We Are Almost There

by Harold Camping
Family Stations Inc.

Chapter 1. The Glorious Word of God
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Understanding the awesome idea that the world is very near the end of time requires a clear understanding of the nature and authority of God’s Word, the Bible. The Bible sets forth fundamental principles that must be obeyed if we are to receive truth from God. These principles must be thoroughly imbedded in the minds of anyone who wishes to understand this awesome idea.

The Bible is God’s Word. In the original languages of the Bible, mainly Hebrew and Greek, every word, and every letter of every word, is from the mouth of God. Therefore, the idea that any human being, or any church institution, has any authority over any word or phrase in the original languages of the Bible should never be tolerated. God has protected the most ancient copies of the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts so that we can be assured that we have the original Word of God, directly from His mouth. The manuscripts used in the King James English translation, and other translations of that era, are the manuscripts that God has preserved. True, the serious Bible teacher, when studying any teaching of the Bible, should always check the work of the translator and make any necessary corrections, if any are required.

The Bible in its entirety is God’s supreme law book, and it is to be meticulously obeyed by each and every human being. As the law book of God, the Bible prescribes that the penalty of damnation is to be given to each and every person who violates the law of God in any manner (Romans 6:23; James 2:10).

The Bible is God’s message of salvation. That is, included in God’s law is the wonderful news that God Himself, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, became the substitute, or stand-in, who bore the penalty of God’s wrath on behalf of all those whom God had chosen to become saved from the penalty of sin, which is eternal damnation.

The Bible is its own dictionary and commentary. Each and every word, sentence, concept, etc., is to be understood by examining the use of that same word or concept as it is found elsewhere in the Bible. No conclusion regarding any doctrine of the Bible should be accepted until it has been carefully checked throughout the whole Bible to verify that it altogether harmonizes with any and every other truth of the Bible. God commands in I Corinthians 2:13:

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
 
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God’s Written Law

By God’s mercy, God has provided a written copy of the law of God. That written law is the Bible, the Word of God. The law is also God’s covenant with mankind, and it is referred to as the Gospel and as the Old and New Testaments. Thus, whether the Bible uses the words “law,” or “commandments,” or “testament,” or “Gospel,” or “covenant,” or “Word,” it is still speaking of the Bible alone. All of these words are synonyms.

The Bible was given to mankind in two distinct parts, but God wrote the Bible in such a way that the truths of the Bible have been revealed to mankind in three parts.

The first part of the written Word that God provided was the Old Testament. The writing of the Old Testament was begun in the year 1447 B.C. when God gave Israel the ten commandments together with many other laws. At the same time, within this covenant or law book, He wrote many truths concerning creation, the entrance of sin into the world, and the flood of Noah’s day, as well as many commands that emphasized mankind’s need for the Savior. God continued to write the Old Testament until the year 391 B.C.

However, God wrote the Old Testament in such a way that an enormous number of truths and information included in the writing of the Old Testament were only dimly revealed to mankind. Moreover, because the printing press was not invented until centuries after the Old Testament was written, actual copies of the first part of the Bible were almost nonexistent. Early on, very few copies of the first part of the Bible were available.

The second part of the covenant, which is called the New Testament, began to be written by God about A.D. 33. It was completed about A.D. 95. It provided a great amount of truth that helped to make the Old Testament somewhat more understandable. This is mainly because the New Testament gave much information about Jesus Christ the Savior, as He literally and actually experienced the wrath of God on behalf of all of those He planned to save. Nevertheless, the New Testament, like the Old Testament, was written by God in such a way that many truths set forth in it remained hidden from the true believers of the church age.*

Thus, even though the Bible has been a completed, written covenant or law book for almost 2,000 years, many very important truths sprinkled all through the Bible were never revealed to even the most dedicated, God-fearing theologian who was a child of God. These mysterious or hidden doctrines relate especially to a precise and accurate understanding of the timing and nature of God's

* We use the term “church age” to signify the time period when God used the churches to bring the Gospel.  
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salvation program, together with the momentous events that would occur during the final 23 years of the history of the world.

The Third Period of Revelation

However, in our day, when we are very close to the end of time, God, for the third time, is revealing much additional truth that has always been in the Bible, but it has remained a mystery throughout time. Thus, it is almost like God has given us an addition to the Old and New Testaments, but the Bible, of course, has not become enlarged. No new words have been actually added to it. The Bible we use today, in the languages in which the Bible was originally written, is exactly the same Bible that was completed about 1,900 years ago. It is simply that now, the full glory of the Gospel can be seen as God, in our day, has opened our understanding to most of the truths that previously had been hidden. In Hebrews 8:8, the Bible declares:

For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

In this verse, the phrase “I will make a new covenant” should have been translated “I will finish a new covenant.” The new covenant is the New Testament of the Bible, but it is at the end of time, in our day, that God is finishing our understanding of that covenant by opening our eyes to so many new truths. They have always been in the Bible, but in our day, they are being revealed to us so that we can understand them. It is as if God is finishing the writing of the covenant, which is the Bible. This is in exact agreement with such a verse as Daniel 12:9:

