white lie soap, chapter 3. "only the first step" (expanded version)

CHAPTER 3

Only the First Step

To notice similarities is only the first step in the study of literary relationships. One must also catalogue the differences, and then, even more importantly, ask what use the second author made of the first authors work.

Ron Graybill

THE COMPARISONS FOUND IN THE WHITE LIE were part of the first step in evaluation. Below are three of these from page 293 of The White Lie, which I have highlighted for parallel wording:

The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 2 E. G. White 1877 [58] Christs life had been so retired and secluded at Nazareth that John had not a personal acquaintance with him, and he did not positively know that he was the Messiah.

The Life of Christ William Hanna 1863 [81] John could not know certainly that this was He of whom he spake.John had never seen Jesus, had no personal acquaintance with his relativethe retired life of the One at Nazareth, and the dwelling of the other in the desert.

[58] The secluded life of Christ for thirty years at Nazareth gave no special evidence of his Messiahship.The Lord had shown him that the Messiah would be pointed out to him by a distinct sign; then John could present him to the world as the Lamb of God, that was to take away the sin of the world.

[82] John must have known what a sinless and holy life he had been leading for these thirty years at Nazareth, or this knowledge must have been supernaturally communicated during Christs secluded life at Nazareth whom he [John] was then to hold forth as the Lamb of God, who was to take away the sin of the world.

[58] John recognized him at once as the superior one.Never had such a holy influence been realized by Johnas when in the presence of Christthe only sinless one. He remonstrated with Christ, acknowledging his superiority.

[83] He [John] certainly did at once recognize him as his superior so much holier than himself that he shrunk from baptizing Him

The Holy One of God, who had no sin of his own to confess,carries it [the command] over the reluctance and remonstrance of the Baptist.

Without visual cues to call attention to borrowed wording and omitting much of that which makes each narrative distinct as a result of focusing on similarity, the original comparisons left the reader with the false impression that Mrs. White produced her books by mindlessly lifting page after page of material from her reading.1 Nonetheless, we can still see that Ellen Whites description of Johns encounter with Jesus presents nothing that Mrs. White had not earlier described in Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, p. 29, or that can be inferred from the gospel of John.

To illustrate the shortsightedness of this approach, the following exhibit analyzes Walter Reas, The Paraphrasing Prophet, posted by Dirk Anderson at http://www.nonegw.org/egw89.shtml and http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/egw89.htm. Walter Rea projected: . . . this study will show by using only one author (Daniel March) how extensive her paraphrasing was in all of her writings. In this, he promised more than he could

37

38 White Lie Soap

deliver, for the exhibit does not cover all of her writings. Moreover, only listing references, it provides less useful information than the comparisons in The White Lie. To make up for this lack, Dirk Anderson included a selection of representative parallels from the exhibit, which I have designated by arrows ().2 Following are the first ten items listed in Walter Reas exhibit:

Daniel March, Night Scenes in the Bible (1868) Ellen G. White Books

Pages 201220 Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 2728 Page 363 Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, pp. 343344

Page 313 Desire of Ages, p. 83

Pages 459460 Acts of the Apostles, p. 146

Pages 193198 Prophets and Kings, pp. 119120




Page 255 Messages to Young People, p. 103

Page 336 Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 44

In expanding the exhibit, I have identified parallel wording within each range of pages, corrected Reas references, noted duplication, and added descriptions and cross-references to The White Lie (TWL). As repeatedly requested since 1980, I have also called attention to unique features in the correlated material and identified Mrs. Whites earlier writings used in the selection (see comment boxes). The first comparison in the list is atypical, having more verbatim than most others. Even so, Mrs. White made significant changes to the thought. (See italics.)

Colorized Parallels for The Paraphrasing Prophet by Walter Rea

March, Night Scenes in the Bible, pp. 201202 Selected Messages, bk. 1, pp. 27, 28 Shadow of uncertainty (TWL 53) italics for unique concepts

[NS 201.2] We must not defer our obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of mistake is removed. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith, for faith rests upon probability, not demonstration. There is no scientific ground of faith, simply because what has become science is taken out of the sphere of faith. We must obey the voice of duty when there are many other voices crying against it, and it requires earnest heed to distinguish the one which speaks for God. We must cherish the impulse of conscience in the moment when it urges us to action, lest it cease from its promptings and we be left to the blind guidance of appetite and passion.

The word of the Lord comes to us all, and it is a message of light and of salvation. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn and our path left to us in darkness. No man can tell how much he may lose by once neglecting to comply with the call of Gods Spirit and word commanding him to perform some great and sacred duty.

[1SM 27.3, 28.1] If you refuse to believe until every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of doubt is removed you will never believe. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith. Faith rests upon evidence, not demonstration. The Lord requires us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other voices all around us urging us to pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest attention from us to distinguish the voice which speaks from God. We must resist and conquer inclination, and obey the voice of conscience without parleying or compromise, lest its promptings cease and will and impulse control.

The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His Spirit by determining not to hear and obey. This voice is heard in warnings, in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lords message of light to His people. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and we left in darkness.

CHAPTER 3 Only the First Step 39

PARALLELS: verbatim 5(+) words paraphrase Scripture EGW: letter/ms. periodical/pamphlet book SP early Dirks exhibit

Some may miss the uniqueness of Ellen Whites point of view. Both authors echo John 12:35, Walk while ye have tthhee lliigghhtt, lest ddaarrkknneessss come upon you. However, Ellen White cautions against refusing to believe (not deferring obedience) until all possibility of doubt (not mistake) is removed. She declares that faith rests upon evidence, not probability. She does not embrace the exclusion of science from the realm of faith, for she believed that true science supports faith (MH 462.1). She used the expression the voice of conscience rather than the impulse of conscience, linking conscience with the voice of One we should obey. Years before she had presented the same thought: Transgress in a small matter, and look upon it as no particular sin on our part, and the conscience becomes hardened, the sensibilities blunted . . . (1T [1867] 531.2). The phrase The word of the Lord comes to us all echoes John 1:9, That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. The gem in 1SM 27.3, 28.1 was extracted from Letter 206 (June 14), 1906, to Dr. David Paulson, which quotes from Testimonies Slighted, written to the Battle Creek church, June 29, 1882 and published in 5T 68.4 and PH117 51.1. (PH117 has the voice which speaks for God.) Mrs. Whites earliest adaptation of the thought was in Letter 22 (Dec.) 1872: Those who defer their obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of mistake is removed will never believe and obey. A belief that demands perfect knowledge will never yield. Faith and demonstration are two things. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [Heb. 11:1]. Faith rests not upon probability. Though here using probability, she insists that faith does not rest upon it. She later used the thought in RH 9-16-1873.

Page 363 The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, pp. 343344 (cf. DA 448.2) Feast of Tabernacles (TWL 106, 107)

[NS 363.1] Next to the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles was the most memorable and impressive of all the great national solemnities kept by the Hebrew people. For seven successive days Jerusalem was crowded by thousands of the faithful in Israel, gathered from all parts of Judea and from distant provinces of the Roman empire. The multitude seemed more immense because the resident population of the city, as well as the strangers, turned out of their dwellings and spent the week in the open air. They lived in booths or tabernacles of green boughs built upon the housetops, in the streets and public squares, in the courts of the temple and of private houses, and all up and down the valleys and hill-sides beyond the walls of the city. The whole of Mount Zion, with its compact array of flat roofs and stone battlements, was so thickly shaded with green boughs as to seem in the distance like a forest of palm and of pine, of olive and of myrtle. Seven days were consecrated with offerings and libations, with feast and song, with the grand choral symphonies of the temple music, and the evenings were given to illuminations and torchlight dances. The whole week was one long pastime of exhilarating and, in the end, of exhausting joy. The time was autumn. The fruits of the earth had ripened and the harvests had been gathered in from all the fields. The whole nation was represented in the thanksgiving and festivities with which the capital celebrated the close of the year.

[2SP 343.4] The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated to commemorate the time when the Hebrews dwelt in tents during their sojourn in the wilderness. While this great festival lasted, the people were required to leave their houses and live in booths made of green branches of pine or myrtle. These leafy structures were sometimes erected on the tops of the houses, and in the streets, but oftener outside the walls of the city, in the valleys and along the hill-sides. Scattered about in every direction, these green camps presented a very picturesque appearance.

[2SP 344.1] The feast lasted one week, and during all that time the temple was a festal scene of great rejoicing.

Ellen White used a few of Marchs words in setting the backdrop for an incident in the life of Christ. March did not list any sources. At least part of the description came from Nehemiah 8, which uses the words oolliivvee, ppiinnee bbrraanncchheess, myrtle, and ppaallmm bbooootthhss, and states: . . . the people . . . made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his hhoouussee, and in their courts, and iinn tthhee ccoouurrttss ooff tthhee house of God, and iinn tthhee ssttrreeeett of the water gate, and iinn tthhee ssttrreeeett of the gate of Ephraim (Neh. 8:15, 16), and . . . they kept the feast sseevveenn ddaayyss . . . (Neh. 8:18). One can begin to imagine what Mrs. White would have seen in vision of the event by her statement, Scattered about in every direction, these green camps presented a very picturesque appearance. Highlighted words carry over into The Desire of Ages.

