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The Seventh-day
Adventist Church often claims that Ellen G.
White’s prophetic predictions failed because of the conditional nature of
prophecy. [1]
How did Ellen G.
White view her role as God’s messenger?
Ellen White claimed she only
wrote what God gave her.
“These books, giving the instruction that
the Lord has given me during the last sixty
years, contain light from heaven, and will
bear the test of investigation.” — Selected
Messages, Book 1, p. 35, 1906
“In these letters which I write, in the
testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you
that which the Lord has presented to me. I
do not write one article in the paper
expressing merely my own ideas. They are
what God has opened before me in vision—the
precious rays of light shining from the
throne.” — Testimonies for the Church 5, p.
67.
She said her work was
that of a prophet and more.
“My work includes much more than this name
signifies. I regard myself as a messenger,
entrusted by the Lord with messages for His
people.” — Letter 55, 1905, Selected
Messages, book 1, pp. 32, 35, 36.
“I am now instructed that I am not to be
hindered in my work by those who engage in
suppositions regarding its nature, whose
minds are struggling with so many intricate
problems connected with the supposed work of
a prophet. My commission embraces the work
of a prophet, but it does not end there. It
embraces much more than the minds of those
who have been sowing the seeds of unbelief
can comprehend.” — Letter 244, 1906.
Addressed to elders of the Battle Creek
church; See Selected Messages, book 1, pp.
34-36.
She said her writings
establish present truth.
“I
am thankful that the instruction contained
in my books establishes present truth for
this time. These books were written under
the demonstration of the Holy Spirit.” —
Letter 50, 1906.
She even
said her writings bears “the stamp of God or
the stamp of the enemy.”
“There is one straight chain of truth
without one heretical sentence in that which
I have written.” — Selected Messages Book 3,
p. 52.
“The Testimonies are of the
Spirit of God, or of the devil. In arraying
yourself against the servants of God you are
doing a work either for God or for the
devil.” — Testimonies for the Church 4, p.
230.
“God is either teaching His
church, reproving their wrongs and
strengthening their faith, or He is not.
This work is of God, or it is not. God does
nothing in partnership with Satan. My
work... bears the stamp of God or the stamp
of the enemy. There is no halfway work in
the matter. The Testimonies are of the
Spirit of God, or of the devil.” —
Testimonies for the Church 4, p. 230.
Ellen G. White claimed to be a
prophet and messenger but she clearly failed
as a prophet of God.
Some prophecies in the Old Testament were
conditional, but the conditional nature of
prophecy does not cover every type of prophecy. It
covers God’s dealings with kingdoms and
people groups in Old Testament times that
required a response from the people. The Mosaic Covenant had both
conditional blessings and curses to be
implemented depending on Israel’s
faithfulness to God’s commands.
Notice
the conditional nature of the Mosaic
Covenant:
Exodus 19:5-6
says, “Now therefore, if you will indeed
obey my voice and keep my covenant, you
shall be my treasured possession among all
peoples, for all the earth is mine; and
you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and
a holy nation. These are the words that you
shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Notice that God told Moses that “if”
Israel obeyed the covenant they would be His
chosen people, and His treasured possession.
The covenant had both blessings for obedience,
and curses for disobedience to be
implemented depending on Israel’s faithful
response to the covenant spelled out for
them in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-30.
Israel’s failure to keep the covenant would
bring the curses of the covenant upon them,
and it could ultimately bring the covenant
to an end.
Deuteronomy 28:1
says, “And if you faithfully obey the voice
of the LORD your God, being careful to do
all his commandments that I command you
today, the LORD your God will set you high
above all the nations of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 28:15
says, “But if you will not obey the voice of
the LORD your God or be careful to do all
his commandments and his statutes that I
command you today, then all these curses
shall come upon you and overtake you.”
God also gave
prophecies regarding the nations that
surrounded Israel as well. God declared that
if He prophesied against a nation, or a
people group and they repented, He would not
bring about their destruction as first
predicted.
