When it comes to the Bible’s promise of Jesus’ second coming, there have been many predictions and proposed dates over the centuries, all of which have failed. William Miller, a farmer turned preacher, was one of those whose interpretations of Bible prophecy led to the hope-filled anticipation of Jesus’ soon return only to be disappointed in 1843 and again in 1844. The Great Disappointment of 1844 gave rise to the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was founded in 1863.

As a Seventh-day Adventist, I have always been inquisitive as to why and how William Miller came to his conclusions about Daniel’s timeline prophecies. In examining Daniel’s timeline prophecies through the lens of history, what I eventually discovered not only amazed me but got me questioning why Seventh-day Adventists keep holding onto Miller’s interpretations, particularly for Daniel’s 1260, 1290, and 1335-day prophecies. While Adventists rightly view the 2300 days as ending in 1844 with Jesus’ cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, their understanding of the other three timelines, based largely on Miller’s theories, remains flawed. Why? Because the key event that links these three time periods together did not happen until after William Miller’s death!

This book, the end result of many years of study, not only examines Miller’s interpretations of Daniel’s timeline prophecies but also challenges Seventh-day Adventists to take a critical and unbiased look through the lens of history at their adopted views of Miller’s interpretations. In addition, the book reveals something else that I’ve learned over the years…. that our inherent biases, which we all have, are oftentimes the very stumbling blocks to the advancement of new truths.

Gregory John