Unveiling the Prophetic Tapestry: William Miller’s Dream and the Restoration of Foundational Truths in the Last Days
Key Takeaways
This article covers William Miller’s dream, prophetic transitions, unsealing of truth, and the restoration of foundational truths in the last days.
- William Miller’s Dream and Its Prophetic Application
- Miller’s dream has prophetic significance in the last days.
- It identifies the discovery, establishment, rejection, burying, and restoration of foundational truths of Adventism.
- These truths were unsealed in 1798 and represented by the vision of the Ulai River.
- Miller’s dream, recorded in Early Writings, parallels Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream, symbolizing the “seven times.”
- In 1798, Nebuchadnezzar’s symbolic transformation marked the transition to the “wise.”
- Nebuchadnezzar’s Transition and Wise Understanding
- Nebuchadnezzar’s life transitioned symbolically in 1798, marking the end of his “seven times.”
- This transition represented the “wise” understanding of the increase of knowledge at the time of the end.
- Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment parallels the judgment of Belshazzar’s 2520-year prophecy.
- Both kings’ stories emphasize the importance of seizing opportunities to understand truth.
- New Dispensations and Warnings
- In 1798, a new dispensation of salvation’s work began, warning of another dispensation starting in 1844.
- This change of dispensation involved the opening and closing of doors.
- Revelation 3:7-8 references an open door as marking a new dispensation.
- Transition Points and The “Seven Times”
- 1798 and 1844 signify transitions marked by the “seven times.”
- These transitions encompassed changes in kingdoms, messages, and dispensations.
- The transition from Millerite Philadelphian Adventism to Millerite Laodicean Adventism also involved an increase of knowledge about the “seven times.”
- The Sixty-Five-Year Prophecy and Fulfillments
- Isaiah’s prophecy of sixty-five years represented the beginning and end of God’s indignation against Israel.
- This prophecy found fulfillments in 1798, 1844, and 1863.
- Unsealing of Prophecies and Testing Processes
- Unsealing prophecies often coincide with the “seven times” and mark transition points.
- The increase of knowledge is associated with the unsealing of prophetic messages.
- Transition periods involve testing processes, such as the transition from Philadelphia to Laodicea.
- Miller’s Dream and the Unsealing of Truth
- Miller’s dream symbolizes the progressive unsealing of truth.
- The dirt brush man represents Christ’s role in unsealing the sealed book.
- Miller’s prayer, similar to Daniel’s prayer in chapters 2 and 9, seeks understanding and confession.
- The dream’s end parallels the first resurrection at the second coming.
- Progressive Development of Messages
- The reception of messages often follows a progressive development.
- Spiritual individuals are often the first to accept new messages, as seen in the Midnight Cry.
- The last to accept a message often represents the final phase of its development.
- The Message of the Voice Crying in the Wilderness
- Ezekiel’s message, represented by the voice crying in the wilderness, begins during the “wilderness” period.
- The wilderness symbolizes the “seven times” and a transitional phase.
- The most spiritual individuals are typically the first to accept this message.
- The Last Trumpet and Resurrection
- The last trumpet sounds at the end of the three-and-a-half symbolic days.
- This trumpet marks the resurrection of the dead dry bones, representing the sealing of the two witnesses.
- The trumpet’s sound signifies the sealing of the witnesses and their transformation.
- The Restoration of Truth and Application
- The restoration of foundational truths involves removing them from false settings and placing them in the framework of truth.
- These truths, previously serving error, are to bring glory to God and save humanity.
- This work can only be accomplished by divine intervention.
We are considering the prophetic application of William Miller’s dream in the last days, which is where all prophecies find their perfect fulfillment. Miller’s dream identifies the discovery, establishment, rejection, burying and restoration of the foundational truths of Adventism that were assembled through the ministry of Miller. Those foundational truths represented the truths that were unsealed in 1798. Those truths are represented by the vision of the Ulai River. Miller’s dream, as recorded in the book Early Writings, was his second dream, and the dream had been typified by Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream, just as Miller himself had been typified by Nebuchadnezzar.
