Read this quickly, for the end of the world is at hand!

At least that’s what Harold Camping says. He’s the founder of Family Radio and a retired civil engineer whose mathematical calculations and reading of the Bible have convinced him it all comes to an end Saturday.

"God has given sooo much information in the Bible about this, and so many proofs, and so many signs, that we know it is absolutely going to happen without any question at all," Camping told New York magazine this month.

Well, OK then.

Before we go, however, a couple of things. You should know that Camping also predicted the world might possibly end back in 1994, but all that really happened then was a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives. Alarming, perhaps, but hardly a seven-headed, ten-horned beast rising from the sea to make war on heaven.

Now, in the Old Testament, when somebody claimed to be a prophet speaking in the name of the Lord, and it turned out what he said would happen didn’t, it was considered safe to ignore the guy.

Consider Deuteronomy 18:22: "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."

Meaning, if we’re all still around to read my Sunday column, it’s cool.

We should also consider the fact that in the New Testament, we’re told that nobody is going to know when the end of the world arrives, that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Even Tim LaHaye, the pastor and author of the fictional "Left Behind" series of books about post-rapture Earth called Camping out on that point.

From Matthew 24:36: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the father." The phrase is repeated in the gospel of Mark. So either Camping is God himself, or he’s just making things up.

But some of his followers are said to have believed so strongly in his prediction that they’ve spent down their savings accounts, believing they won’t need the cash once the end of the world arrives. They might be surprised to learn that some in New Testament times believed the same, and even quit their jobs in anticipation of the rapture.

That is, until Paul wrote to them to remind them they needed to work until the end of the world, which by the way wouldn’t happen until the figure popularly known as the anti-Christ showed up. Until then, Paul said in II Thessalonians 3:10, follow this simple rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

And presto! Anti-welfare types have been quoting the Bible ever since.

But perhaps this end-of-the-world stuff is a good time to focus more on the "repent" part of the sign than on the "for the end is nigh" part. In addition to telling them to love God completely, Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God was within them, and that they should love and forgive one another. And he said: "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets."

The end of the world probably won’t happen Saturday. But if more people followed Jesus’ advice, maybe some of us would be less eager for it to happen in the first place.

 

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/SteveSebelius or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.