The Sabbath of the Lord

[The Light of Son of Man]

The Sabbath of the Lord
Jesus raised the cover of the ark, and I beheld the tables of stone on which
the ten commandments were written. I was amazed as I saw the fourth
commandment in the very center of the ten precepts, with a

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86
soft halo of light encircling it. Said the angel, "It is the only one of the
ten which defines the living God who created the heavens and the earth and
all things that are therein."

The Heavenly Sanctuary

In the ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the
tables of stone, which folded together like a book. Jesus opened them, and I
saw the ten commandments written on them with the finger of God. On one
table were four, and on the other six. The four on the first table shone
brighter than

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92

93

the other six. But the fourth, the Sabbath commandment, shone above them
all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God's holy name.
The holy Sabbath looked glorious--a halo of glory was all around it. I saw
that the Sabbath commandment was not nailed to the cross. If it was, the
other nine commandments were; and we are at liberty to break them all, as
well as to break the fourth. I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for
He never changes. But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first
day of the week; for he was to change times and laws.

RARE INDEED IT IS IN THESE CHANGING TIMES THAT A BOOK LIVES ON THROUGH A
CENTURY IN EVER-INCREASING DEMAND AND TAKES ITS PLACE IN CURRENT READING BY
THE SIDE OF BOOKS DEALING WITH PRESENT ISSUES. YET SUCH IS THE ENVIABLE
RECORD OF EARLY WRITINGS OF ELLEN G. WHITE. THROUGH THE YEARS THERE HAVE
BEEN MANY PRINTINGS OF THE SEVERAL EDITIONS. IT NOW APPEARS IN A FIFTH
AMERICAN EDITION.
THIS POPULAR LITTLE VOLUME IS RIGHTLY NAMED, BEING A REPUBLICATION OF
THE FIRST THREE ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS --CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS OF
MRS. E. G. WHITE, FIRST PRINTED IN 1851; A SUPPLEMENT TO EXPERIENCE AND
VIEWS, ISSUED IN 1854; AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOLUME I, WHICH APPEARED IN
1858.
THE WIDE AND LASTING POPULARITY OF EARLY WRITINGS MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO
THE UNWANING DESIRE TO POSSESS AND STUDY THE MESSAGES OF INFORMATION AND
ENCOURAGEMENT WHICH CAME EARLY TO THE CHURCH THROUGH THE PROPHETIC GIFT.
THE SECOND PRINTING OF THIS MATTER WAS MADE IN 1882 IN TWO SMALL
VOLUMES--EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS AND THE SUPPLEMENT COMPRISING THE FIRST, AND
SPIRITUAL GIFTS THE SECOND. AS TO CERTAIN ADDITIONS TO THE FIRST OF THESE
ORIGINAL WORKS AND SOME SLIGHT EDITORIAL CHANGES MADE AT THAT TIME, THE
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE STATES:
"FOOTNOTES GIVING DATES AND EXPLANATIONS, AND AN APPENDIX GIVING TWO
VERY INTERESTING DREAMS, WHICH WERE MENTIONED BUT NOT RELATED IN THE
ORIGINAL WORK, WILL ADD TO THE VALUE OF THIS EDITION. ASIDE FROM THESE, NO
CHANGES FROM THE ORIGINAL WORK HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE PRESENT EDITION, EXCEPT
THE OCCASIONAL EMPLOYMENT OF A NEW WORD, OR A CHANGE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
A

IV

SENTENCE, TO BETTER EXPRESS THE IDEA, AND NO PORTION OF THE WORK HAS BEEN
OMITTED. NO SHADOW OF CHANGE HAS BEEN MADE IN ANY IDEA OR SENTIMENT OF THE
ORIGINAL WORK, AND THE VERBAL CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE UNDER THE AUTHOR'S OWN
EYE, AND WITH HER FULL APPROVAL."
THE TWO COMPANION BOOKS WERE ALSO REISSUED AS A SINGLE VOLUME IN 1882
UNDER THE TITLE EARLY WRITINGS. IN 1906 THE TYPE WAS RESET TO MAKE THE THIRD
AMERICAN EDITION, WHICH HAS HAD WIDE DISTRIBUTION, MEETING THE
EVER-INCREASING DEMAND. THE PAGING OF THIS EDITION BECAME THE STANDARD FOR
ALL REFERENCE WORK AND THE SUBSEQUENTLY PUBLISHED INDEXES TO THE WRITINGS OF
MRS. WHITE.
THE FOURTH EDITION OF EARLY WRITINGS WAS PUBLISHED IN 1945. FORTY YEARS
OF PRINTING AND REPRINTING MADE NECESSARY NEW PRINTING PLATES. AS THE TYPE
WAS RESET THE CONTENT WAS HELD PAGE FOR PAGE WITH THE EDITION IT SUCCEEDED.
MODERN SPELLING AND CURRENT FORMS OF PUNCTUATION WERE EMPLOYED AND A NEW
PREFACE REVIEWED BRIEFLY THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK.
THIS FIFTH EDITION IS CHARACTERIZED BY A HISTORICAL PROLOGUE, ADDED TO
FURNISH THE READER WITH A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TIMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE
VARIOUS PORTIONS OF THE BOOK AND BY SEVERAL APPENDIX NOTES PROVIDED TO
EXPLAIN EXPRESSIONS AND SITUATIONS NOT SO WELL UNDERSTOOD NOW AS AT THE TIME
OF WRITING. THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE OF THE E. G. WHITE TEXT NOR CHANGE IN
THE PAGING FROM THE FOURTH EDITION WHICH THIS SUCCEEDS, CONSEQUENTLY IT
HARMONIZES WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE INDEX TO THE WRITINGS OF ELLEN G. WHITE.
IN EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS IS PRESENTED MRS. WHITE'S FIRST BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH, BRIEFLY TRACING HER EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE ADVENT MOVEMENT OF
1840-44. THEN FOLLOW A NUMBER OF THE EARLIER VISIONS, MANY OF WHICH HAD
FIRST APPEARED IN PRINT IN BROADSIDE OR PERIODICAL ARTICLE FORM.

V

THE SUPPLEMENT EXPLAINS CERTAIN EXPRESSIONS OF THE EARLIER WORK WHICH
HAD BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD OR MISCONSTRUED, AND GIVES ADDITIONAL COUNSEL TO THE
CHURCH. ITS PUBLICATION PRECEDED BY ONE YEAR THE FIRST PAMPHLET BEARING THE
TITLE OF TESTIMONY FOR THE CHURCH.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOLUME I, BEING THE FIRST PUBLISHED ACCOUNT OF THE
LONG-EXTENDED CONFLICT BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND HIS
ANGELS, IS CHERISHED FOR ITS VIVID DESCRIPTIONS AND ITS COMPACTNESS,
TOUCHING AS IT DOES ONLY THE MORE SALIENT POINTS. IN SUCCEEDING YEARS THIS
BRIEF STORY OF THE CONFLICT WAS GREATLY AMPLIFIED IN THE FOUR VOLUMES OF THE
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, PUBLISHED 1870-84. AFTER WIDE DISTRIBUTION, THIS
FOUR-BOOK SET WAS REPLACED BY THE WELL-KNOWN AND WIDELY READ CONFLICT OF THE
AGES SERIES, PRESENTING THE ACCOUNT IN STILL MORE DETAILED FORM, AS IT HAD
BEEN PRESENTED TO MRS. WHITE IN MANY REVELATIONS. EVEN THOUGH THE FULLER
VOLUMES--PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, PROPHETS AND KINGS, THE DESIRE OF AGES,
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, AND THE GREAT CONTROVERSY--PRESENT THE CONFLICT
STORY IN ITS MORE COMPLETE FORM, THE INITIAL WRITING OF THE ACCOUNT AS HERE
PRESENTED IN ITS BRIEF, CLEAR-CUT, SIMPLE FORM, WILL, WITH EXPERIENCE AND
VIEWS, ALWAYS BE IN LARGE DEMAND.
THE TRUSTEES OF THE
ELLEN G. WHITE PUBLICATIONS.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
MARCH,

1963

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION
OF "EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS"

WE ARE WELL AWARE THAT MANY HONEST SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH AND BIBLE
HOLINESS ARE PREJUDICED AGAINST VISIONS. TWO GREAT CAUSES HAVE CREATED THIS
PREJUDICE. FIRST FANATICISM, ACCOMPANIED BY FALSE VISIONS AND EXERCISES,

VI

HAS EXISTED MORE OR LESS ALMOST EVERYWHERE. THIS HAS LED MANY OF THE SINCERE
TO DOUBT ANYTHING OF THE KIND. SECONDLY, THE EXHIBITION OF MESMERISM, AND
WHAT IS COMMONLY CALLED THE "MYSTERIOUS RAPPING," ARE PERFECTLY CALCULATED
TO DECEIVE, AND CREATE UNBELIEF RELATIVE TO THE GIFTS AND OPERATIONS OF THE
SPIRIT OF GOD.
BUT GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE. HIS WORK THROUGH MOSES IN THE PRESENCE OF
PHARAOH WAS PERFECT, NOTWITHSTANDING JANNES AND JAMBRES WERE PERMITTED TO
PERFORM MIRACLES BY THE POWER OF SATAN, THAT RESEMBLED THE MIRACLES WROUGHT
BY MOSES. THE COUNTERFEIT ALSO APPEARED IN THE DAYS OF THE APOSTLES, YET THE
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT WERE MANIFESTED IN THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. AND IT IS
NOT THE PURPOSE OF GOD TO LEAVE HIS PEOPLE IN THIS AGE OF ALMOST UNBOUNDED
DECEPTION WITHOUT THE GIFTS AND MANIFESTATIONS OF HIS SPIRIT.
THE DESIGN OF A COUNTERFEIT IS TO IMITATE AN EXISTING REALITY.
THEREFORE THE PRESENT MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT OF ERROR IS PROOF THAT GOD
MANIFESTS HIMSELF TO HIS CHILDREN BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THAT
HE IS ABOUT TO FULFILL HIS WORD GLORIOUSLY.
"AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAITH GOD, I WILL POUR OUT
OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH: AND YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND
YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS." ACTS
2:17. (CF. JOEL 2:28.)
AS FOR MESMERISM, WE HAVE EVER CONSIDERED IT DANGEROUS, THEREFORE HAVE
HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. WE NEVER EVEN SAW A PERSON IN A MESMERIC SLEEP
AND KNOW NOTHING OF THE ART BY EXPERIENCE.
WE SEND OUT THIS LITTLE WORK WITH THE HOPE THAT IT WILL COMFORT THE
SAINTS.
JAMES WHITE.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., AUGUST, 1851.

