You’re crushed. All you have dreamed and hoped for has been shattered, and you are left standing, wondering. The only thing that keeps resounding in your mind is one word—Why?
Why did God let this happen? Why did I get it wrong… why? The Millerite movement and its believers knew this feeling well. They had just experienced the biggest disappointment of their lives. What they did next, though, made a mark in history. What could have made a longer-lasting impact than the great disappointment that they had just experienced? Let’s unpack this.
Dealing With Disappointment
We can all relate to being disappointed—but this much? How do you come back from that?
This is the second blog in a series on the movie The Hopeful. If you’re interested in learning how this discovery came about, read the first blog here.
The newly born Millerite movement could have just given up hope, succumbing to the desperate, hopeless misery that would surely befall them after such disappointment. They had been so sure that Jesus was coming to earth to take them back to heaven on October 22, 1844. While some did give up hope and leave the movement and even their hope in God, others knew that God was still with them, leading, guiding, and inspiring their walk of faith in Him.
William Miller’s study of the prophecies in Daniel was thorough and Spirit-led. He was hesitant to set an exact date for Jesus’s soon return, as he had often read in Mark 13:32, “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” RSV. But despite this, S. Snow, a prominent figure in the movement, declared that he had found a date that fit the description of the prophecy, “the tenth day of the seventh month” (this was calculated based on the day of atonement from a historic Jewish calendar). However, October 22, 1844, came and went without the return of the Messiah. Devastated, those who remained faithful to their convictions and beliefs in the prophecies turned back to the Bible. What could they have gotten wrong? Although their faith had been severely tested, and they had endured intense disappointment and discouragement, they remained faithful to God. They chose to trust entirely in Him Who is faithful, always.“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Psalms 9:10, NIV
With earnest prayer, they returned to the prophecies (Daniel 8:14) and scriptures to find where they had gone wrong with their interpretations. They found that they had misinterpreted what ‘cleansing of the sanctuary’ actually meant. It wasn’t about Jesus coming back to Earth after all—the sanctuary wasn't Earth. It was in heaven. Jesus had now entered the Most Holy Place—and was starting His next job of cleansing it.
With the new, corrected interpretation, the Millerites set about researching and sharing this news. There was much to study and learn, and they enthusiastically set about it (find out more about their discoveries here). What they discovered was profound and encouraging. God wasn’t abandoning them, and the Scriptures hadn’t failed them; they had just misunderstood.
If you’ve felt this way, you understand that it's not easy. But this is not just something that we've only recently realized—no, this is something that has followed us throughout history.
Long, long before the Millerites’ great disappointment, there was another group of people who were disappointed, confused, and mistaken. It could have altered the course of the world as we know it if they had allowed their disappointment to turn into disbelief and unfaithfulness. Can you guess who these people were?The beloved disciples of Jesus. The very people who lived, ate, drank, and shared jokes, laughter, and tears with Jesus, the Savior of the world. They were the ones who listened intently to His teachings, watched Him perform miracles, conversed with Him as a brother, and watched in awe as they witnessed God’s divine power at work through His selfless acts of love.
Although these very disciples had listened intently to Jesus’ words and teachings about His ministry here on earth, and although they even believed He was their Messiah, they too got it wrong. They were mistaken bitterly. How?The disciples were sure that Jesus would herald a new government for Israel. They believed that He was going to be their King, pushing back the Roman empire, vanquishing all their foes, and once again reinstating peace and prosperity in their nation (Acts 1:6). But they had misunderstood. On that fateful night, and even throughout the next day until He was on the cross, pierced and bleeding, they began to feel the pangs of disappointment. Their savior was not there to take over the world as they understood it. He wasn’t there to ride in on a chariot and declare war. He was there to die.Imagine the pain of that moment. Not only was their closest friend and leader dying but so were their dreams and hopes for Him to rescue them from their oppressors. At that moment, it was more than just disappointment. Some ran away in shame and discouragement, others lingered in the background, clinging onto a few morsels of hope.
But although afraid and confused at the time, they didn’t give up on Jesus—just as He didn’t give up on them. It was as the disciples were still meeting together that Jesus rose again. The plan had worked—and now, they understood. Through prayer, fasting, and much searching of the scriptures, they realized they had been mistaken in their understanding of His purpose. The disciples realized that although He didn’t come to this earth as their Savior to rescue them from their earthly enemies, He did come to save them from Satan, their one true enemy. He came to pay their debt of sin and redeem them to Himself. He was their King of kings! If you find yourself in a space of great disappointment or uncertainty about what you have hoped and dreamed in your faith journey, don’t let it sink you into unbelief. Instead, reach out to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and cling to Him. Search the Scriptures, pray earnestly, and seek Him, your Life Giver. Disappointment doesn’t mean the end. As stated by Martin Luther King Jr: “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.”
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:7-8, RSV
This is the second blog in a series on the movie, The Hopeful. To read more about the early Adventists’ and their discoveries, read the next blog here.
About the Author
Carly is an avid student of scripture and a vibrant soul. A lover of God and nature, she seeks to understand her Creator through His creation—a desire she hopes to share through her writing.
Carly McLean
Tasmania, Australia
