Daily Devotional, year 4 – October 27 (Noble Bereans, Part 7: Re-thinking Harold Camping Regarding the Bible)
By admin On November 30th, 2023.
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Daily Devotional, year 4 – October 27
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Noble Bereans,
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Part 7:
“Re-thinking Harold Camping Regarding the Bible”
To read part 1, click here…”September 2nd (Noble Bereans?)”
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“I have esteemed the words of His mouth
more than my necessary food.”
Job 23:12
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Now, in this little series, the subject of those noble Bereans has been introduced. And today, it is still worthy of a little more exploration, concerning another area of concern.
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Let’s look at the key Bible passage… “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming there, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:10, 11
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St Paul Preaching in Athens (Raphael, 1515) Wikipedia US public domain
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AN OPEN-MINDED SPIRIT IN BEREA
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Okay, so those in Berea were more noble, because they:
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1. “Received the Wo
rd with all readiness of mind.”
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2. “And searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
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And thus, these Bereans were ready to receive new teachings, which no doubt, conflicted with the supposed, “orthodox” teachings of that day.
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So, there was an open-mindedness which permeated their hearts, and a willingness to search the Scriptures daily, in hopes that these seemingly new teachings were indeed true!
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Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.
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A FAILED PREDICTION?
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A few years ago, a certain radio Bible teacher made the seemingly failed 
prediction that May 21st, 2011 would be the last day of earth’s existence, because of the long-promised return of Christ in the clouds of glory.
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And of course, when that day came and went, the world (and the Christian community) began throwing verbal stones at Harold Camping.
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But in reality, nothing failed!
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No, nothing in Camping’s prediction failed! But God purposely allowed this tarrying-time to awaken His sleeping saints, to prepare them to stand in the Day of the Lord!
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Harold Camping – cropped image – Wikipedia – copyrighted, not for free use
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MANY FALSE ACCUSATIONS
see Matthew 5:11
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Yes, Harold Camping was accused of being a false teacher, all for the sake of getting rich!
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But those who knew him, knew well, this dedicated Bible teacher to be a very spiritual servant of God: a man who cared nothing for the riches of this world! But rather, he loved the heavenly riches found only in the study of God’s Word, the Bible!
Judgment Bus New Orleans 2011 – cropped image – Wikipedia – Share-alike License
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NOT VOICES OR VISIONS, BUT THE BIBLE ONLY!
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But did anyone dig into his message, to find out why he believed what he believed? Did 
any consider that he spent years studying the many prophecies concerning these things? Or the various dates and numbers which he tirelessly scrutinized, to come up with the date of “The Last Day”? Hardly!
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Or did anyone ever consider that he was not coming as a prophet who spoke to God, or received a vision or a dream?
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No, Camping’s prediction was based solely on decades of Bible study, studying an average of 5 or 6 hours per day, over a 50-year span. He was merely announcing to the world, the conclusion of his 50 years of careful and prayerful study of God’s Word.
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Book of Isaiah – cropped image – Wikimedia – C.C. Share-alike License
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PASSION FOR THE BIBLE
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One distinctive hallmark of Harold Camping’s ministry was his passion for the Bible. In nearly every Bible study or call-in talk show, Camping urged his listeners to, “Study the Bible. The Bible, the Bible, the Bible! Don’t trust me”, Camping would constantly warn, “The Bible is the only infallible Word of God!”
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And so, Harold Camping would constantly uplift God’s infallible Word, the Bible. Never did he quote this old saint or that theologian!
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In all his radio Bible classes, he merely compared scripture with scripture, to prove any particular point.
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Chaplain reads Bible – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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HAROLD CAMPING BIBLE STUDIES
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One aspect which makes Camping’s audio Bible programs superior to other radio teachers is the manner in which he highlighted each Bible reference. Unlike many teachers, Camping usually made an effort to emphasize each verse given, repeating the chapter and verse, and allowing the listener time 
to look each verse up for themselves.
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But most other teachers do not do so well in this regard, but rather make their emphasis, instead, upon their own interpretation, rarely giving listeners enough time to look up each given verse for their own selves.
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The bottom line is, Camping was more interested in making the Bible the focal-point of his ministry rather than his own interpretations. Thus, Camping’s presentations allow listeners the necessary time to cement those verses into their hearts, more than most other teachers normally do!
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Harold Camping – Wikipedia – copyrighted – not-for-free-use
Holy bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons lic.
