"Again and again the procession halted at the places of torture. Upon reaching their starting point at the royal palace, the crowd dispersed, and the king and the prelates withdrew, well satisfied with the day's proceedings and congratulating themselves that the work now begun would be continued to the complete destruction of heresy. GC 230.1"
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
The EGW passage describes the persecutors' self-satisfaction and belief that they are eradicating heresy, which strongly parallels the idea in John 16:2 that those who kill believers will think they are doing God a service. Both passages highlight the dangerous combination of religious zeal and persecution.
"The gospel of peace which France had rejected was to be only too surely rooted out, and terrible would be the results. On the 21st of January, 1793, two hundred and fifty-eight years from the very day that fully committed France to the persecution of the Reformers, another procession, with a far different purpose, passed through the streets of Paris. “Again the king was the chief figure; again there were tumult and shouting; again there was heard the cry for more victims; again there were black scaffolds; and again the scenes of the day were closed by horrid executions; Louis XVI, struggling hand to hand with his jailers and executioners, was dragged forward to the block, and there held down by main force till the ax had fallen, and his dissevered head rolled on the scaffold.”—Wylie, b. 13, ch. 21. Nor was the king the only victim; near the same spot two thousand and eight hundred human beings perished by the guillotine during the bloody days of the Reign of Terror. GC 230.2"
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."
The EGW passage describes the violence and bloodshed of the French Revolution as a consequence of rejecting the gospel, which thematically aligns with Matthew 10:34, where Jesus states that his coming will bring division and conflict. While not a direct quote or allusion, the historical outcome described by EGW serves as an illustration of the principle that rejecting God's peace can lead to societal upheaval.
"The Reformation had presented to the world an open Bible, unsealing the precepts of the law of God and urging its claims upon the consciences of the people. Infinite Love had unfolded to men the statutes and principles of heaven. God had said: “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Deuteronomy 4:6 . When France rejected the gift of heaven, she sowed the seeds of anarchy and ruin; and the inevitable outworking of cause and effect resulted in the Revolution and the Reign of Terror. GC 230.3"
"Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."
Ellen White directly references Deuteronomy 4:6 in this passage.