People who are obsessed with eschatology tend not to share the attitude of Christ and are, at very least, more consumed with their own pet theories then practical application—I tend to avoid such people:

‭‭I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.  For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 

Romans-16-17-18 NIV

There are many who fancy themselves as being wise and able to decode the cryptic language of Biblical revelation, who gather a following for themselves, but are not doing God’s work:

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.  ‭‭

1 Timothy‬ ‭1:3‭-‬7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Revelation in the hands of these kinds of people is as useful as a Marvel comic and that meaning it is strictly for entertainment value.  Feel free to laugh as they confidently spew their speculative garbage.  Let them accuse you of being a scoffer for not buy-in to their nonsense.  Sure, these people may believe they have special insight, but are not qualified to speak and would be better off to keep their mouths shut.  

Slapping a label of “Malgog” on a modern state and then running with it doesn’t make you a great Biblical scholar.  No, you’re just another Harold Camping or William Miller and more likely to be a disappointment than to see the end of a dispensation.  It should be ridiculed and mocked as it has nothing to do with living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is a distraction at best—and, at worse, a cause for others to stumble.

If your focus is on Christ you will not fail no matter if the anti-Christ is the Pope George or your own beloved mother.  So why would we fritter away our time promoting theories that are not essential and often wrong?

But the real evil in this kind of endless end times speculation is how it too often turns other people into pawns rather than those we are commanded to love.  Obedience does not require a God’s eye perspective or foreknowledge, it takes a child’s heart and full trust that all things will work out for the good of those who live in faith.  Anyone can make a horoscope or fortune cookie apply to themselves—few love their enemies.

When we should be praying that both sides of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict repent, many who profess Christ are cheerleaders for their own predictions instead.  They’re vultures, like Jonah wanting to see Nineveh destroyed because they don’t care about the people involved, and not like the Jesus who wept over Jerusalem knowing the city was going to be totally destroyed. We don’t need to know the future, we simply need to live in faith and do good to all people.

As a postscript, while we’re breathing, it is never too late to repent of this foolishness:

Camping admitted in a private interview that he no longer believed that anybody could know the time of the Rapture or the end of the world, in stark contrast to his previously staunch position on the subject. In March 2012, he stated that his attempt to predict a date was “sinful”, and that his critics had been right in emphasizing the words of Matthew 24:36: “of that day and hour knoweth no man”. He added that he was now searching the Bible “even more fervently…not to find dates, but to be more faithful in [his] understanding.”

At least Camping lived to see the error of his own ways and change his focus.  But how many did he trip up before he reached this conclusion?