Previous articles have demonstrated how the conclusion of Nebuchadnezzar’s life of “seven times” living with the heart of a beast, ended symbolically in 1798. His kingdom was then restored, and for the first time, Nebuchadnezzar represented a fully converted man. In terms of the “time of the end,” in 1798, he represented the “wise.” We have also identified that as the first king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment of “seven times,” typified the judgment of Belshazzar’s twenty-five hundred and twenty (mene, mene, tekel, upharsin), who was the last king of Babylon.
“To the last ruler of Babylon, as in type to its first, had come the sentence of the divine Watcher: ‘O king, … to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.’ Daniel 4:31.” Prophets and Kings, 533.
Sister White identified Belshazzar in his hour of judgment as the “foolish king.” In the conclusion of Nebuchadnezzar’s hour of judgment, he represents the “wise king,” for he was benefitted by the judgment of “seven times,” and Belshazzar, though he knew the history, refused to be benefitted.
“But Belshazzar’s love of amusement and self-glorification effaced the lessons he should never have forgotten; and he committed sins similar to those that brought signal judgments on Nebuchadnezzar. He wasted the opportunities graciously granted him, neglecting to use the opportunities within his reach for becoming acquainted with truth. ‘What must I do to be saved?’ was a question that the great but foolish king passed by indifferently.” Bible Echo, April 25, 1898.
Nebuchadnezzar is a symbol of “the wise” in 1798, who understand the increase of knowledge at the time of the end.
“The proud boast had scarcely left his lips, when a voice from Heaven told him that God’s appointed time of judgment had come. In a moment his reason was taken away, and he became as a beast. For seven years he was thus degraded. At the end of this time his reason was restored to him, and then looking up in humility to the great God of Heaven, he recognized the divine hand in this chastisement, and was again restored to his throne.
“In a public proclamation, King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged his guilt, and the great mercy of God in his restoration. This was the last act of his life as recorded in Sacred History.” Review and Herald, February 1, 1881.
At the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s “seven times,” he made a public proclamation, which included a public confession. Miller, as Nebuchadnezzar, symbolizes the “wise” in 1798, who understand the increase of knowledge at the time of the end. They both had two dreams, and both of their respective second dreams symbolically identify the “seven times.” The “seven times” has been shown in previous articles to mark a transition point.
In 1798, Nebuchadnezzar marks a transition from his proud condition, to the condition of the wise. It included his public confession. 1798, was also the transition point between the fifth and sixth kingdoms of Bible prophecy. It also marked the arrival of the first angel, thus marking a new dispensation, for the warning of the coming judgment could not take place until the fifth kingdom of Bible prophecy had received its deadly wound.
“The message itself sheds light as to the time when this movement is to take place. It is declared to be a part of the ‘everlasting gospel;’ and it announces the opening of the judgment. The message of salvation has been preached in all ages; but this message is a part of the gospel which could be proclaimed only in the last days, for only then would it be true that the hour of judgment had come. The prophecies present a succession of events leading down to the opening of the judgment. This is especially true of the book of Daniel. But that part of his prophecy which related to the last days, Daniel was bidden to close up and seal ‘to the time of the end.’ Not till we reach this time could a message concerning the judgment be proclaimed, based on the fulfillment of these prophecies. But at the time of the end, says the prophet, ‘many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’ Daniel 12:4.
“The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his day. ‘That day shall not come,’ he says, ‘except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Not till after the great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the ‘man of sin,’ can we look for the advent of our Lord. The ‘man of sin,’ which is also styled ‘the mystery of iniquity,’ ‘the son of perdition,’ and ‘that wicked,’ represents the papacy, which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time. Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensation down to the year 1798. It is this side of that time that the message of Christ’s second coming is to be proclaimed.
