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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
- Sprache: Englisch
In "Patriarchs and Prophets," Ellen G. White presents a profound exploration of biblical history, particularly focusing on the lives of the patriarchs and the prophetic figures of the Old Testament. Her narrative is rich with vivid descriptions and theological insight, blending historical events with moral lessons that transcend mere chronology. White employs a narrative style imbued with religious fervor, aiming to illuminate the spiritual significance of the Scriptures for contemporary believers. The book is a foundational text in the canon of Adventist literature, reflecting the theological framework of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and is designed to foster a deeper understanding of God's covenant with humanity. Ellen G. White, a prominent religious figure and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, wrote extensively on topics related to theology, health, and education. Her personal experiences as a visionary and a reformist significantly influenced her interpretation of biblical texts. Drawing from her lifelong commitment to Christian principles and profound spiritual insights, White approached the material in "Patriarchs and Prophets" not only as a historian but as a messenger aiming to inspire moral and ethical living in her readers. This book is essential for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of biblical narratives through a theological lens. Readers will find inspiration not only in the lives of Old Testament figures but also in the practical applications White draws from their stories. "Patriarchs and Prophets" is a valuable resource for theologians, historians, and laypersons alike who wish to comprehend the broader implications of divine covenants in shaping humanity's spiritual journey. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Patriarchs and Prophets
Table of Contents
Introduction
In the long arc between Eden’s dawn and a nation’s rising, a struggle of allegiance and character unfolds.
Patriarchs and Prophets endures as a classic of devotional literature because it interprets ancient Scripture with a clarity that feels both intimate and expansive. Its pages offer more than retelling; they seek to illuminate the motives, choices, and moral horizons that shape the earliest biblical stories. Generations have read it for insight into faith’s beginnings, the birth of community, and the testing of conscience. Within the Seventh-day Adventist tradition and beyond, it has functioned as a touchstone for spiritual formation, a lens through which familiar narratives acquire renewed urgency, and a guide that renders the past instructive for present decisions.
Written by Ellen G. White and first published in 1890, Patriarchs and Prophets is one of five volumes in her Conflict of the Ages series. White, a cofounder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, situates the book within a sweeping panorama that ranges from Creation through the formative epochs of Israel’s early history. Drawing on the biblical text as foundation, she develops a narrative framework that connects events, character, and consequence. The work’s purpose is pastoral and instructive: to invite readers to engage Scripture more deeply, to discern the moral stakes within familiar accounts, and to see in them patterns of loyalty, grace, and responsibility.
White’s intention is neither to replace Scripture nor to offer a technical commentary, but to explore the spiritual logic of the story of beginnings. She traces the covenantal thread that binds families, tribes, and leaders, and she emphasizes the formative power of choice in shaping both identity and destiny. Across the unfolding episodes, the book highlights the relationship between divine initiative and human response, underscoring how trust, obedience, and perseverance sustain community. In doing so, it frames the narratives as living testimony—lessons that speak to conscience and conduct—without exhausting their mystery or closing off the reader’s capacity for reverent inquiry.
Part of the work’s enduring stature lies in its literary craft. White writes with a measured, lucid cadence, weaving exposition with narrative momentum. Her portraits of patriarchs and early prophets emphasize character development and the moral stakes of leadership. Scenes of journey, conflict, and reconciliation become occasions for reflection on law and grace, freedom and fidelity. The style balances pastoral warmth with prophetic urgency, inviting readers to contemplate weighty questions through concrete lives. This combination of clarity and gravity helps the book transcend its nineteenth-century origin, allowing fresh readers to meet the text not as a relic, but as a living companion to Scripture.
As a mainstay within Adventist reading and teaching, Patriarchs and Prophets has shaped personal devotion, family worship, and classroom discussion for more than a century. Pastors and lay leaders have drawn from its insights to frame sermons, Bible studies, and spiritual counsel. Its accessible presentation has made it a bridge text for those exploring the Old Testament’s terrain for the first time. The book’s circulation through denominational presses, study groups, and educational curricula has reinforced its influence, nurturing a communal vocabulary for faith, duty, and hope that continues to inform spiritual practice and ethical reflection around the world.
Within religious literature, the book occupies a distinctive place alongside works that retell sacred history for moral and devotional ends. It participates in a longstanding tradition that seeks not only to recount events but also to disclose their enduring significance. Its contribution lies in uniting panoramic vision with pastoral specificity: the drama of nations alongside the quiet testing of households; the sweep of promise alongside the humility of daily obedience. That fusion has helped subsequent writers and readers approach biblical narrative as a coherent moral epic, one in which history and holiness, memory and motivation, converge to form an instructive whole.
The book also bears the imprint of its late nineteenth-century context, when broad readerships were formed through periodicals, tract societies, and expanding print networks. White’s voice, emerging from a developing faith community committed to Bible study and practical discipleship, models a method of engagement marked by clarity, exhortation, and encouragement. The work’s focus on personal responsibility, communal identity, and the intelligibility of providence reflects a moment in which many sought moral bearings in a rapidly changing world. Yet its commitment to Scripture and its attention to the inner life enable the book to speak across cultural shifts and denominational lines.
Central themes recur with memorable resonance: covenant and promise, faith under pressure, leadership tested by power, and the interplay of law, mercy, and freedom. The narrative contemplates human agency—how choices ripple through families and societies—and explores the cost of trust in uncertain terrain. It considers the formation of conscience, the stewardship of gifts, and the patience required to wait for fulfillment. In these stories of beginnings, the book finds a map for the spiritual life, suggesting that the journey of belief is both communal and personal, historical and immediate, always anchored in a larger purpose than the moment can display.
