Anyone who claimed September 23, 2017 as the end of the world and used the bible to prove their position should be viewed as a false prophet.
Church, discipline yourself to put our primary work in front of us and be faithful to the work of the evangel (the gospel). Date setting is no new thing and we should expect that as dates come and go that a more predictable pattern is that date setters will be required to adjust and reinterpret their claims.
Yes, we should give ourselves to reading Scripture and noticing that the time must be near, but be sure not to get distracted with that which will distract from the Gospel. Give yourself rather to living a life devoted to the Lordship of Christ in your life and speaking the grace of God in His gospel to all.
Date setting the unknown things of God is irresponsible evangelism.
Give yourself to responsible evangelism. Proclaiming the truth of God, the nature of humanity, the redeeming work of Christ, and the required response to this truth; this is our great duty.
Here are a few things I see that normally happens when the date setters gain popularity and their dates pass by…
- They will claim they overlooked a particular calculation.
- They will say “I didn’t actually say…”
- They will bring other verses into the conversation that they didn’t use or see previously.
- They will call planets stars or give vague dogmatic comments such as “this kind of connection gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.”
- They will eventually re-date to another date without any consideration to what God says about those who presumptuously speak on His behalf in Deuteronomy 18:22
“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22)