Confrontation in Randolph
So the Nicholses took Ellen to the Thayer home, arriving sometime during the latter part of the morning. There they found a meeting already in progress, led by Sargent and Robbins. When the door was opened, and they saw Ellen walking into the parlor, their duplicity was exposed. But there was no way of escape for them!GVEGW 30.8
They continued their presentation, but as Ellen later noted rather dryly, “they did not have much freedom.”GVEGW 30.9
At a noontime intermission one in attendance shared her personal opinion that “good matter would be brought out” when the meeting resumed in the early afternoon. “I believe it,” Mrs. Nichols responded, without giving away what the angel had already revealed concerning that which was to follow. For his part, Robbins brashly told Sarah Harmon that her sister Ellen could have no vision while in his presence. 39Spiritual Gifts 2:76.GVEGW 30.10
The session resumed about 1:00 p.m. Sargent, Robbins, and French prayed, following a brief song service. Then “one of us,” said Nichols, “prayed for the Lord to lead this meeting.” Ellen then prayed, but was soon taken off in vision. Five specific points were revealed in her vision, which are of particular interest. Said Ellen:GVEGW 31.1
“[1] I was again shown the errors of R. and S., and others united with them. [2] I saw that they could not prosper; that truth would triumph in the end, and error be brought down. [3] I was shown that they were not honest, and [4] then I was carried into the future and shown something of the course they would pursue, that they would continue to despise the teachings of the Lord, despise reproof, and that they would be left in total darkness, to resist God’s Spirit until their folly should be made manifest to all. [5] A chain of truth was presented to me from the Scriptures, in contrast with their errors.” 40Spiritual Gifts 2:76, 77; cf. Nichols, p. 4.GVEGW 31.2
In a trancelike vision state the prophet is totally unaware of his or her immediate physical surroundings, so for an account of what happened next we must turn to eyewitness Otis Nichols’ handwritten report (the original of which is on file in the vault of the White Estate). While praying, Ellen was taken off in vision “with extraordinary manifestations, and [she] continued talking in vision with a shrill voice which could be distinctly understood by all present, until about sundown.GVEGW 31.3
“Sargent, Robbins, and French were much exasperated as well as excited to hear Sister White talk in vision, which they declared was of the devil. They exhausted all their influence and bodily strength to destroy the effect of the vision. They would unite in singing very loud, and then alternately would talk and read from the Bible in a loud voice in order that Ellen might not be heard, until their strength was exhausted and their hands would shake, so they could not read from the Bible.GVEGW 31.4
“But amidst all this confusion and noise Ellen’s clear and shrill voice as she talked in vision was distinctly heard by all present. The opposition of these men continued as long as they could talk and sing, notwithstanding some of their own friends rebuked them and requested them to stop. ‘But,’ says Robbins, ‘you are bound to an idol. You are worshiping a golden calf.’GVEGW 31.5
“Mr. Thayer, the owner of the house, was not fully satisfied that her vision was of the devil, as Robbins declared it to be. He wanted it tested in some way. He had heard that visions of satanic power were arrested by opening the Bible and laying it on the person in vision, and asked Sargent if he would test it in this way, which he declined to do.GVEGW 32.1
“Then Thayer took a heavy, large quarto family Bible which was lying on the table and seldom used, opened it, and laid it upon the breast of Ellen while in vision, as she was then inclined backward against the wall in one corner of the room.GVEGW 32.2
“Immediately after the Bible was laid upon her, she arose upon her feet and walked into the middle of the room, with the Bible open in one hand and lifted as high as she could reach, and with her eyes steadily looking upward, declared in a solemn manner: ‘The inspired testimony of God,’ or words of the same import, and then she continued for a long time while the Bible was extended in one hand and her eyes looking upward and not on the Bible, to turn the leaves with the other hand and place her finger upon certain passages and correctly utter their words with a solemn voice.GVEGW 32.3
“Many present [climbed up on chairs and] looked at the passages where her finger was pointed to see if she spoke them correctly, for her eyes at the same time were looking upward [at an angle so acute that she herself could not read these words].GVEGW 32.4
“Some of the passages referred to were judgments against the wicked and blasphemous; and others were admonitions and instructions relative to our present condition.GVEGW 32.5
“In this state she continued all the afternoon until nearly sundown when she came out of vision. When Ellen rose in vision upon her feet with the heavy open Bible upon her hand, and walked the room uttering the passages of Scripture, Sargent, Robbins, and French were silent. For the remainder of the time they were troubled, with many others, but they shut their eyes and braved it out without making any acknowledgment of their feelings.” 41Nichols, pp. 5-7.GVEGW 32.6
Interestingly, Ellen’s specific predictions concerning the future situation of these critics were fulfilled in a rather dramatic manner. In a certain public meeting, according to Nichols’ personal testimony, “Satan took control of their minds and led them to confess publicly some of the most shameful acts of their lives, which had the effect to break up the meetings at Randolph and separate the honest souls from their unholy influence.”GVEGW 32.7
Nichols added that about a year later, “They made a wreck of all their faith in the doctrines taught in the Bible and then broke up and scattered, declaring themselves free from all sinning.... Thus the curse of God was literally fulfilled upon those who obstinately continued to denounce the visions of Sister White after they had once been enlightened by them.” 42Spiritual Gifts 2:7, 8.GVEGW 33.1