Starting on the first Sunday of August 1831, Baptist farmer and lay preacher William Miller began predicting and advocating that Jesus would return to the earth at the culmination of the 2,300-day prophecy in the book of Daniel—a date he calculated out to sometime in 1843 (later revised to Oct. 22, 1844). This Millerite message spread like wildfire across the United States and the rest of the world. When Jesus did not return, a combination of prayer and Bible study led some of the former Millerites to conclude that the culmination of the 2,300-day prophecy was actually the beginning of a Heavenly Judgment—and that Jesus would come soon but not on any predictable date. The Seventh-day Adventist Church eventually formed from the remnants of the Millerite movement. It has been 195 years since William Miller first began preaching of the nearness of Christ’s return, and Advent believers of many generations have grappled with the questions that arise from how to live one’s life in anticipation of the apocalypse.
I am a fourth-generation Seventh-day Adventist on both sides of my family. I have family members who met Ellen White. I have heard my whole life the stories of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, wondering about questions like: whether or not to go to college, get married or save for the future. But generations of Adventists have come and gone, and Christ has not come. My existence is evidence that ultimately my folks made the decision to live and plan for a future, and I’m grateful for that. But as our generation faces a world growing increasingly chaotic, with what appears to be the increasing number of predicted signs of Christ’s coming, old questions again confront us, and we need to ask anew: How should we thus live in the light of the Judgment Hour?
In a 1948 essay written at the advent of the age of atomic weapons, Christian apologist and author C. S. Lewis wrote about the contemporary fears of cataclysmic civilizational destruction brought on by the advent of the nuclear arms race, and he urged Christians to think less about possible destruction and to focus on the day-to-day joys and blessings of life:
“In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. ‘How are we to live in an atomic age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.’”
As Adventists, we rightly set out to tell a sin-sick and weary world about the good news of Christ’s return, and we understandably have apprehensions as we see perilous times approach, but as Lewis pointed out, the escalation of troubles we are seeing now is only of a degree. Humans have been living with war, death, disease and sorrows for around 6,000 years. The call placed on followers of Christ has remained consistent for all this time: Seek to make the world a better place with our efforts now, and trust in God for ultimate restoration in the world to come.
In practical terms, I think there are four key words that Adventists living at the end of the times should take to heart: Devotion, Fellowship, Prepare and Influence.
Devotion: It is incredibly important to keep your spiritual life on track. Do not neglect personal time with the Lord in prayer and Bible study. Psalm 63:1 says, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” As we see current events get crazier and crazier, our personal connection with the Divine can help to sustain our inner peace.
Fellowship: Hebrews 10:25 says“not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” External chaos only increases the necessity for corporate Christian fellowship, and I think this goes far beyond simply the Sabbath morning hour, but also encompasses drawing close to fellow believers in friendship and doing life together.
Prepare: The reality of the times in which we live is not an excuse to put off preparation for a future on this earth. The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are both clear that nobody knows exactly when Jesus will return except the Heavenly Father. We are given signs with which we can know that the hour is near, but the ambiguity of no date leaves us with the practical reality that we still save for tomorrow, foster relationships and engage in careers and vocations. Ellen White, who certainly believed Jesus was coming soon, wrote extensively about how Christians ought to engage in business, build institutions, raise their families, and gain education for practical service.
Influence: This final piece is crucial for our witness to the broader world as Seventh-day Adventists. The knowledge that Jesus is coming soon, and utopia is not possible until then, informs our outlook on politics and society. We fight to make things better in the here and now, but fundamentally must accept the reality of imperfect progress being the best possible outcome this side of heaven. As many Christians today are seeking to build “Christian Nations,” Adventists should stand in favor of republican and constitutional norms, systems that trade attempted utopias for consensus and a neutral protection of basic rights for everyone.
Some Adventists have posited that since Jesus is coming soon, the correct posture toward worldly politics is abstention, but I think both the Word of God and Spirit of Prophecy make that stance untenable. Isaiah 59:14-16 says, “So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.” This shows us that God is not pleased when nobody advocates for justice in the public square, and the prophet Jeremiah even said that the Israelites should care about the welfare of the city in which they were carried into bondage in Jeremiah 29:7.
Finally, writing to Adventist young people, Ellen White advocated for the idea that God may very well be calling some of them to sit in legislatures and other public offices, influencing the laws of their nations:
“Dear youth, what is the aim and purpose of your life? Are you ambitious for education that you may have a name and position in the world? Have your thoughts that you dare not express, that you may one day stand upon the summit of intellectual greatness; that you may sit in deliberative and legislative councils, and help to enact laws for the nation? There is nothing wrong in these aspirations. You may every one of you make your mark. You should be content with no mean attainments. Aim high, and spare no pains to reach the standard.” RH August 19, 1884, par. 3.
As we see the birth pains of the end of the world come upon us, as Christ predicted, we should live in joyful anticipation of future events, trusting God for the future and living lives focused on genuinely human pursuits: loving, working, building, witnessing for Jesus in both our words and the practical ways in which we live our lives.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.