In the early 1800s, revival after revival fueled congregational growth among the churches of northeastern America. The new converts had little theological education, yet a vast majority of them began to discuss with great vigor the details of biblical prophecy. In turn, speculation boiled over the exact day, month and year of Christ’s Return. Among the speculators was a New York farmer named William Miller (1782–1849).
Miller, upon conversion, had determined to dissect the prophecies of Daniel. One prophecy in particular—Daniel 8:13–14—revealed to Miller in 1818 that Christ would return “about the year 1843.” When he began preaching in 1831, this revelation became the key-note of his messages. He also published a pamphlet in 1833 and a book of lectures in 1836 to further promote his prophetic findings. His audience, sensing him to be earnest and eloquent in both his writings and rhetoric, quickly grew. At one point Miller estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 Americans believed in his eschatological views; thus, espousing what had come to be termed, Millerism.
The financial panic of 1839 contributed to the mass belief that the end of the world was fast approaching. Prominent newspapers, such as the Signs of the Times (Boston) and the Midnight Cry (New York), published prophetic charts based on Miller’s teachings alongside stock market listings and current events. When 1843 came and went uneventfully, it was then that some of Miller’s associates set October 22, 1844, as the definitive date of the Second Coming.
As the morning of October 22, 1844, dawned, a fearful and foreboding fog metaphorically swept over New England. Fanatics ascended rooftops, treetops and mountaintops. Others gathered in churches. Normal activities ceased as everyone awaited the rending of the skies and the blaring sound of the angelic “last trump.” When the day, like the previous year, passed uneventfully, many Christians grew disillusioned. The following years saw a decline in conversions. Revivals abruptly ceased. The lost grew more cynical.
What should this story teach us? It’s alright to be inquisitive. It’s alright to want to know. But it’s also alright to let God know a few things that you don’t. The key to deciphering the date of Christ’s Return is simply to be prepared. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, today, and be saved from the eternal woes of the Final Judgement. Be ready. . . . “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Mt 24:44).
— Ron Metheny, “Why, God? Why?! (Understanding Habakkuk),” pp. 59–61
Bible Verse: But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. —Matthew 24:36 ESV
Quotable Quote: Shortly after the close of the first World War, I heard a great Southern preacher say that he feared the intense interest in prophecy current at that time would result in a dying out of the blessed hope when events had proved the excited interpreters wrong. The man was a prophet, or at least a remarkably shrewd student of human nature, for exactly what he predicted has come to pass. The hope of Christ’s coming is today all but dead among evangelicals. — A. W. Tozer (1897–1963)
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