Corrected By a Vision

When to begin the weekly Sabbath was another doctrinal issue on which Mrs. White was corrected by a vision—an instructive story of how God gently leads His people along through His messengers. On Friday, November 16, 1855, the General Conference in session ushered in the Sabbath at 6:00 P.M., although the sun had set an hour before. They ended the Sabbath, the next day, at sunset! What happened?MOL 156.3

For years Adventists had been generally following the reasoning of Joseph Bates—that sunset at the equator (6:00 P. M.) would be the most uniform way to handle the Sabbath on a round world, no matter what the time of year. ^{32The Review and Herald, April 21, 1851, pp. 71, 72.} (Beginning and ending the Sabbath at sunrise or midnight were other options.)MOL 156.4

But other believers raised the question of Leviticus 23:32, “from evening unto evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” Trying to bring unity, James White had asked John N. Andrews to make a Biblical study of the issue and prepare a paper. When this paper was read on Sabbath morning at the 1855 General Conference, the matter was settled for James White and the rest of the delegates—all except Joseph Bates and Ellen White!MOL 156.5

A few days later, November 20, Mrs. White had a vision that dealt with many matters, including validation of Andrews’s Bible study. Both she and Joseph Bates capitulated wholeheartedly. Bible study, confirmed by vision, continued as the general rule in the development of Adventist theology. ^{33See pp. 170, 171.}MOL 156.6

Commenting later, Uriah Smith wrote: “Lest any should say that Sister White, having changed her sentiments, had a vision accordingly, we will state that which was shown her in vision concerning the commencement of the Sabbath was contrary to her own sentiment at the time the vision was given.” ^{34The Review and Herald, August 30, 1864, p. 109.}MOL 156.7

Ellen White’s attitude toward eating pork was another example of how advancing light changed her personal interpretation of Scripture. In 1858 she wrote to the Haskells (Bro. and Sister A.) on a number of items, rebuking him for insisting that pork-eating was a violation of Leviticus 11:7: “I saw that your views concerning swine’s flesh would prove no injury if you have them to yourselves; but in your judgment and opinion you have made this question a test.... If God requires His people to abstain from swine’s flesh, He will convict them on the matter.” ^{35Testimonies for the Church 1:206, 207.}MOL 156.8

Why didn’t God tell Ellen White that Haskell’s Bible study on Leviticus was correct, following her general pattern of confirming Bible study by the light revealed in vision?MOL 156.9

Part of the answer may be found in the note written by James White in the second printing of this testimony to Haskell: “This remarkable testimony was written October 21, 1858, nearly five years before the great vision in 1863, in which the light upon health reform was given. When the right time came, the subject was given in a manner to move all our people. How wonderful are the wisdom and goodness of God! It might be as wrong to crowd the milk, salt, and sugar question now, as the pork question in 1858.” ^36Ibid.MOL 157.1

In the health reform vision of June 6, 1863, a broad array of health principles was revealed. ^{37See pp. 281-284 for an analysis of this vision.} In 1864 Ellen White made her first published presentation of that vision, a fifty-page chapter entitled “Health,” in Spiritual Gifts, volume 4. In reference to swine’s flesh she said: “God never designed the swine to be eaten under any circumstances.” ^{38The text continued: “Swine were useful. In a fruitful country, where there was much to decay upon the ground, which would poison the atmosphere, herds of swine were permitted to run free, and devoured the decaying substances, which was a means of preserving health. Other animals were forbidden to be eaten by the Israelites, because they were not the best articles of food.” Page 124.}MOL 157.2

In 1865 she prepared a series of six articles under the title Health, or How to Live. ^{39Available today in Selected Messages 2:411-479.588} Here she amplified the injurious consequences of eating swine’s flesh, a fact that she continued to emphasize in her later books. ^{40Selected Messages 2:417. See Counsels on Diet and Foods, 392, and The Ministry of Healing, 314.}MOL 157.3