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
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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
Pages 200207
Pages 208216
Pages 292299
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
[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.
Shadow of uncertainty (TWL 53) italics for unique concepts
[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
Some may miss the uniqueness of Ellen Whites point of view. Both authors echo John 12:35, Walk while ye have the light, lest
darkness 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
Feast of Tabernacles (TWL 106, 107)
The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, pp. 343344 (cf. DA 448.2)
[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 hillsides 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
pine branches, myrtle,
sources. At least part of the description came from Nehemiah 8, which uses the words oolive, p
palm booths, and states: . . . the people . . . made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in
and p
their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of
Ephraim (Neh. 8:15, 16), and . . . they kept the feast seven days . . . (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
[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.
Nicodemus visit with Jesus (no TWL listing)
[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.
PARALLELS: verbatim 5(+) words paraphrase Scripture EGW: letter/ms. periodical/pamphlet book SP early Dirks exhibit
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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
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.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
41
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 Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel
liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. . . . And it came to pass after a
while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 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
[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.
Elijah (TWL 176, 177)
[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 rain in due season, 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 the people saw it, they fell on
their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God (1 Kings 18:39).
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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.
[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 121.2a] 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.
[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. Onceprosperous 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 third year, 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
Included in NS 189222 (TWL 179182)
Pages 292299
Included in NS 285302 (TWL 184, 185)
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
Daniel March, Our Fathers House, p. 255
Messages to Young People, p. 103
[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.
43
The hawk and the dove (TWL 186)
[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
[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.
Trial patiently borne (TWL 186)
[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
[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.
Destruction of Sodom (TWL 286288)
[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
[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.
White Lie Soap
[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 eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted,
they builded; PP 156.2 links the iidleness 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, lovers of pleasures 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 religion
lessons 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.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
45
[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 looked back from behind him, and she became a 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
[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.
Abrahams great test (TWL 282286; 394395, using 4T 144, 145)
[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 son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer
him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Genesis 22:3 says that Abraham rose
early in the morning. We can logically assume that the vision had come the night 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.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
[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?
47
[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 at Beersheba. 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
He staggered not at the promise of God through
dead. Ellen White drew this earlier description from Romans 4 and Hebrews 11: H
unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Rom. 4:20); Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the
dead; from whence also he received him in a figure (Heb. 11:19); Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive
seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, 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 Abraham . . . .
[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
early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the
burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 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 life is bound up 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 sseed as the stars 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.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
49
[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 41-1875, 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
[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.
Jacobs night of wrestling (TWL 73 on his wrestling5)
[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 Padanaram, 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 mount of Gilead (Gen. 31:25). And Jacob went on his
way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is Gods host: and he called the name of that place
Mahanaim (Gen. 32:1). Though the verse only mentions his being met by the angels 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
[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.
The Exodus (no TWL listing )
[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 12:37: And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six
hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
CHAPTER 3
Pages 127144
Only the First Step
[NS 130.1] Old and young, women and

children, flocks and herds, are all mingled,
crowded, passing to and fro, and the dry plain
is beaten into dust under their feet.
51
Crossing the Red Sea (no TWL listing)
[PP 282.1] They were unarmed and unaccustomed to war, their spirits
were depressed by long bondage, and they were encumbered with women
and children, flocks and herds. In leading them by the way of the Red Sea,
the Lord revealed Himself as a God of compassion as well as of judgment.
Both accounts allude to Exodus 10:9: And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our
daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. PP 282.1 alludes to Exodus 13:18:
. . . through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. So does
3SG 231.1: Thus God, by bringing them by the way of the sea, revealed himself a compassionate God, as well as a God of judgment.
[NS 129.1] The third days march of the Hebrews after their departure
out of Egypt was across this first plain and along the sandy pass between
the projecting bluff and the sea. As the sun goes down, we find them
encamping for the night on the second plain, walled in by ranges of
mountains right and left, and with the sea in front. The next movement
must be either to advance into the sea or turn westward and march directly
toward the capital of Pharaoh, or go back the way they came.
[NS 131.1] And now, to complete their despair, they lift up their eyes,
and behold! the Egyptians are marching after them! The cloud of dust
which had settled down upon their own track in the rear rises again in the
distance, and over the ridges of drifted sand they see the flashing armor and
the tossing plumes of the terrible chariots of Pharaoh. The advancing host is
commanded by the proud and impious king himself. It is composed of the
pride and power of Egypt, with all the advantage of weapons, armor and
discipline on their side. They come on in orderly march, with the
confidence of trained armies moving against an unarmed and panicstricken mob.
[NS 133.0] Of one thing he is sureJehovah, who gave him the
commission to deliver his people, will not desert him while he is
attempting to fulfil that command. He says calmly to the excited and
clamorous multitude, Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord, which he will show you to-day. The Lord shall fight for you, and
ye shall hold your peace.
[PP 283.5] The Hebrews were encamped beside

the sea, whose waters presented a seemingly
impassable barrier before them, while on the south a
rugged mountain obstructed their further progress.
Suddenly they beheld in the distance the flashing armor
and moving chariots betokening the advance guard of a
great army. As the force drew nearer, the hosts of
Egypt were seen in full pursuit. Terror filled the hearts
of Israel. Some cried unto the Lord, but far the greater
part hastened to Moses with their complaints: Because
there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away
to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the
word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us
alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had
been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we
should die in the wilderness. [Exo. 14:11, 12]
[PP 284.1] His calm and assuring reply to the people
was, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the
Lord, which He will show to you today: for the
Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them
again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and
ye shall hold your peace. [Exo. 14:13]
Ellen White adapted the vivid image of flashing armor. March pictured ranges of mountains on the right and left (see Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews, bk. 2, ch. 15, v. 3, in The Works of Josephus, p. 75), while Ellen White has a rugged mountain to the south.
PP 283.5, PP 284.1, and 3SG 231.2 use Exodus 14:1114. Other highlighted wording is from ST 4-1-1880.
[NS 129.2] They have come down a whole days march on the
wrong side of the sea, and if they could pass the mountain which
interrupts their advance, they would only be going still farther out
of the way.
[NS 134.0] They now fully expect to fall into the hands of their
former taskmasters again, and to be held responsible for all the
plagues and afflictions which their deliverance has brought upon
Egypt. If the lash fell heavily before, it will become a scourge of
scorpions when they go back to the brick-kilns and slime-pits
again.
[NS 134.2] On the morning of the third day of their march, there
appeared a strange, mysterious cloud in the van of the host,
extending upward in a lofty column, like the smoke of some
mighty sacrifice.
[PP 284.2] It was not an easy thing to hold the hosts of Israel in
waiting before the Lord. Lacking discipline and self-control, they
became violent and unreasonable. They expected speedily to fall
into the hands of their oppressors, and their wailings and
lamentations were loud and deep. The wonderful pillar of cloud had
been followed as the signal of God to go forward; but now they
questioned among themselves if it might not foreshadow some
great calamity; for had it not led them on the wrong side of the
mountain, into an impassable way? Thus the angel of God appeared
to their deluded minds as the harbinger of disaster.
[PP 291.3] In their horror and despair they reproached Moses for
having led them in such a way, not remembering that the divine
presence in that mysterious cloud had been leading him as well as
them.
Ellen White borrowed phrasing from March as she recounted the same events, though she did not keep to his order. March
surmised that they might have to return to slavery in Egypt; Ellen White explained that their fear was in falling into the hands
of their oppressors. This is in keeping with Exodus 14:12, which indicates that their fear was that they would die in the
wilderness. March has the wrong side of the sea; Ellen White has the wrong side of the mountain. She also relied here more
heavily on Scripture than March. Highlighted wording is from ST 4-1-1880 and ST 4-8-1880.
52
White Lie Soap
[NS 135.2] But now, as darkness is coming on and the Egyptians are
encamping in sight, and the wail of distracted myriads rises louder than
the roar of the sea, this awful cloud lifts majestically into the air, passes
over the heads of the Hebrew host, and settles down upon the earth
between them and their pursuers, so as to hide the one from the other.
There it stands, as darkness comes on, unmoved by the strong wind
blowing from the sea, black as midnight to the Egyptians, and yet sending
forth a cheering and glorious light over all the host of the Hebrews,
calming their fears, quieting their lamentations, giving them the assurance
that some great deliverance is yet in store for them.
[NS 137.1] At length, when the morning
begins to dawn over the desert hills of Arabia,
and the children of Israel have all passed
safely through the channel of the divided sea,
the awful cloud is suddenly changed to the
Egyptians. It becomes a column of fire as
high as heaven, shooting forth lightnings and
shaking the earth with mighty thunders.
[PP 284.3] But now, as the Egyptian host approached

them, expecting to make them an easy prey, the cloudy
column rose majestically into the heavens, passed over the
Israelites, and descended between them and the armies of
Egypt. A wall of darkness interposed between the pursued
and their pursuers. The Egyptians could no longer discern
the camp of the Hebrews, and were forced to halt. But as the
darkness of night deepened, the wall of cloud became a great
light to the Hebrews, flooding the entire encampment with
the radiance of day.
[PP 287.3] The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea,
even all Pharaohs horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the
morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire
and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians. [Exo. 14:23, 24] The
mysterious cloud changed to a pillar of fire before their astonished eyes. The thunders
pealed and the lightnings flashed. The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a
sound: Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of Thy thunder was in the whirlwind;
the lightning lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Psalm 77:17, 18, R.V.
[NS 142.1] Go forward is the watchword of progress for the world and of
salvation for the soul. Obedience to that command makes all the difference
between success and failure, triumph and defeat, salvation and perdition. It climbs
the dangerous steep, bridges the mighty stream, opens fountains in the desert,
makes the wilderness blossom as the rose. It discovers and tames the most terrible
forces in nature and puts them into iron harness to work for man. It lifts the cloud
of ignorance from the human mind, scares away the horrid spectres of fear and
superstition, stretches the iron nerve for the electric thrill of thought to pass with
lightning speed over the mountains and across the continents, and under the
ocean, and all round the globe. All the generations that have gone before us send
back the cry, along all their ranks, from century to century, Go forward! The
uncounted millions that are soon to fill our places are pressing on from behind
with the same cry. From every source, from every age and from every creature
comes the repeated and earnest cry, Go forward! press toward the mark;
forgetting the things behind, reach forth to those before. Do your duty now, for
the time is short, and opportunities once lost may never return. When the prize to
be secured by an immediate advance in the face of difficulties is eternal salvation,
it is impossible to assign a justifying reason for a moments delay.
[PP 290.2] The great lesson here taught is for

all time. Often the Christian life is beset by
dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The
imagination pictures impending ruin before and
bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God
speaks clearly, Go forward. We should obey
this command, even though our eyes cannot
penetrate the darkness, and we feel the cold waves
about our feet. The obstacles that hinder our
progress will never disappear before a halting,
doubting spirit. Those who defer obedience till
every shadow of uncertainty disappears and
there remains no risk of failure or defeat, will
never obey at all. Unbelief whispers, Let us wait
till the obstructions are removed, and we can see
our way clearly; but faith courageously urges an
advance, hoping all things, believing all things.
Go forward comes from Exodus 14:15: And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of
Israel, that they go forward. March combined this thought with that of Philippians 3:13, 14: Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth untto those things which are before. I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In speaking of the wilderness blossoming as a rose, he
alluded to Isaiah 35:1. The dual nature of the pillar is found in Exodus 14:20. Ellen White used before and behind in a different sense than
March. NS 142, 143 was first used in ST 11-4-1880. Ellen White has also incorporated the adapted thought gem from NS 201.2: We
must not defer our obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and . . . . The phrase hoping all things, believing all things is language
from 1 Corinthians 13:7. Highlighted wording is from ST 4-1-1880 and 3SG 234.1.
[NS 143.1] There were two hosts in the Red Sea, and the cloud which moved between
them was light to one and darkness to the other. So it is now. So it is always. I go to one home
of poverty and affliction. There is trouble and sorrow enough there to break ones heart. And
yet I hear nothing but expressions of cheerfulness and gratitude and hope. I go to another, and
the wretched abode is full of murmuring and impatience and wrath. The same cloud of
affliction has settled down upon the two homes. To one it brings light and peace, to the other
darkness and despair. Gods afflictive providence is a cloud full of light to the meek, the
humble and the obedient, but it is very dark to the proud, the impatient and the unthankful.
Light is sure to break, sooner or later, upon the path of those who hold themselves ready to go
wherever Christ leads the way. Every step in the life of faith, of love and of consecration is an
advance toward the light. And to those who thus live the darkest night of fear and trouble and
affliction will soon break into the morning of joy and triumph.
[PP 290.3] The cloud that was a wall of

darkness to the Egyptians was to the
Hebrews a great flood of light,
illuminating the whole camp, and
shedding brightness upon the path before
them. So the dealings of Providence
bring to the unbelieving, darkness and
despair, while to the trusting soul they are
full of light and peace. The path where
God leads the way may lie through the
desert or the sea, but it is a safe path.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
53
Marchs statement is about two different reactions to the same cloud of affliction. Ellen White contrasts the darkness of the
unbelieving with the light of the trusting soul, condensing from March. Highlighted wording is from ST 4-1-1880 and ST 11-4-1880.
Pages 147162
[NS 150.1] On the same bare, bleak and jagged

