Concern Over Unusual Statements

Prophetic writings occasionally contain statements that may not be easily understood. Peter once said that Paul had written “some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).MOL 489.4

Ignorant slave not to be resurrected. In 1858 Ellen White wrote that “the slave master would have to answer for the soul of his slave whom he has kept in ignorance.... God cannot take the slave to heaven, who has been kept in ignorance and degradation, knowing nothing of God, or the Bible, fearing nothing but his master’s lash, and not holding so elevated a position as his master’s brute beasts. But He does the best thing for him that a compassionate God can do. He lets him be as though he had not been.” ^{28Spiritual Gifts 1:193 (Early Writings, 276).}MOL 489.5

However, a few pages later she reported that she “saw the pious slave rise [in the resurrection] in triumph and victory.” ^{29Early Writings, 206 (Early Writings, 286).} In many places she referred to the terrible conditions imposed on slaves in the South, treated “as though they were beasts.” ^{30The Review and Herald, December 17, 1895.} Nevertheless, she was equally emphatic that “many of the slaves had noble minds.” ^31Ibid.MOL 489.6

In these statements Ellen White was distinguishing between the “pious” slave and the “ignorant” slave who knows “nothing of God.” With prophetic insight she stated that the most compassionate act for a just God would be to let such slaves remain in their graves, not to be resurrected for judgment.MOL 489.7

Some object to this statement because the Bible says that “all who are in the graves will ... come forth” (John 5:28, 29). A few chapters later, John quoted Jesus: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). Here we have two examples among many where Bible writers used all-inclusive language but with very definite restrictions. No one but Universalists argue that everyone, sooner or later, will be redeemed, regardless of character or desire. Not all people will be drawn to Jesus because not all are willing to be drawn!MOL 489.8

Another example of a general, all-inclusive statement is John the Revelator’s description of the Second Advent: “... every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne’” (Revelation 6:15, 16). Obviously, not all slaves and not all free men are going to be lost!MOL 489.9

Prophets, as well as everyone else, use inclusive language at times, and most people understand the implied restrictions. The next question is, How does God deal with those who are neither among those “who have done good,” or “those who have done evil” (John 5:29)? The best we can do is to join Abraham, the father of the faithful, and believe with confidence: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).MOL 490.1

God’s hand over a chart mistake. In 1850 Ellen White wrote that she “had seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as He wanted them; that His hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was removed.” ^{32Early Writings, 74. This chart, designed in 1842 by Charles Fitch, Congregational pastor, and Apollos Hale, Methodist preacher, was approved by the Millerites in their Boston General Conference of May, 1842. The chart’s graphic symbols and time periods became a well-known trademark of Millerite preaching as they endeavored to simplify in an attractive manner the time prophecies focusing on 1843.—See Froom, Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. IV, pp. 538, 616.}MOL 490.2

At first glance, one could wonder why God would want to hide a mistake! For those who begin with the presupposition that Jesus did not enter the closing phase of His mediatorial work in 1844, this Ellen White reference is ridiculed.MOL 490.3

But those who have found meaning in these events, whether on earth or in heaven, also realize that God’s ways are often unexplainable. Further, His ways are often cast in human language where circumstances that God permits are described as events that God causes. When the author of Exodus wrote of God’s conversation with Moses, he portrayed God as the Agent who “hardened” Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 10:1). However, the same writer also wrote of Pharaoh’s responsibility for hardening his own heart (Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34).MOL 490.4

We think of Biblical circumstances where knowledge was “withheld” from dedicated men and women. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus joined two devastated disciples but they did not recognize Him because “their eyes were restrained” (Luke 24:16). A few hours later, while eating with their traveling Companion, “their eyes were opened and they knew Him” (Luke 24:31). If their eyes had been “opened” prematurely while walking toward Emmaus, they would have missed a great experience that God wanted them to share.MOL 490.5

For reasons that God alone can explain best, Biblical students in 1843 needed the experience of 1843-1844. Obviously God could have “stepped in” and guaranteed every date, every line of reasoning, when Fitch and Hale prepared their chart. But that kind of divine intervention has been rare throughout history. Permitting men and women to work through their problems, learning special lessons that would not have been experienced otherwise, seems to have been God’s general plan. ^{33See Matthew 11:25; Mark 4:3 John 16:12; 1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:11-14.}MOL 490.6

What would have happened if William Miller had preached the true significance of 1844? What kind of public response would he have received if he had proclaimed the truth about a change in Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, rather than to emphasize His imminent return? No one would have listened to him; no one would have been stirred to read the Bible. After the disappointment of October 22, a group of his followers restudied their Bibles to discover the real meaning of 1844, an interest that never would have developed if Miller had not focused their attention on the Bible and its prophecies prior to 1844.MOL 490.7