For contemporary readers, those concerns remain urgently recognizable. Questions of identity, belonging, justice, and moral courage are not confined to antiquity. Patriarchs and Prophets encourages readers to discern principle amid complexity, to value integrity over convenience, and to see leadership as service rather than entitlement. Its sustained attention to family dynamics, migration, work, and worship creates points of contact with modern experience. The book does not pretend that faith eliminates hardship; instead, it frames adversity as a setting for character to mature. That perspective equips readers to navigate change with steadiness, humility, and hope grounded in enduring truths.
As an introduction to the Old Testament’s earliest vistas, the volume is both doorway and guide. It invites readers to approach Scripture expectantly, ready to encounter wisdom in narratives that might otherwise seem distant. Its pages model careful, reverent attentiveness to the text and a willingness to trace ethical implications without exhausting mystery. Those qualities make it valuable across reading levels: a companion for personal devotion, a resource for group study, and a catalyst for preaching and teaching. By linking ancient testimony to present vocation, the book cultivates a habit of reading that is reflective, prayerful, and morally serious.
Patriarchs and Prophets remains compelling because it unites breadth of vision with moral clarity, presenting the formative stories of faith as living counsel for the present. In its emphasis on covenant, character, and community, it speaks to perennial human needs: guidance, meaning, and hope. As a classic of devotional prose from Ellen G. White, it continues to engage readers who desire a deeper, more coherent grasp of Scripture’s early chapters. Its lasting appeal lies in its capacity to illuminate the path between promise and fulfillment, to dignify everyday obedience, and to remind us that history’s first pages still shape the choices of our own.
Synopsis
Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen G. White presents a sweeping retelling and interpretation of biblical history from creation to the close of King David’s reign. The book aims to trace the development of the covenant between God and humanity, exploring themes of law, faith, and the ongoing conflict between good and evil, often termed the "great controversy." Drawing on the narratives of Genesis through the life of David, White blends historical summary with moral reflection, offering continuity between stories and their spiritual implications. This synopsis follows the volume’s narrative order, highlighting key events and lessons as the author frames them.
White begins before Earth’s creation, describing the harmony of heaven and the rise of disaffection in Lucifer, whose pride and distrust lead to rebellion. The creation of the world and humanity is presented as perfect and benevolent, with Adam and Eve placed in Eden under a simple test of loyalty. The serpent’s deception, the fall, and the resulting loss of innocence introduce suffering and death, but are accompanied by a promise of a coming Redeemer. The institution of sacrifice and the Sabbath are portrayed as early markers of God’s plan and law, anchoring hope amid the consequences of disobedience.
The narrative moves to the first family, contrasting Cain’s self-directed worship with Abel’s obedient faith and recounting the first murder. Generations expand, and violence and corruption multiply, while figures like Enoch exemplify steadfastness and communion with God. Noah is commissioned to warn a skeptical world, construct the ark, and preserve life through the Flood. After the deluge subsides, a covenant with Noah is established, signaled by the rainbow, and human society begins anew. White emphasizes the persistence of divine mercy alongside justice, presenting the Flood as judgment on entrenched evil and a reset for the unfolding plan of redemption.
As populations grow, the building of Babel illustrates human ambition and defiance, resulting in the confusion of languages and dispersion of peoples. Attention then narrows to Abram, called from Ur to a pilgrimage of trust. The promises of land, descendants, and blessing are reiterated through tests that shape Abraham’s faith, including sojourns in foreign lands, family tension over Hagar and Ishmael, and the binding of Isaac. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is recounted as a cautionary episode. Abraham’s covenant is renewed through clear rites and assurances, situating his household as a channel for moral instruction and future fulfillment.
Isaac’s quieter life preserves the covenant line, while his sons exemplify contrasting orientations toward birthright and promise. Jacob’s acquisition of the birthright through deception brings consequences: exile, hardship, and a defining vision at Bethel. Years with Laban shape his character, leading to eventual return and a night of struggle at the Jabbok, where his name is changed to Israel. Reconciliation with Esau and the responsibilities of a growing clan mark the maturation of the patriarch. White uses Jacob’s story to consider repentance, perseverance, and transformation, showing how the covenant continues despite human flaws and complex family dynamics.
Joseph’s narrative introduces providence operating through adversity. Betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, Joseph rises in Egypt through integrity and administrative ability, navigates false accusation, and interprets dreams that forecast famine. Elevated to high office, he organizes relief that sustains Egypt and the surrounding region. Reunion with his family brings testing, forgiveness, and relocation of Jacob’s household to Goshen. The closing scenes of Genesis underline the preservation of the covenant line within a foreign empire, the reconciliation among brothers, and the assurance that the divine promise transcends immediate circumstances and human intentions, preparing the stage for national formation.
Exodus opens with oppression in Egypt and the birth of Moses, whose early life spans palace and wilderness. At the burning bush, he is commissioned to lead Israel out, confronting Pharaoh through a series of plagues culminating in the Passover. The exodus, Red Sea deliverance, and wilderness journey lead to Sinai, where the covenant is formalized. White foregrounds the Ten Commandments, Sabbath observance, and instructions for the sanctuary and priesthood as enduring expressions of divine order. Episodes such as the golden calf, intercession, and covenant renewal highlight the tension between human inconsistency and the steady provisions for guidance and atonement.