ridge where Saul was encamped, Gideon had hidden his
three hundred men among the rocks two hundred years
before, when the Midianites filled the valley beneath, as
grasshoppers and as the sand of the sea for multitude.
[NS 152.2] And his trembling was the more
apparent and pitiable because, in every limb and look of
his mighty frame, he seemed made for a king and a hero.
With three hundred thousand warriors entrenched around
him upon heights that the chariots and horses of the
Philistines could not climb, Saul felt himself to be
defenceless and alone, because God had forsaken him.
Saul and the witch of Endor (no TWL listing)
[PP 675.1] Again war was declared between Israel and the
Philistines. The Philistines gathered themselves together, and
came and pitched in Shunem, on the northern edge of the plain
of Jezreel; while Saul and his forces encamped but a few miles
distant, at the foot of Mount Gilboa, on the southern border of
the plain. [1 Sam. 28:4.] It was on this plain that Gideon, with
three hundred men, had put to flight the hosts of Midian. But the
spirit that inspired Israels deliverer was widely different from
that which now stirred the heart of the king. Gideon went forth
strong in faith in the mighty God of Jacob; but Saul felt himself
to be alone and defenseless, because God had forsaken him.
As he looked abroad upon the Philistine host, he was afraid,
and his heart greatly trembled. [1 Sam. 28:5]
Both authors used Gideons three hundred men from Judges 7:68, 16. March placed Gideon on a jagged ridge; Ellen White placed
him on a plain. Where March came up with the three hundred thousand warriors is not known; Ellen White did not repeat the figure.
To describe how Saul felt, Mrs. White linked the nearly verbatim parallel alone and defenseless with 1 Samuel 28:5. It is logical, when
Saul received no answer by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets when he enquired of the LORD (1 Sam 28:6; cf. PP 675.3), that he
feel alone and forsaken of God. Highlighted is from ST 8-3-1888 and ST 6-30-1881, the mighty God of Jacob, from 1SP 155.3.
[NS 153.3] One of these wretched cabins, forming the entrance
of a rocky cavern on the mountain side, Saul and his attendants
seek out in the darkness and enter. In that damp and diabolic den at
midnight they find a solitary hag, who receives their late intrusion
with mingled terror and cursing. Her fear is allayed by the promise
of secrecy, and her wrath is appeased by the offer of a rich reward.
Her suspicions are doubtless awakened as to the character of the
intruders, both by the value of the present offered, and by the fact,
generally known, that there was but one man in all the land of such
gigantic and kingly stature as now stands before her.
[PP 679.1] Under the cover of darkness Saul and his

attendants made their way across the plain, and, safely
passing the Philistine host, they crossed the mountain ridge,
to the lonely home of the sorceress of Endor. Here the
woman with a familiar spirit had hidden herself away that
she might secretly continue her profane incantations.
Disguised as he was, Sauls lofty stature and kingly port
declared that he was no common soldier. The woman
suspected that her visitor was Saul, and his rich gifts
strengthened her suspicions.
Ellen White had earlier described Sauls being forsaken of God in 3SG 84.1: But as God has left him, he seeks a woman
Endor and has aa familiar spirit is from 1 Samuel
with a familiar spirit, who is in communion with Satan. That she is at E
28:7. Sauls imposing stature and kingly bearing are from 1 Samuel 9:2: And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice
young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and
upward he was higher than any of the people.
[NS 158.0] Hungry, weary, terrified, conscience-smitten,
he lay like one dead, with the full length of his giant frame
prostrate upon the ground. And when he revived and rose up to
go back upon the perilous night-journey to his army he went a
doubly-doomed and despairing man.
[PP 681.1] Saul was faint with weariness and fasting;

he was terrified and conscience-stricken. As the fearful
prediction fell upon his ear, his form swayed like an oak
before the tempest, and he fell prostrate to the earth.
[PP 681.2] The sorceress was filled with alarm. The
king of Israel lay before her like one dead.
That Saul lay before her like one dead (cf. Mark 9:26) derives from 1 Samuel 28:14: And he said unto her, What form is
he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he
stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. The passage never says that Saul actually saw Samuel.
Pages 165186
[NS 174.3] . . . Thus could the dethroned and

exiled king David pray and sing praises to God on
the morning following the saddest day and the
darkest night in his life. . . .
David in exile (no TWL listing)
[PP 735.4] . . . His prayer seemed to be at once answered. Hushai the

Archite, a wise and able counselor, who had proved himself a faithful
friend to David, now came to him with his robes rent and with earth upon
his head, to cast in his fortunes with the dethroned and fugitive king. . . .
54
White Lie Soap
Ellen White has apparently adapted one minor phrase.

[NS 182.1] The panting messenger
came, and with one gasping breath,
cried, Shlm, peace, and fell down
to the earth upon his face before the
king. [2 Sam. 18:28.] The monarch had
no inquiry to make for his army or his
people. The fathers heart broke forth in
the one eager and anxious question, Is
the young man Absalom safe? [2 Sam.
18:29.]
[PP 744.3] The watchman upon the city wall, looking out toward the battlefield,
discovered a man running alone. Soon a second came in sight. As the first drew
nearer, the watchman said to the king, who was waiting beside the gate, Me
thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of
Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings. And
Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth
upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath
delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king. [2 Sam.
18:28.] To the kings eager inquiry, Is the young man Absalom safe? Ahimaaz
returned an evasive answer. [2 Sam. 18:29.]
Ellen White made minimal use of Marchs description. Most of the verbatim is from 2 Samuel 18:2729: And the watchman
said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a
good man, and cometh with good tidings. And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the
earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up
their hand against my lord the king. And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab
sent the kings servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.
Pages 189222
Elijah on Carmel (TWL 179182)
In The Prophet and Her Critics, pp. 91123, Brand and McMahon provide a facsimile representation of Prophets and Kings,
pp. 143163, underscoring phrasing that corresponds to Marchs Night Scenes in the Bible (much of which also parallels what is
revealed in the Scriptural account). Though these pages contains some of the most striking parallels of any in Reas list, when
seen in context, it amounts to only scattered phrasing within 14 paragraphs surrounded by 39 non-marked paragraphs. In the
notes after each entry, I have called attention to unique aspects of Ellen Whites account within even that which is similar.
[NS 208.1] . . . The prophet will not go to him. And when
the king makes haste to come, Elijah demands a solemn
convocation of all Israel and of the prophets of Baal at Carmel.
For three years Ahab had been sending spies through all the
land of Israel and the neighboring kingdoms to find Elijah, that
he might put him to death; and now that he meets him face to
face the passionate king is so awed and unmanned by the
presence of the prophet that he only obeys at once when
commanded, as if Elijah were king and Ahab were the subject
and slave.
[NS 208.2] Swift couriers are sent throughout all the
kingdom with the summons, and every village and family
gladly sends its representative to the great assembly. . . .
[PK 143.1] Standing before Ahab, Elijah demanded that

all Israel be assembled to meet him and the prophets of
Baal and Ashtoreth on Mount Carmel. Send, he
commanded, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount
Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty,
and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at
Jezebels table. [1 Kings 18:19.]
[PK 143.2] The command was issued by one who
seemed to stand in the very presence of Jehovah: and Ahab
obeyed at once, as if the prophet were monarch, and the
king a subject. Swift messengers were sent throughout the
kingdom with the summons to meet Elijah and the
prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth.
Here, Ellen White adapted the irony of the change in authority to expand on 1 Kings 18:16: So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told
him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah with 1 Kings 18:19: Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and
the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebels table.
[NS 209.1] When the day is fully come, and the
morning sun struggles through the murky air on the
east, a sudden murmur runs through the great
encampmentthere is a flowing in of the struggling
multitude toward one central positionfor, behold!
Elijah, with awful look and shaggy mantle, is
there. The one man on whom a whole kingdom had
laid the weight of its desolation and its agony, stands
before them unterrified, defenceless, alone!
[PK 147.1] Facing King Ahab and the false prophets, and
surrounded by the assembled hosts of Israel, Elijah stands, the
only one who has appeared to vindicate the honor of Jehovah. He
whom the whole kingdom has charged with its weight of woe is
now before them, apparently defenseless in the presence of the
monarch of Israel, the prophets of Baal, the men of war, and the
surrounding thousands. But Elijah is not alone. Above and around
him are the protecting hosts of heaven, angels that excel in
strength.
Ellen White obviously borrowed wording from Marchs description but wrote with greater optimism. She understood the
great controversy and recognized the One who through revelation pulled back the curtain to reveal that Elijah was not
alone but was surrounded by the protecting hosts of heaven! Highlighted wording is from RH 9-18-1913 and RH 9-30-1873.
3T 280.1 uses the phrase he whom the whole kingdom has charged with its weight of woe in describing Elijah on Mount Carmel.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
55
[NS 209.2] On the highest ridge of the mountain, where the

altar of Jehovah had once stood and had been thrown down, in
full view of the great plain and the temple of Baal at Jezreel, and
the high places of idolatrous worship around Samaria, the
prophet comes forth and takes his stand. All down the wooded
slope of the mountain, under the shade of oaks and olive trees, in
orchards and gardens are gathered the thousands of the people,
waiting with breathless awe and expectation to catch the first
word from the lips of the man who ever spoke as in the presence
of the Lord of hosts. Nearer, and hemmed in by the multitude
around a fountain of water which flows to this day, are the false
prophets and their patron king.
[PK 144.1] . . . The altars erected to the worship of Baal

and Ashtoreth stood now in leafless groves. On the summit
of one of the highest ridges, in sharp contrast with these was
the broken-down altar of Jehovah.
[PK 147.2] Unashamed, unterrified, the prophet stands before
the multitude, fully aware of his commission to execute the
divine command. His countenance is lighted with an awful
solemnity. In anxious expectancy the people wait for him to
speak. Looking first upon the broken-down altar of Jehovah, and
then upon the multitude, Elijah cries out in clear, trumpetlike
tones, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be
God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. [1 Kings 18:21.]
[NS 210.2a] The priests of Baal cannot escape the trial. They rear
their own altar, lay on the wood and the victim, and then they begin
to chant and howl, in the wild orgies of idolatrous worship, until the
whole forest of Carmel resounds with their cries, Oh Baal, hear
us! They surround their altar like a legion of demons, with a
whirling and giddy dance, leaping up and down, tossing and
tearing their many-colored and fantastic robes, growing more rapid
and furious in their motions and more wild and frantic in their cries
as the slow hours of the morning pass on and the sultry noon
comes and there is no voice nor any that answers.
[PK 149.2] Outwardly bold and defiant, but with terror in their
guilty hearts, the false priests prepare their altar, laying on the
wood and the victim; and then they begin their incantations. Their
shrill cries echo and re-echo through the forests and the
surrounding heights, as they call on the name of their god, saying,
O Baal, hear us. The priests gather about their altar, and with
leaping and writhing and screaming, with tearing of hair and
cutting of flesh, they beseech their god to help them.
Here, Ellen White adapted phrasing from Marchs colorful retelling of 1 Kings 18:2326: Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and
let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other
bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the
God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets of
Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon,
saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. Though
March assumed it was on the highest ridge of the mountain, Ellen White located the sacrifice on the summit of one of the highest
ridges. Highlighted wording is from RH 9-18-1913 and RH 9-30-1873 (3T 281.2 is the same except for the phrase cutting their flesh).
[NS 210.2b] It is past midday, and still, hoping to gain time
and find some device or sleight of hand by which the fire can be
kindled, they continue their cries, cutting their flesh, leaping
over the altar, staining their faces and their garments with their
blood, howling and foaming with frantic excitement, making the
whole mountain resound with the demoniac chorus of eight
hundred hoarse and screaming voices, mingling curses with
their prayers to their pitiless sun-god for the answer of fire, and
still it does not come.
[PK 149.4] As they continue their frenzied devotions, the crafty

priests are continually trying to devise some means by which they
may kindle a fire upon the altar and lead the people to believe that
the fire has come direct from Baal. But Elijah watches every
movement; and the priests, hoping against hope for some
opportunity to deceive, continue to carry on their senseless
ceremonies.
[PK 150.2a] At last, their voices hoarse with shouting, their
garments stained with blood from self-inflicted wounds, the priests
become desperate.
Ellen White adapted Marchs imagery to help readers picture the delay implied in the time elements in 1 Kings 18:27. That their
garments were blood-stained is inferred from 1 Kings 18:28: And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and
lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. Ellen White does not portray their jumping over the altar. Highlighted is from RH 9-18-1913
and RH 9-25-1913. A similar description, using kindle a fire upon the altars, is in 3T 282.1. Other wording is from RH 9-30-1873.
[NS 211.1] All the while Elijah stands alone, waiting
and knowing full well that if by any deceit or cunning they
should kindle the altar the people will join with them in
tearing him in pieces on the spot.
[PK 150.2b] With unabated frenzy they now mingle with their
pleading terrible cursings of their sun-god, and Elijah continues to
watch intently; for he knows that if by any device the priests should
succeed in kindling their altar fire, he would instantly be torn in pieces.
[NS 212.0] And then, at the hour of the evening sacrifice,

the prophet stands forth alone and calls upon the name of
Jehovah, the everlasting God. The great multitude are pale
and breathless with awful expectation while he speaks.
[PK 151.1] It is the hour of the evening sacrifice, and Elijah

bids the people, Come near unto me. As they tremblingly draw
near, he turns to the broken-down altar . . . .
[PK 151.3] The people, fearful also, and almost breathless with
expectancy, watch while Elijah continues his preparations.
56
White Lie Soap
Both authors described what would happen if the priests were able to kindle the altar fire deceitfully; both have given
expression to the peoples anticipation, though March attached it to Elijahs speech and Ellen White to Elijahs preparations,
as in Scripture. Both authors got the time element from 1 Kings 18:36: And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the
evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known
this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Ellen White
portrayed Elijah as being interested in engaging the spectators, as in 1 Kings 18:30: And Elijah said unto all the people,
Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken
down. Highlighted wording is from RH 9-25-1913 and RH 9-30-1873. 3T 282.1 has for he knows that if, by any device.
[NS 212.1a] No sooner has he spoken than the rushing flame
descends from the clear heavens like the lightnings flash, and the
very stones of the altar are burnt up with the devouring fire. The
sudden blaze blinds the eyes of the multitude and illumines the
whole slope of the mountain with a light above the brightness of
the sun. The people watching afar off, on the house-tops in
Jezreel and Samaria, and on the hills of Ephraim and Galilee, are
startled at the sight. It seems to them as if the pillar of fire that led
their fathers in the desert had descended upon Carmel.
[PK 152.4] No sooner is the prayer of Elijah ended than flames

