Lest We Forget, Volume 5, features: James Springer White & Ellen Gould Harmon White-- their friendship, marriage, family life, trials, and sacrifices. This issue: God's messenger, Ellen Gould Harmon White.
A Messenger, Why?
By Dr. Fred Bischoff
Biblical history reveals the precedence for divine intervention. Each major movement in fulfillment of prophecy had a messenger to give special guidance to all who would follow God. We see Enoch, Noah, Moses, Daniel, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ. God in His mercy came to meet the slowness of understanding of His people. This was the reason for each successive messenger and message. Some messages became part of the canon of Scripture, while others did not. However, the same Spirit worked through each messenger.
In 1844, God's people in every church and land needed a message. That message was a fulfillment of Rev. 18:4, "Come out of her [Babylon], my people." God sent a final call to everyone to leave the path of error. This call included special guidance by the Holy Spirit to open Scripture for the last days.
Our condition was particularly critical. Laodicea was blinded. Centuries-old, pagan thought patterns, which clouded the mind, needed to be swept away by a clear view of reality. The sanctuary needed cleansing. God planned to make ready a people prepared for the return of Christ. A message was needed, and God chose Ellen Gould Harmon, a seventeen-year-old girl, as His messenger.
The Holy Spirit again humbled Himself to speak through fallen humanity, giving spiritual insight to God's people which they desperately needed. Just as Christ led His disciples to understand the fulfillment of prophecy (Luke 24:27, 44, 45), so the testimony of Jesus again united with the witness of Scripture to unfold present truth at this major transition of prophetic history.
Ellen White said of herself, "From the year 1844 till the present time I have received messages from the Lord and have given them to His people. This is my work--to give to the people the light that the Lord gives me. I am commissioned to receive and communicate His messages. I am not to appear before the people as holding any other position than that of a messenger with a message."--Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 237.
It is of interest here to note that she who was called to a life ministry as a messenger affirmed that she was not alone, that others were used at various times during her lifetime to bring messages to prepare a people to stand in the day of God. She saw God sending messengers, "His servants", including herself, with reproof, cautions, and warnings. She admonished,
"We are not to turn away and refuse to receive the message because it does not come from learned men. ... Every message sent to you by God's messenger is for your good, to teach you the way of salvation more perfectly. What means has God to communicate His will to men, unless it be through His delegated messengers? And are you not afraid to select that portion of the message that pleases you, and reject that which crosses your track?"--This Day With God, R & H Pub. Association, 1979, p. 167.
"God calls every one, both old and young to make a diligent search in His word, that they may discover the rich jewels of truth. Ministers and people, teachers and scholars, are all called to the work of studying the Bible.
"Precious light is to shine forth from the word of God, and let no one presume to dictate what shall or what shall not be brought before the people in the messages of enlightenment that He shall send, and so quench the Spirit of God. Whatever may be his position of authority, no one has a right to shut away the light from the people. When a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may excuse himself from an investigation of its claims. No one can afford to stand back in an attitude of indifference and self-confidence, and say: 'I know what is truth. I am satisfied with my position. I have set my stakes, and I will not be moved away from my position, whatever may come. I will not listen to the message of this messenger; for I know that it cannot be truth.' It is from pursuing this very course that the popular churches were left in partial darkness, and that is why the messages of heaven have not reached them."--Counsels on Sabbath School Work, Ellen G. White Publications, 1938, p. 28.
Doubtless God will continue to use other messengers. In order to "prove all things", let us follow this counsel: "Let every thing be brought to the Bible; for it is the only rule of faith and doctrine."--Signs of the Times, February 6, 1893.
We must be ever indebted to God for the gift of prophecy He chose to bestow on a seventeen-year-old girl, over 150 years ago. The messages she wrote from God continue to speak to us today, to prepare a people for Christ's second coming.
The Gospel of Health
A Practical Reality
by Dr. Ray Foster
The health ministry has been a part of the work of God throughout history. The Israelite priest officiating in the sanctuary or temple of God, besides being a spiritual leader and teacher, was also the recognized physical healer. Charles Wesley wrote a medical book to help his parishioners with their medical problems. For God to associate medical with spiritual work in the closing work of the gospel is in harmony with what He has revealed about Himself, "For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Malachi 3:6)
Ellen G. White received in supernatural visions a clearer understanding of the effect of the physical health on the spiritual. These visions revealed a distinct lifestyle to be recommended to Seventh-day Adventists; changed the Whites' health habits; and led to a world-wide health ministry, "the Lord's means of lessening the suffering in our world and of purifying His people."--Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 38.
