One day, about eleven years ago, a dear friend of my wife’s gave her several boxes of old books belonging to the friend’s mother, who had recently died. Included among them were some real treasures, but there was one book in particular that really caught my wife’s eye.
‘Ellen G. White, Prophet of the Last Days’, compiled and edited by Ronald E. Ruskjer, was published in 1974 by Pacific Press Publishing Association.
Ruskjer was attending Andrews University, majoring in theology and history. While there, he felt a need for a more thorough understanding of divine instruction. So, he sat down with the writings of Ellen G. White and worked out a system whereby he could become more comfortably acquainted with God’s messages as they have come to His children through His servant. Ruskjer found that other students also were interested in such a systematic study. The student newspaper came out with a special E.G. White edition which, due to its success, lead to the publishing of the material in book format.
The book intends to acquaint the reader with Ellen G. White’s writings and to outline a program whereby one can cover all of her fundamental books in four years by reading six pages in the morning and another six pages in the evening. The book includes a systematic reading guide of thirty-nine of her books (Selected Messages volumes one and two are included, but not volume three. As volume three was published six years after ‘Ellen G. White, Prophet of the Last Days’, no doubt it would have been added as well).
Only a few compilations have been included in the reading plan, which consists of the following titles in alphabetical order:
The Acts of the Apostles
The Adventist Home
Child Guidance
Colporteur Ministry
Christ’s Object Lessons
Confrontation
Counsels on Stewardship
Counsels on Sabbath School Work
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
The Desire of Ages
Education
Evangelism
Early Writings
The Great Controversy
Gospel Workers
Life Sketches
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing
The Ministry of Healing
Medical Ministry
Messages to Young People
Patriarchs and Prophets
Prophets and Kings
Steps to Christ
The Sanctified Life
Selected Messages, Books 1 and 2
The Southern Work
Testimonies to the Church, Volumes 1-9
Temperance
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers
Welfare Ministry
‘Ellen G. White, Prophet of the Last Days’ also includes more than twenty articles on the enduring value of the Spirit of Prophecy, written by such familiar names as H.M.S. Richards, Sr., Kenneth Wood, George Vandeman, Rene Noorbergen, J.R. Spangler, Grace White Jacques (a granddaughter of Ellen White), and two by Ruskjer himself.
In his article, ‘Mission: Impossible?’ Ruskjer offers the following insights into what impressed him to put together this systematic reading plan:
“I have wished many times that I was aware of Ellen White’s point of view. Through her, God has taken the time to say a lot to me. The least I can do is hear Him out. His messages given through Ellen G. White give me practical, useful, and vital truths… But the very possibility of ever reading all of her writings seemed so remote to me that I rarely gave the idea serious consideration. After all, she wrote over 100,000 pages by hand! And even though print compresses these to 30,000, reading them all still seems like an impossible mission.
“How can I get the essentials of those 30,000 pages?” I asked myself. The obvious answer – read them! But I just don’t have that kind of time. Well then, why not try to cut out the repetitious material as much as possible? After doing that I was left with 17,000 pages, only a little over half of the original amount!
“Once the mathematics were worked out, I could see the end. I placed the basic books at the head of the list in order to get first things first. The books are placed in a sequence which lends itself to a pleasing variety and change in the subject matter from week to week.
“If you’ve had the idea that it is impossible to tackle that great big stack of ‘red books’, stop right here – and pray for aid from the heavenly Intelligence. With a plan in hand you can get comfortably acquainted. You can have God’s truths living in your heart, rather than sitting on your shelf. Because with God no mission is impossible.”
James Hayward, in his article ‘Pictures of Jesus,’ refers to the Spirit of Prophecy as “photograph albums… filled with the most colorful pictures of Jesus.” Leo Van Dolson, in his article ‘Stop Cheating Your Health and Happiness,’ writes “Most people are not living life at its best because they’re not taking full advantage of the resources available to them right where they are.”
