Beth-El Baptist Church

01/03/2010

Greg Tomlinson

Will God's judgment day occur on May 21, 2011?

A recent teaching about the end of time has been taking place establishing the date of Christ's return to earth to judge the world. A component of this teaching includes a call for believers to also get out of the local church assembly and fellowship in other ways.

1. How accurately do we know some of the specific biblical dates?

The tracts providing the specific date for God's judgment day rely on biblical timelines based upon the date of Noah's flood and including such dates as Christ's birth and Christ's resurrection. In order to know the accuracy of their judgment date setting, the dates of these events must be 100% accurate. History has been filled with multiple dates for these events.

Noah's flood:

Pamphlet – 4990 B.C.

Bible Works Scholars – 2245 B.C.

Archbishop James Ussher – 2349 B.C.

Christ's birth

Pamphlet – 1 A.D.

Bible Works Scholars – 5 B.C.

Archbishop James Ussher – 5 B.C.

Christ's resurrection

Pamphlet – April 1, 33 A.D.

Bible Works Scholars – 30 A.D.

Archbishop James Ussher – 33 A.D.

Even among various biblical scholars who take the dates and timing values as true and reliable dates, they can have different dates for some events that differ by as much as 2600 years. This raises the question of why accept the date of the pamphlet without further backup at a minimum. Furthermore, dating from the biblical data can be very difficult because we do not know EXACTLY how dates and times were kept.

Genesis 5:3-11; 11:10-14 2 Chronicles 26:1-5, 26:14-27:2

2 Kings 15:1-17

The primary difficulty is when dates are given, they are given in terms of years. The actual date could have been early or late in the specific year. For example, was Arphaxad born 2 years after the beginning of the year long flood, or 2 years after the drying up after the flood? There is also the issue of coregency in which multiple kings have recorded reigns that overlap. Uzziah/Azariah and his son Jotham may have co-reigned due to Uzziah's/Azariah's leprosy. It is not improbable that every generation or kingly reign could be off by as much as a year of calendar time since whether they next person begins at the beginning of the nth year or at the end of the nth year, the reporting would be the same but the effects would result in varying dates for creation and the flood.

Of particular interest, the pamphlet just throws out its dates as though they are facts without providing any backup for their numerical values.

2. Does the math from the pamphlet otherwise line up acceptably?

2 Peter 3:8 Genesis 7:1-5; 6:3

Although the assessment is that God's judgment day occurs exactly 7,000 years after the beginning of the flood because 'for yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain' (Genesis 7:4) and 'one day with the Lord as a thousand years' (2 Peter 3:8). Yet the mathematics is improperly and inconsistently applied. Applying the 1,000 year to day multiplier to the 7 days before the rain is inconsistently applied with respect to the 'forty days and forty nights' of the Genesis 7:4b. Consistency would require the rain to actually be on the earth for 40,000 years. Multipliers such as this cannot be indiscriminately applied to fit the author's desire and expectation. Also consider the 2 Peter 3:8b which indicates that 'a thousand years as one day' which immediately negates the use of the day to 1000 year as a multiplier. Also consider that the scriptures do not say that there were only 7 days to proclaim the coming judgment but 120 years, the time it took to build the Ark.

3. Do numbers in and of themselves carry meaning that is to be used in such calculations?

The pamphlet goes on to discuss the issue of numbers which are said to convey 'spiritual truth'. Such things as the number 3 signifying God's purpose, the number 5 signifying atonement, the number 10 signifying completeness, the number 17 signifying heaven, and the number 23 signifying destruction.

Genesis 41:32 – Shouldn't this mean that 2 is the number of God's purpose?

Exodus 30:15 – Does this really mean that where a 5 exists, it means atonement?

Psalm 49:7-8 – The ransom for a soul is considered priceless.

2 Kings 13:19 – Shouldn't this mean that 5 or 6 is the number of completeness?

Revelation 20:2-3 – The pamphlet uses this binding of Satan to indicate that 10 is the number of completeness and states that Satan was bound at the cross in 33 A.D. and would not be bound for 1000 years as the scripture states but for 1955 years.

It is clear from the various throwing around of numbers in the pamphlet that the numbers are used to fit the author's end goal rather than the numbers actually leading to and indicating the end goal. The pamphlet goes on to use the numbers 5, 10, 17 in a double multiplication in order to “prove” that May 21, 2011 is the date of Christ's return. Since they already indicated that the number 3 is God's purpose, why double multiply instead of triple multiply? Simply because a triple multiply would not fit their purpose. This who issue is built around fabricating and forcing numbers in order to fit their plan and agenda. We have to be careful when interpreting the Bible that we let the Bible speak as it is written and not read into it (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).

4. With respect to the timing of the end, has God promised to give a specific date?

Amos 3:7 Mark 13:30-33, 13:34-37

Matthew 24:34-36, 24:37-39 1 Thessalonians 5:2-8

2 Peter 3:9-10 1 Timothy 1:3-4

While the scriptures are clear that God will reveal what He is going to do, He does not make any promises regarding the specific details of His return. He has made it clear that He will return and He has made it clear that He absolutely, positively will NOT reveal the exact date and time of His return. Therefore anyone claiming to know the date of Christ's return is mis-representing wild speculation as fact. If you believe the date setter, then you are actually being deceived by Satan working through the date setter.