The "Reality" of the Health Ministry
"Reality" could be the one word that explains why medical and spiritual work are linked together. Reality is based on creation. Things are the way they are because that is the way they were made. Truth is based on reality.
"To make natural law plain, and to urge obedience to it, is a work that accompanies the third angel's message. Ignorance is no excuse now for the transgression of law. The light shines clearly, and none need be ignorant; for the great God Himself is man's instructor. All are bound by the most sacred obligations to heed the sound philosophy and genuine experience which God is now giving them in reference to health reform. He designs that the subject shall be agitated and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate it; for it is impossible for men and women, while under the power of sinful, health-destroying, brain-innervating habits, to appreciate sacred truth."--Counsels on Health, p. 21.
Part of the reality of salvation is that there is salvation for the body. God created man from the dust of the earth, breathed life into his nostrils and commissioned mankind to represent God in form, feature, and character. The human body is designed as a temple for the Holy Spirit. Sin has marred the body temple and thus distorted the image of God in man.
Salvation is God's plan to restore the physical form and function of the body temple itself, and renew the character of the individual to again reflect the image of God. Salvation is thus for the body as well as for the use that is made of the body as reflected by the character of the individual.
The first truths that God sent in the 1840's to the group of believers, who were later called Seventh-day Adventists, were doctrinal, to give direction to the movement. Once the foundational doctrines of the cleansing of the sanctuary, the seventh-day Sabbath and the law of God, the second coming, and the state of the dead were established, it became essential to focus on the health of the body. The prevailing health practices of the times and the deteriorating health conditions of the early believers made this even more crucial. Pork was a staple of the diet and blood-letting was a standard treatment for illness. Ellen and James White were both in poor health from overwork and a poor diet. It was a practical necessity in "reality" for God to give special instructions on how to live.
The First Health Message Given to Ellen White
As early as 1848 Ellen White was shown in vision that tobacco, tea, and coffee were harmful to the human body.
From that time, Ellen never used tea or coffee. However, she was not instructed to focus in on these things as a test of church fellowship. When a brother wrote to her in 1851 inquiring whether she had been shown in vision that it was "wrong to use tobacco", she replied, "I have seen in vision that tobacco was a filthy weed, and that it must be laid aside or given up. Said my accompanying angel, 'If it is an idol, it is high time it was given up; and unless it is given up, the frown of God will be upon the one that uses it, and he cannot be sealed with the seal of the living God.'"--Manuscript Releases, 5:371.
"No special effort, however, was made through denominational publications to induce Sabbath-keeping Adventists to discontinue the use of tobacco until the latter part of 1853."--The Story of Our Health Message, D. E. Robinson, p. 66. This was ten years before God gave Ellen White the major health vision that pointed the way to improved health of body that has been a great blessing to the world.
If not accepted, advanced truth has a divisive rather than an strengthening effect upon the church. One of the main characteristics of the introduction of the health reform truths is the carefulness and caution with which it was introduced so as to prove a blessing and a strength to the church. The ten years between the first Review and Herald article entitled "Tobacco," in the latter part of 1853, referred to above, and the giving of the major health vision in 1863, is evidence of the Lord's timing for introducing this important truth. God's timing is important when introducing health reform truths to others. The church body needs to move and grow together in the love of God's advancing truth.
The 1863 Major Health Vision
In the home of an Adventist church member, Aaron Hilliard, at Otsego, Michigan, June 6, 1863, the great subject of health reform was opened before Ellen White in vision. A group of believers from Battle Creek, about 30 miles away, including James and Ellen White, had come to spend the weekend to support the meetings held by Elders R. J. Lawrence and M. E. Cornell. Elder James White was overworked, perplexed, depressed, and weak. That Friday evening as the group met in the Hilliard home to welcome the Sabbath, Ellen was asked to lead out in prayer. Starting to pray, she moved over closer to James, who was kneeling beside her, placed her hand on his shoulder and continued praying for him. While praying in this way for her husband, she received a vision that lasted about 45 minutes. The influence of heaven felt by all present was never to be forgotten.
