Sweet and Bitter

This bittersweet experience occurred just as Christ had prophesied.

William Miller, a Baptist and a farmer, began to study the Bible one verse at a time. When he came to Daniel 8:14, he concluded that the 2,300 years spanned from 457 BC to AD 1843 and would end with Christ’s second coming. After becoming more convicted in his studies, he went public, spawning a following of “Millerites” across the United States.

But after 1843 passed uneventfully, the believers realized a slight error in the prophetic calculations. After more studies and more dates set, the Millerites arrived at their last and final date for Christ’s return: October 22, 1844.

Despite these setbacks, there remained those who longed ever more fervently for the appearing of their Lord and Savior. At the end of that long-awaited day, when they found themselves still alone on this sin-ridden earth, came the single most trying test of their faith. One writer likened it to Mary upon discovering Jesus’ empty tomb (John 20:13).

Thousands relinquished their faith altogether; others returned to their respective denominations. But there were a faithful few who stood firm amid the shaking. Jesus had not come, but they still believed in the advent message, “for the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3).

There is yet another time prophecy in Daniel that speaks to this same promise: “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (12:12). A study of Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, 12, and a brief history lesson show that the end of the 1,335-day prophecy came in 1843, the exact year of Miller’s first calculation. Those who waited through the Great Disappointment, those who endured and overcame, Scripture assured, would be blessed.

Those who persisted in studying their Bibles would soon discover their bitterness turn once more into sweetest joy.

Dear Jesus, I pray that no matter what messages I study, whether sweet or bitter, that I will persist in taking all Your truths into my life that I might be made ready for the final events.

For Further Study: Psalm 34:8; Ezekiel 12:25–28; John 16:20

Key Bible Texts

And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. (Revelation 10:10 KJV)