It is well with my soul

November 22 will come and go in your life, but for Horatio Spafford, the day was forever fixed in his mind as a day of tragedy.  On November 22nd, 1873, the steamship Ville du Havre was headed for Europe, when it collided with a sailing vessel and was lost at sea, along with 226 people, among whom were four of Spafford’s daughters.   Spafford quickly boarded the next ship for Europe to meet his wife, who had survived the accident at sea (along with 87 others).  When told by the captain that they were over the spot where the Ville du Havre had sunk, he wrote these words, …

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Millerites

In light of Harold Camping’s false prophecy of the judgment day on May 21, 2011, I thought a brief history lesson might be helpful today.

In the 1840’s William Miller (pictured above) began teaching that Christ would return on October 22, 1844. Many believed him.  They were called Millerites.  Well, as you well know, that day came and went without anything spectacular happening. Rather than admitting that they were just plain wrong, Millerites tried to explain the day away. The most popular teaching was that Christ came “spiritually” on that day.  He didn’t come to earth.  Rather, He entered his heavenly tabernacle, and began the work of cleansing the heavenly tabernacle before coming to earth. This is the official teaching of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (see article 24).

Rather than admitting the errors of his way (see Matthew 24:36), Harold Camping has tried to explain it all away. He is still insistent that the judgment day was on May 21, 2011. Only it was a “spiritual” judgment day. The end of the world will occur later (on October 21, 2011). Sound familiar?

That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
(Ecclesiastes 1:9)