This vision contained much instruction from God for the church and also for James and Ellen White concerning their physical welfare--Testimonies, 3:11-13. The major concept of the vision was to present the relationship between physical welfare and spiritual health, or holiness. James and Ellen White were given the responsibility of leading out in educating the people who were preparing for eternal life in regard to the reforms they should make in their daily living. The original document in Mrs. White's own handwriting, dated June 6, 1863, revealed how they felt. "It was a sacred duty to attend to our health, and arouse others to their duty ... to speak out against ... intemperance in working, in eating, in drinking, in drugging--and then point ... to God's great medicine: water, pure soft water, for diseases, for health, for cleanliness, for luxury. ... We should not be silent upon the subject of health, but should wake up minds to the subject."--Manuscript Releases, 5:105, 106.
Responding to the Vision
How did the Whites respond to the June 1863 vision that seemed an answer to Ellen's prayers for Elder White? They promptly instituted reforms in their own household and passed the light on to others, even though it was not easy. She declared, "I was astonished at the things shown me in vision. Many things came directly across my own ideas."--Selected Messages, 3:281.
For years Mrs. White had believed that she was dependent upon flesh meat for sustenance. She suffered from discomfort of the stomach and from dizziness, and frequently fainted. Because the use of flesh foods seemed to remove these distressing symptoms, she came to believe, that at least for her, flesh food was necessary. The vision changed her conviction. She said, "Since the Lord presented before me, in June, 1863, the subject of meat eating in relation to health, I have left the use of meat. ..."--Spiritual Gifts, 4:153.
Just how severe the battle was, and what it cost to persevere is indicated in one experience. She wrote, "I suffered keen hunger. I was a great meat eater. But when faint, I placed my arms across my stomach and said, 'I will not taste a morsel. I will eat simple food, or I will not eat at all.' Bread was distasteful to me . ... The first two or three meals, I could not eat. I said to my stomach, 'You may wait until you can eat bread.' In a little while I could eat bread, and graham bread too. This I could not eat before; but now it tastes good, and I have had no loss of appetite."--Testimonies for the Church, 2:371, 372.
In addition to her personal life changes, Mrs. White was faithful in her duty to tell others the light that was shown to her. In Spiritual Gifts, Vols. 3 and 4; in Appeal to Mothers; six numbers of How to Live; and in Testimonies for the Church, she wrote out the instruction received in the June 1863 vision. At every appropriate opportunity, in public and private speaking, Mrs. White shared the light that she had received about health reform.
James White's Health
In spite of the personal changes made in life habits, James White felt the burden and pressure of the work, and continued to drive himself with overwork until he had a stroke on the morning of August 16, 1865. For five weeks everything was done for him that could be done at their home in Battle Creek, but with no sign of improvement. It was then decided to take him to see Dr. Jackson, the physician- in-chief of a medical institution called "Our Home", at Dansville, New York. Elders J. N. Loughborough and Uriah Smith, who were also worn down by overwork, went along also. The Whites and Elder Loughborough stayed at Dansville for about three months treatment. Much was in harmony with the heavenly vision on health reform, but they saw some things contrary to what had been shown from heaven. Two points especially were not in harmony with what Ellen had seen in vision. The entertainment at Dansville was one point, and the other was the idea that complete and absolute rest was necessary for recovery. Mrs. White said, "... to sink down in aimless inactivity was to foster disease and to become the prey of despondency."--Life Sketches of Elder James White and Mrs. Ellen G. White (1888 edition) pp. 353, 354.
While Mrs. White was praying about taking her husband away from Dansville, seeking divine guidance as to what she should do, she had the second major vision on health reform on Christmas Eve, 1865.
"I was shown that our Sabbath-keeping people have been negligent in acting upon the light which God has given in regard to the health reform; that there is yet a great work before us; and that, as a people, we have been too backward to follow in God's opening providence, as He has chosen to lead us. ... While some feel deeply and act out their faith in the work, others remain indifferent and have scarcely taken the first step in reform."--Testimonies for the Church, 1:485, 486 (first published in January, 1867).
The church had just gone through the very difficult Civil War (1861-1865) of the United States. The General Conference Session had been hampered by the sickness of two of the three General Conference committee members. The great increase in the work expected at the end of the Civil War had not materialized. In view of these things, the General Conference Committee set apart four days as a season of fasting and prayer beginning Wednesday May 9, 1866, through the following Sabbath.
The church membership was invited to participate in prayer and fasting and special meetings on Sabbath asking God for a special blessing.
