prophecy was the foundation of the Protestant Reformation.
the first, and throughout, that movement [the Reformation]
was energized and guided by the prophetic Word. Luther
never felt strong and free to war against the papal
apostasy until he recognized the pope as antichrist.
It was then he burned the papal Bull. Knox’s first
sermon, the sermon which launched him on his mission
as a Reformer, was on the prophecies concerning the
papacy [the Man of Sin]… All the Reformers were
unanimous in the matter…1
Reformers believed Jesus could not return until the
Man of Sin/Antichrist was revealed (2 Thess. 1:3). Now
that the Man of Sin had been identified, their attention
turned to the events that would lead to the second advent.2
the Reformers, the books of Daniel and Revelation in
symbolic language contained the prophetic history of
the whole Christian Age—from Pentecost down to
and including the return of Jesus and the destruction
of this world. The Antichrist was Papacy. The time periods
in Daniel of 1260, 1290, 1335 and 2300 days were symbolic.
Each day symbolized a year as revealed in Ezekiel 4:6—"I
have appointed you a day for a year."
the Reformers focused in on the next prophetic events
that would lead up to the second advent of Jesus. After
identifying the Man of Sin, the next milestone would
be the end of the 1260 years marked by a severe blow
to Papacy. On the basis of Revelation 11:4, 7 and 13
many mainline clergy predicted the details of the French
Revolution that would result in the collapse of Papacy
between 1795 and 1799 at the end of the 1260 years.
The incredible point is they made this prediction 50-160
years before the event.3
aged pope [Pius VI] was dragged from the altar …
His rings were torn from his fingers, and finally, after
declaring the temporal power abolished, the victors
[the French Revolutionary Army] carried the pope prisoner
into Tuscany,[where he died]. The papacy was extinct:
not a vestige of its existence remained.4
the historical record also shows that the papacy revived.5
The papacy destroyed and revived—this was incredible.
It was the most momentous phenomenon in church history.
Revelation 13:3 clicked in the minds of many Protestant
leaders the world over. Surely they reasoned this was
the deadly wound of Antichrist that was temporarily
healed. In great expectation the floodlight of Adventism
swept across Europe and the United States. With the
ending of the 1260 years, mainline Protestants now believed
the second advent of Jesus was eminent. This wave of
Adventism was a logical sequence in the prophetic heritage
of the Reformation.6 The much sensationalized William
Miller was actually a late comer to this worldwide Adventist
phenomenon.7 The prophetic faith of the Reformation
seemed to be locked into a nineteenth century expectation
of the second advent. Martin Luther predicted Jesus
would return 300 years from his time. This would be
between 1830-1850.8 In the latter 1700s John Wesley,
founder of the Methodist denomination, like many of
his contemporaries predicted 1836 for the date of the
Wolff, world renowned missionary, preached 1847 as the
date of "the coming glory and personal reign of
Jesus Christ…" In 1836 Wolff was invited
to present his second advent message before the United
States Congress and the legislatures of New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Maryland.10
of the expositors of Adventism were generally correct
by marking the 1790s as the conclusion of the 1260 years
resulting in the severe setback to papacy. Then they
variously calculated from 1836-1855 as the ending of
the 2300 years when the sanctuary class [the church]
was to be cleansed (Daniel 8). Actually, a nucleus of
the sanctuary class, the church, was finally cleansed
at that time from the defiling errors of papacy. But
they erred by assuming that the second advent would
occur when the sanctuary was cleansed.
Protestant clergy from all denominations were involved
in Adventism during the first half of the 1800s. Why
was William Miller singled out for ridicule, especially
when he appeared on the scene later with much of the
same prophetic reasoning of those which preceded him?
Miller was an evangelist. He unfortunately used a date
for the end of the world to scare thousands to convert
or be damned eternally. It’s not that Joseph Wolff
and others didn’t try. Miller was no different
than the fundamentalists today who threaten all with
eternal torment if they don’t accept Jesus before
his eminent return. They warn—"Will you be
ready if Jesus comes tomorrow?"
the 19th century Adventists were close in their calculations
of the 1260 and 2300 day/years. The ending of the 1260
years of the persecuting power of papacy (Daniel 7:21,
25) and the cleansing of the sanctuary (church) from
the defiling errors of papacy were milestones on the
church’s road to the Second Advent. See the book
THY KINGDOM COME.11
of the 20th century look with disdain at the prophetic
struggles of their 19th century brethren. The secret
rapture, seven-year tribulationists of the 20th century
with their literal Man of Sin concept and future literal
1260 days (3 1/2 years), departed from the prophetic
faith of the Reformation. Ironically, their prophetic
heritage traces back to the counter Reformation of the
has been the prediction record of these seven-year tribulationists?
