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An Upright,
honest-hearted farmer, who had been led to doubt the divine
authority of the Scriptures, yet who sincerely desired to know the
truth, was the man specially chosen of God to lead out in the
proclamation of Christ's second coming. Like many other reformers,
William Miller had in early life battled with poverty and had thus
learned the great lessons of energy and self-denial. The members of
the family from which he sprang were characterized by an
independent, liberty-loving spirit, by capability of endurance, and
ardent patriotism--traits which were also prominent in his
character. His father was a captain in the army of the Revolution,
and to the sacrifices which he made in the struggles and sufferings
of that stormy period may be traced the straitened circumstances of
Miller's early life.
He had a sound physical constitution,
and even in childhood gave evidence of more than ordinary intellectual
strength. As he grew older, this became more marked. His mind was active
and well developed, and he had a keen thirst for knowledge. Though he
did not enjoy the advantages of a collegiate education, his love of
study and a habit of careful thought and close criticism rendered him a
man of sound judgment and comprehensive views. He possessed an
irreproachable moral character and an enviable reputation, being
generally esteemed for integrity, thrift, and benevolence. By dint of
energy and application he early acquired a
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competence, though his habits of study
were still maintained. He filled various civil and military offices with
credit, and the avenues to wealth and honor seemed wide open to him.
His mother was a woman of sterling
piety, and in childhood, he had been subject to religious impressions.
In early childhood, however, he was thrown into the society of deists,
whose influence was the stronger from the fact that they were mostly
good citizens and men of humane and benevolent disposition. Living, as
they did, in the midst of Christian institutions, their characters had
been to some extent molded by their surroundings. For the excellencies
which won them respect and confidence they were indebted to the Bible;
and yet these good gifts were so perverted as to exert an influence
against the word of God. By association with these men, Miller was led
to adopt their sentiments. The current interpretations of Scripture
presented difficulties which seemed to him insurmountable; yet his new
belief, while setting aside the Bible, offered nothing better to take
its place, and he remained far from satisfied. He continued to hold
these views, however, for about twelve years. But at the age of
thirty-four the Holy Spirit impressed his heart with a sense of his
condition as a sinner. He found in his former belief no assurance of
happiness beyond the grave. The future was dark and gloomy. Referring
afterward to his feelings at this time, he said:
"Annihilation was a cold and chilling
thought, and accountability was sure destruction to all. The heavens
were as brass over my head, and the earth as iron under my feet.
Eternity--what was it? And death--why was it? The more I reasoned, the
further I was from demonstration. The more I thought, the more scattered
were my conclusions. I tried to stop thinking, but my thoughts would not
be controlled. I was truly wretched, but did not understand the cause. I
murmured and complained, but knew not of whom. I knew that there was a
wrong, but knew not how or where to find the right. I mourned, but
without hope."
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In this state he continued for some
months. "Suddenly," he says, "the character of a Saviour was vividly
impressed upon my mind. It seemed that there might be a being so good
and compassionate as to himself atone for our transgressions, and
thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin. I immediately felt
how lovely such a being must be, and imagined that I could cast myself
into the arms of, and trust in the mercy of, such a one. But the
question arose, How can it be proved that such a being does exist? Aside
from the Bible, I found that I could get no evidence of the existence of
such a Saviour, or even of a future state. . . .
"I saw that the Bible did bring to
view just such a Saviour as I needed; and I was perplexed to find how an
uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly adapted to the
wants of a fallen world. I was constrained to admit that the Scriptures
must be a revelation from God. They became my delight; and in Jesus I
found a friend. The Saviour became to me the chiefest among ten
thousand; and the Scriptures, which before were dark and contradictory,
now became the lamp to my feet and light to my path. My mind became
settled and satisfied. I found the Lord God to be a Rock in the midst of
the ocean of life. The Bible now became my chief study, and I can truly
say, I searched it with great delight. I found the half was never told
me. I wondered why I had not seen its beauty and glory before, and
marveled that I could have ever rejected it. I found everything revealed
that my heart could desire, and a remedy for every disease of the soul.
I lost all taste for other reading, and applied my heart to get wisdom
from God."--S. Bliss, Memoirs
of Wm. Miller, pages 65-67.
Miller publicly professed his faith in
the religion which he had despised. But his infidel associates were not
slow to bring forward all those arguments which he himself had often
urged against the divine authority of the Scriptures. He was not then
prepared to answer them; but he reasoned that if the Bible is a
revelation from God, it must be consistent with itself; and that as it
was given for man's instruction, it must
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be adapted to his understanding. He
determined to study the Scriptures for himself, and ascertain if every
apparent contradiction could not be harmonized.