VII

HISTORICAL PROLOGUE

EARLY WRITINGS IS A WORK OF LASTING AND SPECIAL INTEREST TO SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTISTS, FOR IT EMBODIES THE EARLIEST ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS. THESE WERE
WRITTEN AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE 1850'S FOR THE EDIFICATION AND
INSTRUCTION OF THOSE WHO WITH THE AUTHOR HAD PASSED THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES
OF THE SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS IN THE 1840'S AND THE EARLY 1850'S. THIS
BEING SO, THE AUTHOR ASSUMED ON THE PART OF THE READER A FAMILIARITY WITH
THE HISTORY OF THE ADVENT AWAKENING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST MOVEMENT THAT EMERGED IN 1844. CONSEQUENTLY EXPERIENCES WELL
UNDERSTOOD AT THE TIME ARE IN SOME INSTANCES MERELY ALLUDED TO, AND
EXPRESSIONS ARE EMPLOYED WHICH TO BE CORRECTLY UNDERSTOOD, MUST BE THOUGHT
OF IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS IN THOSE
EARLY YEARS.
IN 1858, IN WRITING OF THE SOUNDING OF THE MESSAGES OF THE THREE ANGELS
OF REVELATION 14, ELLEN WHITE DEALS WITH THE EXPERIENCES OF THOSE WHO
PARTICIPATED IN THE WORK AND DRAWS LESSONS FROM THESE EXPERIENCES, RATHER
THAN GIVING AS ONE MIGHT EXPECT, A CLEAR-CUT PRESENTATION OF THE CHARACTER
OF THESE MESSAGES. SEE PAGES 232-240; 254-258. SHE AT TIMES EMPLOYS SUCH NOW
UNFAMILIAR
TERMS AS "NOMINAL ADVENTIST," "SHUT DOOR," "OPEN DOOR," ET CETERA.
TODAY WE ARE REMOVED BY MORE THAN A CENTURY FROM THOSE HEROIC TIMES.
THE READER MUST KEEP THIS CLEARLY IN MIND. THE HISTORY WHICH WAS SO WELL
KNOWN TO THE CONTEMPORARIES OF ELLEN WHITE WE SHALL NOW REVIEW, TOUCHING
SOME OF THE HIGH POINTS OF THE EXPERIENCES OF THE SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS
DURING THE DECADE OR TWO PRECEDING THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THE MATERIALS
THAT APPEAR HERE.

VIII

IN THE OPENING PARAGRAPHS MRS. WHITE MAKES BRIEF REFERENCE TO HER
CONVERSION AND HER EARLY CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. SHE TELLS ALSO OF HEARING
LECTURES ON THE BIBLE DOCTRINE OF THE EXPECTED PERSONAL ADVENT OF CHRIST,
WHICH WAS THOUGHT TO BE NEAR AT HAND. THE GREAT ADVENT AWAKENING TO WHICH
SUCH BRIEF REFERENCE IS HERE MADE WAS A MOVEMENT WORLDWIDE IN ITS OUTREACH.
IT EMERGED AS THE RESULT OF CAREFUL STUDY OF THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES ON THE
PART OF MANY, AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF THE COMING OF JESUS BY
LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

THE GREAT ADVENT AWAKENING

BUT IT WAS IN THE UNITED STATES THAT THE ADVENT MESSAGE WAS MOST WIDELY
PROCLAIMED AND RECEIVED. AS BIBLE PROPHECIES RELATING TO THE RETURN OF JESUS
WERE ACCEPTED BY ABLE MEN AND WOMEN OF MANY RELIGIOUS FAITHS, A LARGE
FOLLOWING OF EARNEST ADVENTIST BELIEVERS RESULTED. IT SHOULD BE NOTED,
HOWEVER, THAT NO SEPARATE AND DISTINCT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION WAS FORMED.
THE ADVENT HOPE LED TO DEEP RELIGIOUS REVIVALS THAT BENEFITED ALL THE
PROTESTANT CHURCHES AND LED MANY SKEPTICS AND INFIDELS TO PUBLICLY CONFESS
THEIR FAITH IN THE BIBLE AND IN GOD.
AS THE MOVEMENT NEARED ITS HIGH POINT IN THE EARLY 1840'S, SEVERAL
HUNDRED MINISTERS UNITED IN PROCLAIMING THE MESSAGE. IN THE LEAD WAS WILLIAM
MILLER, WHO LIVED IN THE EASTERN EDGE OF NEW YORK STATE. HE WAS A MAN OF
PROMINENCE IN HIS COMMUNITY AND ENGAGED IN FARMING AS A LIVELIHOOD. IN SPITE
OF A RICH RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND, HE HAD GROWN SKEPTICAL IN HIS YOUTH. HE LOST
FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD AND ADOPTED DEISTIC VIEWS. WHILE READING A SERMON
IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH ONE SUNDAY MORNING, THE HOLY SPIRIT TOUCHED HIS HEART,
AND HE WAS LED TO ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS HIS SAVIOUR. MILLER SET ABOUT TO
STUDY THE WORD OF GOD,

IX

DETERMINED TO FIND IN THE BIBLE A SATISFACTORY ANSWER TO ALL HIS QUESTIONS,
AND TO LEARN FOR HIMSELF THE TRUTHS SET FORTH IN ITS PAGES.
FOR TWO YEARS HE DEVOTED MUCH OF HIS TIME TO A VERSE-BY-VERSE STUDY OF
THE SCRIPTURES. HE DETERMINED NOT TO TAKE UP THE NEXT VERSE UNTIL HE FELT HE
HAD FOUND A SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION OF THE ONE HE WAS STUDYING. HE HAD
BEFORE HIM ONLY HIS BIBLE AND A CONCORDANCE. IN TIME HE CAME IN HIS STUDY TO
THE PROPHECIES OF THE LITERAL, PERSONAL, SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. HE
GRAPPLED ALSO WITH THE GREAT TIME PROPHECIES, PARTICULARLY THE 2300-DAY
PROPHECY OF DANIEL 8 AND 9, WHICH HE LINKED WITH THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION
14 AND THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL PROCLAIMING THE HOUR OF GOD'S JUDGMENT
(REVELATION 14:6, 7). IN THIS VOLUME, ON PAGE 229, MRS. WHITE STATES THAT
"GOD SENT HIS ANGEL TO MOVE UPON THE HEART" OF WILLIAM MILLER, "TO LEAD HIM
TO SEARCH THE PROPHECIES."
IN HER GIRLHOOD MRS. WHITE HEARD MILLER DELIVER TWO SERIES OF LECTURES
IN THE CITY OF PORTLAND, MAINE. A DEEP AND LASTING IMPRESSION WAS MADE ON
HER HEART. WE WILL LET HER SET BEFORE US THE RECKONING OF THE PROPHECIES, AS
ELDER MILLER PRESENTED THEM TO HIS AUDIENCES. FOR THIS WE TURN TO MRS.
WHITE'S LATER BOOK, THE GREAT CONTROVERSY:

THE RECKONING OF THE PROPHETIC PERIODS

"THE PROPHECY WHICH SEEMED MOST CLEARLY TO REVEAL THE TIME OF THE
SECOND ADVENT WAS THAT OF DANIEL 8:14: 'UNTO TWO THOUSAND AND THREE HUNDRED
DAYS; THEN SHALL THE SANCTUARY BE CLEANSED.' FOLLOWING HIS RULE OF MAKING
SCRIPTURE ITS OWN INTERPRETER, MILLER LEARNED THAT A DAY IN SYMBOLIC
PROPHECY REPRESENTS A YEAR [NUMBERS 14:34; EZEKIEL 4:6.]; HE SAW THAT THE
PERIOD OF 2300 PROPHETIC DAYS, OR LITERAL YEARS, WOULD EXTEND FAR BEYOND THE
CLOSE OF THE JEWISH DISPENSATION, HENCE IT

X

COULD NOT REFER TO THE SANCTUARY OF THAT DISPENSATION. MILLER ACCEPTED THE
GENERALLY RECEIVED VIEW, THAT IN THE CHRISTIAN AGE THE EARTH IS THE
SANCTUARY, AND HE THEREFORE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY
FORETOLD IN DANIEL 8:14 REPRESENTED THE PURIFICATION OF THE EARTH BY FIRE AT
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. IF, THEN, THE CORRECT STARTING-POINT COULD BE
FOUND FOR THE 2300 DAYS, HE CONCLUDED THAT THE TIME OF THE SECOND ADVENT
COULD BE READILY ASCERTAINED. THUS WOULD BE REVEALED THE TIME OF THAT GREAT
CONSUMMATION, THE TIME WHEN THE PRESENT STATE, WITH 'ALL ITS PRIDE AND
POWER, POMP AND VANITY, WICKEDNESS AND OPPRESSION, WOULD COME TO AN END;'
WHEN THE CURSE WOULD BE 'REMOVED FROM OFF THE EARTH, DEATH BE DESTROYED,
REWARD BE GIVEN TO THE SERVANTS OF GOD, THE PROPHETS AND SAINTS, AND THEM
WHO FEAR HIS NAME, AND THOSE BE DESTROYED THAT DESTROY THE EARTH.'
[FOOTNOTE: BLISS, MEMOIRS OF WM. MILLER, P. 76.]
"WITH A NEW AND DEEPER EARNESTNESS, MILLER CONTINUED THE EXAMINATION OF
THE PROPHECIES, WHOLE NIGHTS AS WELL AS DAYS BEING DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF
WHAT NOW APPEARED OF SUCH STUPENDOUS IMPORTANCE AND ALL-ABSORBING INTEREST.
IN THE EIGHTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL HE COULD FIND NO CLUE TO THE STARTING-POINT
OF THE 2300 DAYS; THE ANGEL GABRIEL, THOUGH COMMANDED TO MAKE DANIEL
UNDERSTAND THE VISION, GAVE HIM ONLY A PARTIAL EXPLANATION. AS THE TERRIBLE
PERSECUTION TO BEFALL THE CHURCH WAS UNFOLDED TO THE PROPHET'S VISION,
PHYSICAL STRENGTH GAVE WAY. HE COULD ENDURE NO MORE, AND THE ANGEL LEFT HIM
FOR A TIME. DANIEL 'FAINTED, AND WAS SICK CERTAIN DAYS.' 'AND I WAS
ASTONISHED AT THE VISION,' HE SAYS, 'BUT NONE UNDERSTOOD IT.'
"YET GOT HAD BIDDEN HIS MESSENGER, 'MAKE THIS MAN TO UNDERSTAND THE
VISION.' THAT COMMISSION MUST BE FULFILLED. IN OBEDIENCE TO IT, THE ANGEL,
SOME TIME AFTERWARD, RETURNED TO DANIEL, SAYING, 'I AM NOW COME

