PROPHETIC DELINEATION OF CHARACTER

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

IN the eighth chapter of 2 Kings we find that the prophet “Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick: and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither. And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord of him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die [by reference to verse fifteen we see that he did not die of his disease, but Hazael killed his master! And he [Elisha] settled his countenance steadfastly, until he [Hazael] was ashamed: and the man of God wept. And Hazael said, Why weepest my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong-holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.” Verses 7-14.HEVI 36.1

It seems from this record that Elisha had previously been shown in vision that Ben-hadad would be killed by one of his servants, who would then become king of Syria, and would do great evil to the children of Israel. After answering Hazael’s question about his master’s disease, the prophet gets a fair look at the countenance of this messenger, and behold, he is the very one whom the Lord had shown him would be the future villainous king of Syria.HEVI 36.2

Many are the instances witnessed by the writer, during the last forty-seven years, in which persons previously seen in vision, have come before Sister White, persons whom she had never met face to face until she came into a public assembly where they were. She then would single them out from the audience, by describing their person or dress, and then give a delineation of their character, manner of life, etc., more clearly than their immediate friends and acquaintances could do. This would be accompanied by kindly reproofs for the wrong-doers, or counsel to those needing it, or words of encouragement to those battling with the trials or discouragements of life.HEVI 36.3

Attention is called, in illustration of this, to a case connected with the first visit of Sister White to the State of Michigan, in the spring of 1853. Neither she nor her husband had ever been west of Buffalo, N.Y., until the day before their first meeting in Michigan, which was held in Tyrone, Livingston County. With scarcely an exception, all our people in that congregation, and in fact in the State of Michigan, were entire strangers to her. In this assembly she was taken off in vision, and was shown all the Seventh-day Adventists in the State, then about one hundred in number. In the view given her, testimonies were borne for some present, and for others who were in the State but not at the meeting. June 2, in Jackson, Mich., she wrote eight pages of foolscap paper, telling some of the things she had seen on this occasion. The writer is pleased to say that he possesses a written copy of that vision.HEVI 36.4

Among other cases described in that manuscript is the case of a woman who was trying to intrude herself among our people. Sister White said the woman professed great holiness, that she had never met her, and had no knowledge of her, only what was shown to her respecting the case in the Tyrone vision. This writing not only told of the woman’s mode of procedure, but what she would say when reproved. Sister White said, “She will put on a sanctimonious look, and say, ‘The Lord knows my heart.’” Sister White further said. “This woman is traveling about the country with a young man, while her husband, an old man [nearly twice as old as his wife], is at home, toiling with his hands to support them.” She said the Lord had shown her that “notwithstanding the woman’s pretension to holiness, she and the young man were guilty of violating the seventh commandment.”HEVI 36.5

From the Jackson meeting I was privileged to accompany Brother and Sister White to the other appointments of their four-weeks’ visit to Michigan. I was a stranger in the State, but supposed we should see the woman at some of the meetings, as the appointments were so arranged that all our people in the State could attend some one of them. With the written document in my pocket, I watched with no ordinary interest, as we went from place to place, to see how this case would develop. The Review and Herald, September 19, 1899HEVI 36.6