“In the year 1844 10 words of Scripture turned the world upside down for thousands of Americans, and dominated the thinking of hundreds of thousands more. For one sublime moment it seemed that the greatest event of human history was about to occur, and those ten words had become in a large part of the Western world a rallying cry for a generation about to witness this event.

What were the words? “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him” Matt. 25:6. What was the event? The second coming of Christ, which according to the most ardent believers, a group led by William Miller, New England army captain turned preacher, was to take place in 1844. For this group, known historically as the Millerites, the second coming was a certainty. Their faith was sound, their convictions sure; and with joy they awaited the holy event… Belief in the second coming of Jesus has been prominent in the Christian Church since Apostolic times. Repeated emphasis in the New Testament made thisinevitable. The uniqueness of the nineteenth century revival of interest in this doctrine lay in its emphasis on the imminence of the event.”
(Jerome Clark, 1844, Vol.1, p.15-16)