Messengers of Truth

It was just one week before her twenty-first birthday that Ellen White was given her well-known “streams of light” vision, setting the stage for the vast publishing outreach for what would later become the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

While the vision from which Ellen White gives the message to her husband, James, that he is to “print a little paper” that will eventually become “like streams of light” encircling the world is well known, what is perhaps less well known is the setting of that historic vision.

On November 19, 1848, just four years after the Great Disappointment, a group of Advent believers gathered in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to discuss insights gained from Bible study, focusing especially on the seventh-day Sabbath, the seal of God, and the sealing of the 144,000 as outlined in the book of Revelation.

This topic had been studied in depth by Joseph Bates, who, through Bible study, connected the Sabbath with the sealing described in Revelation 7. This understanding was encouraged and, to some extent, clarified by the vision given to Ellen White during the meeting in Dorchester, in which she identified the Sabbath truth with the seal of God that, like the sun rising in strength, grows brighter and brighter.¹

Significantly, it was after coming out of this vision that she told her husband he must print a paper for the Advent believers that would “be like streams of light that went clear round the world.”² In other words, through the printed word, the sealing message of the seventh-day Sabbath would spread worldwide, paving the way for the final events, and preparing people to receive the seal of God.

Some months after the Dorchester vision, Ellen White had another vision, in which she was told “he [James White] must write, write, write, and walk out by faith.”³ Fortunately, James took this message to heart, and, as Ellen White later wrote, “he immediately began to write, and when he came to some difficult passage, we would unite in prayer to God for an understanding of the true meaning of His word.”⁴

“The True Meaning of His Word”

It was “the true meaning of His word” that burned within their hearts, compelling the early Adventists to publish The Present Truth, a little paper that started small but was the beginning of those prophetic “streams of light.” As we know, that little paper continued growing and became the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, and later the Adventist Review. This magazine that had such humble beginnings is now one of the oldest magazines in the United States.⁵

James White was clear regarding the purpose of Adventist publications. Writing in The Advent Review, a 48-page pamphlet issued between numbers 10 and 11 of The Present Truth, he stated:

“Our design in this review is to cheer and refresh the true believer, by showing the fulfillment of prophecy in the past wonderful work of God, in calling out, and separating from the world and nominal church, a people who are looking for the second advent of our dear Saviour.”⁶

So eager were the early Adventists to spread the message of truth that they eagerly spent their time, money, and energy disseminating publications far and wide. Starting with The Present Truth in July 1849, the Seventh-day Adventist publishing work quickly grew to include many more printed materials.

The Power of Publications

Noting the power of publications, J. N. Andrews, early Adventism’s foremost scholar, stated in his book History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week, published in 1873, that “numerous publications on Prophecy, the Signs of the Times, the Coming of Christ, the Sabbath, the Law of God, the Sanctuary . . . have been issued within the past twenty years, and have had an extensive circulation, amounting, in the aggregate, to many millions of pages.”⁷ This is remarkable, considering that by 1873 Seventh-day Adventist Church membership stood at just 5,875.⁸

These themes—prophecy, signs of the times, the coming of Christ, the Sabbath, the law of God, the sanctuary—have been cornerstones of the Seventh-day Adventist message since that time, and millions of people have learned these truths through Adventist publications, including the Adventist Review, and since 2005 its sister publication, Adventist World, which is printed monthly in seven different languages and distributed in more than 140 countries. It is available digitally in 12 languages.

Messengers of Truth

The story is told by Ellen White of how, following the publication of the very first issue of The Present Truth, “the precious printed sheets were brought into the house and laid upon the floor, and then a little group of interested ones were gathered in, and we knelt around the papers, and with humble hearts and many tears besought the Lord to let His blessing rest upon these printed messengers of truth.”⁹

God told Ellen White that the fourth angel of Revelation 18:1-4 represented, to a great extent, the publishing houses and the publishing work that would go on until Christ’s coming! What a privilege it has been for each of us to use printed and electronic religious materials, including the Adventist Review and the Adventist World magazines, to point people to Christ and His soon return!¹⁰

Today let us continue to pray for these “messengers of truth” as they go, like streams of light, around the world, praying they will continue to provide biblical understanding and hope as they shine brightly for Him.

¹ Ellen G. White, The Publishing Ministry (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1983), p. 15.

² Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1915), p. 125.

³ Ibid., p. 126.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ William G. Johnsson, “Our Roots and Mission,” Adventist Review, Oct. 14, 2023, https://adventistreview.org/about/our-roots-and-mission/ (accessed May 2, 2024).

⁶ E. G. White, Life Sketches, p. 136.

⁷ J. N. Andrews, History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week, 2nd ed. (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, 1873), p. 505.

⁸ See “Church Membership Statistics,” https://www.adventistarchives.org/church-membership (accessed May 12, 2024).

⁹ E. G. White, Life Sketches, p. 126.

¹⁰ Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 7, p. 140.