At the General Conference session which followed, the Lord moved Mrs. White to tell what He had shown her in Rochester, New York, four months earlier. She earnestly urged the believers to place a higher value on these health principles and to make greater advancements in the work of reform. Being connected with the third angel's message, all who professed this truth should adopt health reform for themselves. To climax her appeal, she advised that Seventh-day Adventists should have their own health institution, "for the benefit of the diseased and suffering among us."--See Testimonies, 1:466, 469-470, 492.
In response, the General Conference voted a resolution to adopt the light presented, and to come into line with health reform, both individually and as a body of believers. They adopted the reform lifestyle as "part of the work of God incumbent" on them. In the follow-through on these resolutions the Western Health Reform Institute was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, and a new sixteen-page monthly periodical, called The Health Reformer, was issued at the Institute.
That was just a small beginning of the Seventh-day Adventist health ministry which today includes a world-wide system of hospitals, medical schools, and health books and periodicals in many languages, including the well-known books by Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, Counsels on Health, and Counsels on Diet and Foods.
With all this progress and development in health reform, these disturbing questions remain: "Why are we still on this earth?" "Where are the holy people prepared for the coming of the Lord?" "Why has the Lord not come before now?" "Have we truly practiced the light on health reform so important for purifying God's people?"
However these questions may be answered, the gospel of health reform continues to be critical in preparing a people for Christ's coming. It promotes clearer minds in healthier bodies to discern between truth and error and to understand and complete God's mission for His people in His closing work. Now is the time to follow more closely the instructions and obligations of health reform, to honor Him and reflect His character.
"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Life Experiences of Ellen G. White
Ellen White in 1844 became perhaps the most important influence for the advent believers who later became the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her ministry as a messenger of God began tremblingly, when, at the tender age of seventeen, she received the first visions she was to share with others. Ellen was timid, in constant physical suffering, and it was feared she might die. She wondered how she could obey God and give His messages. But, she did! God protected, guided, continued sending her visions and testimonies, and blessed her with a long, rewarding life. Years after most of her early associates of the days of 1844 had fallen asleep in Christ, she was still speaking, writing, and traveling. Consider now some important events and trials in her life that mark her experience from birth to death and reveal how the Holy Spirit led in her life as God's messenger.
1827--November 26: Ellen and her twin sister, Elizabeth were born to God-fearing parents, Eunice and Robert Harmon, in Gorham, Maine.
1836--When nine years old and in the third grade, Ellen almost died after a classmate hit her on the nose with a stone. She would never return to formal schooling, though she once tried to at age twelve. She learned to make crowns for hats in her father's business and knitted stockings for 25 cents a pair.
1840--Ellen heard William Miller preach in Portland, Maine. That summer, she attended the Methodist camp meeting at Buxton, Maine, where she accepted salvation in Christ and joined the Methodist church on probation. She soon was earning money to buy Christian books and tracts to share her new-found faith.
1841--Ellen's heart was so weak she had to sit propped up in bed to work. She was troubled by the doctrine of an eternally burning hell. Her religious experience progressed from perplexity over the Methodist doctrine of justification and sanctification, to hunger and thirst for full salvation, to rejoicing over a renewed understanding of the plan of salvation, and testifying to other youth of her joy in Christ and hope for His soon coming.
1842--Ellen was baptized by immersion on June 26.
1843--Christ failed to come in the Spring as the Millerites expected. Later Ellen's family was disfellowshipped from the Methodist Church for their beliefs.
1844--Spring: The believers were again disappointed; but that August their hope renewed as the "Midnight Cry" went forth. The Bridegroom would return on the 7th day of the 10th month, October 22, 1844. Ellen also learned that man's soul is not immortal.
1827--November 26: Ellen and her twin sister, Elizabeth were born to God-fearing parents, Eunice and Robert Harmon, in Gorham, Maine.
1836--When nine years old and in the third grade, Ellen almost died after a classmate hit her on the nose with a stone. She would never return to formal schooling, though she once tried to at age twelve. She learned to make crowns for hats in her father's business and knitted stockings for 25 cents a pair.
1840--Ellen heard William Miller preach in Portland, Maine. That summer, she attended the Methodist camp meeting at Buxton, Maine, where she accepted salvation in Christ and joined the Methodist church on probation. She soon was earning money to buy Christian books and tracts to share her new-found faith.
