EGW → Biblical Foundation
Select an Ellen White book from the sidebar to see each passage mapped to the Bible verses it amplifies, cites, or echoes.
Scripture Index
Ellen White & Bible Cross-Reference
Jonah 3:1-3
"And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey."
"Once more the servant of God was commissioned to warn Nineveh. “The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” This time he did not stop to question or doubt, but obeyed unhesitatingly. He “arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.” Jonah 3:1-3 . PK 269.7"
Ellen White directly references Jonah 3:1-3 in this passage.
Jonah 3:3
"So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey."
"Among the cities of the ancient world in the days of divided Israel one of the greatest was Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm. Founded on the fertile bank of the Tigris, soon after the dispersion from the tower of Babel, it had flourished through the centuries until it had become “an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.” Jonah 3:3 . PK 265.1"
The EGW passage directly quotes Jonah 3:3 and references Nineveh's size, making it an explicit allusion.
Jonah 3:4
"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
"We were firm in the belief that the preaching of definite time was of God. It was this that led men to search the Bible diligently, discovering truths they had not before perceived. Jonah was sent of God to proclaim in the streets of Nineveh that within forty days the city would be overthrown; but God accepted the humiliation of the Ninevites, and extended their period of probation. Yet the message that Jonah brought was sent of God, and Nineveh was tested according to His will. The world looked upon our hope as a delusion, and our disappointment as its consequent failure; but though we were mistaken in the event that was to occur at that period, there was no failure in reality of the vision that seemed to tarry. LS 62.1"
EGW directly references Jonah's prophecy and its conditional nature to explain the Advent believers' experience. This is a clear and intentional allusion.
"The case of Jonah was presented before me. Elder Morse was in a condition similar to that of the disappointed prophet. He had proclaimed that the Lord would come in 1844. The time had passed. The check of fear that had partially held the people was removed, and they indulged in derision of those who had looked in vain for Jesus. Elder Morse felt that he was a byword among his neighbors, an object of jest, and he could not be reconciled to his position. He did not think of the mercy of God in granting the world a longer time in which to prepare for His coming, that the warning of the judgment might be heard more widely, and the people tested with greater light. He thought only of the humiliation of God's servants. LS 78.1"
The passage directly compares Elder Morse's experience to that of Jonah, who proclaimed a message of impending doom, and faced ridicule when the predicted event did not immediately occur.
Jonah 3:4-10
"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."
"Calls to Repentance The mercy of God in sparing so many lives during the dreadful calamity befalling San Francisco and near- by communities, was pointed out by Mrs. White as constituting a strong appeal to all classes to recognize the supreme rulership of Jehovah and the binding claims of His law. She urged that evangelistic efforts be carried on in the cities about the bay, in order that the people might have every opportunity to learn the meaning of the judgments coming upon the inhabitants of the earth. LS 414"
Both passages deal with calls to repentance in the face of impending judgment. Jonah's preaching led to Nineveh's repentance and God's sparing of the city. Similarly, EGW's statement emphasizes the need for evangelistic efforts and repentance in light of calamities, suggesting that people should recognize God's rulership and obey His law. The connection is thematic and meaningful.
Jonah 3:5
"So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them."
"As king and nobles, with the common people, the high and the low, “repented at the preaching of Jonas” ( Matthew 12:41 ) and united in crying to the God of heaven, His mercy was granted them. He “saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.” Jonah 3:10 . Their doom was averted, the God of Israel was exalted and honored throughout the heathen world, and His law was revered. Not until many years later was Nineveh to fall a prey to the surrounding nations through forgetfulness of God and through boastful pride. [For an account of the downfall of Assyria, see chapter 30.] PK 270.4"
The EGW passage describes the repentance of the people of Nineveh and God's subsequent mercy. This directly relates to the description of their repentance in Jonah 3:5. The connection is a clear thematic parallel.
"But the rulers of Assyria, instead of using their unusual blessings for the benefit of mankind, became the scourge of many lands. Merciless, with no thought of God or their fellow men, they pursued the fixed policy of causing all nations to acknowledge the supremacy of the gods of Nineveh, whom they exalted above the Most High. God had sent Jonah to them with a message of warning, and for a season they humbled themselves before the Lord of hosts and sought forgiveness. But soon they turned again to idol worship and to the conquest of the world. PK 363.2"
Both passages discuss the Ninevites' initial repentance after Jonah's preaching. The EGW passage expands on the initial repentance and subsequent backsliding into idolatry, which is thematically linked to Jonah's message and the Ninevites' response.
Jonah 3:10
"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."
"As king and nobles, with the common people, the high and the low, “repented at the preaching of Jonas” ( Matthew 12:41 ) and united in crying to the God of heaven, His mercy was granted them. He “saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.” Jonah 3:10 . Their doom was averted, the God of Israel was exalted and honored throughout the heathen world, and His law was revered. Not until many years later was Nineveh to fall a prey to the surrounding nations through forgetfulness of God and through boastful pride. [For an account of the downfall of Assyria, see chapter 30.] PK 270.4"
Ellen White directly references Jonah 3:10 in this passage.
"Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their evil deeds, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath, as he afterward did from Nineveh. But by their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience and the warnings of God's prophet, that generation filled up the measure of their iniquity, and became ripe for destruction. PP 97.2"
Both passages illustrate God's willingness to withhold judgment when people repent. The Nineveh example is explicitly mentioned in the EGW passage.