378
The Great Controversy 1888
impossible for them to be impressed by the great truths of prophecy.
The preaching of a definite time for the Judgment, in the giving of the
first message, was ordered of God. The computation of the prophetic
periods on which that message was based, placing the close of the
2300 days in the autumn of 1844, stands without impeachment. The
repeated efforts to find new dates for the beginning and close of the
prophetic periods, and the unsound reasoning necessary to sustain
these positions, not only lead minds away from the present truth, but
throw contempt upon all efforts to explain the prophecies. The more
frequently a definite time is set for the second advent, and the more
widely it is taught, the better it suits the purposes of Satan. After the
time has passed, he excites ridicule and contempt of its advocates,
and thus casts reproach upon the great Advent movement of 1843 and
1844. Those who persist in this error will at last fix upon a date too far
in the future for the coming of Christ. Thus they will be led to rest in
a false security, and many will not be undeceived until it is too late.
The history of ancient Israel is a striking illustration of the past
experience of the Adventist body. God led his people in the Advent
movement, even as he led the children of Israel from Egypt. In the
great disappointment their faith was tested as was that of the Hebrews
at the Red Sea. Had they still trusted to the guiding hand that had
been with them in their past experience, they would have seen of the
salvation of God. If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844
[458]
had received the third angel’s message, and proclaimed it in the power
of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their
efforts. A flood of light would have been shed upon the world. Years
ago the inhabitants of the earth would have been warned, the closing
work completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of
his people.
It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years
in the wilderness; he desired to lead them directly to the land of
Canaan, and establish them there, a holy, happy people. But “they
could not enter in because of unbelief.” [
Hebrews 3:19
.] Because of
their backsliding and apostasy, they perished in the desert, and others
were raised up to enter the promised land. In like manner, it was not
the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed,
and his people should remain so many years in this world of sin and
sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to