1841-- Ellen's heart was so weak she had to sit propped up in bed to work. She was troubled by the doctrine of an eternally burning hell. Her religious experience progressed from perplexity over the Methodist doctrine of justification and sanctification, to hunger and thirst for full salvation, to rejoicing over a renewed understanding of the plan of salvation, and testifying to other youth of her joy in Christ and hope for His soon coming. 1842 Ellen was baptized by immersion on June 26. 1843 Christ failed to come in the Spring as the Millerites expected. Later Ellen's family was disfellowshipped from the Methodist Church for their beliefs. 1844 Spring: The believers were again disappointed; but that August their hope renewed as the "Midnight Cry" went forth. The Bridegroom would return on the 7th day of the 10th month, October 22, 1844. Ellen also learned that man's soul is not immortal.
1844--Fall, October 22--The Great Disappointment: Ellen, was sick with tuberculosis and hemorrhaging from the mouth, and nearly died. But in December, at Portland, Maine, she had her first vision regarding the travels of the advent people to the City of God. She was only seventeen.
1844-1845--Against great odds--soreness in lungs and throat; extreme fanaticism; dangerous doctrines; an injury to her side; being accused of practicing mesmerism; being questioned and doubted--Ellen prayed for and received healing, wisdom, and power to present the messages of encouragement to the advent believers. Ellen White told of meeting James White for the first time in February, 1845, in Orrington, Maine.
In Randolph, Massachusetts, Ellen held up a large family Bible during a four-hour vision.
1846--Ellen first learned the Sabbath truth from Joseph Bates, but did not believe it was important. She and James were married in August and began keeping the Bible Sabbath that Fall. By November, at age 19, she was pregnant with their first child and very sick. She was healed by prayer.
1847--Although pregnant and in poor health, Ellen continued traveling and preaching with James. Their first son, Henry Nichols, was born August 26. That was a poverty-stricken winter in which they suffered many trials. Henry became ill and was healed in answer to prayer. They decided to travel, and not allow baby Henry interfere with Ellen's ministry.
1848--In August, they entrusted Henry to Clarissa Bonfoey's care in Middletown, Connecticut. Ellen suffered from irritated throat and lungs, severe coughing, and a pimple that appeared and spread on her face, and did not heal for several years. By October, Ellen was pregnant again.
1849--In January, Ellen, five months pregnant, was in very poor health. By June, they moved to live with the Belden's in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. James Edson was born on July 28.
In November, Ellen gave her husband a message from God to begin the publishing work. They moved to Oswego, New York, where he began printing the Review and Herald.
1850--In a year marked with depression, Ellen had to leave her sons with other women to raise and cope with a diseased throat in July, and with James' and Edson's serious illnesses in August.
1850-1853--Ellen and James continued traveling, preaching, attending conferences and strengthening the brethren in spite of having to be separated often from their two sons and suffering from very poor health.
1853--In late November or early December, at 25 years of age, Ellen was pregnant again.
1854--That winter and early spring Ellen suffered from heart disease that made breathing difficult. A swelling on the eyelid seemed to be cancer, and she was paralyzed on the left side, her tongue and arms seriously affected. She was healed by prayer that spring. On August 29, William Clarence was born at Rochester, New York.
1855--Ellen sprained her ankle, and used crutches for six weeks.
1857--She suffered from a severe cough with some bloody discharge.
1858--While visiting at Jackson, Michigan, Ellen had a "shock of paralysis." In August, she was still very sick.
1859--In March, Ellen suffered much pain in the left shoulder and leg.
April 21 she wrote in her diary that she had been afflicted for years with heart disease and dropsy and how prayer was made for healing.
1860--In January, Ellen became pregnant at age 32 with her fourth child. John Herbert was born September 20, but died in the same year, on December 14. She suffered deeply from this loss, having severe pain in the heart and fainting.
1860-1863--Ellen continued working to encourage and build up the brethren.
1863--God gave Ellen her first extensive vision about health reform on June 6, in Otsego, Michigan, at a time when Ellen was weak, feeble, and subject to frequent fainting spells and James was depressed and weakened. Immediately they stopped eating flesh food and spices. On December 8, Henry died, at age sixteen.
1864--Ellen began eating two meals a day, breakfast at 7 a.m. and dinner at 1 p.m. She seldom suffered faint feelings and lost 25 pounds.