Richard Hammill, in his article ‘Nothing Else Has Such Good Effect for Good,’ observes that “In the Bible and in the writings of Ellen White, God has given us the help we need to have a balanced growth in our Christian and educational development. These are incomparable aids to the genuine Christian; however, they cannot help us unless we regularly read them.”
Hedwig Jemison, in her article ‘Ellen White Points to Christ, Our Only Hope’:
“Never any words of bitterness appear in her writings although pain often racked her body; never any words of complaint when the brethren of the church did not fully understand her mission; never any resentment when poverty and illness stalked her activities. The messenger of the Lord spoke of God’s great love, and her writings bring hope and courage to us.”
After reading all these insights and more, I eagerly decided that this was to be the year when I would enter into this systematic reading plan. My wife and I love books, actual books, and with one exception we have hard cover versions of all the titles on this reading list (when we get to ‘The Southern Work’, we may actually have to read that one on our phone app. The horror!).
My wife, having begun her systematic reading several years ago, is currently on her 26th book; I’m reading book number six in the morning and book number seven in the evening. Thus far the blessings have been threefold:
Re-reading Old Favorites
Steps to Christ, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, Patriarchs and Prophets
Like many, I’ve read Steps to Christ multiple times, and Mount of Blessing is one of my all-time favorite books. But re-reading Patriarchs and Prophets, I was particularly struck by the chapter entitled ‘The Journey Around Edom,’ with its description of the death of Aaron.
“The forms of Moses and Eleazar were at last discerned, slowly descending the mountainside, but Aaron was not with them. Upon Eleazar were the sacerdotal garments, showing that he had succeeded his father in the sacred office. As the people with heavy hearts gathered about their leader, Moses told them that Aaron had died in his arms upon Mount Hor, and that they there buried him. The congregation broke forth in mourning and lamentation, for they all loved Aaron, though they had so often caused him sorrow.” Devastating.
Completing Books That I’d Only Partially Read
Christ’s Object Lessons
I’ll admit, this is not my favorite SOP book, but reading it straight through was a blessing. The chapter on the Prodigal Son, in particular, was both heartbreaking and triumphant.
“Arise and go to your Father. He will meet you a great way off. If you take even one step toward Him in repentance, He will hasten to enfold you in His arms of infinite love. His ear is open to the cry of the contrite soul. The very first reaching out of the heart after God is known to Him. Never a prayer is offered, however faltering, never a tear is shed, however secret, never a sincere desire after God is cherished, however feeble, but the Spirit of God goes forth to meet it. Even before the prayer is uttered or the yearning of the heart made known, grace from Christ goes forth to meet the grace that is working upon the human soul.” (Page 206)
Reading Books For The First Time
Early Writings
Even I was surprised I hadn’t read this book. This passage on page 155 was a great surprise to me: "After the baptism of Jesus in Jordan, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. The Holy Spirit had prepared Him for that special scene of fierce temptations. Forty days He was tempted of Satan, and in those days He ate nothing.” I had always believed that Jesus was only tempted after the forty days, not during.
An Humble Appeal
So, I’m on the four-year program and loving it! Of course, this systematic reading plan does not include all of the magazine articles, pamphlets, and letters Ellen White wrote, nor her printed sermons. Truly, God has a whole lot to say to His end-time people!
‘Ellen G. White, Prophet of the Last Days’ is long-since out of print. You can sometimes find copies on E-bay or Amazon, but it’s very rare. Yes, anyone can put together their own reading plan of her writings. However, as the task will no doubt prove daunting to most, I believe that having a copy of this special resource would be much appreciated. After all, Ruskjer has already done all the work for us.
Perhaps, if Pacific Press, or someone else, gets a sense of the interest such a volume might have, they would update and reprint it (I might add Mind, Character, and Personality, Volumes 1 and 2 to the reading plan).
Perhaps, we can start a petition…
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:5-7)
Richard Cecere and his lovely wife, Leslie, volunteer at Uchee Pines Institute in Seale, Alabama. He is an elder of the Phenix City SDA Church, and enjoys reading, teaching, and being married, not necessarily in that order.