II. Miller and His Mistake

Miller was born in the State of New York in 1782, married in 1803, and began preaching in 1831. He was a farmer. His school advantages had been limited.

Miller read Advent literature. It was plentiful. J. N. Andrews, Advent historian, states that as early as 1842 “Advent publications had been sent to every missionary station in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.” (“Great Second Advent Movement,” page 105.) From his reading of this literature his attention was attracted by the following subjects:

1. The fourth kingdom of Dan. 7.
2. The little horn of the same chapter.
3. The little horn of the eighth chapter.
4. The length of the prophetic periods.
5. The commencement of the seventy weeks.
6. Their connection with the twenty-three hundred days.
7. The nature of Christ’s second coming.
8. The return of the Jews.
9. The resurrection.

James White, author of a life of Miller, states that “Miller laid no claim to originality in his position respecting any of the above points,” since they were “established opinions of the church.” (“Life of Miller,” Chapter X.)

The only point wherein he differed from this “school” of Advent preachers was in his theory that the world would end “somewhere between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844.”

Miller was a close student of the following well-known authors: Luther, Calvin, Mede, Horne, Newton, Hale, Clarke, Brown, Faber, Noel, Hopkins. (“Life of Miller,” page 189.)

After spending nine years in the lecture field, Joshua V. Himes said to Miller: “There is but little knowledge on the subject after all you have done.” Miller replied: “I know it, Brother Himes.…I stand quite alone.…No one as yet seems to enter into the spirit and object of my mission.” (“Life of Miller,” page 128.) Miller’s movement was limited.

MILLER THE FOUNDER OF ADVENTISM.

James White contends that time setters and apostates from Miller’s views have “departed from the position of Miller, … and have left the field to Seventh-Day Adventists, who stand upon the original Advent faith.” (“Life of Miller, page 370.)

On April 23, 1845, a company of “Adventists” assembled at Albany, New York, “to consult together,” and William Miller was elected chairman of a committee delegated to draw up a declaration of doctrines. Ten articles were submitted, each one of which is held to this day by Seventh-Day Adventists. (“Life of Miller,” pages 59, 344.)

MILLER’s MISTAKE.

The second-advent doctrines preached by Miller were the following:

1. A “day” as used in prophecy means a literal year.
2. The twenty-three hundred days of Dan. 8:14 are twenty-three hundred years.
3. The seventy weeks of Dan. 9: 24, 25 are four hundred and ninety years, constituting the first four hundred and ninety of the twenty-three hundred years.
4. The seventy weeks and the twenty-three hundred days began in 457 B.C.
5. March 21, 1844, was the end of the twenty-three hundred years.
6. March 21, 1844, the sanctuary was to be cleansed.
7. Cleansing the sanctuary meant purifying the earth with fire.

MILLER’S POSITION CONSIDERED.

Rebuilding Jerusalem.

The seventy weeks of Dan. 8: 14 were to be dated, according to the prophecy, from the “going forth” of the “commandment to restore and build Jerusalem.” (Dan. 9: 25.) To the uninformed reader this seems to be no problem at all. Find the historical date when the commandment was given to restore Jerusalem, and—presto!—there it is. But it isn’t.

Jerusalem was destroyed, 608 B.C., by Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were carried away to Babylon. There they were to remain seventy years. (Dan. 9: 2; Jer. 25: 12; 2 Chron. 36: 21.) The period of their exile ended, therefore, in the year 538 B.C. Cyrus, king of Persia, who had the meanwhile conquered the Babylonians, issued a decree that year (538 B.C.) that the Jews should return to Jerusalem, rebuild their holy city and their temple. (Ez. 1: 1, 2.)

Isaiah had already foretold that Cyrus would give such a decree: “Saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” (Isa. 44: 28.)

This decree was given in the year 538 B.C. The twenty-three hundred days and the seventy weeks were to be dated from the going forth of this decree. (See Dan. 9: 24, 25.)

Under this decree 43,360 Jews and 3,000 servants returned to Jerusalem and began the work of reconstruction. (Ez. 2: 64.) The next year (537 B.C.) the foundation of the temple was laid. (Ez. 3: 8.) The Samaritans, enemies of the Jews, immediately to the north, petitioned Cambyses and Smerdis in rapid succession, sons of Cyrus and rulers after him on the Persian throne, to have the work of reconstruction stopped. It was stopped.

