Though we have discussed it quite a bit from several angles in the first few chapters of this blog, there is great significance to the changes made in our world since the mid 1800’s. This also has a lot to do with what Jesus is doing now. You see the very first time anyone came to understand the significance of Daniel 8:14 and the cleansing of the Sanctuary was in the early 1800’s. This sparked a great religious revival as a movement rose up believing the cleansing was a sign of the end of the world. The book “Daniel and the Revelation” by Uriah Smith, a man who was there, puts it this way on page 386:

The great religious awakening in the early part of the nineteenth century which resulted from a study of the prophecies, culminated in this advent movement. Men from all denominations were convinced that the coming of Christ was near. As they came out of the various churches, they left sectarian names and feelings behind, and every heart beat in unison as all joined to give the alarm to the churches and to the world, and pointed to the coming of the Son of man as the believer's true hope. Selfishness and covetousness were laid aside, and a spirit of consecration and sacrifice was cherished. The Spirit of God was with every true believer, and his praise upon every tongue. Those who were not in that movement cannot fully realize how great was the searching of heart, the consecration to God, the peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and the pure, fervent love for one another which true believers enjoyed.

From The Great Controversy by Ellen White, page 611 “The advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel's message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century”.
This revival came about as a result of what’s known in history as “The Second Great Awakening”. After Napoleon took the Pope prisoner in 1798 the political power of the Catholic Church was broken, though persecution had already been waning for decades. This combined with the failure of the French Revolution gave great confidence to Protestant Bible scholars. The Bible was no longer illegal for the common man to possess and people began studying it more earnestly as the various Bible societies spread God’s word.

This ‘Advent’ movement keyed in on Daniel 8:14 and the cleansing of the Sanctuary as we have discussed above. Daniel and the Revelation, page 635 elaborates further.

As early as 1831, William Miller, of Low Hampton, New York, by an earnest and consistent study of the prophecies, was led to the conclusion that the gospel age was near its close. He placed the termination, which he thought would occur at the end of the prophetic periods, about the year 1843. This date was afterward extended to the autumn of 1844. … When he began to promulgate his views, they met with general favor, and were followed by great religious awakenings in different parts of the land.

Soon a multitude of colaborers gathered around his standard, among whom may be mentioned such men as F. G. Brown, Charles Fitch, Josiah Litch, J. V. Himes, and others, who were then eminent for piety, and men of influence in the religious world. The period marked by the years 1840-1844 was one of intense activity and great progress in this work.

Now remember this happened when 1844 was still in the future. Their critical mistake came from the fact that they didn’t really know what the Sanctuary was and assumed its cleansing meant the end of the world when Jesus will return and cleanse the earth. As Uriah Smith discussed there was more than a year of approximate guesses that came and went from 1843 to 1844. The last possible day fro Jesus to return was October 22, 1844. (I’ll explain how they arrived at these dates in the next chapter.) When He didn’t come the event was written up in history as “The Great Disappointment”.

Why did revival go wrong? They were injecting their own opinions into the Bible rather than letting God’s word speak for itself. However the Lord knew this would happen. The cleansing reference of verse 14 is preceded by Daniel 8:13 “Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, ‘How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?’” Daniel 8:13 has two saints talking. It’s the second saint who is asking the first the question the question of when? The first saint answers the second only on that question of when. The second saint is left to learn the meaning through further study later. Though the first movement fell apart, those who were willing to hang on after being so broken and disappointed were given many great rewards. God worked in several ways to raise up a new movement. As this happened, those who studied their Bibles saying in their hearts ‘where did we go wrong?’ found many other important truths missing from the theology of the mainstream church of the day. These people found out the very truths we have discussed here among others.

They are now known as the Seventh-day Adventists. ‘Adventist’ from the understanding that Jesus will soon return to end this world and begin a new one and ‘Seventh-day’ from the Bible fact that the original Sabbath has never been changed in God’s eyes. Sunday is not the true Sabbath, but we’ll leave that discussion for another day.

Jesus gave us the truth when He came to earth the first time. Indeed as John 14:6 says, He is the “way, truth and the life”. The early church began with the benefit of that truth but soon fell away from it over the course of a few centuries. Then God worked again to bring His people out of the Dark Ages. First there was Martin Luther, the man we all owe our freedom to today. Then wave after wave of Reformers came along from the Baptists to Wesley and the Methodists, each one adding a piece as they were lead to study the Bible. Ultimately though, the 14th century mindset still had its influence.