Page 313 The Desire of Ages, pp. 168, 171 Nicodemus visit with Jesus (no TWL listing)

[NS 313.1a] Imagine, then, the scene in the quiet house on the slope of Olivet, on that memorable night. The old man anxious, agitated, wondering, trying in vain to put on an air of composure and dignity and to make it appear a great act of condescension in him to come there at all, and Jesus calm, kind, inspiring his venerable guest with awe and searching his very soul with a lookNicodemus endeavoring to smooth the way for his inquiries by courteous and complimentary expressions, and Jesus, with solemn, direct and tender precision, laying bare at one word the great burden and necessity of the old mans heartNicodemus surprised, and affecting more ignorance than he felt, and Jesus declaring again, with a still more solemn and awful emphasis, that even such an one as hekind, generous, learned, a master in Israelmust be born again, must have a new heart, a new life, or not see the kingdom of God.

[DA 168.3] In the presence of Christ, Nicodemus felt a strange timidity, which he endeavored to conceal under an air of composure and dignity. Rabbi, he said, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him. [John 3:2] By speaking of Christs rare gifts as a teacher, and also of His wonderful power to perform miracles, he hoped to pave the way for his interview. His words were designed to express and to invite confidence; but they really expressed unbelief. He did not acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah, but only a teacher sent from God.

40 White Lie Soap

[NS 313.1b] Nicodemus sitting in silent amazement at the thought of a kingdom so pure that even he could not enter it without becoming a new man, and Jesus going on to declare the wondrous love of God in giving his own Son, not only to the learned, the rich and the noble, but that the ignorant, the poor and the vile might have eternal life.

[DA 171.2] Nicodemus had heard the preaching of John the Baptist concerning repentance and baptism, and pointing the people to One who should baptize with the Holy Spirit. He himself had felt that there was a lack of spirituality among the Jews, that, to a great degree, they were controlled by bigotry and worldly ambition. He had hoped for a better state of things at the Messiahs coming. Yet the heart-searching message of the Baptist had failed to work in him conviction of sin. He was a strict Pharisee, and prided himself on his good works. He was widely esteemed for his benevolence and his liberality in sustaining the temple service, and he felt secure of the favor of God. He was startled at the thought of a kingdom too pure for him to see in his present state.

Ellen White has adapted three minor phrases and expanded Marchs description, though depicting Nicodemuss show of respect as a camouflage for unbelief. (Note the difference between Marchs to make it appear a great act of condescension and Ellen Whites designed to express and to invite confidence.) The synonyms amazement and startled echo Jesus statement, Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John 3:7). Highlighted wording comes from 2SP and YI 9-2-1897.

Pages 459460 The Acts of the Apostles, p. 146 Included in NS 451466 (TWL 133)

Pages 193198 Prophets and Kings, pp. 119120 Elijah (TWL 176)

[NS 192.3] The word Tishbite, so often applied to his name, gives us no information, for nobody knows what it means. Of one thing only can we be certain in respect to his origin. He came from the wild and mountainous land of Gilead. From the abrupt western wall of its pasture-grounds the shepherd looked down three thousand feet into the twisted and terrible gorge of the Jordan. Eastward it rose in rounded peaks and broken ridges, like the frozen billows of a stormy sea. The whole region was tossed into such wild and fantastic forms as to seem as if it had been the battle-field of giants, where hills encountered hills, hurled to and fro with jaculation dire. [John Milton] The strongholds of robber chieftains crowned the heights; the wandering shepherds pitched their tents in the valleys. The native inhabitants lived as if in a hostile country, and the herdsmen kept their flocks with spear and bow day and night. They knew nothing of towns or villages, cultivated fields or gardens. As they roamed from valley to valley, in search of pasturage, the plunderer might swoop down upon them like the eagle from the heights, or spring upon them like the couchant lion from the jungle. Vigilance was the price of safety, and the strong arm was the only law. The wolf and the bear made their dens among the crags; the lion came up to prey upon the fold from the swellings of Jordan.

NS 195.1] And yet in the deep loneliness of such a life, Elijah looked on himself as standing ever in the presence of the Lord of hosts. Amid all the perils and hardships to which he was exposed, he never forgot his sacred commission as the servant of the Most High. Everybody knew him when he made his sudden and startling appearances in the desert, on the hill-top, in the highway or by the Great Sea. The awful solemnity of his look made men fear that he had come as an avenging angel to call their sins to remembrance. But no one could tell whence he came, where he hid himself, or how his life was sustained. The inspired instructor and reprover of apostate Israel was trained for his mission amid awful solitudes. He was kept apart from the gentle charities and tender affections of domestic life. He was wet with the dews of night, girt with the terrors of the wilderness, beaten by storms and burnt by the sun. He was made familiar with the sublimities and glories of nature, that he might the better assert the power and majesty of Jehovah in his works, and thus rebuke the Nature-worship of his time and confound all false gods.

NS 197.1] Fresh and fearless from the mountains of Gilead, Elijah remembered the history which Israel had forgotten. The deliverance from Egypt by a strong hand; the march through the waves of the divided sea; the guiding pillar of cloud and fire that went before the countless host; the bread from heaven that failed not for forty years; the mount of the law veiled in darkness and girt with its coronet of fire: the allotment of Canaan to the conquering tribes; the pomp and solemnity of the tabernacle and temple worship; the oracular responses from the mercy-seat; the brightness of the Shechinah shining in the Holy Place; the Divine messages that had been given to Samuel and David and Solomon,Elijah knew them all. And he believed that the apostate house of Ahab and of all Israel was as much in the hand of the living God as were their fathers in the wilderness.

[PK 119.1] Among the mountains of Gilead, east of the Jordan, there dwelt in the days of Ahab a man of faith and prayer whose fearless ministry was destined to check the rapid spread of apostasy in Israel. Far removed from any city of renown, and occupying no high station in life, Elijah the Tishbite nevertheless entered upon his mission confident in Gods purpose to prepare the way before him and to give him abundant success. The word of faith and power was upon his lips, and his whole life was devoted to the work of reform. His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back the tide of evil. And while he came to the people as a reprover of sin, his message offered the balm of Gilead to the sin-sick souls of all who desired to be healed.

[PK 119.2] As Elijah saw Israel going deeper and deeper into idolatry, his soul was distressed and his indignation aroused. God had done great things for His people. He had delivered them from bondage and given them the lands of the heathen, . . . that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws. Psalm 105:44, 45. But the beneficent designs of Jehovah were now well-nigh forgotten. Unbelief was fast separating the chosen nation from the Source of their strength. Viewing this apostasy from his mountain retreat, Elijah was overwhelmed with sorrow. He longed to see them brought to repentance before they should go to such lengths in evil-doing as to provoke the Lord to destroy them utterly.



In these paragraphs, Ellen White has used scattered words from March, omitting Marchs suppositions about the people knowing what Elijah looked like, about what Elijah remembered, and about what he experienced in the wilderness. Instead, she acknowledged what can be knownthat Gods designs were nearly forgotten and that Elijah lived in a mountain retreat. She also applied phrasing from Matthew 3:3. Although March used quotation marks when quoting Milton, he listed no source, assuming his readers would know or did not need to know whom he was quoting. The phrase the beneficent designs of Jehovah is from RH 6-17-1915. Other highlighted wording is from RH 8-14-1913. The phrase his soul was distressed was earlier used in RH 9-23-1873 (same as 3T 273.2).

[NS 197.2] The priests of Baal had set up the worship of Nature on every high place and under every green tree [1 Kings 14:23]. The heathen Jezebel had imported the lascivious rites of Ashtaroth, the Sidonian Venus, from her home by the Great Sea. The people had been taught that these pagan deities ruled the elements of earth and fire and water by their mystic spells. But Elijah still believed that the sun and the clouds, the hills and valleys, the streams and the fountains were in the hands of Jehovah, the God of Israel, as they were when Moses smote the rock in the wilderness and living waters gushed outas they were when Joshua commanded and the sun stayed from going down, and Samuel prayed and the Lord sent thunder and rain in the time of harvest.

[PK 115.3] Through the influence of Jezebel and her impious priests, the people were taught that the idol gods that had been set up were deities, ruling by their mystic power the elements of earth, fire, and water. All the bounties of heaventhe running brooks, the streams of living water, the gentle dew, the showers of rain which refreshed the earth and caused the fields to bring forth abundantlywere ascribed to the favor of Baal and Ashtoreth, instead of to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The people forgot that the hills and valleys, the streams and fountains, were in the hand of the living God, that He controlled the sun, the clouds of heaven, and all the powers of nature.

