Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light.--The Review and Herald, Jan. 20, 1903. (Quoted in Colporteur Ministry, p. 125.) 3SM, p. 30
It has always been true that little heed has been given to the Bible by the majority of the world’s population. The Old Testament had been around for some time by the time Jesus came to this earth and lived His life. When Matthew wrote his book, was it not for the purpose of leading men and women to the greater light, Jesus? Can you imagine him saying that little heed has been given to Isaiah and Psalms and the rest of the Old Testament so the Lord has given to the world in the book I have just written a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light, the Old Testament? That would not make much sense. What God inspired Matthew to write magnified and made more distinct what was in the Old Testament. The purpose of inspired writings has always been to lead people to Jesus, the greater light.
Would Paul say about his letters that they were a lesser light, a dimmer understanding of the way of salvation as compared to the Old Testament – the scriptures of his day? The primary purpose of his letters was to lead men and women to a saving relationship with Jesus, the greater light. An effect of his writings no doubt led men and women to have a renewed interest in the scriptures. But he would have never said that the primary purpose of my writings is to lead men and women to the greater light, the Old Testament. He would not have told his readers that what he was writing to them was a lesser light as compared to what Amos or Malachi wrote.
No prophet of God has ever said that the work God has given them to do was in any sense lesser than what God has given prophets to do in the past. John the Revelator would not say that the book I just wrote, the Book of Revelation is lesser than the Book of Daniel even though Daniel was part of the sacred cannon of Scripture at the time John wrote his book.
How should we understand what Ellen White said regarding her writings leading men and women to the greater light? When interpreting inspired writings, it is always wise to examine the immediate context and the wider context of all that that writer has written on the issue in question. If we were to take Mark 9:43, 44 and look at just this text without considering wider context we could come to the wrong conclusion that man will burn eternally in hell. The same with our sentence in question. If this sentence was all we had to go on then the logical conclusion would be that EGW writings, the lesser light was given to lead people to the greater light which in this sentence is the Bible. If we only had this sentence to conclude its meaning we would look at the meaning and synonyms of the word lesser which include: lower in quality, lower in esteem, not as great in amount or degree, less important, less significant; and for the meaning of the word greater we have: better, superior, larger, bigger. In comparing Ellen Whites writings to Jesus, these words make sense. But in comparing one prophet’s writings to the writings of other prophets, this does not make good sense. In the case of the sentence under question, the context does indeed provide the key to its understanding. The paragraph before this questionable sentence says:
“Sister White is not the originator of these books. They contain the instruction that during her life-work God has been giving her. They contain the precious, comforting light that God has graciously given his servant to be given to the world. From their pages this light is to shine into the hearts of men and women, leading them to the Saviour. The Lord has declared that these books are to be scattered throughout the world. There is in them truth which to the receiver is a savor of life unto life. They are silent witnesses for God. In the past they have been the means in his hands of convicting and converting many souls. Many have read them with eager expectation, and, by reading them, have been led to see the efficacy of Christ's atonement, and to trust in its power. They have been led to commit the keeping of their souls to their Creator, waiting and hoping for the coming of the Saviour to take his loved ones to their eternal home. In the future, these books are to make the gospel plain to many others, revealing to them the way of salvation.
And then follows the sentence: “The Lord has sent his people much instruction, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light. O, how much good would be accomplished if the books containing this light were read with a determination to carry out the principles they contain! There would be a thousandfold greater vigilance, a thousandfold more self-denial and resolute effort. And many more would now be rejoicing in the light of present truth.”
Ellen White was urging us to sell these books that God inspired her and instructed her to write. She is saying over and over again that these books will lead men and women to Jesus. In the sentence under question she is using a simile to repeat what she has been saying over and over again in this article. What does this simile mean? Where has she used this phrase lesser light and greater light in her past writings? That could give us a clue as to the meaning of this sentence. We find it in her book the Desire of Ages:
“He (John the Baptist) was the lesser light, which was to be followed by a greater. The mind of John was illuminated by the Holy Spirit, that he might shed light upon his people; but no other light ever has shone or ever will shine so clearly upon fallen man as that which emanated from the teaching and example of Jesus.” {DA 220.2}
“Christ makes no apology when He declares, "I am the light of the world." He was, in life and teaching, the gospel, the foundation of all pure doctrine. Just as the sun compares with the lesser lights in the heavens, so did Christ, the Source of light, compare with the teachers of His day. He was before them all, and shining with the brightness of the sun, He diffused His penetrating, gladdening rays throughout the world. . . .” TMK 97
Ellen White is not saying that her book “Desire of Ages” was a lesser light as compared to what Matthew wrote. In fact “Desire of Ages” could be seen as a magnification of what Matthew wrote. If we were to speak of brightness in comparing inspired writings with inspired writings we might say that Matthew’s writings were a bit brighter than Isaiah’s writings and Ellen White’s writings magnifies and makes brighter the story of Jesus even more. But to say that inspired writings that follow after other inspired writings are dimmer than what came before is not a rational thought.
It is much more rational to say that the work of Ellen White is the same as that of all God’s messengers – to lead men and women to the greater light, Jesus Christ. And because people are not reading their Bibles that would lead them to the greater light God wants us to get her books into the hands of the public so they can be lead to the greater light. To make Ellen White say that her work is lesser than the work of other writers of inspired writings that are found in the Bible has influenced many of our members to set her writings aside as an inferior work of God. It has given them an excuse to ignore these writings. Just because the writings of a prophet must be tested by what has come before does not make them lesser. Paul’s writings had to be tested by Isaiah’s writings but that did not make them lesser in any degree. All the writings of all the prophets have all been lesser lights leading to the greater light, the Son of God.
