Transcript Diapositiva 1

Lesson 5 for the 31st of January, 2009
God transmits a
message to
someone through
revelation, and
that person must
pass it on to other
people.
Directly, like He did to Moses.
“the LORD spoke to Moses face to
face, as a man speaks to his friend”
(Exodus, 33: 11)
Through angels, like He did to
John.
“And the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent His angel to show
His servants the things which must
shortly take place” (Revelation, 22: 6)
Through dreams, as He did to Daniel.
“In the first year of Belshazzar king
of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and
visions of his head while on his bed.
Then he wrote down the dream,
telling the main facts” (Daniel, 7: 1)
Through visions, like He
did to Ezekiel.
“Now it came to pass in the thirtieth
year, in the fourth month, on the fifth
day of the month, as I was among
the captives by the River Chebar,
that the heavens were opened and I
saw visions of God” (Ezekiel , 1: 1)
Among all the ways God uses to reveal
Himself (directly and through angels, dreams
and visions), visions are which cause
physical extraordinary effects in the prophet.
A form took Ezekiel “by the hair of my head” and lifted
him up, but he felt no pain (Ezekiel, 8: 3). His body stood
before the elders, while he was being carried to
Jerusalem by the Spirit.
“The vision happened while the elders remained sitted
before the prophet. Obviously, they saw nothing, but
Ezekiel was in a condition of vision that prepared them
to listen, at the end of the vision, everything that God
had showed the prophet”
(SDA Bible Commentary, commentary on Ezekiel, 8: 2)
Other prophets lost
strength while
receiving vision, like
Daniel or John.
Daniel said: “I had
no strength left, my
face turned deathly
pale and I was
helpless”
(Daniel, 10: 8; Revelation, 1: 17)
In the case of Ellen G. White, the
physical phenomena that went with
visions are faithfully registered.
Ellen G. White’s testimony:
“While engaged in earnest
prayer, I was lost to everything
around me; the room was filled
with light”
(Testimonies to ministers and Gospel Workers,
chapter 17, pg. 461)
“As inquiries are frequently made as to
my state in vision, and after I come out, I
would say that when the Lord sees fit to
give a vision, I am taken into the
presence of Jesus and angels, and am
entirely lost to earthly things. I can see
no farther than the angel directs me. My
attention is often directed to scenes
transpiring upon earth. At times I am
carried far ahead into the future and
shown what is to take place. Then again
I am shown things as they have occurred
in the past”. (Selected Messages, Book 1, chapter 2, pg. 36)
“Some of the instruction found in these pages
was given under circumstances so remarkable
as to evidence the wonder-working power of
God in behalf of His truth. Sometimes while I
was in vision, my friends would approach me,
and exclaim, "Why, she does not breathe!"
Placing a mirror before my lips, they found
that no moisture gathered on the glass. It
was while there was no sign of any breathing
that I kept talking of the things that were
being presented before me. These messages
were thus given to substantiate the faith of
all, that in these last days we might have
confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy.”
(Selected Messages, Book 3, pg. 39)
1. She is utterly unconscious of everything
transpiring around her.
2. She does not breathe… [This] has been
repeatedly proved by pressing upon the
chest, and by closing her mouth and
nostrils.
3. Immediately on entering vision, her
muscles become rigid, and joints fixed,
so far as any external force can
influence them…
4. On coming out of vision, whether in the
daytime or a well-lighted room at night,
all is total darkness. Her power to
distinguish even the most brilliant
objects, held within a few inches of the
eyes, returns but gradually”
(Life incidents, p. 272)
The testimony of
those who saw
her while she
was in vision:
Once the prophets had
received a divine
revelation, how did
they pass it on?
In all the cases, the Holy
Spirit inspired the prophets
to transmit those revealed
messages from God by the
most convenient mean.
The inspiration is the process
by which the Holy Spirit
influences the thinking of the
prophet and helps him to
express by spoken or written
word what God wants to
transmit.
“After I come out of vision I do not at once remember all that I have seen, and the
matter is not so clear before me until I write, then the scene rises before me as
was presented in vision, and I can write with freedom. Sometimes the things
which I have seen are hid from me after I come out of vision, and I cannot call
them to mind until I am brought before a company where that vision applies, then
the things which I have seen come to my mind with force. I am just as
dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing a vision, as in
having the vision. It is impossible for me to call up things which have been
shown me unless the Lord brings them before me at the time that He is pleased to
have me relate or write them”.
E.G.W.(Selected messages, Book 1, chap. 2, pg. 36).
Country
meeting in
Eagle Lake,
Minnesota,
1875. The
Whites, Uriah
Smith and
others under
the baldachin.
Ellen White in the dedication of
Loma Linda campus. 1905
Sometimes, the prophet
thought he wasn’t able to
express or write
correctly the received
message.
In those cases, they
were helped by other
people who expressed and
wrote those thoughts,
under his supervision.
In other cases, the Holy
Spirit inspired both, the
prophet and his helper.
“Jeremiah called
Baruch the son of
Neriah; and Baruch
wrote on a scroll of
a book, all the
words of the LORD
which He had
spoken to him”
(Jeremiah, 36: 4)
Paul couldn’t write long letters
because of his problems of
sight. He just wrote the final
greeting, so he guaranteed
the authenticity of his
letters.
“The salutation of Paul with
my own hand, which is a sign
in every epistle; so I write”
(2 Thessalonians, 3: 17)
He dictated the letters to
trustworthy brothers; Tertius’
testimony stands out among
them:
“I, Tertius, who wrote this
epistle, greet you in the Lord”
(Romans, 16: 22)
In exile, John was undoubtedly obliged to use his own
linguistic ability to redact the Revelation, so the language in
this book is not always pure: sometimes, some Semitic
strokes are revealed through Greek, and the author wasn’t
always sure of his grammar.
However, the oldest
Christian tradition
indicates that the Gospel
was written in completely
different conditions. It
was revised by different
brothers and it was
written by Papiah, his
disciple.
(SDA Bible Commentary, introduction to the book of Revelation)
“The books are not Marian's productions, but my own,
gathered from all my writings. Marian has a large field from
which to draw, and her ability to arrange the matter is of
great value to me. It saves my poring over a mass of matter,
which I have no time to do.
So you understand that Marian is a most valuable help to
me in bringing out my books. Fanny had none of this
work to do. Marian has read chapters to her, and Fanny has
sometimes made suggestions as to the arrangement of the
matter.
This is the difference between the workers. As I have
stated, Fanny has been strictly forbidden to change my
words for her words. As spoken by the heavenly
agencies, the words are severe in their simplicity; and I try
to put the thoughts into such simple language that a child
can understand every word uttered. The words of someone
else would not rightly represent me”.
Selected messages, Book 3, cap. 12, pages 91-92
Marian Davis,
Ellen White’s
secretary
Fannie Bolton
Those who compiled information
and wrote an organized account of
the things that the Holy Spirit
impressed them to relate, show
another kind of inspiration.
This happened, for example, to the
anonymous authors of the books of
Samuel, Kings or Chronicles.
Tradition shows us that persons like
Nathan, Jeremiah and Ezra
compiled and wrote those books
under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit.
Luke used this method to write his
Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles:
“It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all
things from the very first, to write to
you an orderly account, most
excellent Theophilus” (Luke, 1: 3)
Directly from God.
Through angels.
Through dreams.
Through visions.
The Holy Spirit has an influence on the thought of the prophet to
express the received message.
They may use assistants to write or even to word more correctly his
words.
The authors can compile existing material, even quotes of nonbiblical authors, to compose new divinely inspired material.
(Holy Spirit)