One of the features that distinguish the true God from all false gods, is the power to communicate with men regarding the past and the future. Through the prophet Isaiah, Jehovah issues a challenge to the Gods worshiped by the heathen: “Let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are Gods.” And because of the inability of these false gods to do this, Jehovah declares, “Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you.” Isaiah 41:22-24.
One of the divinely appointed tests of a true prophet of God is the accurate fulfillment of his words. To ancient Israel God said through Moses, himself a mighty prophet:
“If thou say in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:21, 22.
Many instances might be mentioned in which prophetic foresight was given to Mrs. White. Often she saw in vision persons with whom she was not acquainted. Later in her travels she would meet these individuals, and give them messages that had been given her in vision for them—messages revealing a knowledge of their actions or motives which she could not have received from any human source.
In the early years of her work, at a time when she and her husband and Elder Joseph Bates were almost the only ones preaching the Sabbath truth, there was opened before her the future growth of the movement, then in its weakness, of which they were the pioneers. November 1, 1848, at a meeting held at Dorchester, Massachusetts, Mrs. White was given a vision in which she beheld the message, symbolized by the rising sun, increasing in strength till it shone over the whole world.
After coming out of this vision, she told her husband that the Lord desired him to begin printing a small paper, and that the work of publishing the truth would increase till the publications would be like streams of light encircling the earth. From a human point of view this was indeed a bold prediction. The believers were very few in number, poor in this world's goods, and their views were very unpopular. Yet God, with whom all things are possible, has marvelously fulfilled this word. Through the years since that time, the publication of truth-filled literature by this denomination has steadily increased, until the sale of this printed matter, in all parts of the world, aggregates about $7,000,000 annually.
In relating her early visions, Mrs. White graphically portrayed the experiences through which the Adventist people were to pass before the Lord should come. At a time when the manifestations of spiritualism were confined to the “mysterious rappings” In Rochester, New York, she was shown the rapid and phenomenal growth that cult would make in the future. She foretold the passing of laws enforcing Sunday observance in countries where at the time full religious liberty prevailed. All these predictions, and many others, have been published and widely circulated. The changing events that have taken place since these predictions were written have proved the truthfulness of many of them, and their fulfillment has inspired increased confidence that her prophecies concerning the final triumph of the Seventh-day Adventist cause will be likewise fulfilled. The prosperity of this movement has been signally advanced by the counsels and admonitions that have come, through her voice and pen, to its leaders and workers.
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