The Great Visions of Ellen G. White

Third Civil War Vision

On January 4, 1862, some 51 weeks after her first vision on the subject, Ellen White was given her third revelation on the conflict. At this time she was residing in Battle Creek. “I was shown some things in regard to our nation,” she soberly reported. They included the following points: GVEGW 85.6

1. Buchanan’s administration, which preceded Lincoln’s, actually planned and enabled the South to steal Northern weapons of war, so that when hostilities broke out the South would be better prepared than the North! ⁴⁷ GVEGW 86.1

2. The North did not understand the deep feelings of contempt and hatred the South bore toward them because of its interference in abolition, nor the depth of Southern determination to maintain their “peculiar institution” at all costs. ⁴⁸ GVEGW 86.2

3. Despite pious mouthings in the North concerning the integrity of the Union, slavery “alone ... lies at the foundation of the war,” ⁴⁹ in the estimate of Heaven. GVEGW 86.3

4. After one year of war the North was no nearer to victory than when it began (the clear implication being that God would not allow a Northern victory until slavery—not merely the preservation of the Union—was the number one issue). And all accumulated loss of life and property in the war thus far was therefore a tragic waste. ⁵⁰ GVEGW 86.4

5. Incredibly, proslavery Northern military commanders deliberately exposed antislavery soldiers and officers to hostile fire, and then drew back, so that death would silence their voices and activities! ⁵¹ GVEGW 86.5

6. Since the North had not yet made abolition the issue, all its official governmental appeals for national fasting by the populace and days of prayer in support of the war effort were—in the eyes of God—“an insult to Jehovah. He accepts no such fasts.” ⁵² GVEGW 86.6

7. Had abolition been the main goal of the North, Great Britain (whose parliament had prohibited the slave trade in 1807, and abolished slavery in the British colonies between 1834 and 1840) ⁵³ would have sided with the Union. Now, however, the British sought their own national interests and were considering siding with the South. ⁵⁴ GVEGW 86.7

8. Finally, ominously, Ellen White declared, “This nation will yet be humbled into the dust.” ⁵⁵ GVEGW 86.8