Introduction—The Prophetic Gift and Ellen G. White
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work is described by Hosea in its broader sense, “By a prophet the
Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.”
Hosea 12:13
.
A prophet is not one who is appointed by his fellow men, nor is he
self-appointed. The choice of a person to be a prophet is entirely in
the hands of God. Both men and women have from time to time been
chosen by God to speak for him. These prophets, these men and women
[10]
chosen of God as channels of communication, have spoken and written
what God has revealed to them in holy vision. The precious word of
God comprises these messages. Through these prophets members of
the human family have been led to an understanding of the conflict
that goes on for the souls of men, the conflict between Christ and his
angels and Satan and his angels. We are led to an understanding of
this conflict in earth’s closing days, and of the means provided by God
to care for his work and to perfect the characters of his people.
The apostles, the last of the Bible writers, gave us a clear picture
of the events of the last days. Paul wrote of “perilous times,” and
Peter warned of scoffers, walking after their own lusts, asking, “where
is the promise of his coming?” The church at this time will be in
conflict, for John saw Satan as he “went to make war with the remnant.”
The apostle John identifies the members of the last-day church, “the
remnant church,” as those “which keep the commandments of God,”
Revelation 12:17
, thus making them a commandment-keeping church.
This remnant church would also have “the testimony of Jesus,” which
is “the spirit of prophecy.”
Revelation 19:10
. Paul states that the church
that is expectantly waiting for the coming of Christ would come behind
in no gift.
1 Corinthians 1:7, 8
. It would be blessed with the gift of the
testimony of Christ.
It is clear, then, that in God’s plan the church of the last days would,
when it came into being, have in its midst the spirit of prophecy. How
reasonable it is that God should speak to his people in earth’s last days
just as he spoke to his people in time of special need in centuries past.
When this church of prophecy—the Seventh-day Adventist
church—came into being in the mid-1800s, a voice was heard among
us, saying, “God has shown me in holy vision.” These were not boast-
ing words, but the utterance of a maiden of seventeen years who had
been called to speak for God. Through seventy years of faithful min-
istry that voice was heard, guiding, correcting, instructing. And that