The Great Controversy
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 18: An American Reformer
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William Miller declared, '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.'
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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. {GC 317.1}
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 [318] 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. {GC 317.2}
His mother was a woman of sterling piety, and in childhood,
he had been subject to religious impressions. In early manhood, 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: {GC 318.1}
"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." [319] {GC 318.2}
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.
. . . {GC 319.1}
"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. {GC 319.2}
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 [320] be
adapted to his understanding. He determined to study the Scriptures for
himself, and ascertain if every apparent contradiction could not be harmonized.
{GC 319.3}
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. {GC
320.1}
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 [321] 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. {GC 320.2}
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. {GC 321.1}
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. {GC
321.2}
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 [322] 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. {GC
321.3}
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. {GC 322.1}
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 [323] 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. {GC 322.2}
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. {GC 323.1}
"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. [324]
{GC 323.2}
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. {GC 324.1}
"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. {GC 324.2}
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 [325] 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. {GC 324.3}
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." {GC 325.1}
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: [326] {GC 325.2}
"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." {GC 326.1}
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. {GC
326.2}
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 [327]
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. {GC 326.3}
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"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. {GC 327.1}
"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. {GC 327.2}
"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 [328]
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. {GC 327.3}
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. {GC 328.1}
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. {GC
328.2}
Miller and his associates at first believed that the 2300
days would terminate in the spring of 1844, whereas the prophecy [329]
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. {GC 328.3}
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. {GC 329.1}
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. {GC 329.2}
"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 [330] 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. {GC 329.3}
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. {GC 330.1}
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 [331] 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. {GC 330.2}
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. {GC 331.1}
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. {GC 331.2}
In nearly every town there were scores, in some, hundreds,
converted as a result of his preaching. In many places Protestant [332]
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. {GC 331.3}
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. [333] {GC 332.1}
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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. {GC
333.1}
"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 [334]
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. {GC 333.2}
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." {GC 334.1}
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. {GC 334.2}
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. {GC 334.3}
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 [335] 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. {GC 334.4}
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. {GC 335.1}
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. {GC
335.2}
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 [336] 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. {GC 335.3}
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. {GC 336.1}
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. {GC 336.2}
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. {GC 336.3}
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 [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. {GC 336.4}
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. {GC 337.1}
"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. {GC 337.2}
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 [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. {GC 337.3}
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. {GC 338.1}
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 [339]
lightning flashes from the heavens, will come the end of their bright visions
and delusive hopes. {GC
338.2}
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. {GC 339.1}
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. {GC
339.2}
The proclamation of Christ's coming should now be, as when
made by the angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem, [340] 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. {GC
339.3}
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. {GC 340.1}
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 [341]
important part of the Sacred Word—and that the part which brings to
view truths specially applicable to our time—could not be understood.
{GC 340.2}
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. {GC 341.1}
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. {GC 341.2}
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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. {GC 341.3}
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 [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. {GC 341.4}
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. {GC 342.1}
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