Most Bible students and believers in the 1700s thought they were approaching the time of the end. Even such great men as Isaac Newton understood and wrote about the coming end of the world. Isaac Newton wrote extensively about the prophecies of Revelation. Many Bible students, such as Adam Clarke, understood the time of the end to begin when the papacy should be deprived of its power according to Daniel 7:26. When the French general Berthier took the pope prisoner in 1798, many people realized that human history had begun its closing phases. At that time several women became extremely popular for having prophetic messages. We can see that Satan was preparing the way to cause confusion and keep people from finding the truth when it would appear.

Ann Lee was thought by many to be a prophet of God. She started a movement that was well-known and popular first in England, and then in the United States until the end of the 1800s. During that time she and her followers, known as the Shakers, were far better known than Adventists. They taught that the second coming of Christ is a spiritual event, and not a literal, fiery end of the world.

Another popular woman of the time was Joanna Southcote. She wrote many books of prophetic messages in poetry form and gained thousands of followers in England in the early 1800s. She claimed to be the woman clothed with the sun of Revelation 12, who would give birth to Shiloh by a virgin birth when she was over sixty years old. She became a laughing-stock and the affair caused women who claimed to bring messages from God to be discredited. Later her followers, known as Christian Israelites, also kept the Sabbath.

By the time that Ellen White appeared on the scene, women who preached the second coming of Christ and the Sabbath were either discredited or involved in confused doctrines. In this way Satan prepared the way for people to doubt truth when it came to them.

At the time that Ellen White was most active in lecturing and writing, two other women where more popular than she in some circles. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, led many people to doubt scientific medicine and the need to live according to scientific health principles. She focused on the power of the mind. Madame Blavatsky wrote several popular books on occult subjects, especially the multi-volume series The Secret Doctrine. Both of these women distracted minds from Bible study and produced sentiments that discredited other women engaged in lecturing and writing on spiritual matters. Especially the health and temperance ministry of Ellen White suffered from these distractions.

Jesus gives the signs of his second coming as a help to avoid false prophets.

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24: 23.27.

Ellen White stands out among the women claiming to bear prophetic messages in the 1800s. She taught the literal, visible, cataclysmic, soon coming of Christ. Ann Lee taught that it was a spiritual coming that was fulfilled in herself. Joanna Southcote taught that the second coming of Christ was to be a baby that she would give birth to as a virgin. Mary Baker Eddy taught that the second coming of Christ was when people learned to tap the spiritual powers of the mind. Madame Blavatsky taught that the second coming of Christ was the revelation of the secret doctrine that is hidden in all religions, especially the Eastern religions.

Which of these women were right according to the Bible? Paul answers that question clearly. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

The best way to test whether someone bringing a prophetic message is to compare it with Scripture. If it conflicts with what we already know to be inspired Scripture, then we can be sure that it is false. But if it agrees, then it may be true guidance from God. Compare Ellen White’s description of the second coming of Christ with Paul’s description above.

Here is what she says.

“Between the first and the second advent of Christ a wonderful contrast will be seen. No human language can portray the scenes of the second coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. He is to come with His own glory, and with the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. He will come clad in the robe of light, which He has worn from the days of eternity. Angels will accompany Him. Ten thousand times ten thousand will escort Him on His way. The sound of the trumpet will be heard, calling the sleeping dead from the grave. The voice of Christ will penetrate the tomb, and pierce the ears of the dead, and "all that are in the graves . . . shall come forth." . . . {LHU 373.5}