, otherwise, it’s off to my girl’s soccer game or, better yet, ballet. . . Got to keep livin’ the good life somehow while all hell’s breaking loose on earth . . . anyway, I’m glad I don’t live in the South (USA) where they get all those awful tornadoes! Thing is, where I live turns out to be the worst place in America for floods – but I don’t live near the Mississippi, so I’m O.K. for now. THANK YOU FOR CALLING – NOW, MAY WE HAVE OUR NEXT CALLER – WELCOME TO OPEN FORUM - NOW WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION?
Camping believes that certain “patterns were measurements of time that occurred between important significant Biblical events.” These blocks of time, to Camping, have chronological relationships with other blocks of time which start and stop on significant dates of the year – including Israel’s Feast Days like the Passover. I find this most interesting in that the distortion of the truth knows no bounds and normally, when such “truths” are revealed by the false prophets among us, they normally “go for the gold” – i.e., what has been committed to eschatological disclosure is nominally and/or seriously skewed to conceal the real truth embedded in the Scriptural text. Deception is nothing more than distorted truth! With “Brother Camping” there’s a cacophony of numbers and dates that simply do not add up – in other words – Harold’s out there “date setting” which is NOT how predictive prophecy operates. Harold’s a huge target – I don’t have the time nor the inclination to expose his falsehoods relative to the spurious notion that we’re living in the “Tribulation” or that hell is some kind of unconscious state or that Satan’s currently “sitting as God in the temple of God” which turns out to be “sitting in the Apostate Church” – or that the rapture involves only 200 million or that no one’s been saved since 1988 and that all the organized churches are apostate and we should get out of the lot of them – grief, who wants to be sittin’ with Satan in a church, no less! Furthermore, Harold’s folks are taught they’ll never know if they’re saved in any event. So, what’s the point in “preaching the gospel” or at least one would think that within “Harold’s world” somebody somehow can get saved? What we should do is live like we’re bound for hell; yet keep crying out for God’s mercy because we’ve no idea if we’ve been “predestinated” by “Holy God” Whose very picky whom He chooses but, for sure, He hasn’t been choosing anyone for years, so even if we wanted to repent, forget it – it’s over! Grief, and his music and Bible reading are so nice – so my wife tells me. It’s like eating this incredible fish sandwich with little bones inside ready to choke me to death . . . trying to pick through the bones is such an exercise, I may as well throw the whole sandwich out the window! Deb, my wife, came home from where she works and told me that one of her co-workers is taking two weeks off before she could “possibly rapture” (of course, she doesn’t know if she’s one of the 200,000,000 – but it sure beats the old 144,000 theory of the Jehovah’s Witnesses – I think the odds have increased) and, the weird thing is that her State job demands that if you bad-mouth someone’s religion, you can get fired – so everyone’s playing it real cool and trying to figure out how they can get a religion where you can take off two weeks to prepare for rapture or, worse yet, what if she’s left behind? Man, “Nancy, sorry about you’re non-rapture . . . apparently you’re not ‘saved’ – what a bummer . . . maybe you didn’t try hard enough?” David J. Stewart’s piece on Harold Camping, entitled: Harold Camping’s Heresies Exposed; and Harold Camping’s Kingdom Hall by Jason Wallace pretty much tell it all – talk about an eye opener! Aside from getting the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14 a little goofed up in saying that it’s already been fulfilled under Antiochus IV Epiphanes back in 167 B.C. or so (a classical Dispensational error which I’ll clarify later) – it’s pretty spot on when declaring Camping’s “mixed bag” of falsehoods.