The wilderness years portray recurring challenges—murmuring, scarcity, and leadership crises—with pivotal moments at Kadesh-barnea after the spies’ report. The resulting forty-year delay, Korah’s rebellion, and Balaam’s attempts to curse Israel illustrate consequences and protection. Deuteronomy presents Moses’ final appeals and laws before his death on Nebo. Under Joshua, Israel crosses the Jordan, captures key strongholds, distributes territory, and renews the covenant. The era of the Judges alternates between decline and deliverance, showing fragmented faith and periodic reform. Figures such as Deborah, Gideon, and Samson exemplify this cycle, setting the context for a shift toward centralized leadership.
The narrative culminates in the transition to monarchy. Samuel serves as prophet and judge, anointing Saul amid popular demand for a king. Saul’s initial promise is undercut by disobedience, leading to his rejection. David is chosen and tested through years of danger, eventually uniting the tribes and establishing Jerusalem as the capital. White recounts both David’s faith and his moral failures, exploring repentance, discipline, and the durability of the promise to his house. The volume concludes with lessons on leadership, worship, and reliance on divine law, sustaining the expectation of a coming Messiah and continuing the storyline into future history.
Historical Context
Patriarchs and Prophets is set across the sweep of biblical prehistory and early Israelite nationhood, from the Creation narrative to the close of King David’s reign. Its geographical canvas spans Mesopotamia’s river valleys, the Levantine hill country, Egypt’s Nile basin, and the Sinai Peninsula. The approximate historical frame mirrors the Ancient Near Eastern Bronze Age, c. third to early first millennium BCE, though primeval episodes precede datable history. The narrative advances through nomadic encampments, walled city-states, and emerging kingdoms. By grounding theological themes in named locales—Eden, Ur, Haran, Hebron, Goshen, Sinai, Jericho, and Jerusalem—the book situates Israel’s ancestral story within real corridors of trade, migration, and empire along the Fertile Crescent.
The work’s world is one of caravan routes, treaty diplomacy, and agricultural-pastoral economies. Egypt’s Middle and New Kingdoms, Canaanite polities, and later Philistine enclaves define power balances relevant to the patriarchs and early Israel. Social frameworks include clan patriarchy, bride-price, land tenure, and sacral law. Temples, high places, and household shrines compete with monotheistic worship claims. Technologically, bronze weaponry, chariots, and monumental architecture shape warfare and labor systems that appear in conflicts from the Nile Delta to the Shephelah. Patriarchs and Prophets uses this milieu to interpret law, ritual, kingship, and ethical life, portraying Israel’s identity as forged at the intersection of divine covenant and regional political realities.
Ancient Near Eastern cosmogonies, such as the Babylonian Enuma Elish (first millennium BCE), describe cosmic order emerging from conflict among deities. By contrast, Genesis presents a sovereign God creating orderly realms in six days and sanctifying the seventh. Patriarchs and Prophets adopts the Genesis account as historical, emphasizing the Sabbath’s origins and human stewardship over creation. The book’s treatment implicitly contests polytheistic cosmology and portrays the weekly rest as a social institution rooted in time rather than place. By framing cosmic beginnings in a specific temporal rhythm, White links creation to later legal and ethical structures in Israelite life.
The biblical Fall situates early human society in moral crisis: fratricide (Cain and Abel), urbanization, and escalating violence precede a divine judgment. Early metallurgy, music, and city-building appear in Genesis genealogies, echoing innovations seen archaeologically in Chalcolithic and early Bronze contexts. Patriarchs and Prophets reads these developments through a lens of moral choice, warning that technique and art can be co-opted by pride and power. The narrative connects primeval sin to social disorder, forming a template for later critiques of monarchy and empire. By tying spiritual defection to structural injustice, the book frames history as a contest over worship and ethics.
Flood traditions pervade Mesopotamia, including the Atrahasis epic and the Gilgamesh epic’s flood story, with possible allusions to inundations near Shuruppak (archaeological flood layers c. 2900 BCE). Genesis describes a covenantal reset after a global deluge, symbolized by the rainbow. Patriarchs and Prophets leans into the biblical universality of the Flood, interpreting it as both judgment and mercy, and as a major environmental and cultural rupture. The work juxtaposes Near Eastern parallels with the Hebrew account’s monotheistic frame, anchoring themes of law, grace, and remnant survival. Its reading of post-Flood dispersion sets up the later ethnogenesis of Abraham’s line.
The Tower of Babel narrative situates a human bid for fame and centralized power on the plain of Shinar, evoking Mesopotamian ziggurats such as the later Etemenanki at Babylon. Linguistic diversification and dispersal counter imperial homogenization. Patriarchs and Prophets treats Babel as an archetype of political hubris and enforced unity at the expense of divine covenant. By linking architectural grandeur to spiritual rebellion, the book anticipates Israel’s later struggle with surrounding empires. It uses Babel to argue that stable societies arise from covenantal fidelity, not monumental coercion, a theme that recurs in its critiques of kingship and priestly corruption.
Abraham’s migration from Ur (southern Mesopotamia) to Haran and then Canaan likely reflects early second-millennium BCE transhumance along the Euphrates trade arteries. He engages Canaanite polities, negotiates burial rights at Hebron, meets Melchizedek of Salem, and briefly sojourns in Egypt during famine. Patriarchs and Prophets presents these episodes as the historical matrix of the Abrahamic covenant: land, descendants, and blessing. The near-sacrifice of Isaac crystallizes obedience and promise, while treaty-like rituals mirror ANE covenant forms. By situating faith within the geopolitics of caravan routes and city-states, the book asserts that election carries public responsibilities for justice, hospitality, and worship.
