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To
British Israelists, August 23, 1953 was a very important day. It was the day that was to at least begin the ushering in of Christ's return (if not his actual return). As one writer noted,
Anglo-Israel's outstanding Pyramid work is a monumental tome, the size of a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica, called The Great Pyramid: Its Divine Message. It was written by David Davidson, a structural engineer in Leeds, England, and first published in 1924. A revised eighth edition appeared in 1940. The book is based on Smyth, with important differences in the prophetic section. The "Final Tribulation" of the Anglo-Saxon peoples was to begin in 1928 and extend to 1936. From September 16, 1936 until August 20, 1953, the Anglo-Saxons—i.e., the "true" Israel—will be brought together and given divine protection against a coalition of world powers seeking to destroy them. This will be the Armageddon period, terminated by the return of Christ. (source)
The Revival Centres adopted their beliefs in British-Israel and Pyrmidology from their beginnings in the
National Revival Crusade (later known as the Commonwealth Revival Crusade). That the NRC held August 20, 1953 in high regard can be seen on the cover of their first publication of that year.
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There is no doubt that even Lloyd Longfield himself believed and publicly taught the significance of this date as shown below in a 1952 edition
The National Revivalist:
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Of course when this date came and went without any significant occurrence, British-Israelists, including the NRC, had to reinterpret it.
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So by the time we get to the Revival Centre article in question, 1953 had well and truly passed. We can see John Durrant's attempt to maintain the date as significant by claiming it was the 'End of the generation in which all will be fulfilled.' It is clear from Durrant's language that he truly believed Christ's return was imminent. And yet, here we all are more than half a century on from 1953! While some older Revivalists might recall the days when they revered the date somewhat, modern Revivalists would have no knowledge of its significance at all as it is simply not mentioned any more.
So there is little doubt that the Revival Centres and even its founder have been involved with setting a date
relevant to the return of Jesus Christ. Contrast this with the
Revival Centres International statement on date-setting in which they claim they have never been party to this practice. While they might argue this date was never declared as
'the day of the Lord,' it was certainly supposed to signify
the beginning of the end and this certainly never came to pass.