We are Almost There! and To God be the Glory. Harold Camping claims that certain biblical passages teach that May 21, 2011, is the date of Jesus’ return (which he calls the rapture) and October 21, 2011, is the date for the end of the world. Frankly, to go into detail as to how Camping arrives at his conclusions of both the Rapture and Judgment Day, and for that matter, the “end of the world” on October 21, 2011, is an exercise in futility. He’ll either proclaim that God’s mercy has fallen upon the world as in the days of Nineveh (if Harold hangs around) – so the world is not destroyed (based on God’s mercy, certainly not on anyone repenting, I can be fairly safe to say….) or, much like his predecessors among the Seventh Day Adventists, he’ll proclaim some type of secret, unseen heavenly reality being fulfilled like the “Investigative Judgment.” Or, more closely aligning himself with the Jehovah’s Witnesses – for both of them (Harold and the JWs) love to set multiple dates for the rapture or Judgment Day, just like the JWs have done over the years (See here: The Watchman Expositor and this excerpt from Wikipedia): “The religion’s doctrines surrounding 1914 are the legacy of a series of emphatic claims regarding the years 1799,[4] 1874,[4] 1878,[5] 1914,[6] 1918[7] and 1925[8] made in the Watch Tower Society’s publications between 1879 and 1924. Claims about the significance of those years, including the presence of Jesus Christ, the beginning of the “last days”, the destruction of worldly governments and the earthly resurrection of Jewish patriarchs, were successively abandoned.[9] In 1922 the society’s principal journal, Watch Tower, described its chronology as “no stronger than its weakest link”, but also claimed the chronological relationships to be “of divine origin and divinely corroborated...in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct”[10] and “indisputable facts”,[4] while [the] repudiation of Russell’s teachings was described as “equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord”.[11] (Wikipedia) In point of fact, Harold Camping is so similar to the Jehovah’s Witnesses; he may as well be their spokesperson! What I find fascinating is how these false prophets seemingly appear to “get away with it” – i.e., compound the error of their way by making up more claptrap when the date doesn’t come true – just fascinating, that’s all. And, since stoning false prophets isn’t in vogue, we’ll just have to continue listening to the pretty music and KJV Bible reading and get on with it! You just got to wonder, though, what’s going to happen to all the dear people who’ve been following this character? In sum: May God have mercy on their souls and lead them into the Light of the Glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and give them the full assurance of their salvation – and while you’re at it, stop giving money to Harold’s Family Radio; or better yet, fire the guy and get some real evangelicals in there! SILENCE IN HEAVEN FOR THE SPACE OF HALF AN HOUR – REV. 8:1 Camping claims that the sealing of Daniel’s Book (Daniel 12:4, 9 – the same text which we at the Tribnet, along with the Historicist-Physicist, Sir Isaac Newton, claim was purposefully “obscured” until the “time of the end”) is connected to the unsealing of the seven-sealed book found in Revelation 5:1-5. Furthermore, that “unsealing” or disclosure of the meaning of the prophetic text is ultimately realized with the unsealing of the final and seventh seal found in Revelation 8:1: “When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” In other words, according to Camping, “all of the seven seals must be removed,” before a full understanding of the text can be comprehended (From: No Man Knows the Day or the Hour? – Family Radio). Now, to all of this, we at the Tribnet concur – it’s the “poison” that is now inserted by the False Prophet which destroys both Camping’s thesis, as well as the believer’s earnest search in these “latter years” for the purposes of God; to wit: “WHEN WAS THERE SILENCE IN HEAVEN? Several years ago we had learned that the silence in Heaven for about half an hour referred to the 2,300 days that were the first part of the 23-year (exactly 8,400 days) Great Tribulation period. This period began on May 21, 1988. It was during this 2,300-day period that, both in the churches and throughout the world, very few, if any, were saved. Revelation 8:1 reports that there was silence in Heaven. This would have been the situation beginning on May 21, 1988, because joy in Heaven occurs as sinners repent. In Luke 15:4-32 the Bible reports this joy in Heaven, a joy that was not a silence.” (Ibid.) So, as you can see, Harold connects the “half hour” of Revelation 8:1 to the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14 – wouldn’t you know it! The only thing is this: The commencement of the 2,300 days is not the 250th Day of the Seventieth Week of Daniel, yet future – leaving, of course, 1,010 days of sacrifice until “the middle of the week” when sacrifices are terminated by the Abomination of Desolation and then an additional 1,290 “days of desolation” (Daniel 12:11); i.e., 1,010 (sacrifice) + 1,290 (desolations) = 2,300 days (clearly fulfilling Daniel 8:13-14 in the context of the, yet future, Seventieth Week of Daniel). Instead, Harold asserts that the 2,300 days commenced on May 21, 1988 and apparently must be considered the first part of 8,400 days. Thus, Harold’s full 23 years extends from May 21, 1988 to May 21, 2011 or approximately 23 years or approximately 8,400 days (8,400 ./. 360 = 23.333> years); however, the first 2,300 days extended from May 21, 1988 through to May 21, 1994 (2,300 ./. 360 = 6.388> years). Getting off to an abysmal start by using the 2,300 days as “past history” (beginning on May 21, 1988) is just as bad as getting off on the “day-year” foul up of the Millerites in 1843-44 during the “Great Disappointment” (which gave as their start date around 457 B.C. and ending around 1843-1844 A.D. (see diagram). Out of the Great Disappointment evolved the Seventh Day Adventists, the Mormons and, of course, the Jehovah’s Witnesses (which really came out of the Seventh-Day Adventists). But don’t try to share the real 2,300 days (as “days” instead of “years”) in Wikipedia. Why? Because the Seventh-Day Adventists have a lock on Wikipedia for their 2,300 day-year misinterpretation and Wikipedia could care less about the truth on this subject. (For a brief history on all this, see my article entitled: Israel’s Temple Sacrifice and the Abomination of Desolation)