Jacob’s family narratives align with customs documented in the Mari (18th century BCE) and Nuzi (15th century BCE) archives, including bride-service, household gods, and inheritance arrangements. Joseph’s rise in Egypt, possibly during dynamics compatible with the Second Intermediate Period or later New Kingdom, features administrative grain storage amid severe famine. Patriarchs and Prophets uses Joseph’s statesmanship to illustrate providence shaping regional economies and diplomacy, setting the stage for Israel’s settlement in Goshen. The text emphasizes ethical leadership within imperial structures and interprets family reconciliation as a model for national cohesion, bridging the patriarchal era to the emergence of a people.
Israel’s bondage reflects shifting New Kingdom policies in the eastern Delta. Biblical references to Pithom and Raamses evoke 19th-Dynasty toponyms; the Merneptah Stele (c. 1208 BCE) is the earliest extrabiblical reference to Israel in Canaan. Pharaonic corvée labor and urban projects likely intensified under Ramesside rulers. Patriarchs and Prophets frames oppression as a crucible that forges identity and clarifies divine kingship over human absolutism. The text presents slavery as a moral wrong that provokes liberative intervention, foreshadowing its later use of Exodus motifs to critique contemporary coercive systems and to uphold conscience above state dictates.
Exodus traditions describe Moses confronting Pharaoh through plagues, the Red Sea crossing, and covenant formation at Sinai/Horeb. Debates persist over chronology (15th-century date c. 1446 BCE or 13th-century date c. 1270–1250 BCE). At Sinai, Israel receives the Decalogue and case law that regulate worship, labor, property, and social protections. Patriarchs and Prophets elevates the Ten Commandments—especially the Sabbath command—as creation-grounded moral law, transcending local custom. By embedding legal codes within a historical theophany, the book links divine authority to ethical nation-building, a point it leverages in 19th-century discussions about law, education, and civic virtue.
The wilderness period features the tabernacle’s construction, priestly consecration, rebellion episodes (Korah, Kadesh-Barnea), and discipline spanning forty years. Central is the sanctuary service: daily sacrifices, the ark, and the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). Patriarchs and Prophets treats the sanctuary as a historical cultic system with theological continuity, prefiguring later Christian doctrines. This reading undergirds Seventh-day Adventist sanctuary teaching after 1844, interpreting sacred space and time as coherent across covenants. By detailing ritual order and social hygiene, the book engages questions of community health, leadership accountability, and restorative justice in a mobile, covenant society.
Under Joshua, Israel’s entry into Canaan involves covenant renewal and warfare at sites like Jericho and Ai, while Hazor’s destruction correlates with Late Bronze transitions. The subsequent Judges period (c. 1200–1050 BCE) cycles through oppression, charismatic deliverers (Deborah, Gideon, Samson), and fragile confederation, amid Philistine pressure linked to Sea Peoples’ movements. Patriarchs and Prophets interprets conquest and settlement through obedience and covenant fidelity, not ethnic supremacy. It treats the Judges era as a laboratory of decentralized governance, warning that moral anarchy invites external domination. The narratives frame later monarchy as an ambivalent remedy to structural insecurity.
Israel’s demand for a king produces Saul’s reign, defined by Philistine conflict, court centralization, and prophetic oversight from Samuel. David succeeds, unifies north and south, captures Jerusalem (c. 1000 BCE), and expands influence through alliances and warfare. Episodes such as Goliath, the ark’s transfer, the Davidic covenant, the Bathsheba crisis, and the census reveal strengths and failures in royal power. Patriarchs and Prophets culminates here, arguing that legitimacy rests on covenant loyalty and justice. The book uses Saul’s disobedience and David’s repentance to critique authoritarianism and to model accountable leadership within a sacral-political order.
The Millerite movement (United States, 1830s–1844) arose from William Miller’s calculations that the 2300 days of Daniel 8 would culminate in Christ’s return by 1843–1844. The climactic October 22, 1844 date (advanced by Samuel S. Snow’s seventh-month movement) ended in the Great Disappointment, scattering believers. In its aftermath, Hiram Edson’s 1844 sanctuary insight redirected expectation from an earthly advent to a heavenly priestly phase. Sabbath advocacy (Joseph Bates, 1846) and prophetic affirmation (visions of Ellen Harmon, later White) coalesced in the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863 at Battle Creek, Michigan. Patriarchs and Prophets, published in 1890 by Pacific Press in Oakland, California, reflects this trajectory by framing Old Testament sanctuary, law, and remnant themes as historically continuous and pastorally urgent.
Scientific and critical currents reshaped religion in the late 19th century. Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871) promoted naturalistic explanations for life’s diversity, challenging literal creation. Meanwhile, Julius Wellhausen’s Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels (1878; 2nd ed. 1883) consolidated Documentary Hypothesis claims (J, E, D, P) that Mosaic law and narratives were composite and late. Patriarchs and Prophets explicitly affirms six-day creation, a historical Adam and Eve, a universal Flood, and Mosaic authority, positioning itself against evolutionary naturalism and higher criticism. By defending Genesis chronology and covenant law, the book serves as a historical-theological counterproposal to modern skepticism, integrating chronology, ritual, and ethics into a coherent sacred history.