[PK 120.1] Elijahs prayer was answered. Oft-repeated appeals, remonstrances, and warnings had failed to bring Israel to repentance. The time had come when God must speak to them by means of judgments. Inasmuch as the worshipers of Baal claimed that the treasures of heaven, the dew and the rain, came not from Jehovah, but from the ruling forces of nature, and that it was through the creative energy of the sun that the earth was enriched and made to bring forth abundantly, the curse of God was to rest heavily upon the polluted land. The apostate tribes of Israel were to be shown the folly of trusting to the power of Baal for temporal blessings. Until they should turn to God with repentance, and acknowledge Him as the source of all blessing, there should fall upon the land neither dew nor rain.

Aside from the peppering of verbatim phrases from March in this paragraph, Ellen Whites independent description is an expansion of 1 Kings 17:17: And EElliijjaahh tthhee TTiisshhbbiittee, who was of the inhabitants ooff GGiilleeaadd, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be ddeeww nnoorr rraaiinn these years, but according to my wwoorrdd. . . . And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in tthhee llaanndd. Both authors described the popular belief in Baals rather than Jehovahs control of nature. (Baals consort was Ashtoreth, also written Ashtaroth.) However, March painted a contrast between what the people had been taught and what Elijah believed, while Ellen White has assumed Jehovahs sovereignty and has pictured the claims of the worshippers of Baal as a departure from the knowledge of the true God. Ellen White also emphasized the judgment of drought in answer to Elijahs prayer. Highlighted wording for PK 115.3 is from RH 8-7-1913, ST 12-18-1884, and 3T (1875) 262.3; highlighted wording for PK 120.1 is from RH 8-14-1913 and RH 10-7-1873 (3T [1875] 287.4).

Pages 199207 Prophets and Kings, pp. 121128 Elijah (TWL 176, 177)

[NS 199.2] And now let apostate Ahab and pagan Jezebel make full proof of the power of their gods to unsay the prophets word. They have altars and priests and sacrifices to the sun and moon and all the host of heaven. They have consecrated temples and groves and shrines and images to the brooks and rivers, to the falling rain and the gentle dew, to the fruits of the earth, the revolving seasons and all the secret powers of nature. They are many; and against them all the bare word of Elijah stands alone. Let them take their time. The prophet of Jehovah is safe and he can wait. If they can make the heavens give rain, or if the ordinary course of nature goes on of itself, then the word of the Lord has not come by Elijah. If Baal can clothe the fields with verdure, if he can bring forth the harvest in its season, then let the king worship him and let all the people say he is God.

[PK 123.2] The prophets words went into immediate effect. Those who were at first inclined to scoff at the thought of calamity, soon had occasion for serious reflection; for after a few months the earth, unrefreshed by dew or rain, became dry, and vegetation withered. As time passed, streams that had never been known to fail began to decrease, and brooks began to dry up. Yet the people were urged by their leaders to have confidence in the power of Baal and to set aside as idle words the prophecy of Elijah. The priests still insisted that it was through the power of Baal that the showers of rain fell. Fear not the God of Elijah, nor tremble at His word, they urged, it is Baal that brings forth the harvest in its season and provides for man and beast.

[PK 124.1] Gods message to Ahab gave Jezebel and her priests and all the followers of Baal and Ashtoreth opportunity to test the power of their gods, and, if possible, to prove the word of Elijah false. Against the assurances of hundreds of idolatrous priests, the prophecy of Elijah stood alone. If, notwithstanding the prophets declaration, Baal could still give dew and rain, causing the streams to continue to flow and vegetation to flourish, then let the king of Israel worship him and the people say that he is God.

The phrase bring[s] forth the harvest in its season, echoes Gods promise of rain and the increase in Leviticus 26:4, Then I will give you rraaiinn in due sseeaassoonn, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. In describing what they would have said of Baal, both authors use what the people will be compelled to say of Yahweh: And when all tthhee ppeeooppllee saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, hhee iiss the GGoodd; the LORD, hhee iiss the GGoodd (1 Kings 18:39).

42 White Lie Soap

[NS 200.2] Coming over from Gilead to Samaria, he passed Salim and Enon with their gushing fountains of water. He crossed the fertilizing brooks and the marshy plains of Beth-shan. Looking forth from the palace of Ahab, he could survey the green hills of Samaria, and the excellency of wooded Carmel, and the teeming plain of Jezreel, and the flowery fens of the Kishon. On the north and east were Little Hermon and Tabor and Gilboa, fountains of perpetual streams. Every winding brook and every green hill, every grove on the heights and every cloud on the distant sea, would say to his doubting heart: No, this land cannot be burned with drought nor wasted with famine. No word of thine can forbid the heavens to give showers or the earth to bring forth fruit. It cannot be the word of the Lord which puts the rain and the dew in thy power. Speak it not, lest evil come upon thee and the wicked mock at thy delusion.

[PK 121.2a] It was only by the exercise of strong faith in the unfailing power of Gods word that Elijah delivered his message. Had he not possessed implicit confidence in the One whom he served, he would never have appeared before Ahab. On his way to Samaria, Elijah had passed by ever-flowing streams, hills covered with verdure, and stately forests that seemed beyond the reach of drought. Everything on which the eye rested was clothed with beauty. The prophet might have wondered how the streams that had never ceased their flow could become dry, or how those hills and valleys could be burned with drought.

[NS 201.1] So would Elijahs doubting heart say to him all the way as he came down from Mount Gilead into the gorge of the Jordan, and then climbed up the western hills and passed over into the luxuriant vale of Jezreel, to speak the word of the Lord to Ahab. So might he doubt whether his prayer of imprecation could shut up the heavens and change that garden into a desert. But he resisted the doubt. He obeyed the Divine voice which sent him forth at the peril of his life to stand before Ahab. If it cost him his life, he would show his apostate people that Jehovah was God in Israel, and all the gods of Jezebel and Zidon were vanity.

[PK 121.2b] But he gave no place to unbelief. He fully believed that God would humble apostate Israel, and that through judgments they would be brought to repentance. The fiat of Heaven had gone forth; Gods word could not fail; and at the peril of his life Elijah fearlessly fulfilled his commission. Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, the message of impending judgment fell upon the ears of the wicked king; but before Ahab could recover from his astonishment, or frame a reply, Elijah disappeared as abruptly as he had come, without waiting to witness the effect of his message. And the Lord went before him, making plain the way. Turn thee eastward, the prophet was bidden, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee. [1 Kings 17:3, 4]

[NS 205.0b] By and by, the shepherd finds that the brooks are getting lower among the hills. The ploughman is startled to see the earth dry in the bottom of his furrow. The vintager looks at his vines, and turns to the sky with increasing anxiety every morning. A whole year passes and another begins, and there is no rain. A second and a third is completed, and the inexorable sky is still covered day and night with the same dry and dusty haze, out of which no clouds form and no dew falls. The sun grows red and dim as it descends the western sky, and disappears an hour before it reaches the horizon. The brightest stars make only a faint blur of light here and there in the zenith, and the outline of the distant hills is lost in the lurid air. The flames of sacrifice burn red on all the high places around Samaria and Jezreel, and the priests of Baal make the night hideous with their cries. But the clouds refuse to form, and no spells of the false prophets can unsay Elijahs word.

[NS 205.1a] The parched earth is all burnt over as with fire. The once fruitful field becomes like ashes from the furnace. The hot wind drains the moisture from the green leaf and the living flesh, and the suffocating dust-storm sweeps along the hills and highways like the simoom of the desert. The grass withers on the hill-sides and in the valleys. The harvest turns to stubble before it is half grown. The groves give no shade, and the trees of the forest stretch their skeleton arms in mute supplication to the pitiless sky. The weary and heart-broken shepherd leads his panting herd from valley to valley in search of water, and daily the bleating of flocks grows fainter among the hills.

[PK 124.3] A year passes, and yet there is no rain. The earth is parched as if with fire. The scorching heat of the sun destroys what little vegetation has survived. Streams dry up, and lowing herds and bleating flocks wander hither and thither in distress. Once-flourishing fields have become like burning desert sands, a desolate waste. The groves dedicated to idol worship are leafless; the forest trees, gaunt skeletons of nature, afford no shade. The air is dry and suffocating; dust storms blind the eyes and nearly stop the breath. Once-prosperous cities and villages have become places of mourning. Hunger and thirst are telling upon man and beast with fearful mortality. Famine, with all its horror, comes closer and still closer.

Unique parallel words tell us that Ellen White incorporated some of Marchs wording in her own retelling of these biblical events. Though March emphasized Elijahs doubting heart, Ellen White emphasized his implicit confidence, while he might have wondered how the earth could be burned with drought. The passing of years is from 1 Kings 17:1 and 18:1: And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the tthhiirrdd yyeeaarr, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. Highlighted wording in this section is from RH 8-21-1913, RH 8-14-1913, RH 12-18-1884, and RH 9-23-1873 (same as 3T 274.3). The tan highlighting indicates March was first used in the RH articles.

