Page 288. Foreign Missions.—The missionary activity of the early Christian church has not been duplicated until modern times. It had virtually died out by the year 1000, and was succeeded by the military campaigns of the Crusades. The Reformation era saw little foreign mission work, except on the part of the early Jesuits. The pietistic revival produced some missionaries. The work of the Moravian Church in the eighteenth century was remarkable, and there were some missionary societies formed by the British for work in colonized North America. But the great resurgence of foreign missionary activity begins around the year 1800, at “the time of the end.” Daniel 12:4 . In 1792 was formed the Baptist Missionary Society, which sent Carey to India. In 1795 the London Missionary Society was organized, and another society in 1799 which in 1812 became the Church Missionary Society. Shortly afterward the Wesleyan Missionary Society was founded. In the United States the American Board of Commissio…
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
Ellen White directly references Daniel 12:4 in this passage.
"“In A.D. 1800, ... the overwhelming majority of Christians were the descendants of those who had been won before A.D. 1500.... Now, in the nineteenth century, came a further expansion of Christianity. Not so many continents or major countries were entered for the first time as in the preceding three centuries. That would have been impossible, for on all the larger land masses of the earth except Australia and among all the more numerous peoples and in all the areas of high civilization Christianity had been introduced before A.D. 1800. What now occurred was the acquisition of fresh footholds in regions and among peoples already touched, an expansion of unprecedented extent from both the newer bases and the older ones, and the entrance of Christianity into the large majority of such countries, islands, peoples, and tribes as had previously not been touched.... GC 690.2"
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Both passages discuss the spread of Christianity to the uttermost parts of the earth. EGW's passage describes the historical fulfillment of the commission given in Acts 1:8.
"“The nineteenth century spread of Christianity was due primarily to a new burst of religious life emanating from the Christian impulse.... Never in any corresponding length of time had the Christian impulse given rise to so many new movements. Never had it had quite so great an effect upon Western European peoples. It was from this abounding vigor that there issued the missionary enterprise which during the nineteenth century so augmented the numerical strength and the influence of Christianity.”—Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, Vol. IV, The Great Century A.D. 1800 - A.D. 1914 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941), pp. 2-4. GC 690.3"
"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all."
Both passages refer to the power and grace associated with the spread of the gospel. EGW's passage, quoting Latourette, attributes the 19th-century expansion of Christianity to a new burst of religious life, echoing the power and grace described in Acts 4:33.
"Pages 327, 329. Prophetic Dates.—According to Jewish reckoning the fifth month (Ab) of the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign was from July 23 to August 21, 457 B.C. after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem in the autumn of the year, the decree of the king went into effect. For the certainty of the date 457 B.C. being the seventh year of Artaxerxes, see S. H. Horn and L. H. Wood, The Chronology of Ezra 7 (Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1953); E. G. Kraeling, The Brooklyn Museum Aramaic Papyri (New Haven or London, 1953), pp. 191-193; The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:97-110 (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1954, 1977). GC 690.4"
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."
The EGW passage directly references the date of Artaxerxes' decree and its significance in prophetic interpretation, which is directly related to the prophecy in Daniel 9:25 concerning the timing of the Messiah's arrival. The connection is strong and foundational to Adventist prophetic interpretation.
"I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee."
The EGW passage discusses the decree of Artaxerxes, which is the subject of Ezra 7:13. The EGW passage is providing historical context and validation for a key event described in Ezra. This is more than a possible connection; it's a direct reference to the biblical event.