As social critique, the book deploys Exodus and Sinai to challenge coercive power, exploitative labor, and arbitrary law. Its emphasis on Sabbath rest functions as a universal limit on production, resonating in an industrializing age marked by long factory hours and child labor. Mosaic provisions for strangers, debt relief, and fair courts model protections for migrants and the poor. Patriarchs and Prophets recasts kingship as service constrained by covenant, a corrective to militarism and patronage politics. By elevating conscience and community welfare, it offers a public theology that questions laissez-faire inequities and sacralizes time for worship, family, and communal care.
The work also exposes moral hazards of wealth and centralized authority through narratives of Babel, Egypt, Saul, and David, applying them to Gilded Age stratification and political corruption. It critiques intoxicants and luxury by invoking Nadab and Abihu, antediluvian decadence, and prophetic rebukes of feasting elites, aligning with contemporary temperance and health reform. Land ethics in sabbatical and jubilee laws counter predatory accumulation, while gleaning and tithes dignify labor and sustain the vulnerable. Patriarchs and Prophets thus leverages ancient legal-economic norms to interrogate modern class divides, urging governance, education, and religion to prioritize justice, mercy, and equitable stewardship.
Author Biography
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) was an American religious author and a cofounder of the Seventh-day Adventist movement. Writing across the mid-19th to early 20th century, she produced a large body of devotional, doctrinal, and practical counsel that helped shape a new denomination’s identity. Her books remain widely circulated and translated, and adherents regard her as having exercised a prophetic ministry. Beyond denominational borders, historians study her as a notable figure in American revivalism, reform, and print culture. Central to her significance are her role in organizing a scattered post-Millerite community, her emphasis on Christian education and health reform, and a sweeping narrative approach to the Bible and history.
Raised in New England, White experienced limited formal schooling after a severe childhood injury, relying instead on extensive Bible reading, hymnody, and popular religious periodicals for much of her learning. She participated in the evangelical currents of her time, including Methodist revivalism and the broader culture of conversion and reform. Publicly documented influences included the sermons and Bible study methods common in antebellum Protestantism. Though lacking advanced academic credentials, she cultivated a disciplined habit of reading, dictating, and revising, often working with editors and publishers who helped prepare her manuscripts for print. This background shaped a prose style that blended exhortation, narrative, and practical instruction.
In the early 1840s White encountered the Advent preaching associated with William Miller, which anticipated the imminent return of Christ. After the 1844 disappointment that disoriented many believers, she reported visionary experiences that, for supporters, offered guidance on theology, piety, and communal organization. Traveling to gatherings and private meetings, she spoke and wrote to encourage Sabbath observance, confidence in Scripture, and a hopeful, missionary posture. Her counsel helped a loose network of Sabbatarian Adventists cohere around shared convictions, and she worked closely with early leaders to clarify aims and methods. Within these circles she came to be recognized as a spiritual adviser and authoritative voice.
As the movement consolidated in the 1850s and 1860s, White advocated responsible organization, stewardship, and disciplined publishing. She contributed regularly to denominational periodicals and promoted structures for training ministers, educating youth, and sustaining missions. Her writings emphasized key themes that became hallmarks of Seventh-day Adventism: the seventh-day Sabbath, sanctuary-centered eschatology, personal holiness, and practical benevolence. She also urged believers to avoid sectarian isolation by engaging society through humanitarian work. Through letters, pamphlets, and later bound volumes, White addressed congregations and leaders, often urging reform and accountability. The steady expansion of printing and distribution networks amplified her influence across North America and, eventually, overseas.
White’s major books appeared from the late nineteenth into the early twentieth century. Notable titles include The Great Controversy, Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, The Acts of the Apostles, and the paired volumes Patriarchs and Prophets and Prophets and Kings, which together outline a salvation-historical narrative often called the Conflict of the Ages series. She also produced Testimonies for the Church, a multi-volume collection of counsel, and instructional works such as Education and Christ’s Object Lessons. Contemporary Adventists received these writings as both devotional and doctrinal; outside readers have engaged them as examples of nineteenth-century Protestant narrative theology, pastoral rhetoric, and reform-minded spirituality.
A hallmark of White’s advocacy was holistic health. She promoted temperance, fresh air, rest, exercise, and a largely plant-based diet, framing these not as ends in themselves but as supports for service and spiritual clarity. Her counsel encouraged denominational investment in sanitariums, medical training, and health evangelism. Likewise, she championed schools that integrated practical labor with academic study and religious formation, shaping an international education system. Extended sojourns in Europe and Australia furthered organizational development and mission expansion. While her ideas met debate, they significantly influenced Adventist approaches to medicine, education, and social welfare, reinforcing an ethic of disciplined living oriented toward global service.
In her later years White continued writing and revising, while associates compiled and published materials from her manuscripts and correspondence. She died in the early twentieth century, and a custodial organization has since preserved her literary estate and facilitated publication and translation. Her legacy remains complex and consequential: Adventists widely regard her as a messenger whose writings illuminate Scripture, and scholars assess her as a formative voice in American religious history. Debates over inspiration, authority, and literary borrowing have persisted, yet her works continue to be read devotionally worldwide. They shape worship, ethics, and institutional life across the global Seventh-day Adventist community.
Patriarchs and Prophets
Preface
The publishers send out this work from a conviction that it throws light upon a subject of paramount importance and universal interest, and one on which light is to be greatly desired; that it presents truths too little known or too widely ignored. The great controversy between truth and error, between light and darkness, between the power of God and the attempted usurpations of the enemy of all righteousness, is the one great spectacle which it is reasonable to suppose must engage the attention of all worlds. That such a controversy exists as the result of sin, that it is to pass through various stages of progress, and end at last in a manner to redound to the glory of God and the higher exaltation of His loyal servants, is as certain as that the Bible is a revelation from God to men. That word reveals the great features of this controversy, a conflict which embraces the redemption of a world; and there are special epochs when these questions assume unwonted interest, and it becomes a matter of the first importance to understand our relation thereto.
Such a time is the present, for all things indicate that we may now confidently cherish the hope that this long controversy is drawing near its close. Yet many now seem disposed to relegate to the realm of fable that portion of the record opening to our view the steps by which our world became involved in this great issue; and others, though avoiding this extreme view, seem nevertheless inclined to regard it as obsolete and unimportant, and are thus led to treat it with neglect.
But who would not wish to look into the secret causes of so strange a defection; to discern its spirit, to mark its consequences, and to learn how to avoid its results? With such themes this volume deals. It tends to foster a living interest in those portions (p.18) of God's word most often neglected. It clothes with new meaning the promises and prophecies of the sacred record, vindicates the ways of God in dealing with rebellion, and shows forth the wonderful grace of God in devising a way of salvation for sinful man. Thus we are taken down in the history of this work to a time when the plans and purposes of God had been clearly unfolded to the chosen people.
Though dealing with themes so exalted, themes that stir the heart to its depths and awaken the liveliest emotions of the mind, the style of the book is lucid, and the language plain and direct. We commend this volume to all who take pleasure in studying the divine plan of human redemption and who feel any interest in the relation of their own souls to Christ's atoning work; and to all others we commend it, that it may awaken in them an interest in these things.
That its perusal may be blessed to the good of those who read, and result in turning the feet of many into the way of life, is the earnest prayer of the
Publishers.
Introduction
This volume treats upon the themes of Bible history, themes not in themselves new, yet here so presented as to give them a new significance, revealing springs of action, showing the important bearing of certain movements, and bringing into stronger light some features that are but briefly mentioned in the Bible. Thus the scenes have a vividness and importance that tend to make new and lasting impressions. Such a light is shed upon the Scripture record as to reveal more fully the character and purposes of God; to make manifest the wiles of Satan and the means by which his power will be finally overthrown; to bring to view the weakness of the human heart, and show how the grace of God has enabled men to conquer in the battle with evil. All this is in harmony with what God has shown to be His purpose in unfolding to men the truths of His word. The agency by which these revelations have been given is seen--when tested by the Scriptures--to be one of the methods God still employs to impart instruction to the children of men.
While it is not now as it was in the beginning, when man in his holiness and innocence had personal instruction from his Maker, still man is not left without a divine teacher which God has provided in His representative, the Holy Spirit[2]. So we hear the apostle Paul declaring that a certain divine "illumination" is the privilege of the followers of Christ; and that they are "enlightened" by being made "partakers of the Holy Ghost." Hebrews 10:32; 6:4. John also says, "ye have an unction from the Holy One." 1 John 2:20. And Christ promised the disciples, as He was about to leave them, that He would send them the Holy Spirit as a comforter and guide to lead them into all truth. John 14:16, 26. (p.20)
To show how this promise was to be fulfilled to the church, the apostle Paul, in two of his epistles, presents formal declaration that certain gifts of the Spirit have been placed in the church for its edification and instruction to the end of time. I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:8-13; Matthew 28:20. Nor is this all: a number of clear and explicit prophecies declare that in the last days there will be a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and that the church at the time of Christ's appearing will have had, during its closing experience, "the testimony of Jesus," which is the spirit of prophecy. Acts 2:17-20, 39; I Corinthians 1:7; Revelation 12:17; 19:10. In these facts we see an evidence of God's care and love for His people; for the presence of the Holy Spirit as a comforter, teacher, and guide, not only in its ordinary, but in its extraordinary, methods of operation, certainly is needed by the church as it enters the perils of the last days, more than in any other part of its experience.
The Scriptures point out various channels through which the Holy Spirit would operate on the hearts and minds of men to enlighten their understanding and guide their steps. Among these were visions and dreams. In this way God would still communicate with the children of men. Here is His promise on this point: "Hear now My words: if there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream." Numbers 12:6. By this means supernatural knowledge was communicated to Balaam. Thus he says: "Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: he hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open." Numbers 24:15, 16.
It thus becomes a matter of great interest to investigate the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the extent to which the Lord designed that the Spirit should manifest itself in the church during the period of human probation. (p.21)
After the plan of salvation had been devised, God, as we have seen, could still, through the ministry of His Son and the holy angels, communicate with men across the gulf which sin had made. Sometimes He spoke face to face with them, as in the case of Moses, but more frequently by dreams and visions. Instances of such communication are everywhere prominent upon the sacred record, covering all dispensations. Enoch the seventh from Adam looked forward in the spirit of prophecy to the second advent of Christ in power and glory, and exclaimed, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." Jude 14. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21. If the operation of the spirit of prophecy has at times seemed almost to disappear, as the spirituality of the people waned, it has nevertheless marked all the great crises in the experience of the church, and the epochs which witnessed the change from one dispensation to another. When the era marked by the incarnation of Christ was reached, the father of John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied. Luke 1:67. To Simeon it was revealed that he should not see death till he had seen the Lord; and when the parents of Jesus brought Him into the temple that He might be dedicated, Simeon came by the Spirit into the temple, took Him into his arms, and blessed Him while he prophesied concerning Him. And Anna, a prophetess, coming in the same instant, spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:26, 36.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit which was to attend the preaching of the gospel by the followers of Christ was announced by the prophet in these words: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned (p.22) into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:28-31.
Peter, on the Day of Pentecost[1], quoted this prophecy in explanation of the wonderful scene which then occurred. Cloven tongues like as of fire sat upon each of the disciples; they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and spake with other tongues. And when the mockers charged that they were filled with new wine, Peter answered, "These are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." Then he quotes the prophecy substantially as found in Joel (quoted above), only he puts the words "in the last days," in the place of "afterward," making it read, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit," etc.
It is evident that it was that part of the prophecy only which relates to the outpouring of the Spirit, that began to be fulfilled on that day; for there were no old men there dreaming dreams, nor young men and maidens seeing visions and prophesying; and no wonders of blood and fire and pillars of smoke then appeared; and the sun was not darkened and the moon was not turned to blood at that time; and yet what was there witnessed was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. It is equally evident that this part of the prophecy concerning the outpouring of the Spirit was not exhausted in that one manifestation; for the prophecy covers all days from that time on to the coming of the great day of the Lord.
But the Day of Pentecost was in fulfillment of other prophecies besides that of Joel. It fulfilled the words of Christ Himself as well. In His last discourse to His disciples before His crucifixion, He said to them: "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, . . . even the Spirit of truth." John 14:16, 17. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things." Verse 26. "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide (p.23) you into all truth." Chapter 16:13. And after Christ had risen from the dead, He said to the disciples, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." Luke 24:49. On the day of Pentecost the disciples were thus endued with power from on high. But this promise of Christ's was not, any more than the prophecy of Joel, confined to that occasion. For He gave them the same promise in another form by assuring them that He would be with them always, even to the end of the world. Matthew 28:20. Mark tells us in what sense and what manner the Lord was to be with them. He says, "And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." Mark 16:20. And Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, testified concerning the perpetuity of this operation of the Spirit which they had witnessed. When the convicted Jews said unto the apostles, "What shall we do?" Peter answered, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:37-39. This certainly provides for the operation of the Holy Spirit in the church, even in its special manifestations, to all coming time, as long as mercy shall invite men to accept the pardoning love of Christ.
Twenty-eight years later in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul set before that church a formal argument on the question. He says (1 Corinthians 12:1), "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant"--so important did he deem it that this subject should be understood in the Christian church. After stating that though the Spirit is one it has diversities of operation, and explaining what those diversities are, he introduces the figure of the human body, with its various members, to show how the church is constituted with its different offices and gifts. And as the body has its various members, each having its (p.24) particular office to fill, and all working together in unity of purpose to constitute one harmonious whole, so the Spirit was to operate through various channels in the church to constitute a perfect religious body. Paul then continues in these words: "and God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." The declaration that God hath set some in the church, etc., implies something more than that the way was left open for the gifts to appear if circumstances should chance to favor. It rather signifies that they were to be permanent parts of the true spiritual constitution of the church, and that if these were not in active operation the church would be in the condition of a human body, some of whose members had, through accident or disease, become crippled and helpless. Having once been set in the church, there these gifts must remain until they are formally removed. But there is no record that they ever have been removed.
Five years later the same apostle writes to the Ephesians relative to the same gifts, plainly stating their object, and thus showing indirectly that they must continue till that object is accomplished. He says (Ephesians 4:8, 11-13): "Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. . . . And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
The church did not reach the state of unity here contemplated, in the apostolic age; and very soon after that age, the gloom of the great spiritual apostasy began to overshadow the church; and certainly during the state of declension, this fullness of Christ, and unity of faith, was not reached. Nor will it be reached till (p.25) the last message of mercy shall have gathered out of every kindred and people, every class of society, and every organization of error, a people complete in all gospel reforms, waiting for the coming of the Son of man. And truly, if ever in her experience the church would need the benefit of every agency ordained for her comfort and guidance, encouragement and protection, it would be amid the perils of the last days, when the powers of evil, well-nigh perfected by experience and training for their nefarious work, would, by their masterpieces of imposture, deceive if it were possible even the elect. Very appropriately, therefore, come in the special prophecies of the outpouring of the Spirit for the benefit of the church in the last days. It is, however, usually taught, in the current literature of the Christian world, that the gifts of the Spirit were only for the apostolic age; that they were given simply for the planting of the gospel; and that the gospel being once established, the gifts were no longer needed, and consequently were suffered soon to disappear from the church. But the apostle Paul warned the Christians of his day that the "mystery of iniquity" was already at work, and that after his departure, grievous wolves would enter in among them, not sparing the flock, and that also of their own selves men would arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29, 30. It cannot therefore be that the gifts, placed in the church to guard against these very evils, were ready, when that time came, to pass away as having accomplished their object; for their presence and help would be needed under these conditions more than when the apostles themselves were on the stage of action.
We find another statement in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, which shows that the popular conception of the temporary continuance of the gifts cannot be correct. It is his contrast between the present, imperfect state, and the glorious, immortal condition to which the Christian will finally arrive. 1 Corinthians 13. He says (verses 9, 10). "For we know in part, and we (p.26)
prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." He further illustrates this present state by comparing it to the period of childhood with its weakness and immaturity of thought and action; and the perfect state, to the condition of manhood with its clearer vision, maturity, and strength. And he classes the gifts among those things which are needed in this present, imperfect condition, but which we shall have no occasion for when the perfect state is come. "Now," he says (verse 12), "we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." Then he states what graces are adapted to the eternal state, and will there exist, namely, faith, hope, and charity, or love, "these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
This explains the language of verse 8: "Charity never faileth;" that is, charity, the heavenly grace of love, will endure forever; it is the crowning glory of man's future, immortal condition; but "whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;" that is, the time will come when prophecies will be no longer needed, and the gift of prophecy, as one of the helps in the church, will no longer be exercised; "whether there be tongues, they shall cease;" that is, the gift of tongues will no longer be of service; "whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away;" that is, knowledge, not in the abstract, but as one of the special gifts of the Spirit, will be rendered unnecessary by the perfect knowledge with which we shall be endowed in the eternal world.
Now, if we take the position that the gifts ceased with the apostolic age, because no longer needed, we commit ourselves to the position that the apostolic age was the weak and childish age of the church, when everything was seen through a glass, darkly; but the age that followed, when grievous wolves were to enter in, not sparing the flock, and men were to arise, even in the church, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them, was an age of perfect light and knowledge, in which the imperfect and (p.27) childish and darkened knowledge of apostolic times had passed away! For, be it remembered, the gifts cease only when a perfect state is reached, and because that state is reached, which renders them no longer necessary. But no one, on sober thought, can for a moment seek to maintain the position that the apostolic age was inferior in spiritual elevation to any age which has succeeded it. And if the gifts were needed then, they certainly are needed now.
Among the agencies which the apostle in his letters to both the Corinthians and Ephesians enumerates as "gifts" set in the church, we find "pastors," "teachers," "helps," and "governments;" and all these are acknowledged, on every hand, as still continuing in the church. Why not, then, the others also, including faith, healing, prophecy, etc.? Who is competent to draw the line, and say what gifts have been "set out" of the church, when all were, in the beginning, equally "set" therein?
Revelation 12:17 has been referred to as a prophecy that the gifts would be restored in the last days. An examination of its testimony will confirm this view. The text speaks of the remnant of the woman's seed. The woman being a symbol of the church, her seed would be the individual members composing the church at any one time; and the "remnant" of her seed would be the last generation of Christians, or those living on the earth at the second coming of Christ. The text further declares that these "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ;" and the "testimony of Jesus" is explained in chapter 19:10 to be "the spirit of prophecy," which must be understood as that which among the gifts is called "the gift of prophecy." 1 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
The setting of the gifts in the church does not imply that every individual was to have them in exercise. On this point the apostle (1 Corinthians 12:29) says, "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?" etc. The implied answer is No; not all are; but the gifts are divided among the members as it pleases (p.28) God. 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11. Yet these gifts are said to be "set in the church," and if a gift is bestowed upon even one member of the church, it may be said that that gift is "in the church," or that the church "has" it. So the last generation was to have, and it is believed does now have, the testimony of Jesus, or the gift of prophecy.
Another portion of Scripture evidently written with reference to the last days, brings the same fact plainly to view. 1 Thessalonians 5. The apostle opens the chapter with these words: "but of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so cometh as a thief in the night." In verse 4 he adds, "but ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Then he gives them sundry admonitions in view of that event, among which are these (verses 19-21): "Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." And in verse 23 he prays that these very ones who were thus to have to do with "prophesyings" may be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord.
On the strength of these considerations are we not justified in believing that the gift of prophecy will be manifested in the church in the last days, and that through it much light will be imparted, and much timely instruction given?
All things are to be treated according to the apostle's rule: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good;" and to be tested by the Saviour's Standard: "By their fruits ye shall know them." Appealing to this standard in behalf of what claims to be a manifestation of the gift of prophecy, we commend this volume to the consideration of those who believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that the church is the body of which Christ is head.
Uriah Smith
Why was Sin Permitted?
"God is love." 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity[4]," whose "ways are everlasting," changeth not. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17.
Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings. The psalmist says:
"Strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand.
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of Thy throne:
Mercy and truth go before Thy face.
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.
In Thy name do they rejoice all the day:
And in Thy righteousness are they exalted.
For Thou art the glory of their strength: . . .
or our shield belongeth unto Jehovah,
And our king to the Holy One."
Psalm 89:13-18, R.V.
(In this text and in some other Bible quotations used in this book the word "Jehovah" is employed instead of "Lord," as rendered in the American Supplement to the Revised Version.)
The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God's unchanging love. (p.34)
The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate--a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." John 1:1, 2. Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father--one in nature, in character, in purpose--the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6. His "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2. And the Son of God declares concerning Himself: "The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting. . . . When He appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." Proverbs 8:22-30.
The Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. "By Him were all things created, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him." Colossians 1:16. Angels are God's ministers, radiant with the light ever flowing from His presence and speeding on rapid wing to execute His will. But the Son, the anointed of God, the "express image of His person," "the brightness of His glory," "upholding all things by the word of His power," holds supremacy over them all. Hebrews 1:3. "A glorious high throne from the beginning," was the place of His sanctuary (Jeremiah 17:12); "a scepter of righteousness," the scepter of His kingdom. Hebrews 1:8. "Honor and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." Psalm 96:6. Mercy and truth go before His face. Psalm 89:14.
The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love--service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience; and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. (p.35)
So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. It was the joy of the heavenly host to fulfill the purpose of their Creator. They delighted in reflecting His glory and showing forth His praise. And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies. But a change came over this happy state. There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures. Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, "son of the morning,[3]" was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. He stood in the presence of the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the eternal God rested upon him. "Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering. . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." Ezekiel 28:12-15.