of fire, like brilliant flashes of lightning, descend from heaven
upon the upreared altar, consuming the sacrifice, licking up the
water in the trench, and consuming even the stones of the
altar. The brilliancy of the blaze illumines the mountain and
dazzles the eyes of the multitude. In the valleys below, where
many are watching in anxious suspense the movements of those
above, the descent of fire is clearly seen, and all are amazed at
the sight. It resembles the pillar of fire which at the Red Sea
separated the children of Israel from the Egyptian host.
Ellen White has drawn more on 1 Kings 18:37, 38 than has March: Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou
art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. The phrase no sooner adds emphasis to
Then the fire of the LORD fell. March borrowed phrasing to describe the brightness of the heavenly flame from Acts 26:13. He used
above in the sense of surpassing; Ellen White used above in the sense of position and uniquely placed the witnesses of the fire in the
valleys below. Her use of the pillar of fire is more forceful than that of March because she reminded readers of the pillars use in
separating the children of Israel from their enemies. She does not pretend that it reminded the people themselves of a phenomena that they
did not see. Highlighted wording is from RH 9-25-1913 and RH 9-30-1873. 3T 284.4 has the clause No sooner is that prayer uttered.
[NS 212.1b] The multitude on the
mountain fall on their faces to the
ground, unable to look upon the great
light, and they cry with one voice,
Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!
[PK 153.1] The people on the mount prostrate themselves in awe before the
unseen God. They dare not continue to look upon the Heaven-sent fire. They fear
that they themselves will be consumed; and, convicted of their duty to
acknowledge the God of Elijah as the God of their fathers, to whom they owe
allegiance, they cry out together as with one voice, The Lord, He is the God; the
Lord, He is the God. . . .
Both authors have given the peoples overwhelming reaction, as recorded in Scripture, though March paraphrased Scripture
and Ellen White used the peoples actual words. 1 Kings 18:39 says: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their
faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. Highlighted wording is from RH 9-25-1913
and RH 10-7-1873 (which is the same as 3T 285.1).
[NS 213.1a] And now that the people have confessed
their fathers God and the false prophets are slain, it is time
for the rain to come and for the parched earth to revive
again with returning life. Elijah goes up from the terrible
sacrifice to the top of the mount in such a mood that he can
still pray. He continues his supplications until his servant
has come six times from his outlook over the sea to say
that there was nothing in sight but glassy, heaving wave
and the coppery, cloudless sky where the sun had gone
down. At the seventh time, he can only say that there is a
handful of mist hanging on the horizon, as if a sea-bird had
shaken the spray from her wing in the air.
[PK 155.1] With the slaying of the prophets of Baal, the way
was opened for carrying forward a mighty spiritual reformation
among the ten tribes of the northern kingdom. Elijah had set
before the people their apostasy; he had called upon them to
humble their hearts and turn to the Lord. The judgments of
Heaven had been executed; the people had confessed their sins,
and had acknowledged the God of their fathers as the living
God; and now the curse of Heaven was to be withdrawn, and the
temporal blessings of life renewed. The land was to be refreshed
with rain. Get thee up, eat and drink, Elijah said to Ahab; for
there is a sound of abundance of rain. [1 Kings 18:41.] Then the
prophet went to the top of the mount to pray.
Ellen Whites description goes beyond their confessing the true God; it emphasizes their confession of their sins of abandoning
the true God. Both authors mention Elijahs going to the top of the mount to pray, from 1 Kings 18:41, 42: And Elijah said untto
Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah
went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees. March has greatly
reinterpreted the description of the little cloud that arose out of the sea like a mans hand of 1 Kings 18:44. Ellen White also
included Elijahs words to Ahab. Highlighted wording is from RH 10-2-1913 and RH 10-7-1873 (which is the same as 3T 284.3).
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
[NS 213.1b] But it is enough. Elijah, to whom

all signs and aspects of the clouds and sky have
been familiar from his youth, can already hear
the sound of the coming tempest.
57
[PK 156.2] This was enough. Elijah did not wait for the heavens to
gather blackness. In that small cloud he beheld by faith an abundance of
rain [1 Kings 18:41]; and he acted in harmony with his faith, sending his
servant quickly to Ahab with the message, Prepare thy chariot, and get
thee down, that the rain stop thee not. [1 Kings 18:44]
March made Elijahs interpretation of the small cloud a matter of familiarity with the clouds and sky; Ellen White made it a
matter of faith. Highlighted wording is from RH 10-2-1913 and RH 10-7-1873 (which is the same as 3T 287.1).
[NS 214.0a] . . . like an Arab of
modern times, he would not go in,
but stayed outside the walls and cast
himself upon the bare earth, in the
midst of the storm, for his nights
repose. The prophet had put the king
to shame before his people at
Carmel, and he ran before his chariot
as an act of homage to show that he
still acknowledged him as his
sovereign. He who could call down
fire from heaven, and bring the clouds
and the rain, was still willing to perform
the menial service of running in the rain
and darkness before the chariot of his
king.
[PK 158.1] The shades of night were gathering about Mount Carmel as Ahab
prepared for the descent. It came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was
black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to
Jezreel. [1 Kings 18:45] As he journeyed toward the royal city through the
darkness and the blinding rain, Ahab was unable to see his way before him. Elijah,
who, as the prophet of God, had that day humiliated Ahab before his subjects and
slain his idolatrous priests, still acknowledged him as Israels king; and now, as an
act of homage, and strengthened by the power of God, he ran before the royal
chariot, guiding the king to the entrance of the city.
[PK 158.2] . . . By his word the treasures of heaven had been for three years
withheld from the earth; he had been signally honored of God as, in answer to his
prayer on Carmel, fire had flashed from heaven and consumed the sacrifice; his
hand had executed the judgment of God in slaying the idolatrous prophets; his
petition for rain had been granted. And yet, after the signal triumphs with which
God had been pleased to honor his public ministry, he was willing to perform the
service of a menial.
Both authors have explained the meaning of Elijahs sudden interaction with the king, in 1 Kings 18:46: And the hand of the
LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Ellen White interpreted the
hand of the LORD . . . on Elijah as meaning that he was strengthened by the power of God. Though 1 Kings 18:38 describes
the fire of the LORD that fell, it is only in 2 Kings 1:10 that the expression fire from heaven appears. (See also the
description in James 5:17 and Luke 4:25.) Both authors portray the boldness of the servant of God in speaking the truth in potent
contrast with his humility before the divinely-appointed authority of the king. Gladys King-Taylor noted Ellen Whites effective
use of contrast, citing Richard Whately to describe its effect: Everything is rendered more striking by contrast; and almost every
kind of subject-matter affords materials for contrasted expressions. Truth is opposed to error; wise conduct to foolish; different
circumstances dictate to prudence different conduct; and every extreme is opposed both to the Mean, and to the other extreme. If,
therefore, the language be so constructed as to contrast together these opposites, they throw light on each other by a kind of
mutual reflection, and the view thus presented will be the more striking (The Elements of Rhetoric, p. 223, emphasis in Literary
Beauty, p. 75). Highlighted wording is from RH 10-2-1913 and RH 10-7-1873 (which is the same as 3T 287.4).
[NS 216.1] Such is the
which
not
reaction
unfrequently follows the
most daring effort and the
most dazzling success.
Such is the despondency
that sometimes presses
hard upon the most
sublime and heroic faith in
the purest and noblest
minds.
[PK 161.1] But a reaction such as frequently follows high faith and glorious success was
pressing upon Elijah. He feared that the reformation begun on Carmel might not be lasting; and
depression seized him. He had been exalted to Pisgahs top; now he was in the valley. While
under the inspiration of the Almighty, he had stood the severest trial of faith; but in this time of
discouragement, with Jezebels threat sounding in his ears, and Satan still apparently prevailing
through the plotting of this wicked woman, he lost his hold on God. He had been exalted above
measure, and the reaction was tremendous. Forgetting God, Elijah fled on and on, until he found
himself in a dreary waste, alone. Utterly wearied, he sat down to rest under a juniper tree. And
sitting there, he requested for himself that he might die. It is enough; now, O Lord, he said,
take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. [1 Kings 19:4] A fugitive, far from the
dwelling places of men, his spirits crushed by bitter disappointment, he desired never again to
look upon the face of man. At last, utterly exhausted, he fell asleep.
Ellen White has recounted the same events in the life of Elijah, adapting some of Marchs language while omitting that
which is either inaccurate or extraneous to her purpose. Citing in a previous sentence the experience of Peter and Paul and of
Christian in Pilgrims Progress, March made the general point that despondency often follows heroic faith. Ellen White
has expanded on this thought, helping the reader understand Elijahs state of mind. Highlighted wording is from RH 10-161913 and RH 10-7-1873 (which is the same as 3T 290.3).
58
White Lie Soap
Pages 225244
Jonahs despondency (no TWL listing)
[NS 231.3] And now they begin to eye each other with dreadful suspicions that some one of their
company may be a fugitive from justice, whom the angry elements will not suffer to escape. The restless
eye and haggard face of the awakened prophet now remind the fearful mariners of what they already knew,
but of which they thought nothing till the terrors of death encompassed them on every hand. For Jonah had
frankly told them when he came on board that he fled from the presence of the Lord. . . . Then they counted
it no concern of theirs who he was, or where he was going, or why he went, provided he paid in advance.
He might settle his own controversy with his God in his own way, and they would pursue their own
business in theirs, without any thought of the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. [Jonah
1:9] But they soon found that it would not pay to help men in their disobedience to God. The terrors of the
tempest soon made them throw their fair-weather philosophy and their indifference about Jonahs God
overboard with the cargo, to lighten both the ship and their own consciences. And now they beseech this
moody and melancholy man to pray unto his God, that they perish not.
[NS 240.1] The night passes and the morning comes, and the burning sun of
noon pours its beams with maddening fervor through the boughs of the hastilyconstructed booth, and there sits Jonah angry with himself and with Providence,
still waiting to see what would become of the city. And now the Lord causes a
new and strange plant to spring up and spread its broad leaves and thick branches
over him to deliver him from his grief. [Jonah 4:6] And the petulant prophet, who
thought he would rather die than not see the destruction of a city with a half
million inhabitants, is made exceeding glad by the shade of a few green leaves.
[PK 268.2] Then

were
the
men
exceedingly afraid, and
said unto him, Why
hast thou done this? For
the men knew that he
fled from the presence
of the Lord, because he
had told them. [Jonah
1:10.]
[PK 271.2] Once more he yielded to his

inclination to question and doubt, and once more he
was overwhelmed with discouragement. Losing
sight of the interests of others, and feeling as if he
would rather die than live to see the city spared, in
his dissatisfaction he exclaimed, Now, O Lord,
take, I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better
for me to die than to live. [Jonah 4:3]
This section contains only a single unique parallel verbatim phrase; most of the parallels in the two accounts are common verbatim
words from Scripture. Highlighted wording is from RH 12-4-1913 and RH 12-11-1913.
Pages 285302
[NS 290.1] Belshazzar inherited the pride, the

glory, the riches, the power, the palaces, the capital,
the kingdom of his great father. He inherited enough
to ruin any young man who was not fortified by
great strength of character and a severe mastery of
his own appetites and passions. He was admitted to
a share in kingly power at fifteen, and the glory,
which was too great for the mighty
Nebuchadnezzar, easily turned the head of an
effeminate and giddy youth, who had earned
nothing of all he had by his own exertions. He lifted
himself up against the Lord of heaven, and he
despised the kings and armies of the earth.
Belshazzars handwriting on the wall (TWL 184, 185)
[PK 522.2] Through the folly and weakness of Belshazzar, the grandson of
Nebuchadnezzar, proud Babylon was soon to fall. Admitted in his youth to a
share in kingly authority, Belshazzar gloried in his power and lifted up his heart
against the God of heaven. Many had been his opportunities to know the divine
will and to understand his responsibility of rendering obedience thereto. He had
known of his grandfathers banishment, by the decree of God, from the society of
men; and he was familiar with Nebuchadnezzars conversion and miraculous
restoration. But Belshazzar allowed the love of pleasure and self-glorification to
efface the lessons that he should never have forgotten. He wasted the opportunities
graciously granted him, and neglected to use the means within his reach for
becoming more fully acquainted with truth. That which Nebuchadnezzar had
finally gained at the cost of untold suffering and humiliation, Belshazzar passed by
with indifference.
There is nothing truly unique here. That Belshazzar was granted kingly authority in his youth is a matter of history;
that he lifted himself up against the God of heaven is a matter of ScriptureBut hast lifted up thyself against the Lord
of heaven . . . (Dan. 5:23).
[NS 292.1] Meanwhile, Belshazzar has entered the hall of
banquet
And a thousand dark nobles all bend at his board;
Fruits glisten, flowers blossom, meats steam, and a flood
Of the wine that man loveth runs redder than blood;
Wild dancers are there and a riot of mirth,
And the beauty that maddens the passions of earth;
And the crowd all shout, while the vast roofs ring,
All praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king! [Barry
Cornwall]
[PK 523.2] In his pride and arrogancy, with a reckless

feeling of security Belshazzar made a great feast to a
thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the
thousand. [Dan. 5:1.] All the attractions that wealth and
power could command, added splendor to the scene.
Beautiful women with their enchantments were among the
guests in attendance at the royal banquet. Men of genius
and education were there. Princes and statesmen drank
wine like water and reveled under its maddening influence.
Ellen White borrowed only one unique verbatim word here. Highlighted words are from YI 5-19-1898 and RH 2-8-1881.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
[NS 292.2] The music and the banquet and the wine; the garlands, the
rose-odors and the flowers; the sparkling eyes, the flashing ornaments, the
jeweled arms, the raven hair, the braids, the bracelets, the thin robes
floating like clouds; the fair forms, the delusion and the false enchantment
of the dizzy scene, take away all reason and all reverence from the
flushed and crowded revelers. There is now nothing too sacred for them to
profane, and Belshazzar himself takes the lead in the riot and the
blasphemy. Even the mighty and terrible Nebuchadnezzar, who desolated
the sanctuary of Jehovah at Jerusalem, would not use his sacred trophies in
the worship of his false gods. But this weak and wicked successor of the
great conqueror, excited with wine and carried away with the delusion that
no foe can every capture his great city, is anxious to make some grand
display of defiant and blasphemous desecration:
59
[PK 523.3] With reason dethroned through