“No such message has ever been given in past ages. Paul, as we have seen, did not preach it; he pointed his brethren into the then far-distant future for the coming of the Lord. The Reformers did not proclaim it. Martin Luther placed the judgment about three hundred years in the future from his day. But since 1798 the book of Daniel has been unsealed, knowledge of the prophecies has increased, and many have proclaimed the solemn message of the judgment near.” The Great Controversy, 356.
In 1798, a new dispensation of the work of salvation arrived, and that new dispensation gave a warning of another dispensation that would begin in 1844. At that change of dispensation, a door would be closed, and a door opened.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Revelation 3:7, 8.
The opening of a door marks a new dispensation. There was a dispensational change of kingdoms and of message in 1798, at the end of the first indignation, that was accomplished from 723 BC through to 1798. There was also dispensational change in 1844, at the end of the last indignation, that was accomplished from 677 BC through to 1844. In 1798, the dispensation of the first angel’s message, which warned of the approaching judgment, had arrived. Both Nebuchadnezzar and Miller are represented as the “wise,” at the “time of the end,” when “the door” was opened to the internal dispensation of the first angel’s message and to the external dispensation change from the sea beast unto the earth beast. The dispensation of the message of the first angel was fulfilled when the door into the Most Holy Place was opened on October 22, 1844, and the dispensation of the third angel, and the investigative judgment arrived.
Miller’s second dream begins when a door was opened in 1798, and it ends when a door was opened in the transitional period of the “two witnesses” who are brought back to life in order to proclaim the message of the Midnight Cry. Prophetically both Nebuchadnezzar and Miller represented the transition from the kingdom of the sea beast unto the kingdom of the earth beast in 1798. They both represent the announcement of the approach and the arrival of the investigative judgment in 1844. 1798, and 1844, represent the conclusion of first and last “indignations” of God against His people that was accomplished over the period of “seven times,” as set forth in Leviticus twenty-six. The forty-six years from 1798, unto 1844, represent the erection of the spiritual temple which the messenger of the covenant suddenly came to on October 22, 1844, as Christ transitioned from the Holy Place unto the Most Holy Place.
1798, and 1844, identify transitions (more than one), that are marked by the “seven times.” The transition of Millerite Philadelphian Adventism unto Millerite Laodicean Adventism in 1856, was also marked by an increase of knowledge of the “seven times,” that was thereafter rejected in 1863. In 1798, there had been an increase of knowledge from the book of Daniel, which included the same “seven times,” of Leviticus twenty-six, that was to be rejected at the end of Millerite Philadelphian Adventism.
The transition of the movement of the first angel from Philadelphia unto Laodicea was represented by the seven years from 1856 to 1863. The Laodicean message arrived in 1856, and for seven years, the new light of the “seven times” that had been unsealed produced a three-step testing process that was failed by Adventism in 1863. Seven years were given for the light of the “seven times,” to either be received or rejected. The transition of the movement of Millerite Philadelphian Adventism unto Millerite Laodicean Adventism, typifies the reversal of the sequence at the end, the transition of the Laodicean movement of the third angel unto the Philadelphian movement of the third angel.
The sixty-five-year prophecy of Isaiah, marks the beginning of the first and the last indignation of God against the northern and then the southern kingdoms of Israel.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. Isaiah 7:8.
Isaiah’s prophecy of sixty-five years was given in 742 BC, and within sixty-five years the northern kingdom would be gone. Nineteen years after 742 BC, in 723 BC, the northern kingdom was carried into slavery by Assyria. At the conclusion of the sixty-five years the southern kingdom’s indignation began in 677 BC, when Manasseh was taken captive by the Babylonians. The sixty-five years therefore represent a nineteen-year period to the first captivity of the northern kingdom, then another forty-six years until the captivity of Manasseh.
