How glad I am for the Scripture – a “lamp shining in a dark place”! Amidst the swirl and torrent of the pontifications of false prophets and scientists, we have a firm place to plant our feet and to build our lives. Jesus, the Prophet of God, of whom the Father said, “listen to him!,” promised that “everyone who hears these words of mine and does them” will not be swept away by the rain, floods, and winds that come.

I am grateful for my fellow blogger Fred Zaspel’s reflections on Harold Camping’s mistaken prediction that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011. One of my first memories as a new Christian was the talk surrounding Camping’s prediction that Jesus would return in October, 1994. He didn’t then. He didn’t now.

We might think that after two failed predictions Camping would throw in the towel. He hasn’t.

The Associated Press reports that Camping “has revised his apocalyptic prophecy, saying he was off by five months and the Earth will actually be obliterated on Oct. 21.”

Writing for the Washington Post, Elizabeth Tenety quotes Camping saying that “we had all of our dates correct.” Camping, Tenety says, “clarif[ies] that he now understands that Christ’s May 21 arrival was ‘a spiritual coming’ ushering in the last five months before the final judgment and destruction.”

Here we go again.

It is has been interesting to monitor some of the reaction to Camping’s predictions. One piece in particular caught my attention. Noted biologist and “New Atheist” Richard Dawkins bristled that Camping’s speculations should displace what he deems to be the certitudes of science. He goes on to mock the Scripture’s teaching about the future. It is “groundless.” It has no more connection to the “real world,” Dawkins says, than “any urban legend, idle rumor, superstition, or science fiction novel.”

What vision, then, does Dawkins envision for the planet and for humanity? It’s not pretty. “Science,” Dawkins writes, “knows approximately how, and when, our Earth will end. In about five billion years the sun will run out of hydrogen, which will upset its self-regulating equilibrium; in its death-throes it will swell, and this planet will vaporise.”

And the news gets worse. The earth, Dawkins continues, is under constant threat of collision by meteor or comet. Consequently, “In the nearer future, it is pretty likely that human life will become extinct – the fate of almost all species that have ever lived.”

That is, of course, if we don’t destroy ourselves first, Dawkins adds. Dawkins isn’t terribly exercised by the prospect of the annihilation of the human race and the planet.
“The end of the world will be a parochial little affair, unnoticed in the universe at large.”

What are we to make of all this? Jesus warned us that false prophets would arise. And yes, Harold Camping has (again) demonstrated himself a false prophet. Peter warned us that “scoffers” would appear who deny the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the age, and urge that “all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” Am I wrong to hear echoes of these words in Dawkins?

How glad I am for the Scripture – a “lamp shining in a dark place”! Amidst the swirl and torrent of the pontifications of false prophets and scientists, we have a firm place to plant our feet and to build our lives. Jesus, the Prophet of God, of whom the Father said, “listen to him!,” promised that “everyone who hears these words of mine and does them” will not be swept away by the rain, floods, and winds that come.

The Word of God tells us that Jesus most certainly will return at the end of the age. The day and the hour have not been revealed to us. Now, however, is the day of salvation. Have you turned from your sins and turned in faith to the only Savior, Jesus Christ? Are you trusting in him and him alone for your salvation? If so, are you waiting with anticipation and expectation for his return, pursuing “lives of holiness and godliness”? (2 Pet 3:11-13; Tit 2:13, 1 Cor 16:22).

Don’t listen, then, to the Campings and Dawkinses of the world. Jesus is coming back. When? I don’t know. But – and you have his word on it – you can bank on his return. And I, for one, can’t wait!

Guy Waters is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves as an Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson Campus. This article first appeared at the SolaScriptura International blog and is used with permission.