XI

FORTH TO GIVE THEE SKILL AND UNDERSTANDING;' 'THEREFORE UNDERSTAND THE
MATTER, AND CONSIDER THE VISION.' [DANIEL 9:22, 23, 25-27.] THERE WAS ONE
IMPORTANT POINT IN THE VISION OF CHAPTER EIGHT WHICH HAD BEEN LEFT
UNEXPLAINED, NAMELY, THAT RELATING TO TIME,--THE PERIOD OF THE 2300 DAYS;
THEREFORE THE ANGEL, IN RESUMING HIS EXPLANATION, DWELLS CHIEFLY UPON THE
SUBJECT OF TIME:
"'SEVENTY WEEKS ARE DETERMINED UPON THY PEOPLE AND UPON THY HOLY
CITY.... KNOW THEREFORE AND UNDERSTAND, THAT FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE
COMMANDMENT TO RESTORE AND TO BUILD JERUSALEM UNTO THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE
SHALL BE SEVEN WEEKS, AND THREESCORE AND TWO WEEKS: THE STREET SHALL BE
BUILT AGAIN, AND THE WALL, EVEN IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. AND AFTER THREESCORE AND
TWO WEEKS SHALL MESSIAH BE CUT OFF, BUT NOT FOR HIMSELF.
... AND HE SHALL CONFIRM THE COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK: AND IN THE
MIDST OF THE WEEK HE SHALL CAUSE THE SACRIFICE AND THE OBLATION TO CEASE.'
"THE ANGEL HAD BEEN SENT TO DANIEL FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF
EXPLAINING TO HIM THE POINT WHICH HE HAD FAILED TO UNDERSTAND IN THE VISION
OF THE EIGHTH CHAPTER, THE STATEMENT RELATIVE TO TIME,--'UNTO TWO THOUSAND
AND THREE HUNDRED DAYS; THEN SHALL THE SANCTUARY BE CLEANSED.' AFTER BIDDING
DANIEL 'UNDERSTAND THE MATTER, AND CONSIDER THE VISION,' THE VERY FIRST
WORDS OF THE ANGEL ARE, 'SEVENTY WEEKS ARE DETERMINED UPON THY PEOPLE AND
UPON THY HOLY CITY.' THE WORD HERE TRANSLATED 'DETERMINED,' LITERALLY
SIGNIFIES 'CUT OFF.' SEVENTY WEEKS, REPRESENTING 490 YEARS, ARE DECLARED BY
THE ANGEL TO BE CUT OFF, AS SPECIALLY PERTAINING TO THE JEWS. BUT FROM WHAT
WERE THEY CUT OFF? AS THE 2300 DAYS WAS THE ONLY PERIOD OF TIME MENTIONED IN
CHAPTER EIGHT, IT MUST BE THE PERIOD FROM WHICH THE SEVENTY WEEKS WERE CUT
OFF; THE SEVENTY WEEKS MUST THEREFORE BE A PART OF THE 2300 DAYS, AND THE
TWO PERIODS MUST BEGIN TOGETHER. THE SEVENTY WEEKS WERE DECLARED BY THE
ANGEL TO DATE

XII

FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE COMMANDMENT TO RESTORE AND BUILD JERUSALEM. IF
THE DATE OF THIS COMMANDMENT COULD BE FOUND, THEN THE STARTING-POINT FOR THE
GREAT PERIOD OF THE 2300 DAYS WOULD BE ASCERTAINED.
"IN THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF EZRA THE DECREE IS FOUND. [EZRA 7:12-26.] IN
ITS COMPLETEST FORM IT WAS ISSUED BY ARTAXERXES, KING OF PERSIA, B.C. 457.
BUT IN EZRA 6:14 THE HOUSE OF THE LORD AT JERUSALEM IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN
BUILT 'ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT [MARGIN, DECREE] OF CYRUS, AND DARIUS,
AND ARTAXERXES KING OF PERSIA.' THESE THREE KINGS, IN ORIGINATING,
RE-AFFIRMING, AND COMPLETING THE DECREE, BROUGHT IT TO THE PERFECTION
REQUIRED BY THE PROPHECY TO MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE 2300 YEARS. TAKING
B.C. 457, THE TIME WHEN THE DECREE WAS COMPLETED, AS THE DATE OF THE
COMMANDMENT, EVERY SPECIFICATION OF THE PROPHECY CONCERNING THE SEVENTY
WEEKS WAS SEEN TO HAVE BEEN FULFILLED.
"'FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE COMMANDMENT TO RESTORE AND TO BUILD
JERUSALEM UNTO THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE SHALL BE SEVEN WEEKS, AND THREESCORE
AND TWO WEEKS.'--NAMELY, SIXTY-NINE WEEKS, OR 483 YEARS. THE DECREE OF
ARTAXERXES WENT INTO EFFECT IN THE AUTUMN OF B.C. 457. FROM THIS DATE, 483
YEARS EXTEND TO THE AUTUMN OF A.D. 27. AT THAT TIME THIS PROPHECY WAS
FULFILLED. THE WORD 'MESSIAH' SIGNIFIES 'THE ANOINTED ONE.' IN THE AUTUMN OF
A.D. 27, CHRIST WAS BAPTIZED BY JOHN, AND RECEIVED THE ANOINTING OF THE
SPIRIT. THE APOSTLE PETER TESTIFIES THAT 'GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH
WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH POWER.' [ACTS 10:38.] AND THE SAVIOUR HIMSELF
DECLARED, 'THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HATH ANOINTED ME TO
PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.' [LUKE 4:18.] AFTER HIS BAPTISM HE WENT INTO
GALILEE, 'PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND SAYING, THE TIME
IS FULFILLED.' [MARK 1:14, 15.]
"'AND HE SHALL CONFIRM THE COVENANT WITH MANY FOR

XIII

ONE WEEK.' THE 'WEEK' HERE BROUGHT TO VIEW IS THE LAST ONE OF THE SEVENTY;
IT IS THE LAST SEVEN YEARS OF THE PERIOD ALLOTTED ESPECIALLY TO THE JEWS.
DURING THIS TIME, EXTENDING FROM A.D. 27 TO A.D. 34, CHRIST, AT FIRST IN
PERSON AND AFTERWARD BY HIS DISCIPLES, EXTENDED THE GOSPEL INVITATION
ESPECIALLY TO THE JEWS. AS THE APOSTLES WENT FORTH WITH THE GOOD TIDINGS OF
THE KINGDOM, THE SAVIOUR'S DIRECTION WAS, 'GO NOT INTO THE WAY OF THE
GENTILES, AND INTO ANY CITY OF THE SAMARITANS ENTER YE NOT: BUT GO RATHER TO
THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.' [MATTHEW 10:5, 6.]
"'IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK HE SHALL CAUSE THE SACRIFICE AND THE
OBLATION TO CEASE.' IN A.D. 31, THREE AND A HALF YEARS AFTER HIS BAPTISM,
OUR LORD WAS CRUCIFIED. WITH THE GREAT SACRIFICE OFFERED UPON CALVARY, ENDED
THAT SYSTEM OF OFFERINGS WHICH FOR FOUR THOUSAND YEARS HAD POINTED FORWARD
TO THE LAMB OF GOD. TYPE HAD MET ANTITYPE, AND ALL THE SACRIFICES AND
OBLATIONS OF THE CEREMONIAL SYSTEM WERE THERE TO CEASE.
"THE SEVENTY WEEKS, OR 490 YEARS, ESPECIALLY ALLOTTED TO THE JEWS,
ENDED, AS WE HAVE SEEN, IN A.D. 34. AT THAT TIME, THROUGH THE ACTION OF THE
JEWISH SANHEDRIM, THE NATION SEALED ITS REJECTION OF THE GOSPEL BY THE
MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN AND THE PERSECUTION OF THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. THEN
THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION, NO LONGER RESTRICTED TO THE CHOSEN PEOPLE, WAS
GIVEN TO THE WORLD. THE DISCIPLES, FORCED BY PERSECUTION TO FLEE FROM
JERUSALEM, 'WENT EVERYWHERE PREACHING THE WORD.' 'PHILIP WENT DOWN TO THE
CITY OF SAMARIA, AND PREACHED CHRIST UNTO THEM.' PETER, DIVINELY GUIDED,
OPENED THE GOSPEL TO THE CENTURION OF CAESAREA, THE GOD-FEARING CORNELIUS;
AND THE ARDENT PAUL, WON TO THE FAITH OF CHRIST, WAS COMMISSIONED TO CARRY
THE GLAD TIDINGS 'FAR HENCE UNTO THE GENTILES.' [ACTS 8:4, 5; 22:21.]
"THUS FAR EVERY SPECIFICATION OF THE PROPHECIES IS

