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Commentary on "The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift"
Day 4: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The study begins by asking who the bible prophets designated as the source of their messages. Jeremiah 1:4, Ezekiel 7:1, and Hosea 1:1 are all referenced, and they answer the question in the same way. The prophets clearly state that their prophetic messages came from the Lord. This is important because it legitimizes their claim, but it also places the message in a whole new category of scrutiny.
The study claims the phrase “the Word of the Lord came unto…” means the message carries divine authority, was received by direct communication from the Lord, and is in the mind of the presenter ready to given. The study writer then makes the claim that the phrase “thus says the Lord” shows that God speaks directly to the reader, and that the prophet’s job was to bring the message before the people and apply the message to the audience’s situation.
The study then shows that Ellen White also strongly emphasized the inspiration of the Scriptures because she said, “I take the Bible just as it is, as the Inspired Word.” She also claimed divine inspiration for her writings: “In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me… it is true concerning the articles in our papers and in the many volumes of my books.”
She claims the role of the “lesser light” which leads to the greater light, which is the Bible. Her messages are supposed to be for the end time remnant church and are not new or additional standards for the church, but help for the church in the end times.
Some questions are asked at the end of the study are…
- How can we avoid the trap of putting Ellen White’s writings on par with the Bible?
- Why is that so easy to do and such a big mistake?
Problems
Prophets do not choose the language, the words, or even the correct application of the message. God does all of these things. There is a continual attempt in these studies to downgrade who God is and what powers He has. HE IS GOD. He does not need any help from any of us to get His messages across. So when the Bible says “the Word of the Lord came unto…” or “thus says the Lord,” it does in fact mean that these are God’s actual words being given, not the prophet’s.
There is a very clear contradiction in this study with the two quotes given by Ellen White. First she says she takes the Bible just as it is and as the Inspired Word, capitalizing the I and W to show that God is doing the inspiring. Another quote is then used to show that she also believes her writings, and not just some but all, are inspired by the same God. The problem here is that if she truly adhered to what she said about the Bible she would not have believed herself to be a prophet. One verse, out of many, that clearly states the completeness of scripture is “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19 ESV)
Another scripture about the completeness of the Bible is “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV) Notice the piece about the man of God being competent and equipped for every good work. The SDA church and Ellen White would have you believe that this competence lasted until 1844. At that point her writings were necessary to give man complete competence to endure in the last days.
So why didn’t God reveal this by adding this extra piece onto the 2 Timothy text? Because it is simply not true. God’s word, the Bible, is not only the greater light, it is the ONLY LIGHT.
Speaking of the lesser and greater lights, here is a quote from Ellen White that shows just what she thought of the Bible compared to her own writings: “We are not to receive the words of those who come with a message that contradicts the special points of our faith. They gather together a mass of Scripture, and pile it as proof around their asserted theories… And while the Scriptures are God’s word, and to be respected, the application of them, if such application moves one pillar from the foundation that God has sustained these fifty years, is a great mistake.” (Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 32)
So how can we avoid placing Ellen White’s writings on par with the Bible?
- Disregard them as false teachings, since they come into direct conflict with God’s Word.
Why is it so easy to for the SDA church to place them on par with the Bible?
- Ellen White herself made it clear that her writings and teachings trumped the Bible message.
Summary
- Bible prophets do not choose the message or how it is presented or the application of the message. God does.
- Ellen White believed her own writings were superior to the scriptures, especially if they came into conflict at all with the information she gave.
- God’s word is complete and is given to us in it’s entirety so that we may also be competent and fully equipped until Christ returns. (Revelation 22:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Copyright 2009 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised February 24, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 9
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 9