Endeavoring to lay aside all
preconceived opinions, and dispensing with commentaries, he compared
scripture with scripture by the aid of the marginal references and the
concordance. He pursued his study in a regular and methodical manner;
beginning with Genesis, and reading verse by verse, he proceeded no
faster than the meaning of the several passages so unfolded as to leave
him free from all embarrassment. When he found anything obscure, it was
his custom to compare it with every other text which seemed to have any
reference to the matter under consideration. Every word was permitted to
have its proper bearing upon the subject of the text, and if his view of
it harmonized with every collateral passage, it ceased to be a
difficulty. Thus whenever he met with a passage hard to be understood he
found an explanation in some other portion of the Scriptures. As he
studied with earnest prayer for divine enlightenment, that which had
before appeared dark to his understanding was made clear. He experienced
the truth of the psalmist's words: "The entrance of Thy words giveth
light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." Psalm 119:130.
With intense interest he studied the
books of Daniel and the Revelation, employing the same principles of
interpretation as in the other scriptures, and found, to his great joy,
that the prophetic symbols could be understood. He saw that the
prophecies, so far as they had been fulfilled, had been fulfilled
literally; that all the various figures, metaphors, parables,
similitudes, etc., were either explained in their immediate connection,
or the terms in which they were expressed were defined in other
scriptures, and when thus explained, were to be literally understood. "I
was thus satisfied," he says, "that the Bible is a system of revealed
truths, so clearly and simply given that the wayfaring man, though
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a fool, need not err therein."--Bliss,
page 70. Link after link of the chain of truth rewarded his efforts, as
step by step he traced down the great lines of prophecy. Angels of
heaven were guiding his mind and opening the Scriptures to his
understanding.
Taking the manner in which the
prophecies had been fulfilled in the past as a criterion by which to
judge of the fulfillment of those which were still future, he became
satisfied that the popular view of the spiritual reign of Christ--a
temporal millennium before the end of the world--was not sustained by
the word of God. This doctrine, pointing to a thousand years of
righteousness and peace before the personal coming of the Lord, put far
off the terrors of the day of God. But, pleasing though it may be, it is
contrary to the teachings of Christ and His apostles, who declared that
the wheat and the tares and to grow together until the harvest, the end
of the world; that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse;"
that "in the last days perilous times shall come;" and that the kingdom
of darkness shall continue until the advent of the Lord and shall be
consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be destroyed with the
brightness of His coming. Matthew 13:30, 38-41; 2 Timothy 3:13, 1; 2
Thessalonians 2:8.
The doctrine of the world's conversion
and the spiritual reign of Christ was not held by the apostolic church.
It was not generally accepted by Christians until about the beginning of
the eighteenth century. Like every other error, its results were evil.
It taught men to look far in the future for the coming of the Lord and
prevented them from giving heed to the signs heralding His approach. It
induced a feeling of confidence and security that was not well founded
and led many to neglect the preparation necessary in order to meet their
Lord.
Miller found the literal, personal
coming of Christ to be plainly taught in the Scriptures. Says Paul: "The
Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
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of the Archangel, and with the trump of
God." 1 Thessalonians 4:16. And the Saviour declares: "They shall
see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory." "For as the lightning cometh out of
the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be." Matthew 24:30, 27. He is to be accompanied by all
the hosts of heaven. "The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all
the holy angels with Him." Matthew 25:31. "And He shall send His angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
elect." Matthew 24:31.
At His coming the righteous dead will
be raised, and the righteous living will be changed. "We shall not all
sleep," says Paul, "but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. And in his letter to the
Thessalonians, after describing the coming of the Lord, he says: "The
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16,
17.
Not until the personal advent of
Christ can His people receive the kingdom. The Saviour said: "When the
Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be
gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep
on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say
unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew
25:31-34. We have seen by the scriptures just given that when the Son of
man comes, the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed.
By this great
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change they are prepared to receive the
kingdom; for Paul says: "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." 1 Corinthians 15:50.
Man in his present state is mortal, corruptible; but the kingdom of God
will be incorruptible, enduring forever. Therefore man in his present
state cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But when Jesus comes, He
confers immortality upon His people; and then He calls them to inherit
the kingdom of which they have hitherto been only heirs.
These and other scriptures clearly
proved to Miller's mind that the events which were generally expected to
take place before the coming of Christ, such as the universal reign of
peace and the setting up of the kingdom of God upon the earth, were to
be subsequent to the second advent. Furthermore, all the signs of the
times and the condition of the world corresponded to the prophetic
description of the last days. He was forced to the conclusion, from the
study of Scripture alone, that the period allotted for the continuance
of the earth in its present state was about to close.
"Another kind of evidence that vitally
affected my mind," he says, "was the chronology of the Scriptures. . . .
