Advent Pioneers Biographical Sketches and Pictures

WILLIAM MILLER

Picture:

HERALD OF THE SECOND ADVENT
February 13, 1782 — December 20, 1849 APBP 16.1

As a little boy William Miller lived on a farm in Eastern New York. On the death of his parents this farm became his. As a lad he was a diligent student, borrowing books and reading whenever he had a chance. At night, after his parents had retired, he would quietly rise, take a book and lie down in front of the fireplace and study. One night his father caught him and threatened to whip him if he did not get his rest and stop his foolish study habits. APBP 16.2

Miller had a strong religious background but he became attached to the wrong “crowd.” His friends were deists. These people set aside the Bible and had vague ideas about God and His personality. But Miller was always a man of high moral character. What he failed to find in religion he sought to find in high and patriotic attainments. He served his country as an officer in the War of 1812. He served with distinction. Later in his home community he served as the justice of the peace. APBP 16.3

When Miller was thirty-four years of age he became dissatisfied with his views. The Holy Spirit impressed his heart, and he turned to the study of the Word of God. In this book Jesus was revealed to him as his Saviour. He found in Christ the answer to all his needs. He determined to study the Bible carefully and to determine, if he could, the answer to the many problems that had perplexed him. His study led him to the great prophecies that pointed to the first and to the second advent of our Lord. The time prophecies interested him, particularly the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. APBP 16.4

In the year 1818, as a result of his study of the prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9, he came to the conclusion that Christ would come some time in the year 1843 or 1844. He hesitated until 1831 before he began to announce his findings. Then the die was cast. From his first public service we may mark the beginnings of the Advent movement in North America. In the months and years that followed, roughly 100,000 persons came to believe in the imminence of Christ’s second coming. APBP 16.5

Following the disappointment of 1844 Miller lived for several years. He fell asleep in Christ in 1849. A small church stands near his home in Low Hampton, built by Miller before he died. In spite of his misunderstanding of the event that was to transpire in 1844, God used him to awaken the world to the nearness of the end and to prepare sinners for the time of judgment. APBP 16.6

He lies buried in the small cemetery at Low Hampton, New York, awaiting the call of the Life-Giver. APBP 16.7

See: The Great Controversy, 317-330; also Midnight Cry, pp.17-60; Footprints of the Pioneers, pp.18-27; and Captains of the Host, pp.15-26. APBP 16.8

A Story About William Miller

In 1818 William Miller came to the conclusion that Christ was going to return in 1843 or 1844. But he hesitated to tell people about it because, as he thought, “I am only a farmer and they will laugh at me.” So he studied the question fifteen years more. Then one Saturday in early August, 1831, he promised the Lord that if the way would open, he would go. Arthur Spalding tells the story of how the Lord led his nephew, Irving, to his home with the very invitation he had bargained for: APBP 16.9

“‘What do you mean by the way opening?’ APBP 17.1

“‘Why if someone should come without my initiative, and ask me to go out and sound the message, I should say the way was open.’ APBP 17.2

“‘And then Irving [was] at the front door, rapping, and giving his father’s message [to come and take a church service in the absence of the local preacher]. ‘Come and teach our people that the Lord is coming ...’” APBP 17.3

“William Miller was thunderstruck by this sudden call. He answered the boy not a word, but turning on his heel, he strode out the back door and down the little slope on the west side and up again into the maple grove, where often he went to pray. But all the way along the path a Voice was thundering in his ears: ‘Go and tell it! Go and tell it! Go and tell it to the world!’ In his maple grove (still standing, with several patriarchs of the time and some younger trees) he fell upon his knees and cried, ‘Lord, I can’t go! I can’t! I’m only a farmer, not a preacher; how can I carry a message like Noah?’ But all he could hear was, ‘Will you break a promise so soon after you have made it? Go and tell it to the world!’ APBP 17.4

“At last he gave up, crying, ‘Lord, I don’t know how I can do it; but if you will go with me, I will go.’ APBP 17.5

“At once the burden lifted. His spirits soared. He sprang to his feet — this staid old farmer of middle age — and leaped up and down, clapping his hands and shouting, ‘Glory! Hallelujah!’ APBP 17.6

“Lucy, his littlest daughter, his almost constant companion, had followed him as he hastened down the path; and now, standing aside, she watched his prayer and his triumph. Amazed at such an outburst as she had never before seen in her father, she ran back to the house crying, ‘Mother, Mother, come quick! Father’s down in the grove, and he’s gone crazy!’ It was what the world said of him later, but Lucy came to revise her judgment and to follow his teachings to the end of her days.” — Footprints of the Pioneers, pp.20-22. APBP 17.7

Well, that is the story of Miller’s call to preach the second coming of our Lord. What a strong preacher he was, too! Deliberate, forceful! Thousands were converted under his ministry. If we expect the Lord to help us to get ready for His coming and to help others get ready, we must be as earnest Bible students and as faithful in our work as Miller was back in the 1830’s and the early 1840’s. APBP 17.8