The May 21 message does not seem to have affected Zimbabweans much, although across major cities like Harare and Bulawayo some churches put up posters warning people to repent before yesterday “as judgement day was around the corner”.
Along some of Harare’s major roads, like Enterprise, and the main terminus in Bulawayo, Egodini, billboards have sprung up warning that the end was nigh and Jesus was coming to claim his own.
While this has not been a major talking issue, social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have been abuzz with the prediction and people saying what they would do just before the second coming.
A few had said they would pray or would be in church while most Christians dismissed the prediction as the “work of the devil”.
A radio presenter mocked the prediction, claiming the world could not end before Manchester United meets Barcelona in the European football final. The match is on this Saturday.
While a lady chided rich people claiming their millions would not do much, she was of the opinion they should share their riches before the world ends. Interestingly, most people on Facebook were saying they were going to drink themselves into silly stupors, so the end of the world could find them drunk.
Critics of Harold Camping’s prediction claim that the biggest mistake he makes is undermining the very Bible he seems to base his calculation on. Matthew 24 vs 36 says: “Of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only,” meaning that there was no way the radio evangelist could calculate that day.
In making judgement day predictions Camping is not alone and is in good company. Pat Robertson, a televangelist with International 700 Club shocked viewers when he claimed the world would end in 1982.
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Nostradamus claimed the world would end in 1999. Some of his accurate predictions have enchanted followers for more than four centuries.
“The year 1999, seventh month/ From the sky will come great king of terror,” but again this came to nought.
But the greatest fear was that the world would end in 2000, at the turn of the millennium, with machines failing to tell the difference between 2000 and 1900. Gun sales boomed in America amid fear that machines would rise against people.
Other predictions were made for May 5 2000 and 2006 as the end of the world.
Whatever happens, this is not the last prediction of doomsday, more are certainly in the offing.
