Well, that is a big question. Some of the people that study the writings of Ellen White tell us that Sister White refers to Isaiah 58 more than any other chapter in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 10:11 Paul tells us: “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” In Romans 15:4 it says: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Then in Ecclesiastes 1:9, 10 it says: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything, wherefore it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us.”
The Bible is illustrating the end of the world. When Isaiah 58 is looked at, we need to understand that Isaiah is speaking about the end of the world. We can add seriousness to that, because this is where Sister White spent a great deal of her time commenting upon. In Isaiah 58:12, when we apply this to the end of the world, then we understand that this is a statement about the 144,000. There are many things in this verse but we are just going to take one. It says: “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” Isaiah 58:12.
The 144,000 will restore the paths to dwell and they’ll raise up the old waste places. Jeremiah 6 tells us what the paths to dwell in are. Jeremiah 6:16 say this: “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”
Sister White has a very nice statement. Selected Messages, book 3, 338 says: “Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. ‘Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’”
Jeremiah, Isaiah, and all the prophets are giving testimony to our day and age. Isaiah and Jeremiah are telling us that the 144,000 will return to the old paths. When we talk about the foundations and the pillars the foundations of Adventism are the truths that began the Millerite movement. The Review and Herald, April 14, 1903: “The warning has come: Nothing is to be allowed to come in that will disturb the foundation of the faith upon which we have been building ever since the message came in 1842, 1843, and 1844.” She calls the message that they proclaimed in 42, 43, and 44 as the foundation. But she doesn’t simply call it the foundation, she also calls it the platform. She says: “We do not propose to take our feet off the platform on which they were placed as day by day we sought the Lord with earnest prayer, seeking for light.” Ibid. In Early Writings, 259 there is a chapter called The Firm Platform. It starts with this: “I saw a company who stood well guarded and firm, giving no countenance to those who would unsettle the established faith of the body.” She talks about the “established faith of the body.” She talks about three steps, called the Three Angels’ Messages. The Three Angels’ Messages came into history in the Millerite history. As she comments on “the established faith of the body” in this first paragraph, she repeatedly calls it the foundation and the platform. In the previous quote she called the foundation and platform the message of 1842, 1843 and 1844. She agrees with it in this paragraph; she is saying the same thing in this paragraph. But in this paragraph she has given a warning, because she sees men step off the platform, begin to look at it. They start talking, that it would be better, that if foundation and the platform would be built this way.
In 1 Corinthians 14:32, it says: “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets which means all the prophets are in agreement with one another. If they are not in agreement it would be confusing. In the very next verse, verse 33, it says: “For God is not the author of confusion…” When Isaiah and Jeremiah are speaking about the old paths and Isaiah at the same time is talking about those that raise up the foundations of many generations; but Jeremiah, when he talked about the “old paths”, he said there was going to be a controversy. Jeremiah says: “Seek the old paths and you find rest for your souls,” but the last part of the verse says: “We would not walk therein,” Jeremiah 6:16. Jeremiah and Ellen White are in agreement. The “old paths” are the foundation and platform of Adventism, which is the message that came in 1842, 1843 and 1844. There is going to be a group in Adventism, when they look at those foundational truths, is going to say: “We would not walk therein.” Sister White says it over and over: “This is our message.” The Review and Herald, January 19, 1905:
“God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches.”
If I want to go back to the foundational message, I know it’s the message that was proclaimed in 42, 43 and 44, but how do I know what that message is? Well, I go back to Advent history and when I do, I discover there were 300 Millerite preachers and every one of them was preaching the same thing. The thing they taught was the message that is represented on the 1843 pioneer chart. The truths they presented on that chart are the foundation and platform of Adventism. Sister White says: “God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches.”The Review and Herald, January 19, 1905. Do you know what Sister White says about the chart in Early Writings, 74? “I have seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as He wanted them; that His hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was removed.” But I can show you, if we had the time, where virtually every truth on that charts is rejected in Adventism today.
Sister White says that the truths on the chart are the foundation and platform. The pillars of our faith, those were built upon the foundation. Anyone that’s a builder knows you can’t built the pillars of the house until you first lay the foundation. If you look at the 1843 chart, you won’t find the sanctuary, you won’t find the Sabbath. October 22, 1844 brought us to the point in history, where the Lord was going to establish the pillars of Adventism: The third angel’s message, the Sabbath, the sanctuary, the Spirit of Prophecy. The foundation, the platform that was to come under attack as history progressed, is represented in that chart. One more, just to make our point, and then we can go somewhere else.
Manuscript Releases, volume 15, 317: “The truths that we received in 1841, ‘42, ‘43, and ‘44 are now to be studied and proclaimed. The messages of the first, second, and third angels will in the future be proclaimed with a loud voice. They will be given with earnest determination and in the power of the Spirit.” Every Adventist historian will tell you, that the truths that were proclaimed in those years are the truths on that chart. But we don’t accept those truths today. So, those foundational truths, they are the foundation. We have been warned in prophecy that they would come under attack. When we reject those foundational truths, we are not just rejecting those truths; we are saying that Ellen White was a false prophet. That’s how I read it. She says we are to continue to present those truths. If those truths are erroneous then I think she has been a false prophet.
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