Jess Whitlock
Christ said that He would come again (John 14:1-3). James said Christ would come again (Jas. 5:7). Peter said Christ would come again (1 Pet. 1:13). Paul taught that Christ will be coming again (Phil. 3:20). God declared that Jesus will come again (Rev. 1:7). Christ is coming again; but the burning question is “when”? Jesus gives us our only clue: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matt. 24:36 cf. Mark 13:32). There have been, and continue to be, false prophets by the hundreds who declare that they know what Christ declared—that nobody living on earth can know.
A Baptist/Adventist preacher, William Miller, predicted the dates would be October 22, 1843, October 22, 1844, and October 22, 1845. In 1950, the late Billy Graham preached this message in Los Angeles: “I sincerely believe that the Lord draweth nigh. We may have another year, maybe two years, to work for Jesus Christ.” But, in 1958 he finally admitted “…but of that day and hour knoweth no one…” It only took Mr. Graham seven years to learn the truth of Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32. Jerry Falwell and countless others warned that all would come to an end January 1, 2000 (Y2K). Pat Robertson made numerous false predictions of “the end.” His final failed prophecy being April 29, 2007. You may recall Harold Camping, radio preacher from California, who originally set the end of the world for September 6, 1994. Later he announced that 200,000,000 Christians would be taken up in the rapture on May 23, 2011 and that the world would end on May 24, 2011. After both of those dates failed to come to pass, he then set the date as October 21, 2011. As a young boy, my dad taught me that after “three strikes you’re out.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses thus far, have set in excess of seventy different dates that were to mark the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of those dates have since expired! The false prophets are batting 1,000 percent and all are wrong!
So, like your GPS the false prophets are “recalculating.” Will they ever learn? David Meade, (not his real name), styles himself as a Christian numerologist. In doing his math David Meade announced the Hebrew term Elohim is found 33 times in the Bible. He did not miss it by too much! That term is actually found 2,570 times in the Hebrew Bible. This may account for his numerous miscalculations.
In Mr. Meade’s book, Planet X–the 2017 Arrival, he claimed the end of time would begin September 23, 2017 (oops), then it was going to be October 15, 2017 (oops). The sun, moon, and Jupiter were going to align marking the beginning of the rapture. Davie Meade nicknamed Planet X “Nibiru.” (NASA denies the existence of any such planet). The Nibiru myth was linked to the Mayan calendar. NASA calls Nibiru the non-existent planet. The supposed planet was rumored to collide with planet earth in December of 2012. That supposed collision was to mark the end of the world. Then David Meade touted another change to his date for the end of the world as taking place the “middle of October, 2018.” Would that not be another Oct. 15 date? We are now living in the year 2020. When I study all these failed prophecies for the return of Christ, I think about one of my favorite lines from Deputy Barney Fife: “He’s a nut!”
The years 2012 and 2018 have gone into the history books. Mr. Meade took his third strike as April 23, 2018. That was to mark the “rapture” (a word and doctrine that is nowhere taught in the Bible). Then would come the rise of the Antichrist and seven years of tribulation. Mr. Meade thought he had found the “proof” for his fourth prediction in Isaiah 13:9-11 and Revelation 12:1-2. The “woman” of Revelation 12 according to Mr. Meade was the constellation “Virgo” and the “death planet X” would appear in the night sky. All of that was to have happened April 23, 2018 marking massive volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, along with earthquakes all over the planet. The day passed with about as much interest as watching metal rust!
In our study of the book of Revelation we observe several times that the message was designed to give “comfort and assurance” to those Christians living in the perilous times of the first century. Of what comfort and assurance would this bunch of nonsense have offered to those saints at the close of the first century? If only the false prophets would listen to the forthright words of Christ. What can we know of a surety about these myriad prophecies supposedly marking the exact date of the return of Jesus Christ?
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which Jehovah has not spoken?’…when a prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:20-22).
Therefore, we do not fear David Meade or any of his cohorts.
