In the past few decades, the search into family history has become increasingly popular. With over 25 million clients on just one of the many ancestry and family history websites, it’s clear that knowing where we come from is of increasing importance to many of us as we attempt to figure out where to go.
Miller's Message
So, what was Miller’s message - and is it relevant now?
As Seventh-Day Adventists, we feel the same way about our church history. Of course, we can trace our origins to the people and events of the Bible. But what happened after the time of Jesus and his early followers? Where did the churches of Corinth, Rome, Ephesians, and many more, go? How did we get the many different denominations of the Christian faith that we now have? We cover this, and more, in our course ‘Will the True Church Please Stand Up?’ But let’s look more directly into Seventh-Day Adventists’ history. How did we begin?
The movie, The Hopeful, covers this backstory beautifully. However, if you’ve watched it you may still have a few questions - after all, not everything can be covered in one and a half hours. So, let’s dive deep and start at the beginning: who was William Miller?
The credited founder of the movement that led to Adventism, Miller wasn’t always a revolutionary preacher or Biblical scholar. Raised in a low-income family in the late 1700s, he didn’t receive the chance to continue the education he desired - rather he became a farmer and served in the military. However, his interest in study remained and he accessed the public library whenever able. First a Baptist and then a diest¹, it was his experiences in the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814 that convinced him of God’s certain involvement in our lives. Miraculously unharmed by a nearby explosion that wounded and killed others, he felt that God had spared his life. This experience impacted him dramatically. God wasn’t just real to him now - God was present and involved in his life. After returning to his roots and attending his uncle’s Baptist church, Miller was eventually given a sermon to read aloud, as was customary when the minister was absent. Any remaining doubts about God’s goodness were removed as he read, his tears flowing as the words touched his heart. From then on, his studies were focused on the Bible and a desire to understand it for himself. Using a concordance², he would focus particularly on confusing or seemingly contradicting Biblical passages, becoming known for his insight and confidence that the Bible was meant to be understood. Daniel 12:4 seemed to be coming alive - where the time of the end was imminent, and the truth was increasingly revealed. This end seemed more and more impending as Miller studied: particularly in terms of Daniel 8:14, where the Bible explicitly states: ‘And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed” ’ (Daniel 8:14, NKJV).
¹The belief that God created the world but is now impersonal and uninvolved in our lives.
²A book which lists words alphabetically with references to where they can be found in the Bible.
This is where the real research began and where the math mattered, leading to the important discoveries. Miller was one of the first to interpret these 2300 ‘days’ in Daniel into what they represented: years. He utilized Biblical texts to do this, including Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34, which explicitly align the ‘days’ mentioned in the Bible with ‘years.’ To find out when the prophecy began, Miller began with Daniel 9:24, which discussed the ‘70 weeks’ in which other key prophecies would be fulfilled (including Jesus’ baptism and death). The start date of the prophecy was understood as ‘... the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem…’ (Daniel 9:25, NKJV), which according to historians, happened in 457 BC under King Artaxerxes. For a more detailed description of these prophecies, go to our free course, The Hopeful: Lesson One.
Now, Miller’s understanding of the prophecy led him to believe that the ‘sanctuary’ was earth and that the ‘cleansing’ of the sanctuary mentioned in Daniel 8:14 would occur when Jesus returned to this world from heaven and the followers of God would be with Him in heaven, as mentioned in passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. By counting out 2300 years from 457 BC, Miller concluded that Jesus would return in 1844! Although excited, Miller spent much more time in the study before he spoke to others about this. Although The Hopeful movie skims past this, Miller actually spent 13 years studying this topic before sharing his ideas with others. Over the following 12 years, many people from all denominations came to believe the same as Miller. They gathered all they knew, many selling all they had to tell others and prepare for the imminent coming of Jesus. However, in all this, it appears there was one text that was missed: Matthew 24:36-37.
‘ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” ’
Matthew 24:36-37 NKJVFrom both that verse and the fact that we and the earth as we have known it are still here now, Miller didn’t exactly get his interpretation of the prophecy right. This agony of having their greatest hopes dashed became aptly known as the ‘Great Disappointment’. To be waiting so hopefully that Jesus would return, giving everything and hoping desperately - all for nothing? It was devastating for all who believed in Miller’s message. Some clung to obscure hopes and future dates while many more fell away from the idea of Jesus soon return completely. However, as you may have seen in The Hopeful, a small group turned to the Bible once more to gain insight into this apparent misunderstanding - and from there they discovered the truth of the prophecy.
But what about Miller? Well, although not often appearing in public, Miller never gave up on God or the confidence that Jesus would one day return - his public work was simply done. Others carried on the mission, building on Miller’s discoveries with an ever-deepening understanding.
To learn more about this, read our course here at Hope.Study: The Hopeful, Lesson Two.
This is the first blog in a series following The Hopeful movie. To learn more about what happened after Miller's mistake, read the second blog here.
About the Author
Azaria is a passionate young writer devoted to exploring and sharing the truth of God’s Word. With a heart for faith and a love for storytelling, she seeks to inspire and engage readers on their spiritual journeys.
Azaria Jones
NSW, Australia