I found that predicted events, which had been fulfilled in the past,
often occurred within a given time. The one hundred and twenty years to
the flood (Genesis 6:3); the seven days that were to precede it, with
forty days of predicted rain (Genesis 7:4); the four hundred years of
the sojourn of Abraham's seed (Genesis 15:13); the three days of the
butler's and baker's dreams (Genesis 40:12-20); the seven years of
Pharaoh's (Genesis 41:28-54); the forty years in the wilderness (Numbers
14:34); the three and a half years of famine (1 Kings 17:1) [see Luke
4:25;] . . . the seventy years' captivity (Jeremiah 25:11);
Nebuchadnezzar's seven times (Daniel 4:13-16); and the seven weeks,
threescore and two weeks, and the one week, making seventy weeks,
determined upon the Jews (Daniel 9:24-27),--the events limited by these
times were all once only a matter of prophecy, and were fulfilled in
accordance with the predictions."--Bliss, pages 74, 75.
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When, therefore, he found, in his
study of the Bible, various chronological periods that, according to his
understanding of them, extended to the second coming of Christ, he could
not but regard them as the "times before appointed," which God had
revealed unto His servants. "The secret things," says Moses, "belong
unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto
us and to our children forever;" and the Lord declares by the prophet
Amos, that He "will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His
servants the prophets." Deuteronomy 29:29; Amos 3:7. The students of
God's word may, then, confidently expect to find the most stupendous
event to take place in human history clearly pointed out in the
Scriptures of truth.
"As I was fully convinced," says
Miller, "that all Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable (2
Timothy 3:16); that it came not at any time by the will of man, but was
written as holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21), and was
written 'for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
Scriptures might have hope' (Romans 15:4), I could but regard the
chronological portions of the Bible as being as much a portion of the
word of God, and as much entitled to our serious consideration, as any
other portion of the Scriptures. I therefore felt that in endeavoring to
comprehend what God had in His mercy seen fit to reveal to us, I had no
right to pass over the prophetic periods."-- Bliss, page 75.
The prophecy which seemed most clearly
to reveal the time
of the second advent was that of Daniel
8:14: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed." Following his rule of making Scripture its own
interpreter, Miller learned that a day in symbolic prophecy represents a
year (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6); he saw that the period of 2300
prophetic days, or literal years, would extend far beyond the close of
the Jewish dispensation, hence it could not refer to the sanctuary of
that dispensation. Miller accepted the generally received view that in
the Christian age
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the earth is the sanctuary, and he
therefore understood that the cleansing of the sanctuary foretold in
Daniel 8:14 represented the purification of the earth by fire at the
second coming of Christ. If, then, the correct starting point could be
found for the 2300 days, he concluded that the time of the second advent
could be readily ascertained. Thus would be revealed the time of that
great consummation, the time when the present state, with "all its pride
and power, pomp and vanity, wickedness and oppression, would come to an
end;" when the curse would be "removed from off the earth, death be
destroyed, reward be given to the servants of God, the prophets and
saints, and them who fear His name, and those be destroyed that destroy
the earth."--Bliss, page 76.
With a new and deeper earnestness,
Miller continued the examination of the prophecies, whole nights as well
as days being devoted to the study of what now appeared of such
stupendous importance and all-absorbing interest. In the eighth chapter
of Daniel he could find no clue to the starting point of the 2300 days;
the angel Gabriel, though commanded to make Daniel understand the
vision, gave him only a partial explanation. As the terrible persecution
to befall the church was unfolded to the prophet's vision, physical
strength gave way. He could endure no more, and the angel left him for a
time. Daniel "fainted, and was sick certain days." "And I was astonished
at the vision," he says, "but none understood it."
Yet God had bidden His messenger:
"Make this man to understand the vision." That commission must be
fulfilled. In obedience to it, the angel, some time afterward, returned
to Daniel, saying: "I am now come forth to give thee skill and
understanding;" "therefore understand the matter, and consider the
vision." Daniel 8:27, 16; 9:22, 23, 25-27. There was one important point
in the vision of chapter 8 which had been left unexplained, namely, that
relating to time--the period of the 2300 days; therefore the angel, in
resuming his explanation, dwells chiefly upon the subject of time:
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"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy
people and upon thy Holy City. . . . Know therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and
threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall,
even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself. . . . And He shall confirm the
covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."
The angel had been sent to Daniel for
the express purpose of explaining to him the point which he had failed
to understand in the vision of the eighth chapter, the statement
relative to time--"unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall
the sanctuary be cleansed." After bidding Daniel "understand the matter,
and consider the vision," the very first words of the angel are:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy City."
The word here translated "determined" literally signifies "cut off."
Seventy weeks, representing 490 years, are declared by the angel to be
cut off, as specially pertaining to the Jews. But from what were they
cut off? As the 2300 days was the only period of time mentioned in
chapter 8, it must be the period from which the seventy weeks were cut
off; the seventy weeks must therefore be a part of the 2300 days, and
the two periods must begin together. The seventy weeks were declared by
the angel to date from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
build Jerusalem. If the date of this commandment could be found, then
the starting point for the great period of the 2300 days would be
ascertained.