1865--Her first six articles on "Disease and Its Causes" were printed in How to Live. This same year, on August 16, James was stricken down with paralysis. She dedicated about eighteen months to his treatment and recovery.
1867--By September, Ellen had suffered four weeks with lung trouble, and was miraculously strengthened for service at that time and again in December. She and James preached in Michigan, Iowa, Maine, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
1868--In February, Ellen was subject to frequent fainting spells. Testimonies for the Church, Nos. 14-16 and Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 5 were published. Ellen made two trips to New York from Michigan.
1869--Ellen and James remained close to Battle Creek, making one trip on the Mississippi River. They took out $1,500 worth of stock in the Health Institute. The transcontinental railway was completed.
1870--The Whites attended camp meetings in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Vermont, Maine, Indiana, Kansas, and Missouri.
1871-1872--Ellen and James spent much time in Battle Creek.
1873--On August 12, the Whites visited Black Hawk, Colorado.
1874--They visited new territory this year, Oakland, California. But by August were back in Battle Creek.
1875--January, Ellen was in Battle Creek; in August, at the Vermont camp meeting; and in September, at the New York camp meeting.
1876--Another western trip was made. By May 12, James and Ellen were again in Oakland, California. That summer they were back East again, in time for the Michigan camp meeting.
1877--Again Ellen was in California, but was impressed to return to Battle Creek. That year she visited camp meetings in Indiana, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Michigan.
She addressed 5,000 members of the WCTU for 90 minutes in Battle Creek under a mammoth tent. Then, at nearly age 50, she suffered pain in the heart and nerves, but was healed instantly when speaking at camp meeting in Danvers, Massachusetts. Her health was poor, and she received treatment at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in August. By October, Ellen and James had returned to California where she visited Healdsburg, St. Helena, Vacaville, and Pacheco. James returned to Battle Creek for treatment at the Sanitarium, but Ellen remained in California.
1878--That winter and spring Ellen spent in California, with some heart trouble bothering her in the spring and early summer.
Beginning June 10 and through the early part of July, Ellen made a rough trip by ship from San Francisco to Oregon where she spoke to believers at a camp meeting at Salem, Oregon, and returned by ship again about July 10. Then she undertook a trip east with stopovers at Sacramento, California; Reno, Nevada; and Boulder City, Colorado, finally joining James and Willie at Walling's Mills, Colorado. They used that as a base for several working trips to Boulder City. They arrived in Battle Creek on August 23. They next visited Boston and Ballard Vale, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; South Lancaster, Massachusetts; and Brookfield, New York. In September, Mrs. White was again treated at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where, in October, she attended the General Conference. Finally, she and James traveled to Texas, stopping at Topeka and Richland, Kansas, and Dallas, Grand Prairie, Plano, and Denison, Texas.
1881--Ellen and James were stricken with malaria early in August and were treated at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, but James never recovered. He died August 6. By August 28, she had retired to Walling's Mills, Colorado to recuperate from her illness and the loss of her husband. She resumed writing in September and by October traveled to Oakland, California. She sent special testimonies to the December General Conference in session in Battle Creek.
1883--Ellen remained in California, preaching and writing until August, making her 17th crossing of the American plains.
1883-1884--Ellen traveled these two years between the east and west coasts. In Chicago she spoke at a temperance meeting December 7, 1884.
1885-1887--Ellen visited and encouraged the brethren in England, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and France. She visited the Waldensian countryside three times.
1888-1889--She resumed her traveling between the west and east coasts. At the famous Minneapolis, Minnesota, General Conference session, Ellen agreed to the importance and need of the message on righteousness by faith presented by E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones.
1890--Ellen wrote to leaders at Battle Creek of the dangers of centering their work in that city.
1891--November: Ellen, nearly 64-years-old, was sent by the General Conference brethren as a pioneer missionary to Australia, accompanied by G. B. Starr and her son, W. C. White. The education and health work began to advance there. She continued to send testimonies to the brethren in America.
1894--Due to direct counsel by Ellen White from the Lord, land for Avondale College was located and purchased at Cooranbong, Australia. She also raised much of the money to launch the project and was the guiding spirit behind its establishment. She made her home near the school from 1895 to 1900. By 1900, the enrollment at Avondale was 158, a third of which were in grades 1-8.
1900--73-year-old Ellen returned to the United States and settled at Elm's Haven, St. Helena, California.