XIV

STRIKINGLY FULFILLED, AND THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS IS FIXED BEYOND
QUESTION AT B.C. 457, AND THEIR EXPIRATION IN A.D. 34. FROM THIS DATA THERE
IS NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING THE TERMINATION OF THE 2300 DAYS. THE SEVENTY
WEEKS--490 DAYS--HAVING BEEN CUT OFF FROM THE 2300, THERE WERE 1810 DAYS
REMAINING. AFTER THE END OF 490 DAYS, THE 1810 DAYS WERE STILL TO BE
FULFILLED. FROM A.D. 34, 1810 YEARS EXTEND TO 1844. CONSEQUENTLY THE 2300
DAYS OF DANIEL 8:14 TERMINATE IN 1844. AT THE EXPIRATION OF THIS GREAT
PROPHETIC PERIOD, UPON THE TESTIMONY OF THE ANGEL OF GOD, 'THE SANCTUARY
SHALL BE CLEANSED.' THUS THE TIME OF THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY--WHICH
WAS ALMOST UNIVERSALLY BELIEVED TO TAKE PLACE AT THE SECOND ADVENT--WAS
DEFINITELY POINTED OUT.
"MILLER AND HIS ASSOCIATES AT FIRST BELIEVED THAT THE 2300 DAYS WOULD
TERMINATE IN THE SPRING OF 1844, WHEREAS THE PROPHECY POINTS TO THE AUTUMN
OF THAT YEAR. THE MISAPPREHENSION OF THIS POINT BROUGHT DISAPPOINTMENT AND
PERPLEXITY TO THOSE WHO HAD FIXED UPON THE EARLIER DATE AS THE TIME OF THE
LORD'S COMING. BUT THIS DID NOT IN THE LEAST AFFECT THE STRENGTH OF THE
ARGUMENT SHOWING THAT THE 2300 DAYS TERMINATED IN THE YEAR 1844, AND THAT
THE GREAT EVENT REPRESENTED BY THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY MUST THEN TAKE
PLACE.
"ENTERING UPON THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES AS HE HAD DONE, IN ORDER TO
PROVE THAT THEY WERE A REVELATION FROM GOD, MILLER HAD NOT, AT THE OUTSET,
THE SLIGHTEST EXPECTATION OF REACHING THE CONCLUSION AT WHICH HE HAD NOW
ARRIVED. HE HIMSELF COULD HARDLY CREDIT THE RESULTS OF HIS INVESTIGATION.
BUT THE SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE WAS TOO CLEAR AND FORCIBLE TO BE SET ASIDE.
"HE HAD DEVOTED TWO YEARS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE, WHEN, IN 1818, HE
REACHED THE SOLEMN CONVICTION THAT IN ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS CHRIST WOULD
APPEAR FOR THE

XV

REDEMPTION OF HIS PEOPLE."--THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, PP. 324-329.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT AND ITS AFTERMATH

IT WAS WITH KEEN ANTICIPATION THAT THE ADVENT BELIEVERS NEARED THE DAY
OF THE EXPECTED RETURN OF THEIR LORD. THEY SAW THE FALL OF 1844 AS THE TIME
TO WHICH THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL POINTED. BUT THESE DEDICATED BELIEVERS WERE
TO SUFFER SEVERE DISAPPOINTMENT. AS THE DISCIPLES OF OLD FAILING TO
UNDERSTAND THE EXACT CHARACTER OF EVENTS TO TAKE PLACE IN FULFILLMENT OF
PROPHECY RELATING TO THE FIRST ADVENT OF JESUS SUFFERED DISAPPOINTMENT, SO
THE ADVENTISTS IN 1844 WERE DISAPPOINTED CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF
PROPHECY RELATING TO THE EXPECTED SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. OF THIS, ELLEN
WHITE WROTE IN THIS VOLUME:
"JESUS DID NOT COME TO THE EARTH AS THE WAITING, JOYFUL COMPANY
EXPECTED, TO CLEANSE THE SANCTUARY BY PURIFYING THE EARTH BY FIRE. I SAW
THAT THEY WERE CORRECT IN THEIR RECKONING OF THE PROPHETIC PERIODS;
PROPHETIC TIME CLOSED IN 1844, AND JESUS ENTERED THE MOST HOLY PLACE TO
CLEANSE THE SANCTUARY AT THE ENDING OF THE DAYS. THEIR MISTAKE CONSISTED IN
NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE SANCTUARY WAS AND THE NATURE OF ITS
CLEANSING."--PAGE 243.
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF OCTOBER 22, MANY
BELIEVERS AND MINISTERS WHO HAD ASSOCIATED THEMSELVES WITH THE ADVENT
MESSAGE DROPPED AWAY. SOME OF THESE JOINED THE MOVEMENT LARGELY FROM FEAR,
AND WHEN THE TIME OF EXPECTATION PASSED, THEY ABANDONED THEIR HOPE AND
DISAPPEARED. OTHERS WERE SWEPT INTO FANATICISM. ABOUT HALF OF THE ADVENTIST
GROUP CLUNG TO THEIR CONFIDENCE THAT CHRIST WOULD SOON APPEAR IN THE CLOUDS
OF HEAVEN. IN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE DERISION AND RIDICULE HEAPED UPON THEM
BY THE WORLD, THEY THOUGHT THEY SAW EVIDENCES THAT THE DAY

XVI

OF GRACE FOR THE WORLD HAD PASSED. THESE PEOPLE BELIEVED FIRMLY THAT THE
RETURN OF THE LORD WAS VERY NEAR. BUT AS THE DAYS MOVED INTO WEEKS AND THE
LORD DID NOT APPEAR, A DIVISION OF OPINION DEVELOPED, AND THIS GROUP
DIVIDED. ONE PART, NUMERICALLY LARGE, TOOK THE POSITION THAT PROPHECY WAS
NOT FULFILLED IN 1844, AND THAT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A MISTAKE IN RECKONING
THE PROPHETIC PERIODS. THEY BEGAN TO FIX THEIR ATTENTION ON SOME SPECIFIC
FUTURE DATE FOR THE EVENT. THERE WERE OTHERS, A SMALLER GROUP, THE
FOREFATHERS OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH, WHO WERE SO CERTAIN OF THE
EVIDENCES OF THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN THE GREAT ADVENT AWAKENING
THAT TO DENY THAT THE MOVEMENT WAS THE WORK OF THE LORD WOULD, THEY
BELIEVED, DO DESPITE TO THE SPIRIT OF GRACE. THIS THEY FELT THEY COULD NOT
DO.

A VISION IS GIVEN TO ELLEN HARMON

THE EXPERIENCE OF THIS COMPANY OF BELIEVERS, AND THE WORK THEY WERE TO
DO, THEY FOUND PORTRAYED IN THE LAST VERSES OF REVELATION 10. THE ADVENT
EXPECTATION WAS TO BE REVIVED. GOD HAD LED THEM. HE WAS STILL LEADING THEM.
IN THEIR MIDST WAS A YOUNG WOMAN, ELLEN HARMON BY NAME, WHO IN DECEMBER,
1844, BARELY TWO MONTHS AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT, RECEIVED A PROPHETIC
REVELATION FROM GOD. IN THIS VISION THE LORD PORTRAYED TO HER THE TRAVELS OF
THE ADVENT PEOPLE TO THE NEW JERUSALEM. WHILE THIS VISION DID NOT EXPLAIN
THE REASON FOR THE DISAPPOINTMENT, WHICH EXPLANATION COULD AND DID COME FROM
BIBLE STUDY, IT GAVE THEM ASSURANCE THAT GOD WAS LEADING THEM AND WOULD
CONTINUE TO LEAD THEM AS THEY JOURNEYED TOWARD THE HEAVENLY CITY.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SYMBOLIC PATHWAY REVEALED TO YOUTHFUL ELLEN WAS
A BRIGHT LIGHT, IDENTIFIED BY THE ANGEL AS THE MIDNIGHT CRY, AN EXPRESSION
LINKED WITH THE CLIMACTIC PREACHING IN THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF

XVII

1844 OF THE IMMINENT SECOND ADVENT. IN THIS VISION SHE SAW CHRIST AS LEADING
THE PEOPLE TO THE CITY OF GOD. THEIR CONVERSATION INDICATED THAT THE JOURNEY
WOULD BE LONGER THAN THEY HAD ANTICIPATED. SOME LOST SIGHT OF JESUS AND FELL
OFF THE PATHWAY, BUT THOSE WHO KEPT THEIR EYES ON JESUS AND THE CITY REACHED
THEIR DESTINATION IN SAFETY. IT IS THIS THAT WE FIND PRESENTED IN "MY FIRST
VISION" ON PAGES 13-17.

TWO GROUPS OF ADVENTISTS

AT FIRST ONLY A FEW WERE IDENTIFIED WITH THIS GROUP WHO WERE MOVING
FORWARD IN ADVANCING LIGHT. BY THE YEAR 1846 THEY RECKONED THEIR NUMBERS AS
ABOUT FIFTY.
THE LARGER GROUP WHO TURNED FROM CONFIDENCE IN THE FULFILLMENT OF
PROPHECY IN 1844 NUMBERED APPROXIMATELY THIRTY THOUSAND. THEIR LEADERS CAME
TOGETHER IN 1845 IN A CONFERENCE IN ALBANY, NEW YORK, APRIL 29 TO MAY 1, AT
WHICH TIME THEY RESTUDIED THEIR POSITIONS. BY FORMAL ACTION THEY WENT ON
RECORD AS WARNING AGAINST THOSE WHO CLAIM "SPECIAL ILLUMINATION," THOSE WHO
TEACH "JEWISH FABLES," AND THOSE WHO ESTABLISH "NEW TESTS" (ADVENT HERALD,
MAY 14, 1845). THUS THEY CLOSED THE DOOR TO LIGHT ON THE SABBATH AND THE
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. THEY WERE CONFIDENT THAT PROPHECY HAD NOT BEEN FULFILLED
IN 1844, AND SOME SET TIME FOR THE TERMINATION OF THE 2300-DAY PERIOD IN THE
FUTURE. VARIOUS TIMES WERE SET, BUT ONE AFTER ANOTHER THEY PASSED BY. THESE
PEOPLE, HELD TOGETHER BY THE COHESIVE ELEMENT OF THE ADVENT HOPE, AT FIRST
ALIGNED THEMSELVES IN SEVERAL RATHER LOOSELY KNIT GROUPS WITH CONSIDERABLE
VARIATION IN CERTAIN DOCTRINAL POSITIONS. SOME OF THESE GROUPS SOON FADED
OUT. THE GROUP THAT SURVIVED BECAME THE ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH. SUCH ARE
IDENTIFIED IN THIS BOOK AS THE "FIRST DAY ADVENTISTS" OR "NOMINAL
ADVENTISTS."

