THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF 1844.
By J. O. Corliss
In predicting the end of the world in 1844, the leaders in that message made the mistake of resting in the idea that the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 years was the earth itself. It was therefore believed that the cleansing to take place would be the purification of the earth by fire, preparatory to the coming of Christ to reign among His saints. Looking back, we may see what they failed to note, namely, that inasmuch as the angel representing that message was “clothed with a cloud,” the message must also be one purposely enshrouded in somewhat of a mystery. Rev. 10:1, 3, 4. This mystery, too, was destined to lead its promoters into bitter disappointment, because even this was foreshadowed by the experience of the revelator, who typified the people to receive and give out the message. The message itself was represented as being absorbed through eating a “little book,” from which the partially obscured angel proclaimed the word. The prophet was, however, told beforehand that while eating the book it would be sweet to the taste, but as soon as it was eaten it would be bitter in the stomach. Verses 9, 10. The meaning of this symbolism is plain, when we examine other scriptures carrying the same expression. Another prophet was shown the roll of a book, and was told, “Eat this roll, and go speak unto ‘the house of Israel.’” Eze. 3:1. In verse 3, the command was put in a little different form, as follows: “Son of man, cause thy belly to ‘eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I ‘eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.” From this it is evident that to eat a book, in the prophetic sense, is to take in its contents, so that one is filled with its sentiment, and so prepared to open his mouth to proclaim it to others. This thought is fully sustained by the expression of another, “Thy words were found, and I ‘did eat them.’” Jer. 15:16. So in the days leading up to 1844. Those who proclaimed that time message, had become filled with its spirit. It was so sweet to them that they joyfully and confidingly rehearsed it in the ears of all. Accompanying their exultant proclamation, the people prayed long and earnestly, “Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly.” But the set day came and went without revealing the personal presence of Him whom their longing eyes waited to see. Nothing was then left but again to take up the burden of life’s cares, and to endure the taunts of a scoffing world. Captain Bates of Fairhaven, Mass., who was then prominent in proclaiming the close of time, and who invested a fortune in that work, had even permitted his larder to become exhausted. The day following the disappointment he went forth from his home to purchase a few pence worth of provisions, and met men who had formerly bowed with respect before him. But on that occasion they only sneeringly said, “Well, Captain, I thought you were going up yesterday.” Even street urchins followed at his heels shouting in chorus, “Why ‘didn’t you go up yesterday?’” In telling of this experience many years later, the good old man said to the writer, “You can never know ‘the bitterness of that disappointment. The thought that we again had ‘to take up the routine of life in a sinful world, when we had been so ‘certain of release from these things to dwell with the Lord in glory, ‘the picture was so changed, that it was hard for us to be reconciled.’” But this was a test to that people, as was the disappointment of the immediate disciples of Christ who expected Him, at His first advent, to take the throne of David and commence His promised reign. Some then went back to their old ways, to be reprovingly recalled by their divine Master. John 21:3–18; Acts 1:6. So in 1844. Some who had been zealous in proclaiming the soon coming of the Lord, went back to the ways of the world, repudiating their former experience, while others held on to what light they had, believing that God would in time reveal to them their whereabouts, and the reason for apparent delay in the closing of the world’s history. Had not the eyes of the people then been holden by some mystic power, they surely would have seen that the message they so earnestly proclaimed was not the closing one to earth’s inhabitants; for after pointing out the bitterness of the disappointment to be met, the angel plainly said in Rev. 10:11, “Thou must prophesy again before many ‘peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.’” This doubtless referred to the three messages of Revelation 14, which were to be the key-note of the everlasting Gospel from that time to the end. These three messages (Rev. 14:6–12) are so closely related that they form one great three-fold message, and wherever one is proclaimed, the others must also be published. So, then, when the angel of Revelation 10 proclaimed that time (the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14) should be no longer, and the event came to which these days of “time” reached, namely, the cleansing of the sanctuary or the investigative judgment, it was meet for another angel to follow, proclaiming that the hour of judgment was really come, with a call for people to turn from false worship to the service of Him who created heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters. Such a reform was sure to develop a people who would recognize the rule of heaven, by keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Rev. 14:12. It is the message to be given by this prophesying again, which fits a people actually to stand without fault before Him who comes quickly, wearing a golden crown, and holding in His hand a sickle, the symbol of authority, to reap earth’s final harvest of those prepared to meet the Master, and dwell eternally in the kingdom of God. Rev. 14:14, 15.