The Great Disappointment and Lessons It Teaches Us

On October 22, 1844, thousands of Christians in the Northeastern United States eagerly watched the skies for what they believed would be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

These believers were known as “Millerites” because they were currently following the Scriptural interpretations of a farmer and veteran soldier turned Baptist minister, William Miller. These interpretations focused on the 2300-day prophecy in Daniel 8:14.

Miller believed the Second Coming of Christ to be literal and imminent. And one of his most zealous followers was convinced that the very date of Jesus’ return would be October 22, 1844. Then Jesus’ followers would go to heaven, and the earth would be cleansed of sin by fire.

But when Jesus didn’t appear as expected, the Millerites became understandably discouraged. Many of them gave up on their faith in Christianity altogether.

This day was such a blow to the Millerite Movement that it became known as the Great Disappointment.

On the other hand, this day is also an important marker in pre-Seventh-day Adventist history. Pioneers of what would soon become the Advent Movement, such as James and Ellen G. White and Hiram Edson, responded to the Great Disappointment by going back to Scripture to better understand why or how October 22, 1844, might have been significant.

These same diligent students of Scripture—through prayerful, Spirit-led study—laid the foundation for the Seventh-day Adventist Church (organized in 1863).

So let’s unpack the prophecy surrounding the year 1844, as well as what it means to Seventh-day Adventists and other Christians. You’ll learn about:

• What people thought would happen in 1844
• What happened after the Great Disappointment
• What happened on October 22, 1844
• Why 1844 is significant and what we can learn from it

What did people think was going to happen in 1844?

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Millerite Christians believed Jesus was going to return to earth as the Bible describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. They expected Him to appear in the sky, resurrect believers who had died, take His followers to heaven, and cleanse the earth by fire in judgment upon evil and sin. They chose this date based on a prophecy in Daniel 8:14, which spoke about God “cleansing” the sanctuary, which they believed to be the earth.

To understand why, let’s look at the events that led up to the Millerite Movement.

Years before 1844, William Miller began fervently studying the Bible, with a special interest in prophecy and what was in store for eternity.¹ He took into consideration all parts of the Bible, tying together visions from Ezekiel, verses from Numbers, prophecies of Daniel, and the apocalyptic book of Revelation to discover what he called the 2300-day prophecy.²

This prophecy is complex enough for an entire article. But in summary, Daniel 8:14 was its cornerstone:

“And he said to me ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” (NKJV).

Miller believed that cleansing the sanctuary meant cleansing the earth, or purifying it, by fire. He noted that “‘sanctuary,’ in the Scripture, generally means the place where God is worshipped and adored, and where He or His glory dwells, when it has reference to God or holy things; but when it has reference to man, it means his house, or dwelling-place, city, or defence.” He then referenced passages from all over the Bible to support this thought, such as Psalm 114:2 and Isaiah 9:13.³

Then, his study of verses like Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34 led him to realize that in apocalyptic and prophetic biblical literature, a mention of a day actually symbolized a year.⁴

This meant that the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 would have meant 2300 years, a span that started in 457 BC with Artaxerxes’ decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25).⁵

With this knowledge, Miller felt that Jesus would return sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. But he didn’t set a specific date.

However, when Jesus didn’t return by March 21, 1844, one of his followers suggested that maybe they shouldn’t have made their calculations using the rabbinical Jewish calendar. They set the date April 18-19, 1844, which was based on the Karaite Jewish calendar.

Discouragement began to set in when this date also failed, but a later date—October 22, 1844—was adopted after a follower of Miller, Samuel Snow, gave a lecture at an August camp meeting about the starting date of the prophecy.

This date was based on the belief that Jesus’ Second Coming would fulfill the Jewish feast called the Day of Atonement that foreshadowed God’s judgment. It fell on the tenth day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:27). In 1844, that day was October 22.⁶

Miller’s followers, the Millerites, enthusiastically clung to the prediction and prepared themselves for Jesus’ soon return.

