March 14, 1852, Ballston, New York 1EGWLM 322.1
“Extracts From Sister White's Vision at the General Conference in Ballston, New York.”1 The Ballston conference, held March 12-15, 1852, is best known for the decision made to move the publication of the Review from Saratoga Springs to Rochester, New York. Ms 2, 1852, is a third-party account of Ellen White's vision, of which a parallel copy is dated March 18 (see notes on Ms 1, 1852 [Mar. 18]). It is in two parts. The first, in quotation marks, records her purported utterances while in vision, and the second contains certain explanations she made after coming out of vision. The identity of the third-party recorder is not known. Caution needs to be exercised in reading and interpreting this text. In addition to being written by a third person and thereby increasing the potential for inaccuracies, the intermittent, discontinuous character of Ellen White's utterances while in vision means that there is often insufficient context available to make the meaning of individual statements clear or to understand the overall structure of the vision. The same caution should be applied to the brief summary of Ellen White's “explanations” found in the second part of the manuscript. The brevity of these comments clouds their meaning. See: “The Conference,” Review, Mar. 23, 1852, p. 108.
Previously unpublished. 1EGWLM 322.3
Preparing for earth's final events. Utterances while in vision and explanations given after coming out of vision. 1EGWLM 322.4
“If the sins do not go beforehand to judgment, they will never go. Thy people (repeated four times) not ready (three times). In that time one sin uncovered will crush the soul. Heaven will give no answer. That time will try men's souls. Confusion will take place and their desire will not be accomplished.2 For comment on these opening statements, see notes on the “explanations” in the second part of the manuscript. See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Time of Trouble.” See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Seal of God.”
“Look ye! Light all the way that is given must be acted upon. If that light is rejected, then stupidity will increase. Look ye! The ark of God can abide. The Most Holy is above the ark. Why cannot that ark abide there?5 An allusion to the ark of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary, a symbol of God's presence in the camp of the Israelites. Compare the language used here with the following passage in a document written two years later: “A death-like stupor has hung upon the people of God. The reason is, the ark is not with them, for the holy commandments have been broken, and God has taken it away in His anger” (Ms 1, 1854 [Feb. 12]). For a sense of Ellen White's use of “His stately steppings,” compare with the following passage: “The Lord walks among men by His providences; but His stately steppings are not heard, His presence is not discerned, His hand is not recognized.” See: Ellen G. White, “Meetings at South Lancaster, Mass.,” Review, Mar. 5, 1889, p. 146.
“The sword cannot touch them. Can ye not see that prayers are going up from that company? His ear is heavy.7 “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isa. 59:1). “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zech. 13:1). See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Seal of God,” “Time of Trouble.”
After she came out of vision some things were more fully explained. Respecting that time [which] will try men's souls, confusion will take place and their desire will not be accomplished. 1EGWLM 323.2
That desire was with the people to dethrone their kings, but it would not be accomplished, for kings would reign until Christ begins to reign. Said she, I saw away off there in Europe just as things were moving to accomplish their desires, there would appear to be a slacking up once or twice. This would serve to harden the hearts of the wicked, but the work would not settle down, only appear to; for the minds of the rulers were as intent in sustaining themselves, as were the minds of the people to get the ascendancy.10 Adventist pioneer ministers disagreed on how this passage should be understood. This is not surprising, given its intermittent and almost cryptic character. J. N. Loughborough wrote in 1916 that Ellen White was referring in part to the revolutions that swept through central Europe in 1848 but that died down within a short space of time. “There was,” he wrote, “one slacking up after the revolution of 1848. In the present war, beginning in 1914, is manifest on a still larger scale the determination to overthrow kings and rulers. … The testimony seems to indicate a second slacking up before the final conflict of the nations shall come.” Alonzo T. Jones, on the other hand, speaking before the General Conference session in 1893, interpreted these statements in terms of future persecution by state-church alliances in Europe and America. See: J. N. Loughborough, Questions on the Sealing Message (1916), p. 12, as in Words of the Pioneers; A. T. Jones, “The Third Angel's Message—No. 24,” General Conference Daily Bulletin, Mar. 26, 1893, p. 518. Based on 1 Timothy 5:24: “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” The reading given this text here is that those who confess their sins now will be clear in the coming judgment while the unrepentant will then face their unconfessed sins. “I warn all who profess the name of Christ to closely examine themselves and make full and thorough confession of all their wrongs, that they may go beforehand to judgment, and that the recording angel may write pardon opposite their names” (Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 263). “In the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted out” (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 620).
The latter rain13 See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Latter Rain.” For early interpretations of the four angels of Revelation 7:1-3, see notes under Ms 1, 1848 (Nov. 18, 19).