Jeremiah 12:14-17
says, “Thus says the LORD concerning
all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage
that I have given my people Israel to
inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from
their land, and I will pluck up the house of
Judah from among them. And after I have
plucked them up, I will again have
compassion on them, and I will bring them
again each to his heritage and each to his
land. And it shall come to pass, if they
will diligently learn the ways of my people,
to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’
even as they taught my people to swear by
Baal, then they shall be built up in the
midst of my people. But if any nation will
not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up
and destroy it, declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 18:7-11 says, “If at any time I
declare concerning a nation or a kingdom,
that I will pluck up and break down and
destroy it, and if that nation, concerning
which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I
will relent of the disaster that I intended
to do to it. And if at any time I declare
concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will
build and plant it, and if it does evil in
my sight, not listening to my voice, then I
will relent of the good that I had intended
to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men
of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping
disaster against you and devising a plan
against you. Return, every one from his evil
way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’”
God used His
prophets to warn Israel repeatedly to return
to Him because He was planning to bring
disaster upon them for violating His
covenant.
Jeremiah 26:1-6
says, “In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
this word came from the LORD: “Thus says the
LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD’s
house, and speak to all the cities of Judah
that come to worship in the house of the
LORD all the words that I command you to
speak to them; do not hold back a word. It
may be they will listen, and every one turn
from his evil way, that I may relent of the
disaster that I intend to do to them because
of their evil deeds. You shall say to them,
‘Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen
to me, to walk in my law that I have set
before you, and to listen to the words of my
servants the prophets whom I send to you
urgently, though you have not listened, then
I will make this house like Shiloh, and I
will make this city a curse for all the
nations of the earth.’”
Deuteronomy 18:15-22 and Deuteronomy 13:1-5 give five
verifiable signs by which an Old Testament prophet of
God could be recognized:
-
A prophet must
be an Israelite (Deut. 18:15) Balaam
was
the exception that proves this rule;
-
They must speak in
the name of the Lord (Deut. 18:19);
-
They must be able
to predict the near as well as the
distant future (Deut. 18:22);
-
They must be able
to predict signs and wonders (Deut. 13:2); and;
-
Their words must
conform to God’s previous revelations
and not lead Israel to follow after
false gods (Deut. 13:2-3).
One main test was if
a prophet spoke a word or gave a prediction
about a soon to come event and it
failed, that prophet was to die!
Deuteronomy 18:22 says, “when a prophet speaks in the
name of the LORD, if the word does not come
to pass or come true, that is a word that
the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has
spoken it presumptuously. You need not be
afraid of him.”
And Deuteronomy 13:5
says, “But that prophet or that dreamer of
dreams shall be put to death, because he has
taught rebellion against the LORD your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and
redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to
make you leave the way in which the LORD
your God commanded you to walk. So you shall
purge the evil from your midst.”
Short term prophecies were an
undeniable test for the self-proclaimed prophets during
Old Testament times, just as they are today.
The
conditional nature of prophecy DOES NOT
COVER things like Ellen G. White’s false
prophecies regarding the “Shut Door” and the
date upon which Christ would return, neither
of which were conditional upon man’s
response. She made
many false prophecies about people, and future
events she claimed would come true in her
life time. She made false claims about the Civil
War, England invading the United States,
Jerusalem never being restored, the coming Sunday law, and
many more.
All of Ellen G. White’s
first prophecies regarding the “shut
door” failed miserably and were proven
to be false. She lied about her sources on
many occasions and she was afraid of being
sued for literary theft by some of the
authors she stole from (see “Was
Ellen G. White a Plagiarist?”).
Ellen G.
White’s prophetic claims failed regarding:
• A true prophet’s prophecies
must come true (Deut. 18:22).
• A
true prophet cannot have falsehoods in their
visions (Jer. 23:32).
• A true
prophet cannot steal their writings from
others (Jer. 23:25, 30).
• A true
prophet cannot contradict the Word of God
(Isa. 8:16-22).
In fact, Ellen G.
White failed every test the Bible gives to
determine if a prophet was truly from God, or not.
Ellen G. White shares the
same legacy that Joseph Smith, Mary Baker
Eddy, Charles T. Russell, Herbert W.
Armstrong, and David Koresh have; they were all false
prophets. If Ellen G. White lived in Israel during the
time of the Old Covenant she would have
been put to death for her failed
prophecies about things she said would
definitely happen in her own lifetime.
Did
Jonah’s prophecy to Nineveh fail?
