Growing up an Adventist and obtaining an Adventist education, I’ve always understood that Seventh-day Adventists were known as the people of the Book, referring to God’s Word, the Bible.
In my devotional time and as I’ve studied the basis for our faith and reliance on Jesus for our salvation I’ve wondered, are Adventists still people of the Book? Were we ever, truly, people of the Book? And more importantly, what does it mean and how do we conduct ourselves IF we are of the Book?
A Brief Historical View
For those new to Adventism, our church was legally incorporated in 1863. However the genesis of our doctrinal beliefs occurred as an outgrowth of the aftermath of the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844. A great number of people, likely the vast majority of these, were truly looking forward to Jesus’ return. Hundreds of thousands were convicted that the Bible was truly God’s Word and His instruction to those He created in His own image.
Some accounts estimated that of the seventeen million people living in the United States at the time, approximated one million had prepared and were watching for Jesus to come that fateful day. I say fateful even though it was a wonderful day because an estimated one percent decided that they had made a mistake in understanding and redoubled their efforts by poring over and comparing Scripture, many becoming the founders of the truths and doctrines we as Seventh-day Adventists subscribe to as members. The other ninety-nine percent? Regrettably, most returned to their former churches, in effect rejecting additional light.
The origins of these heartfelt convictions were from the prayerful study of the Bible. God’s messenger, Ellen White, writes in the Great Controversy:
“In the year 1840, another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman empire, and specifying not only the year but the very day on which this would take place. According to this exposition, which was purely a matter of calculation on the prophetic periods of Scripture, the Turkish government would surrender its independence on the eleventh day of August, 1840. The prediction was widely published, and thousands watched the course of events with eager interest.” {GC88 334.4}
(It should be noted that there are many who no longer believe in the veracity of this statement identifying the fulfillment of Revelation 9:15. Further, the boldness of illuminating unfulfilled prophetic events as Litch did seems to have fallen out of favor in our age for fear of political incorrectness and lack of faith in the prophets.)
In the closing years of her life, she [EGW] laments:
“Now where are the people that will be ready to go out into the city and establish places? That is the way we did in 1842, 1843, and 1844. That is the way we did to warn the people. And the ministers would stand in the desk, and they would preach the Word there with such power, of the coming of the Son of man. The leading men, Himes, Miller, and Litch, and others.”
Where indeed! As I am writing 110 years after this statement, where are the “leading men” that speak with “such power of the coming of the Son of man?” Yes, we have a number of independent ministries that do this outside the structure and corporation of the world church that jealously guards the name and tithes & offerings. What about those within and on traditional church payroll? Are we hearing the imminent return of Jesus from our pulpits in the world today? If we truly love our family, neighbors, and co-workers, shouldn’t we warn them of a cataclysmic economic crash and then point them to the One and only path to eternal life? Why or why not?
God’s Messenger
There is a treasure of stories, visions, and illuminations of Bible characters captured in the book, Early Writings. Those who have read this book have no doubt of Ellen White’s authenticity as a true prophet of God. Yet, soon after these clear leadings of the Holy Spirit, there occurred a certain relaxation of devoted and prayerful study of the Bible. On April 30, 1871 she was given a vivid dream recorded in Volume 2 of Testimonies for the Church on pages 604-609. Here are a few excerpts:
“I dreamed that the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and I arose amid cries and prayers, and said: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. I feel urged to say to you that you must commence to work individually for yourselves. You are looking to God and desiring Him to do the work for you which He has left for you to do. If you will do the work for yourselves which you know that you ought to do, then God will help you when you need help. You have left undone the very things which God has left for you to do. You have been calling upon God to do your work. Had you followed the light which He has given you, then He would cause more light to shine upon you; but while you neglect the counsels, warnings, and reproofs that have been given, how can you expect God to give you more light and blessings to neglect and despise? God is not as man; He will not be trifled with.” Emphasis added.