Pages 208216 Prophets and Kings, pp. 143165 Included in NS 189222 (TWL 179182)

Pages 292299 Prophets and Kings, pp. 523531 Included in NS 285302 (TWL 184, 185)



Daniel March, Our Fathers House, p. 255 Messages to Young People, p. 103 The hawk and the dove (TWL 186)

[OFH 255.1] This world affords most pleasure and profit to him who makes it his servant and never permits it to become his master. It is only while keeping the world, with all its passions, pleasures and temptations, beneath our feet that we are safe. I have seen the bird of prey in chase of the timid dove. The dove knew that the hawk, in making its attack, must swoop down from a loftier height. And so the defenceless creature rose, circle above circle, higher and higher, toward heaven. Above the hills and above the mountains, and above the morning clouds, the panting fugitive climbed with laboring wing, and all the while the eager hawk went screaming after, striving in vain to reach a loftier height from which to rush down, like a thunderbolt, and seize the prey. But the dove was safe so long as she continued to soar. She had nothing to fear from the talons of her rapacious foe so long as she suffered nothing to entice her back to the earth. But once let her cease to rise, and her watchful enemy would soon reach a loftier elevation, and from thence shoot down with deadly aim for her destruction.

[MYP 103.2] Have you ever watched a hawk in pursuit of a timid dove? Instinct has taught the dove that in order for the hawk to seize his prey, he must gain a loftier flight than his victim. So she rises higher and still higher in the blue dome of heaven, ever pursued by the hawk, which is seeking to obtain the advantage. But in vain. The dove is safe as long as she allows nothing to stop her in her flight, or draw her earthward; but let her once falter, and take a lower flight, and her watchful enemy will swoop down upon his victim. Again and again have we watched this scene with almost breathless interest, all our sympathies with the little dove. How sad we should have felt to see it fall a victim to the cruel hawk!

Mrs. White has obviously borrowed phrasing from March in drawing readers into the life-and-death contest between hawk and dove with the question, Have you ever watched a hawk in pursuit of a timid dove? Yet, her words, Again and again have we watched this scene with almost breathless interest, indicate that the aeronautic drama was something that she had personally observed on many occasions. Ellen White first published this illustration in YI 5-12-1898.

Page 336 Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (1896), p. 44 Trial patiently borne (TWL 186)

[NS 336] Every trial patiently borne, every blessing gratefully received, every temptation faithfully resisted, carries us higher on the shining way that leads to glory and to God.

[MB 44.4] Trials patiently borne, blessings gratefully received, temptations manfully resisted, meekness, kindness, mercy, and love habitually revealed, are the lights that shine forth in the character in contrast with the darkness of the selfish heart, into which the light of life has never shone.

Ellen White used this description in expounding upon Matthew 5:14, Ye are the light of the world, to provide a contrast with the darkness of the selfish heart. MB 44.4 comes from ST 1-15-1880, which was also used in PP 134.2.

Pages 2542 Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 156170 Destruction of Sodom (TWL 286288)

[NS 28.2] And yet the last night is casting its shadows upon the walls and battlements of the doomed city. According to the custom of the land and the time, the chief men are sitting in the gate. Old and young are all abroad in the open air. The idle multitude are coming and going to gather the gossip of the day and enjoy the cool wind that comes up from the lake outside of the walls. The sun has gone down behind the western hills, and the brief twilight lingers as if loth to go, like a purple fringe on the dusky garments of the coming night. [NS 29.2] The plains surrounding the city are like the

garden of the Lord in fertility. The most indolent culture secures an abundance for the supply of every want. The distant hills are covered with flocks. The merchants of the East bring their treasures from afar. The camels and dromedaries of the desert lay down their burdens at her gates. And the fair city in the vale of Siddim revels in the profusion of everything that nature and art can produce. The chief men display the luxury and the pride of princes. The common people make a holiday of the whole year.

[PP 157.4] And now the last night of Sodom was approaching. Already the clouds of vengeance cast their shadows over the devoted city. But men perceived it not. While angels drew near on their mission of destruction, men were dreaming of prosperity and pleasure. The last day was like every other that had come and gone. Evening fell upon a scene of loveliness and security. A landscape of unrivaled beauty was bathed in the rays of the declining sun. The coolness of eventide had called forth the inhabitants of the city, and the pleasure-seeking throngs were passing to and fro, intent upon the enjoyment of the hour. [PP 156.1] Fairest among the cities of the Jordan Valley was

Sodom, set in a plain which was as the garden of the Lord [Gen. 13:10] in its fertility and beauty. Here the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics flourished. Here was the home of the palm tree, the olive, and the vine; and flowers shed their fragrance throughout the year. Rich harvests clothed the fields, and flocks and herds covered the encircling hills. Art and commerce contributed to enrich the proud city of the plain. The treasures of the East adorned her palaces, and the caravans of the desert brought their stores of precious things to supply her marts of trade. With little thought or labor, every want of life could be supplied, and the whole year seemed one round of festivity.

Ellen White borrowed part of Marchs setting in retelling this familiar account of the destruction of Sodom. Differences are that NS 28 refers to a cool wind, while PP 157 refers to the coolness of eventide. Ellen White also effectively contrasts the dreams of the inhabitants of Sodom of prosperity and pleasure with the angels mission of destruction. NS 28 was used in ST 8-24-1882: There is an abundance for the supply of every want, almost without labor. The distant hills are covered with flocks. The merchants of the East bring their treasures from afar. The people live for pleasure and make one long holiday of the year.

44 White Lie Soap

[NS 30.0] The multitude look as if they were strangers equally to want and to work. Like birds in summer, they enjoy the season as it passes, and they take no thought for the morrow. [Matt. 6:34] Idleness and riches stimulate the appetite for pleasure, and they go to every excess in indulgence. They have everything that the sensual can desire, and their only study is to find new ways of gratifying the coarsest and basest passion. According to the testimony of One who knew all history, they eat and drink, they buy and sell, they plant and build, and their whole thought and effort and desire is given to a life of the senses, denying God and debasing the soul. And they are so passionate and haughty in their devotion to earthly possessions and sensual pleasures as to count it a mockery for one to say that there may be guilt or danger in such a life.

[PP 156.2] The profusion reigning everywhere gave birth to luxury and pride. Idleness and riches make the heart hard that has never been oppressed by want or burdened by sorrow. The love of pleasure was fostered by wealth and leisure, and the people gave themselves up to sensual indulgence. Behold, says the prophet, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. Ezekiel 16:49, 50. There is nothing more desired among men than riches and leisure, and yet these gave birth to the sins that brought destruction upon the cities of the plain. Their useless, idle life made them a prey to Satans temptations, and they defaced the image of God, and became satanic rather than divine. Idleness is the greatest curse that can fall upon man, for vice and crime follow in its train. It enfeebles the mind, perverts the understanding, and debases the soul. Satan lies in ambush, ready to destroy those who are unguarded, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself under some attractive disguise. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours.

NS 30 echoes Luke 17:28: Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eeaatt, they drank, they bought, they sold, tthheeyy ppllaanntted, they bbuuiilldded; PP 156.2 links the iiddlleenneessss of the Sodomites to Ezekiel 16:49, 50 and warns of Satans attacks upon the unguarded and idle. (4bSG (1864) 137.3 had previously quoted Eze. 16:49.) The love of pleasure, in PP 156.2, echoes 2 Tim. 3:4: Traitors, heady, highminded, lloovveers ooff pplleeaassuurrees more than lovers of God. While PP 156.2 uses defaced the image of God to describe the inhabitants of Sodom, adding and became satanic rather than divine, Ellen White had previously used the phrase defaced the image of God in describing the violence of the antediluvians and how they had corrupted their ways. She wrote: They loved to destroy the lives of animals. They used them for food, and this increased their ferocity and violence, and caused them to look upon the blood of human beings with astonishing indifference. But if there was one sin above another which called for the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion everywhere. God purposed to destroy by a flood that powerful, long-lived race that had corrupted their ways before him (3SG [1864] 63.1, 64.1).3 For violence, see Genesis 6:11, 13; for the image of God, see Genesis 1:27; for the confusion of sexual relations with beasts, see Leviticus 18:23; for all flesh having corrupted their ways, see Genesis 6:11, 12, 17.4 Other highlighted wording is from ST 8-24-1882 and ST 5-4-1882.