So, when October 22, 1844, came and went, many were so disappointed that they left the movement.

Not all of them lost their faith, however. (More on this later.)

What happened after the Great Disappointment?

Photo by Julia Florczak on Unsplash

On October 22, 1844, Millerites all across North America waited expectantly for Jesus to return. But as the final hours of the day ticked away, nothing happened.

The disappointment the believers experienced caused many of them to abandon the movement. The anger and sadness they felt when Jesus didn’t return were simply too much.

Many went back to their previous congregations and traditions. Those who had sold all of their possessions, including their homes, in preparation for the Second Coming were left with nothing.

They also experienced ridicule and violence from those who didn’t believe in the Millerite message. Several churches were vandalized, and opponents taunted them with questions like “Have you not gone up?”

For others, the Great Disappointment pushed them to dive back into the Scriptures and discover what they had misunderstood. And so, a small group of Advent believers, or believers who believed in the Second Coming of Christ, banded together.

One Advent believer who felt a particular need to dig deeper into the Bible after the Great Disappointment was Ellen White (then Ellen Harmon).

Ellen White and her family were among the Millerites who believed Christ’s return would be on October 22nd.

She recalls that day:

“It was hard to take up the vexing cares of life that we thought had been laid down forever. It was a bitter disappointment that fell upon the little flock whose faith had been so strong and whose hope had been so high. … We were disappointed but not disheartened.”⁷

Photo by Eric Mok on Unsplash

Eventually, through further Bible study and guidance from the Holy Spirit, Ellen White and the Advent believers were given a clearer understanding of the Second Coming.

This insight encouraged them and helped them dispel some common misunderstandings that came out of the Great Disappointment.

Some still believed Jesus’ return would happen in a matter of weeks or months. So, Ellen White helped them understand that though they might not know the future or the timing of Jesus’ coming, it was worth taking every opportunity to do God’s work.

She and other Advent believers also spoke against a popular teaching among people at the time: the shut-door theology.

This theology stated that after October 22, 1844, those who hadn’t accepted William Miller’s message couldn’t be saved. The door of salvation was “shut.”

But in studying the Bible, Ellen White and the other believers realized that salvation was still available for every person God created.

In the end, this realization would bring hope to many and play a role in reshaping early Adventist ideas about salvation.

The believers’ study of the Bible also helped them uncover other Bible teachings including the seventh-day Sabbath and what happens to people after they die.

Though the early believers’ experience with the Great Disappointment may have been discouraging, the long-term impact of this event led them to engage in deeper Bible study.

It even led them to learn what really happened on October 22, 1844.

What happened on October 22, 1844?

Many who experienced the Great Disappointment didn’t believe anything happened that day. They simply chalked it up to a false religious excitement and gave up on the teachings of the Millerite Movement.

In the months after the Disappointment, though, some became certain something had happened. But what could it have been?

Jesus began cleansing the sanctuary

Some Advent believers, including a New York farmer named Hiram Edson, continued to hold onto the hope of Jesus’ Coming. These believers were committed to understanding Bible truth, especially regarding what had really happened in 1844.

And eventually, God gave them an answer.

The Review and Herald, an Adventist publication, recounts the miraculous story of how God revealed the truth of the 2300-day prophecy to Hiram Edson:

“After breakfast I said to one of my brethren, ‘Let us go to see and encourage some of our brethren.’ We started, and while passing through a large field, I was stopped about midway in the field. Heaven seemed open to my view, and I saw distinctly and clearly that instead of our High Priest coming out of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to this earth on the tenth day of the seventh month, at the end of the 2300 days, He, for the first time, entered on that day into the second apartment of that sanctuary, and that he had a work to perform in the most holy place before coming to the earth; that He came to the marriage, or in other words, to the Ancient of days, to receive a kingdom, dominion, and glory; and that we must wait for His return from the wedding.”⁸

Edson, along with other Advent believers, Hahn and Crosier, studied the Scriptures together and discovered that Miller had misinterpreted Daniel 8:14. The “sanctuary” of that verse wasn’t a reference to the earth.

