Weeping Until Dawn: October 22, 1844 the Great Disappointment of William Miller and America's First End Time Prophecy
Rural New York farmer and part-time Baptist preacher William Miller announced in October of 1831 that the end of the world was near. And he gave a specific date for when the world would end with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This Second Advent, as he termed it, would occur on October 22, 1844. Miller based his claims, so he asserted, on careful study of the Bible, specifically the Old Testament. He used one passage in particular Daniel 8:14, “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” KJV In Miller’s Biblical interpretation the “sanctuary” represented the planet earth, while the number 2,300 referenced in the Book of Daniel as days was meant to symbolically represent years instead. As justification for this personal interpretation of scripture Miller pointed to two passages from the Old Testament, Ezekiel 4:6 which states, “And when thou hast accomplished them lie again on thy right side ...