Brother D,
You asked me to read William Millers Lecture’s numbers 5 and 6, particularly you wanted me to look at page 83, in order for us to discuss them at a later time. I was to call you back on Sunday, after I had time to read them. I had read them a couple times before, but at the previous readings I was looking for some specific information, so I raced beyond some areas that I determined were not directly related to the specific topic I was looking at. Therefore, previously I did not read the entire lectures closely. Sunday, I pulled the lectures up from the Pioneer CD, and I took the time to copy and paste them into Microsoft Word. I then began to clean them up, and as I began that work I read them more closely. On Monday and Tuesday I returned to read them, and I now have them about fifty percent in mind and can think about them some. On Wednesday I left and email message for you to call, and now it is Friday morning and I have a different idea. I am going to put my thoughts into words, and email you the following thoughts about Miller’s Lectures, so you can look over some things before we go any further. By using this communication technique I can place our interaction into the newsletter, if anything of seeming interest my come out of our discussion. This will help me prioritize my time as well, for I want to write some things down before we leave for Germany on the 22nd of December.
The first time I looked at these lectures I was trying to understand William Miller’s logic for identifying the beast that is numbered as 666 in Revelation 13:18. I could not agree with Miller on applying 666 to pagan Rome exclusively, but I was not threatened by his reasoning, for I thought and still think a case can be made that pagan and papal Rome are so closely paralleled to one another, that it would not threaten anything to see the number 666 associated with both pagan and papal Rome. I disagreed with Miller on 666 exclusively as pagan Rome, but was not threatened by his logic for making the conclusion about what the 666 represented in connection with numbering the kingdom of pagan Rome from the year 158 BC through 508 AD. Miller marks 158 as the time that the league was formed between the Jews and Rome. He insists that when a power in prophecy comes into contact with God’s people, it is then that they become a symbol in Bible prophecy. Miller then concludes the league made between the Jews and pagan Rome took place in 158. Many historians, and Uriah Smith place the league with the Jews in 161, but Miller sites a limited history to show 158 BC. By doing so he projects ahead in history 666 years and arrives at 508. He concludes that the paganism of Rome went for 666 years before it was removed in order to prepare the way for the papacy.
You and I know that Miller’s history is difficult to push to far, but I still believe it is an interesting consideration. In the Lectures you asked me to read, that include Miller’s reason on 666 there are other subjects addressed. These subjects are the one’s I previously passed over in these lectures. Now that I have looked at them I believe that Miller’s conclusions are generally false. He attempts to apply the prophetic characteristics of the United States in Revelation chapter thirteen to the papacy. He obviously did not recognize the role of the United States in Revelation thirteen. As he forces some things into that model, he also forces conclusions about Revelation seventeen into a pre-1844 fulfillment, and he misses many important end-time understandings.
I appreciate his connecting the time prophecies together under the umbrella of the twenty-three hundred year prophecy, and I recognize his powerful observations of the time period of 508. With this being stated, I will look forward to our future discussion. Jeff.
Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Jeremiah 6:16.
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