Appeal to Get Ready
Particularly during the final two decades of her 87-year life, Ellen White continued to express concern for the inhabitants of wicked cities, who needed to be warned from the wrath to come; and for God’s people, who needed to complete successfully the work of personal preparation for the great day of the Lord.GVEGW 128.1
As early as 1888, she hinted at what was yet to come: “The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law.” 13The Great Controversy, 36.GVEGW 128.2
Just after the turn of the century, in 1903, she enlarged more fully upon this situation with these words: “The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.GVEGW 128.3
“Angels are now restraining the winds of strife, that they may not blow until the world shall be warned of its coming doom; but a storm is gathering, ready to burst upon the earth; and when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture.” 14Education, 179, 180.GVEGW 128.4
And, again, later that same year: “O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry!” 15The Review and Herald, September 10, 1903.GVEGW 128.5
Six years later, in 1909, she described a vision she had received at Loma Linda, California, on April 16 of that year: “During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.GVEGW 128.6
“The destroying angels ... were at work. One touch, and buildings, so thoroughly constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any special peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted and that the judgment day had come.GVEGW 129.1
“The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of the wickedness existing in our world today, especially the wickedness in the large cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His law.” 16Testimonies for the Church 9:92.GVEGW 129.2
The next year she wrote: “The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments.” 17Ms 53, 1910, p. 2; cited in Welfare Ministry, 135 and Evangelism, 29.GVEGW 129.3
She voiced an appeal to Christians within her own church not only to warn the wicked, but also to prepare their own lives, that they might meet the appearance of Jesus with peace in their hearts and a smile upon their faces:GVEGW 129.4
“Soon grievous troubles will arise among the nations—trouble that will not cease until Jesus comes. As never before we need to press together, serving Him who has prepared His throne in the heavens and whose kingdom ruleth over all. God has not forsaken His people, and our strength lies in not forsaking Him.GVEGW 129.5
“The judgments of God are in the land. The wars and rumors of wars, the destruction by fire and flood, say clearly that the time of trouble, which is to increase until the end, is very near at hand. We have no time to lose.” 18The Review and Herald, November 24, 1904; cited in Welfare Ministry, 136.GVEGW 129.6