shameless intoxication, and with lower
impulses and passions now in the ascendancy,
the king himself took the lead in the riotous
orgy. As the feast progressed, he commanded
to bring the golden and silver vessels which
. . . Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the
temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king,
and his princes, his wives, and his concubines,
might drink therein. [Dan. 5:2] The king
would prove that nothing was too sacred for
his hands to handle.
Ellen White used minor verbatim wording from March in her description of Belshazzars feast, quoting and enhancing the statement of
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Yet, each
Daniel 5:1: B
described the scene in their own individual way. Marchs description of Belshazzar came from a poem by Barry Cornwall (whose pen
name was B. W. Proctor), identified by March only as the modern poet (NS 293.2). Belshazzars taking the lead in the revelry is selfevident from Daniel 5:2, which Mrs. White has also quoted. Highlighted wording is from YI 5-19-1898 and RH 2-8-1881.
[NS 293.2] The graphic lines of the modern
poet do not exaggerate the rapidity with which the
ministers of vengeance came upon Belshazzar
and his thousand lords on the last night of his
impious reign. At the very moment when their
sacrilegious revelry was at its height, the bodiless
hand came forth and wrote the words of doom
upon the wall of the banqueting-room, the armies
of Cyrus had turned the Euphrates out of its
channel and marched into the unguarded city
along the bed of the stream beneath the walls;
they were already in possession of the palace
gates when Belshazzar and his princes were
drinking wine from the vessels of Jehovah and
praising the gods of gold and silver and stone, and
that great feast of boasting and of blasphemy was
the last ceremonial of the Chaldean kings.
[PK 524.1] Little did Belshazzar think that there was a heavenly Witness to his
idolatrous revelry; that a divine Watcher, unrecognized, looked upon the scene of
profanation, heard the sacrilegious mirth, beheld the idolatry. But soon the uninvited
Guest made His presence felt. When the revelry was at its height a bloodless hand
came forth and traced upon the walls of the palace characters that gleamed like
firewords which, though unknown to the vast throng, were a portent of doom to
the now conscience-stricken king and his guests.
[PK 531.2] While still in the festal hall, surrounded by those whose doom has been
sealed, the king is informed by a messenger that his city is taken by the enemy
against whose devices he had felt so secure; that the passages are stopped, . . . and
the men of war are affrighted. [Jer. 51] Verses 31, 32. Even while he and his nobles
were drinking from the sacred vessels of Jehovah, and praising their gods of silver
and of gold, the Medes and the Persians, having turned the Euphrates out of its
channel, were marching into the heart of the unguarded city. The army of Cyrus
now stood under the walls of the palace; the city was filled with the soldiers of the
enemy, as with caterpillars (verse 14); and their triumphant shouts could be heard
above the despairing cries of the astonished revelers.
[NS 298.2] Conscience is a mysterious and mighty power in us all. The great and terrible
king Belshazzar was completely mastered and unmanned by its secret whisper. His
countenance changed and his thoughts troubled him, and he trembled like the aspen before he
knew the meaning of the writing on the wall. [Dan. 5:6] He was afraid, because an accusing
conscience always makes darkness and mystery terrible to the guilty. It is mightiest in the
mighty. Miltons Satan, Byrons Manfred, Shakespeares Macbeth and Richard the Third are
truthful illustrations of the harrowing torture produced in the mightiest mind by the calm,
solemn voice within, which only says, You are wrong. The Supreme Creator has put us
absolutely in the power of that mysterious judge which pronounces sentence upon all our
conduct and motives in our own bosoms. And we cannot conceive anything worse for a man
than to die and go into the eternal world with an unappeased and accusing conscience to keep
him company and to torment him for ever. And the infinite mercy is manifest most of all in
providing a way by which the high and awful demands of conscience can be answered and the
guilty soul can find peace. Within the whole range of human thought and inquiry there is no
greater mystery than thisthe rescue of men from the misery which they suffer from their
own consciences.
[PK 524.3] Belshazzar was the

most terrified of them all. He it was
who above all others had been
responsible for the rebellion against
God which that night had reached its
height in the Babylonian realm. In
the presence of the unseen Watcher,
the representative of Him whose
power had been challenged and
whose name had been blasphemed,
the king was paralyzed with fear.
Conscience was awakened. The
joints of his loins were loosed, and
his knees smote one against
another. [Dan. 5:6.]
In PK 524.1, Ellen White adapted a single sentence from March in amplifying the Bible account. Highlighted wording is from YI 519-1898 and YI 5-26-1898. In PK 524.3, she borrowed remarkably little. Both authors used portions of Daniel 5:6. Highlighted
verse is from RH 2-8-1881. The term watcher comes from Daniel 4:13, 17, and 23.
60
White Lie Soap
[NS 299.1] Belshazzar had riches and pleasure and glory. He was absolute master
in the greatest palace and the greatest city the world had ever seen. But what is his
life worth to the world now, except to warn men not to live as he did? With all his
splendor and luxury he lived a wretched man, and he died as the fool dies. He lifted
himself up against God, he trusted in wickedness, and so he became but as the chaff
which the wind driveth away [Psalm 1:4]. While he was yet in the height of his
power and glory, his days were numbered, his character was weighed and found
wanting before the infinite Judge.
[PK 524.3b] Belshazzar had impiously lifted

himself up against the God of heaven and had
trusted in his own might, not supposing that any
would dare say, Why doest thou thus? but
now he realized that he must render an account
of the stewardship entrusted him, and that for
his wasted opportunities and his defiant attitude
he could offer no excuse.
March and Ellen White have expanded on several Scriptures in these last several paragraphs: In the same hour came forth fingers of a
mans hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the kings palace: and the king saw the part of the
hand that wrote. (Dan. 5:5). Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written (Dan. 5:24). And that the
passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted (Jer. 51:32). But hast lifted up
thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy
concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not,
nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified (Dan. 5:23). Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting (Dan. 5:27). Highlighted wording is from YI 5-19-1898, The Unseen Watcher.
Pages 343360
The Desire of Ages, pp. 377382
[NS 346.2] Such must have been the case on that memorable
night when the disciples wearied themselves with rowing and were
not able to reach the shore. The day must have been fair and
peaceful in the balmy Syrian spring when Jesus taught the great
multitude in the open air on the smooth grassy headland that
pushes out into the northeast corner of the lake. The evening must
have been as calm when he blessed the barley loaves and fed the
five thousand seated in ranks by hundreds and by fifties on the
green sward. And all was still calm on the sea and in the air when
he constrained his disciples to enter the ship and start for the other
side, leaving him to dismiss the excited people alone.
Jesus walking on water (no TWL listing)
[DA 378.2] They eagerly arrange to carry out their

purpose; but Jesus sees what is on foot, and understands,
as they cannot, what would be the result of such a
movement. Even now the priests and rulers are hunting
His life. They accuse Him of drawing the people away
from them. Violence and insurrection would follow an
effort to place Him on the throne, and the work of the
spiritual kingdom would be hindered. Without delay the
movement must be checked. Calling His disciples, Jesus
bids them take the boat and return at once to Capernaum,
leaving Him to dismiss the people.
Here, Ellen White made her own expanded paraphrase of Matthew 14:22, which says, And straightway Jesus constrained
his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. The unique
phrase she borrowed from March, leaving Him to dismiss the people, is a paraphrase of the last clause in the verse.
Highlighted wording is from 2SP 264.1. Gladys King-Taylor noted the effectiveness of Mrs. Whites use of the idiomatic
expression Jesus sees what is on foot rather than any literal equivalent (Literary Beauty, p. 57, emphasis hers).
[NS 348.2] When the disciples heard the voice of their
beloved Master saying, It is I, be not afraid, their fear
was changed to confidence, and the foremost of their
number was ready to step over the side of the ship and go
to Jesus walking on the water.
[DA 381.3] They think it a phantom that omens their

destruction, and they cry out for fear. Jesus advances as if He
would pass them; but they recognize Him, and cry out,
entreating His help. Their beloved Master turns, His voice
silences their fear, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
The first sentence in DA 381.3 is an expanded paraphrase of Matthew 14:26, And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they
were troubled, saying, It is a spirit [Gr. phantasm, or apparitionnot pneuma]; and they cried out for fear. Ellen White may have
adapted one sentence from another source work, Hannas Life of Christ, p. 281: He made as though he would have passed them bythey
cry out the more. The Ellen G. White database lists 31 uses of the title their beloved Master that predate The Desire of Ages.
Pages 363374
[NS 363.1a] 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.
The Feast of Tabernacles (TWL 106, 107, using 2SP 343, 344`)
[DA 448.1] The feast continued for seven days, and for its
celebration the inhabitants of Palestine, with many from other lands,
left their homes, and came to Jerusalem. From far and near the
people came, bringing in their hands a token of rejoicing. Old and
young, rich and poor, all brought some gift as a tribute of
thanksgiving to Him who had crowned the year with His goodness,
and made His paths drop fatness. Everything that could please the
eye, and give expression to the universal joy, was brought from the
woods; the city bore the appearance of a beautiful forest.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
61
There is little parallel verbatim in this comparison. The seven days comes from Nehemiah 8:18. The other biblical
language in DA 448.1 is an allusion to Psalm 65:11: Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop
fatness. Highlighted wording is from 2SP 343.4, 344.1.
[NS 363.1b] 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.
[DA 448.2] This feast was not only the harvest

thanksgiving, but the memorial of Gods
protecting care over Israel in the wilderness. In
commemoration of their tent life, the Israelites
during the feast dwelt in booths or tabernacles of
green boughs. These were erected in the streets,
in the courts of the temple, or on the housetops.
The hills and valleys surrounding Jerusalem were
also dotted with these leafy dwellings, and
seemed to be alive with people.
[DA 447.2] The Feast of Tabernacles was the
closing gathering of the year.
As mentioned in commenting on 2SP 343344 at the beginning of this exhibit, many of the parallel verbatim words are from
Nehemiah 8:15, 16, and 18.
[NS 364.1] A vast orchestra of Levites was ranged
up and down the fifteen stone steps of the temple, and
they accompanied the dancing and the songs with
harps, cymbals, psalteries, and all sorts of musical
instruments. The vast mass of the people in front of
the temple took up the chorus, at the same time
waving branches of palm and myrtle, and the swell of
song rolled over all the housetops, and through all the
streets, and overpast the walls of the city, and it was
taken up in the tents on the hill-sides, until thousands
upon thousands of voices joined in the strain, which
was called the Great Hosanna: Oh give thanks unto
the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for
ever. [Psa. 106:1.]
[DA 448.3] With sacred song and thanksgiving the worshipers

celebrated this occasion. A little before the feast was the Day of
Atonement, when, after confession of their sins, the people were
declared to be at peace with Heaven. Thus the way was prepared for the
rejoicing of the feast. O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for
His mercy endureth forever (Ps. 106:1) rose triumphantly, while all
kinds of music, mingled with shouts of hosanna, accompanied the
united singing. The temple was the center of the universal joy. Here was
the pomp of the sacrificial ceremonies. Here, ranged on either side of
the white marble steps of the sacred building, the choir of Levites led
the service of song. The multitude of worshipers, waving their
branches of palm and myrtle, took up the strain, and echoed the
chorus; and again the melody was caught up by voices near and afar off,
till the encircling hills were vocal with praise.
Ellen White did use some of Marchs words and phrases in recounting this incident at the close of Jesus ministry. However, the
reader should notice how vigorously she has rearranged the adapted wording into her own account.
[NS 364.2a] When the first streak of dawn appeared, shooting
up the eastern sky over the ridge of Olivet, the priests sounded
with silver trumpets three times, long and loud, and the
answering shouts of the people welcomed the Great Hosanna
day. A procession of priests started immediately to bring water
from the fountain of Siloam, which flowed at the foot of Mount
Moriah outside of the city walls. When the procession returned,
the brief twilight had grown to the full day. Their appearance was
greeted with a blast of silver trumpets. They ascended the steps
of the temple, bearing the golden beaker full of water in their
hands, chanting the Song of the Degrees as they went slowly up,
keeping time with their steps: Our feet shall stand within thy
gates, O Jerusalem! [Psa. 122:2.] Then, in the presence of all the
people they poured out the consecrated water in commemoration
of the fountain that flowed from the rock for the tribes in the
wilderness, and again they sung and the people took up the
chorus with thundering voices:
[DA 448.5a] At the first dawn of day, the priests sounded a long,
shrill blast upon their silver trumpets, and the answering trumpets,
and the glad shouts of the people from their booths, echoing over hill
and valley, welcomed the festal day. Then the priest dipped from the
flowing waters of the Kedron a flagon of water, and, lifting it on high,
while the trumpets were sounding, he ascended the broad steps of the
temple, keeping time with the music with slow and measured tread,
chanting meanwhile, Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O
Jerusalem. Ps. 122:2.
[DA 449.1b] He bore the flagon to the altar, which occupied a
central position in the court of the priests. Here were two silver
basins, with a priest standing at each one. The flagon of water was
poured into one, and a flagon of wine into the other; and the contents
of both flowed into a pipe which communicated with the Kedron, and
was conducted to the Dead Sea. This display of the consecrated water
represented the fountain that at the command of God had gushed
from the rock to quench the thirst of the children of Israel.
March described the silver trumpets sounding three times; Ellen White described a single, long blast. March has several priests
ascending the steps of the temple; Ellen White has only one. These are distinguishing eyewitness details.
62
White Lie Soap
[NS 364.2b] The Lord Jehovah is my strength

and song; therefore with joy shall ye draw water
out of the wells of salvation. [Isa. 12:2, 3.]
[DA 449.1c] Then the jubilant strains rang forth, The Lord Jehovah is my
strength and my song; therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the
wells of salvation. Isa. 12:2, 3.
[NS 366.2] Never did the Divine Teacher himself preach his own
Gospel in more vivid and expressive terms. Never did he make a more
touching appeal to the sense of need, to the deep feeling of want in the
human soul. The time, the place, all the attendant circumstances
conspired to give meaning and power to the words spoken. The people
knew the voice, and they understood the figurative dress in which Jesus
expressed the offer of salvation. To them the water of Siloam was the
sign of the rock smitten by Moses in the wilderness, and the rock of
Moses was the sign of their own Messiah. They felt the strange power,
the sacred fascination of the voice which rung out clear and loud on that
memorable morning in the crowded court of the temple. And some
were ready to say, with the woman of Samaria, Give me of this water,
that I thirst not. [John 4:15.]
[DA 454.1] The priest had that morning performed the

ceremony which commemorated the smiting of the rock in
the wilderness. That rock was a symbol of Him who by
His death would cause living streams of salvation to flow
to all who are athirst. Christs words were the water of life.
There in the presence of the assembled multitude He set
Himself apart to be smitten, that the water of life might
flow to the world. In smiting Christ, Satan thought to
destroy the Prince of life; but from the smitten rock there
flowed living water. As Jesus thus spoke to the people,
their hearts thrilled with a strange awe, and many were
ready to exclaim, with the woman of Samaria, Give
me this water, that I thirst not. John 4:15.
Ellen White adapted Marchs comparison of the consecrated water with the water that flowed from the smitten rock, which is an
allusion to Exodus 17:6. Ellen White also brought in the cosmic significance of smiting the rock, when Satans smiting of Christ to
destroy the Prince of life would result in the blessing of life. The woman of Samaria is how John described the woman (John 4:9).
Highlighted wording is from ST 9-23-1897 and 2SP.
Pages 377394
No significant parallels (http://dedication.www3.50megs.com/David/DA_18_march.html)
Pages 397410
The three disciples in Gethsemane (TWL 305, using 3SP 94)
[NS 403.1] The Passover moon shone from a sky

