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It should be
obvious to all who know much about Ellen G. White's visions and prophecies
that her "Inspiration" was progressive -- that she did not know
earlier in her career what she was "shown" in later visions and
dreams.
Assuming that Jesus and His
angels gave her all of these "messages", then he chose to withhold
some of the information until it was needed.
A good example of this are
Ellen's first two major visions.
Ellen's first
vision in December 1844 did not show her anything about the Seventh-day
Sabbath, nor did it mention a "Time of Trouble" connected with
Sabbath-keeping. It did predict a "falling off" of the
path she saw herself on, and was full of Essene imagery. Hints are
included of a later Pentecostal movement, and the real (Jewish) Israel's
future is alluded to in a hidden fashion.
Ellen's second major
vision, at Gorham, Maine in 1851 was given at a time when only a few were
keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath and some had proposed a "Heavenly
Sanctuary" in which Jesus functioned as a typical Jewish "High
Priest." Her vision on this occasion was supportive of both these
current questions. Early mention of a "Time of Trouble" connected
with Sabbath-keeping was given.
It was not
until much later that Ellen's visions and dreams supported an emphasis on
healthful living, called "Health Reform" in those days, and she
began advocating a completely Vegetarian diet.
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| EARLY
WRITINGS page 75 "Then I was pointed to some who are in
the GREAT ERROR of believing that it was their duty to go to Old
Jerusalem, and think they have a work to do there before the Lord
comes. Such a view is calculated to take the mind and interest
from the PRESENT WORK of the Lord, under the message of the third
angel; for those who think they are yet to go to Jerusalem, will have
their minds there, and their means will be withheld from the cause of
PRESENT TRUTH, to get themselves and others there."
"I saw that such a mission
would accomplish no real good, that it would take a long while to make
a very few of the Jews believe even in the first advent of Christ,
much more to believe in his second advent."
"I also saw that Old Jerusalem
NEVER WOULD BE BUILT UP; and that Satan was doing his utmost to lead
the minds of the CHILDREN OF THE LORD into these things NOW, in the
gathering time, to keep them from throwing their WHOLE INTEREST into
the PRESENT WORK of the Lord, and to cause them to neglect the
NECESSARY PREPARATION for the
Day of the Lord."
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Flip-Flop on Literal
Israel
"Evangelism"
page 577-579
written 1903-1907
"A Large
Harvest from the Jews"
Jews are being Numbered With the Israel of God. --- "In
this our day, we see the Gentiles beginning to
rejoice
with the
Jews.
There are converted Jews who are now laboring in ____ and in various other
cities, in behalf of their own people. The Jews are coming into the
ranks of God's chosen followers, and are being numbered with the Israel of
God in these closing days. Thus some of the Jews will once more be
reinstated with the people of God, and the blessing of the Lord will rest
upon them richly, if they will come into the position of rejoicing that is
represented in the Scripture, 'And again He saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles,
with His people.' --- Manuscript 95, 1906
Many Will Come to the Light, ---
"There is a mighty work to be done in our
world. The Lord has declared that the Gentiles shall be gathered in,
and not the Gentiles only, but the Jews. Thre are among the
Jews many who will be converted, and through whom we shall see the
salvation of God go forth as a lamp that burneth. There are
Jews everywhere, and to them the light of present truth is to be
brought. There are among them many who will come to the light,
and who will proclaim the immutability
of the law of God
with wonderful power. The Lord God will work. He will do
wonderful things in righteousness." --- Manuscript
87, 1907
The
Jews in Many Lands, --- "It has been a strange
thing to me that there were so few who felt a burden
to labor for the Jewish people, who are scattered
throughout so many lands. Christ will be with
you as you strive to strengthen your perceptive faculties, that you may
more clearly behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world. The slumbering faculties of the
Jewish people are to be aroused. The Old Testament scriptures,
blending with the New, will be to them as the dawning of a new creation,
or as a
resurrection of the soul. Memory will be as
Christ is seen portrayed in the pages of the Old Testament.
