Understanding Ellen White

Satan

Prophets and prophecies were known in the ancient Near East outside of the Bible. The Mari texts from Mesopotamia (eighteenth century B.c.) refer to prophets (nabu) who provided guidance for the kings through their omens. The Egyptian story of Wen-Amon records that while Wen-Amon was in Phoenicia (ca. 1090 B.c.), a young attendant at the Phoenician court fell into a trance and delivered an oracle authenticating Wen-Amon’s mission. ² UEGW 229.2

Throughout history, individuals have made predictions, some of which came to pass. Nostradamus, in the sixteenth century, supposedly “foresaw and predicted almost every major historical event in France and crises in many other countries”³ Tycho Brahe, the official astrologer to Rudolph II of Austria, is said to have predicted the Great Plague that swept Europe two years before it happened in 1665. The psychic Edgar Cayce in April 1929 predicted the Wall Street crash based on a dream he had had. Six months later, on October 29, the stock market crashed. And in the summer of 1961, Jean Dixon reportedly foretold that Dag Hammerskjold, the UN Secretary General, would be killed in a plane crash in mid-September. Hammerskjold lost his life in a plane crash on September 18, 1961. ⁴ UEGW 229.3

In all of these cases, only certain predictions came true while many others did not. The Bible is clear that those who speak for God must always be cor-rect in their communication (Jer. 28:1-17). God does not allow a true prophet to make a false prophecy, as demonstrated by Balaam (Num. 22). Even the Bible recognizes that some false prophets may make correct predictions or even perform miracles, but if the influence of their ministry does not lead to the God of the Bible, then the source is not from God, but rather from Satan (Deut. 13:1-5). UEGW 230.1