I bet doomsday will not come on May 21

(Originally published in Guyana’s Kaieteur News on 11 May 2011)

I have often wondered with amusement about how many times in my short lifetime of 42 years that someone has prophesied that the end of the world would come on a specific date. It has happened many times – and each time the specified day comes and goes and nothing happens.

I remember when Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States and there were some who preached that he was the anti-christ because his first, middle and last name all contained six letters – 666! Egads! I was 12 years old at the time and the whole fiasco was more than a bit scary.

There have been several judgment-day close calls for us humans in our past, yet we have somehow found the ability to remain unscathed by all of the doomsdays that have come and gone. I am not sure if it is our doomsday prowess that has saved us thus far, but we have obviously escaped the end of the world to this point.

The latest prophecy, which maintains that the end of the world will come on May 21 at exactly 6pm (sunset in Jerusalem) has preachers going all over the world to save us from judgment. I even saw some billboards on the Texas highway during a 15-hour drive last Saturday. Will the human race be able to escape this doomsday as well?

A Kaieteur News article on May 6 entitled, “Group preaches May 21 doomsday to Berbicians,” detailed the warnings of this group telling those in Berbice of the impending doom. The article said, “…the May 21 Judgment Day message they preach, originated from careful analysis and study of the Bible by General Manager and President of Family Radio, Harold Camping.” 



In 1992, Camping predicted the end of the world would be in 1994. Humanity obviously escaped that time. Hopefully we can do the same again on the 21st of this month. I am willing to wager a bet that come May 22, humans will have found a way to escape one more doomsday.

Unfortunately, Harold Camping is not the only one who likes to make doomsday predictions. Concerning Christians, Jesus was the first one to talk about the end of the world. In fact, in Matthew 24 he even predicted the end times would be in the year 1 AD.

This same Bible chapter Christians use to derive the signs of the end times such as “ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars,” and “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places,” and the teaching of the “great tribulation,” and the teaching of the rapture – “he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other,” also states, “Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

These statements were made by Jesus in response to verse three, “And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

His disciples asked two questions of him – what will be the sign of his coming and of the end of the world. Jesus answered both questions when he told them what signs they could look for and that their generation would not pass away until all of the signs were fulfilled.

Doomsday prophecies continue. On the Website, www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters, there are over 200 “end time” prophecies that have been recorded. Here are just a few of those:

- (53 AD) In the year 53 AD, even before all the books of the Bible were written, there was talk that Christ’s return had already taken place. The Thessalonians panicked on Paul, when they heard a rumor that the day of the Lord was at hand, and they had missed the rapture.

- (500) A Roman priest and theologian in the second and third centuries, predicted Christ would return in A.D. 500, based on the dimensions of Noah’s ark.

- (1000) The year 1000 AD goes down as one of the most pronounced states of hysteria over the return of Christ. All members of society seemed affected by the prediction that Jesus was coming back on Jan 1, 1000 AD. There really weren’t any of the events required by the Bible transpiring at that time. The magical number 1000 was primarily the sole reason for the expectation. During December 999 AD, everyone was on their best behavior; worldly goods were sold and given to the poor, swarms of pilgrims headed east to meet the Lord at Jerusalem, buildings went unrepaired, crops were left unplanted, and criminals were set free from jails. The year 999 AD turned into 1000 AD and nothing happened.

- (1988) The book “88 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1988” came out only a few months before the event was to take place.

- (1989) After the passing of the deadline in 88 Reason’s, the author, Edgar Whisenaunt, came out with a new book called “89 Reasons why the Rapture is in 1989.” This book sold only a fraction of his prior release.

- (2000) Numerology: If you divide 2000 by 3, you will get the devil’s number 666.66666666666667.
There are so many more of these predictions that I could not have listed them all if I tried, but the good news is that humans have survived all doomsdays up until now and let us hope we can survive the one on the 21st of this month, too.

There is one thing I know for sure, if judgment day does come on the 21st, I had better be counted with the saints because I behave far more “Christian” than 98 percent of the Christians I have known in my entire life.