When Archduke Ferdinand was killed by an assassin’s bullet in 1914, Europe exploded like a veritable powder keg. Overnight, the armies were on the march and then locked in deadly conflict testing their military strength.
The European Division headquarters of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Hamburg, Germany, faced a dilemma. The religious convictions of those conscientiously opposed to military service met head-on with the demands of military conscription. There were no provisions of any kind for commandment-keeping Christians. In 1914, our young Adventist men in Europe were faced with the choice of either answering their country’s call, which meant disobedience to God, or going into the military penitentiary and possibly facing the firing squad.
While the war raged in Europe, the Lord laid Ellen White to rest on July 16, 1915. Had Ellen White been alive during the war, the church might have benefited from her counsels. One can draw a parallel between Ellen G. White and the prophet Samuel. Both died at a time when God’s people were going through a severe crisis. A great loss was sustained when the prophets no longer communicated heaven’s messages to the church.
“It was when the nation was racked with internal strife, when the calm, God-fearing counsel of Samuel seemed to be most needed, that God gave His aged servant rest.”40