Harold’s engineering brain (by trade he is an engineer and probably should have stayed an engineer) is “all over” the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14. Yes, he uses Israel’s Feast Days to project his machinations but like his fellow travelers among the Historicists and Amillenarians his mathematical efforts far surpass the lot of them! One of the best explanations of the May 21, 2011, Judgment Day (if you really want to know) is given at the end of this article (Part II).** (See Appendix “B”) Alas! Once again the Amillenarians (who vainly assert there is no literal 1,000 year Millennial Reign of the Son of David upon the Throne of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, yet to come upon the earth; however, as much as I renounce their position – they are not into “heresy”) – who distort the literal meaning of Daniel’s text to the uttermost – have, taken their license with the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14 and beclouded the literal “evening-mornings” of these days directly connected with Daniel’s 2,520 days and the 75 day extensions of his week found in Daniel 12:11-12. Their claim that these “days” are years is altogether a tragic misinterpretation, preposterous and inglorious! But others among the Plymouth Brethren were adept in determining the truth of the “mystery of the 2,300 days.” “The words of the angel in regard to the two thousand, three hundred days during which the Sanctuary and the Host are to be trodden underfoot, are, perhaps, not so mysterious as they seem. The literal Hebrew expression is not “days,” but “evening-mornings”’ that is to say, two thousand, three hundred repetitions of the evening and morning sacrifices—which proves that actual days of twenty-four hours are intended. And we should note, that seven full prophetic years would contain two thousand five hundred and twenty days; that is, that the time mentioned by the angel is two hundred and twenty days short of seven years. [Note: 2520 – 2300 = 220 days short of the seven full years]
G. H. Pember, the great Plymouth Brethren scholar for his time (1837-1910), was clearly advanced beyond his peers in relationship to placing the 2,300 days within the confines of Daniel’s, yet future, Seventieth Week. However, he surmised the time frame of the 2,300 days was “wholly confined” within the Seven Years or 2,520 days. He figured that the Antichrist would not “tamper with the Sanctuary” (i.e., the Third Temple, newly rebuilt) at least for the first 220 days from the commencement of the “one week” covenant or from the start of the 2,520 days since it would then leave 2,300 days yet “unfulfilled.” He felt that the Third Temple would not be fully built out (i.e., “dedicated”) until at least 220 days into the Seventieth Week. Pember concluded that Antichrist would somehow be connected with Jerusalem and the Temple for the entire 2,300 days, knowing that the “suppression of the daily sacrifices” would not take place until “the middle of the week” – which, to Pember would then leave 1,260 days left of the Week. So, he undoubtedly pondered: I have 1,260 days accounted for – now if I subtract this figure from 2,300 (i.e., 2,300 – 1,260) it will equal 1,040 (bringing Pember to the 220th day of the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week); hence, Pember’s statement that “at least (Antichrist) for the first 220 days from the commencement of the ‘one week’ covenant would have little to do with “tampering” with the Sanctuary or city until that time. Suffice it to say – Pember was but 30 days off – he simply needed to go to the end of Daniel 12:11 and realize that there would be 1,290 days of desolation; therefore, if this figure were subtracted from the 2,300 days of “sacrifice and desolation” one would arrive at 1,010 days (2,300 – 1,290 = 1,010), which would place “Temple Worship” or “Dedication” at the 250th Day of the first half of the Week (i.e., 1,260 – 1,010 = 250) – not on Pember’s 220th Day. And, as we have indicated elsewhere there are 250 days separating any given Passover from Hanukkah/Feast of Dedication; therefore, all but 30 days of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14 are confined within the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy – with those additional 30, and later 45 days, calculated “outside” the 2,520 days of Daniel’s Seventieth Week. These 2,300 days bespeak of the infamous one week “Treaty of Hell and Death” orchestrated upon hapless Israel by their False Messiah, the Antichrist, at the commencement of the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy, wherein there will be from Passover to the Feast of Dedication of the Third Temple in Jerusalem by the Jews (the Israelites) 250 days (which days are assuredly separated on the Feasts of Israel calendar by precisely 250 days). Also, from thence shall be 1,010 days of sacrifice which at their conclusion shall the Abomination of Desolation take place wherein “he (Antichrist) sits as God in the Temple of God, declaring that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:4) – known as “the middle of the week” (Daniel 9:27). Then there shall be in accordance with both Daniel 12:11 and Daniel 8:13-14 a period at the latter half of the Week known as the “desolations” of 1,290 days (Daniel 12:11). When the 1,010 “days of sacrifice” are added to the 1,290 “days of desolation” the total is 2,300 days (or a 30-day extension beyond the 2,520 days or the entire Seventieth Week of Daniel, which we at the Tribnet affirm to be the time known as the “Wrath of God and the Lamb”). C.I. Scofield & Dr. John Walvoord and the 2,300 Days