Those prophecies reached their respective fulfillments in 1798, 1844 and 1863. In 1798, an internal transition of the message of salvation occurred with the arrival of the first angel, and an external transition of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy also occurred. In 1844, an internal transition of the message of salvation occurred as the door was closed to the Holy Place and the investigative judgment began with the arrival of the third angel. In 1863, an external change occurred as both horns of the earth beast divided into two classes.
The Republican horn divided into the two political parties that would dominate the history of the earth beast from then onward. The Protestant horn divided into two apostate manifestations, one party claiming to be Protestant that claimed to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, and another class that claimed to be Protestant, but upheld the day of the sun as their chosen day of worship.
In that history, the Protestant horn that had come out of the Dark Ages, was tested from August 11, 1840 until October 22, 1844, and failed the testing process and transitioned from the Sunday-keeping Protestant people to the Sunday-keeping apostate Protestant people.
In the history of the true Protestant horn that was established and identified in 1844, a testing process occurred from 1856 through to 1863. Then the true Sabbath-keeping Protestant horn transitioned both from Philadelphia unto Laodicea, and also from the true Sabbath-keeping Protestant people unto the Sabbath-keeping apostate Protestant horn. The “seven times,” is associated with 1798, 1844, 1856 and 1863. The “seven times,” is a symbol associated with a transition point and this truth is established upon several witnesses.
In 1798, there was an increase of knowledge on the “seven times,” because the very first time-prophecy Miller discovered was that very truth. By 1863, that truth had been rejected, thus identifying the conclusion of the ending period of the sixty-five years of the prophecy set forth in Isaiah chapter seven.
The complete twenty-five hundred and twenty year prophecy has a sixty-five year span at both the beginning and the ending in a reverse-image, mirror-like fashion. In the beginning of the ending sixty-five years (1798) typified by the beginning of the beginning sixty-five years in 742 BC when the prophecy was given, there was an increase of knowledge upon the “seven times,” which the “wise” Millerites understood and proclaimed. At the ending of the ending sixty-five years in 1863, there was another increase of knowledge on the same truth which was ultimately rejected by the recently crowned “priests” of the true Protestant horn.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6.
The increase of knowledge when the book of Daniel is unsealed is associated with the “seven times,” so it not only is a symbol of a transition point, but also of the unsealing of the prophetic message.
Another transition began on July 18, 2020, with the first disappointment, which began the “tarrying time” and marked the beginning of Revelation chapter eleven’s three-and-a-half-days of the two witnesses laying dead in the street of the great city of Sodom and Egypt.
July 18, 2020, marks the beginning of three-and-a-half symbolic days (a “seven times”), that had been illustrated by the history of 1856 through to 1863. Both periods are symbols of the “seven times.” Both periods mark a change of dispensations (a transition). Both periods represent an increase of knowledge associated with the “seven times.”
It was in the period of transition from the kingdom of Babylon unto the kingdom of Medo-Persia that Daniel prayed the Leviticus twenty-six prayer, thus identifying the Leviticus twenty-six prayer as a waymark of the transition of the last days. In Miller’s dream, at the end of seven expressions of the word “scattering,” Miller both weeps and prays. The weeping marks the point when the Lion of the tribe of Judah (the dirt brush man), unseals a message that has been sealed.
Miller’s prayer marks the Leviticus twenty-six prayer of Daniel, that is associated with “seven times,” and occurs when the door and windows were opened in Miller’s dream. But the prayer of Daniel, in chapter nine, also aligns with the prayer of Daniel in chapter two. It also aligns with Nebuchadnezzar’s prayer of confession at the conclusion of his “seven times.”
Miller’s prayer was therefore represented by the Leviticus twenty-six prayer, which was a public prayer of confession and a prayer of request for the unsealing of the last prophetic secret, because all prophecy illustrates the last days. Therefore the secret of Daniel chapter two represents the last secret to be unsealed. Miller’s prayer, in his dream, was a prayer of anxiety and righteous indignation concerning the abominations that had happened to the jewels in his room. His anxiety was illustrated by those who sigh and cry in Ezekiel chapter nine, during the sealing time of the one-hundred and forty-four thousand.
