The Spirit of Prophecy

No mortal human has ever possessed the ability to foretell the future or to reveal divine secrets. Only God knows the future. But by the gift of prophecy He has chosen to reveal information through dreams and visions to His prophets who, under His direction, convey the messages to those for whom they are intended. “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.

In every particular, the life and ministry of Ellen G. White fits the Biblical description of a prophet (see Faith Point 27 – Spiritual Gifts; and Faith Point 29 – Testing the Gifts). She was nothing but an ordinary person. She referred to herself as the weakest of the weak. A serious childhood injury robbed her of much of her natural vigor. She was not naturally gifted with great insight or talent, and claimed no greatness for herself. She was just the type of person God needed, that the power would clearly be seen to be of God and not of man.

The information found in her writings is best explained in the words of Paul: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” Galatians 1:11, 12, 15, 16.

Through Ellen White, God gave His people messages of encouragement, of reproof, and of guidance. Instruction was given on subjects as diverse as agriculture, astronomy, physiology, nutrition, history, education, marriage, child training, evangelism, theology, administration, finance, temperance, publishing, recreation, dress, mental health, and coming events. She spoke authoritatively in every subject upon which she touched. Thus by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has led the world in the fields of health care, Christian education, international relief work, and in taking the gospel to all parts of the world.

Mrs. White had less than three years of formal schooling, yet she accurately recorded information in the 1800s that is at the cutting edge of scientific research today.

In 1959, Florence Stratemeyer, professor of Education at Columbia University in New York, stated, “Recently the book Education by Ellen G. White has been brought to my attention. Written at the turn of the century, this volume was more than fifty years ahead of its times.”

Dr. Clive McCay, professor of nutrition at Cornell University, stated regarding Mrs. White’s books Counsels on Diet and Foods and The Ministry of Healing, “In spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. White were written long before the advent of modern scientific nutrition, no better overall guide is available today.”

The most advanced medical studies now attest to the accuracy of the scientific information revealed to this humble woman more than a century and a half ago. The United States government has now spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to find out why Seventh-day Adventists live longer than any other group of people in America. News commentator Paul Harvey observed, “Combine all causes of death, and Seventh-day Adventists have death rates 50 percent lower than that of the general United States population.”

What was the source of that advance knowledge, which the world is just now discovering? Inspired revelations from the Spirit of God given to His church through the gift of prophecy as foretold in Revelation 12:17.

Ellen White’s writings have been translated into more languages than have those of any other American non-fiction author. Her book, Steps to Christ, has been printed in more than 150 languages.

When you study the counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy, their divine origin is apparent. In strictness of adherence to the word of God, in accuracy of fulfilled predictions, in the high quality of the fruit of her life, in the timeliness of her messages, in the high spiritual plane of her counsel, Mrs. White’s work bears the mark of God.

“Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.” 2 Chronicles 20:20