And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Bible Interpretation

It is indeed sad that virtually each and every church throughout the world cannot understand many truths of the Bible. This is so because they do not obey the Bible's instructions concerning Bible interpretation. Moreover, there is a good possibility that most Bible teachers do not understand that every word in the original languages of the Bible is from the mouth of God, and therefore, is super-important as well as super-accurate.  
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The man-made, historical, grammatical hermeneutic method of Bible interpretation that is held by virtually every church, denomination, seminary, etc., is to be totally rejected. The true Biblical method of Bible interpretation is based on the fact that the Bible teaches that the Bible is a spiritual book written in an earthly way. Because it is written by God, every historical event, and every conversation, and every incident recorded in the Bible is absolutely true and trustworthy. However, because these literal, historical statements also must be understood spiritually, the true ultimate message that God is giving to mankind in the Bible will not be understood until the spiritual teaching of the verse being studied has been found.

Jesus spoke of this hermeneutic principal in Mark 4:33-34, where we read:

And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

Jesus is the very essence of the Word of God. We read in John 1:14 that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Thus, the principle of seeking the spiritual meaning of each word and phrase recorded in the Bible applies to the whole Bible inasmuch as Christ is identified with the whole Bible. The Bible is the Word of God. Christ is the Word of God. And because the Bible is God’s book, the Bible student must seek help from the Holy Spirit, God Himself. God alone can bring truth to our hearts (John 16:13). Any spiritual conclusion must be carefully tested by the Bible student to be certain that it is altogether harmonious with any and every other truth the Bible teaches.

The foregoing principle that Christ spoke in parables, and without a parable He did not speak, appears to be the chief means by which God assists the true believers to further understand the Bible. But it also appears to be the chief means by which God blinds those who come to the Bible with their own preconceived ideas. This principle is set forth in Mark 4:11-12, where God says:

And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

For example, anyone who follows the man-made, grammatical, historical hermeneutic, which is utilized throughout the church world, will not be able to  
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correctly understand many very important truths of the Bible. This includes the Bible’s teachings concerning the end of the church age, and the fact that the true believers can know much about the timetable and details of the end of the world.

Finally, a Full Revealing of God’s Salvation Plan

There are three especially important areas of truth that are in view as God, in our day, opens our eyes to much new truth that throughout the church age was not well understood. These areas are as follows. (1) The nature and timing of God’s salvation plan. (2) The end-time details, which include the timeline of history. (3) The nature and character of God’s plan of judgment.

In this study, we will focus to a small degree on the nature of God’s salvation plan. Secondly, we will intensively focus on the end-time details. The nature and character of God’s plan of judgment will be provided in a following book.

In Hebrews 8:10-11, God instructs us:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

These verses are especially focusing on God’s salvation plan. Throughout the church age, the dominant teaching of most Biblical churches was to tell the brothers and sisters of the congregations how they might be sure they are saved or how they might become saved. A careful analysis of the teachings of these denominations invariably shows that they include the requirement that some contribution be made by the individual seeking salvation. These contributions could include actions such as water baptism, public profession of faith, the act of accepting Christ, the partaking of the Eucharist or communion table, or praying a certain kind of prayer. In virtually every case, there was a definite violation of the law of God, which clearly stipulates that all the work of saving a person was done by Christ, long before that person was born.*

In Hebrews 8:10-11, quoted above, God emphasizes that once the full revelation of the Bible occurs, the teaching on salvation in the world will be altogether Biblical. Mankind will not be taught how they might become saved, but rather that salvation is entirely the work of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). God will be

* You are invited to send for the free booklet I Hope God Will Save Me for much more information about this awesome subject. saving a great multitude who actually may understand very little of the Bible.  
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We will attempt to set forth a simple outline of the Biblical teaching concerning the salvation of the great multitude, which no man could number, who are being saved in our day.

1. The Bible commands the true believers to send the Gospel into all the world. God has guided the development of worldwide communications, such as radio and Internet, to make possible the hearing of the Gospel by every person in the world.

2. In God’s mysterious providence, many who know little or nothing about Bible truth will begin to realize the following.

    a. They are sinners who are on their way to some awful future in which they will be punished for their sins.

    b. The Bible they are hearing about, and to which they have begun to listen, must be from God, and therefore, they begin to try to obey its commands.

    c. They learn that judgment day is very near, but God is saving many people.

    d. They begin to realize they can and must cry to God for mercy, hoping that maybe God will save them.

This is the present situation in the world, as more and more people are being saved all over the world, entirely by God’s action. When God saves an individual, He gives that person a brand new, eternal, resurrected soul. Therefore, they have an intense, ongoing desire to be obedient to the Bible. The tremendous increase in the number of people who are now becoming saved, as the Bible insists (Revelation 7:9-14), surely is related to the fact that God is now revealing a great many truths of the Bible, which previous generations had not known.

Preface Table of Contents Chapter 2