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CONTAGIOUS
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And when a Christian begins to follow Camping’s past Bible studies and call-in talk shows, he (or she) will begin to gain an appreciation for the Bible in this era of apostate Christendom. Yes, today’s apostate churches merely give “lip-service” regarding “the Bible and the Bible only”, but in reality, put more trust in Church tradition, and non-biblical terminology to a great degree.
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Yes, Harold Camping’s life-long love-affair with the Bible is bound to rub off on those who begin to follow his 50-year radio ministry!
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public-Domain
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“THEY WHICH LEAD THEE CAUSE THEE TO ERR”
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Therefore, the challenge goes out to any professing Christian to prove that he (or she) is truly a Noble Berean, and stop letting others dictate to him what he must believe and what he must disbelieve…
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Listen…“O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Isaiah 3:12
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Yes, as this above verse reveals, it is the leaders of today’s churches who greatly mislead God’s people!
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But just because the world cannot understand that there has been a tarrying time in the Bible’s end-of-the-world prophecy concerning the “Last Day”, that doesn’t necessitate that we too must remain in ignorance of these things!
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Audience hands – cropped & altered – Wikimedia – Universal Public Domain
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“THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING…”
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All a truth-seeker has to do is to begin the painless process of listening to a 25 minute Bible study each morning, and test and see for one’s own self!
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This above link is to the 1st installment of Camping’s 600+ Jeremiah studies.
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And at the bottom of each day’s devotional is another 25-minute audio study in the Book of Jeremiah (scroll to the bottom of this page to see).
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Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.
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To read Part 8, click here…
DECEMBER 5 (Noble Bereans, Part 8: Re-thinking Harold Camping Regarding His Doctrinal Errors)
Judgment-Bus-New-Orleans-2011-wikipedia-share-alike-license-e1376647672881
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to be an open-minded seeker of truth, even if it means giving up a very highly regarded Church opinion! Let me be willing to investigate any seemingly new teaching if it appears to have some biblical validity…
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… ” FEBRUARY 10 (The Deserted Island Theologian!)”, or you can also read…JUNE 13 (Why The World Didn’t End on May 21, 2011)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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BIBLE VERSES PICTURED IN THE HEAVENS
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“With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.” Ezekiel 26:12
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THIS STAR-CHART: This is a Wikipedia star-chart, in which this site’s editor has sketched in these three constellation (without the Holy-Ghost-Rider Constellation). Notice how the right front hoof is trampling on the tail of the Dragon. Also notice his eye is a star.It’s best seen when in the western half of the sky. It is found in mid-sky traveling from east to west. In January, it is in the west after midnight. As winter progresses, it can be seen earlier and earlier in the evening. a dark sky with good star-visibility is best, but not absolutely necessary to see this constellation. It is found on the opposite side of the Dragon Constellation from Orion. And as already stated, this Goodly Horse Constellation can be seen best in mid-winter when it is in the western side of the sky, and you are looking at it while you are facing west. The nose and head of this horse is partly made from the Perseus Constellation. The tail and rear end is partly of the Cassiopeia Constellation. The hind-leg is made partly of stars from the Andromeda Constellation.
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THIS HOLY-GHOST-RIDER
winter Constellations in the east
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Now one thing that is noticeable and makes this constellation even more dramatic, is the fact that the Milky Way runs right through it. And the question that must be asked is, “What biblical implications does this constellation/Milky Way connection have?” Well, very simply put, if stars
represent Believers, then this rider works in the world through His True-Worshippers, to a great extent.
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WHY IS THIS CONSTELLATION SO INCOMPLETE IN APPEARANCE
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So why is this constellation merely an outline? Well it does show his back, rear end and leg…and arm. But unlike, say, Orion, this constellation is very vague, even mysterious in appearance. Almost vacant in appearance. Yes this horseman represents Christ.
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But even more than this, it represents the Holy Spirit of Christ. And as we all know, the Holy Spirit is very, very, un-intrusive, almost impossible to detect His presence. Hence, this constellation is perhaps the most faint of all the constellations of Signs Of Heaven!
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Holy-Ghost-Rider Constellation”
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TOMORROW:
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October 28 (Why is the Dragon Constellation so hard to see?)
ABOVE PICTURE: Revelation 12 Dragon – Winter – Hyades, Pleiades, etc. – not for commercial uses
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EXCERPTS FROM THE OPEN FORUM QUESTION/ANSWER RADIO TALK-SHOW…
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this Open Forum #18, a small 30 minute sampling of the late Harold Camping’s nearly 50 year long series of 90 minute nightly talk shows…
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ABOVE PICTURE: Holy bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons lic.
Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, and tags, etc.. Most Images cropped & reduced in size.