eBible Group Predicts End of World and Spins When It Doesn’t Happen

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

You know, I’m getting fed up, so I cannot imagine how God must feel. In spite of the fact that Jesus said we would not know the day or hour of His return (and ostensibly, the end of the world since that what His physical return means for this globe), yet another group has predicted the end of the world and guess what? They were wrong. Surprised? Not…

“An online Christian organization based in Philadelphia warned the world will end Wednesday [October 7th], the Guardian reported. The apocalyptic prediction comes just one week after the blood moon had people forecasting the end was near.”

I’m officially embarrassed because it seems the only thing professing Christians know how to get in the news for is hating and wishing hell on gays and the military and predicting the end of the world! If you’re a Christian reading this, are you embarrassed too? It makes you want to turn your coat collar up, pull your hat down and pretend you’re not there.

“‘According to what the Bible is presenting it does appear that Oct. 7 will be the day that God has spoken of, in which the world will pass away,’ said Chris McCann, the leader and founder of the fellowship, the Guardian reported. ‘It’ll be gone forever. Annihilated’.”

This same group had this to say about the “blood moons” and the coming end of the world.

“While our planet may have survived September’s “blood moon”, it will be permanently destroyed on Wednesday, 7 October…”

After October 7th came and went with no signs of the annihilation that McCann predicted, the same old rigmarole happened that has occurred since the late 1844 and William Miller, who predicted that Jesus would return on March 21, 1844. It didn’t happen way back then and Miller lost all faith, but I seriously doubt that he had any in the first place if his entire salvation rested on a ridiculous prediction (of his own making), about Jesus’ return, especially considering Jesus’ own words about the fact that no one would know the day or hour (cf. Matthew 24:36).

In case you’re interested, here’s a list of people/groups who have predicted the end of the world. There’s one even dating back to the first century. Exactly what is it that these professing Christians do not understand about this very clear statement from Jesus?

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,” (Matthew 24:36).

I don’t get it. Jesus was clear, wasn’t He? He said no one would know. He also pointed out that even among the Trinity, only the Father would know. Don’t try to figure that one out. Just accept it for what it is – a statement that immediately denies the possibility of any human being knowing or being given that knowledge ahead of Jesus’ arrival to planet earth!

So eBible Fellowship (as they are called), predicted the end of the world on October 7th. They also noted that Harold Camping – you remember him, right? – was correct about the May 21st date, but wrong in how he labeled it. Camping said Jesus was coming back then. This group says that May 21st was the start of God’s judgment on earth. Oh, how unique.

Forgive me if I wax sarcastic, but I’m getting so tired of this. I like to study prophecy as much as the next person, however, I relegate myself to what I consider to be God’s revealed will – His Word in written form, aka the Bible. I don’t stare up into the sky making warnings, “harbingers,” or what have you out of naturally occurring phenomenon like “blood moons,” or eclipses, especially given the fact that we are still in front of the coming Tribulation.

But it seems a growing number of professing Christians stand around and worry. They worry about the coming problems of the Tribulation. They worry about this “sign” or that one. They worry about this person predicting a total financial collapse or that one predicting the end of the world. If they’re not outright worried about these things, they are preoccupied with them to the point that they eventually forget all about the one command that Jesus did give us; the Great Commission!

I am writing a series on various chapters of Daniel and currently, we are going through Daniel 1. You know what I find fascinating about Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego? They were interested in obeying God. Their heart’s desire was to obey! To this end, they didn’t want to eat the king’s “choice” food (cf. Daniel 1) and because they sought to obey God, He paved the way for them to not have to eat it by granting them favor with their captors and overseers. Because they obeyed God in the small things, God blessed them in the larger things, eventually granting them knowledge and wisdom that far exceeded their peers. He even provided Daniel with the ability to see and interpret dreams and visions. Of course, God did this because He had things He wanted to reveal to us and He chose Daniel for that purpose. God did not grant Daniel that ability for Daniel’s sake at all.

Why are we so preoccupied with the future? Jesus said to not worry about the future but let it take care of itself as there was enough evil in the present (cf. Matthew 6:34). His point was that we should not be anxious about tomorrow, yet how many more predictions of the world’s end are we going to have to put up with before professing Christians get a clue?