Since the Dispensationalists could not affirm the meaning of these 2,300 days – and knowing that the Amillenarians and their dissuasions within the Seventh-Day Adventist camp (as well as the distortions among the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons had already spoken on behalf of these 2,300 days and had committed their twisted interpretation of these texts to suit their own fancies) – they forfeited all exegetical rights thereto and allowed these cults and traditional “Kingdom Now” brethren to willy-nilly consign the 2,300 days to the Church’s exclusive purview…having nothing to do with future Israel. Instead, Scofield/Walvoord, et al, would consider the 2,300 days irrelevant to the Church, because the Church would have been raptured at the commencement of the Seventieth Week in a secret pre-tribulational rapture. (Please see: Israel’s Feast Days…Prophetic Fulfillment; Israel’s Temple Sacrifice and the Abomination of Desolation; Jesus Christ Does the Work of Antichrist…A Perfectly Timed Heresy, Says Who?; Israel’s Prophetic Witness…To Finish Transgressions and to Anoint the Most Holy.) C. I. Scofield comments in his Reference Bible: “[Daniel] 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? Desolation … [is mentioned] Seven times in Daniel the "desolation" is spoken of: Of the sanctuary, Daniel 8:13 fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 175-170.” (From: The Scofield Reference Bible – Daniel 8:13) Interestingly enough, Scofield says nothing about Daniel 8:14 – absolutely nothing! As far as Scofield was concerned, these 2,300 days were simply “fulfilled” in the person of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. We cannot be absolutely certain of Scofield’s omission of the 2,300 days being assigned to Antiochus IV Epiphanes; however, our conjecture appears to affirm this. But, Walvoord nails the door shut on the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14. In his Daniel, the Key to Prophetic Revelation (1971), found between pages 186-190, Walvoord does a fairly good job of expounding the text, primarily from an historical perspective, while fending off the convoluted chronologies of the mid-1800’s crowd. These excerpts closed the Dispensational door on the 2,300 days and consigned them to spurious exegetical extremes found in the world of the Seventh-Day Adventists and the aforementioned Amillenarians – including, now, Harold Camping; Walvoord cannot resolve the math problem – therefore, he consigns the 2,300 days to history past, not future: “If they are literally twenty-three hundred days, what is the fulfillment? The attempts to relate this to the last seven years of the Gentile period referred to in Daniel 9:27 have confused rather than helped the interpretation. Twenty-three hundred days is less than seven years of 360 days, and the half figure of eleven hundred and fifty days is short of the three and one-half years of the great tribulation. Exegetically, a safe course to follow is to find fulfillment in Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes, and then proceed to consider what eschatological or unfilled prophecy may be involved.” (Walvoord) Again, I would remind our readers, that these 2,300 days play an immense role in Americana and world Christendom – these “days” cannot be taken so lightly; their socio-religio impact has been horrific and will be horrific for their yet future fulfillment regarding Israel’s “battle with the Antichrist-Beast” and the Temple Mount, as well as the persecution of both Israel and the Church during the final half of the Seventieth Week of Daniel, yet future. “Innumerable explanations have been attempted to make the twenty-three hundred days coincide with the history of Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes. The terminus ad quem of the twenty-three hundred days [using the “day method” only] is taken by most expositors as 164 B.C. when Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes died during a military campaign in Media [whereas the terminus ad quem of the Millerites, using the “day-year method” was 1844 A.D.]. This permitted the purging of the sanctuary and the return to Jewish worship. Figuring from this date backward twenty-three hundred days would fix the beginning time at 171 B.C. [whereas using the “day-year method” figuring from 1844 A.D. backward the twenty-three hundred days would fix the beginning time at 457 B.C.]. In that year (171 B.C.), Onias III, the legitimate high priest, was murdered and a pseudo line of priests assumed power. This would give adequate fulfillment in time for the twenty-three hundred days to elapse at the time of the death of Antiochus. The actual desecration of the temple, however, did not occur until December 25, 167 B.C., when the sacrifices in the temple were forcibly caused to cease and a Greek altar erected in the temple. The actual desecration of the temple lasted only about three years. During this period, Antiochus issued coins with the title ‘Epiphanes,’ which claimed that he manifested divine honors and which showed him as beardless and wearing a diadem.
