How I Also Arrived at 1994
THE BIBLE says: "It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true" (John 8:17); "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength" (Psa. 8:2); and "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (I Cor. 1:27). BY THOMAS GOLDA
With those scriptures in mind, I'm delighted to include here in this issue the testimony of a young Christian, who at the age of twenty-one deduced from the Word of God that Christ would return in 1994. That was in 1988, four years before Harold Camping revealed his findings in the book 1994?.
Editor
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I am a 26 year old believer who became saved in the mid-1980s. At that time, I had a great interest in the Bible and everything that it declares.
As I read and read the Bible, I became increasingly convinced that somehow some of the Biblical numbers must relate to the end of the world. After all, the return of Christ is the Big Event that brings God's salvation program to its climax, with all believers caught up together to be with the Lord forever and all the unsaved eternally condemned.
One evening in the winter of 1986, when I was a freshman in college, I discovered Family Radio and heard Harold Camping say on Open Forum that he would be very surprised if this world should reach the year 2,000. It was then that my interest in the numbers of the Bible began to intensify.
Meanwhile, I began to read many of Mr. Camping's books offered by Family Radio, including Adam When?, The Final Tribulation, The Fig Tree, The Biblical Calendar of History, and The Seventy Weeks of Daniel Nine. I found out that for the first time somebody had faithfully and correctly unraveled the calendars of the Bible.
As I looked at that Biblical calendar, I could not help but notice that God had guided the important events in history in a very precise time pattern. So, I began to search for clues that might indicate when the end will be. There was nothing I desired more than for Christ to return.
First clue. The first clue came to me in 1988. A Junior in college then, I learned from The Seventy Weeks of Daniel Nine that, in His prophecy of the Messiah's second coming, God refers to a jubilee year. And after reading Leviticus 25, I agreed with Mr. Camping that the jubilee is directly identified with the return of Christ.
The Israelites were to celebrate the first jubilee in 1357 B.C. and then every 50 years thereafter. I projected this path into the present century and saw that 1944 and 1994 were jubilee years.
In Matthew 24, the Lord has indicated that when we see the fig tree putting forth leaf, we can know that He is right at the door. Since Israel became a nation again in 1948 and 1994 would be the next jubilee, I wondered, "Could 1994 be the year of the Lord's return?"
Looking at Camping's Biblical Calendar, I noticed further that 1994 was exactly 2000 years from the birth of Christ; exactly 3000 years from the start of David's reign, and exactly 4000 years from the birth of Jacob. "Certainly these can't be just coincidences," I said to myself. But I needed more confirmation.
Unusual reluctance. I remembered Bro. Camping used to answer questions relating the 1290 days of Daniel 12:11 by saying something like this: "I'm sorry, this verse has to do with the timing of the end and I don't feel comfortable talking about it."
That prompted me to concentrate on studying the number 1290 within the Biblical calendar. I soon discovered that from the time Jacob's family entered Egypt in 1877 B.C. until Judah was destroyed in 587 B.C., there were 1290 years.
(Editor's note: In Genesis 46:34, Joseph told his brothers just before their entry into Egypt that every shepherd was an "abomination" unto the Egyptians; and Daniel 12:11 uses "the abomination that maketh desolate" as its time marker.)
I then projected the 1290 years ahead as I did with the jubilee years, and it landed directly on the year 1994. Wow! So many paths leading to 1994.
Biblical numbers. From Mr. Camping's books, I had learned that certain numbers in the Bible have spiritual truths. The number 23, for example, has to do with judgment; 17, heaven; 13, end of the world; 2, the church; 10, completeness and so on.
I also noticed that from the time Israel entered Canaan (a picture of our entering heaven) to the year 1994, there were exactly 3400 years. And
3400 = 17 (heaven) x 2 (the church) x 100 (completeness). So, more and more God directed my attention to the year 1994. Even though I couldn't say so flatly, I strongly suspected that 1994 would be the year of Christ's return.What do I do? Do I dare tell anybody this? After all, I am a nobody. I am not a theologian nor a pastor. I am just a college student getting his business degree, and I have only been a Christian a couple of years. How can I even dare to think such a thing? I was even afraid to tell Family Radio, because I didn't want them to think that their listeners were flipping out. So, I just kept it to myself.
Then, when the book 1994? came out in September 1992, I was overjoyed to discover that Bro. Camping's conclusion was the same as mine. Not only that, I was thrilled to learn that there were many, many more paths to 1994 that I didn't know about.
The fact that Mr. Camping and I did come to the same conclusion means that God, in His gracious mercy, does open up scriptures about His return to some Bible-searching Christians.
Back in Jesus' day, the congregations had no idea of His first coming. But even back then, there were a trickle who did know, Simeon and Anna in Luke 2, for example. History, it seems, is repeating itself. In His mercy, God is again letting a trickle within the church know today when the Lord Jesus will return. I'm so grateful that I am among those whose eyes God has opened.
I was even afraid to tell Family Radio, because I didn't want them to think that their listeners were flipping out. Additional paths
Before I close, here are a few more scriptural paths to 1994 which are not in Mr. Camping's book, but which do corroborate with our conclusion:Joseph's birth. Joseph, a great type of Christ, was born in the year 1916 B.C. And from 1916 B.C. to A.D. 1994, there are 3910 calendar years. 3910 = 23 (judgment) x 17 (heaven) x 10 (completeness). Meaning: When Christ comes again in 1994, it will mark the completion of God's salvation program; the unsaved will be judged, the believers will be glorified in heaven.
Number 37. In II Samuel 23 God gives the names of thirty-seven mighty men of David that were champions in destroying Israel's enemy. It suggests that the number 37 has to do with God's judgment over His enemies.
That is confirmed in Isaiah 37. There, King Sennacherib of Assyria was threatening to destroy Jerusalem, but God decimated the Assyrian army instead. We read in verse 36: "Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." That, of course, is a picture of Judgment Day.
Now, 185,000 = 37 x 5 (redemption or judgment) x 1000. Meaning: At the completion of God's salvation program, all of God's enemies will be judged.
From A.D. 33 (the cross) to A.D. 70 (destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans), there were 37 years. Moreover, from A.D. 70 to 1994, there are 1924 years. And 1924 = 37 (judgment) x 13 (end of world) x 4 (universality). Meaning: The destruction of the Jewish temple is a picture of the end of the world, when God will bring judgment upon His enemies wherever they are.
Number 53. In I Chronicles 9:22-34, God tells us that 212 Levites were chosen to be the gatekeepers of Jerusalem. They were on the four sides, east, west, north and south, so that there were 53 on each side. These gatekeepers are a picture of believers being watchmen of the church, warning people of the approach of Judgment Day.
From A.D. 33 (when the New Testament church started) to 1994, there are 1961 years. And 1961 = 53 x 37. Meaning: With believers having warned the world throughout the New Testament era, judgment will finally come to God's enemies in 1994. o