which at that season seldom has a cloud. The lights in
the city had gone out, the streets were silent, the voices
were hushed in the tents of pilgrims on the hill-sides.
[NS 404.0] The disciples are amazed and deeply
troubled at the unusual silence of their beloved Master.
They have seen him wear the shade of sorrow many
times, but never have they seen him look as he does tonight. And the strange sadness grows heavier and
heavier upon him as he leads the way, and they dare not
ask the cause.
[NS 404.1] But when he reaches the open gate of the
garden alongside the familiar path, he says, Sit ye here
while I go and pray yonder. [Matt. 26:36] They are not
surprised to hear him say so. For they knew that in the
great struggles and conflicts of his work his constant
resort was prayer. And now, silently selecting three from
the rest to go a little farther with him into the thicker
shade of the olive trees, he becomes more deeply
agitated and bowed down under the weight of some
mighty and mysterious sorrow. He feels that he must be
still more alone, and he tears himself away from the
favorite three disciples, and goes a stones throw further
into the recesses of the garden and casts himself upon the
ground in an agony of weeping and prayer.
[DA 685.1] In company with His disciples, the Saviour slowly made His
way to the garden of Gethsemane. The Passover moon, broad and full, shone
from a cloudless sky. The city of pilgrims tents was hushed into silence.
[DA 685.3] As they approached the garden, the disciples had marked the
change that came over their Master. Never before had they seen Him so
utterly sad and silent. As He proceeded, this strange sadness deepened; yet
they dared not question Him as to the cause.
[DA 686.1] Near the entrance to the garden, Jesus left all but three of the
disciples, bidding them pray for themselves and for Him. With Peter, James,
and John, He entered its secluded recesses. These three disciples were Christs
closest companions. They had beheld His glory on the mount of
transfiguration; they had seen Moses and Elijah talking with Him; they had
heard the voice from heaven; now in His great struggle, Christ desired their
presence near Him. Often they had passed the night with Him in this retreat.
On these occasions, after a season of watching and prayer, they would sleep
undisturbed at a little distance from their Master, until He awoke them in the
morning to go forth anew to labor. But now He desired them to spend the
night with Him in prayer. Yet He could not bear that even they should witness
the agony He was to endure.
[DA 686.2] Tarry ye here, He said, and watch with Me. [Matt. 26:38]
[DA 686.3] He went a little distance from themnot so far but that they
could both see and hear Himand fell prostrate upon the ground. He felt that
by sin He was being separated from His Father. The gulf was so broad, so
black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it. This agony He must not
exert His divine power to escape. As man He must suffer the consequences of
mans sin. As man He must endure the wrath of God against transgression.
In recounting the Gethsemane experience, Ellen White borrowed a few phrases from March. March called Peter, James, and John,
Jesus favorite three disciples; Ellen White called them Christs closest companions, avoiding the negative connotation of
favorite. Like March, she described what Jesus must do, though she says that it is not about solitude but about not using His
divine power to escape. The Jews apparently called Gethsemane the garden. John 18:26 refers to tthe garden. Gladys KingTaylor (Literary Beauty, pp. 54, 96, 98, emphasis is hers) cited the effective use of specific wording and repetition in The gulf was so
broad, so black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it. . . . As man He must suffer the consequences of mans sin. As man He
must endure the wrath of God against transgression. Highlighted is from 3SP and from Ms. 42, 1897 (published in CTr 266.2).
CHAPTER 3
Pages 413430
Only the First Step
[NS 415.1] It will help us to correct our false impressions, and

discipline our hearts to faith and patience, if we observe the fears
and fluctuations of mind through which the disciples passed on
the first day and evening after the resurrection. Late in the
afternoon two of the number resolved to give up all further
inquiry and suspense, and go home to quiet their excited and
weary minds in a little village eight miles away from Jerusalem.
[Luke 24:13] As nearly as can be ascertained they went out of the
city at its western gate, and pursued their evening walk with sad
looks and heavy hearts. The path which they were to follow was
one of the most dreary and desolate in all Palestine. First, they
had to pass two miles over a bleak and barren level of loose
stones and sun-dried earth and naked slabs of rock.
63
The walk to Emmaus (TWL 318320)
[DA 795.1] Late in the afternoon of the day of the resurrection, two
of the disciples were on their way to Emmaus, a little town eight
miles from Jerusalem. [Luke 24:13] These disciples had had no
prominent place in Christs work, but they were earnest believers in
Him. They had come to the city to keep the Passover, and were
greatly perplexed by the events that had recently taken place. They
had heard the news of the morning in regard to the removal of
Christs body from the tomb, and also the report of the women who
had seen the angels and had met Jesus. They were now returning to
their homes to meditate and pray. Sadly they pursued their evening
walk, talking over the scenes of the trial and the crucifixion. Never
before had they been so utterly disheartened. Hopeless and faithless,
they were walking in the shadow of the cross.
March has the two going to their home in Emmaus to quiet their minds; Ellen White has them going to Emmaus to meditate and pray.
[NS 415.2] I think it must have been somewhere
on the cheerless mountain ridge, at the beginning of
their walk, that they saw a stranger coming up from
behind with a quicker step and silently joining their
company. They were so busy with their sad
thoughts, and he was so gentle and courteous in his
approach, that they kept on in their conversation as
if they were still alone. He saw that their faces were
sad and that their words came forth from burdened
and sorrowing hearts. He gently drew from them the
cause of their grief; and in a few moments he
entered into their feelings with so much earnestness,
tenderness and sympathy that their hearts burned
within them while he spoke. They wondered who he
could be, and they expressed their wonder by silent
glances at each other, while he went on with them
and talked all the way. But they did not dare to ask
him, or in any way to interrupt the flow of his
gracious words, while he opened to them the
Scriptures, and showed them how Christ must needs
suffer and by suffering enter into His glory.
[DA 795.2] They had not advanced far on their journey when they were
joined by a stranger, but they were so absorbed in their gloom and
disappointment that they did not observe him closely. They continued their
conversation, expressing the thoughts of their hearts. They were reasoning in
regard to the lessons that Christ had given, which they seemed unable to
comprehend. As they talked of the events that had taken place, Jesus longed to
comfort them. He had seen their grief; He understood the conflicting, perplexing
ideas that brought to their minds the thought, Can this Man, who suffered
Himself to be so humiliated, be the Christ? Their grief could not be restrained,
and they wept. Jesus knew that their hearts were bound up with Him in love, and
He longed to wipe away their tears, and fill them with joy and gladness. But He
must first give them lessons they would never forget.
[DA 796.3] Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things,
and to enter into His glory? [Luke 24:25, 26.] The disciples wondered who this
stranger could be, that He should penetrate to their very souls, and speak with
such earnestness, tenderness, and sympathy, and with such hopefulness. For the
first time since Christs betrayal, they began to feel hopeful. Often they looked
earnestly at their companion, and thought that His words were just the words
that Christ would have spoken. They were filled with amazement, and their
hearts began to throb with joyful expectation.
[NS 416.1] And so the three walked on together, the delighted and wondering
disciples not knowing that they were listening to their lamented and risen Lord. They
hear his step upon the stony road just like their own. He labors with panting breath in
climbing the steep place, and he moves with cautious tread in descending the
slippery path, just as they do. Nothing in his dress or manner or person leads them to
suspect that he can be anything else than one of the pilgrims returning from the great
feast to some distant home.
[NS 416.2] Having passed over the rocky platform immediately west of
Jerusalem, on what is now the Ramleh road, they turn to take their last look of the
city, and brush away a silent tear at the fresh remembrance of all they had seen and
suffered there within the last few days. Then they plunge down into a narrow glen
and make their way cautiously over a dreary waste of bare ledges and confused drifts
of gravel and rubble stone. They cross the dry bed of a torrent, and then climb slowly
up a winding and zig-zag path cut in the limestone rock to the crest of another ridge.
This height is no sooner gained than they begin another descent, again to climb a
long, steep, and winding track over loose stones and ledges that have been worn
smooth by winter rains and spring torrents and the feet of travelers for centuries.
[DA 800.1a] Thus Christ discoursed to His

disciples, opening their minds that they might
understand the Scriptures. The disciples were
weary, but the conversation did not flag. Words of
life and assurance fell from the Saviours lips. But
still their eyes were holden. [Luke 24:16] As He
told them of the overthrow of Jerusalem, they
looked upon the doomed city with weeping. But
little did they yet suspect who their traveling
companion was. They did not think that the
subject of their conversation was walking by their
side; for Christ referred to Himself as though He
were another person. They thought that He was
one of those who had been in attendance at the
great feast, and who was now returning to his
home. He walked as carefully as they over the
rough stones, now and then halting with them for
a little rest.
64
White Lie Soap
March conjectured, in his account, about where precisely at the beginning of their journey Jesus caught up with Cleopas
and his companion. March has the two travelers expressing their wonder by silent glances at each other, as if suspecting
something. Ellen White has them looking earnestly at Jesus, and she says little did they yet suspect who He was. Adapting
Lukes statement, Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45; cf.
24:32), Ellen White portrays the opening of their understanding after Jesus opened to them the meaning of the Scriptures. NS
416, 418 was first used in ST 1-20-1888. Highlighted wording is from Ms. 113, 1897, 3SP, and 1SG 76.
[NS 417.1] And all the way the Divine Saviour, the Son of God, who could say, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth, walks with these two men, taking as many steps as they, and talking
all the while as they go up and down the steep places together. He spends more time in this long and
laborious conversation with these two sad and despondent men than with all others on the first day of
his resurrection life. This mighty Conqueror of death, who had unbarred the gates of the tomb for a
lost world, would thus teach us his readiness to be with us and comfort our hearts in the hardest paths
we have to tread. In his risen and glorified state he is still the Son of Man, having all the sympathies
and affections of the human heart. He is still as near to those who desire his company as he was before
he passed through the awful transformation of the cross and the tomb.
[DA 800.1b] Thus they

proceeded
along
the
mountainous road, while the
One who was soon to take His
position at Gods right hand,
and who could say, All
power is given unto Me in
heaven and in earth, walked
beside them. Matt. 28:18.
[NS 417.2] The sun has gone down behind the gray hill-tops, and the
shadows of evening have begun to deepen in the narrow valleys, and the
laborers have left the terraced orchards and vineyards on the hill-sides
before the two travelers reach their home, and beg the kindly stranger to
go in and abide with them for the night. He would have gone farther, and
they would not have recognized their Lord had they not yielded to the
impulse which His words had kindled in their hearts and urged him to
stay. He never forces himself upon any. He joins the company of many
who are toiling along the hard journey of life, he interests himself in the
sorrows that press them down, he warms their hearts with his words of
love, but if they fail to ask him to abide with them, he passes on and they
know him not. It is toward evening, and the day of life is far spent with
some to whom Jesus has often drawn near in the way; the shadows of the
evening are gathering thick around them, and yet they have never said to
him with earnest and longing desire, Abide with us. The humblest home
becomes a palace fit for a king when Jesus enters in to tarry there. And
without him the most splendid mansion on earth can give no rest to the
weary soul. Blessed is the home and sweet is the rest of those who let no
evening pass without offering the prayer to him who walked from
Jerusalem to Emmaus with the two disciples: Abide with us.
[DA 800.2] During the journey the sun had gone down,
and before the travelers reached their place of rest, the
laborers in the fields had left their work. As the disciples
were about to enter their home, the stranger appeared as
though He would continue His journey. But the disciples felt
drawn to Him. Their souls hungered to hear more from Him.
Abide with us, they said. He did not seem to accept the
invitation, but they pressed it upon Him, urging, It is toward
evening, and the day is far spent. Christ yielded to this
entreaty and went in to tarry with them. [Luke 24:29.]
[DA 800.3] Had the disciples failed to press their
invitation, they would not have known that their traveling
companion was the risen Lord. Christ never forces His
company upon anyone. He interests Himself in those who
need Him. Gladly will He enter the humblest home, and
cheer the lowliest heart. But if men are too indifferent to
think of the heavenly Guest, or ask Him to abide with
them, He passes on. Thus many meet with great loss. They
do not know Christ any more than did the disciples as He
walked with them by the way.
[NS 418.1] It was only to draw forth the invitation to stay that Jesus
made as if he would have gone farther. When asked he entered without
delay. The three weary travelers sat down together in that lowly cottage
home, and the mysterious stranger continued to speak his heart-burning
words while waiting for the evening meal. When bread, the simple fare of
the poor, was set before them, he put forth his hands to bless it. But what
now so suddenly startles the wondering disciples? They see the print of
the nails in the open palms, the sign and scar of the cross. And now that he
breathes forth the blessing they recognize the tone, the manner, the look. It
is he who hung upon the cross! It is he whose body was laid in the tomb!
He lives, and they have been walking with him all the way! Now they are
ready to cast themselves in wonder and in worship at his feet. But the
object of his appearance and his long reasoning with them by the way is
gained, and he vanishes out of their sight.
[DA 800.4] The simple evening meal of bread is soon