Travesty! Such “crude and unusual punishment” accorded the chronology is utterly unacceptable, given the precision found in God’s Word! Indeed, Walvoord, Tommy Ice, Sir Robert Anderson and many profoundly Dispensational-oriented brethren give amazing precision from the “going forth of the command” under Artaxerxes “to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince” (i.e., from the time Artaxerxes gave the decree unto the arrival of Nehemiah and the covenant renewal celebration at Jerusalem, until Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem as “Messiah the Prince” (“Behold your King cometh unto you”) was precisely “seven sevens and sixty-two sevens” or 69 weeks. There are 360 days in a “prophetic year.” Therefore, the math is quite simple: 69 “7s” or 69 x 7 = 483 “years” = 483 x 360 (days in a prophetic year) = 173,880 “days” (found between the decree of Persian King Artaxerxes Longimanus (Nehemiah 2:1 – to “rebuild the city” “its gates are burned with fire” – and Daniel 9:25 – “That from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem…the street (lit. “open square”) shall be built again, and the wall (lit. “moat”) until Palm Sunday and the “triumphal entry” of Jesus, as “Messiah the Prince” into Jerusalem (Matthew 21: 1-11). Four days after His Triumphal Entry, “Messiah the Prince” He, Jesus, after the second set of weeks – the 62 weeks, “Messiah shall be cut off” (Daniel 9:25-26); thus, was He crucified. The 173,000 days are from Nisan 1 or March 5 in 444 B.C. unto March 30, 33 A.D. – i.e., from the “decree to rebuild Jerusalem” by Artaxerxes Longimanus in Nehemiah 2:1 unto the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem by Jesus [the terminus ad quem] or “until Messiah the Prince” – and then 4 days later Messiah, the Prince, was “cut off.” The extraordinary calculations made originally by Sir Robert Anderson, and clarified by Tommy Ice and Dr. Harold Hoehner are altogether precise – therefore, why would the Almighty give “evidence” which “does not offer fulfillment to the precise day” when it comes to the 2,300 days allegedly surrounding the era of Antiochus IV Epiphanes? Frankly, it is absurd to ascribe “a round number” that “is relatively accurate.” God Almighty is NOT RELATIVELY ACCURATE – He is absolutely accurate. Walvoord’s assertion, based on C. I. Scofield’s erroneous conclusions, do not “safely” ensconce these 2,300 days “to have been fulfilled” nor do we concur with the capitulation: “There is no adequate reason for considering it in any other light than that of fulfilled prophecy from the standpoint of the twentieth century.” No – it is NOT “adequately explained in the history of the Medo-Persian and Greek empires.” Welcome to the twenty-first century! To the contrary – it is PRECISELY explained within the context of Daniel’s Seventieth Week pertaining to 1,010 days of sacrifice and 1,290 days of desolations, equal to 2,300 “evening-mornings” directly connected to the Seventieth Week of Daniel – there is no other PRECISE, CONCISE, ACCURATE, SPOT ON and altogether honoring interpretation of this passage – it abides yet future; and, I would have to say, if Dr. Walvoord were alive today, he, as a classical futurist, would concur with this interpretation of the passage, after telling me that I should be more diplomatic in my criticisms! Furthermore, we enjoin Tommy Ice and Dr. Harold Hoehner to side with Dr. Walvoord in joining with us in this Messiah-honoring chronology of the 2,300 days! That’s called pre-millenarian chutzpah! “BUT SHALL WE HAVE OUR NEXT CALLER – WELCOME TO OPEN FORUM” Camping – now that he’s got a hold on the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:13-14 – proceeds into the swamp of his interpretation: “We had learned that May 21, 1988 was the last day of the church age and was also the first day of the 23-year period of Great Tribulation, during which Satan has been employed by God to officially rule all of the churches as well as the whole world. During the first 2,300 days of this 8,400-day period the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from all of the churches as well as the entire world, insofar as salvation is concerned. This produced silence in Heaven [My note: Camping’s erroneous interpretation of the “silence in heaven for one-half hour.”]