Introduction—The Prophetic Gift and Ellen G. White
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give great light and encouragement. These are books that help to
make Seventh-day Adventists “the children of light” and “children of
the day.” We see in this experience the fulfillment of the assurance:
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants the prophets.”
Amos 3:7
.
Writing of how the light came to her, Mrs. White says: “Through
the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the long-continued
conflict between good and evil have been opened to the writer of these
pages. From time to time I have been permitted to behold the working,
in different ages, of the Great Controversy between Christ, the Prince
of Life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of evil, the
author of sin, the first transgressor of God’s holy law.... “As the Spirit
of God has opened to my mind the great truths of His word, and the
scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make known
to others that which has thus been revealed—to trace the history of the
controversy in past ages, and especially so to present it as to shed a
light on the fast-approaching struggle of the future.”
How the Light Came to the Prophet
At one time in the experience of the children of Israel, as we have
already seen, the Lord told the people how he would communicate
with them through the prophets. He said: “If there be a prophet among
you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will
speak unto him in a dream.”
Numbers 12:6
.
We stated above that the 1858 Great Controversy vision was ac-
companied by certain physical phenomena. One might very logically
ask why visions were given in this way. Undoubtedly it was to estab-
lish the confidence of the people and to assure them that the Lord was
truly speaking to the prophet. Not often did Mrs. White refer in detail
to her condition while in vision, but on one occasion she said, “These
messages were thus given to substantiate the faith of all, that in these
last days we might have confidence in the spirit of prophecy.”
As Mrs. White’s work developed, it could be tested by its results.
“By their fruits ye shall know them.” But it takes time for fruit to
develop, and the Lord at the outset gave evidences in connection with
the giving of the visions, which helped the people to believe.