[NS 31.1] Two strangers are seen approaching the city. The softened radiance of the evening light shows nothing unusual in their appearance. They seem to be only common travelers coming down from the hill-country, and turning in for shelter by night, that they may rise up early in the morning and go on their journey. Gods mightiest messengers of mercy and of wrath often come in a very common garb. We must give earnest heed and keep ourselves upon the watch, or the angels of blessing and of deliverance will come and pass by us unawares, and we shall not receive their help. [NS 31.2] There was but one man at the gate of Sodom

sufficiently attentive to notice the strangers and invite them to his own house. He did not know who they were, nor did he suspect the awful errand upon which they came. But by treating them with such courtesy as was due to the character of strangers, in which they came, he secured for himself such help as angels alone could give in the time of his greatest need. Fidelity in the most common and homely duties of life opens the door of the house for the greatest of heavens blessings to come in. The discharge of duties that are fully known and easily understood is the first qualification for the comprehension of the deepest and most awful mysteries of our being and destiny.

[PP 158.1] In the twilight two strangers drew near to the city gate. They were apparently travelers coming in to tarry for the night. None could discern in those humble wayfarers the mighty heralds of divine judgment, and little dreamed the gay, careless multitude that in their treatment of these heavenly messengers that very night they would reach the climax of the guilt which doomed their proud city. But there was one man who manifested kindly attention toward the strangers and invited them to his home. Lot did not know their true character, but politeness and hospitality were habitual with him; they were a part of his religionlessons that he had learned from the example of Abraham. Had he not cultivated a spirit of courtesy, he might have been left to perish with the rest of Sodom. Many a household, in closing its doors against a stranger, has shut out Gods messenger, who would have brought blessing and hope and peace. [PP 158.2] Every act of life, however small, has its bearing for good

or for evil. Faithfulness or neglect in what are apparently the smallest duties may open the door for lifes richest blessings or its greatest calamities. It is little things that test the character. It is the unpretending acts of daily self-denial, performed with a cheerful, willing heart, that God smiles upon. We are not to live for self, but for others. And it is only by self-forgetfulness, by cherishing a loving, helpful spirit, that we can make our life a blessing. The little attentions, the small, simple courtesies, go far to make up the sum of lifes happiness, and the neglect of these constitutes no small share of human wretchedness.

Both authors have related the familiar account of Lots hospitality from Genesis 19:1, 2, affirming the lesson of faithfulness in small duties. Ellen White used scattered vocabulary from March, while telling the story her own way, and cited Abraham as Lots example. Highlighted is from ST 9-2-1886 and 2T (1870) 647.1. The last sentence is from RH 6-22-1886, ST 2-23-1882, and 2T (1868) 133.2.



[NS 32.1] The idle throng in the streets deride the hospitable old man for taking the two strangers home to his own house. They see nothing in them worthy of such attention. They are much more ready to treat them with rudeness and contempt, or to make them the subjects of the passion which has given their city a name of infamy throughout all generations. They hoot and jeer at the venerable patriarch when he rises up from his seat in the gate to meet the travelers, and bows himself with his face to the ground, and says with Eastern courtesy, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants house, and tarry all night. [Gen. 19:2.] The vilest suggestions are passed to and fro among the lewd and leering rabble as the old man leads his guests away. The hour of rest has not come before a crowd gathers in the streets and besets the house where the strangers have gone to repose. They become more clamorous, with infamous outcries and rude assault, as night wears on. They are so blinded and besotted in their sensuality that they would do violence to Gods mighty angels, who can wrap their city in flames and open the pit of destruction beneath their habitations in a moment.

[PP 158.3] Seeing the abuse to which strangers were exposed in Sodom, Lot made it one of his duties to guard them at their entrance, by offering them entertainment at his own house. He was sitting at the gate as the travelers approached, and upon observing them, he rose from his place to meet them, and bowing courteously, said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants house, and tarry all night. They seemed to decline his hospitality, saying, Nay; but we will abide in the street. [Gen. 19:2.] Their object in this answer was twofoldto test the sincerity of Lot and also to appear ignorant of the character of the men of Sodom, as if they supposed it safe to remain in the street at night. Their answer made Lot the more determined not to leave them to the mercy of the rabble. He pressed his invitation until they yielded, and accompanied him to his house. [PP 159.1] He had hoped to conceal his intention from the idlers at

the gate by bringing the strangers to his home by a circuitous route; but their hesitation and delay, and his persistent urging, caused them to be observed, and before they had retired for the night, a lawless crowd gathered about the house. It was an immense company, youth and aged men alike inflamed by the vilest passions. The strangers had been making inquiry in regard to the character of the city, and Lot had warned them not to venture out of his door that night, when the hooting and jeers of the mob were heard, demanding that the men be brought out to them.

[NS 32.2] The celestial messengers had come to see whether there were any, in all that city, who could be persuaded to escape from the impending doom. And the iniquity of the inhabitants was full; the last drop was added to the fiery cup of wrath to be poured upon their heads, when they received the warning as an idle tale and treated the messengers with contempt. So dreadful a thing it is to slight Gods offered salvation, even though it should be meant only for once. For when the angels of mercy go back to Him that sent them, it may be that they will kindle behind them the fires of wrath.

The men of Sodom did not think they were doing anything unusual when they beset the house of Lot and came near to break the door. They were no more riotous or dissolute on the last night than they had been many nights before. But there is a point beyond which the Divine forbearance cannot go. And they had reached that point when they clamoured against Lot, and would have beaten him down in the streets for protecting his angel-guests. When blindness fell upon them, and they wearied themselves to find the door, they had already passed

The hidden boundary between Gods patience and his wrath. [J. A. Alexander, D.D.]

[PP 159.2] Knowing that if provoked to violence they could easily break into his house, Lot went out to try the effect of persuasion upon them. I pray you, brethren, he said, do not so wickedly, using the term brethren in the sense of neighbors, and hoping to conciliate them and make them ashamed of their vile purposes. [Gen. 19:7.] But his words were like oil upon the flames. Their rage became like the roaring of a tempest. They mocked Lot as making himself a judge over them, and threatened to deal worse with him than they had purposed toward his guests. They rushed upon him, and would have torn him in pieces had he not been rescued by the angels of God. The heavenly messengers put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. [Gen. 19:10.] The events that followed, revealed the character of the guests he had entertained. They smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. [Gen. 19:11.] Had they not been visited with double blindness, being given up to hardness of heart, the stroke of God upon them would have caused them to fear, and to desist from their evil work. That last night was marked by no greater sins than many others before it; but mercy, so long slighted, had at last ceased its pleading. The inhabitants of Sodom had passed the limits of divine forbearancethe hidden boundary between Gods patience and His wrath. The fires of His vengeance were about to be kindled in the vale of Siddim.

Both authors fleshed out the biblical account of Gods judgment on Sodom, though Ellen White relied more on Scripture, applying the mens jeering at the door, as in Genesis 19:5. She also emphasized the character of the guests and the men outside. It should be self-evident that this was Sodoms last night. Both authors used quotation marks with the phrase the hidden boundary between Gods patience and his wrath, neither identifying Alexander as the author. March, who was the original borrower of the phrase, must have assumed that either readers would recognize the expressions source or that they would not need to know the source. Highlighted is from ST 8-24-1882.

[NS 33.2a] For the sake of the righteous man, Lot, there was just one thing more to be done. The aged father is permitted to go out and urge his sons-in-law to flee from the doomed city. He makes his way to their houses through the blinded rabble in the streets, and gives the warning. But he seems to them as one that mocked. [Gen. 19:14.] They cannot think it possible that he is in his right mind, to be coming to them at that late hour of the night with such an alarming message.

[PP 159.3b] But he seemed to them as one that mocked. [Gen. 19:14.] They laughed at what they called his superstitious fears. His daughters were influenced by their husbands. They were well enough off where they were. They could see no evidence of danger. Everything was just as it had been. They had great possessions, and they could not believe it possible that beautiful Sodom would be destroyed.

46 White Lie Soap

[NS 33.2b] They only tell him to go home and quiet his fears by dismissing the suspicious strangers and going to sleep in his own house. They cannot think of troubling themselves about the anxieties of a wakeful and weak-minded old man, when nothing is wanted but a little rest to dismiss his fears. They will sleep on till morning, and to-morrow they will laugh at the kind-hearted old father about his midnight call.

[PP 159.3a] The angels revealed to Lot the object of their mission: We will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. [Gen. 19:13.] The strangers whom Lot had endeavored to protect, now promised to protect him, and to save also all the members of his family who would flee with him from the wicked city. The mob had wearied themselves out and departed, and Lot went out to warn his children. He repeated the words of the angels, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. [Gen. 19:14]

[NS 37.0b] One of the four fugitives pauses to look back, with a vain curiosity to see what would become of the city, and so fails to escape.

[NS 38.2] . . . The lurid flame of this great act of the divine justice sends its warning light through all the centuries of human history, to show that there is a God in heaven, before whom the cry of mans iniquity goes up day and night. . . .

[PP 161.2b] But one of the fugitives ventured to cast a look backward to the doomed city, and she became a monument of Gods judgment.

