In 1850 Ellen White wrote that she "had seen that the 1843 [prophetic]
chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered;
that the figures were as He wanted them; that His hand was over and hid a
mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was
removed." [1]
At first glance, one could wonder why God would want to hide a mistake!
Those who begin with the presupposition that Jesus did not enter the closing
phase of His mediatorial work in 1844 ridicule this Ellen White reference.
But those who have found meaning in these events, whether on earth or in
heaven, also realize that God's ways are often cast in human language where
circumstances that God permits are described as events that God causes. When
the author of Exodus wrote of God's conversation with Moses, he portrayed God
as the Agent who "hardened" Pharaoh's heart (Ex. 10:1). However, the same
writer also wrote of Pharaoh's responsibility for hardening his own heart (Ex.
8:15, 32; 9:34).
We think of Biblical circumstances where knowledge was "withheld" from
dedicated men and women. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus joined two devastated
disciples but they did not recognize Him because "their eyes were restrained"
(Luke 24:16). A few hours later, while eating with their traveling Companion,
"their eyes were opened and they knew Him" (Luke 24:31). If their eyes had been
"opened" prematurely while walking toward Emmaus, they would have missed a
great experience that God wanted them to share.
For reasons that God alone can explain best, Bible students in 1843
needed the experience of 1843-1844. Obviously God could have "stepped in" and
guaranteed every date, every line of reasoning, when Charles Fitch and Apollos
Hale prepared their chart. But that kind of divine intervention has been rare
throughout history. Permitting men and women to work through their problems,
learning special lessons that would not have been experienced otherwise, seems
to have been God's general plan. [2]
What would have happened if William Miller had preached the true
significance of 1844? What kind of public response would he have received if he
had proclaimed the truth about a change in Christ's ministry in the heavenly
sanctuary instead of emphasizing His imminent return? No one would have
listened to him; no one would have been stirred to read the Bible. After the
disappointment of October 22, a group of his followers restudied their Bibles
to discover the real meaning of 1844, an interest that never would have
developed if Miller had not focused their attention on the Bible and its
prophecies prior to 1844.
[1] Early
Writings, p. 74. This chart, designed in 1842 by Charles Fitch,
Congregational pastor, and Apollos Hale, Methodist preacher, was approved by
the Millerites in their Boston General Conference of May, 1842. The chart's
graphic symbols and time periods became a well-known trademark of Millerite
preaching as they endeavored to simplify in an attractive manner the time
prophecies focusing on 1843. (See L. E. Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our
Fathers, vol. IV, pp. 538, 616.)
[2] See Matt.
11:25; Mark 4:33; John 16:12; 1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:11-14.
[Adapted from Herbert E. Douglass, Messenger of the Lord: the
Prophetic Ministry of Ellen G. White (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1998), p. 490.]