10/22/2024
It's the 180th Anniversary!
On this day in October 22, 1844, thousands of people waited, earnestly expecting Jesus to return to earth to take the saved to heaven in what is known as the 2nd Coming or 2nd Advent of Christ (the 1st Advent being when Jesus came as a baby). These "Millerites" or "Adventists" studied the prophesies in Daniel and Revelation and clung to the Bible promises such as:
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel 8:14 KJV).
And...
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first;" (1 Thessalonians 4:16 KJV).
They sold their land and gave up their jobs and did all they could for the world to know that Jesus was going to return on that Tuesday. And at that point, there was nothing to do but wait. They sat outside in groups and waited.
But the heavens did not roll up like a scroll (Revelation 6:14), Jesus did not show up, and instead there was a Great Disappointment. There were smaller disappointments before, from when there was the calculation error thinking it was 1843 while forgetting that there is no year 0 with the switch between BC to AD and then again in the spring of 1844, but everyone was fully confident that the error wasn't in the calculation. The question is what had gone wrong?
Out of the Great Disappointment, many left the faith entirely. The believers were ridiculed by many. However, there was a group that came to believe that it was the right date, but the wrong event.
Through further Bible study and vision confirmation with Hiram Edson, the small group of believers rejoiced in the hope that Jesus entered as our High Priest into the Most Holy Place in the Heavenly Sanctuary and begun the Day of Attonement. So the cleansing of the sanctuary wasn't the earth but instead the sins from the records from within the heavenly Sanctuary. Once this work in heaven is completed, then probation for all would be over and Jesus would take off His Priestly robes and put on His Kingly robes and return with the whole host of heaven.
It is from this small remnant of Adventists that eventually grew and formed the Seventh-day Adventist Church later in 1863.
You can read about the Disappointment by someone who lived through the experience herself. Ellen White wrote a book called the Great Controversy starting with William Miller's own life story in Chapter 18.
Great Controversy's chapter 18 on William Miller: https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/132.1450 #1450
Ellen White Writes about William Miller after the Great Disappointment and that he will go to heaven in the book Early Writings: https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/28.1254
Wikipedia Article on William Miller which includes a table of the various views that arose after the Disappointment:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Miller_(preacher)
Wikipedia Article on the Great Disappointment: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment
