Chapter 4—(1863) Meeting Two Major Problems

The announcement on January 6, 1863, that in a few days there would be available to Seventh-day Adventists Testimony No. 9, with the lead article being on the war and Adventists’ duty in relation to it, brought assurance to the hearts of many, especially men of draft age and their families. Whether the article was based on a single vision or on several, we do not know, but Ellen White's repeated reference to what she was shown or what she saw makes it clear that a vision or visions formed the immediate background. The visions at Parkville, Michigan, January 12, 1861; at Roosevelt, New York, August 3, 1861; and at Battle Creek, January 4, 1862, put Adventists in the unique position of knowing, first, of the coming war and its ferocity and long duration, and then, its philosophy, with the assurance that God had a controlling hand in the affairs of the nation. They had an inside view of victories and losses and the potential of its becoming an international conflict. 2BIO 46.1

Now, a year later, there was further light for the church whose members regarded as binding the claims of the Ten Commandments, and who now faced the prospects of a national military draft. The counsel filled a good portion of the original Testimony pamphlet, and may be found in volume 1 of the current Testimonies, under the chapter title “The Rebellion,” pages 355-368. True to its advance notice, it contained counsel as to how Seventh-day Adventists should relate to the war. There was as yet no national draft. The men in the Army had volunteered for military service, thus surrendering all claims they might have to positions of conscience. It was on this basis that Ellen White wrote as she did. Conscription, although a real threat, was yet months away. 2BIO 46.2