She continues describing her actions within the dream:
“I took the precious Bible and surrounded it with the several Testimonies for the Church, given for the people of God. Here, said I, the cases of nearly all are met. The sins they are to shun are pointed out. The counsel that they desire can be found here, given for other cases situated similarly to themselves. God has been pleased to give you line upon line and precept upon precept. But there are not many of you that really know what is contained in the Testimonies. You are not familiar with the Scriptures. If you had made God’s word your study, with a desire to reach the Bible standard and attain to Christian perfection, you would not have needed the Testimonies. It is because you have neglected to acquaint yourselves with God’s inspired Book that He has sought to reach you by simple, direct testimonies, calling your attention to the words of inspiration which you had neglected to obey, and urging you to fashion your lives in accordance with its pure and elevated teachings.” Emphasis in original text.
How is it, when many of the Church founders were still living, that a general malaise had come over the church? In the above quote White references Isaiah 28:10, 13 but says, “You are not familiar with the Scriptures.” Really!? Then she points out the “neglect” of God’s Word as well as the subsequent neglect of the Testimonies that were given because of their failure to obey the Testimonies. If that didn’t get their attention, the following should have:
“The Lord designs to warn you, to reprove, to counsel, through the testimonies given, and to impress your minds with the importance of the truth of His word. The written testimonies are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed. Man’s duty to God and to his fellow man has been distinctly specified in God’s word; yet but few of you are obedient to the light given. Additional truth is not brought out; but God has through the Testimonies simplified the great truths already given and in His own chosen way brought them before the people to awaken and impress the mind with them, that all may be left without excuse.”
“The very essential principles of godliness are not understood because there is not a hungering and thirsting for Bible knowledge, purity of heart, and holiness of life. The Testimonies are not to belittle the word of God, but to exalt it and attract minds to it, that the beautiful simplicity of truth may impress all.” Emphasis added.
Then, in case there was any doubt or question about of whom this counsel originated from, what follows instills a healthy shiver.
“I am authorized from God to tell you that not another ray of light through the Testimonies will shine upon your pathway until you make a practical use of the light already given. The Lord has walled you about with light; but you have not appreciated the light; you have trampled upon it. While some have despised the light, others have neglected it, or followed it but indifferently. A few have set their hearts to obey the light which God has been pleased to give them.” Emphasis added.
Did Seventh-day Adventists heed the counsel from this vivid dream in 1871? Did the leaders, at the very least, incorporate the principles given of God into their administrative and editorial roles?
Ron Duffield answers this question for some of the most prominent leaders in his 2014 book, “The Return of the Latter Rain,” as both G. I. Butler, President, and Uriah Smith, through his position as editor of the Review actively sought to suppress the light shining through A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner through deliberate deceptions and numerous attempts to organize committee meetings to their predetermined outcomes.
To make matters worse, Butler held Ellen White in contempt by blaming a lengthy illness on her! Could it be that many of the delegates and particularly the officers of the General Conference had neglected both Bible study and following all the light provided through the Testimonies that the debacle in 1888 at Minneapolis occurred?
This history is very important. Until our leaders humbly acknowledge our failures to emphasis all the light and take action to correct sins that are on public display, our church is doomed to repeat past failures. We are in grave danger of subscribing to the popular errors of spiritualizing plain, “thus saith the LORD God” statements, assigning politically unpopular truths to current “cultural” norms, as well as “cherry picking” smooth statements out of proper context and emphasizing a “peace and safety” gospel. There is a willful ignorance or downright rejection of many lifestyle counsels in the Bible as God illuminated through Ellen White.
Might we conclude that the Testimonies for the Church (Volumes 1-9 with about 4,800 pages) contain important information for the final generation? As He communicated through the prophets, God was unable to allow His chosen people to continue to represent Him to the world in Daniel’s day. Could that experience be partly repeated? Part two of this article will attempt to identify light that we need to “make a practical use of” going forward. Why? Because we desire more light and if God shared it through His prophets, it IS salvational for the final generation to receive the seal of His character.
“In heaven there is perfect order, perfect obedience, perfect peace and harmony. Those who have had no respect for order or discipline in this life would have no respect for the order which is observed in heaven. They can never be admitted into heaven, for all worthy of an entrance there will love order and respect discipline. The characters formed in this life will determine the future destiny. When Christ shall come, He will not change the character of any individual. Precious, probationary time is given to be improved in washing our robes of character and making them white in the blood of the Lamb.”{4T 429.2}
May our dear Saviour prepare each one for His sealing stamp on our foreheads!
Mark writes from Emmett, Idaho.