Instead, they realized that the cleansing of the sanctuary of Daniel 8 was a heavenly event (Daniel 7:9-10; 1 Peter 4:17; Revelation 20:12; Matthew 22:1-14).⁹

Photo by Chris Brignola on Unsplash

This means that in 1844, Jesus began the final phase of His ministry in heaven: cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, a process of judgment that must occur before Jesus can return again. This involved Jesus moving from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place, where He began the process of reviewing the names and examining the hearts of those who profess to be believers (Hebrews 8:1-5; Daniel 7:9-27).

Jesus does this by reviewing a record of our lives, including every sin and every decision for Christ (Ecclesiastes 12:14). In this way, the judgment—or “cleansing”—that is happening in heaven right now is the cleansing of the records of those who have chosen God and accepted the salvation of Jesus.

While the word “judgment” can have a negative or fear-inducing connotation, the teaching of the Investigative Judgment actually offers us hope.

When we accept Jesus as our savior, the record of our sinful deeds is covered and removed by His perfect sacrifice. In this way, instead of allowing us to be condemned by the record of our sinful lives, Jesus presents His perfect and holy life in our place, freely giving salvation to all who choose Him. He also frees us from those sins and begins to cleanse our lives, helping us become more like Him.

This way, we will be ready to someday live in the New Earth—free from the sin, suffering, and evil we see in the world today.

This understanding helped Advent believers find new hope in Jesus and His plan of salvation. And the teaching about the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, paired with the concept of the Day of Atonement, eventually became a distinct doctrine (the Investigative Judgment, or Pre-Advent Judgment) of the Advent Movement which was passed on to the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.¹⁰

The Advent believers’ studies also helped them realize that Scripture never supported the idea of trying to pinpoint the exact date of Jesus’ return. Indeed, the Bible says that “no one knows the day or the hour” of the Second Advent (Matthew 24:36, NKJV).

Though the Millerites were wrong about setting a date, God was able to use them to remind the world of the importance of Christ’s Coming. And He continued to work through the Advent believers as they rediscovered the value of sincere and prayerful Bible study, learning to trust in God over human calculations.

Dependence on God and the Bible for guidance

Those who lived through the Great Disappointment learned firsthand how important it is to back up theological claims with the Bible and prayerful study.

The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church displayed this kind of dependence on the Bible and on God. Through their study and prayer, they helped establish the Seventh-day Adventist Church and guided believers to new perspectives on salvation and the heavenly sanctuary.

The Great Disappointment also teaches us that…

God’s timing is not like our timing

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

The Bible highlights the importance of waiting on the Lord:

“Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage; and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14, NKJV).

October 22, 1844, really puts verses like this one into perspective. Human beings have a limited perspective of time. We are finite beings, while God is infinite. His timing is perfect. When we put our faith in His timing, He will guide us and strengthen us.

Be perpetually ready for Jesus’ Second Coming

Admittedly, it’s easy to become an alarmist as soon as it seems the world is in crisis. When something bad happens, it’s natural to want it to mean something more than just another manifestation of sin. Sometimes people still try to set a time period for Jesus’ return, only to be disappointed when years pass and He doesn’t come.

Rather than being swayed by human opinion and anxiety, we can maintain a daily relationship with Jesus. This helps us always stay ready for His return, allowing us to live our lives in peace and trust in God’s plan for us.

We can follow Paul’s advice:

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12, ESV).

No matter what’s happening in the world, we can find hope in the Second Advent, just like the Advent believers did in the wake of the Great Disappointment.

As we wait for the Second Coming, let’s prayerfully read the Bible and learn about the wonder of God’s love and His plan of salvation for us.

If you’re interested in learning more about the plan of salvation, prophecy, or the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, check out our Bible study page.

Related Articles

More Answers