Question: Since Ellen White refers to the preparation day as “Friday” in the quote below, isn’t this proof enough that our current week ending with a Saturday Sabbath is exactly as it has always been since the week of Creation?
"And the people went about, and gathered it [the manna], and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it." Exodus 16:23; Numbers 11:8. There was something to be done in preparing the heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel. The Lord told them that this work must be done on Friday, the preparation day. This was a test to them. God desired to see whether or not they would keep the Sabbath holy. Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 354
Answer: This question shows that you are digging deep as you research this present truth. It is Scripture’s weight of evidence that bears out the truth regarding the layout of the month and weeks. Are we to mold the Scriptures to fit what Ellen White believed, or must she be in harmony with Scripture as the standard? Friday is a name applied by pagan men to a calendar of their own invention, which consists of an unbroken chain of successive weeks. According to the Scriptural evidence this is not the format the Creator used for His months and weeks, which ultimately determine His holy Sabbath. For more on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, refer to articles, “Recovering the Lost Sabbaths” and "The Modern Seven Day Week: Exploring the History of a Lie."
The truth is not changing, rather it is being revealed.
Seventh-day Adventists have for over one hundred and sixty years been certain that Friday was the preparation day followed by Saturday the Sabbath. By faith they rightly believed in the continuation of divine inspiration through His servant Ellen White.
Ellen White herself was given a direct revelation from Yahuwah that “the seventh-day is the Sabbath”. As a result S.D.A.’s have all assumed two things. The first assumption is that Saturday is that seventh-day. The second assumption is that any new light regarding the Sabbath would have nothing what ever to do with a change of the day, because that truth was previously nailed down, or so it appeared.
Remember the assumptions of the ancient Hebrew people in regards to the Messiah. They assumed that the Messiah would come as a King in splendor and majesty and deliver them from their enemies. While it is true that Yahushua will one day come as a King, it was to be the third step, rather than the first step of the Saviors three fold ministry. It was in Yahushua’s life and death and resurrection that He fully disclosed to His faithful the first two of His three part system for the saving of souls.
Taking all things into consideration, is it possible that Yahuwah can give new light on a subject as only the first step toward a full disclosure, and still have it accomplish His timely purposes? Yes it is. As a result, an entire church organization sprang up over the new light of the seventh-day Sabbath, fully assuming it to be Saturday. This first step regarding the seventh-day being the Sabbath was indeed a huge revelation by Yahuwah for its appointed time. This most assuredly accomplished a grand purpose for Yahuwah. However, if this was not His full disclosure to Ellen White and the S.D.A. people, wouldn’t it be considered dishonest or misleading of Yahuwah to raise up an entire denomination, only for them to discover 160 years later that they had only half the truth? For indeed the seventh-day is the Sabbath, but now all this time later, they are to discover that Saturday is not the sacred and holy Sabbath. This error in assumption cannot be attributed to Yahuwah, for He is ever seeking ways to reveal truth to His faithful.
Isn’t this exactly how we raise our own children? The first time they ask where babies come from, we begin with the first step of a full disclosure by giving them only as much as they can handle at that time. Later as they grow and mature and demonstrate a readiness to understand, then and only then is an extended revelation given. As parents we do exactly what the heavenly Father does in giving our children the second step of a full disclosure, but only when they demonstrate they are ready for it.
As you recall in the 1880’s Ellen White openly challenged and chastised the growing S.D.A. organization for not continuing on to follow the light and the leading of Yahuwah. She stated they would have already been in the kingdom had they remained faithful. Is it possible that their lack of faithfulness in walking in present truth may have had an impact on Yahuwah’s decision? Is it possible that the church simply did not meet the growing and maturing requirement for receiving the second step toward a full disclosure? Do we believe the Heavenly Father would be any less wise in educating His children than us earthly parents? Heaven forbid. In fact, it is a Scriptural principle that “if we are faithful in little things, He will make us rulers of big things.” This means that if we are faithful to the light He has given, growing and maturing in spiritual strength, then He will reward these faithful few with more light that will continually come in the form of step two, step three, and onward toward full disclosures? Is this not exactly what is to take place in the process of Sanctification?
