In the early 1800’s a farmer turned preacher by the name of William Miller somehow claimed to discover when Jesus would return to earth on a certain day in 1843 as stated in the Bible. People got so caught up in this prediction, they forsook former beliefs and adopted “Millerism”, hoping that Jesus Christ would find no fault with them when He returned to earth.
William Miller Image Source
From the website Ohio History Central some Millerites went so far as to quit their jobs and sold or gave away all their earthly possessions in preparation for Christ’s second coming. Many sources claim that the Millerites, dressed in white robes climbed the highest mountains and hills they could find in order to be closer to heaven. Imagine what it would have been like to come down at the end of the day. No return of Jesus. No job. No home. No possessions.
William Miller’s prediction 1843. Image Source
Including one of the more recent predictions by Harold Camping in 2011, there has been 242 documented predictions and still counting about the return of Jesus and the end of the world. So please don’t mark anything on your calendar because the Bible does not give dates and times.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Image Source
So how are we to live. The return of Jesus could be a few hundred years from now. It could be a hundred years away. It could be in our own lifetime. It could be today.
In Revelation 3:1 it mentions He will come quickly. Image Source
In Revelation 22:12 it mentions He will come quickly.
In Mark 13:32 it mentions “The day and hour no one knows, that only God the Father knows when that time will come. Be on guard. Be alert. You do not know when that time will come”.
In the New Testament alone Christ’s second coming is mentioned 318 times. Salvation is the only doctrine mentioned more times. And all nine authors of the New Testament mention Christ’s Second Coming.
Living in preparation for the return of Jesus is not selling off or giving away everything and standing around in a white robe on a mountain or hill waiting. We still live our everyday lives, but our hearts are prepared like it could be today.
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I remember studying about Miller and the Millerites many years ago in church. There sect eventually morphed into the Jehovah Witnesses. There have and always will be some misguided false prophet who claims to know when the world is going to end. And there will always be gullible people who will listen and follow these fools. That’s because people do not study the Bible. We have a sound bite generation. Pure Laziness. Or some poor people are very vulnerable so that’s why you have Branch Davidians, Jonestown Massacre and numerous other cults floating around. I’ve noticed even in established Christian congregations the flock will not only follow but idolized the Pastor making him a god instead of Jesus. That’s how things get out of control. The USA has way too many Mega-Churches that suck up people money and play on their need and/or greed.
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Deborah, this is such a well thought out and articulated comment. Thank you for sharing. Your valuable insights really add a lot to this post. And you nailed it right on the head when you said “People do not study the Bible”. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share. 🙂
~Carl~
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