Miller Finds a Friend
“Suddenly,” he says, “the character of a Saviour was vividly impressed upon my mind. It seemed that there might be a being so good and compassionate as to himself atone for our transgressions, and thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin. ... But the question arose, How can it be proved that such a being does exist? Aside from the Bible, I found that I could get no evidence of the existence of such a Saviour, or even of a future state... .”HF 199.3
“I saw that the Bible did bring to view just such a Saviour as I needed; and I was perplexed to find how an uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was constrained to admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God. They became my delight; and in Jesus I found a friend. The Saviour became to me the chiefest among ten thousand; and the Scriptures, which before were dark and contradictory, now became the lamp to my feet and light to my path. ... I found the Lord God to be a Rock in the midst of the ocean of life. The Bible now became my chief study, and I can truly say, I searched it with great delight. ... I wondered why I had not seen its beauty and glory before, and marveled that I could have ever rejected it. ... I lost all taste for other reading, and applied my heart to get wisdom from God.”HF 199.4
Miller publicly professed his faith. But his infidel associates brought forward all those arguments which he himself had often urged against the Scriptures. He reasoned that if the Bible is a revelation from God, it must be consistent with itself. He determined to study the Scriptures and ascertain if every apparent contradiction could be harmonized.HF 200.1
Dispensing with commentaries, he compared scripture with scripture by the aid of the marginal references and concordance. Beginning with Genesis, reading verse by verse, when he found anything obscure it was his custom to compare it with every other text which seemed to refer to the matter under consideration. Every word was permitted to have its bearing upon the text. Thus whenever he met with a passage hard to be understood he found an explanation in some other portion of the Scriptures. He studied with earnest prayer for divine enlightenment, and he experienced the truth of the psalmist's words: “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Psalm 119:130.HF 200.2
With intense interest he studied Daniel and the Revelation and found that the prophetic symbols could be understood. He saw that all the various figures, metaphors, similitudes, etc., were either explained in their immediate connection or defined in other scriptures and were to be literally understood. Link after link of the chain of truth rewarded his efforts. Step by step he traced the great lines of prophecy. Angels of heaven were guiding his mind.HF 200.3
He became satisfied that the popular view of a temporal millennium before the end of the world was not sustained by the Word of God. This doctrine, pointing to a thousand years of peace before the coming of the Lord, is contrary to the teachings of Christ and His apostles, who declared that the wheat and the tares are to grow together until the harvest, the end of the world, and that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” 2 Timothy 3:13.HF 200.4