1901-1902--Her counsels and testimonies covered a broad range of needs such as widening the administration at the General Conference level; organizing the work in the Southern States; opposing men with spiritualistic delusions; inspiring reformation; warning the manager of the Review and Herald Publishing House regarding publishing activities; encouraging simplicity in the education of the youth; carrying on wellequipped tent meetings in large cities; opposing centralization of the medical work; and upholding high Christian standards. In December, 1902, she warned that something decisive would happen soon regarding the concentration of the work in Battle Creek and the need of decisive action to follow God's counsels.
1903--This was year of the fires. Battle Creek Sanitarium and the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing House were destroyed by blazes declared unquenchable by the fire department. The sanitarium was rebuilt in Battle Creek.
1904--The publishing work moved Takoma Park, Maryland. Ellen lived in St. Helena. Her brain was clear, her digestion was good, she was eating two meals a day, and was in better health at age 76 than in her younger days.
1905--Ellen counseled J. A. Burden to obtain the property at Loma Linda for the medical work.
1906--The new Loma Linda Sanitarium was dedicated on April 15.
1907-1915--During these golden years, Ellen continued receiving and giving the counsels of the Lord to His people. Her last testimony, March 3, 1915, was for the youth. "Tell the young that they have had many spiritual advantages. God wants them to make earnest efforts to get the truth before the people."--Messages to Young People, Southern Publishing Association, 1930, p. 289.
About four month later, July 16, 1915, Ellen Gould White died quietly in the night. She was buried July 24 beside James White at Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek. Her life was a triumphant example of how God's power can work to His glory in even the weakest of vessels, if surrendered to Him.
Even today, the many and varied messages she wrote continue to prepare a people for the second coming of Christ. Just as she declared in Selected Messages, 1:55, "Abundant light has been given to our people in these last days. Whether or not my life is spared, my writings will constantly speak, and their work will go forward as long as time shall last. ... These words that have been given to me ... will still have life and will speak to the people."
Modern science agrees with the Messenger
by Philip Steinweg, MPH
Today the incidence of diabetes and cancer is increasing while the incidence of heart disease remains high. The United States is in a quandary as to how to solve the health care problem. The real solution lies in lifestyle changes, or preventive medicine. Ellen White's advice on health, given decades before medical science proved it to be valid, gave Seventh-day Adventists a lifestyle that decreases incidence of these diseases and strengthens the immune system.
1. About Tobacco Use
"Tobacco is a poison of the most deceitful and malignant kind, having an exciting, then a paralyzing influence upon the nerves of the body. It is all the more dangerous because its effects upon the system are so slow, and at first scarcely perceivable. Multitudes have fallen victims to its poisonous influence. They have surely murdered themselves by this slow poison."--Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 4:128, Temperance, p. 57, 1864.
About 480,000 persons die annually due to smoking.--Lifeline, Vol. 10, No. 4, October, 1995, p. 4. Some die from the effects of second-hand smoking or passive smoking which was only identified as important in the 1980's. One manifestation of higher risk for death due to second-hand smoking is SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Ellen White wrote of this in 1872.
"The infant lungs suffer, and become diseased by inhaling the atmosphere of a room poisoned by the tobacco user's tainted breath. ... By inhaling the poisonous tobacco effluvia, which is thrown from the lungs and pores of the skin, the system of the infant is filled with poison, while it acts upon some infants as a slow poison, and affects the brain, heart, liver, and lungs, and they waste away and fade gradually; upon others, it has a more direct influence, causing spasms, fits, paralysis, and sudden death."--Temperance, p. 58.
2. The Beneficial Effect of Sunlight
"Rooms that are not exposed to light and air become damp. ... The atmosphere in these rooms is poisonous, because it has not been purified by light and air."--Selected Messages, 2:462.
Some 80 years after Mrs. White's first statement on this point, Dr. Lawrence P. Garrod, professor of bacteriology at the University of London, performed studies on the effect of light on the TB bacteria in the dust of sickrooms. He reported that dust on the floor near the beds of patients suffering tuberculosis contained many of the bacteria. This was true of the dust under the bed and in every dark place in the room. But dust near the window and from the window sill contained none, even in rooms with a northern exposure, without direct sunlight. This was true even in winter, when the light had to penetrate through two layers of window glass. He concluded:
"Ordinary diffuse daylight, even on a cloudy day and even in winter in England, can be lethal to bacteria, and ... glass is no absolute bar to this effect."--British Medical J. 1:247, 1944.