[PP 162.3] The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their warning light down even to our time. We are taught the fearful and solemn lesson that while Gods mercy bears long with the transgressor, there is a limit beyond which men may not go on in sin. . . .

Both authors expanded on Genesis 19:13, 14, the source of the principal parallel between the two: But he seems to them as one that mocked. Both referred to Genesis 19:26: But his wife llooookked bbaacckk from behind him, aanndd sshhee bbeeccaammee aa pillar of salt. They differ on Lots passing through the rabble to get to his sons-in-laws. Highlighted is from RH 11-14-1882, LP 318.1, ST 8-24-1882, and 4T 166.4.

Pages 4562 Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 147155 Abrahams great test (TWL 282286; 394395, using 4T 144, 145)

[NS 45.1] Abraham was an hundred and twenty years old when he received the strange and startling command to offer his only and beloved son Isaac for a burnt offering, upon an unknown mountain in the land of Moriah. The message came to him in a vision of the night, in his quiet home in Beersheba. We can well imagine that there would be no more sleep for him that night, after he had heard that mysterious and awful voice which spoke only to him, and which himself only could hear. [NS 45.2] He already passed for an aged man, even upon the

longer average of human life in his time. His heart had lost much of the fervid and hopeful feeling of youth. It was no longer easy for him to bend before the storm of affliction, and rise with renewed strength when the blow was past. It would be a bitter thing for him now to be made to drink more deeply of the cup of sorrow than he ever had done in the days of his young manhood. [NS 45.3] It is easy to face the storm while the heart is fresh

and full of hope, and we can rise up from every disappointment strong in the purpose and promise to reap the fruits of success and repose in after years. But it is very hard for an old man to find that the sorest trial is reserved for the last, when the burden of age is heavy upon his shoulders and the fire of youth is dim in his eye.

[PP 147.2] God had called Abraham to be the father of the faithful, and his life was to stand as an example of faith to succeeding generations. But his faith had not been perfect. He had shown distrust of God in concealing the fact that Sarah was his wife, and again in his marriage with Hagar. That he might reach the highest standard, God subjected him to another test, the closest which man was ever called to endure. In a vision of the night he was directed to repair to the land of Moriah, and there offer up his son as a burnt offering upon a mountain that should be shown him. [PP 147.3] At the time of receiving this command,

Abraham had reached the age of a hundred and twenty years. He was regarded as an old man, even in his generation. In his earlier years he had been strong to endure hardship and to brave danger, but now the ardor of his youth had passed away. One in the vigor of manhood may with courage meet difficulties and afflictions that would cause his heart to fail later in life, when his feet are faltering toward the grave. But God had reserved His last, most trying test for Abraham until the burden of years was heavy upon him, and he longed for rest from anxiety and toil.

Here, Ellen White did not follow Marchs wording in general. The central point of the paragraph comes from Genesis 22:2: And he said, Take now thy ssoonn, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into tthhee llaanndd ooff MMoorriiaahh; aanndd ooffffeerr him there for aa bbuurrnntt ooffffeerriinngg uuppoonn one of the mmoouunnttaaiinns which I will tell thee of. Genesis 22:3 says that Abraham rose early in the morning. We can logically assume that the vviissiioonn had come tthhee nniigghhtt before. The book of Job uses the phrase in a vision of the night to describe a dream (Job 20:8; 33:15). Ellen White used it various times in describing her own communications from God (e.g. 10MR 13.2; 20MR 31.3; Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, p. 375, par. 2). 3SG 105.1 had earlier quoted Job 33:15 and, like Patriarchs and Prophets, had included the reason for this second testing of Abrahams faith.

Both authors emphasized how difficult a test this was for the aged Abraham, and both mentioned a specific age. Scripture does not give Abrahams age, though it does say that he was 100 years old when Isaac was born (Gen. 21:5). At the time of the test, Isaac was described as being a lad (Heb. naar) able to carry wood (Gen. 22:5, 6, 12). Later in Genesis, Joseph was described as being a naar at age 17 and age 30 (Gen. 37:2; 41:12, 46). That Abraham was about 120 years old is consistent with his sons being about 20. Parts of the story were previously mentioned in earlier articles. ST 4-1-1875 mentioned the specific age of one hundred and twenty years; RH 6-9-1885 mentioned the reserving of this difficult test until this specific time. Highlighted wording is from ST 6-2-1887, ST 4-3-1879, ST 3-27-1879, 4T (1876) 144, ST 4-1-1875, and 3SG 105.



[NS 46.1] But now he needed repose. His quiet home in Beersheba had been sought as a place of rest. There he had planted the sacred grove and reared a living temple for the worship of the Most High. There he had set up an altar and called on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God. There he had sunk deep wells in the solid rock, opening perpetual fountains of living water upon the borders of the desert. The Arabs camels bend their course across the burning sands today, to drink at the same spot where Abraham and his flocks refreshed themselves thirty-eight centuries ago. There he had gathered round him a great household, even hundreds of servants and herdsmen, and thousands of camels, and sheep, and goats, and cattle. His flocks and tents covered all the grassy plains between the deserts of Arabia and the hills and mountains of Judea. There Abraham had become very rich in silver and gold, and he was already greatest among all the men of the East. And there was fulfilled unto him the Divine promise in the gift of Isaac, the son of his hopes and his heart. His trials and conflicts all over, his desires all fulfilled, his faith confirmed, what had he now to expect but a serene and cheerful old age and a peaceful close of his long and eventful life?

[PP 147.4] The patriarch was dwelling at Beersheba, surrounded by prosperity and honor. He was very rich, and was honored as a mighty prince by the rulers of the land. Thousands of sheep and cattle covered the plains that spread out beyond his encampment. On every side were the tents of his retainers, the home of hundreds of faithful servants. The son of promise had grown up to manhood by his side. Heaven seemed to have crowned with its blessing a life of sacrifice in patient endurance of hope deferred.

Genesis 13:5, 6 describes Abrahams immense wealth in sheep and cattle: And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. Though Abraham was extremely prosperous, March overstated his wealth, stretching his holdings from the deserts of Arabia to the hills and mountains of Judea. Genesis 12:16 mentions camels as part of that which Pharaoh offered Abram for Sarah, but it does not say Abram had thousands of them. Regarding the place of Abrahams dwelling, mentioned by both authors, Genesis 22:19 says: So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt aatt BBeeeerrsshheebbaa. In 1864, Ellen White used the terms a mighty prince (3SG 98.1) and the son of promise. 3SG 106.2: Abraham believed that Isaac was the son of promise. He also believed that God meant just what he said when he bid him to go offer him as a burnt-offering. He staggered not at the promise of God; but believed that God, who had in his providence given Sarah a son in her old age, and who had required him to take that sons life, could also give life again, and bring up Isaac from the dead. Ellen White drew this earlier description from Romans 4 and Hebrews 11: HHee ssttaaggggeerreedd nnoott aatt tthhee pprroommiissee ooff GGoodd through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Rom. 4:20); Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even ffrroomm tthhee ddeeaadd; from whence also he received him in a figure (Heb. 11:19); Through faith also SSaarraa herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past aaggee, because she judged him faithful who had promised (Heb. 11:11).

[NS 47.1] He had left father and mother, kindred and country, at the Divine command. He had lived a pilgrim and a stranger in a land not his own. He had clung to the Divine promise, when, to all human judgment its fulfillment seemed a contradiction and an impossibility. He had borne all the bitterness of a fathers grief in sending forth Ishmael to wander in the wilderness. And, after all these trials of faith and submission, could there be in store yet another and greater to wring his aged heart when he was least able to bear it?

[PP 148.1] In the obedience of faith, Abraham had forsaken his native countryhad turned away from the graves of his fathers and the home of his kindred. He had wandered as a stranger in the land of his inheritance. He had waited long for the birth of the promised heir. At the command of God he had sent away his son Ishmael. And now, when the child so long desired was entering upon manhood, and the patriarch seemed able to discern the fruition of his hopes, a trial greater than all others was before him.

Ellen White interacted with Marchs description, further qualifying Isaacs agewhen the child so long desired was entering upon manhood. NS 47.1 says of Abraham, He had left father and mother (used in ST 4-1-1875). PP 148.1 corrects this, saying, Abraham had forsaken his native country. He did not leave his father behind. His father Terah left Ur with Abram, though he died in Haran during the journey (Gen. 11:31, 32). The word kindred is from Genesis 12:1. A stranger in and land are from Genesis 15:13 (see also Gen. 17:8). Sent away is from Genesis 21:14. Highlighted wording is from ST 4-1-1875.

[NS 47.2a] The announcement of the voice in the night vision at Beersheba must have fallen upon Abraham like a peal of thunder from a cloudless sky. And the terms in which the terrible command is expressed seem as if they were intentionally chosen to harrow up his soul. Every word is a dagger to pierce the fathers heart. Four times over, the emphasis falls just where it would give him the deepest pain: Take now, thy son, thine only son, Isaac whom thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt-offering.