Basic to their concept is the "eminent coming"
of Jesus. They claim that ever since Jesus’ ascension,
no prophetic event had to happen before his return—for
centuries he could have returned on any day. In the
words of John F. Walvoord, President of Dallas Theological
Seminary13 —"the Lord could come at any moment
and there are no necessary intervening events."
The obvious inconsistency is their seven-year tribulation
must precede Jesus’ return. They cover here by
claiming Jesus will secretly return to rapture his saints.
First a "secret presence" then "every
eye shall see him."
this is a false prediction. Actually, John Darby back
in the mid 1800s sold the seven -year tribulation concept
to some fundamentalists. During the balance of the 1800s
up until 1948 many fundamentalists preached that Jesus
could return any day. On May 14, 1948 a prophetic miracle
happened—the rebirth of the State of Israel. This
proved a prophetic event had to occur before their concept
of the second advent. Hal Lindsey, the student of Walvoord,
unwittingly destroyed the "eminent coming"
theory when he admitted14 —"The one event
which many Bible students in the past overlooked was
this paramount prophetic sign: Israel had to be a nation
again in the land of its forefathers." If they
believed their "eminent coming" theory was
true, then they were wrong all the years before 1948
in saying Jesus could return any day. Israel restored
proved their "eminent coming" theory was a
1948 Hal Lindsey and many fundamentalists, on the basis
of Israel and the generation of Luke 21:29-31, predicted
that Jesus would return within 40 years of 1948.15 Well,
1988 came and passed without their secret return of
Jesus to rapture the church—another failed prediction
of the seven- year tribulationist.
set the date of 1988 for other reasons than the 40-year
generation. When that failed they predicted 1989 for
the return of Jesus. Yet none of their seven- year tribulationist
brethren accused them of being false prophets.
several years before 1994, Harold Camping of Family
Radio fame vigorously on radio and by printed page predicted
the return of Jesus in 1994. Another failed date among
the seven-year tribulationists, and of course, fundamentalists
would not call Camping a false prophet. Both the 19th
century Reformation Adventists and the 20th century
fundamentalists have had their share of failed predictions.
But we should view kindly their attempts to have the
Lord Jesus "come quickly."
Students agree with our seven- year tribulation friends
that the prophetic events of Matthew 24 are signs of
Jesus parousia (Matt. 24:3), but we disagree on the
definition of parousia. We believe it is wrongly rendered
"coming" in some translations. In the last
fifty years, archaeologists have found hundreds of 1st
and 2nd century documents in which the Greek word parousia
is used to denote presence. There is no longer a question—parousia
does mean presence. Therefore, Bible Students believe
that the prophetic events in Matthew 24, such as the
rebirth of Israel are proofs that the Lord is present,
as our seven-year tribulation friends believe, the Lord
will first return secretly before every eye shall see
him, so Bible Students believe that the prophetic events
listed in Matthew 24 prove that Christ is now secretly
present (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 3:3) before
the revealment fulfilling Revelation 1:7—"every
eye shall see him."
the latest research on the Greek word parousia and an
in-depth study on all aspects of our Lord’s return,
click here for the booklet I WILL COME AGAIN. Endnotes
Gratten Guinness, ROMANISM AND THE REFORMATION (Toronto:
S.R. Briggs [N.D.]), 250.
Edwin Froom, THE PROPHETIC FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, Vol.
3 (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1954), 739.
AND FALL OF PAPACY (New York: The American Protestant
Society, 1801), 178-190.
Trevor, ROME: FROM THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE (London:
The Religious Tract Society, 1868), 439.
Robert Pennington, EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY (London: George
Bell and Sons, 1881), 450.
Vol. 3, pp 263, 264.
Vol. 4, pp 406, 518.
FAMILIAR DISCOURSES OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER, trans by Henry
Bell and revised by Joseph Kerby (London: Baldwin, Craddock
and Joy, 1818), 7, 8.
Vol. 3, p 602.
Vol. 4. pp 323, 324.
your copy from Bible Students, PO Box 144, Edison, NJ
Tanner, DANIEL AND THE REVELATION (London: Hodder &
Stoughton, 1898), 16, 17.
F. Walvoord, BIBIOLTHECA SACRA, April-June 1976.
Lindsey, THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1970), 43.