Pulpit & Pen gave you the warnings of “Christian numerologist,” David Meade, on September 4. His warning was simple; the world will come to a catastrophic end on September 23. His theory, which combines astronomy, astrology, numerology, and Scripture-twisting has been widely reported in world media. Some of his calculations – particularly those relating to astrology – have been picked up by various sub-Christian sects and publicized widely, like that of the Roman Catholic Church and numerous evangelical charismatics. Former Lifeway Vice President, Ed Stetzer, condemned the story as “fake news,” although Stetzer sold similar astrological predictions during his tenure at Lifeway.
Good news, though. As of today, Meade says that his prediction for Saturday’s apocalypse will be slightly less noticeable than he first thought.
Meade told the Washington Post, “The world is not ending, but the world as we know it is ending. A major part of the world will not be the same the beginning of October.”
Whew. What a relief.
Apparently, Planet X is not going to hit earth after all. Ever further, Planet X is not going to pass close enough to Earth to cause the Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis predicted by Meade. In fact, Planet X probably doesn’t exist, at least as taught by Meade. So then, according to Meade, his astrological omen interpretations are now meant to be figurative and forboding omens to a “beginning of the end.” His prediction of imminent natural disaster has now become metaphoric and vague. Also, the date was pushed back from a very specific “September 23” to “beginning of October.”
This is a lesson. Doomsday prophets always do this. Research these links to see that failed doomsday prophets don’t repent – they just dig in, change the date, and turn it into a metaphor.
HAROLD CAMPING
Followers of Harold Camping spent over one-hundred million dollars telling people the world was going to end on May 21, 2011. It didn’t happen. Camping then said the actual for-realsies date was October 21. But, it didn’t happen. Before he died (after God shut his mouth with a stroke), Camping had made a total of 13 failed doomsdays prophecies. Each time, Camping explained the slight mathematical failure of his equation, and re-calculated for a different day.
WILLIAM MILLER
William Miller’s cult was taught that Jesus would return on a non-specific date in 1843. When that didn’t happen, Miller refined his calculations and determined that April 18, 1844, would be the date Jesus would return. When that didn’t happen, he claimed the date would be October 22, 1844. When that didn’t happen, the history books called it “The Great Disappointment.” From this cult came the Seventh Day Adventists – the “Adventists” referring to their failed Doomsday prophecies.
CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL
Charles Taze Russell was the founder of the Watchtower Society, who you might know as the “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” He predicted that Jesus would return in 1874, 1878, 1881, and then 1910. Each time, he re-calculated and came up for a reason for the delay. The “JW’s” did not learn from their master prophet, going on to make doomsday prophecies in 1918, 1925, 1941, 1975, 1984, and 1994.
JOSEPH SMITH
The founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (other than the devil), Joseph Smith, predicted the end of the world in “56” years (that was in 1835). In case you’re counting, that didn’t happen.
HERBERT ARMSTRONG
Armstrong, the founder of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted 1975 as the year of Christ’s return (that was in 1956). This was after his initial prophetic date for Christ’s return – 1936 – failed back in 1936. He lived a long time, and never learned not to make such prophecies.
EDGAR WHISENANT
Edgar Whisenant was the “88 Reasons Why Jesus is Returning in 1988” guy. Yeah. That’s him. He was a NASA engineer who said that Jesus would return between September 11 and September 13 of that year. Three hundred-thousand of his books were sent to ministers across the country and over 4.5 million of his books (an absolutely huge sum) were sold in stores. When it didn’t happen, he went on to make further predictions 1989, 1993, 1994, and 1997.
PETER RUCKMAN
This KJV-only fundy is an interesting cat. He made several attempts at guessing the rapture. At first claiming it was only wrong to set the “day or hour,” Ruckman predicted the month of May. According to his math, the rapture would be in 1989. Later though, Ruckman did set a day – May 14, 1989. He later expanded that to June, and went so far as to make an inventory of his home so that his lost friends and family could track down the people who would inevitably rob his home after the rapture. In 1997, after his failed 1989 prediction, Ruckman said the rapture would be September 23 of 2000 or September 23 of 2001. Spooky coincidence, huh?
We could go on with this…for a while. Other doomsday date-setters include Pope Sylvester II, Henry Archer, Emanuel Swedenborg, Joanna Southcott, George Rapp, Jerry Falwell (although his was limited to a decade), and Jack Van Impe. They were all wrong. None of them repented. Most continued to make prophecies.
Please stop believing this garbage. But, we should be thankful for it. It’s a very quick way to figure out who’s a false prophet.