XVIII

DAWN OF THE LIGHT ON THE SANCTUARY

BUT WE MUST NOW TURN BACK TO THOSE WHO TENACIOUSLY CLUNG TO THEIR
CONFIDENCE THAT PROPHECY HAD BEEN FULFILLED ON OCTOBER 22, 1844, AND WHO
WITH OPEN MINDS AND HEARTS STEPPED FORWARD INTO THE SABBATH AND THE
SANCTUARY TRUTHS AS THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN ILLUMINATED THEIR PATHWAY. THESE
PEOPLE WERE NOT LOCALIZED IN ANY ONE PLACE BUT WERE INDIVIDUALS OR VERY
SMALL GROUPS HERE AND THERE THROUGHOUT THE NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTH-EASTERN
PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
HIRAM EDSON, ONE OF THIS GROUP, LIVED IN CENTRAL NEW YORK STATE AT PORT
GIBSON. HE WAS THE LEADER OF THE ADVENTISTS IN THAT AREA. THE BELIEVERS MET
IN HIS HOME ON OCTOBER 22, 1844, TO AWAIT THE COMING OF THE LORD. CALMLY AND
PATIENTLY THEY AWAITED THE GREAT EVENT. BUT AS THE HOUR OF MIDNIGHT CAME AND
THEY REALIZED THE DAY OF EXPECTATION HAD PASSED, IT BECAME CLEAR THAT JESUS
WOULD NOT COME AS SOON AS THEY HAD THOUGHT. IT WAS A TIME OF BITTER
DISAPPOINTMENT. IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS HIRAM EDSON AND A FEW OTHERS WENT
OUT TO HIS BARN TO PRAY, AND AS THEY PRAYED, HE FELT ASSURED THAT LIGHT
WOULD COME.
A LITTLE LATER, AS EDSON AND A FRIEND WERE CROSSING A CORNFIELD TO
VISIT FELLOW ADVENTISTS, IT SEEMED AS IF A HAND TOUCHED HIS SHOULDER. HE
LOOKED UP TO SEE--AS IF IN A VISION--THE HEAVENS OPENED, AND CHRIST IN THE
HEAVENLY SANCTUARY ENTERING INTO THE MOST HOLY PLACE, THERE TO BEGIN A WORK
OF MINISTRY IN BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE, INSTEAD OF COMING FORTH FROM THE MOST
HOLY PLACE TO CLEANSE THE WORLD WITH FIRE, AS THEY HAD TAUGHT. CAREFUL BIBLE
STUDY BY HIRAM EDSON; F. B. HAHN, A PHYSICIAN; AND O. R. L. CROZIER, A
SCHOOLTEACHER, SOON REVEALED THAT THE SANCTUARY TO BE CLEANSED AT THE END OF
THE 2300 YEARS WAS NOT THE EARTH BUT THE TABERNACLE IN HEAVEN, WITH CHRIST
MINISTERING IN OUR BEHALF IN THE MOST HOLY PLACE. THIS MEDIATORIAL WORK OF
CHRIST

XIX

ANSWERED TO THE "HOUR OF GOD'S JUDGEMENT" CALL SOUNDED IN THE MESSAGE OF THE
FIRST ANGEL (REVELATION 14:6, 7). MR. CROZIER, THE SCHOOLTEACHER, WROTE OUT
THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY GROUP. THESE WERE PRINTED LOCALLY, AND THEN IN
FULLER FORM IN AN ADVENTIST JOURNAL KNOWN AS THE DAY-STAR, PUBLISHED IN
CINCINNATI, OHIO. A SPECIAL NUMBER DATED FEBRUARY 7, 1846, WAS DEVOTED
ENTIRELY TO THIS BIBLE STUDY ON THE QUESTION OF THE SANCTUARY.

TRUTHS CONFIRMED BY VISION

WHILE THIS STUDY WAS IN PROGRESS, AND BEFORE THEIR WORK WAS MADE KNOWN,
FAR TO THE EAST IN THE STATE OF MAINE, A VISION WAS GIVEN TO ELLEN HARMON IN
WHICH SHE WAS SHOWN THE TRANSFER OF THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST FROM THE HOLY
PLACE TO THE MOST HOLY PLACE AT THE END OF THE 2300 DAYS. THE RECORD OF THIS
VISION IS FOUND IN EARLY WRITINGS, PAGES 54-56.
OF ANOTHER VISION SHORTLY AFTER THIS, AS REFERRED TO BY MRS. WHITE IN A
STATEMENT WRITTEN IN APRIL, 1847, SHE RECORDS THAT "THE LORD SHOWED ME IN
VISION, MORE THAN ONE YEAR AGO, THAT BROTHER CROZIER HAD THE TRUE LIGHT ON
THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY, ETC.; AND THAT IT WAS HIS WILL THAT BROTHER
CROZIER SHOULD WRITE OUT THE VIEW WHICH HE GAVE US IN THE DAY-STAR EXTRA,
FEBRUARY 7, 1846. I FEEL FULLY AUTHORIZED BY THE LORD TO RECOMMEND THAT
EXTRA TO EVERY SAINT."--A WORD TO THE "LITTLE FLOCK," P. 12. THUS THE
FINDING OF BIBLE SCHOLARS WAS CONFIRMED BY THE VISIONS OF GOD'S MESSENGER.
IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS ELLEN WHITE WROTE A GREAT DEAL CONCERNING THE
SANCTUARY TRUTH AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO US, AND THERE ARE MANY REFERENCES TO
THIS IN EARLY WRITINGS. NOTE ESPECIALLY THE CHAPTER BEGINNING ON PAGE 250
ENTITLED "THE SANCTUARY." THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN THE
HEAVENLY SANCTUARY PROVED TO BE THE KEY THAT UNLOCKED THE MYSTERY OF THE
GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. OUR PIONEERS SAW CLEARLY THAT

XX

THE PROPHECY ANNOUNCING THE HOUR OF GOD'S JUDGMENT AT HAND HAD ITS
FULFILLMENT IN THE EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN 1844, BUT THAT THERE WAS A WORK
OF MINISTRY TO BE ACCOMPLISHED IN THE MOST HOLY PLACE IN THE HEAVENLY
SANCTUARY BEFORE JESUS SHOULD COME TO THIS EARTH.
THE MESSAGE OF THE FIRST ANGEL AND THE MESSAGE OF THE SECOND ANGEL HAD
BEEN SOUNDED IN THE PROCLAMATION OF THE ADVENT MESSAGE, AND NOW THE MESSAGE
OF THE THIRD ANGEL BEGAN TO SOUND. UNDER THIS MESSAGE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH BEGAN TO DAWN.

THE BEGINNINGS OF SABBATH OBSERVANCE

AS WE TRACE THE STORY OF THE BEGINNING OF SABBATHKEEPING AMONG THE
EARLY ADVENTISTS, WE GO TO A LITTLE CHURCH IN THE TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON IN
THE HEART OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, THE STATE THAT ADJOINS MAINE ON THE EAST AND
WHOSE WESTERN BOUNDARY IS WITHIN SIXTY MILES OF THE NEW YORK STATE LINE.
HERE THE MEMBERS OF AN INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN 1843 HEARD AND
ACCEPTED THE PREACHING OF THE ADVENT MESSAGE. IT WAS AN EARNEST GROUP. INTO
THEIR MIDST CAME A SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST, RACHEL OAKES, WHO DISTRIBUTED TRACTS
SETTING FORTH THE BINDING CLAIMS OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. SOME IN 1844 SAW
AND ACCEPTED THIS BIBLE TRUTH. ONE OF THEIR NUMBER, WILLIAM FARNSWORTH, IN A
SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE, STOOD TO HIS FEET AND DECLARED THAT HE INTENDED TO
KEEP GOD'S SABBATH OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. A DOZEN OTHERS JOINED HIM,
TAKING THEIR STAND FIRMLY ON ALL OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS. THEY WERE THE FIRST
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS.
THE MINISTER WHO CARED FOR THIS CHURCH GROUP, FREDERICK WHEELER, SOON
ACCEPTED THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH AND WAS THE FIRST ADVENTIST MINISTER TO DO
SO. ANOTHER OF THE ADVENT PREACHERS, T. M. PREBLE, WHO LIVED IN THE SAME
STATE, ACCEPTED THE SABBATH TRUTH AND IN FEBRUARY, 1845, PUBLISHED AN
ARTICLE IN THE HOPE OF ISRAEL, ONE OF

XXI

THE ADVENTIST JOURNALS, SETTING FORTH THE BINDING CLAIMS OF THE FOURTH
COMMANDMENT. JOSEPH BATES, A PROMINENT ADVENTIST MINISTER RESIDING IN
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS, READ THE PREBLE ARTICLE AND ACCEPTED THE
SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, ELDER BATES JOURNEYED TO
WASHINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, TO STUDY THIS NEW-FOUND TRUTH WITH THE
SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS RESIDING THERE. WHEN HE RETURNED TO HIS HOME, HE
WAS FULLY CONVINCED OF THE SABBATH TRUTH. BATES IN TIME DETERMINED TO
PUBLISH A TRACT SETTING FORTH THE BINDING CLAIMS OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.
HIS 48-PAGE SABBATH PAMPHLET WAS PUBLISHED IN AUGUST, 1846. A COPY OF IT
CAME TO THE HANDS OF JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE AT ABOUT THE TIME OF THEIR
MARRIAGE IN LATE AUGUST. FROM THE SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE THEREIN PRESENTED,
THEY ACCEPTED, AND BEGAN TO KEEP THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH. OF THIS ELLEN
WHITE LATER WROTE: "IN THE AUTUMN OF 1846 WE BEGAN TO OBSERVE THE BIBLE
SABBATH, AND TO TEACH AND DEFEND IT."--TESTIMONIES, VOL. 1, P. 75.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SABBATH REVEALED

JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE TOOK THEIR STAND PURELY FROM THE SCRIPTURAL
EVIDENCE TO WHICH THEIR MINDS HAD BEEN DIRECTED IN THE BATES TRACT. THEN ON
THE FIRST SABBATH IN APRIL, 1847, SEVEN MONTHS AFTER THEY BEGAN TO KEEP AND
TEACH THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH, THE LORD GAVE A VISION TO MRS. WHITE AT
TOPSHAM, MAINE, IN WHICH THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SABBATH WAS STRESSED. SHE SAW
THE TABLES OF THE LAW IN THE ARK IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY, AND A HALO OF
LIGHT ABOUT THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. SEE PAGES 32-35 FOR THE ACCOUNT OF THIS
VISION. THE POSITION PREVIOUSLY TAKEN FROM THE STUDY OF THE WORD OF GOD WAS
CONFIRMED. THE VISION ALSO HELPED TO BROADEN THE BELIEVER'S CONCEPT OF
SABBATH OBSERVANCE. IN THIS REVELATION, MRS. WHITE WAS CARRIED DOWN TO THE
CLOSE OF TIME AND SAW THE SABBATH AS THE GREAT

XXII

TESTING TRUTH ON WHICH MEN DECIDE WHETHER TO SERVE GOD OR TO SERVE AN
APOSTATE POWER. LOOKING BACK IN 1874 TO THIS EXPERIENCE, SHE WROTE:
"I BELIEVED THE TRUTH UPON THE SABBATH QUESTION BEFORE I HAD SEEN
ANYTHING IN VISION IN REFERENCE TO THE SABBATH. IT WAS MONTHS AFTER I HAD
COMMENCED KEEPING THE SABBATH BEFORE I WAS SHOWN ITS IMPORTANCE AND ITS
PLACE IN THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE."--E. G. WHITE LETTER 2, 1874.

THE IMPORTANT SABBATH CONFERENCES

IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD THE SEVERAL SABBATHKEEPING MINISTERS WHO LED
OUT IN TEACHING THESE NEW-FOUND TRUTHS IN COMPANY WITH A NUMBER OF THEIR
FOLLOWERS, CAME TOGETHER IN 1848 IN FIVE SABBATH CONFERENCES. THROUGH
PERIODS OF FASTING AND PRAYER THEY STUDIED THE WORD OF GOD. ELDER BATES, THE
APOSTLE OF THE SABBATH TRUTH, TOOK THE LEAD IN ADVOCATING THE BINDING CLAIMS
OF THE SABBATH. HIRAM EDSON AND HIS ASSOCIATES, WHO ATTENDED SOME OF THE
CONFERENCES, WERE STRONG IN THEIR PRESENTATION OF THE SANCTUARY LIGHT. JAMES
WHITE, A CAREFUL STUDENT OF PROPHECY, FOCUSED HIS ATTENTION ON EVENTS THAT
MUST TAKE PLACE BEFORE JESUS COMES AGAIN. AT THESE MEETINGS THE LEADING
DOCTRINES HELD TODAY BY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER.
LOOKING BACK TO THIS EXPERIENCE, ELLEN WHITE WROTE:
"MANY OF OUR PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE HOW FIRMLY THE FOUNDATION OF OUR
FAITH HAS BEEN LAID. MY HUSBAND, ELDER JOSEPH BATES, FATHER PIERCE, [OLDER
BRETHREN AMONG THE PIONEERS ARE HERE THUS REMINISCENTLY REFERRED TO. "FATHER
PIERCE" WAS STEPHEN PIERCE, WHO SERVED IN MINISTERIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE
WORK IN THE EARLY DAYS.] ELDER [HIRAM] EDSON, AND OTHERS WHO WERE KEEN,
NOBLE, AND TRUE, WERE AMONG THOSE WHO, AFTER THE PASSING OF THE TIME IN
1844, SEARCHED FOR THE TRUTH AS FOR HIDDEN TREASURE. I MET WITH THEM, AND WE
STUDIED AND PRAYED EARNESTLY. OFTEN

XXIII

WE REMAINED TOGETHER UNTIL LATE AT NIGHT, AND SOMETIMES THROUGH THE ENTIRE
NIGHT, PRAYING FOR LIGHT AND STUDYING THE WORD. AGAIN AND AGAIN THESE
BRETHREN CAME TOGETHER TO STUDY THE BIBLE, IN ORDER THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW ITS
MEANING, AND BE PREPARED TO TEACH IT WITH POWER. WHEN THEY CAME TO THE POINT
IN THEIR STUDY WHERE THEY SAID, "WE CAN DO NOTHING MORE,' THE SPIRIT OF THE
LORD WOULD COME UPON ME, I WOULD BE TAKEN OFF IN VISION, AND A CLEAR
EXPLANATION OF THE PASSAGES WE HAD BEEN STUDYING WOULD BE GIVEN ME, WITH
INSTRUCTION AS TO HOW WE WERE TO LABOR AND TEACH EFFECTIVELY. THUS LIGHT
WAS GIVEN THAT HELPED US TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES IN REGARD TO CHRIST,
HIS MISSION, AND HIS PRIESTHOOD. A LINE OF TRUTH EXTENDING FROM THAT TIME TO
THE TIME WHEN WE SHALL ENTER THE CITY OF GOD, WAS MADE PLAIN TO ME, AND I
GAVE TO OTHERS THE INSTRUCTION THAT THE LORD HAD GIVEN ME.
"DURING THIS WHOLE TIME I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND THE REASONING OF THE
BRETHREN. MY MIND WAS LOCKED, AS IT WERE, AND I COULD NOT COMPREHEND THE
MEANING OF THE SCRIPTURES WE WERE STUDYING. THIS WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST
SORROWS OF MY LIFE. I WAS IN THIS CONDITION OF MIND UNTIL ALL THE PRINCIPAL
POINTS OF OUR FAITH WERE MADE CLEAR TO OUR MINDS, IN HARMONY WITH THE WORD
OF GOD. THE BRETHREN KNEW THAT WHEN NOT IN VISION, I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND
THESE MATTERS, AND THEY ACCEPTED AS LIGHT DIRECT FROM HEAVEN THE REVELATIONS
GIVEN."--SELECTED MESSAGES, BOOK 1, PP. 206, 207.
THUS THE DOCTRINAL FOUNDATION OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH WAS
LAID IN THE FAITHFUL STUDY OF THE WORD OF GOD, AND WHEN THE PIONEERS COULD
NOT MAKE HEADWAY, ELLEN WHITE WAS GIVEN LIGHT THAT HELPED TO EXPLAIN THEIR
DIFFICULTY AND OPENED THE WAY FOR THE STUDY TO CONTINUE. THE VISIONS ALSO
PLACED THE STAMP OF GOD'S APPROVAL UPON CORRECT CONCLUSIONS. THUS

XXIV

THE PROPHETIC GIFT ACTED AS A CORRECTOR OF ERROR AND A CONFIRMER OF TRUTH.
(SEE GOSPEL WORKERS, P. 302.)

THE PIONEERS BEGIN TO PUBLISH

IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER THE FIFTH OF THESE SABBATH CONFERENCES HELD IN
1848 THAT ANOTHER MEETING WAS CALLED AT THE HOME OF OTIS NICHOLS IN
DORCHESTER (NEAR BOSTON), MASSACHUSETTS. THE BRETHREN WERE STUDYING AND
PRAYING CONCERNING THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO HERALD THE LIGHT THAT THE LORD
HAD CAUSED TO SHINE UPON THEIR PATHWAY. AS THEY STUDIED, ELLEN WHITE WAS
TAKEN OFF IN VISION, AND IN THIS REVELATION SHE WAS SHOWN THE DUTY OF THE
BRETHREN TO PUBLISH THIS LIGHT. SHE RECOUNTS THE INCIDENT IN LIFE SKETCHES.
"AFTER COMING OUT OF VISION, I SAID TO MY HUSBAND: 'I HAVE A MESSAGE
FOR YOU. YOU MUST BEGIN TO PRINT A LITTLE PAPER AND SEND IT OUT TO THE
PEOPLE. LET IT BE SMALL AT FIRST; BUT AS THE PEOPLE READ, THEY WILL SEND YOU
MEANS WITH WHICH TO PRINT, AND IT WILL BE A SUCCESS FROM THE FIRST. FROM
THIS SMALL BEGINNING IT WAS SHOWN TO ME TO BE LIKE STREAMS OF LIGHT THAT
WENT CLEAR ROUND THE WORLD.'"--PAGE 125.
HERE WAS A CALL TO ACTION. WHAT COULD JAMES WHITE DO? HE HAD LITTLE OF
THIS WORLD'S GOODS. BUT THE VISION WAS A DIVINE DIRECTIVE, AND HE FELT THE
COMPULSION TO MOVE FORWARD BY FAITH. SO WITH HIS SEVENTY-FIVE CENT BIBLE AND
CONCORDANCE WITH BOTH COVERS TORN OFF, JAMES WHITE BEGAN TO PREPARE THE
ARTICLES ON THE SABBATH TRUTH AND OTHER KINDRED TOPICS TO BE PRINTED IN A
LITTLE PAPER. ALL THIS TOOK TIME, BUT EVENTUALLY HE PRESENTED THE COPY TO A
PRINTER IN MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, WHO WAS WILLING TO TRUST HIM FOR THE
PRINTING ORDER. THE TYPE WAS SET, THE PROOFS WERE READ, AND ONE THOUSAND
COPIES OF THE PAPER WERE PRINTED. JAMES WHITE TRANSPORTED THEM FROM THE
MIDDLETOWN PRINTING OFFICE TO THE BELDEN HOME WHERE HE AND ELLEN HAD FOUND A

XXV

TEMPORARY REFUGE. THE LITTLE SHEET WAS SIX BY NINE INCHES IN SIZE AND
CONTAINED EIGHT PAGES. IT BORE THE TITLE THE PRESENT TRUTH. THE DATE WAS
JULY, 1849. THE LITTLE PILE OF PAPERS WAS LAID UPON THE FLOOR. THEN THE
BRETHREN AND SISTERS GATHERED ABOUT THEM AND WITH TEARS IN THEIR EYES
PLEADED WITH GOD TO BLESS THE LITTLE SHEET AS IT SHOULD BE SENT OUT. THEN
THE PAPERS WERE FOLDED, WRAPPED AND ADDRESSED, AND JAMES WHITE CARRIED THEM
EIGHT MILES TO THE MIDDLETOWN POST OFFICE. THUS THE PUBLISHING WORK OF THE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH BEGAN.
FOUR ISSUES WERE SENT OUT IN THIS MANNER, AND EACH WAS PRAYED OVER
BEFORE THE PAPERS WERE TAKEN TO THE POST OFFICE. SOON LETTERS WERE RECEIVED
TELLING OF PEOPLE WHO HAD BEGUN TO KEEP THE SABBATH FROM READING THE PAPERS.
SOME OF THE LETTERS CONTAINED MONEY, AND JAMES WHITE, IN SEPTEMBER, WAS ABLE
TO PAY THE MIDDLETOWN PRINTER THE $64.50 DUE FOR THE FOUR ISSUES.