. This sad situation is to continue in the churches until the end of the 23-year Great Tribulation period. However, beginning 2,300 days after May 21, 1988 (the end of the church age), the Holy Spirit was again poured out, producing what the Bible calls the ‘latter rain’ (Zechariah 10:1; James 5:7) throughout the world (but not in any church), and God began a final great harvest of salvation, bringing great joy in Heaven. This salvation is not occurring in any church, but will continue outside of the churches to the end of the Great Tribulation, on May 21, 2011. “Because at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period (May 21, 1988) [Note: There is no coming personal Antichrist, as far as Camping is concerned], Christ removed the seventh and final seal from this book that Daniel was commanded to seal, we can now understand why it is that during these past years God has revealed to us so much new truth from the Bible. This includes the precise time of the end and much about God’s Judgment plan. The word ‘time’ is a synonym for ‘hour.’ Judgment refers to the Day of Judgment, which is frequently called ‘the Day.’ Thus, to know time and Judgment as prophesied in Ecclesiastes 8:5 is to know the ‘day’ and the ‘hour.’ This fits perfectly with the mercy and love of God for the whole world.” (No Man Knows the Day or the Hour, Harold Camping)
Once you start from resolving the math problem of the 2,300 days from the wrong premise, you exponentially go off in a myriad of directions – everything from 23-years (8,400 days) of Great Tribulation to Harold’s finale, somewhere in October, 2011, known as the “end of the world” – and during the five-month interval pure hell on earth for those billions who didn’t rapture with the 200 million who are mercifully spared God’s wrath! But let’s consider…and sorry to take so much time on this seemingly meaningless distraction; however, if we summarily dismiss the matter, as C. I. Scofield did with the 2,300 days allegedly and approximately fulfilled in the person of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (and reaffirmed ever since by well-meaning but equally inaccurate approximations of Dispensationalists), the “fulfilled prophecy” can be devastating and, as you can see, on-going! Deception is taking the truth and twisting it. The world and those who slight Biblical prophecy will take Camping’s distortions and mock the “promise of His coming” – but the “truth is out there” – notwithstanding Camping’s torturous conclusions! Finally, before going to Part II of this seemingly mindboggling “tempest in a teapot” (which it is NOT) – allow me to indulge in one more superficiality designed to anesthetize the saints in preparation of His soon coming. That is, the inane and innocuous preachments who hail the Second Coming of Christ, while boasting that it is a sufficient prophetic broadside to congregants to address it at least once in a great while. They exalt in their simplistic approach to the Second Coming – void of all date setting and the elaborate intricacies laid out in Scripture – claiming their delimiting of the subject is spot on in that it comforts the brethren to know He’s Coming again and we should be about the essentials, like evangelism, paying the bills and getting involved in “building the Church” (meaning, our programs here at our church). Again, let me disabuse you of thinking that such “preaching” can excuse any preacher from the task of “searching to and fro throughout the Book” to determine “the purposes of God.” Nor does it fulfill “leading many to righteousness” – nor, for that matter, does it fulfill a call to purity in Christ. In sum: It’s nothing but a pompous drool; a slam at the prophetic – causing the Body of Christ to abstain from searching the Scriptures and preparing their hearts for the testimony and witness of the Church to the world. Not only is it insufficient, it is disingenuous and debilitating to the saints to ascribe such simplicity as a panacea that somehow comforts the saints – to the contrary, it simply puts the Church to sleep! Eschewing the likes of a Harold Camping – by divorcing ourselves from the prophetic – is both ignorant and dangerous; causing immediate and long-term damage to the Body of Christ. PLEASE GO TO PART II – CHAPTER 26 – THE FALSE PROPHET – RE: HAROLD CAMPING | |||