Miller watched as the truths were progressively buried by counterfeit doctrines, and which ultimately reached a point where the casket (the Bible itself) was destroyed. The destruction of Miller’s casket took place in the third generation of Adventism when there was a purposeful movement to set aside the King James Bible for the modern corrupted Catholic-based versions of the Bible.
Miller wept, then prayed, and immediately a door opened, and the people all left. Then the dirt brush man (the Lion of the tribe of Judah) entered, opened the windows and began to clean. Then Miller expressed his concern for the scattered jewels, and the dirt brush man promised that he would take care of the jewels. In the bustle of the dirt brush man’s cleaning project, Miller closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened his eyes, the rubbish was gone. The jewels were scattered around the room, and the dirt brush man then placed the larger casket on the table, gathered the jewels and cast them into the casket and said, “come and see.”
The expression, “come and see,” is a symbol that a truth has just been unsealed. The truth that is unsealed for Miller is the final truth, for the next thing to happen is the awakening of Miller at the “shout,” representing the loud cry. Miller was the last to receive the message of the Midnight Cry in the history of the Millerites, and just before the shout that awakens him in the dream, he closed his eyes for a moment. The only passage in the Bible that references “a moment” and “eyes” is identifying the first resurrection.
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51–53.
In the history of the transition of the Laodicean movement of the third angel unto the Philadelphian movement of the third angel, as represented in Revelation chapter eleven, Miller represents the very last of the wise virgins to receive the message of the Midnight Cry. The first to receive it were the most spiritual.
“This was the midnight cry, which was to give power to the second angel’s message. Angels were sent from heaven to arouse the discouraged saints and prepare them for the great work before them. The most talented men were not the first to receive this message. Angels were sent to the humble, devoted ones, and constrained them to raise the cry, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!’ Those entrusted with the cry made haste, and in the power of the Holy Spirit sounded the message, and aroused their discouraged brethren. This work did not stand in the wisdom and learning of men, but in the power of God, and His saints who heard the cry could not resist it. The most spiritual received this message first, and those who had formerly led in the work were the last to receive and help swell the cry, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!’” Early Writings, 238.
At the end of the three and a half symbolic days of Revelation chapter eleven, the first of two messages, represented in Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven, is proclaimed. The first message brings the dead and scattered bones together, but they are still dead. The message was presented by the voice that cried “in the wilderness”, thus identifying that Ezekiel’s message begins before the three-and-a-half symbolic days concluded. Those three-and-a-half days represent a “wilderness”, and it is from the “wilderness” that the message is proclaimed. The “wilderness” is also a symbol of the “seven times,” which marks a transition and an unsealing that introduces a testing process.
There is a progressive development of the message, and a progressive reception as illustrated with the Midnight Cry of the Millerite history. The most spiritual were the first to receive the message of the voice crying in the wilderness, and the historians of Adventism point to a letter written by William Miller just days before October 22, 1844, where Miller testifies that he finally understood and accepted Samuel Snow’s message of the Midnight Cry.
“Dear Brother Himes: I see a glory in the seventh month which I never saw before. Although the Lord had shown me the typical bearing of the seventh month, one year and a half ago, yet I did not realize the force of the types. Now, blessed be the name of the Lord, I see a beauty, a harmony, and an agreement in the Scriptures, for which I have long prayed, but did not see until today. Thank the Lord, O my soul. Let Brother Snow, Brother Storrs, and others, be blessed for their instrumentality in opening my eyes. I am almost home. Glory! Glory! Glory! Glory!” William Miller, Signs of the Times, October 16, 1844.
