August 31, 2023 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, friends. In our previous video, we looked at the amazing 2300-day/year prophecy given in Daniel 8:14 and saw how, through careful Bible study, William Miller realized that much of the prophecy had already been fulfilled. Tracing down the prophetic timeline, he realized that the 2,300 years would end in 1844.
“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” he read again and again from Daniel 8:14. Believing, as so many did at that time, that the sanctuary here described must be the earth, William Miller was certain the prophecy was foretelling the Second Coming of Christ.
He had devoted two years to the study of the Bible when he came to the conclusion that Jesus’ coming was imminent. He later said, “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 power regarding my duty to the world, in view of the evidence that had affected my own mind” (The Great Controversy, p. 329).
However, he hesitated to share his convictions with the world, fearing that if he had somehow made a mistake, he would lead many people astray. Again, he diligently studied the Bible texts that had led him through the time prophecies, and after five years of continued study, he was convinced that the prophecy pointed to 1844 as the end, and Jesus would come.
The conviction came again to him, stronger than at first, that he must share this good news with others. The words of Ezekiel 33:8 seemed to ring in his mind:
“. . . 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.”
At last, he was convinced that he must share what he had learned publicly. Starting small, he first shared with small groups, but at their request, he began sharing more widely. The message spread quickly, and what started small grew into a second Advent movement, based on Bible prophecy.
Ellen White writes that, “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 . . . approved his work, and it was with their formal sanction that he continued his labors” (The Great Controversy, p. 332).
While he was licensed to preach by the Baptist Church, Miller paid personally for his many travels that took him to many places in the eastern United States.
During this time, in 1833, as Miller was publicly presenting the evidences of Christ’s soon coming, the last of the signs which Jesus mentioned to his disciples as recorded in Matthew 24:29 took place. Jesus told them, “The stars shall fall from heaven.” And in Revelation 6:13 we read: “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.”
This prophecy was fulfilled in a most remarkable way in the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833–it was the most extensive and incredible display of falling stars ever recorded.
In the book The Great Controversy, we read several eyewitness descriptions of the event. Here are just a few:
“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. . .
“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. . . .
“No language, indeed, can come up to the splendor of that magnificent; . . . 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. . . . A more correct picture of a fig tree casting its figs when blown by a mighty wind, it was not possible to behold” (The Great Controversy, p. 333).
The Lord was surely trying to get people’s attention, encouraging them to study the prophecies and listen to the Advent message that was being proclaimed.
Many listened and accepted the message wholeheartedly. Others, however, not only rejected the message, but ridiculed the messenger. As with earlier Reformers, the truths which William Miller presented were not received with favor by popular religious teachers. And since they could not support their position by the Scriptures, they, as in times past, relied on the traditions of the Church. Nevertheless, William Miller and his followers stayed true to the Word of God.
In our next video, we will delve more deeply into what actually happened in 1844 and how that affects our lives today. But we can be thankful for William Miller, and how his deep Bible study laid the foundation for understanding the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.
I invite you to pray with me just now.
Father in Heaven, Thank you so much for revealing so many wonderful prophetic understandings to us in Scripture. Thank you for inspiring and encouraging William Miller to truly dig into the Scriptures, comparing line upon line, verse upon verse, precept upon precept, so that he was able to understand the day-year principle regarding the 2300 years. Now, Lord bless, as we continue to focus upon these momentous events as we come to the end of time and Jesus’ soon return. Thank you for hearing us and thank you for the Word of God and His prophecies. In Jesus’ name, we ask it. Amen.