The Last Crisis
TimeWatch Editorial
January 03, 2017
Ellen G. White’s authorship of the book, Testimonies to the Church, Volume 9, was accomplished between the years 1903 and 1909. Section 1 of that volume entitled “For the Coming of the King” began with the subtitle: “The Last Crisis.” There is a certain urgency that radiates immediately from the very first words that flow from her inspired heart. The length and breadth of her description stretches far beyond the immediate time of her writing. According to the Whitehouse.gov website, William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901, after leading the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War and raising protective tariffs to promote American industry. The Whitehouse.gov website continues to say that with the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. The Whitehouse.gov website continues this way:
“In 1884 his first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, and his mother died on the same day. Roosevelt spent much of the next two years on his ranch in the Badlands of Dakota Territory. There he mastered his sorrow as he lived in the saddle, driving cattle, hunting big game--he even captured an outlaw. On a visit to London, he married Edith Carow in December 1886. As President, Roosevelt held the ideal that the Government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none. Roosevelt steered the United States more actively into world politics. He liked to quote a favorite proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey, “The Presidents of the United States of America,” Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. The Whitehouse.gov website
It is crucial that we understand the times in which this Volume of the Testimonies was written. In 1903 the Ford Motor Company
was formed; in 1903 The Wright brothers
make their first powered flight in the Wright Flyer
. In 1906 there was the San Francisco earthquake
, in 1908 – the Ford Model T
car appears on market. In 1909 - William Howard Taft
becomes President of the United States and implements Dollar Diplomacy
. According to the dictionary definition, Dollar Diplomacy is a government policy of promoting the business interests of its citizens in other countries. The Reference.com website defines Dollar Diplomacy as a policy intended to increase American influence abroad by guaranteeing loans made by American banks to foreign countries. The policy is mostly associated with President William Taft. Although a careful reading of the book, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” by John Perkins will reveal that Dollar Diplomacy has survived and expanded. Perhaps it would also be worth noting that these were the days of the Standard Oil Corporation which was founded and run by John D, Rockefeller in Ohio. The Exxon Mobil website describes the history of Standard oil as the largest oil company in the world. Listen to how they put it.
“In 1870, Rockefeller and his associates form the Standard Oil Company (Ohio), with combined facilities constituting the largest refining capacity of any single firm in the world. The name Standard is chosen to signify high, uniform quality.” Exxon Mobil website
The Free Encyclopedia says that it was not until 1911 that the Standard Oil Company was an “Illegal Monopoly.” Subsequently, the company was broken up into smaller entities. Of course you must know that those same companies, even though separately named and registered, maintained their dominance to this day. This then is a small vision of the times in which Testimonies Volume 9 was written. As we have already said, Ellen White’s writings at that time stretch far beyond her time, reaching beyond our time, revealing the events that had their beginnings then, and finding their culmination in the present. Listen to how she begins the Volume.
“We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.”Testimonies, Volume 9, page 11, paragraph 1.
Her description parallels the broadcasts that today fill the air.
“The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.” Testimonies, Volume 9, page 11, paragraph 3.
“The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men's hearts with the desire for selfish gain.”Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes.”Testimonies, Volume 9, page 11, paragraph 4.
It would indeed be worth reading at least the first chapter of this book. Especially since the visions recorded are being manifested as accurately as they are.
Cameron A. Bowen