[PP 148.2a] The command was expressed in words that must have wrung with anguish that fathers heart: Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, . . . and offer him there for a burnt offering. Isaac was the light of his home, the solace of his old age, above all else the inheritor of the promised blessing.

March has made it seem as if Gods command was intended to hurt Abraham; Ellen White has merely noted its effect. Before using Marchs words, Mrs. White had written about the significance of the command. In 1864, she wrote: The command of God was calculated to stir the depths of his soul. Take now thy son. Then as though to probe the heart a little deeper, he adds, thine only son whom thou lovest. That is, the only son of promise, and offer him as a burnt-offering. [Gen. 22:2.] (3SG 105.2a; cf. 1SP 99.1). Mrs. Whites account of Abraham in Spirit of Prophecy (1870), vol. 1, is nearly an exact duplicate of Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3. Mrs. White first adapted NS 47 in ST 4-1-1875. Highlighted wording is from ST 6-2-1887 and 4T (1876) 144.3.

48 White Lie Soap

[NS 47.2b] It would have been enough to break an old mans heart to lose such a son by the ordinary course of sickness and death. Then he could be watched and comforted, and his last hours soothed by the acts of parental tenderness and affection. But how could a father shed the life-blood of that son with his own hand? How could he heap on the fuel and the fire that must burn his body to ashes in his own sight?

[NS 48.1] It makes the home desolate, and it casts a deep shadow upon all the subsequent pathway of life, for an aged father to lose one of many sons. How much more must the loss of all in one make the remainder of life but as the bitterness of death, and bring down the gray hairs of age with sorrow to the grave.

[PP 148.2b] The loss of such a son by accident or disease would have been heart rending to the fond father; it would have bowed down his whitened head with grief; but he was commanded to shed the blood of that son with his own hand. It seemed to him a fearful impossibility.

Ellen White added accident to disease as a possible cause of the loss of a son. Highlighted wording is from RH 6-9-1885. Mrs. Whites statement in 3SG 105.1 (published in 1864), Again the Lord saw fit to test the faith of Abraham by a most fearful trial, is a loose paraphrase of Genesis 22:1a: And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt AAbbrraahhaamm . . . .

[NS 49.3] Then, again, the seeming contradiction between this new command, and all the instructions and promises which had already been given to Abraham, must have added perplexity to his mind and agony to his heart. The voice came in a vision of the night. Strange, terrible and unaccountable it must have seemed to him at first, as if he had dreamed, or as if some tempting and tormenting demon had assumed to speak in the name of the Lord. Restless and alarmed, he rises up early, that the cool air of the morning may arrest the feverish dream, if it were only a dream, that had disturbed the peaceful sleep of the night. As he passes silently from the inner to the outer apartment of the tent, and looks upon the calm face of his sleeping son, he feels for the moment as if the blood of the dreadful sacrifice were already upon his hands. He shudders as the awful scene, upon some unknown mountain, flashes upon his mind. The repose of that peaceful countenance, dimly seen when the curtain door is lifted, makes the father groan in spirit when he thinks of the terrible secret in his own heart. [NS 50.1] He steps forth silently into the open air and looks up. The

coming dawn has just begun to tip the edge of the eastern hills with light. Above him the clear blue dome of Arabian skies is all ablaze with the fiery hosts of stars. He remembers that his fathers worshiped those peaceful orbs beyond the flood, and that no such message ever came to them from the silent depths of the firmament. He remembers that the Divine voice which called him out of Chaldea fifty years before, had once said to him, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; so shall thy seed be. [Gen. 15:5.] And can it be that now that same voice has commanded him to slay his only son?

[PP 148.4] Returning to his tent, he went to the place where Isaac lay sleeping the deep, untroubled sleep of youth and innocence. For a moment the father looked upon the dear face of his son, then turned tremblingly away. He went to the side of Sarah, who was also sleeping. Should he awaken her, that she might once more embrace her child? Should he tell her of Gods requirement? He longed to unburden his heart to her, and share with her this terrible responsibility; but he was restrained by the fear that she might hinder him. Isaac was her joy and pride; her life was bound up in him, and the mothers love might refuse the sacrifice. [PP 148.3a] Satan was at hand to suggest that he must

be deceived, for the divine law commands, Thou shalt not kill, and God would not require what He had once forbidden. [Exo. 20:13.] Going outside his tent, Abraham looked up to the calm brightness of the unclouded heavens, and recalled the promise made nearly fifty years before, that his seed should be innumerable as the stars. If this promise was to be fulfilled through Isaac, how could he be put to death? Abraham was tempted to believe that he might be under a delusion. In his doubt and anguish he bowed upon the earth, and prayed, as he had never prayed before, for some confirmation of the command if he must perform this terrible duty.

Both authors added color to Abrahams early morning departure, which is described briefly in Genesis 22:3: And Abraham rose up eeaarrllyy in the mmoorrnniinngg, and saddled his ass, and ttooookk ttwwoo ooff hhiiss young men with him, aanndd IIssaaaacc hhiiss ssoonn,, aanndd clave tthhee wwoooodd ffoorr tthhee bbuurrnntt ooffffeerriinngg,, and rose up, aanndd wweenntt uunnttoo tthhee ppllaaccee ooff wwhhiicchh GGoodd hhaadd ttoolldd hhiimm. Ellen White had earlier described this scene in 3SG (1864) 105.2a: Abraham did not disbelieve God, and hesitate, but early in the morning he took two of his servants, and Isaac his son, and the wood for the burnt-offering, and went unto the place of which God had told him. He did not reveal the true nature of his journey to Sarah, knowing that her affection for Isaac would lead her to distrust God, and withhold her son. Abraham did not suffer paternal feelings to control him, and lead him to rebel against God. Marchs mention of Abrahams avoidance of Isaacs mother is in NS (1872) 52.2. Gladys King-Taylor pointed to Mrs. Whites effective use of specific wording in the statement, He went to the side of Sarah, who was also sleeping. Should he awaken her, that she might once more embrace her child? (Literary Beauty of Ellen G. Whites Writings, p. 55). A similar thought to the sentence about Abrahams going to the place where Isaac lay sleeping the deep, untroubled sleep of youth and innocence is in ST 3-27-1879: He saw his loved son Isaac and the servants locked in slumber, but he could not sleep. PP 148.4 alludes to Genesis 44:30: . . . seeing that his lliiffee is bboouunndd uupp in the lads life. Calling attention to the phrase deep, un-trou-bled sleep of youth and innocence, Gladys King-Taylor commented, Hesitation, produced by the sound of evenly accented syllables, heightens the effect . . . (Literary Beauty, p. 113, emphasis hers). Highlighted wording is from ST 3-27-1879.

NS 50.1 suggests that Abraham was tempted to think that the voice in the dream came from a tormenting demon (NS 49.3). PP 148.3a affirms that Abraham knew God had spoken but focuses on Satans being at hand to suggest that he must be deceived. (PP 151.3 below depicts Satan as continuing to whisper doubts.) Mrs. White also modified the fifty years to nearly fifty years. PP 148.3a alludes to Gods promising Abraham that He would multiply Abrahams sseeeedd as tthhee ssttaarrss of heaven (Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; cf. Exo. 32:13), which she had previously mentioned in 3SG 98.1: The Lord appeared to Abraham and promised him that his seed should be like the stars of heaven for number. Other highlighted wording in PP 148.3a is from ST 4-3-1879 and ST 4-1-1875.



[NS 51.3] The wind moans through the sacred grove of terebinth, as if in sympathy with his great sorrow. He walks beneath the widespreading branches of the oaks, where he had many times met angels face to face. He listens and strains his eye in every direction through the gloom of the waning night, if peradventure he may descry some celestial messenger coming to relieve his perplexity. He bows at the foot of the altar which he has reared unto Jehovah, in an agony of prayer for more light. But his mind grows darker as the night wanes. Every sound seems to echo the dreadful word: Take thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest.

[NS 52.2] So Abraham goes silently to one of the tents where his servants sleep. Of the hundreds at his command, he selects two. They prepare the wood for the sacrifice and lay it upon the beast of burden, and the aged father, with a tender and tremulous voice, calls his son. But shall not the son be permitted to take leave of his mother? . . . It would cause alarm and confess the whole object of the journey . . . .

[PP 148.3b] He remembered the angels sent to reveal to him Gods purpose to destroy Sodom, and who bore to him the promise of this same son Isaac, and he went to the place where he had several times met the heavenly messengers, hoping to meet them again, and receive some further direction; but none came to his relief. Darkness seemed to shut him in; but the command of God was sounding in his ears, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. [Gen. 22:2.] That command must be obeyed, and he dared not delay. Day was approaching, and he must be on his journey.

[PP 151.1] The wood was made ready and put upon the ass, and with two menservants they set forth. His thoughts were of the proud, fond mother, and the day when he should return to her alone.

