Daily Devotional, year 2 – OCTOBER 19 (Noble Bereans, Part 3: Re-thinking Harold Camping)
By admin On July 11th, 2023.
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Daily Devotional, year 2 – OCTOBER 19
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Noble Bereans,
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Part 3:
“Re-thinking Harold Camping!”
To read part 1, click here…“September 2nd (Noble Bereans?)”
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So, 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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OK, so these in Berea were more noble, because they:
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1. Received the Word 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 so, these Bereans were ready to receive new teachings, which no doubt, conflicted with the supposed “orthodox” teachings of that day. So there was an open-mindedness which permeated their minds.
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And secondly, they searched the Scriptures daily, to see whether those things were so. In other words, these were not just mind-controlled followers of the popular teachers of that day.
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No, but rather, they were noble enough to entertain this ill-reputed and much despised renegade Bible teacher, Paul, who was bringing a very new and different angle on the Scriptures.
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Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic.
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CLOSE-MINDED SPIRIT TODAY
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No, those Noble Bereans weren’t just trying to find the first flaw, so that they could quickly reject Paul!
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But that’s how it’s done today, to a great degree!
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Today we have the same close-mindedness of most of those people back in Paul’s day. Yes, most of them merely suffered Paul to tell what he had say, only listening to him with narrow eyes, and a skeptical heart.
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Listen…“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” Acts 7:51
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This was God’s assessment of His people. They were satisfied with their traditional doctrines, and wanted nothing new that would upset their comfortable religion. And so, if they heard even one little thing that they disagreed with, they quickly dismissed everything he had to say, and began throwing rocks at Paul!
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Well, we don’t throw rocks today. Not literal rocks, anyway! But we certainly have the same narrow-mindedness that they had back in those days!
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Paul persecuted by Pharisees & Sadducees – www.thebiblerevival.com – US Public Domain
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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 began throwing verbal stones at Harold Camping.
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Harold Camping – 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. But those who knew him, knew well, that this dedicated Bible teacher to be a very spiritual servant of God: a man who cared nothing for the riches of this world! But who loved the heavenly riches found only in the study of God’s Word, the Bible!
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And the Internet began putting up the most demeaning photos and parodies and mockeries of Camping. And the scathing articles about him were seemingly endless, even making fun of his physical imperfections!
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Well of course, in the passing weeks, the firestorm which his “failed” prediction caused, began to die down, and the public moved on to other business, and other issues, and forgot about Camping.
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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 carefully and prayerfully studying the many prophecies concerning these things? Or the various dates and numbers that 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 period. 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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But where were all the Noble Bereans, willing to hear the man out? Where were those who were desirous to investigate this lone figure who stood up and challenged the so-called orthodoxy of today’s Christendom?
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Sadly, they were nowhere to be found!
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Harold Camping – Wikipedia – copyrighted, not for free use
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A RE-EXAMINATION
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But let’s examine his supposed “false prediction”, for a moment. Was Camping really incorrect? And was Harold Camping really a false teacher?
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And if we are truly like those noble Bereans, we might wish to take some time out to re-examine this much-maligned Bible teacher. After all, when the entire world begins to throw rocks at a Bible-believing teacher, then perhaps there is some good thing to be discovered about that Bible teacher…
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Chaplain reads Bible – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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HATED BY ALL MEN!
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Listen… “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:11, 12
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This above passage and many similar ones reveal that true Christians will be hated by the world! And considering this above passage, it sure wouldn’t hurt to give the Camping a little re-consideration, since he claimed to love and revere the Bible…
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Burned at the stake – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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HAS SOCIETY BECOME PARANOID?
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Satan has so manipulated the people of this society to the point that we have become somewhat like a paranoid little old man, who is even frightened by his own shadow!
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In other words, we as a society are quick to condemn anyone who dares step on any toes of today’s political correctness!
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And many faithful employees have been fired from their jobs, for even making some politically incorrect little statement, simply because it criticizes a politically favored person, group, or ideology which society jealously guards and protects!
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It’s frightening to see freedom of speech in danger of being taken away, all for the sake of political correctness!
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Pilgrim’s Progress – Then Atheist fell into a very great laughter – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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WITCH-HUNTS BACK IN VOGUE!
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And Satan now uses the various TV and radio news sources to conduct various “witch-hunts”, exposing and destroying anyone who dares to make a mistake in what they say, if it transgresses a “politically protected” person, group, tradition, or ideology.
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And so it is with Harold Camping. Yes, Camping made a seemingly failed prediction regarding the end of the world. And because it did not literally end, everyone was quick to verbally stone that Bible teacher.
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Harold-Camping – courtesy Family Radio
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TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK HERE…
OCTOBER 19 (Noble Bereans, Part 4: Re-thinking Harold Camping! Continued)
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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 agreement…
Woman praying – Heinrich Seufferheld – 1893 – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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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:
OCTOBER 20 (Apocalypse Now! Part 10: Has Judgment Day Begun? (Continued))
.Judgment Day – by sweet media – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS IS STUDY #657 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on the provided image credit link below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing names, details, and tags, and all other necessary info on any particular photo.