In the seventh chapter of Ezra the
decree is found. Verses 12-26. In its completest form it was issued by
Artaxerxes, king of Persia, 457 B.C. But in Ezra 6:14 the house of the
Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been built "according to the
commandment ["decree," margin] of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king
of Persia." These three kings, in
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originating, reaffirming, and completing
the decree, brought it to the perfection required by the prophecy to
mark the beginning of the 2300 years. Taking 457 B.C., the time when the
decree was completed, as the date of the commandment, every
specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks was seen to
have been fulfilled.
"From the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the
Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks"--namely,
sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years. The decree of Artaxerxes went into
effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. From this date, 483 years extend to the
autumn of A.D. 27. (See
Appendix.)
At that time this prophecy was fulfilled. The word "Messiah" signifies
"the Anointed One." In the autumn of A.D. 27 Christ was baptized by John
and received the anointing of the Spirit. The apostle Peter testifies
that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power." Acts 10:38. And the Saviour Himself declared: "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the
poor." Luke 4:18. After His baptism He went into Galilee, "preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying,
The time
is fulfilled." Mark 1:14, 15.
"And He shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week." The "week" here brought to view is the last one
of the seventy; it is the last seven years of the period allotted
especially to the Jews. During this time, extending from A.D. 27 to A.D.
34, Christ, at first in person and afterward by His disciples, extended
the gospel invitation especially to the Jews. As the apostles went forth
with the good tidings of the kingdom, the Saviour's direction was: "Go
not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Matthew 10:5, 6.
"In the midst of the week He shall
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." In A.D. 31, three and a
half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great
sacrifice
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offered upon Calvary, ended that system
of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed forward to the
Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and oblations
of the ceremonial system were there to cease.
The seventy weeks, or 490 years,
especially allotted to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At
that time, through the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed
its rejection of the gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and the
persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the message of salvation,
no longer restricted to the chosen people, was given to the world. The
disciples, forced by persecution to flee from Jerusalem, "went
everywhere preaching the word." "Philip went down to the city of
Samaria, and preached Christ unto them." Peter, divinely guided, opened
the gospel to the centurion of Caesarea, the God-fearing Cornelius; and
the ardent Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commissioned to carry
the glad tidings "far hence unto the Gentiles." Acts 8:4, 5; 22:21.
Thus far every specification of the
prophecies is strikingly fulfilled, and the beginning of the seventy
weeks is fixed beyond question at 457 B.C., and their expiration in A.D.
34. From this data there is no difficulty in finding the termination of
the 2300 days. The seventy weeks--490 days--having been cut off from the
2300, there were 1810 days remaining. After the end of 490 days, the
1810 days were still to be fulfilled. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to
1844. Consequently the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 terminate in 1844. At
the expiration of this great prophetic period, upon the testimony of the
angel of God, "the sanctuary shall be cleansed." Thus the time of the
cleansing of the sanctuary--which was almost universally believed to
take place at the second advent--was definitely pointed out.
Miller and his associates at first
believed that the 2300 days would terminate in the
spring
of 1844, whereas the prophecy
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points to the
autumn
of that year. (See
Appendix.)
The misapprehension of this point brought disappointment and perplexity
to those who had fixed upon the earlier date as the time of the Lord's
coming. But this did not in the least affect the strength of the
argument showing that the 2300 days terminated in the year 1844, and
that the great event represented by the cleansing of the sanctuary must
then take place.
Entering upon the study of the
Scriptures as he had done, in order to prove that they were a revelation
from God, Miller had not, at the outset, the slightest expectation of
reaching the conclusion at which he had now arrived. He himself could
hardly credit the results of his investigation. But the Scripture
evidence was too clear and forcible to be set aside.
He had devoted two years to the study
of the Bible, when, in 1818, he reached the solemn conviction that in
about twenty-five years Christ would appear for the redemption of His
people. "I need not speak," says Miller, "of the joy that filled my
heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor of the ardent longings of
my soul for a participation in the joys of the redeemed. The Bible was
now to me a new book. It was indeed a feast of reason; all that was
dark, mystical, or obscure to me in its teachings, had been dissipated
from my mind before the clear light that now dawned from its sacred
pages; and, oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared! All the
contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the word were
gone; and although there were many portions of which I was not satisfied
I had a full understanding, yet so much light had emanated from it to
the illumination of my before darkened mind, that I felt a delight in
studying the Scripture which I had not before supposed could be derived
from its teachings."--Bliss, pages 76, 77.
