Did the Bible guarantee that Judgement Day was to be on May 21? Has Harold Camping brought God into disrepute?

The Day of Judgment The apostle John saw a vision of Judgment Day, and he described it as follows: “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”—Revelation 20:11, 12, KJ. Yes, according to John’s vision, Judgment Day will be presided over by God himself.

But someone else is involved. The apostle Paul explained: “God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.” (Acts 17:31, KJ) Who was that man “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” (John 5:22, KJ) So Jesus will be God’s appointed Judge on Judgment Day. This is good news for humans.

The Gospels reveal Jesus to be a person of great compassion. He is not haughty or demanding but “mild-tempered and lowly in heart.” (Matthew 11:29; 14:14; 20:34) We are happy to be in the hands of such a judge. When Will It Be?

When, though, is the Day of Judgment? Revelation says it will be when “the earth and the heaven have fled away.” This reminds us of the apostle Peter’s words: “The heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:7) Is the literal earth to be burned up?

No, the Bible is clear on this point. The literal earth will never be destroyed. “The earth .

. . Will not be removed for ever.” (Psalm 104:5, KJ) The context of Peter’s words shows that it is the present ungodly world system of things that is to be destroyed.

Ungodly men, not the planet Earth, will perish. —John 12:31; 14:30; 1 John 5:19. These ungodly men will be destroyed at what the Bible calls the battle of Armageddon—which, as this magazine has often shown, will take place soon.

(Revelation 16:14, 16) Afterward, Satan himself will be abyssed and prevented from interfering with humanity for a thousand years, and this thousand years is the actual duration of Judgment Day. (Revelation 19:17–20:3) What happens to the faithful when the ungodly men perish at Armageddon? They survive right into Judgment Day.

We read: “The blameless are the ones that will be left over in the earth. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth.”—Proverbs 2:21, 22. In support of this, the Bible tells of “a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” that would appear on earth before Armageddon.

These “come out of the great tribulation”; in other words, they survive the end of this ungodly world just as Noah survived the end of the world of his day. (Revelation 7:9-17; 2 Peter 2:5) Did you know that this international great crowd of active Christians exists even now? These hope to survive the great tribulation and live forever on earth.

Their existence is a sure evidence of the nearness of Judgment Day. Who Will Be Judged? This great crowd will be judged on Judgment Day.

But they will not be alone. John’s account continues: “The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” (Revelation 20:13, KJ) Here is further proof that people do not suffer forever in hell. If hell gives up those dead in it, how can anyone be there for all eternity?

In fact, the Bible hell is the common grave of mankind, where the dead remain unconscious awaiting a resurrection. On Judgment Day, hell is to be completely emptied of its dead. —Ecclesiastes 9:10.

Who will be resurrected from the dead on Judgment D “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” (Acts 24:15, KJ) Hence, faithful servants of God, “the just,” will be resurrected. But so will countless others, “the unjust.” Evidently, the resurrection will embrace all those who have died and are still in the grave—with the exception of any whose sins were so serious that God has already judged them totally unworthy of life.

—Matthew 12:31.

Order of events in Revelation 20 FIRST RESURRECTION 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.

Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. SATAN IS RELEASED, DEFEATED, CAST INTO LAKE OF FIRE 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.

And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, SECOND DEATH 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened.

And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.

And they were judged, each one according to his works. (These are the unrighteous who can only be judged by their works because they have not been made clean by the blood of the Lamb). 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.

This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.