Seventh-day Adventists often claim that
Jonah uttered a false prophecy when he
proclaimed, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will
be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). But, of course,
Nineveh repented of their evil and was
therefore not overthrown. They say this as a
clear example of a false prophecy in the
Bible.[2] Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons also
claim this unfulfilled prophecy provides
biblical precedent for the unfulfilled
predictions of their own religious leaders.
These arguments are false and are only used
to justify their failed prophecies.
When Jonah preached, something amazing
happened, the “people of Nineveh believed
God” and they repented (Jonah 3:5). The
Ninevites affirmed the truth of God’s words
and acted accordingly with true repentance
and belief. The repentance of the people was
so thorough that even the king himself
joined in repentance, calling for all of his
citizens and even the animals to repent as
well (Jonah 3:6-9).
When the Lord saw
the response of Nineveh to Jonah’s
preaching, He relented from the disaster He
had prophesied to come (Jonah 3:10; cf. Jer. 12:14-17; 18:7-11). God’s prophecies often
have implicit conditions built into them,
for He is willing to relent from destruction
when people respond to Him in faith (Jer. 18:1-11). Of course, given that the Lord
knows all things and has ordained whatsoever
to come to pass (Eph. 1:11), the repentance of
Nineveh did not take Him by surprise. He
knew that Nineveh would believe His word and
that its citizens would respond
appropriately. In fact, He announced
judgment through Jonah in order to put the
fear of God in their hearts and lead them to
repent so that He would not have to destroy
the city.
Jonah’s prophecy was not in
error, because implied in the prophecy was a
condition under which the predicted judgment
would not take place. Remember, God said,
“If at any time I declare concerning a
nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up
and break down and destroy it, and if that
nation, concerning which I have spoken,
turns from its evil, I will relent of the
disaster that I intended to do to it” (Jer. 18:7-8).
The Ninevites clearly
understood what Jonah meant — namely, that
their city would be overthrown unless they
repented (Jonah 3:5-9). Since God spared
Nineveh, obviously He meant the prophecy to
be understood that way (Jonah 3:10). Even
Jonah understood it that way since he
admitted in prayer that he knew God wanted
to show mercy to the Ninevites.
Jonah 4:1-2 says, “But it displeased Jonah
exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed
to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this
what I said when I was yet in my country?
That is why I made haste to flee to
Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious
God and merciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love, and relenting
from disaster.”
So, all of the parties involved,
God, the Ninevites, and Jonah understood
that the prophecy was conditional upon Nineveh’s response.
Seventh-day
Adventists have a diminished view of God’s
word. They are desperate to show that the
prophets in the Bible could be in error to
justify Ellen G. White’s failures and
false prophecies.
Seventh-day
Adventists would have us all believe that
every time Ellen G. White made a false
prediction about a coming event, or saw a
vision about matters of theology that were
later shown to be in error, those failures
were due to the conditional nature of
prophecy.
Remember, conditional
prophecies only covered God’s
dealings with kingdoms and people groups
that required a response from the people in
Old Testament times. Prophecies about
specific nations and people groups are not
part of the New Testament prophetic
utterances like they were when Israel was a
theocracy under the Old
Covenant.
The Christian world is
plagued by false prophets today, just as it was in the 1800s. All
of the so-called prophets from then, and now
have zero accountability. The Bible is very
clear that short term prophecies must be
fulfilled for a prophet to have any
credibility and
trustworthiness.
“In examining some of the predictions
made by Ellen White, it is evident she badly
failed this test. Most of Mrs. White’s
specific predictions were made early in her
career, and virtually every single one of
them failed to come to pass. The further she
progressed in life, the less predictions she
made, and if she did make a prediction, it
was usually something vague and ambiguous,
such as “crime will worsen,” “cities will be
more polluted,” or “the earth will become
more and more corrupt.” It appears that Mrs.
White learned from her early failures, and
was more careful in later predictions to
make them obscure and ambiguous enough so
that she could not be accused by her
detractors of making false predictions.”
[3]
When a Seventh-day Adventists tells you they
base their beliefs on the Bible alone they are either
lying to themselves, or deliberately
deceiving you. It has
to be one or the other. There is no middle
ground. To defend the doctrines of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church is to defend
the heretical teachings and false prophecies of their founder,
Ellen G. White.
