For decades Russell and his associates had been proclaiming that the Gentile Times would end in 1914. Expectations were high. C. T. Russell had been critical of those who had set various dates for the Lord’s return, such as William Miller and some Second Adventist groups. Yet, from the time of his early association with Nelson Barbour, he was convinced that there was an accurate chronology, based on the Bible, and that it pointed to 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times.

As that significant year approached, there were great expectations among the Bible Students, but not all that they expected had been directly stated in Scripture.

Great Expectations

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was struck down by an assassin’s bullet. That assassination triggered the outbreak of the Great War, as World War I was originally called. The fighting began in August 1914 when Germany swept into Belgium and France. By the autumn of that year, the bloodbath was well under way.

“The Gentile Times have ended; their kings have had their day”! So exclaimed Brother Russell as he entered the dining room at the Brooklyn headquarters of the Watch Tower Society the morning of Friday, October 2, 1914. Excitement was high. Most of those present had for years been looking forward to 1914. But what would the end of the Gentile Times bring?

World War I was raging, and at that time it was believed that the war was leading into a time of global anarchy that would result in the end of the existing system of things. There were also other expectations concerning 1914. Alexander H. Macmillan, who had been baptized in September 1900, later recalled: “A few of us seriously thought we were going to heaven during the first week of that October.”a In fact, recalling the morning that Russell announced the end of the Gentile Times, Macmillan admitted: “We were highly excited and I would not have been surprised if at that moment we had just started up, that becoming the signal to begin ascending heavenward—but of course there was nothing like that.”

Disappointed expectations as to the return of the Lord Jesus had in the 19th century caused many followers of William Miller and various Adventist groups to lose faith. But what about the Bible Students associated with Russell? Had some been attracted by the thought of their own early salvation rather than love for God and a strong desire to do his will?

‘Brother Russell, Were You Not Disappointed?’

Brother Russell had been encouraging the Bible Students to keep on the watch and to be determined to continue in the Lord’s work even if matters did not culminate as soon as they might have expected.

October 1914 passed, and C. T. Russell and his associates were still on earth. Then October 1915 passed. Was Russell disappointed? In The Watch Tower of February 1, 1916, he wrote: “‘But, Brother Russell, what is your thought as to the time of our change? Were you not disappointed that it did not come when we hoped that it would?’ you will ask. No, we reply, we were not disappointed. . . . Brethren, those of us who are in the right attitude toward God are not disappointed at any of His arrangements. We did not wish our own will to be done; so when we found out that we were expecting the wrong thing in October, 1914, then we were glad that the Lord did not change His Plan to suit us. We did not wish Him to do so. We merely wish to be able to apprehend His plans and purposes.”

No, the Bible Students were not ‘taken home’ to heaven in October 1914. Nevertheless, the Gentile Times did end in that year. Clearly, the Bible Students had more to learn as to the significance of 1914. Meanwhile, what were they to do? Work! As The Watch Tower of September 1, 1916, put it: “We imagined that the Harvest work of gathering the Church [of anointed ones] would be accomplished before the end of the Gentile Times; but nothing in the Bible so said. . . . Are we regretful that the Harvest work continues? Nay, verily . . . Our present attitude, dear brethren, should be one of great gratitude toward God, increasing appreciation of the beautiful Truth which He has granted us the privilege of seeing and being identified with, and increasing zeal in helping to bring that Truth to the knowledge of others.”

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“Some of Us Had Been a Bit Too Hasty”

As October 1914 approached, some of the Bible Students expected that at the end of the Gentile Times they, as spirit-anointed Christians, would receive their heavenly reward. Illustrating this is an incident that took place at a convention of the Bible Students in Saratoga Springs, New York, September 27-30, 1914. A. H. Macmillan, who had been baptized 14 years earlier, gave a discourse on Wednesday, September 30. In it he stated: “This is probably the last public address I shall ever deliver because we shall be going home [to heaven] soon.”

However, two days later (on Friday, October 2), Macmillan came in for some good-natured teasing back in Brooklyn, where the conventioners were to reconvene. From his seat at the head of the table, C. T. Russell announced: “We are going to make some changes in the program for Sunday [October 4]. At 10:30 Sunday morning Brother Macmillan will give us an address.” The response? Macmillan later wrote: “Everybody laughed heartily, recalling what I had said on Wednesday at Saratoga Springs—my ‘last public address’!”

“Well,” Macmillan continued, “then I had to get busy to find something to say. I found Psalm 74:9, ‘We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.’ Now that was different. In that talk I tried to show the friends that perhaps some of us had been a bit too hasty in thinking that we were going to heaven right away, and the thing for us to do would be to keep busy in the Lord’s service until he determined when any of his approved servants would be taken home to heaven.”