STARTING THE REVIEW AND HERALD

AS JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE TRAVELED FROM PLACE TO PLACE, STAYING A FEW
MONTHS HERE AND A FEW MONTHS THERE, THEY ARRANGED FOR THE PUBLISHING OF A
FEW ISSUES OF THE PAPER. FINALLY THE ELEVENTH AND LAST ISSUE WAS PUBLISHED
AT PARIS, MAINE, IN NOVEMBER, 1850. MRS. WHITE CONTRIBUTED SEVERAL ARTICLES
TO THE PRESENT TRUTH. MOST OF THESE ARE TO BE FOUND IN THE FIRST PART OF
EARLY WRITINGS. SEE PAGES 36-54.
ALSO IN NOVEMBER, A CONFERENCE WAS HELD IN PARIS, AND THE BRETHREN GAVE
STUDY TO THE GROWING PUBLISHING WORK. THEY DECIDED TO ENLARGE THE PAPER AND
THEY CHANGED ITS NAME TO THE SECOND ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD. IT WAS
PUBLISHED FOR A FEW MONTHS AT PARIS, MAINE, THEN AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW
YORK. IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED FROM THAT DAY TO THIS AS THE CHURCH PAPER OF THE
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS.

XXVI

THE PUBLISHING WORK GROWS

WHILE LIVING AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, JAMES WHITE ARRANGED IN AUGUST, 1851,
FOR THE PRINTING OF MRS. WHITE'S FIRST BOOK TITLED A SKETCH OF THE CHRISTIAN
EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS OF ELLEN G. WHITE, NOW PAGES 11-83 OF THIS WORK. WITH
ITS 64 PAGES, IT WAS ONLY A PAMPHLET.
IN THE SPRING OF 1852, THE WHITES MOVED TO ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, AND
THERE ESTABLISHED AN OFFICE IN WHICH THEY COULD DO THEIR OWN PRINTING. THE
BRETHREN RALLIED TO THE APPEAL FOR MONEY WITH WHICH TO PURCHASE A PRINTING
PRESS AND SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS WAS RAISED TO SECURE THE EQUIPMENT. HOW HAPPY
THE EARLY BELIEVERS WERE WHEN OUR PAPERS COULD BE ISSUED ON A SABBATHKEEPING
PRESS! FOR A LITTLE MORE THAN THREE YEARS, THEY LIVED IN ROCHESTER AND
PUBLISHED THE MESSAGE THERE. IN ADDITION TO THE REVIEW AND HERALD AND THE
YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR BEGUN BY JAMES WHITE IN 1852, THEY ALSO, FROM TIME TO
TIME, PUBLISHED TRACTS. MRS. WHITE'S SECOND PAMPHLET, SUPPLEMENT TO THE
CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS OF ELLEN G. WHITE, WAS PUBLISHED IN ROCHESTER
IN JANUARY, 1854. THIS IS NOW IN EARLY WRITINGS, PAGES 85-127.

BATTLE CREEK BECOMES THE PUBLISHING CENTER

IN NOVEMBER, 1855, JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE AND THEIR HELPERS MOVED TO
BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN. THE PRESS AND OTHER PIECES OF PRINTING EQUIPMENT
WERE PLACED IN A BUILDING ERECTED BY SEVERAL OF THE SABBATHKEEPING
ADVENTISTS WHO HAD FURNISHED THE MONEY WITH WHICH TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN
PRINTING OFFICE. AS THEIR WORK DEVELOPED IN THAT LITTLE CITY, BATTLE CREEK
BECAME THE NATURAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH. BUT IT
WAS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT JAMES WHITE MAINTAINED THE PUBLISHING WORK.

XXVII

AS WE STUDY THE BACKGROUND OF EARLY WRITINGS, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT
THE EARLY SABBATHKEEPING ADVENTISTS AT FIRST HAD A BURDEN TO REACH WITH THE
SABBATH TRUTH ONLY THEIR FORMER BRETHREN IN THE GREAT ADVENT AWAKENING; THAT
IS, THOSE WHO HAD BEEN WITH THEM IN THE FIRST AND THE SECOND ANGELS'
MESSAGES. CONSEQUENTLY FOR ABOUT SEVEN YEARS AFTER 1844, THEIR LABORS WERE
VERY LARGELY FOR ADVENTISTS WHO HAD NOT YET TAKEN THEIR STAND ON THE THIRD
ANGEL'S MESSAGE. TO ONE FAMILIAR WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES, THIS IS
UNDERSTANDABLE.

THE "SHUT DOOR" AND THE "OPEN DOOR"

IN THE SPECIAL EFFORTS WHICH WERE MADE TO PROCLAIM THE ADVENT MESSAGE
IN THE SUMMER OF 1844, THE LEADERS IN THE MOVEMENT HAD SEEN THEIR OWN
EXPERIENCE IN THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS RECORDED IN MATTHEW 25. THERE
HAD BEEN A "TARRYING TIME" FOLLOWED BY THE CRY, "BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM
COMETH; GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM." THIS WAS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS "THE
MIDNIGHT CRY." IN HER FIRST VISION, THIS WAS SHOWN TO MRS. WHITE AS A BRIGHT
LIGHT SET UP BEHIND THE ADVENTISTS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PATH. IN THE
PARABLE, THEY READ THAT THOSE WHO WERE READY WENT IN WITH THE BRIDEGROOM TO
THE MARRIAGE, "AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT." (SEE MATTHEW 25:10.) THEY THEREFORE
CONCLUDED THAT ON OCTOBER 22, 1844, THE DOOR OF MERCY WAS CLOSED TO THOSE
WHO FAILED TO ACCEPT THE MESSAGE WHICH HAD BEEN SO WIDELY PROCLAIMED. SOME
YEARS LATER ELLEN WHITE WROTE OF THIS:
"AFTER THE PASSING OF THE TIME WHEN THE SAVIOUR WAS EXPECTED, THEY [THE
ADVENT BELIEVERS] STILL BELIEVED HIS COMING TO BE NEAR; THEY HELD THAT THEY
HAD REACHED AN IMPORTANT CRISIS, AND THAT THE WORK OF CHRIST AS MAN'S
INTERCESSOR BEFORE GOD, HAD CEASED. IT APPEARED TO THEM TO BE TAUGHT IN THE
BIBLE, THAT MAN'S PROBATION WOULD CLOSE A SHORT TIME BEFORE THE ACTUAL
COMING OF THE LORD IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN. THIS SEEMED EVIDENT

XXVIII

FROM THOSE SCRIPTURES WHICH POINT TO A TIME WHEN MEN WILL SEEK, KNOCK, AND
CRY AT THE DOOR OF MERCY, AND IT WILL NOT BE OPENED. AND IT WAS A QUESTION
WITH THEM WHETHER THE DATE TO WHICH THEY HAD LOOKED FOR THE COMING OF CHRIST
MIGHT NOT RATHER MARK THE BEGINNING OF THIS PERIOD WHICH WAS IMMEDIATELY TO
PRECEDE HIS COMING. HAVING GIVEN THE WARNING OF THE JUDGMENT NEAR, THEY FELT
THAT THEIR WORK FOR THE WORLD WAS DONE, AND THEY LOST THEIR BURDEN OF SOUL
FOR THE SALVATION OF SINNERS, WHILE THE BOLD AND BLASPHEMOUS SCOFFING OF THE
UNGODLY SEEMED TO THEM ANOTHER EVIDENCE THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAD BEEN
WITHDRAWN FROM THE REJECTERS OF HIS MERCY. ALL THIS CONFIRMED THEM IN THE
BELIEF THAT PROBATION HAD ENDED, OR, AS THEY THEN EXPRESSED IT, 'THE DOOR OF
MERCY WAS SHUT.'"--THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, PAGE 429.
THEN MRS. WHITE CONTINUES TO SHOW HOW LIGHT BEGAN TO DAWN ON THIS
QUESTION:
"BUT CLEARER LIGHT CAME WITH THE INVESTIGATION OF THE SANCTUARY
QUESTION. THEY NOW SAW THAT THEY WERE CORRECT IN BELIEVING THAT THE END OF
THE 2300 DAYS IN 1844 MARKED AN IMPORTANT CRISIS. BUT WHILE IT WAS TRUE THAT
THAT DOOR OF HOPE AND MERCY BY WHICH MEN HAD FOR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED YEARS
FOUND ACCESS TO GOD, WAS CLOSED, ANOTHER DOOR WAS OPENED, AND FORGIVENESS OF
SINS WAS OFFERED TO MEN THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST IN THE MOST HOLY.
ONE PART OF HIS MINISTRATION HAD CLOSED, ONLY TO GIVE PLACE TO ANOTHER.
THERE WAS STILL AN 'OPEN DOOR' TO THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY, WHERE CHRIST WAS
MINISTERING IN THE SINNER'S BEHALF.
"NOW WAS SEEN THE APPLICATION OF THOSE WORDS OF CHRIST IN THE
REVELATION, ADDRESSED TO THE CHURCH AT THIS VERY TIME: 'THESE THINGS SAITH
HE THAT IS HOLY, HE THAT IS TRUE, HE THAT HATH THE KEY OF DAVID, HE THAT
OPENETH, AND NO MAN SHUTTETH; AND SHUTTETH, AND NO MAN OPENETH; I KNOW THY
WORKS: BEHOLD, I HAVE SET

XXIX

BEFORE THEE AN OPEN DOOR, AND NO MAN CAN SHUT IT.' (REVELATION 3:7, 8.)
"IT IS THOSE WHO BY FAITH FOLLOW JESUS IN THE GREAT WORK OF THE
ATONEMENT, WHO RECEIVE THE BENEFITS OF HIS MEDIATION IN THEIR BEHALF; WHILE
THOSE WHO REJECT THE LIGHT WHICH BRINGS TO VIEW THIS WORK OF MINISTRATION,
ARE NOT BENEFITED THEREBY."--IBID., PP. 429, 430.

