The Rapture: Any day now for the last 2,000 years

“Is the Rapture finally here? One Christian numerologist says a biblical sign strongly suggests it.”

That was the opening line to a Fox News article promoting the claims of Christian numerologist David Meade, who allegedly said that the imaginary planet known as “Planet X” or “Nibiru” will appear in the sky on April 23, triggering the beginning of the Rapture.

According to a specific sect of evangelical Christians, the key to understanding the Rapture lies in Revelations 12:1-2.

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars,” the passage reads. “She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.”

Numerous news outlets got a kick out of Meade’s alleged claims that the end of the world would begin on the 21st, which is this Monday. But according to The Guardian, Meade is saying that people who attributed that prediction to him are promoting “fake news.” Now he’s saying that the world will end sometime between May and December of this year.

If this seems like a menial attempt to kick the can down the road, you’re probably not too far off. As it turns out, Meade has a few predictions which never came to pass. As The Guardian points out, he predicted that the world would end via Planet Nibiru on September 23, 2017. He also  predicted that the “seven years of tribulation” (the precursor to the Apocalypse) would start on October, 15 2017. Note how that claim contradicts his prediction that the world will end between May-December.

How the end-of-the-world-prediction industry can still be in business is anyone’s guess, considering that it has a zero percent delivery rate, going all the way back to the time of Jesus. What gets lost in the temporary hysteria whenever a date is singled out is that the very first failed prediction came from Jesus himself.

According to the Bible, Jesus specifically told his disciples that they’d be around to see him “sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Time and time again, New Testament writers wrote as if they believed the Rapture was coming in their lifetimes.

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” –Hebrews 10:24-25

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” –1 John 2:18

In Corinthains, followers of Christ are told not to bother looking for a wife, because the world as they knew it was “passing away.”

“Do not seek a wife. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.” –1 Corinthians 7:27, 29-31

The moral of the story is if you’re the kind of person who gets anxiety when mystical people claim the end of the world is just around the corner, you can rest assured that even Jesus couldn’t get it right.

Featured image via LifeCoach4God

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.