The Great Visions of Ellen G. White

Satan Strikes in Jackson

James White and Daniel Palmer may have been visiting in one room while Ellen and Abigail were in another when, suddenly, as Ellen later recalled: GVEGW 71.7

“My tongue refused to utter what I wished to say, and seemed large and numb. A strange, cold sensation struck my heart, passed over my head, and down my right side. For a while I was insensible; but was aroused by the voice of earnest prayer. I tried to use my left arm and limb, but they were perfectly useless. For a short time I did not expect to live. It was the third shock I had received of paralysis [at age 30], and although within 50 miles of home, I did not expect to see my children again.” ⁴⁴ GVEGW 71.8

Ellen resigned herself to die, thinking that probably her work for the Lord was now at an end. But as her husband and friends continued praying over her prostrate form, “[I] soon [felt] a prickling sensation ... in my arm and limb, and I praised the Lord that I could use them a little. The Lord had heard the faithful prayers of His children, and the power of Satan was broken.” ⁴⁵ GVEGW 72.1

Ellen was not totally healed, however, and doubtless passed a most difficult night. The next morning she felt “strengthened” to endure the remaining 40 miles home to Battle Creek. “For several weeks I could not feel the pressure of the hand, nor the coldest water poured upon my head. In rising to walk, I often staggered, and sometimes fell to the floor.” ⁴⁶ GVEGW 72.2

It was in this crippled condition that Ellen began to write her book, for the angel had bade her, “Write it out.” She trusted again that what God had commanded He would enable her to perform. GVEGW 72.3

Trying to hold a pen one day, she discovered that she could compose but one page of text and then had to have total rest for the next three days! “But as I progressed, my strength increased.” And, more important, “the numbness in my head did not seem to becloud my mind, and before I closed that work, the effect of the shock had entirely left me.” ⁴⁷ GVEGW 72.4

It took five months, from mid-March to mid-August, for Ellen to complete her manuscript. In printed form it occupied some 219 pages. Included was a 12-page preface, “Spiritual Gifts,” by Roswell F. Cottrell. A news note on the back page of the September 9, 1858, issue of the Review and Herald announced to its readers that the book was now available for public sale. ⁴⁸ GVEGW 72.5