Darius took the throne in the year 521 B.C. During his second year the Jews succeeded in obtaining his consent to proceed with their work of rebuilding. (Ez. 6: 8.) That was 520 B.C. The temple was finished in the year 516 B.C., “which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius.” (Ez. 6: 15, 16.)

Here, then, not only do we have a commandment given for the rebuilding of the temple, but we have a rebuilt temple as a result of that commandment.

Adventists insist that the decree of Cyrus was for the rebuilding of the temple only. But that will not do. Cyrus was to say to “Jerusalem” that “thou” shalt be built. (Isa. 44: 28.)

Half a century later (458 B.C.) Ezra was permitted to go up from Babylon to Jerusalem, under the commission as “governor” of the Holy Land. He was to “set magistrates and judges,” and was to offer sacrifices “upon the altar of the house of the Lord” which was then “in Jerusalem.” (Ez. 7: 11-25.)

Ezra did not go up from Babylon to Jerusalem as a builder, but as a governor.

Fourteen years later (444 B.C.) Nehemiah received a commission from Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem and reconstruct the wall which had lain waste since 608 B.C.

The important dates thus far are these:

• 538 B.C. Commandment given.
• 516 B.C. Temple finished.
• 458 B.C. Ezra sent to Jerusalem as governor.
• 444 B.C. Walls of Jerusalem finished by Nehemiah.

Application of the Prophecy.

Each day in prophecy meant a year, literally considered. (Num. 14: 34; Ezek. 4: 6.) The seventy weeks, four hundred and ninety days, were four hundred and ninety years. The twenty-three hundred days were twenty-three hundred years. The four hundred and ninety years and the twenty-three hundred “days” were to begin together. They were to begin with the “going forth of the commandment” to restore and build Jerusalem. The only commandment that was ever given for the rebuilding of Jerusalem was given by Cyrus, 538 B.C. The four hundred and ninety years were to reach to the birth of Christ, and the twenty-three hundred years were to reach to his second coming. But four hundred and ninety years taken from 538 B.C. brings one to 44 B.C., and that is a useless date. Just so twenty-three hundred years taken from 538 B.C. brings one to the year 1762 A.D., and that also is a useless date.

The reader can see now the task that Miller was up against. But he believed that the twenty-three hundred years could be made to reach to the day of Christ’s second coming; and he was certain, therefore, that 538 B.C. was not the correct beginning point.

The next probable date connected with the reconstruction of Jerusalem was the date when Nehemiah was commissioned to finish the rebuilt city by reconstructing the walls. That was 444 B.C. Had there been no seventy weeks to be considered, Miller, beyond doubt, would have accepted this date as the starting point. But the seventy weeks were to reach to the birth of Christ from the date when the commandment was given. This date, however, had long been established by Prideaux, Sir Isaac Newton, and the list referred to on a recent page, and that date was 457 B.C.* Sixty-nine of the seventy weeks were to reach to Messiah—that is, four hundred and eighty-three of the day-years were to reach to Christ. Hence, four hundred and eighty-three years from 457 B.C. brings one down to 26 A.D., the year Christ was baptized. This, a happy co-incident, served the purpose of disposing of the seventy weeks for Miller’s predecessors; but it prepared his tomb relative to the twenty-three hundred years.

The year Ezra was sent to Jerusalem as governor, therefore, was the correct beginning point of the prophetic periods of Dan. 8: 14 and 9: 24, 25. True enough, there was no commandment given at that time for the rebuilding of Jerusalem; but that which has to be a certain way— well, it just has to be! And here, then, 457 B.C., is where Miller tied one end of the twenty-three hundred years, and 1844 is where the other end had to be terminated. Naturally enough, he began to number the twenty-three hundred years with the first day of the first month of the year 457 B.C. The last day of the twenty-three hundred years, therefore, just had to be March 21, 1844 (Jewish time considered). On March 21, 1844, therefore, the Lord would come.

*The seventh year of Artaxerxes was 458 B.C., not 457. The following standard works of authority testify that Artaxerxes began to reign in the year 465 B.C.: Twentieth Century Encyclopedia, New Standard Encyclopedia. Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, and Chambers’ Encyclopedia. His seventh year, therefore, could not have been later than 458 B.C. The New Standard Encyclopedia says: “In his seventh year, 458.”

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CONTENTS