Human feelings

The Roman Catholic practice of canonizing the so-called saints (including many people mentioned in the Bible) helped to consolidate the unrealistic notion of perfect, sinless prophets. But in James 5:17 we read that even the prophet Elijah, who was taken into heaven without facing death, was “a man with a nature like ours.” So true prophets, like other human beings, had to grow in “holiness” (cf. Heb. 12:14), without ever reaching a sinless human nature. Ellen White explains:UEGW 96.2

Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of constantly dying to sin, and constantly living for Christ. Wrongs cannot be righted nor reformations wrought in the character by feeble, intermittent efforts. It is only by long, persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall overcome. We know not one day how strong will be our conflict the next. So long as Satan reigns, we shall have self to subdue, besetting sins to overcome; so long as life shall last, there will be no stopping place, no point which we can reach and say, I have fully attained. Sanctification is the result of lifelong obedience. ^{8EGW, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1911), 560-561. See also EGW, The Sanctified Life (Washington, DC: Review and Herald®, 1937).}UEGW 96.3

It is no surprise that God’s prophets faced negative human feelings, which are sometimes communicated in their inspired writings. A classic example is the personal reluctance several prophets felt when called by the Lord. For example, Moses argued that he could not be a prophet because he was “slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exod. 4:10). Contemplating the glory and majesty of God, Isaiah declared, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). Amos stated humbly, “I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit” (Amos 7:14). And Ellen White, after being called to travel and share with others the content of her visions, prayed “for several days, and far into the night,” that such a “burden” should be removed from her, “and laid upon some one more capable of bearing it.” ^{9EGW, Testimonies for the Church, 1:62.} However, none of these individuals were released from their prophetic offices. Instead, God empowered them by the Holy Spirit so that they could overcome, or work in spite of, their own weaknesses.UEGW 97.1

In fulfilling their ministry, prophets were sometimes filled with negative human feelings in regard to their own lives. Elijah was so discouraged the day after the great victory on Mount Carmel that he even prayed, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4). Daniel “fainted and was sick for days” because he did not understand the vision of the 2,300 evenings and mornings (Dan. 8:27; cf. 8:14). Disappointed with the fact that the Lord did not destroy Nineveh, Jonah was not afraid to state, “It is better for me to die than to live” (Jon. 4:8). And Ellen White wrote on September 7, 1888, of her discouragement as a result of her recent sickness:UEGW 97.2

I was completely prostrated with sickness I felt no desire to recover. I had no power even to pray, and no desire to live. Rest, only rest, was my desire, quiet and rest. As I lay for two weeks in nervous prostration, I had hope that no one would beseech the throne of grace in my behalf. When the crises came, it was the impression that I would die, and this was my thought. But it was not the will of my heavenly Father. My work was not yet done. ^{10EGW, “Engaging in Worldly Speculation,” Manuscript 2, 1888 (September 7); in The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials (Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate, 1987), 1:47.}UEGW 97.3

Human longing for justice is the leading motif of several imprecatory psalms, with their prayers of vengeance and curses to the wicked (see Pss. 35; 58; 69; 109; 137; etc.). The psalmist’s belligerent attitude toward his persecutors contrasts sharply with Christ’s and Stephen’s prayers in favor of their own enemies (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60). While reading those psalms, one might be tempted to assume that they are just uninspired portions within the overall inspired writings. But such a view is unacceptable because it contradicts the principle that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). Furthermore, we should not forget that the New Testament quotes the imprecatory psalms as inspired and authoritative, and that in the Old Testament the enemies of God’s covenant people were considered as the enemies of God Himself. ^{11See Hans K. LaRondelle, Deliverance in the Psalms: Messages of Hope for Today (Berrien Springs, MI: First Impressions, 1983), 19-23.} It seems plausible, therefore, to accept those psalms as being as fully inspired as the others, fitting within the theological framework of the divine justice well expressed by the holy-war motif of the Old Testament.UEGW 97.4

So, prophets did express in their writings negative human feelings of other people, as well as their own (see Pss. 32; 51; 73), without overshadowing the inspiration process. Unreliable feelings and even sayings were recorded in those writings “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).UEGW 98.1