"With the solemn conviction that such
momentous events were predicted in the Scriptures to be fulfilled in so
short a space of time, the question came home to me with mighty
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power regarding my duty to the world, in
view of the evidence that had affected my own mind."--
Ibid., page 81. He could not
but feel that it was his duty to impart to others the light which he had
received. He expected to encounter opposition from the ungodly, but was
confident that all Christians would rejoice in the hope of meeting the
Saviour whom they professed to love. His only fear was that in their
great joy at the prospect of glorious deliverance, so soon to be
consummated, many would receive the doctrine without sufficiently
examining the Scriptures in demonstration of its truth. He therefore
hesitated to present it, lest he should be in error and be the means of
misleading others. He was thus led to review the evidences in support of
the conclusions at which he had arrived, and to consider carefully every
difficulty which presented itself to his mind. He found that objections
vanished before the light of God's word, as mist before the rays of the
sun. Five years spent thus left him fully convinced of the correctness
of his position.
And now the duty of making known to
others what he believed to be so clearly taught in the Scriptures, urged
itself with new force upon him. "When I was about my business," he said,
"it was continually ringing in my ears, 'Go and tell the world of their
danger.' This text was constantly occurring to me: 'When I say unto the
wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to
warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn
the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way,
he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." Ezekiel
33:8, 9. I felt that if the wicked could be effectually warned,
multitudes of them would repent; and that if they were not warned, their
blood might be required at my hand."--Bliss, page 92.
He began to present his views in
private as he had opportunity, praying that some minister might feel
their force and devote himself to their promulgation. But he could not
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banish the conviction that he had a
personal duty to perform in giving the warning. The words were ever
recurring to his mind: "Go and tell it to the world; their blood will I
require at thy hand." For nine years he waited, the burden still
pressing upon his soul, until in 1831 he for the first time publicly
gave the reasons of his faith.
As Elisha was called from following
his oxen in the field, to receive the mantle of consecration to the
prophetic office, so was William Miller called to leave his plow and
open to the people the mysteries of the kingdom of God. With trembling
he entered upon his work, leading his hearers down, step by step,
through the prophetic periods to the second appearing of Christ. With
every effort he gained strength and courage as he saw the widespread
interest excited by his words.
It was only at the solicitation of his
brethren, in whose words he heard the call of God, that Miller consented
to present his views in public. He was now fifty years of age,
unaccustomed to public speaking, and burdened with a sense of unfitness
for the work before him. But from the first his labors were blessed in a
remarkable manner to the salvation of souls. His first lecture was
followed by a religious awakening in which thirteen entire families,
with the exception of two persons, were converted. He was immediately
urged to speak in other places, and in nearly every place his labor
resulted in a revival of the work of God. Sinners were converted,
Christians were roused to greater consecration, and deists and infidels
were led to acknowledge the truth of the Bible and the Christian
religion. The testimony of those among whom he labored was: "A class of
minds are reached by him not within the influence of other men."--
Ibid., page 138. His preaching
was calculated to arouse the public mind to the great things of religion
and to check the growing worldliness and sensuality of the age.
In nearly every town there were
scores, in some, hundreds, converted as a result of his preaching. In
many places Protestant
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churches of nearly all denominations were
thrown open to him, and the invitations to labor usually came from the
ministers of the several congregations. It was his invariable rule not
to labor in any place to which he had not been invited, yet he soon
found himself unable to comply with half the requests that poured in
upon him. Many who did not accept his views as to the exact time of the
second advent were convinced of the certainty and nearness of Christ's
coming and their need of preparation. In some of the large cities his
work produced a marked impression. Liquor dealers abandoned the traffic
and turned their shops into meeting rooms; gambling dens were broken up;
infidels, deists, Universalists, and even the most abandoned profligates
were reformed, some of whom had not entered a house of worship for
years. Prayer meetings were established by the various denominations, in
different quarters, at almost every hour, businessmen assembling at
midday for prayer and praise. There was no extravagant excitement, but
an almost universal solemnity on the minds of the people. His work, like
that of the early Reformers, tended rather to convince the understanding
and arouse the conscience than merely to excite the emotions.
In 1833 Miller received a license to
preach, from the Baptist Church, of which he was a member. A large
number of the ministers of his denomination also approved his work, and
it was with their formal sanction that he continued his labors. He
traveled and preached unceasingly, though his personal labors were
confined principally to the New England and Middle States. For several
years his expenses were met wholly from his own private purse, and he
never afterward received enough to meet the expense of travel to the
places where he was invited. Thus his public labors, so far from being a
pecuniary benefit, were a heavy tax upon his property, which gradually
diminished during this period of his life. He was the father of a large
family, but as they were all frugal and industrious, his farm sufficed
for their maintenance as well as his own.