3. Electrical Currents in the Brain
In 1869, Ellen White wrote, "Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind."--Testimonies, 2:347.
Sixty years later, Hans Berger, a German psychiatrist, published some strange little pictures consisting of nothing but wavy lines he claimed showed the electrical activity of the human brain. But no one took them seriously. For several years no one even bothered to repeat his experiments.
Now, 125 years after E.G.White mentioned electric currents, the study of Dr. Berger's little wavy lines has grown into a new field of science called "electroencephalography."
4. Health Benefits of this and Some Nutritional Advice
To conclude, consider what Paul Harvey wrote about Ellen G. White nearly 30 years ago--Eat Right: Live Longer, March, 1969, p. 47.
"Have you wondered if health care is worth it? ... There are 57,000 Adventists living in California. Recently the 'dead ones' were 'interviewed'.
"The State of California, the United States Public Health Service, and the Adventist Church, Pacific Union Conference, analyzed available death certificates of all Adventists who had died over a five-year period.
"98.8 percent of all such certificates were traceable. Judging from these records, Seventh-day Adventist have a life expectancy five to six years greater than other Californians.
"70 percent fewer Adventists die from all types of cancer, 68 percent fewer from respiratory diseases, 88 percent fewer from TB and 85 percent fewer from pulmonary emphysema. ...
"Adventists have 46 percent less strokes, 60 percent less heart disease. ...
"It has tended to reaffirm the faith of the faithful to discover that the most advanced scientific findings support what was written and taught by this amazing little lady, Ellen White, more than a hundred years ago.
"If future scientific findings continue to support hers, let's see what tomorrow's doctors will be prescribing:
"Ellen White advised against overeating, also against crash dieting. ('I advocate no extremes.')
"Whole-wheat bread, not white.
"Minimal sweets. ('Sugar is not good for the stomach')
"She recommends grains, vegetables, fruits--especially apples. ('Apples are superior to any fruit.')
"She advises against meat, coffee and tea. And, sorry, 'no hot biscuits'.
"If some of her recommendations sound extreme, imagine how they all must have sounded in 1863. Yet modern science continues more and more to say, 'She was right!'"--Paul Harvey News, March 1969.
The Messenger in Vision
A Supernatural Manifestation of the Power of the Holy Spirit
Comments by S.D.A. leaders
James White gave a comprehensive description of Ellen G. White in vision, in 1868, in Life Incidents in Connection With the Great Advent Movement, pp. 272, 273. "Her condition while in vision may be described as follows:
"1. She is utterly unconscious of everything transpiring around her, as has been proved by the most rigid tests. ...
"2. She does not breathe ... as has been proved repeatedly by pressing upon the chest and by closing the mouth and nostrils.
"3. ... Her movements and gestures... are free and graceful, and cannot be hindered nor controlled by the strongest person.
"4. On coming out of vision, whether in the day-time or a well-lighted room at night, all is total darkness. Her power to distinguish even the most brilliant objects, held within a few inches of the eyes, returns but gradually. ..."
George I. Butler, while president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, wrote about this subject in the Review & Herald, June 9, 1874, p. 201. While "Mrs. White is in this condition (vision)," a time varying from 15 minutes to 2½ hours, "the heart and pulse continue to beat, the eyes are always wide open, and seem to be gazing at some far-distant object, and are ... always directed upward. ... Her breathing entirely ceases, ... proved many times by ... putting a looking glass ... so close that any escape of the moisture of the breath would be detected."
Uriah Smith, in a Review & Herald Extra, December, 1887, p. 11, urgently counseled, "When a manifestation is given, and, being tested by the Scriptures, is found in the circumstances of its giving, its nature, and its tendency, to be a genuine operation of the Spirit, we would submit to any candid person ... it should be regarded ... as a divine message; it is 'a ray of light from the throne'; it is instruction by the Holy Spirit; and to resist it, knowingly, is to resist the Spirit, as did the Jews to whom Stephen said: 'Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye.' (Acts 7:51)"
F. D. Nichol spoke for us today when he wrote, "We thank God for the Bible, ... that guides our feet along the path of life. We thank Him also for the manifestation of the Spirit of prophecy in these last days, to enlighten our minds the better to understand that Book."--Ellen G. White and Her Critics, R & H Pub., 1951, p. 90.