prepared. It is placed before the guest, who has taken His
seat at the head of the table. Now He puts forth His hands
to bless the food. The disciples start back in astonishment.
Their companion spreads forth His hands in exactly the
same way as their Master used to do. They look again, and
lo, they see in His hands the print of nails. Both exclaim at
once, It is the Lord Jesus! He has risen from the dead!
[DA 801.1] They rise to cast themselves at His feet and
worship Him, but He has vanished out of their sight. They
look at the place which had been occupied by One whose
body had lately lain in the grave, and say to each other,
Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us
by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?
[Luke 24:32.]
Though Ellen White borrowed imagery from March, one can recognize by reading both authors aloud that each has his/her own voice
in relating these biblical events. In this passage, Ellen White drew from Marchs colorful expansion of Luke 24:31, 32: And their eyes
were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to anoother, Did not our heart burn within us,
while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? The description of the print of nails in his hands
alludes to John 20:25. The phrase the shadows of the evening is from Jeremiah 6:4. Mrs. White uniquely says that the disciples were
reminded of how their Master habitually spread His hands before prayer. Highlighted is from Ms. 113, 1897, 3SP, and ST 1-20-1888.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
65
[NS 419.1] And now, that this great joy has filled their hearts, their weariness
and their discouragement are all gone. They have no thought of hunger or of rest.
They must hurry back to tell the tidings to their brethren in the city. In a moment
they are out again upon the stony path with their faces toward Jerusalem. It is now
night, and the moon which was full four days ago, has not yet risen. But it is all
light in the glad hearts of the disciples who have seen their risen Lord. The sad
looks and sorrowful words with which they went out in the bright afternoon are all
exchanged for exultations of joy, now that they are coming back in the dark night.
The world is all new to them, and the one dread horror of death is all gone, if
Christ be risen from the dead. They cannot wait for the morning to carry such
joyful tidings to the sorrowing band of their brethren.
[NS 420.1] They hurry along the wild mountain road, plunging into dark
glens, climbing steep ridges, bending around shadowy hills, sometimes
stepping from stone to stone, feeling the way in the dark with the pilgrims
staff, and sometimes slipping upon the smooth face of the steep ledges, and
then losing track in crossing the dry bed of a torrent. I have myself more than
once traveled as wild and rugged a mountain-path alone by night, and I know
that Cleopas and his companion must have had light hearts to have started out
upon that night journey to Jerusalem, without waiting for the moon to rise or
the morning to dawn.
[NS 420.2] But they carried in their hearts tidings of the greatest victory
ever gained in this worldthe victory over death, the unbarring of the
gates of the grave for the human race. And well they might go, running
when they could, climbing and descending with cautious step when they
must, but rejoicing all the way. For they were bearers of the best tidings
that human lips ever told. They could testify to a fact upon which all the
hopes of man for eternity must depend.
[DA 801.2] But with this great news to

communicate they cannot sit and talk. Their
weariness and hunger are gone. They leave their
meal untasted, and full of joy immediately set out
again on the same path by which they came,
hurrying to tell the tidings to the disciples in the
city. In some parts the road is not safe, but they
climb over the steep places, slipping on the smooth
rocks. They do not see, they do not know, that they
have the protection of Him who has traveled the
road with them. With their pilgrim staff in hand,
they press on, desiring to go faster than they dare.
They lose their track, but find it again. Sometimes
running, sometimes stumbling, they press forward,
their unseen Companion close beside them all the
way.
[DA 801.3] The night is dark, but the Sun of
Righteousness is shining upon them. Their hearts
leap for joy. They seem to be in a new world. Christ
is a living Saviour. They no longer mourn over Him
as dead. Christ is risenover and over again they
repeat it. This is the message they are carrying to the
sorrowing ones. They must tell them the wonderful
story of the walk to Emmaus. They must tell who
joined them by the way. They carry the greatest
message ever given to the world, a message of glad
tidings upon which the hopes of the human family
for time and for eternity depend.
[NS 420.2] Reaching the walls of the city at a late hour, they probably
passed around to one of the eastern gates, which was kept open all night
during the great festivities of the Jewish people. Having gained admission,
they hurry along the narrow streets, guided now by the light of the risen
moon. The doors are shut and the blank walls of the stone houses give no
sign of life within. They make their way first of all, we may suppose, to
that one memorable house with the upper chamber where Jesus spent the
last evening with his disciples before he suffered. Late as is the hour, they
feel confident that the band will still be together. The excitement of the
day has been too great to let them think of sleep.
[NS 421.1] When they reach the door, they find it barred from within and
they cannot enter. They knock, but none reply. They call aloud and announce
their names, and then they hear steps and voices within, and the swift and
cautious hands of their brethren unbolting the door. But they have not had
time to enter or to unburden their hearts of the great joy which they bring,
before the voices of all within break out in the exclamation, The Lord is
risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon! [Luke 24:34.] And now, that
all are within and the door is barred again, the excited and panting travelers
take their turn and tell the wondrous story of the evening walk to Emmaus,
the strange companion that joined them in the way, the burning words that he
spoke as he climbed the hills and toiled along the steep stony path in their
company, the blessing that he pronounced at the evening meal, the print of
the nails that they plainly saw in his extended hands, the familiar looks of
their beloved Lord shining out upon his face, and then his vanishing out of
their sight.
[DA 802.1] On reaching Jerusalem the two

disciples enter at the eastern gate, which is open at
night on festal occasions. The houses are dark and
silent, but the travelers make their way through the
narrow streets by the light of the rising moon.
They go to the upper chamber where Jesus spent
the hours of the last evening before His death. Here
they know that their brethren are to be found. Late
as it is, they know that the disciples will not sleep till
they learn for a certainty what has become of the
body of their Lord. They find the door of the
chamber securely barred. They knock for
admission, but no answer comes. All is still. Then
they give their names. The door is carefully
unbarred, they enter, and Another, unseen, enters
with them. Then the door is again fastened, to keep
out spies.
[DA 802.2a] The travelers find all in surprised
excitement. The voices of those in the room break
out into thanksgiving and praise, saying, The
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
[Luke 24:34.] Then the two travelers, panting with
the haste with which they have made their
journey, tell the wondrous story of how Jesus
has appeared to them.
DA 801.2 and DA 802.1 describe the unseen Companion accompanying them along the way and passing unseen into the
upper room. Gladys King-Taylor pointed to the effective usage of repetition in the statement, They must tell them the
wonderful story of the walk to Emmaus. They must tell who joined them by the way (Literary Beauty, p. 98, emphasis hers).
That this is highlighted indicates that the repetition in The Desire of Ages was also in the manuscript. The phrase, the
exclamation was used in 3SP 216.2. Highlighted wording is from Ms. 113, 1897, 3SP, and ST 1-20-1888.
66
White Lie Soap
[NS 421.2] They have scarcely finished their story, amid the wonder and
joy of the listening throng, when, behold! another stands in the midst of the
room. They are startled and terrified at the sudden apparition, even as they
were when they saw the bright form walking upon the Sea of Galilee.
Every eye is fixed upon the stranger. There has been no knocking without.
The door has not been unbarred. No sound of entering footsteps has been
heard. And yet there he stands before the affrighted thronga stranger, a
spirit, a living man! What can it be? In the hush of silence which pervades
the breathless group they hear a voice speaking as only their Lord could
speak, and saying Peace be unto you. [Luke 24:36.]
[DA 802.2b] They have just ended, and

some are saying that they cannot believe it, for
it is too good to be true, when behold, another
Person stands before them. Every eye is
fastened upon the Stranger. No one has
knocked for entrance. No footstep has been
heard. The disciples are startled, and wonder
what it means. Then they hear a voice which is
no other than the voice of their Master. Clear
and distinct the words fall from His lips,
Peace be unto you. [Luke 24:36.]
In these paragraphs, Mrs. White has adapted wording from March to describe what took place that late afternoon and evening of the
resurrection, though she did so in a slightly different order and in her own unembellished style. Gladys King-Taylor (Literary Beauty,
p. 56) identified this passage, from No one has knocked for entrance to no other than the voice of their Master, as an
example of Ellen Whites effective use of specific wording. If you read the passages audibly, you will notice the difference in tone
between the two renderings of the event. Unlike March, who merely repeated what the disciples experienced, Mrs. White summarized
the words of the two disciples and pictured the response of the others in hearing the wondrous story that some could not believe.
Highlighted wording in this section is from Ms. 113, 1897 and 3SP.
Pages 433448
[NS 435.1] In the midst of this deep calm, seven men come slowly and
thoughtfully down to the narrow beach, enter a stranded boat and push out
a little way from the land. They are clad in the coarse garb of fishermen.
Their faces have been bronzed with exposure to wind and sun. Their
hands have been swollen with dragging the dripping net, and hardened
with pulling the laboring oar. But they are men destined to hold the
highest rank among the great masters and teachers of mankind. Their rude
minds have already caught fire from the Fountain of light, and they are to
spend their lives in carrying the torch of heavenly truth through the world.
They have just begun to understand a little that there is a remedy for all
our human woe, and it is to be their Divine commission to offer healing
and salvation to the wretched and lost of every land.
Beside the sea again (no TWL listing)
[DA 809.2] Seven of the disciples were in

company. They were clad in the humble garb of
fishermen; they were poor in worldly goods,
but rich in the knowledge and practice of the
truth, which in the sight of Heaven gave them
the highest rank as teachers. They had not been
students in the schools of the prophets, but for
three years they had been taught by the greatest
Educator the world has ever known. Under His
instruction they had become elevated,
intelligent, and refined, agents through whom
men might be led to a knowledge of the truth.
John 21:1 does not say seven, but it does list the seven disciples who went fishing. That they were clad in the garb of
fishermen is to be assumed from verse 7, which describes Peters quickly donning his fishermans coat. The expression
knowledge of the truth appears in 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Timothy 3:7; and Hebrews 10:26.
[NS 436.2] Twice have they seen him since his resurrection, but as yet
their faith cannot fully grasp the great fact that he is actually risen from the
dead. They are trying to live over the past, and they have no plan and little
hope for the future. On this very lake they saw him walk in the wildest
storm, as one would walk the solid earth. Here, he said Peace to the winds,
and the winds were hushed. On yonder height he stilled a fiercer tempest in
the human soul. In the dim starlight can be seen the grassy bank where he
fed five thousand in the desert place. Nearer by is Capernaum, where he so
often healed the sick and raised the dead and spoke the words of eternal life.
Outlined on the western sky, under the evening star, are the twin heights of
the Beatitudes and the oak-crowned dome of the Transfiguration. And a little
way over the ridge where the sun went down in Cana, where the conscious
water saw its Lord and blushed to wine, and Nain hallowed for evermore
by the raising of the widows son, and Nazareth nestled among the hills,
where the Divine Child was sheltered in a human home and nursed with a
mothers love.
[DA 809.3] Much of the time of Christs

ministry had been passed near the Sea of
Galilee. As the disciples gathered in a place
where they were not likely to be disturbed, they
found themselves surrounded by reminders of
Jesus and His mighty works. On this sea, when
their hearts were filled with terror, and the
fierce storm was hurrying them to destruction,
Jesus had walked upon the billows to their
rescue. Here the tempest had been hushed by
His word. Within sight was the beach where
above ten thousand persons had been fed from
a few small loaves and fishes. Not far distant
was Capernaum, the scene of so many miracles.
As the disciples looked upon the scene, their
minds were full of the words and deeds of their
Saviour.
Ellen White borrowed scattered words from March to recount this event in her own voice. March does not say where he
derived the line the conscious water saw its Lord and blushed to wine, though he undoubtedly adapted it from Richard
Crashaws oft-repeated line, Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit, which John Dryden translated: The conscious water saw
its Lord and blushed (Tappan, A Brief History of English Literature [1914], p. 143).
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
[NS 437.1] They think on all these things and are sad, while the
long hours of the weary night are spent in fruitless toil. They keep
letting down the net into the dark depths of the sea, and it always
comes up empty. So in thought they plunge into the deeper and
darker mystery of Christs death and resurrection, and they can bring
nothing to light. Sometimes it seems to them that they have only just
waked up from a beautiful dream of their Masters reign on the earth,
and found themselves nothing but peasants and fishermen, just as
they were before he said to them, Follow me. Weary, disappointed,
deprived of the presence of their Lord, they toil all night and take
nothing.
67
[DA 810.1] The evening was pleasant, and Peter, who still had
much of his old love for boats and fishing, proposed that they
should go out upon the sea and cast their nets. In this plan all
were ready to join; they were in need of food and clothing, which
the proceeds of a successful nights fishing would supply. So
they went out in their boat, but they caught nothing. All night
they toiled, without success. Through the weary hours they
talked of their absent Lord, and recalled the wonderful events
they had witnessed in His ministry beside the sea. They
questioned as to their own future, and grew sad at the prospect
before them.
March used the words that they to set up their feeling of having awakened from a hypothetical dream; Ellen White used the same
words to set up their going fishing to provide for their physical needs. All night they toiled is from the earlier incident, in Luke 5:5, at
which time they told Jesus: . . . we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. Highlighted wording in this section is from 3SP.
Pages 451466
The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 146148
[NS 455.1] There were many other persons besides Peter for
an angel to see, many other places besides a prison for an
angel to visit. There was a king in Jerusalem at the time, who
had carried the splendors of his reign beyond the utmost reach
that Solomon in all his glory ever attained. It was a season of
sacred festivity, and devout men from every nation under
heaven had come up to the Holy City to worship. There was
the temple glittering with gold and precious stones, the most
gorgeous sanctuary that had ever been reared for the worship
of the true God by human hands on the face of the whole earth.
There were the tombs of the kings and prophetsthere were
the holy places that had been consecrated by human faith and
Divine interposition in ancient time.
Peter freed from prison (TWL 133, 356, 357)
[AA 145.2] Meanwhile worshipers from every nation

sought the temple which had been dedicated to the worship
of God. Glittering with gold and precious stones, it was
a vision of beauty and grandeur. But Jehovah was no
longer to be found in that palace of loveliness. Israel as a
nation had divorced herself from God. When Christ, near
the close of His earthly ministry, looked for the last time
upon the interior of the temple, He said, Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate. Matthew 23:38. Hitherto
He had called the temple His Fathers house; but as the
Son of God passed over from those walls, Gods presence
was withdrawn forever from the temple built to His glory.
Mrs. White adapted Marchs description of the temple in Jerusalem, placing it in a totally different context. The words devout men and
every nation under heaven come from Acts 2:5. The phrase on the face of the whole earth is from Luke 21:35. Only Ellen White noted
the Scriptural basis for the withdrawing of Gods presence from the temple. Highlighted is from and RH 4-27-1911, DA 620.4, and 3SP.
[NS 459.1] The care with which Peter was kept was a confession that even
Herod was afraid of him. Sixteen armed soldiers, all answerable with their lives
for his safe-keeping, and a cell made of massive rock, and two chains and three
guarded and bolted gates to secure one unarmed, non-resistant, defenceless man!
Surely it was taking great pains to hold one prisoner. And we have much reason
to be obliged to the king for making the guard so strong, just as the sealing of the
stone and the setting of the watch over the sepulchre of Jesus only helped and
confirmed the demonstration of his resurrection; just as we may well thank the
proud and passionate Voltaire for saying he was tired of hearing that twelve men
established Christianity throughout the worldhe would yet live to hear it said
that one man had banished Christianity from the face of the earth. Voltaire
worked hard and long to fulfill his boast. But he has been dead ninety years, and
yet the religion which he hated was never so full of life and power, never so
widely diffused among men, never so likely to live for all time, as it is now.
[NS 460.1] . . . And so every link in the two chains which bound Peter that
night, every stone in the wall of his prison, every bolt in the triple gates, and
every one of his sixteen guards prove to us that the power enlisted for the
defence of the religion of Jesus is mightier than the armies of kings.
[AA 146] To prevent all possibility of release, Peter