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In 1833, two years after Miller began
to present in public the evidences of Christ's soon coming, the last of
the signs appeared which were promised by the Saviour as tokens of His
second advent. Said Jesus: "The stars shall fall from heaven." Matthew
24:29. And John in the Revelation declared, as he beheld in vision the
scenes that should herald the day of God: "The stars of heaven fell unto
the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is
shaken of a mighty wind." Revelation 6:13. This prophecy received a
striking and impressive fulfillment in the great meteoric shower of
November 13, 1833. That was the most extensive and wonderful display of
falling stars which has ever been recorded; "the whole firmament, over
all the United States, being then, for hours, in fiery commotion! No
celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this country, since its first
settlement, which was viewed with such intense admiration by one class
in the community, or with so much dread and alarm by another." "Its
sublimity and awful beauty still linger in many minds. . . . Never did
rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell toward the earth; east,
west, north, and south, it was the same. In a word, the whole heavens
seemed in motion. . . . The display, as described in Professor
Silliman's Journal,
was seen all over North America. . . .
From two o'clock until broad daylight, the sky being perfectly serene
and cloudless, an incessant play of dazzlingly brilliant luminosities
was kept up in the whole heavens."--R. M. Devens,
American Progress; or, The Great Events
of the Greatest Century, ch.
28, pars. 1-5.
"No language, indeed, can come up to
the splendor of that magnificent display; . . . no one who did not
witness it can form an adequate conception of its glory. It seemed as if
the whole starry heavens had congregated at one point near the zenith,
and were simultaneously shooting forth, with the velocity of lightning,
to every part of the horizon; and yet they were not exhausted--thousands
swiftly followed in the tracks of thousands, as if created for the
occasion."--F. Reed, in the
Christian Advocate and Journal,
Dec. 13, 1833. "A
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more correct picture of a fig tree
casting its figs when blown by a mighty wind, it was not possible to
behold."--"The Old Countryman," in Portland
Evening Advertiser,
Nov. 26, 1833.
In the New York
Journal of Commerce
of November 14, 1833, appeared a long
article regarding this wonderful phenomenon, containing this statement:
"No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose,
like that of yesterday morning. A prophet eighteen hundred years ago
foretold it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understanding stars
falling to mean falling stars, . . . in the only sense in which it is
possible to be literally true."
Thus was displayed the last of those
signs of His coming, concerning which Jesus bade His disciples: "When ye
shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at
the doors." Matthew 24:33. After these signs, John beheld, as the great
event next impending, the heavens departing as a scroll, while the earth
quaked, mountains and islands removed out of their places, and the
wicked in terror sought to flee from the presence of the Son of man.
Revelation 6:12-17.
Many who witnessed the falling of the
stars, looked upon it as a herald of the coming judgment, "an awful
type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign, of that great and dreadful
day." --"The Old Countryman," in Portland
Evening Advertiser,
Nov. 26, 1833. Thus the attention of the
people was directed to the fulfillment of prophecy, and many were led to
give heed to the warning of the second advent.
In the year 1840 another remarkable
fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before,
Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent,
published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the
Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be
overthrown "in A.D. 1840, sometime in the month of August;" and only a
few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: "Allowing the first
period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes
ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years,
fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on
the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power
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in Constantinople may be expected to be
broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case."--Josiah
Litch, in Signs of the Times,
and Expositor of Prophecy,
Aug. 1, 1840.
At the very time specified, Turkey,
through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of the allied powers of
Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations.
The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. (See
Appendix.)
When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of
the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his
associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the advent movement.
Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and
in publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly
extended.
William Miller possessed strong mental
powers, disciplined by thought and study; and he added to these the
wisdom of heaven by connecting himself with the Source of wisdom. He was
a man of sterling worth, who could not but command respect and esteem
wherever integrity of character and moral excellence were valued.
Uniting true kindness of heart with Christian humility and the power of
self-control, he was attentive and affable to all, ready to listen to
the opinions of others and to weigh their arguments. Without passion or
excitement he tested all theories and doctrines by the word of God, and
his sound reasoning and thorough knowledge of the Scriptures enabled him
to refute error and expose falsehood.
Yet he did not prosecute his work
without bitter opposition. As with earlier Reformers, the truths which
he presented were not received with favor by popular religious teachers.
As these could not maintain their position by the Scriptures, they were
driven to resort to the sayings and doctrines of men, to the traditions
of the Fathers. But the word of God was the only testimony accepted by
the preachers of the advent truth. "The Bible, and the Bible only," was
their watchword. The lack of Scripture argument on the part of their
opponents was supplied by ridicule and scoffing. Time, means, and
talents were employed in maligning those whose
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only offense was that they looked with
joy for the return of their Lord and were striving to live holy lives
and to exhort others to prepare for His appearing.
Earnest were the efforts put forth to
draw away the minds of the people from the subject of the second advent.
It was made to appear a sin, something of which men should be ashamed,
to study the prophecies which relate to the coming of Christ and the end
of the world. Thus the popular ministry undermined faith in the word of
God. Their teaching made men infidels, and many took license to walk
after their own ungodly lusts. Then the authors of the evil charged it
all upon Adventists.