Souls will be saved, from the Jewish
nation, as the doors of the New Testament are
unlocked with the key of the Old Testament. Christ will be
recognized as the Savior of the world, as it is seen how clearly the New
Testament explains the Old. Many of the Jewish people will by
faith receive Christ as their Redeemer. --- Letter
47, 1903
Converted Jews in the Closing Work. -- "There
will be many converted from among the Jews, and these converts will aid in
preparing the way of the Lord, and making straight in the desert a highway
for our God. Converted Jews are to have an important part to
act in the great preparations to be made in the future to recieve Christ,
our Prince. A
nation shall be born in a day. How? By
men whom God has appointed being converted to the truth. There
will be seen 'first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in
the ear,' The predictions of prophecy will be
fulfilled." -- Manuscript 75, 1905 |
Indeed
the "Nation" of Israel was "born in a day" 43 years
after Ellen White wrote Manuscript #75, and event that was prophesied in
both Isaiah 66:7-9 and in a more hidden fashion in Matthew 24. However,
slowed down in their comprehension of the significance of this event by
Ellen White's cautionary worlds in Early Writings and her persistence
throughout her lifetime in insisting that the Seventh-day Adventist church
was the "True Israel", the "Israel of God", most
Adventists as I write this refuse to see much prophetic significance in what
happened on May 14-15, 1948.
| EARLY
WRITINGS page 226 "Satan therefore decided that he must
come in a milder form. He had already corrupted
the doctrines of the Bible, and traditions which
were to ruin millions were
taking deep root. Restraining his hate, he decided not to urge
his subjects to such bitter persecution, but lead the church to
contend for various traditions, instead of for the faith once
delivered to the saints. --- Jesus and all the heavenly
host looked with disgust upon the scene; yet God
had a message for the church that was sacred and important. If
received, it would make a thorough reformation in the church, revive
the living testimony that would purge out hypocrites
and sinners, and bring the church again into the favor with
God." |
Flip-Flop on
"Harsh Words" about Catholicism
"Evangelism"
page 573-577
written 1887 - 1896
REACHING
CATHOLICS
Guarding
Our Approaches. -- "We should not, upon entering a place, build
up unnecessary barriers between us and other denominations, especially the
Catholics, so that they shall think we are their avowed enemies. We
should not create a prejudice in their minds unnecessarily, by making a raid
upon them ... From that which God has shown me, a great number will be saved
from among the Catholics. -- Manuscript 14, 1887
A Cautious Work -- "Be cautious in your labors, brethren,
not to assail the prejudices of the people too strongly. There should
be no going out of the way to attack other denominations; for it only
creates a combative
spirit and closes ears and hearts to the
entrance of the truth. We have our work to do, which is not to tear
down but to build up. We are to repair the breach that has been
made in the law of God. It is the nobler work to build up, to
present the truth in its force and power and let it cut its way through
prejudice and reveal error in contrast with the truth.
There is danger
that our ministers will say too much against the Catholics and provoke
against themselves the strongest prejudices of that church.
There are many souls in the Roman Catholic faith who are looking with
interest to this people; but the power of the priest over his charges is
great, and if he can prejudice the people by his stay-away arguments, so
that when the truth is uttered against the fallen
churches they may not hear it, he will surely
do it. But as laborers together with God, we are provided with
spiritual weapons, mighty to the pulling down of the strong-holds of the
enemy. -- Letter 39, 1887
Shutting the Door in Their Faces: "Preach
the truth, but restrain the words which show a harsh spirit: for such
words cannot help or enlighten anyone, The Echo is a paper
that should be circulated largely. Do not do anything that would
hinder its sale. There is no reason why it should not be a
light shining in a dark place. But for Christ's sake heed the
admonitions which have been given in regard to making scathing
remarks about the Catholics.
