Introduction

In the month of December 1844, about fifty days after the great disappointment of the Adventist people, a heavenly vision was given to Ellen Gould Harmon of Portland, Maine. This vision was of great import to the Adventist band in Portland and other places where it was related, because it confirmed their faith in their past experience which had been very precious to them, and at that time was hard to be understood. About a week later, the Lord gave her a second vision, in which she was commanded to go and relate to others the things that had been revealed to her. She was then only seventeen years old, small for her age, and very frail in health.BSRWEGW 2.1

She prayed earnestly that the work might be given to some other person. But the words of the angel resounded in her ears, “Make known to others what I have revealed to you.”BSRWEGW 2.2

After much hesitation and distress of mind, she undertook to obey the command, and in so doing she experienced spiritual and physical blessing from heaven.BSRWEGW 2.3

After a time the command came to her to write the things that were revealed to her. This experience she has described as follows:BSRWEGW 2.4

“Early in my public labors I was bidden by the Lord, ‘Write, write the things that are revealed to you.’ At the, time this message came to me, I could not hold my hand steady. My physical condition made it impossible for me to write. But again came the word, ‘Write the things that are revealed to you.’ I obeyed; and as the result it was not long before I could write page after page with comparative ease. Who told me what to write? Who steadied my right hand, and made it possible for me to use a pen?—It was the Lord….

“The light that I have received, I have written out, and much of it is now shining forth from the printed page. There is, throughout my printed works, a harmony with my present teaching. Some of the instruction found in these pages was given under circumstances so remarkable as to evidence the wonder-working power of God in behalf of His truth. Sometimes while I was in vision, my friends would approach me, and exclaim, ‘Why, she does not breathe!’ Placing a mirror before my lips, they found that no moisture gathered on the glass. It was while there was no sign of any breathing, that I kept talking of the things that were being presented before me.

“These messages were thus given to substantiate the faith of all, that in these last days we might have confidence in the Spirit of prophecy. I thank God that He has preserved my voice, which in my early youth physicians and friends declared would be silent within three months.

“The God of heaven saw that I needed to pass through a trying experience in order to be prepared for the work He had for me to do. For the past half century my faith in the ultimate triumph of the third angel’s message and everything connected with it, has been substantiated by the wonderful experiences through which I have passed. This is why I am anxious to have my books published and circulated in many languages. I know that the light contained in these books is the light of heaven.”—The Review and Herald, June 14, 1906.

In 1890, she wrote as follows regarding the basis of her confidence, and regarding the attacks that would be made upon her work:BSRWEGW 3.1

“I testify the things which I have seen, the things which I have heard, the things which my hands have handled, of the Word of Life. And this testimony I know to be of the Father and the Son. We have seen and do testify that the power of the Holy Ghost has accompanied the presentation of the truth, warning with pen and voice, and giving the messages in their order. To deny this work would be to deny the Holy Ghost, and would place us in that company who have departed from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits.

“The enemy will set everything in operation to uproot the confidence of the believers in the pillars of our faith in the messages of the past, which have placed us upon the elevated platform of eternal truth, and which have established and given character to the work. The Lord God of Israel has led out His people, unfolding to them truth of heavenly origin. His voice has been heard, and is still heard, saying, Go forward from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from glory to glory. The work is strengthening and broadening, for the Lord God of Israel is the defense of His people.”—Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 430.

In 1905, she wrote,—BSRWEGW 3.2

“Today we must rehearse the instruction that God has given to us as a people. The warfare between the forces of light and darkness is going on. Those who think that the powers of evil are asleep are very much mistaken. The enemy is constantly seeking to bring in things that will unsettle the confidence of God’s people. These things may appear very inoffensive, but they contain grave errors and dangers which must be met. We must take our stand firmly in defense of the truth given us after the passing of the time. The Holy Spirit gave us an understanding of these truths.”—MS-113-1906.