While drawing crowded houses of
intelligent and attentive hearers, Miller's name was seldom mentioned by
the religious press except by way of ridicule or denunciation. The
careless and ungodly emboldened by the position of religious teachers,
resorted to opprobrious epithets, to base and blasphemous witticisms, in
their efforts to heap contumely upon him and his work. The gray-headed
man who had left a comfortable home to travel at his own expense from
city to city, from town to town, toiling unceasingly to bear to the
world the solemn warning of the judgment near, was sneeringly denounced
as a fanatic, a liar, a speculating knave.
The ridicule, falsehood, and abuse
heaped upon him called forth indignant remonstrance, even from the
secular press. "To treat a subject of such overwhelming majesty and
fearful consequences," with lightness and ribaldry was declared by
worldly men to be "not merely to sport with the feelings of its
propagators and advocates," but "to make a jest of the day of judgment,
to scoff at the Deity Himself, and contemn the terrors of His judgment
bar."--Bliss, page 183.
The instigator of all evil sought not
only to counteract the effect of the advent message, but to destroy the
messenger himself. Miller made a practical application of Scripture
truth to the hearts of his hearers, reproving their sins and
Page 337
disturbing their self-satisfaction, and
his plain and cutting words aroused their enmity. The opposition
manifested by church members toward his message emboldened the baser
classes to go to greater lengths; and enemies plotted to take his life
as he should leave the place of meeting. But holy angels were in the
throng, and one of these, in the form of a man, took the arm of this
servant of the Lord and led him in safety from the angry mob. His work
was not yet done, and Satan and his emissaries were disappointed in
their purpose.
Despite all opposition, the interest
in the advent movement had continued to increase. From scores and
hundreds, the congregations had grown to as many thousands. Large
accessions had been made to the various churches, but after a time the
spirit of opposition was manifested even against these converts, and the
churches began to take disciplinary steps with those who had embraced
Miller's views. This action called forth a response from his pen, in an
address to Christians of all denominations, urging that if his doctrines
were false, he should be shown his error from the Scriptures.
"What have we believed," he said,
"that we have not been commanded to believe by the word of God, which
you yourselves allow is the rule, and only rule, of our faith and
practice? What have we done that should call down such virulent
denunciations against us from pulpit and press, and give you just cause
to exclude us [Adventists] from your churches and fellowship?" "If we
are wrong, pray show us wherein consists our wrong. Show us from the
word of God that we are in error; we have had ridicule enough; that can
never convince us that we are in the wrong; the word of God alone can
change our views. Our conclusions have been formed deliberately and
prayerfully, as we have seen the evidence in the Scriptures."--
Ibid., pages 250, 252.
From age to age the warnings which God
has sent to the world by His servants have been received with like
incredulity and unbelief. When the iniquity of the antediluvians
Page 338
moved Him to bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, He first made known to them His purpose, that they might have
opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For a hundred and twenty years
was sounded in their ears the warning to repent, lest the wrath of God
be manifested in their destruction. But the message seemed to them an
idle tale, and they believed it not. Emboldened in their wickedness they
mocked the messenger of God, made light of his entreaties, and even
accused him of presumption. How dare one man stand up against all the
great men of the earth? If Noah's message were true, why did not all the
world see it and believe it? One man's assertion against the wisdom of
thousands! They would not credit the warning, nor would they seek
shelter in the ark.
Scoffers pointed to the things of
nature,--to the unvarying succession of the seasons, to the blue skies
that had never poured out rain, to the green fields refreshed by the
soft dews of night,--and they cried out: "Doth he not speak parables?"
In contempt they declared the preacher of righteousness to be a wild
enthusiast; and they went on, more eager in their pursuit of pleasure,
more intent upon their evil ways, than before. But their unbelief did
not hinder the predicted event. God bore long with their wickedness,
giving them ample opportunity for repentance; but at the appointed time
His judgments were visited upon the rejecters of His mercy.
Christ declares that there will exist
similar unbelief concerning His second coming. As the people of Noah's
day "knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so," in the
words of our Saviour, "shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
Matthew 24-39. When the professed people of God are uniting with the
world, living as they live, and joining with them in forbidden
pleasures; when the luxury of the world becomes the luxury of the
church; when the marriage bells are chiming, and all are looking forward
to many years of worldly prosperity--then, suddenly as the
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lightning flashes from the heavens, will
come the end of their bright visions and delusive hopes.
As God sent His servant to warn the
world of the coming Flood, so He sent chosen messengers to make known
the nearness of the final judgment. And as Noah's contemporaries laughed
to scorn the predictions of the preacher of righteousness, so in
Miller's day many, even of the professed people of God, scoffed at the
words of warning.