THE TWO WAYS OUT OF THE PERPLEXITY

MRS. WHITE THEN SPEAKS OF HOW THE TWO GROUPS OF ADVENT BELIEVERS
RELATED THEMSELVES TO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF OCTOBER 22,
1844:
"THE PASSING OF THE TIME IN 1844 WAS FOLLOWED BY A PERIOD OF GREAT
TRIAL TO THOSE WHO STILL HELD THE ADVENT FAITH. THEIR ONLY RELIEF, SO FAR AS
ASCERTAINING THEIR TRUE POSITION WAS CONCERNED, WAS THE LIGHT WHICH DIRECTED
THEIR MINDS TO THE SANCTUARY ABOVE. SOME RENOUNCED THEIR FAITH IN THEIR
FORMER RECKONING OF THE PROPHETIC PERIODS, AND ASCRIBED TO HUMAN OR SATANIC
AGENCIES THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH HAD ATTENDED THE
ADVENT MOVEMENT. ANOTHER CLASS FIRMLY HELD THAT THE LORD HAD LED THEM IN
THEIR PAST EXPERIENCE; AND AS THEY WAITED AND WATCHED AND PRAYED TO KNOW THE
WILL OF GOD, THEY SAW THAT THEIR GREAT HIGH PRIEST HAD ENTERED UPON ANOTHER
WORK OF MINISTRATION, AND FOLLOWING HIM BY FAITH, THEY WERE LED TO SEE ALSO
THE CLOSING WORK OF THE CHURCH. THEY HAD A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF THE
FIRST AND SECOND ANGELS' MESSAGES, AND WERE PREPARED TO RECEIVE AND GIVE TO
THE WORLD THE SOLEMN WARNING OF THE THIRD ANGEL OF REVELATION 14."--IBID.,
PP. 431, 432.
CERTAIN REFERENCES OCCUR IN THIS WORK, ON PAGES 42-45, TO THE "OPEN
DOOR" AND THE "SHUT DOOR." THIS IS CORRECTLY UNDERSTOOD ONLY IN THE LIGHT OF
THE BACKGROUND OF THE EXPERIENCE OF OUR EARLY BELIEVERS.

XXX

NOT TOO LONG AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT THE PIONEERS SAW THAT WHILE THERE
WERE THOSE WHO THROUGH THE DEFINITE REJECTION OF LIGHT HAD CLOSED THE DOOR
TO THEIR SALVATION, THERE WERE MANY WHO HAD NOT HEARD THE MESSAGE AND HAD
NOT REJECTED IT, AND THESE MIGHT BENEFIT FROM THE PROVISIONS MADE FOR MAN'S
SALVATION. BY THE EARLY 1850'S THESE POINTS STOOD OUT CLEARLY. THEN TOO,
AVENUES FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE THREE ANGEL'S MESSAGES WERE BEGINNING TO
OPEN UP. PREJUDICE WAS DYING AWAY. ELLEN WHITE, LOOKING BACK TO THEIR
EXPERIENCE FOLLOWING THE DISAPPOINTMENT WROTE:
"'IT WAS THEN NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO OBTAIN ACCESS TO UNBELIEVERS. THE
DISAPPOINTMENT IN 1844 HAD CONFUSED THE MINDS OF MANY, AND THEY WOULD NOT
LISTEN TO ANY EXPLANATION OF THE MATTER.'"--REVIEW AND HERALD, NOV. 20,
1883.
BUT IN 1851 ELDER WHITE WAS ABLE TO REPORT: "'NOW THE DOOR IS OPEN
ALMOST EVERYWHERE TO PRESENT THE TRUTH, AND MANY ARE PREPARED TO READ THE
PUBLICATIONS WHO HAVE FORMERLY HAD NO INTEREST TO INVESTIGATE.'"--REVIEW AND
HERALD, AUG. 19, 1851.

THE CALL FOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION

BUT WITH THESE NEW OPPORTUNITIES, AND WITH A LARGER NUMBER OF PEOPLE
ACCEPTING THE MESSAGE, A FEW DISCORDANT ELEMENTS CAME INTO THEIR MIDST. IF
THESE HAD NOT BEEN CHECKED, THE WORK WOULD HAVE BEEN GREATLY INJURED. BUT
HERE AGAIN WE SEE THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN GUIDING HIS PEOPLE, FOR ON
DECEMBER 24, 1850, IN A VISION GIVEN TO ELLEN WHITE, SHE TELLS US:
"'I SAW HOW GREAT AND HOLY GOD WAS. SAID THE ANGEL, "WALK CAREFULLY
BEFORE HIM, FOR HE IS HIGH AND LIFTED UP, AND THE TRAIN OF HIS GLORY FILLS
THE TEMPLE." I SAW THAT EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN WAS IN PERFECT ORDER. SAID THE
ANGEL, "LOOK YE, CHRIST IS THE HEAD, MOVE IN ORDER, MOVE IN ORDER. HAVE A
MEANING TO EVERYTHING." SAID

XXXI

THE ANGEL, "BEHOLD YE AND KNOW HOW PERFECT, HOW BEAUTIFUL, THE ORDER IN
HEAVEN; FOLLOW IT."'"--ELLEN G. WHITE MANUSCRIPT 11, 1850.
IT TOOK TIME TO LEAD THE BELIEVERS GENERALLY TO APPRECIATE THE NEEDS
AND VALUE OF GOSPEL ORDER. THEIR PAST EXPERIENCES IN THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES
FROM WHICH THEY HAD SEPARATED LED THEM TO BE CAUTIOUS. EXCEPT IN THOSE
PLACES WHERE THE PRACTICAL NEED WAS VERY EVIDENT, FEAR OF INVITING FORMALITY
HELD THE BELIEVERS BACK FROM CHURCH ORGANIZATION. IT WAS NOT UNTIL A DECADE
AFTER THE VISION OF 1850 THAT MORE MATURE PLANS FOR ORGANIZATION WERE
FINALLY EFFECTED. UNDOUBTEDLY A FACTOR OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE IN BRINGING THE
EFFORTS TO FRUITION WAS A COMPREHENSIVE CHAPTER ENTITLED "GOSPEL ORDER,"
PUBLISHED IN THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS OF ELLEN
G. WHITE. THIS APPEARS IN THIS WORK AS PAGES 97-104.
IN 1860, IN CONNECTION WITH THE ORGANIZING OF THE PUBLISHING WORK, A
NAME WAS CHOSEN. SOME THOUGHT THAT "CHURCH OF GOD" WOULD BE APPROPRIATE, BUT
THE SENTIMENT PREVAILED THAT THE NAME SHOULD REFLECT THE DISTINCTIVE
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH. THEY ADOPTED "SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST" AS THEIR NAME.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR SOME COMPANIES OF BELIEVERS ORGANIZED THEMSELVES INTO
CHURCHES, AND THE CHURCHES IN MICHIGAN FORMED A STATE CONFERENCE. SOON THERE
WERE SEVERAL STATE CONFERENCES. THEN IN MAY, 1863, THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS WAS ORGANIZED. THIS TAKES US FIVE YEARS BEYOND THE
TIME OF EARLY WRITINGS.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY VISION

REFERENCE HAS BEEN MADE TO THE MOVING OF THE PUBLISHING WORK FROM
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, TO BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, IN NOVEMBER, 1855. ELDER AND
MRS. WHITE MADE THEIR HOME IN BATTLE CREEK AND AFTER THE WORK WAS WELL
ESTABLISHED THERE, THEY WERE ABLE TO

XXXII

CONTINUE THEIR TRAVELS IN THE FIELD. IT WAS IN CONNECTION WITH A VISIT TO
THE STATE OF OHIO IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH, 1858, THAT THE IMPORTANT GREAT
CONTROVERSY VISION WAS GIVEN TO MRS. WHITE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL-HOUSE AT
LOVETT'S GROVE. THE ACCOUNT OF THIS VISION WHICH LASTED TWO HOURS IS FOUND
IN LIFE SKETCHES, PAGES 161, 162. IN SEPTEMBER, 1858, SPIRITUAL GIFTS,
VOLUME I: THE GREAT CONTROVERSY BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND
HIS ANGELS, WAS PUBLISHED. THIS LITTLE BOOK OF 219 PAGES CONSTITUTES THE
THIRD AND LAST DIVISION OF EARLY WRITINGS.
THE SMALL PUBLICATIONS OF THE FIRST FIFTEEN YEARS OF MRS. WHITE'S WORK
WERE TO BE FOLLOWED BY MANY LARGER BOOKS DEALING WITH MANY SUBJECTS VITAL TO
THOSE WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST.
NEVERTHELESS THE EARLIEST WRITINGS WILL ALWAYS BE ESPECIALLY DEAR TO THE
HEARTS OF ALL SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS.

--TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
MARCH, 1963.