Ellen G. White said,
“The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God,
or of the devil. In arraying yourself
against the servants of God you are doing a
work either for God or for the devil,” —
Testimonies for the Church 4, p. 230.
Those who claim to
be prophets like Ellen G. White are testable by the Word of God,
and the accuracy of their fulfillment.
The New Testament warns
that false prophets would be in the Church
and we are told to test the teachings of
the prophets by the Word of God. The strongest
warnings in scripture are against false
prophets and false teachers leading the
Christian Church away from the truth.
Mark 13:22 says,
“for false Christs and false prophets will
arise, and will show signs and wonders, in
order to lead astray, if possible, the
elect.”
1 John 4:1
says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see whether they are
from God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world.”
1 Corinthians 14:32 says, “and the
spirits of prophets are subject to
prophets;”
1 Timothy 4:1-5
says, “But the Spirit explicitly says that
in later times some will fall away from the
faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits
and doctrines of demons, by means of the
hypocrisy of liars seared in their own
conscience as with a branding iron, men who
forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from
foods which God has created to be gratefully
shared in by those who believe and know the
truth. For everything created by God is
good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is
received with gratitude; for it is
sanctified by means of the word of God and
prayer.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 says,
“But realize this, that in the last days
difficult times will come. For men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, unholy, unloving,
irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without
self-control, brutal, haters of good,
treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding
to a form of godliness, although they have
denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
2 Peter 2:1-3 says,
“But false prophets also arose among the
people, just as there will also be false
teachers among you, who will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying
the Master who bought them, bringing swift
destruction upon themselves. Many will
follow their sensuality, and because of them
the way of the truth will be maligned; and
in their greed they will exploit you with
false words; their judgment from long ago is
not idle, and their destruction is not
asleep.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says,
“For
such people are false apostles, deceitful
workers, disguising themselves as apostles
of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants
also disguise themselves as servants of
righteousness. Their end will be according
to their works.” (CSB)
If everything
Ellen G. White said was subject to
conditionality, then nothing she said is
worth listening to. Why follow a prophet if they never speak the truth, or
can’t get their predictions right?
Anyone can say they are a prophet or a
visionary. What matters is if, what that
prophet says is actually from God, or simply the
arrogant and vain imaginations of their own
minds.
Who do you choose to
follow, Jesus Christ, or Ellen G. White? Do
you believe the Bible, or the writings and
teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church?
Pointing out the
false teachings of Ellen G. White and the
Seventh-day Adventist Church is not being hateful.
We all have to answer to God.
Ellen G. White was a
fraud who had no reliability or
trustworthiness in anything she ever said or
did. Seventh-day Adventism, with its
allegiance to and acceptance of Ellen G.
White as their prophet, is a
cultic religion
based on fear and intimidation. Honest
people must decide at some point whether or
not to support a church system that promotes
a
false prophet who taught
heretical and
legalistic religious beliefs.
There are many good
Seventh-day Adventists who are truly
converted, grace-oriented Christians who are
just really confused about certain
theological issues. I do not think that all
Seventh-day Adventists are unconverted and
lost, or that they are all legalists
(because there are legalists in every
denomination), although many of them are.
What I do believe is that Seventh-day
Adventism as a system is based on the false
teachings of Ellen G. White which in turn
has led their church into doctrinal errors
that they will never overcome.
Seventh-day
Adventists are absolutely right when they
say it is time to come out of Babylon (Revelation 18:4).
They need to listen to the Bible.
1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not
believe every spirit, but test the spirits
to see whether they are from God, for many
false prophets have gone out into the
world.”
Seventh-day Adventists need to be very
careful that they don’t lead another person into
a false religious system. People’s lives are
at stake.
References:
1. see:
Believe His Prophets,
Ellen G. White and the Gift of Prophecy: The
Test of a Prophet &
The Conditional Nature of Bible Prophecy by
Adventist Today.
2. see: T. Housel
Jemison, “A Prophet among You” (Oakland, CA:
Pacific Press, 1955), page 108; Denton E.
Rebok, “Four Bible Tests of the True
Prophet,” in Believe His Prophets
(Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1956),
page 90.
3. see:
Does Mrs. White Pass the Biblical Tests of
a Prophet?
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