And why were the doctrine and
preaching of Christ's second coming so unwelcome to the churches? While
to the wicked the advent of the Lord brings woe and desolation, to the
righteous it is fraught with joy and hope. This great truth had been the
consolation of God's faithful ones through all the ages; why had it
become, like its Author, "a stone of stumbling" and "a rock of offense"
to His professed people? It was our Lord Himself who promised His
disciples: "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto Myself." John 14:3. It was the compassionate Saviour,
who, anticipating the loneliness and sorrow of His followers,
commissioned angels to comfort them with the assurance that He would
come again in person, even as He went into heaven. As the disciples
stood gazing intently upward to catch the last glimpse of Him whom they
loved, their attention was arrested by the words: "Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him
go into heaven." Acts 1:11. Hope was kindled afresh by the angels'
message. The disciples "returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were
continually in the temple, praising and blessing God." Luke 24:52, 53.
They were not rejoicing because Jesus had been separated from them and
they were left to struggle with the trials and temptations of the world,
but because of the angels' assurance that He would come again.
The proclamation of Christ's coming
should now be, as when made by the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem,
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good tidings of great joy. Those who
really love the Saviour cannot but hail with gladness the announcement
founded upon the word of God that He in whom their hopes of eternal life
are centered is coming again, not to be insulted, despised, and
rejected, as at His first advent, but in power and glory, to redeem His
people. It is those who do not love the Saviour that desire Him to
remain away, and there can be no more conclusive evidence that the
churches have departed from God than the irritation and animosity
excited by this Heaven-sent message.
Those who accepted the advent doctrine
were roused to the necessity of repentance and humiliation before God.
Many had long been halting between Christ and the world; now they felt
that it was time to take a stand. "The things of eternity assumed to
them an unwonted reality. Heaven was brought near, and they felt
themselves guilty before God."-- Bliss, page 146. Christians were
quickened to new spiritual life. They were made to feel that time was
short, that what they had to do for their fellow men must be done
quickly. Earth receded, eternity seemed to open before them, and the
soul, with all that pertained to its immortal weal or woe, was felt to
eclipse every temporal object. The Spirit of God rested upon them and
gave power to their earnest appeals to their brethren, as well as to
sinners, to prepare for the day of God. The silent testimony of their
daily life was a constant rebuke to formal and unconsecrated church
members. These did not wish to be disturbed in their pursuit of
pleasure, their devotion to money-making, and their ambition for worldly
honor. Hence the enmity and opposition excited against the advent faith
and those who proclaimed it.
As the arguments from the prophetic
periods were found to be impregnable, opposers endeavored to discourage
investigation of the subject by teaching that the prophecies were
sealed. Thus Protestants followed in the steps of Romanists. While the
papal church withholds the Bible (see
Appendix)
from the people, Protestant churches claimed that an
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important part of the Sacred Word--and
that the part which brings to view truths specially applicable to our
time--could not be understood.
Ministers and people declared that the
prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation were incomprehensible mysteries.
But Christ directed His disciples to the words of the prophet Daniel
concerning events to take place in their time, and said: "Whoso readeth,
let him understand."
Matthew 24:15. And the assertion that
the Revelation is a mystery, not to be understood, is contradicted by
the very title of the book: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come
to pass. . . . Blessed
is he that
readeth,
and they that
hear
the words of this prophecy, and
keep
those things which are written therein:
for the time is at hand." Revelation 1:1-3.
Says the prophet: "Blessed is he that
readeth"--there are those who will not read; the blessing is not for
them. "And they that hear"--there are some, also, who refuse to hear
anything concerning the prophecies; the blessing is not for this class.
"And keep those things which are written therein"-- many refuse to heed
the warnings and instructions contained in the Revelation; none of these
can claim the blessing promised. All who ridicule the subjects of the
prophecy and mock at the symbols here solemnly given, all who refuse to
reform their lives and to prepare for the coming of the Son of man, will
be unblessed.
In view of the testimony of
Inspiration, how dare men teach that the Revelation is a mystery beyond
the reach of human understanding? It is a mystery revealed, a book
opened. The study of the Revelation directs the mind to the prophecies
of Daniel, and both present most important instruction, given of God to
men, concerning events to take place at the close of this world's
history.
To John were opened scenes of deep and
thrilling interest in the experience of the church. He saw the position,
dangers, conflicts, and final deliverance of the people of God. He
Page 342
records the closing messages which are to
ripen the harvest of the earth, either as sheaves for the heavenly
garner or as fagots for the fires of destruction. Subjects of vast
importance were revealed to him, especially for the last church, that
those who should turn from error to truth might be instructed concerning
the perils and conflicts before them. None need be in darkness in regard
to what is coming upon the earth.
Why, then, this widespread ignorance
concerning an important part of Holy Writ? Why this general reluctance
to investigate its teachings? It is the result of a studied effort of
the prince of darkness to conceal from men that which reveals his
deceptions. For this reason, Christ the Revelator, foreseeing the
warfare that would be waged against the study of the Revelation,
pronounced a blessing upon all who should read, hear, and observe the
words of the prophecy.
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