med to all that the day of atonement was near
at hand, when every case would be brought in review before the
mercy-seat by the ministry of the high priest in the most holy place of
the earthly sanctuary.
True to the type, as the year 1844 drew near, when the great antitypical
day of atonement was to open and the closing work of Christ to begin in
the most holy place of the heavenly temple, the trumpet call of the
approaching judgment hour was set pealing through all Christendom.
Events of the closing years of the eighteenth century and the early
decades of the nineteenth, had stirred up Bible students to give greater
attention to the study of the prophetic scriptures. It was seen that
signs of the latter days were appearing, and that every line of historic
prophecy pointed to the near approach of Christ's second coming.
Here and there students of the Word saw that the 2300-year period of
Dan. 8:14, as explained in the ninth chapter, would end soon; and some
arrived at the correct date, and looked to the year 1844 as the time
when the judgment hour would come.
Witnesses were raised up in Europe--in Holland, Germany, Russia, and the
Scandinavian countries. Joseph Wolff, the missionary to the Levant,
preached in Greece, Palestine, Turkey, Afghanistan, and other regions
the coming of the judgment hour. William Miller and many associates
preached the message throughout America.
Writing in the days just before 1844, Mourant Brock, a clergyman of the
Church of England, said:
"It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the
near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of
warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the
continent of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers
of the word are thus preaching 'this gospel of the kingdom;'
whilst in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of
England are raising the same cry."--_"Advent Tracts_," _Vol.
II, p. 135 (1844)._
Not all who joined in the awakening cry at this time explained the
prophecies alike, or emphasized the definite year 1844 as the beginning
of the hour of God's judgment; though in America, Europe, and Asia the
clear message of the ending of the prophetic time in 1844 was proclaimed
with power by many voices. And as the time came, the world was ringing
with the call to prepare to meet the judgment hour, even as the hosts of
Israel were called by trumpet peals to prep
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