had been put under the charge of sixteen soldiers,
who, in different watches, guarded him day and night.
In his cell he was placed between two soldiers and
was bound by two chains, each chain being fastened
to the wrist of one of the soldiers. He was unable to
move without their knowledge. With the prison doors
securely fastened, and a strong guard before them, all
chance of rescue or escape through human means was
cut off. But mans extremity is Gods opportunity. . . .
Peter was confined in a rock-hewn cell, the doors of
which were strongly bolted and barred; and the
soldiers on guard were made answerable for the
safekeeping of the prisoner. But the bolts and bars and
the Roman guard, which effectually cut off all
possibility of human aid, were but to make more
complete the triumph of God in the deliverance of
Peter.
Here, Ellen White has adapted one recognizable verbatim term from March. However, the number of soldiers was derived
from the quadrupling of the four-soldier detachment in Acts 12:4: And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison,
and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people
(emphasis supplied). The chains come from Acts 12:6: And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
68
White Lie Soap
[NS 458.2ff] The time is not far distant when the sleep of death will steal upon
us all. What strange and bewildering joy it will be to be waked from that last sleep
by the touch of an angels hand! What new life and liberty for the soul to stand
forth released from the suffering body . . . .
[NS 460.2] He is awaked suddenly from deep sleep, and his cell, which had
never seen a sunbeam, is all ablaze with light. There stands before him a being
radiant with celestial beauty, gentleness and might. He hears a voice which he
cannot choose but obey, Arise. He lifts his hands and they are no longer chained.
He stands upon his feet and he is free.
[AA 146.3] The light that surrounds the angel fills

the cell, but does not rouse the apostle. Not until he
feels the touch of the angels hand and hears a voice
saying, Arise up quickly, does he awaken
sufficiently to see his cell illuminated by the light of
heaven, and an angel of great glory standing before
him. Mechanically he obeys the word spoken to
him, and as in rising he lifts his hands he is dimly
conscious that the chains have fallen from his wrists.
Ellen White adapted the touch of an angels hand from Marchs comparison of Peters liberation with the souls release from the
suffering body, a theological concept she rejected. Both recount the events of Acts 12:7: And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon
him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off
from his hands. Both connect the light with the angel. Presumably the angel used his hand when he smote Peter on the side.
[NS 461.1] And then he stands up bewildered and wondering what next. The
armed soldiers are still as if they had been changed to stone on the stony floor.
Again the voice, Cast thy garments about thee. [Acts 12:8.] And he does so,
knowing as little as before what he is doing. Follow me, and the angel moves
toward the closed and bolted door. And all the while this impulsive man, Peter,
who was always talking, even when he had nothing to say, has not said a word. He
steps over the prostrate guards, who, asleep or awake, do not seem to know what
is going on, and he moves after his strange guide. They approach the doorit is
shut; they are outside of itit is still shut. How they passed it Peter does not know.
He has not seen it open or close. It was before them; it is now behind them, and
they move on. There are soldiers within and soldiers without. But they give no
heed when the apostle and his guide pass between them. They approach the
second gate on the other side of the court of the prison. That, too, is shut and
guarded within and without. They have already passed it, and everything is behind
them as it was before them. There is no creak of hinges, no clank of bolts, no sign
of alarm or of attention from the fourfold guard. It is all light as day about the man
and the angel, and yet it seems to the man as if he were dreaming. The bolts, the
gates, the guards seem to have lost their substance and their reality to him. He
passes them all as if they were thin air, but how he does it he cannot tell.
[NS 462.1] At last it looks more like reality when he comes to the outer
iron gate, for that swings open, and he can see the motion, and the two pass
out into the public street. But then there is no sound of unbolting, no stir or
look of the soldier-guards within or without, as if they knew that anybody
were passing. And the gate is shut the moment the angel and the man are in
the street. Peter follows his guide bewildered and wondering what will be the
end, and in a moment more he finds himself alone.
[AA 147.1] Again the voice of the heavenly

messenger bids him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy
sandals, and again Peter mechanically obeys,
keeping his wondering gaze riveted upon his visitor
and believing himself to be dreaming or in a vision.
Once more the angel commands, Cast thy garment
about thee, and follow me. [Acts 12:8.] He moves
toward the door, followed by the usually talkative
Peter, now dumb from amazement. They step over
the guard and reach the heavily bolted door, which
of its own accord swings open and closes again
immediately, while the guards within and without
are motionless at their post.
[AA 147.2] The second door, also guarded within
and without, is reached. It opens as did the first, with
no creaking of hinges or rattling of iron bolts. They
pass through, and it closes again as noiselessly. In
the same way they pass through the third gateway
and find themselves in the open street. No word is
spoken; there is no sound of footsteps. The angel
glides on in front, encircled by a light of dazzling
brightness, and Peter, bewildered, and still believing
himself to be in a dream, follows his deliverer. Thus
they pass on through one street, and then, the
mission of the angel being accomplished, he
suddenly disappears.
Ellen White effectively combined words of Marchs with words of her own (noiselessly, glides, and no word is
spoken) and from Acts 12:7, 8, 10. She did not put Peter in a bad light, as did March when he reminded the reader that Peter
is known for talking, even when he had nothing to say, rather, she merely noted Peters silence. Gladys King-Taylor
commented on the effectiveness of this description (Literary Beauty, pp. 54, 55). March hinted that Peter and the angel
passed through an unopened door; Ellen White simply described its opening quietly. Highlighted wording is from 3SP.
Pages 469488
[NS 469.1] Praise and prayer were strange sounds to be heard at midnight
in the heathen prison at Philippi. And the two men whose voices broke the
silence of the hour were in a sad condition to sing. But their song swelled
loud from the deepest and darkest dungeon of the prison where they had
been confined as if of all criminals they were the worst, and they kept on
singing until all the prisoners waked and wondered at the sound. Shrieks and
groans and execrations had many times been heard in that dark abode. Never
before had the unhappy inmates been disturbed at midnight by the sound of
praise and prayer.
Paul and Silas in the Philippi jail (TWL 358360)
[AA 214.1] With astonishment the other

prisoners heard the sound of prayer and singing
issuing from the inner prison. They had been
accustomed to hear shrieks and moans, cursing
and swearing, breaking the silence of the night;
but never before had they heard words of prayer
and praise ascending from that gloomy cell.
Guards and prisoners marveled and asked
themselves who these men could be, who, cold,
hungry, and tortured, could yet rejoice.
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
[NS 475.1] And while they listen and wonder what all
this can mean, suddenly there comes a mysterious and
awful sound, as if the solid earth were rent asunder
beneath the whole city. The foundations of the prison
are shaken. The bolted doors are all thrown open. The
chains and fetters of every prisoner are loosed and all are
free. The jailer, who had slept through all the singing, is
wakened by the earthquake. He sees the prison doors
open. He supposes the prisoners to have gone. He
knows that, by the stern usage of Roman law, his life
will have to be paid as the forfeit for their escape. In
despair he determines to anticipate the shame of a public
execution by plunging his sword into his own bosom.
He would be like Brutus and Cassius, who ended their
last struggle against Csar on the plains near this same
city of Philippi, by falling upon their own swords. The
jailors hand is upon his sword, and he is just about to
give himself the fatal blow, when a voice comes up
from the dungeon of the inner prison, saying, Do
thyself no harm, for we are all here. It is all dark. The
jailer himself cannot see the one who speaks. But the
voice is so loud, clear and calm, it is so full of
earnestness and assurance, that the excited man becomes
himself again. He drops his sword, calls for a light,
rushes into the inner prison through the open doors,
leaps down into the subterranean dungeon, lifts up Paul
and Silas from the pit and brings them out into the open
court of the prison.
69
[AA 215.1] But while men were cruel and vindictive, or criminally
negligent of the solemn responsibilities devolving upon them, God had not
forgotten to be gracious to His servants. All heaven was interested in the men
who were suffering for Christs sake, and angels were sent to visit the prison.
At their tread the earth trembled. The heavily bolted prison doors were
thrown open; the chains and fetters fell from the hands and feet of the
prisoners; and a bright light flooded the prison.
[AA 215.2] The keeper of the jail had heard with amazement the prayers
and songs of the imprisoned apostles. When they were led in, he had seen
their swollen and bleeding wounds, and had himself caused their feet to be
fastened in the stocks. He had expected to hear from them bitter groans and
imprecations, but he heard instead songs of joy and praise. With these sounds
in his ears the jailer had fallen into a sleep from which he was awakened by
the earthquake and the shaking of the prison walls.
[AA 215.3] Starting up in alarm, he saw with dismay that all the prison
doors were open, and the fear flashed upon him that the prisoners had escaped.
He remembered with what explicit charge Paul and Silas had been entrusted
to his care the night before, and he was certain that death would be the penalty
of his apparent unfaithfulness. In the bitterness of his spirit he felt that it was
better for him to die by his own hand than to submit to a disgraceful execution.
Drawing his sword, he was about to kill himself, when Pauls voice was heard
in the words of cheer, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. [Acts 16:28.]
Every man was in his place, restrained by the power of God exerted through
one fellow prisoner.
[AA 216.2] The jailer dropped his sword and, calling for lights, hastened
into the inner dungeon. He would see what manner of men these were who
repaid with kindness the cruelty with which they had been treated. Reaching
the place where the apostles were, and casting himself before them, he asked
their forgiveness. Then, bringing them out into the open court, he inquired,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Ellen Whites account is more vigorous than Marchs and differs in allowing the jailer to have heard their songs of joy and praise. It
also includes a detail from Acts 12:7: . . . and a light shined in the prison. Highlighted wording in this section is from 3SP via LP.
Pages 491508
[NS 491.2a] But never since men began to sail on the

