Q. There is a man on the radio that says judgment day is May 21, 2011 and he seems to be very sure of it. Is he right?

A. I am familiar with this teaching and have listened to his reasoning and his conclusions and he couldn't be more wrong. He has predicted the same thing before and obviously he was wrong and he is wrong again. This hasn't prevented him from making this prediction and people still listen to him. That is because his listeners are more ignorant of the Scriptures than he is. They make the same fundamental errors over and over again, and he isn't the only one. Many so-called "prophecy experts" on TV and radio are unaware that the Lord has given us a blueprint in the Word that will guide us to what He is doing. Again, as I have said over and over, you must understand the Torah, the biblical festivals, the Temple services and what the Lord has given through the Hebrew prophets to understand prophecy. This man does not understand any of these but misinterprets many verses to come up with that date.
Let's look at the biblical festivals for an example. In Leviticus 23, God lists 8 festivals, if you include the weekly Sabbath day, so let's start with that one. The Lord created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and then rested on the Sabbath day.Why would the Lord take 6 days to create the world and everything in it. He could have done it in a second, or millions of years. It's because he is giving us a blueprint, a pattern, a plan for mankind. We know from several verses found in Psalms and 2 Peter that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to the Lord. So, the six days of creation relate to 6000 years of history since creation. The Sabbath day, or seventh day, relates to 1000 years. In other words, God gave a blueprint of the time when man was created till the Lords day. Adam, therefore, was created less than 6000 years ago. When the 6000 years are complete, we enter into the Lords day, the day of the Lord, the Sabbath rest as it is known in the Scriptures. Now, years always begin on a Rosh ha Shanah, which means "head of the year" so this "day of the Lord" will not begin until 6000 years (6 days) are complete. The first 7 years of this "day of the Lord" will be what is called the "birth pains of the Messiah" or the Tribulation period. So, the time of the end cannot start until a Rosh ha Shanah, year 6001 from creation. May 21st of this year is not a Rosh ha Shanah so this individual is incorrect in teaching that judgment day will happen then. Now, there are seven more festivals given in Leviticus 23. There is Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Rosh ha Shanah, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles. The Lord will fulfill certain aspects of the redemption on these days. One must study each festival with its corresponding services, prayers, themes, idioms and phrases to get a proper picture of what the Lord is trying to communicate in regards to Bible prophecy. It is "prophecy 101" if you will. If one does not fully understand these festivals he will not fully understand Bible prophecy, and this man doesn't. Yeshua was crucified on Passover, he was buried on Unleavened Bread, he was raised from the dead on First Fruits and sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. These are call the Spring festivals. Now, if he fulfilled each of the first 4 festivals by accomplishing something in regards to our redemption, it is reasonable to deduct that the last 3 will be fulfilled on their exact day in regards to something else concerning the redemption. So, one must study the corresponding services, prayers, themes, idioms and phrases of these 3 remaining festivals to see what the Lord is going to do next.
After Pentecost, there is a long growing period of about 4 months for the wheat, then comes the harvest period. On the first day of the seventh month we have Rosh ha Shanah, the head of the civil year. This festival in Hebrew is called "Yom Teruah" or the day of the awakening shofar blast. It is called "the last trumpet " and Paul teaches that the resurrection of the righteous will happen on this day. Judgment will begin on earth after this and if the Lord fulfilled 4 previous festivals on their exact day, he is going to fulfill this on it's exact day also. Ten days later there is another feast called Yom Yippur. That is the day the 7 year Tribulation will begin. We know this from several verses. We know the Lord returns in his second coming on a Yom Kippur from Matt 24. It says that he will return at the sound of "the Great Trumpet" which is an idiom for Yom Kippur. We now that the Tribulation period is 2520 days long, or 7 biblical years of 360 days each. So if he comes back on a Yom Kippur the Tribulation must start on a Yom Kippur. This individual does not take into account any of this and totally neglects God's blueprint for prophecy so his conclusions are way off. After the Lord returns there is one remaining festival called the Tabernacles. This teaches all aspects of the coming Messianic Kingdom and the "tabernacling" among us. It was the day Yeshua was born and it is the day the kingdom will begin on earth. There is not enough room to go into each and every aspect of these festivals but if the Lord gave these festivals it was for a reason and one of those reasons was to show us his plan. Paul says that he taught these things and that those he taught were not ignorant of the times and seasons so that they should not be taken by surprise when prophetic things occur. But, those who are ignorant are living in darkness and they will be surprised like those who are asleep when the thief comes. May 21st of this year is not judgment day and they Lord is not coming because it is not Rosh ha Shanah and it is as simple as that. The Lord has a specific prophetic plan that he has laid out in the Scriptures and he will not deviate from it. This is deceiving many and he will have his reward, but there are many unknowing people who will be devastated in their walk with the Lord because they are ignorant of God's plan. Please, with all earnestness, study the biblical festivals and their prophetic significance. There's plenty of help out there.