Many Catholics read the Echo, and among the
number there are honest souls who will accept the truth. But
there is such a thing as shutting the door in their faces as they are
about to enter. Put more cheering testimony of
thanksgiving into the Echo. Do not hedge up the way, and
prevent it from going to all parts of the world by making it a medium for hard
expressions. Satan rejoices when one word of
bitterness is found on its pages. Counsels to
Editors, pg. 45. (1896)
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| EARLY
WRITINGS page 227 "As he (Satan) prevailed on the church to
receive favors and honors from the world, under the pretense of
receiving benefits, she began to lose
favor with God. Shunning to declare the straight truths
which
shut out the lovers of pleasure and friends of the world, she
gradually lost her power."
"The church is not now the separate
and peculiar people she was when the fires of persecution were kindled
against her. How is the gold become dim! how is the most
fine gold changed! I saw that if the church had always retained
her peculiar, holy character, the power of the Holy Spirit which was
imparted to the disciples would still be with her. The
sick would be healed, devils would be rebuked and cast out, and she
would be mighty, and a terror to her enemies.
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Flip-Flop on Receiving
Gifts and Favors from "Gentiles"
"Testimonies
to Ministers and Gospel Workers"
page 526-528
circa 1905
"In the latter part of 1893, Elder
A. T. Robinson, leading out in the work of the church in South Africa
and wishing to secure land for the establishment of a mission among
the natives, arranged for an interview with Cecil Rhodes, premier of
Cape Colony and head of the British South African Company operating in
Mashonaland. Rhodes was especially pleased with the plan
outlined for operating a mission among the natives of that country,
and handed to Elder Robinson a sealed letter addressed to Dr. Jemison,
secretary of the company, to be given to him in Bulawayo.
The brethren went to Bulawayo expecting to purchase land, and did not
know until Jemison told them that Rhodes had ordered him to give them
all the land they wanted.
A tract of twelve thousand acres
was selected, and this became the site of the Solusi Mission, the
first one operated by the denomination among the non-Christian
peoples.
A knowledge of this gift
created considerable concern among certain leading brethren at Battle
Creek, who feared that to accept it would be a violation of the principles
of the separation of church and state. (Remember
now, our main eschatology from 1844 to 1888 was based on a "Time of
Trouble" to be brought on by state governments 'chasing down
Adventists' and putting them in prison under a 'Death Decree')
As the matter was discussed at the General Conference session of 1895,
action was taken:
"That
we ought not as a denomination either to seek or to accept from any civil
government, chief, ruler, or royal chartered company, supreme, local, or
otherwise, any gift, or donation, concession, grant, either of land,
money, credit, special privilege, or other thing of value, to which we are
not in common with all others justly entitled as men without any reference
to our religious profession or religious work."
"This
was followed by another action:
"That
in harmony with this resolution, that the General Conference Association
be instructed to pay an appropriate amount for all government land that
may be secured in Africa or elsewhere," --General
Conference Bulletin, Feb. 21, 1895, p. 283.
"The
Foreign Mission Board ratified this action by recording that: 'The lands
secured from the government shall be purchased and not recieved as a
grant.' Before this action could be implemented, however, on
January 30, 1895, Ellen G. White wrote a communication from Australia in
which she indicated:
"With
respect to the propriety of receiving gifts from Gentiles or the heathen,'
'what they would give, we should be privileged to receive."
"The
next day she wrote the article appearing on pages 200-203, pointing out
that certain 'leading men' were 'taking extreme positions.' In the
light of these two communications from Ellen White, the action of the
General Conference session was never implemented."