sea has any shipwreck been invested with deeper
interest to all minds than the one in which the Apostle
Paul bore a part, and by which he was cast with two
hundred and seventy-five others safe upon Maltas
rocky shore.
Paul and the shipwreck (no TWL listing)
[AA 444.2] When he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to
God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
[Acts 27:35.] Then that worn and discouraged company of two hundred and
seventy-five souls, who but for Paul would have become desperate, joined
with the apostle in partaking of food. And when they had eaten enough, they
lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.
There are no significant parallels in this section. The number of people comes from Acts 27:37. Highlighted is from LP
268.3, which has two hundred and seventy-six souls, a number which included Paul. Malta, in Marchs account, is
Melita in the King James Version (Acts 28:1).
There should be no doubt in any mind but that Ellen White adapted
wording from Daniel March in recounting familiar Bible events. Yet, when
relatively few paragraphs contain parallel wording (and much of that says
only what Scripture declares) and when even direct paraphrasing of the
earlier authors wording is limited, the listing of broad ranges of pages to
indicate parallel material does not seem fair or justified.
In May 2009, I sent Dirk Anderson a list of reference corrections for Walter
Dirk Anderson
Reas exhibit, noting which ranges of pages that had significant parallel verbatim
material. In June, he footnoted one of the two web pages displaying Walter Reas
exhibit with my corrections, giving me credit. I thanked him for the acknowledgement.
70
White Lie Soap
Dirk,
Thanks for giving me credit, but Walter Reas mistaken page numbering and duplication of
paging only demonstrate his lack of care in his listing of supposedly plagiarized material. The
range of pages he has given, which contain so little verbatim similarity, leads the reader who
has not taken the time to read all the material listed as I have to conclude that Ellen Whites
materials take page after page out of Marchs book.
I have been reading over our correspondencefrom three years ago and more recently
and I have come to recognize that you have wanted me to acknowledge that Ellen White
adapted phrasing from other authors. I have consistently done that. You have apparently also
wanted me to call adaptation of phrasing plagiarism as you have. That I have not done, for
any writer, desiring to not only tell a Bible story, but to do so in an interesting way, will read
and thoughtfully adapt the colorful expressions of other writers.
Your exhibit does not show that Ellen White took others material and passed it off as her own;
rather, it shows that she took others colorful language and adapted it into her own unique retelling of
familiar stories. There is very little verbatim borrowing in the display. It is true that some literary
critics in the late 19th century listed the adaptation of an idea or phrasing as plagiary. Interestingly,
however, examples of this type in the literature are found in articles complaining about artificial
standards of plagiary, which condemned good writers like Cunningham Geikie, Rudyard Kipling,
Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Russell Lowell,
Jack London, and even William Shakespeare.6
Your understanding of plagiary makes it a crime for a writer to adapt language from other
writers. However, such adaptation is not a crimeit is the substance of good writing! Certainly
Ellen White adapted language, but would she really need to adapt Daniel March to describe
Abraham as she described him in Patriarchs and Prophets? The information in the account is
in the Bible. She only adapted the description of March, who was a good writer. You have
confused the issues of literary craft and inspiration. To borrow the language of another writer
and adapt it as Ellen White has, does not deny her inspiration. If you insist that it does, then you
impugn the inspiration of Matthew and Luke who used 91 percent of Mark.7
Mapping out similar language without considering an authors uniqueness of contribution is the
cardinal sin of the critics of the Gospels, and so much the worse when the similarity of language is as
limited as many examples in Walter Reas list. Walter Rea has padded his list at egw89.htm. It does
include some recognizable parallels, but not page after page as his lengthy list would suggest.
May God bless you as you consider a different view of what constitutes plagiary. I appreciate
the fact that you took time to review the material I sent you.
Brother Kevin
Jumping to Conclusions
It is the work of a scholar to look for patterns and make sense of them. Walter Rea saw a
pattern in the parallels between Ellen Whites writings and the works of other authors.
Believing that the composition of Ellen Whites books could only be one of two extremes
either The Desire of Ages was the work of Ellen and the angels (TWL 222) or Ellen White
and her assistants drew it largely from other writers (TWL 72)Walter Rea concluded that it
was the latter. Yet, his conclusion was neither substantiated by the sampling in The White Lie
nor by Dr. Veltmans eight-year study.8 The pattern that Walter Rea saw was based on raw
similarity, which he exaggerated in the comparisons in his book by the routine use of ellipses
[. . .] to eliminate non-similar material.9 Focusing on raw similarity, he trivialized the
CHAPTER 3
Only the First Step
71
uniqueness of each author and he missed details that distinguished Ellen Whites emphasis and
style. Total originality is both impractical and undesirable. As experts have noted, the genius of
literary craft often comes in improving upon earlier writing. Robert Macfarlane wrote: Writing
is a continual process of tuning out [refuting], turning up [amplifying], or fine-tuning [refining]
what someone else has done, and all writers thus either inhabit or inhibit the language of others.
Creation is always, and appropriately anagrammatically, reaction (Original Copy, p. 5).
Walter Reas extreme bias toward similarity comes out in an exhibit in The White Lie,
which compares the titles of Edersheims Bible History (1876) with those of Patriarchs
and Prophets (1890). The titles do look like near carbon copies as he has truncated them.
However, when we place the full titles side by side, we see that they are quite different.10
Close examination shows that of the 73 chapter titles in Patriarchs and Prophets, only nine of
the titles are either identical to those in Edersheims book, or differ only by the inclusion or
deletion of the article the. Furthermore, these nine include such common titles as The
Creation, The Flood, Destruction of Sodom, The Marriage of Isaac, and The Death of
Saul (The Truth about The White Lie, p. 3).11 Moreover, most of Ellen Whites titles in
Patriarchs and Prophets were previously in Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4 (1864), and in Spirit of
Prophecy, vol. 1 (1870). That these books predate Edersheims Bible History and have similarities
in their titles does not mean that Edersheim copied his titles from Ellen White. Correlation does
not always equal causation. Both authors likely drew their titles from Scripture or from other
Bible histories, for they relate the events in the order in which they occur in Scripture. Books
covering the same period of Bible history should be expected to cover the same subjects in the
same order with similar detailseven when occasionally adapting the wording of others.12
The correlation of raw similarity led Walter Rea to conclude that Ellen White used the works
of other authors to know what to write rather than to know how better to portray what God had
revealed to her.13 To discern the difference between these two objectives can be accomplished in
different ways. One is to trace the roots of her later narratives, for which she borrowed language,
to her earlier unsophisticated writings. This present chapter has provided many instances in which
Ellen White understood concepts long before she borrowed wording to better express them. Yet,
because her earlier writings do not cover every topic in her later ones, there is a limit to this
technique. A second way to validate her independence from literary sources is by identifying
unique details and concepts in her writings that do not correlate to her potential literary sources.
It is to such unique details that we turn in our next chapter. Besides answering technical
questions, the chapter provides an opportunity to contemplate the closing scenes of Jesus life
on earth in several selections from Mrs. Whites pen.
End Notes
1
Walter Rea somehow missed the particulars of the fourth vote at the January 1980 Glendale meeting, regarding the implementation of an indepth study on the writing of Desire of Ages. The study was to attempt to discover not only the similarities between Ellen White and other
authors, but also the dissimilarities and the unique, positive contributions to be found in her works (PREXAD minutes, Jan. 29, 1980, p. 2).
2
Originally Dirk Anderson identified 1SM 27, 28 as a typical example. When I sent him evidence that it was not a typical example, he
downgraded the designation to an example and added his own selection of examples, which I have marked in this chapter by arrows ().
3
The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood (3SG 75.2). Ellen Whites
amalgamation statements are also in 1SP 69.1; 78.2. She also mentioned Satans ingenious methods of amalgamation (Ms. 65, 1899, in 2SM 288.2).
4
God told Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the
earth. . . . I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is
in the earth shall die (Gen. 6:13, 17, emphasis supplied). Attorney David Read commented: Genesis 6 tells us not only that (1) man was wicked, and
72
White Lie Soap
(2) the earth was filled with violence, but also that (3) the earth was filled with violence, including animal violence, because of man. . . . Before the Flood,
the antediluvians artificially combined characteristics of widely dissimilar species. That type of amalgamation was sinful and resulted in species that
were combinations of entirely different classes of animals. It substantially deranged and confused the created order and defaced the image of God. That
type of amalgamation was first among the reasons why God decided to wipe the slate clean with a worldwide deluge and start over with only the
originally created kinds (Read, Dinosaurs: An Adventist View, pp. 496, 529, 530).
5
In TWL 73, Rea noted an apparent contradiction between Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, pp. 118, 119, and Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 196, 197. He
failed to recogize that the earlier account (taken from 3SG 128, 129) describes a representation, clarified by later in Patriarchs and Prophets.
6
. . . when a great writer accidentally borrows, or deliberately conveys, he passes the rough ore through his own mint, stamps the gold with his
own die, and turns out the new piece as his own coin. It is folly in such cases to raise the cry of Stop thief! a cry so often raised in the world of letters by
the hangers-on of literature, simply to gratify feelings of vindictiveness and spite; a cry which usually originates in the consciousness of inferiority, and is
sustained by the malignancy of envy (Adams, Imitators and Plagiarists, Gentlemans Magazine, May 1892, p. 502).
7
Walter Rea refers to Lukes copying from Mark, in TWL 46, but he avoids the implications of the comparison. See also TWL 120, 124.
8
Reas sweeping generalization about The Desire of Ages was not the first. The Gathering Call (Sept. 1932) had asserted: Desire of Ages, is
practically all culled from other authors on the life of Christ (quoted in MR926 120 and in DF 389). This also was based on too little actual research.
9
Rea wrote: I recognized similarities of wording and thought and there were additional similarities . . . (TWL 20). Ron Numbers wrote: Reas
later work on Whites Conflict of the Ages series proved, in his words, beyond any reasonable doubt that far more than 80% of the material enclosed
within the covers of these books was taken from others (Rea, letter to the editor, Spectrum, vol. 14, no. 2 [Oct. 1983], pp. 63, 64) (PH xiv). Actually,
Reas research did not cover enough of her writings to prove any such thing. The exhibits of literary parallels in The White Lie total 277 pages. Half of
each page of exhibit is source work and half is Ellen Whites writing. Thus, only half of the pages are Mrs. Whites writing. The evidence for the 80%
claim for the Conflict series is 12 half pages from Patriarchs and Prophets, 11 from Prophets and Kings, 25 from The Desire of Ages, 12 from The Acts
of the Apostles, and 39 from The Great Controversy (nine of which are from 4SP, the precursor to GC). That makes 99 half pages of quasi-parallel
material for the Conflict series, while there are a total of 3,603 pages in the Conflict series, excluding indexes. Even if this were purely cut-and-paste
copying, which it is not, Reas exhibits would give evidence for only 0.027 percent of the whole. Yet, the degree of similarity among the parallels varies,
and 24 of the half pages of parallels from The Great Controversy were excerpted from James Whites Life Incidents, which Mrs. White legitimately used
to tell the story of the Advent movement. Three out of the nine half pages from 4SP cite James Whites Sketches of the Christian Life and Public Labors
of William Miller; three others cite Wylie; three more cite DAubign; and two others cite the Sabbath history of J. N. Andrews. Certainly, Ellen White
used historical material, but she did so legitimately in each case, contrary to TWL 198. When Walter Rea called attention to her use of historians in
telling the story, he is only substantiating the historical veracity of The Great Controversy. Ron Numbers cited Reas later work as validation for the
inflated 80% claim. Walter Rea sent me a notebook of materials that includes chapter studies in The Great Controversy (most are posted on
http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com). These correlate Ellen Whites statements about the developments in the church with various authorities, including
History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century by J. H. Merle DAubign, History of Protestantism by James A Wylie, History of the Second
Advent Message by Isaac C. Wellcome, Memoirs of William Miller by Sylvester Bliss, and others. Of these, Wellcomes history is not referenced within
the 1911 Great Controversy. This is as it should be, for in comparing the references in Walter Reas chart for Wellcomes history and The Great
Controversy, I found that the only solid parallels are quotations from Sylvester Bliss. Thus, Wellcomes history is not a source as Walter Rea claimed.
10
TWL 7781. For a full listing of the titles, see http://www.ellenwhite.info/edersheim-titles.htm. Carbon copy is the description that
Pat Pine Darnells daughter Patti gave of the table of contents of an unspecified book of Ellen Whites, which supposedly corresponded to the
table of contents of another unspecified book of another author. When pressed, she could not identify which books these were.
11
For a visual comparison of the two tables of contents, see Ellen White Copied Her Chapter Titles from Edersheim . . . or Was It
Vice Versa? available at: http://www.ellenwhite.info/edersheim-titles.htm.
12
Most of the parallels between Patriarchs and Prophets and Edersheims Bible History, vol. 1 (1876), which are referenced in TWL 290292, are
Scripture. However, from certain phrases of striking similarity, it seems likely that Ellen White did use Bible History in expanding her description in 1SP
of Jacobs blessing of his sons before he died (PP 235, 236; 1BH 180182). There are similar phrases in the two accounts: gathered about his dying
bed (PP 235) corresponds to gathered around his dying couch (1BH 180); both accounts have before him in prophetic vision (PP 235; 1BH 180)
and should have been the position of Reuben as the first-born (PP 235; 1BH 181); both speak of the cruelty of Simeon and Levi (PP 235; 1BH 181,
though cruelty is from Gen. 49:5); both speak of all nations rendering homage to the lion of the tribe of Judah since the lion is the king of the
forest (PP 235; 1BH 182). Nonetheless, most of the concepts behind this parallel phrasing appeared in Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1 (1870), p. 154, before
Bible History was published. Ellen White had written, . . . his children gathered about him and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him, and he uttered
prophecies concerning them, which reached far in the future (1SP 154); she also quoted Gen. 49:3, 4, in which Jacob called attention to Reubens being
the firstborn while declaring that he would not excel (1SP 154.2), and had described Simeon and Levi as having practiced deception to the Shechemites,
and then, in a most cruel, revengeful manner, destroyed them (1SP 154.3). The most striking of the parallels not in 1SP have to do with what became of
Simeon and Levi. Simeon had sunk to be the smallest tribe (1BH 181) corresponds to Simeon was the smallest tribe (PP 236). Such of the families
as became powerful, afterwards left the Holy Land, and settled outside its boundaries (1BH 181) corresponds to such families as afterward became
powerful formed different colonies and settled in territory outside the borders of the Holy Land (PP 236). The tribe of Levi their scattering was
changed from a curse into a blessing (1BH 181) corresponds to In the case of [Levi] the curse was changed into a blessing (PP 236). In 1SP 154.3,
Ellen White had quoted Jacobs statement regarding Simeon and Levi being scattered within Israel (Gen. 49:7), but she did not mention that it was
turned into a blessing for Levi, nor did she refer to the lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), in quoting Gen. 49:10. See Ulrike Unruhs earlier work on
this topic at http://dedication.www3.50megs.com/comparePP_21b.html.
13
Walter Rea inadvertently recognized this possibility when he wrote: Perhaps one of the hardest charges to meet and refute is that Ellen wrote
what she had seen first in vision, and that she used the words, thoughts, and arrangement of others only because they said what she wanted to say and did
not have the ability to say (TWL 222). Rea acknowledged the consistency of what she wrote through the years: The color of the new threads did not
clash with the ultimate pattern of the fabric being woven through the years (TWL 92). Yet, he believed this was accomplished through the cosmetic
skill of Ellens team so as to avoid criticism (TWL 72). Actually, the many examples of underlying concepts in her earlier writings for what she
borrowed demonstrate that she adopted apt expressions from other authors because they were in harmony with what God had revealed to her.

White Lie Soap, Chapter 3. "Only The First Step" (Expanded Version)

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White Lie Soap, Chapter 3. "Only The First Step" (Expanded Version)

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CHAPTER 3

Only the First Step

The Life of Christ

[58] The secluded life of Christ for thirty years at

[58] John recognized him at once as the superior

[83] He [John] certainly did at once recognize him as his

White Lie Soap

Ellen G. White Books

Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 2728

Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, pp. 343344

Acts of the Apostles, p. 146

Prophets and Kings, pp. 119120

Prophets and Kings, pp. 121128

Prophets and Kings, pp. 143165

Prophets and Kings, pp. 523531

Messages to Young People, p. 103

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 44

Selected Messages, bk. 1, pp. 27, 28

[NS 201.2] We must not defer our obedience till every

Shadow of uncertainty (TWL 53) italics for unique concepts

[1SM 27.3, 28.1] If you refuse to believe until every

Only the First Step

Feast of Tabernacles (TWL 106, 107)

The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, pp. 343344 (cf. DA 448.2)

[2SP 343.4] The Feast of Tabernacles

The Desire of Ages, pp. 168, 171

Nicodemus visit with Jesus (no TWL listing)

[DA 168.3] In the presence of Christ, Nicodemus

White Lie Soap

[NS 313.1b] Nicodemus sitting in

The Acts of the Apostles, p. 146

Included in NS 451466 (TWL 133)

Prophets and Kings, pp. 119120

Elijah (TWL 176)

[PK 119.1] Among the mountains of

Only the First Step

Prophets and Kings, pp. 121128

[NS 199.2] And now let apostate Ahab and pagan

Elijah (TWL 176, 177)

White Lie Soap

[PK 121.2a] It was only by the exercise of strong faith

[PK 124.3] A year passes, and yet there

Prophets and Kings, pp. 143165

Included in NS 189222 (TWL 179182)

Prophets and Kings, pp. 523531

Included in NS 285302 (TWL 184, 185)

Only the First Step

Daniel March, Our Fathers House, p. 255

Messages to Young People, p. 103

The hawk and the dove (TWL 186)

[MYP 103.2] Have you ever watched a hawk in

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (1896), p. 44

[NS 336] Every trial patiently borne, every

Trial patiently borne (TWL 186)

[MB 44.4] Trials patiently borne, blessings gratefully received, temptations

Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 156170

Destruction of Sodom (TWL 286288)

[NS 30.0] The multitude look as if they

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Only the First Step

[NS 32.1] The idle throng in the streets deride the

[PP 158.3] Seeing the abuse to which strangers were exposed in

[NS 32.2] The celestial messengers had come to see