P.T. Barnum and Harold Camping

P. T. Barnum and Harold Camping

"They keep stumping their toes and delighting their foes, these latter days stunt men (and women)." Does this refer to men like Harold Camping, or those who believe his prophecies and follow him?

Like insects toward a lamp, these people seem to have a fatal attraction, they can't stay away, and they burn themselves by making false prophecies. The Lord said that no man knows the day or hour. And they all seem determined to prove Him wrong! The Adventists did it with Miller and White, the Jehovah's witnesses did it with Russel and others. Edgar Whisenant published a book whose title was "88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988." They sent out 300,000 copies. But it was wrong. People I knew sent me the book and when I wrote them at the beginning of 1989 to point out their error, they broke all contact with me. But my point is, what did Harold Camping learn from all those false predictions? Absolutely nothing. He, too, set a date, it, too, was wrong. But instead of repenting and admitting his error, he revised it and set another. Like the false prophets before him, he seems spiritually blind, incapable of seeing or admitting his error. This is what they all do. It's like a bad dream that keeps coming back to disturb you!

The Lord said "no one knows," and He knows what He's talking about! We pray "thy kingdom come" and "even so come, Lord Jesus," but we don't know the date. The imminent return of Christ should motivate us to holy and faithful living, not to date setting and speculation!

But these people do not represent the genuine historical Christian faith. They are aberrations at best. In fact, the Scriptures warn precisely about such people - false prophets and false teachers. So why are the "prophets" so foolish and careless, and why are people taken in time and time again? This is where P.T. Barnum comes in. He said, "There's a sucker born every minute."