I’m sure these deluded individuals probably think they are actually doing something good, by reminding people of the brevity of life. Unfortunately, I cannot help but wonder why they need to focus on the world’s end when in point of fact, 150,000 people will die today!

On February 8th, eBible Fellowship uploaded a PDF document (tract) outlining the coming end of the world that was going to happen on October 7th (but didn’t). So seven months went by and if we say that each month had 30 days (give or take), then we are talking about 210 days total. If we multiply that times 150,000, we get 31,500,000 people who have essentially passed from this life to the next. How many of them never heard the gospel? How many of them died without having made the most important decision of their entire lives?

As I read through their “tract,” I couldn’t help notice there was virtually no explanation of the gospel. Instead, a mishmash of Scripture sections that they put together that is supposed to prove to us that judgment is coming. I also notice that the emphasis for this alleged judgment is not the ungodly, but the godly. Their tract ends with this question:

They then refer to 1 Peter 1:7, which states, “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Sorry, life itself does that because life is filled with all forms of trials and even persecution. Before they asked this question, they also implied that the Tribulation has already occurred. Their “tract” is so ridiculous for its misuse and misapplication of Scripture that it is very difficult to define, much less respond to, but such is the way people think who have no training in righteousness and have no ability to “rightly divide” God’s Word (cf. 2 Timothy 2:15).

These people are truly the people who profess themselves wise but are in actuality, complete fools and in this way, think and act like people who are not even saved (cf. Romans 1:22).

Unfortunately, I know that people like this will be around until Jesus actually returns. It’s part of what Jesus described with the mindset of those who run after every wind of doctrine and are the first ones to chase after every person who claims to be the Messiah. Jesus warned against this type of superficial Christianity in His Olivet Discourse.

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand,” (Matthew 24:23-26).

It is amazing to me how easily we can ignore Jesus’ own words and commands. Yet, these same people lift their hands high during “worship” because it “feels” good and they get all warm and bubbly inside, with tears forming on the edges of their eyelids. This makes them feel spiritual, but as I’ve stated before on many occasions, we are not to base truth on how we feel about something. We are to base it on what the Bible says. Too many professing Christians seem unable to do that though. They prefer running after the latest sign.

Meanwhile, 150,000 people die every day! Do you want to please God? Do you want to be called a “friend” of God? Just because you’re a Christian, that is not automatic. We are only God’s friends when we take the time to obey His commands. You want to be God’s friend by obeying the Great Commission or do you prefer to stare up into the sky and devote yourself to learning about when the world is going to end?

John 15:14 provides the definition of what it means to be a true friend of God. “You are My friends if you do what I command you.”

Simple, isn’t it? A friend of God is one who obeys His commands. Jesus commanded us to go, preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. He didn’t command us to try to figure out when the world is supposed to end and He didn’t tell us to be primarily focused on the alleged “signs” and “seasons” either. EVERY day is the right day to preach the gospel! Every day is the right day to be a witness!

You know what? YOU may be one of the 150,000 people who dies today or tomorrow. How are you going to explain your preoccupation with the end of the world to God when His commands to us had nothing to do with that and everything to do with spreading the gospel message?

Let’s get our heads out of the clouds and start focusing on the people all around us who need to hear the gospel and see how it works in our lives. If we are not going to be the living example for them, who will? How will they hear if not from us? How will they see if not by our lives?

Of course, the eBible Fellowship is already trying to explain themselves. It’s getting so foolish and because there is so little discernment on the earth among true Christians, this type of situation continues to exist. Woe is us. They were proven wrong and instead of admitting error, they’re just digging in their heels and spinning. They all do that but William Miller was great at it and out of that debacle, we got the group known as Seventh Day Adventists, built on error and still going. Eventually, God will sort all of this out.

Lord God, forgive these foolish people who believe they have an inside track on your plans, your purposes, and the end of days and yet walk right by people every day who need You. Make ME a better witness! Make THEM a better witness! Cause me to live and speak in such a way that you are glorified in all I do. Let the end of the world take care of itself.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective