The extent of this proclamation is worthy of notice. An English writer, Mourant Brock, thus remarks: “It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent of Europe. In America about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching ‘this gospel of the kingdom;’ whilst in this country, about seven hundred of the church of England are raising the same cry.”—Advent Tracts, Vol. ii, p. 135.
Dr. Joseph Wolfe traveled in Arabia Felix, through the region inhabited by the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. In Yemen he saw a book which he mentions thus:
“The Arabs of this place have a book called Seera, which treats of the second coming of Christ, and his reign in glory.”
“In Yemen he spent six days with the Rechabites. ‘They drink no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no seed, live in tents, and remember the words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab. With them were children of Israel, of the tribe of Dan, who reside near Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, in common with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven.’”—Wolfe’s Mission to Bokhara.
“In Wirtemberg there is a Christian colony numbering hundreds, who look for the speedy advent of Christ; also another of like belief on the shores of the Caspian; the Molokaners, a large body of Dissenters from the Russian Greek church, residing on the shores of the Baltic—a very pious people, of whom it is said, ‘taking the Bible alone for their creed, the norm of their faith is simply the Holy Scriptures’—are characterized by the ‘expectation of Christ’s immediate and visible reign upon earth.’ In Russia the doctrine of Christ’s coming and reign is preached to some extent, and received by many of the lower class. It has been extensively agitated in Germany, particularly in the south part among the Moravians. In Norway, charts and books on the Advent have been circulated extensively, and the doctrine received by many. Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an expectation of Christ’s advent about this time. English and American publications on this doctrine have been sent to Holland, Germany, India, Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to nearly every missionary station on the globe. At the Turks Islands, it has been received to some extent among the Wesleyans. Mr. Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people, was a believer in Christ’s soon coming. James McGregor Bertram, a Scottish missionary of the Baptist order at St. Helena, has sounded the cry extensively on that island, making many converts and pre-millennialists; he has also preached it at South Africa, at the missionary stations there. David N. Lord informs us that a large proportion of the missionaries who have gone from Great Britain to make known the gospel to the heathen, and who are now laboring in Asia and Africa, are Millennarians; and Joseph Wolfe, D. D., according to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845, proclaimed the Lord’s speedy advent in Palestine, Egypt, on the shores of the Red Sea, Mesopotamia, the Crimea, Persia, Georgia, throughout the Ottoman Empire, in Greece, Arabia, Turkistan, Bokhara, Affghanistan, Cashmere, Hindostan, Thibet, in Holland, Scotland and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St. Helena, also on shipboard in the Mediterranean, and at New York city, to all denominations. He declares he has preached among Jews, Turks, Mohammedans, Parsees, Hindoos, Chaldeans, Yesedes, Syrians, Sabeans, to Pachas, Sheiks, Shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece, etc. And of his extraordinary labors the Investigator says: ‘No individual has, perhaps, given greater publicity to the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, than has this well-known missionary to the world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the approaching advent of the Messiah in glory.’”—Voice of the Church, pp. 342-344.
The following, from the pen of the editor of the Voice of Truth for January, 1845, fairly represents the position of all American Adventists at that time:
“We are doubtless near that auspicious hour when the harvest of the earth will be reaped, as described in Rev. xiv, 14-16. The history of God’s people in this mortal state, as given in that chapter, before being glorified, is nearly complete. The everlasting gospel, as described in verses 6 and 7, has been preached unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come, and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. No case can be more clearly demonstrated with facts than that this message has been borne to every nation and tongue under heaven, within a few past years, in the preaching of the coming of Christ in 1843, or near at hand. Through the medium of lectures and publications the sound has gone into all the earth, and the word unto the ends of the world.”
But those were disappointed who expected the Lord would come in 1843 and in 1844. This fact, with many, is sufficient reason for rejecting all the testimony in the case. To them the position that the Advent movement was in fulfillment of prophecy, when at the same time those who took part in the movement were sorely disappointed, is an absurdity. We acknowledge the disappointment, but cannot acknowledge that this furnishes a just reason for denying the hand of God in that work. It is a fact that God’s people have fulfilled prophecy, and at the same time been disappointed in their hopes. This was the case with the disciples and the shouting multitude on the occasion of our Lord meekly riding into Jerusalem, when they cried, “Hosannah to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosannah in the highest.” The prophet of God had said, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Zech. ix, 9. And his words must be fulfilled. That which inspired the shouts of the disciples was the expectation that their Master would then ascend to the throne of David and reign among them. But in this they were disappointed. In a few days their hopes died, as he expired upon the cross. Did they fulfill prophecy? No one will deny that they did? Were their expectations which moved them to fulfill the prophecy realized? They were utterly disappointed.
And while those were disappointed in every particular, Adventists, in 1844, were right in three of the four leading points of the Advent faith. These points were, first, the manner and object of Christ’s second advent; second, the application of the prophetic symbols of the book of Daniel; third, prophetic time; and fourth, the event to take place at the end of the prophetic periods. In respect to the first three points, the Adventists of 1844 were right. As to the fourth, they were mistaken. The angel did not tell Daniel that Christ would come at the end of the 2300 days. His words to the prophet are: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” The subject of the cleansing of the sanctuary of Dan. viii, 14, is now understood, and seen to be quite another thing than the second coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven, to redeem his people and destroy his enemies by the fires of the last day.
Disappointment by no means proves that God has no hand in the guidance of his people. It should lead them to correct their errors, but it should not lead them to cast away their confidence in God. It was because the children of Israel were disappointed in the wilderness that they so often denied divine guidance. They are set forth as an admonition to us, that we should not fall after the same example of unbelief.