A Prophet Among You

Unfulfilled Prophecies

Critics charge that numerous predictions made by Ellen G. White have failed of being fulfilled. Is this so? The prediction most commonly brought up is one made in 1856, currently published in Testimonies for the Church 1:131, 132: “I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: ‘Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus.’” All present at the conference are dead, says the critic, therefore Ellen White is a false prophet. We freely admit that during the century that has passed since that conference those who were in attendance have died. But we do not admit that the critic’s conclusion based on this fact is a necessary conclusion. On the contrary, a consideration of all the facts involved shows the conclusion to be wholly unwarranted. APAY 422.2

As a basis for considering this problem, it would be profitable to review the matter of conditional prophecy as presented in chapter 6. We noted there that all of God’s promises of blessing or threatenings of punishment are made upon condition, whether or not the condition is specifically stated. God’s ultimate purposes, of course, cannot be altered by any decision of man, but the coming of blessing or punishment in fulfillment of prediction is dependent upon whether man’s relationship with God remains the same or changes. That was true with Jonah; it was true with the children of Israel throughout their history. APAY 422.3

The fact of the second advent of Christ cannot be altered by anything that man can do. Christ will return the second time to gather the righteous and destroy the wicked, then again to create a new earth as a home for His people. All the combined hosts of men and evil angels cannot alter that fact. But there is a place where men come into the picture. Peter tells us that it is possible for men to hasten the day of Christ’s return. “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God!” 2 Peter 3:11, 12, R.S.V. If it is possible for men to hasten the Lord’s return, obviously it is possible for them to delay it by their failure to complete the work entrusted to them to be done in their own lives and for others. APAY 423.1

What is the bearing of all this on the question of the conference of 1856? Simply this: The obvious intent of the words spoken by the angel and heard by Mrs. White in vision was to convey the idea that Christ was to return during the lifetime of some who were present at the conference. Now, as far as we know, all those persons are dead. Does that mean that Christ is not going to return? Not at all. But it raises the question as to whether some change has come about that has made it necessary for the Lord to delay His return, even as the destruction of Nineveh was delayed beyond the days of the prophet Jonah. During the years following this prediction, while there was still abundant opportunity for it to be fulfilled to the letter, Ellen White gave a number of indications that conditions among God’s people were such that they were even then delaying the second advent. APAY 423.2

“To become impatient now would be to lose all our earnest, persevering watching heretofore. The long night of gloom is trying; but the morning is deferred in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God’s unwillingness to have His people perish has been the reason for so long delay.” Testimonies for the Church 2:194 (1868). APAY 423.3

“If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844, had received the third angel’s message and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the earth would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of His people.” The Great Controversy, 291 (1886), or page 458 of current trade edition. APAY 424.1

“Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God.” Testimonies for the Church 6:450 (1900). APAY 424.2

“We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ’s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.” Evangelism, 696 (1901). APAY 424.3

These are only a few of the statements that run in this vein. The prediction of 1856 has not been fulfilled, but the reasons are clearly given. We cannot regard predictions given through Ellen White in an entirely different light from that in which we look at Bible predictions. Both must be viewed from the same point. APAY 424.4

In dealing with any prediction, either in the Bible or in these messages for the last days, we must be careful to learn all the facts possible involved in its fulfillment or its nonfulfillment. This is not a matter to be dealt with on the basis of what appears on the surface, but one for careful consideration before any conclusion is reached. The Nichol book (pp. 102 ff., 112 ff.) touches on a number of predictions that critics claim are unfulfilled. Attention should be given to them so that one is at least aware of the criticism and knows where to turn for help in finding an answer. APAY 424.5