In the repetition of the history of the Midnight Cry, as represented in Miller’s dream, Miller closed his eyes for a moment. Thus “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised.” In Miller’s dream he represents the last to receive the message of the Midnight Cry, as he did in his own history. He represents those that finally accept the message just before the dirt brush man gathers up the scattered jewels and casts them into the larger casket. In Revelation chapter eleven, the last to accept the second message of Ezekiel, which is the message of the four winds of Islam, that is also the sealing message, do so just before the last of seven trumpets sound, which is the “third Woe” trumpet. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)
The passage is identifying the first resurrection that occurs at the second coming, but there is also a resurrection of the dead dry bones (the two witnesses) that occurs in the hour of the great earthquake of Revelation chapter eleven. In the “hour” of that earthquake, the last trumpet of the seven trumpets sounds, and the dead witnesses that were in the street are brought back to life, not as Laodiceans, but as Philadelphians, for at the trumpet of the third Woe, the two witnesses have been sealed and are changed to incorruptible, for they will never again sin. Miller represents the last to receive the message which brings the two witnesses to life, which is the message of the four winds of Islam, and is the sealing message.
The sound of that trumpet raises the last of the dead dry bones that had been scattered in the street of Sodom and Egypt. Miller watched as the truths were progressively buried by counterfeit doctrines. Eventually Miller wept, marking the time when the unsealing was to begin, for the unsealing is a progressive work. That unsealing began in the ending period of the three-and-a-half days.
After Miller wept, the One who had the power to unseal the sealed book entered into the narrative. In Miller’s dream that was the Dirt Brush Man. Miller then prayed, and immediately a door opened, marking the point where the Laodicean movement of the third angel was going to transition unto the Philadelphia movement of the third angel. His prayer was the Leviticus twenty-six prayer, it was the prayer for understanding of the final prophetic secret and a public confession of the rebellion that brought the three-and-a-half days upon the two witnesses, it was the prayer of those who are sealed in Ezekiel chapter nine.
Following the prayer, Christ (the dirt brush man) entered and began to clean up the room. At the end of the dirt brush man’s cleaning project, Miller closed his eyes for a moment, identifying the end of the period that the dead dry bones were to be resurrected. The dirt brush man then gathered the scattered jewels in Miller’s room, and placed them in a new, larger casket, upon a table in the center of Miller’s room, as the two witnesses are lifted up as the ensign. As the ensign, they then call unto God’s other flock that is still in Babylon to “come and see” the message that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has just cast into the new, larger casket.
We will begin to consider the vision of the Ulai River as the symbol of the truths from the book of Daniel that was unsealed in 1798 in the next article. We have placed a few points of reference in place in advance of that consideration. The first is that the message of the Millerites was perfect (at its stage of growth), but incomplete. It was placed in the framework of two, not three desolating powers. The second is that when Miller’s dream identifies the ultimate restoration of the foundational truths, the foundational truths then are “ten times brighter” than their original glory. A third point is that the movement of the first angel (the Millerite movement), is repeated in the movement of the third angel, but with a few important caveats. The Millerites as a symbol were Philadelphians, they were a converted Nebuchadnezzar, but that ultimately and unfortunately, “rebuilt Jericho” in 1863.
The movement of the third angel began as Laodiceans, in need of conversion, but they would ultimately participate in the final destruction of Jericho (the Jericho of the last days).
“The Saviour had not come to set aside what patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for He Himself had spoken through these representative men. All the truths of God’s word came from Him. But these priceless gems had been placed in false settings. Their precious light had been made to minister to error. God desired them to be removed from their settings of error and replaced in the framework of truth. This work only a divine hand could accomplish. By its connection with error, the truth had been serving the cause of the enemy of God and man. Christ had come to place it where it would glorify God, and work the salvation of humanity.” The Desire of Ages, 287.
Amen! MIller’s jewels of truth are now being restored, and the “seven times” has become a point of controversy again, showing we are at another “turning point” and that The End is near!