For two years, Camping's followers all over the world had been praying and crying, wailing and pleading with God to let them be taken during the rapture. They knew they had limited time to make things right with God for, you see, they knew the exact day this would occur -- September, 6th, 1994. Camping's believers, who had also been sending money to his "charity" that supports Family Radio, his Evangelical station out of Oakland California, gathered that night with their children all dressed in their finest church going clothe. With upturned faces they waited. And waited. And waited. (Religion News Blog, 2010).
Wednesday, September 7th, people woke to their alarms, took showers and ate breakfast, then sat in rush hour traffic as usual on their way to work or they stayed home to work or to see to their families care. Same as usual, nothing new.
And so September 1994 Came and Went and the World Kept Spinning
So what do you say after making a rather astronomical prophecy predicting the day that will result in the end of the world, the rapture will occur and Christ will return to earth to run the show? Some might try "Oops," and have the decency to appear chagrined.
Not Howard Camping however. When asked point blank by Christianity Today exactly how he'd gotten the prophecy of all prophecies wrong, he calmly replied, "Apparently, it was incorrect." He went on to defend his mathematical formula for his predictions, though, by adding, "I somehow misunderstood the importance of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacle." (Maxwell, 1994).
"I Somehow Misunderstood . . .?"
It's a bit hard to understand that last piece, when Camping states he somehow misunderstood the importance of Sukkot or, as he referred to it, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, given its prominence in the Jewish yearly cycle. It is actually an extremely important holiday, commemorating the time during which the Jews were wandering in the desert, following their exodus from Egypt and prior to their entry into the land of Israel, as they learned the lessons necessary to become a nation. It is also a reminder of God's constant protection for 40 years in an inhospitable environment and the great love he showed them. The seventh day of Sukkot, called Hoshanah Rabbah, is considered to be when God seals the verdicts of judgment which he decreed on Yom Kippur, a rather auspicious day, (Kol Ami).
Seems Like he also Forget the Importance of the Holidays of Shemeni Atzerit & Simchat Torah
Following the Holiday of Sukkot falls two other holy days, Shemeni Atzerit and Simchat Torah. Shemini Atzeret falls on the day after Sukkot ends and according to Rabbinical Tradition is the day we are judged for rain. In an agricultural society this was a critical day as everything depended on tje amount of water they were able to gather during the year and the rain they prayed would fall and allow their crops to bloom. Thus, it is the day that special prayers are recited for God to grant rain during the coming year.
Simchas Torah commemorates the day the yearly cycle of the recitation of the Torah is completed and on the same day begun again. This is a reminder of the fact that God's word never ends but continues on forever without pause. Even as the last word of the Torah is sung, the first word follows closely afterwards. It is a day celebrated with great joy, singing and dancing throughout the day and night (Hillel, 2005). Harold Camping seems to possibly have missed the importance of these two holidays as well.
What Exactly Did Camping Misunderstand?
Let's look at Camping's prediction again. Actually Camping's original prediction made two years earlier called for the end of the world to occur between September 17th and September 27th, practically identical to the days of Sukkot. He then changed the day of the prophesized end of the world to September 6th, which at least appears on the surface as if he understood the importance of Sukkot but not how it affected a mathematical equation he purportedly used to calculate the coming of Christ. After all, the equation wouldn't know one day from another. When his prophecy failed to come true on the 6th, while he admitted his prediction was inaccurate he also refused to attribute it to the possibility he'd made an incorrect prophesy and what that could potentially portend in terms of him being a prophet. Instead, he made a vague statement that it was due to the fact he hadn't taken the importance of the Feast of Tabernacles into account.
That's a bit difficult to understand for several reasons.
- First, his original prediction fell practically on the exact days of Sukkot until he moved the date to fall on the 6th. So he appeared to understand full well the importance of the holiday.
- Second, the holiday of Sukkot began on sundown September 16th and ended sundown September 26th, with Shemini Atzeret, beginning immediately after at sundown on September 26th, and ending sundown September 27th, with Simchat Torah beginning immediately after, at sundown September 27th and ending sundown September 28th. Of course he didn't specifically mention whether he had taken these last two holidays into account but with them linked together with Sukkot it's hard to see how he might have missed those as well.. Yet after moving his prophecy back to September 6th, how did a holiday beginning sundown September 16th and ending September 26th affect his mathematical calculations given they didn't occur until after the end of the world had been "recalculated" and prophesized to occur? Of course, he corrected for this when he again evidently recalculated and returned to his original prophesy that the end of the world would occur by September 27th and when this didn't happen by the end of the month and when this also failed to occur by the end of year 1994. (Just a quick reminder -- it is now 2011.)
- Third, even if we were to ignore those little discrepancies, just how does a supposed Biblical Scholar somehow miss the importance of such crucial days for the Jewish People?
- Fourth, the the day he ended up changing his prophesy to, September 6, 1994, was no ordinary day for the Jewish people, either. It actually happened to be the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Wouldn't that have played into his predictions?
- Fifth, just what was it he didn’t consider in regards to the days of Sukkot? It doesn’t seem to state this answer anywhere. Whether he deemed these days important or not, his equation still would have included them in his count wouldn’t it? So, what is his statement meant to account for exactly?
- And finally, since when does a prophet need a mathmatical formula to "crunch the numbers" to base a prophecy on? I was always under the impression that a prophet received his prophecies from the world of God not a computer program. Where was God in all this talk of the end of the world and day of rapture?
Another One Bites the Dust
So even as this is written, once more a prophecy made by this False Prophet, Harold Camping, has once more failed to occur. For weeks now, the news has been full of Camping's new prophesy that the end of the world was to occur on May 21, 2011. I wonder what the excuse will be this time. I suppose he could use the Jewish holiday Lag B'Omer. The counting of the Omer commemorates when a measure of barley was offered on the second day of Passover and each day after counted until the holiday of Shavuot, the day the Torah was given, (Hillel, 2005). [Note for Camping: Neither Passover nor Shavuot fall in May this year so no luck there]. Lag B'Omer is the 33rd day of the count, ending a mourning period for the students of a great scholar who died in a plague for not respecting each other. The plague ceased on that day. It is celebrated with bonfires and general festivities. It falls tomorrow, May 22, 2011.
Otherwise, someone should let Campbell know the month of May is pretty sparse as far as Jewish Holidays are concerned, so if his mathematical formula recalculates the date again, the month is mostly open. Of course, that also poses the problem of what to blame should yet another prophecy fail to come about.
Sources
- Hillel, (2005). Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- Hillel, (2005). Lag B’Omer. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- Maxwell, J., (1994, October 24), Camping Misses End of World, Christianity Today, Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- Religion News Blog, (2010, Jan. 2). False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011, Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- Kol Ami. Sukkot, Shemeni Atzeret and Simchas Torah. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
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