Solusi University in Zimbadwe is
only one of a great number of Adventist Institutions and Charities largely
supported by donations and gifts from Non-Adventists today. None of
this would be possible without Ellen G. White's intervention in 1895. |
Ellen White had a work to do quite specific for the time in which she lived
and worked, the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. What she referred
to as the "Present Truth" for this time, and the "Present
Work" for this time was indeed what she, and the people she wrote for,
needed to focus their attention on. But there came a time, a
time that Ellen White indeed predicted in her very first important vision,
when her listeners and followers, through no fault of Ellen White's,
abandoned her earlier messages, and "fell off" the path they were
on. At that time, which happened to be after her death in
1915, the real Israel, the one in the Mid-east again became the focus
of the attention of Jesus and His angels. And at that time, what
had formerly been labeled by Jesus "Present Truth" and
"Present Work" became instead "Old Truth" and "Old
Work". Seventh-day Adventists were completely BLIND
to this change and relatively DEAF to the new emphasis, and were LEFT BEHIND
as they dwelt on prophetic subjects now out-of-date and irrelevant to the
rest of the religious world.
Ellen White did predict both the Jewish Holocaust and the Pentecostal
Revival that followed the United Nation's Mandate that allowed the
declaration of a New Sovereign Nation of Israel, but not in terms recognized
by either her or her readers. And contrary to what she wrote on EARLY
WRITINGS page 75, "Old Jerusalem" was indeed "built
up". She also predicted, correctly, that the time would
come when those still carefully studying "Daniel" would see what
was predicted in that book as "Headlines" in their current
newspapers.
And so millions of people all over the world saw as headlines in their
newspapers something that Ellen White thought and prophesied they would
never see. But, wrote Ellen White, if those of us alive and paying
attention will still study the Book of Daniel, we'll see again, "in the
last days", other things in our newspapers that Daniel
predicted. For such things to startle us, and really get
our attention, they must match, it seems to me, almost the exact words and
phrases Daniel used. In a word, OBVIOUS with little or no
interpretation. Given a talent for
"interpretation", some of us can rephrase almost any Bible text to
suit our present whims and support our present agenda. This is
not, I presume, what Ellen the prophet is talking about here. She's talking about something coming on in the near future that even a child
or dyslexic can see as "words, names, or happenings" right out of
the Book of Daniel so obvious that anyone can see they match.
Daniel 10 and
11 contain so much history from the time of the Maccabees, phrased in
ambiguous language, that taken cafeteria-style out of context can support
lots of modern rulers, but that's not what we're talking about
here. We're talking obvious not ambiguous letter-by-letter
correspondence with the exception, I believe, of a letter or so "out of
place", or changing an adjective into a noun, using anagrams, or a
similar minor manipulation. And once we do this, Obama and the
period of 2008 to 2012 fits exactly the wording of Daniel 12: 10-13, which is
the END of Daniel's book and we can realistically infer the "TIME OF THE
END."
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Will SDA's have another Prophet, or
will Ellen White be the last and only one?
"Testimonies to Ministers and
Gospel Workers" page 475
"Let Heaven Guide"
"Prophecy
must be fulfilled. The Lord says: 'Behold, I will send you
Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: 'You
are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper
way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.'"
"There
are many who cannot distinguish between the work of God and that of
man. I shall tell you the truth as God gives it to me, and I say
now, If you
continue to find fault, to have a spirit of variance, you will never know
the truth. Jesus said to His disciples, 'I have
yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.'
They were not in a condition to appreciate
sacred
and eternal things; but Jesus promised to send
the Comforter, who would teach them all things, and bring all things to
their remembrance, whatsoever He had said unto them."
"Brethren, we must not put our dependence in man. 'Cease ye from
man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted
of?' You must hang your helpless souls upon Jesus. It does not
become us to drink from the fountain of the valley when there is a fountain
on the mountain. Let
us leave the lower streams; let us come to the higher streams.
If there is a point of truth that you do not understand, upon which you do
not agree, investigate, compare scripture with scripture, sink the shaft of
truth down deep into the mine of God's word. You must lay yourselves
and your opinions on the altar of God, put
away your preconceived ideas, and let the Spirit of heaven guide into all
truth. -- Review and
Herald, Feb. 18, 1890.
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