A PROPHET AMONG YOU By T. HOUSEL JEMISON PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION BOISE, IDAHO OSHAWA, ONTARIO Copyright, 1955, by PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION Library of Congress Catalogue No. 55-11537. “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” Numbers 12:6. Title Page III Forward V 1. What the Bible Says About Its Origin 1 2. The Need for the Prophetic Gift 13 3. The Prophets and Their Function 33 4. The Prophet and His Message 52 5. Instruction by the Prophets 77 6. Tests of a Prophet 99 7. Some Relationships of the Prophets 117 8. Prophecy After New Testament Times 135 9. Guidance in Crisis 148 10. Backgrounds of the Advent Movement 166 11. The Rise of the Advent Movement 184 12. Ellen G. White and Her Work, Part I 203 13. Ellen G. White and Her Work, Part II 226 14. Testing the Experience of Ellen G. White 258 15. The Prophet and Her Messages 280 16. The Ellen G. White Books 294 17. Making Preparation for Publication 330 18. Custody of the Ellen G. White Writings 351 19. The Ellen G. White Writings and the Bible 364 20. The Place of the Prophetic Gift 375 21. Ellen G. White Writings Today 393 22. Critics and Criticism 412 23. Ellen G. White Writings—Their Study and Use 432 24. Studying Individual Topics 451 25. In Confirmation of Faith 464 Appendixes 469 Index 495 FOREWORD “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” Numbers 12:6. A study of the Biblical doctrine of the gift of prophecy is vital for every Seventh-day Adventist, first, because Adventists accept the Bible as the inspired word of God, prepared for men through the operation of the gift of prophecy; and second, because Seventh-day Adventists believe that God has revived the gift of prophecy in the remnant church through the life and work of Ellen G. White. It is the purpose of this book to outline the reasons for, and the function of, the prophetic gift in both ancient and modern times, so that confidence in the current applicability of the teachings of the Bible and the Ellen White writings might be increased, and that their use might be more fully understood. The subject matter of the book falls naturally into three categories: (1) a study of the practical working of the gift of prophecy as revealed in the Bible (chapters 1-9); (2) the second advent movement, and the life and work of Ellen White in relation to that movement (chapters 10-15); the place of the writings of Mrs. White in the church today, and a study of some of the topics on which she has written (chapters 16-24). In the first group of chapters no reference is made to the Ellen White writings. First the Scriptural foundation is laid. Then Mrs. White's life and experience are introduced and Bible tests are applied to her. Finally, her writings are brought into consideration. While this book has been prepared primarily for use in college classes in the Gift of Prophecy, it should be useful to Seventh-day Adventist ministers and others who wish to make a careful study of the place of the prophetic gift in the church today. The importance of the subject increases with each passing year. “As the end draws near and the work of giving the last warning to the world extends, it becomes more important Page iv for those who accept present truth to have a clear understanding of the nature and influence of the Testimonies, which God in His providence has linked with the work of the third angel's message from its very rise.”—Testimonies, vol. 5, P. 654. Point will be given to the study if certain objectives are kept in mind: 1. To learn the need for and the function of the prophetic gift as a means of communication between God and His people. 2. To gather from the Bible information concerning the scope of the work and the lines of instruction given through the ancient prophets. 3. To note something of the characteristics of the men called to this work, and the individual style of their writings. 4. To discover the experiences that are characteristic of the prophets in receiving and passing on their messages. 5. To determine the results of various attitudes of individuals and nations toward the prophets and their messages. 6. To learn how to apply the Bible tests by which we may tell whether a prophet is true or false. 7. To learn whether the exercise of the gift of prophecy might be expected to end with the close of the writing of the canonical books of the Bible, or if we might expect to find the gift exercised in the remnant church in a manner similar to that in which it operated in ancient times. 8. To discover whether we may reasonably expect that the scope of work and lines of instruction covered by any manifestation of the gift of prophecy in the remnant church might be as varied and extensive as such work and instruction by the ancient prophets. 9. To draw conclusions regarding the responsibility of the Page v individual members of the remnant church in view of an exercise of the gift of prophecy among them. 10. To investigate the claims of Ellen White to be a messenger of the Lord to the remnant church. 11. To apply to the life and work of Ellen White the Bible tests of a prophet. 12. To consider such portions of the Ellen White writings as are appropriate for those engaged in the study. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Board of Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications, who greatly hastened the preparation of this book by granting me time to carry out the major portion of the project as part of my responsibility as associate secretary of the Ellen G. White Publications, and to Arthur L. White, secretary of the board, for his valued counsel and constant helpfulness. Thanks is given to the large group of college Bible teachers, administrators, and others who helped plan the outline for the book, and who read the complete manuscript and submitted constructive criticisms. Of this group K. J. Reynolds, J. C. Haussler, and R. W. Olsen have been especially helpful. The latter gave the book trial in the classroom by using it in mimeographed form as the textbook for his college class in the Gift of Prophecy for one year. Supplementary materials and suggestions for classroom use of this book are available to college teachers from the office of the Department of Education, General Conference of Seventhday Adventists, Takoma Park, Washington 12, D.C. It is hoped that this book will strengthen confidence in, and increase understanding of, the function and importance of the gift of prophecy among God's people in all ages. T. Housel Jemison. Washington, D.C. 1. WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT ITS ORIGIN What does the Bible have to say about its origin ? Interestingly enough, the authors of the sixty-six books that make up the Holy Scriptures do not attempt to prove their divine inspiration. They state simply that their messages are from God, and then pass on to deal with the messages rather than attempt to prove their assertions regarding the source of their information. In our present investigation of the gift of prophecy, the divine inspiration of the Bible will be taken for granted, and no attempt will be made to prove it. It is the purpose of a study in Evidences of Christianity or in Bible Doctrines to gather the proofs for the inspiration of the Scriptures and study them in a systematic manner. This study is devoted to the operation of the prophetic gift through the ages, and presupposes a confidence in the Bible and its divinely inspired authorship. “Thus Saith the Lord.”—A careful reading of the Bible reveals a remarkable unity, even uniformity, in the expressions of its authors regarding their understanding of the source of their messages. In some instances no comment is made indicating the writer's convictions, but the messages themselves make clear that they are of the same origin as the books claiming inspiration. The regularity with which the writers claim their messages to be from God may appear repetitious, and yet every repetition is with a purpose that is not hard to discover. These men did not want to take credit to themselves for what they wrote. Though their writings bore the impress of their own personality, education, background, and environment, the messages are from God, and the writers wanted no one to mistake that fact. They were honest men, spiritual, keen-minded, having through experience considerable insight into the needs of their people. They were men capable of bearing responsibility and serving as leaders. But these personal qualifications were insufficient to make them safe guides for their nation, and the men themselves recognized that fact. Consequently, when God had spoken to them, they wanted the people to know of a certainty that the message was of divine rather than human origin. Again, the way of the prophet was seldom easy. In most instances the very nature of the messages borne tended to turn the people against the messengers. None enjoy, and few are willing, to receive rebuke; in fact, the denunciations of numerous Old Testament prophets have become proverbial.