“History merely repeats itself.”
Ecc. 1:9 (New Living Translation)
This verse says that whatever has been will be again…both positive and negative. So:
- If we want to know what’s ahead, both positively and negatively, this verse says we only need to look to the past to know vs. guess what’s coming in the future.
- Let’s learn from the mistakes of the past and the successes, too, and not repeat the mistake, but only repeat the successes.
Here’s compelling set of comparison between Christ’s disciples who preached the gospel of the kingdom at His first advent with its counterpoint of those who proclaimed the message of His second advent worldwide, in 1831 – 1844 to the present day:
GC 351:1, The experience of the disciples who preached the “gospel of the kingdom” at the first advent of Christ, had its counterpart in the experience of those who proclaimed the message of His second advent.
Parallel 1
- Christ’s disciples
- Those who proclaimed His 2nd advent:
As the disciples went out preaching, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,” so Miller and his associates proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire, that the judgment was at hand, and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in. The preaching of the disciples in regard to time was based on the seventy weeks of Daniel 9. The message given by Miller and his associates announced the termination of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14, of which the seventy weeks form a part. The preaching of each was based upon the fulfillment of a different portion of the same great prophetic period.
Parallel 2
- Christ’s disciples
- Those who
Like the first disciples, William Miller and his associates did not, themselves, fully comprehend the import of the message which they bore. Errors that had been long established in the church prevented them from arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the prophecy. Therefore, though they proclaimed the message which God had committed to them to be given to the world, yet through a misapprehension of its meaning they suffered disappointment.
Parallel 3
- Christ’s disciples
- Those who proclaimed His 2nd advent:
Parallel 4
- Christ’s disciples
- Those who proclaimed His 2nd advent:
Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right time. But as the early disciples declared, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,“ based on the prophecy of Daniel 9, while they failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah was foretold in the same scripture, so Miller and his associates preached the message based on Daniel 8:14 and Revelation 14:7, and failed to see that there were still other messages brought to view in Revelation 14, which were also to be given before the advent of the Lord. As the disciples were mistaken in regard to the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, so Adventists were mistaken in regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the 2300 days. In both cases there was an acceptance of, or rather an adherence to, popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth. Both classes fulfilled the will of God in delivering the message which He desired to be given, and both, through their own misapprehension of their message, suffered disappointment.
Parallel 5
- Christ’s disciples
- Those who proclaimed His 2nd advent:
Parallel 6
- Christ’s disciples…fulfilled the will of God in delivering the message which He desired to be given at His first advent.
- Those who proclaimed His 2nd advent…fulfilled the will of God in delivering the message which He desired to be given at His second advent.
Parallel 7
- Christ’s disciples…suffered disappointment through their own misapprehension of their message.
- Those who proclaimed His 2nd advent…suffered disappointment through their own misapprehension of their message,