[NS 55.1] Abraham must have felt relieved when night came on, and they all lay down upon the bare earth, and Isaac and the young men slept. Then the agonizing father, wearied with the long torture, could withdraw himself from the company, and pour out the sorrows of his breaking heart under cover of the darkness, even as a greater Sufferer prayed in his agony, Oh, if it be possible let this cup pass from me! [Matt. 26:39.] The countless host of stars come out again in all their burning ranks upon the plains of heaven, only to pierce the soul of the patriarch as with a sword, while they remind him so clearly of that Divine promise, As the number of the stars, so shall thy seed be; and he is on his way to sacrifice his only son. [Gen. 15:5.] All night long he waits, if peradventure that voice which gave the terrible command will speak again, and tell him that his faith has been sufficiently triedhis son may live. But no such message comes.

[PP 151.3] That daythe longest that Abraham had ever experienceddragged slowly to its close. While his son and the young men were sleeping, he spent the night in prayer, still hoping that some heavenly messenger might come to say that the trial was enough, that the youth might return unharmed to his mother. But no relief came to his tortured soul. Another long day, another night of humiliation and prayer, while ever the command that was to leave him childless was ringing in his ears. Satan was near to whisper doubts and unbelief, but Abraham resisted his suggestions. As they were about to begin the journey of the third day, the patriarch, looking northward, saw the promised sign, a cloud of glory hovering over Mount Moriah, and he knew that the voice which had spoken to him was from heaven.

There are no significant parallels in this part of the story. Young men is from Genesis 22:19; the wood is from Genesis 22:3. Daniel March and Ellen White express different thoughts about Sarah (but cf. PP 148.4). Both mention Abrahams waiting for angels. March described Abraham as waiting for a voice; Ellen White described him as waiting for a heavenly messenger. March did not identify the promised sign. Genesis 18:2 describes Gods having communicated with Abraham through men, which are angels (3SG 103.3; 104.2). Gladys King-Taylor noted about the first sentence in Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 151, par. 3: The interposition of a long parenthetical phrase emphasizes the word dragged, and doubles the force of the thought (Literary Beauty, p. 113). Highlighted wording is from ST 4-1-1875, 3SG 103.1, and 3SG 105.2. 1T 454.1 uses he dared not and uses the description of Sarah, proud and loving mother.

[NS 58.1] . . . It must be with his own consent if he is offered at all. For he is a full-grown man, twenty-five years of age, and he can easily resist or escape the hand of his father, who has a hundred more years upon his shoulders.

[PP 152.2] He could have escaped his doom, had he chosen to do so; the grief-stricken old man, exhausted with the struggle of those three terrible days, could not have opposed the will of the vigorous youth. . . .

[NS 61.1a] Nothing is too precious for God to give to us. Abrahams offering of Isaac was appointed to foreshadow a greater and more awful sacrifice, which was complete when the Almighty Father actually gave His only-begotten Son to death that we might live. All the sorrows that wrung the heart of Abraham during the three days of his dark and dreadful trial were imposed on him to help us to understand how real, how deep, how unutterable was the self-denial of the infinite God in giving His own Son to death for our salvation. No trial, no mental torture could possibly have been greater to Abraham than that which he bore in obeying the command to sacrifice his son.

[PP 154.2a] It was to impress Abrahams mind with the reality of the gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay his son. The agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for mans redemption. No other test could have caused Abraham such torture of soul as did the offering of his son.

The same thought is in 3SG (1864) 107.1: Isaac believed in God. He had been taught implicit obedience to his father, and he loved and reverenced the God of his father. He could have resisted his father if he had chosen to do so. But after affectionately embracing his father, he submitted to be bound and laid upon the wood. March surmised Isaacs age to be 25, Ellen White that he was entering . . . manhood. Ellen White used some of Marchs words, but described the trial as being permitted rather than imposed. She taught that Abraham needed a further testing of his faith because of his previous lack of faith (PP 147.2). In 1SP 99.2, she says: he did not distrust God.

50 White Lie Soap

[NS 61.1b] God actually surrendered His well-beloved Son to the slow and dreadful agony of crucifixion. No voice from heaven commanded to stay the sacrifice when once He had been nailed to the cross. Legions of angels were in waiting, but they were not permitted to interpose for His relief. The torture and the mockery went on till He bowed His head in death. And all for our sake! Surely the Infinite One himself can give us no greater proof that He sincerely desires our salvation. And as the free gift of His love to us is infinite, His claim upon our faith, our services and our affections must be correspondently complete and extreme. If we withhold from God, we are infinite debtors, though we answer every other claim. If we give ourselves to God, we shall be acquitted of every chargewe shall be accepted in every prayer.

[PP 154.2b] God gave His Son to a death of agony and shame. The angels who witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God were not permitted to interpose, as in the case of Isaac. There was no voice to cry, It is enough. To save the fallen race, the King of glory yielded up His life. What stronger proof can be given of the infinite compassion and love of God? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32.

Both authors see Abrahams sacrifice as a foreshadowing of Gods sacrifice, though only Ellen White connects it with Pauls statement in Romans. This is the closest that March comes to describing the reality of the unseen angelic world (which Jesus referred to in Matthew 6:53). The phrase It is enough, as the staying of judgment, may be from 1 Chronicles 21:15. Ellen White described Christs sacrifice to save the fallen race in 3SG 46.3. Highlighted wording is from ST 3-27-1879, ST 4-1-1875, and 3T 369.1, 2.

Pages 85102 Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 195203 Jacobs night of wrestling (TWL 73 on his wrestling5)

[NS 87.1] Jacob had left Padan-aram and started upon his return to his native country in obedience to a Divine command. The day before, while coming down from the heights of Gilead to the fords of the Jabbok, he had received a strange and startling assurance of the Divine protection. While his flocks were moving slowly, like fleecy clouds, along the grassy hill-sides and over the wild pasture-lands, Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw in open day, as if encamped in the air, two hosts of angels encompassing him behind and before and moving with him for his protection. He remembered the vision of Bethel, and he rejoiced that the heavenly guardians who cheered him on his departure twenty years before were ready to welcome him on his return.

[NS 95.2] That mighty Helper had condescended to take on himself a human form and enter into a bodily struggle with His own servant Jacob, to teach him and millions of others that mans greatest victory is gained by self-surrender and supplication.

[PP 195.1] Though Jacob had left Padan-aram in obedience to the divine direction, it was not without many misgivings that he retraced the road which he had trodden as a fugitive twenty years before. His sin in the deception of his father was ever before him. He knew that his long exile was the direct result of that sin, and he pondered over these things day and night, the reproaches of an accusing conscience making his journey very sad. As the hills of his native land appeared before him in the distance, the heart of the patriarch was deeply moved. All the past rose vividly before him. With the memory of his sin came also the thought of Gods favor toward him, and the promises of divine help and guidance.

[PP 195.3] Again the Lord granted Jacob a token of the divine care. As he traveled southward from Mount Gilead, two hosts of heavenly angels seemed to encompass him behind and before, advancing with his company, as if for their protection. Jacob remembered the vision at Bethel so long before, and his burdened heart grew lighter at this evidence that the divine messengers who had brought him hope and courage at his flight from Canaan were to be the guardians of his return. And he said, This is Gods host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaimtwo hosts, or, camps.

[PP 202.4f] It was by self-surrender and confiding faith that Jacob gained what he had failed to gain by conflict in his own strength.

Ellen White used verbatim and paraphrased words from Night Scenes to tell the story recorded in Genesis 31 and 32. The only significant verbatim phrases are remembered the vision of Bethel and gained by self-surrender. Specific biblical terms came from Genesis 31 and 32. And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in PPaaddaannaarraamm, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan (Gen. 31:18). Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mmoouunntt of GGiilleeaadd (Gen. 31:25). And Jacob went on his way, and the aannggeellss of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, TThhiiss iiss GGooddss hhoosstt:: aanndd hhee ccaalllleedd tthhee nnaammee ooff tthhaatt ppllaaccee MMaahhaannaaiimm (Gen. 32:1). Though the verse only mentions his being met by the aannggeellss of God, the name Mahanaim is plural. It means hosts. Ellen White made the connection; March missed it, translating Mahanaim as Gods host [singular] (NS 90.1). Highlighted is from 3SG 127, ST 11-20-1879, and ST 11-27-1879. All the past rose vividly before him is from ST 1-22-1880.

Pages 105124 Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 281290 The Exodus (no TWL listing )

[NS 105.2] When the morning broke, they were a great people on the march, with an army six hundred thousand strong, and with the God of hosts for their guide.

[PP 281.1] Before the morning broke, they were on their way.

This section has one minor parallel string of words, the morning broke, they were. Even here, Israels early departure derives from Pharaohs nighttime dismissal. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead (Exo. 12:30). Marchs figure for the army likely came from Exodus 12:

white lie soap, chapter 3. "only the first step" (expanded version)

Documents