Light of the Midnight Cry, vol. I: "Seventh Month Movement" Articles Published During the Midnight C

"Concerning the time of that coming, he says, in Mark 13:32, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son but the Father." It is thought by many, that this passage proves that men are never to know the time. But if it prove this, it likewise proves that the Son of God himself is never to know the time: for the passage declares precisely the same concerning him, that it does concerning angels and men. But can any person believe that our glorious Lord, to whom all power in heaven and earth is given, is, and will remain ignorant of the time until the very moment that he comes to judge the world? If not, then certainly this text can never prove that men may not be made to understand the time. An old English version of the passage reads, "But that day and hour no man maketh known, neither the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." This is the correct reading according to several of the ablest critics of the age. The word know is used here in the same sense as it is by Paul in 1 Cor. 2:2. Paul well understood many other things, besides Christ and him crucified, but he determined to make known nothing else among them. So in the passage first quoted, it is declared that none but God the Father maketh known the day and hour, that is the definite time of the second coming of his Son. And this necessarily implies that God makes the time known." (Samuel S. Snow, The True Midnight Cry, August 22, 1844)

"No one knows the day and the hour!" - This was the cry of those who opposed the advent message before 1844. William Miller was initially reluctant to set forth an exact date (day) for the second coming of Christ. But others who were engaged in proclaiming the message eventually did so, although they were not necessarily among the leaders of the movement. It was already in the summer of 1844 when Samuel Snow's view on the definite time when the prophetic periods will end was gaining ground among the advent believers. According to him, at the Second Coming, Christ will fulfill the types of autumn feasts, just as the spring feasts of Leviticus 23 were fulfilled with His First Coming. Because the autumn feasts were all in the seventh month of the biblical calendar, the movement that preached this message was known as "The Seventh Month Movement."

In line with the desire to present not a re-told story of the midnight cry message of 1844, but the message itself as was originally preached, the aim in preparing this book was to re-publish the actual words of those who proclaimed it at that time. This first volume is focused on the light of this message as it was reflected by "The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter", one of the main Adventist periodicals of that time. Until their full endorsement in October, the editors allowed Samuel Snow to publish some of his views on the prophetic periods. Basically, his midnight cry came as a refinement of Miller's understanding of this subject, giving also special attention to the typologies, especially those of the Old Testament yearly festivals. The ones of the seventh month were considered worthy of consideration by J.V. Himes and his co-editors even before accepting the message, but they were reluctant in accepting that the Day of Atonement of that year (1844) will mark the end of the prophetic periods, leading to the Judgement hour.