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THE BIBLE RECORD OF MEN AND WOMEN
OF ANCIENT TIMES PRESENTS BACKGROUNDS SO BROAD AND DIVERSE THAT EVERYONE
MAYIDENTIFY HIMSELF WITH SOMEONE PORTRAYED THEREIN. HE WHO IS WISE WILL
GAIN FROM A STUDY OF THIS RECORD THAT WHICH WILL DIRECT, ENRICH, AND GUARD
HIS OWN PERSONAL LIFE. HE WILL DRAW COURAGE FROM THOSE WHO TRIUMPHED, AND
HOPEFULLY HE WILL BE SPARED THE HEARTACHES OF THOSE WHO MADE UNWISE CHOICES.
THE WORD OF GOD AS IT RELATES
TO THE EXPLOITS, THE FAILURES, AND THE SUCCESSES OF MEN, OFTEN TREATS ITS
CHARACTERS BUT BRIEFLY. TWENTIETH-CENTURY PRINTING PRESSES HAVE MADE EASY
THE DISSEMINATION OF FULLER AND MORE DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF THESE INDIVIDUALS
AS GIVEN TO US BY THE INSPIRED PEN OF ELLEN G. WHITE. IN A RARE MANNER
SHE CATCHES AND APPLIES, WITH SENSITIVE, DIVINELY GUIDED INSIGHT, RELEVANT
LESSONS FROM THE LIVES OF SAINTS AND SINNERS DEPICTED IN SACRED HISTORY.
FROM THIS VOLUMINOUS AND RICH SOURCE OF ELLEN G. WHITE MATERIALS THE 365
BRIEF SKETCHES THAT COMPRISE THIS DEVOTIONAL VOLUME HAVE BEEN SELECTED.
OBVIOUSLY THERE COULD NOT BE
REPRODUCED HERE FULL BIOGRAPHIES OF THE MANY CHARACTERS. THESE MAY BE PURSUED
IN THE FIVE VOLUMES OF THE CONFLICT OF THE AGES SERIES, THE TESTIMONIES,
AND OTHER ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS, AND IN THE ELLEN G. WHITE SUPPLEMENT TO
THE SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY. RATHER, THE LESSONS FROM THEIR LIVES HAVE BEEN
SET FORTH HERE BY INCIDENTS, IN THEIR BIOGRAPHICAL SETTING. THEY APPEAR
IN ROUGHLY CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, BUT WITHOUT A TIGHT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS;
NOR HAS IT BEEN POSSIBLE TO BE EXHAUSTIVE EVEN IN THIS SELECTIVE AREA.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES AT THE TOP
OF MANY OF THE PAGES WILL GUIDE TO THE BIBLE ACCOUNT OF THE EXPERIENCES
FROM WHICH THE LESSON HAS BEEN DRAWN.
CREDIT IS GIVEN FOR EACH ITEM
APPEARING IN THESE PAGES. A CLOSE LOOK AT THE LISTING AT THE BACK OF THIS
VOLUME WILL REVEAL THAT THE PRIME SOURCE HAS BEEN THE FAMILIAR BOOKS OF
THE CONFLICT SERIES, WHICH IN GENERAL PRESENT THE FULLEST AND RICHEST ACCOUNTS.
THE TASK OF SELECTING AND ARRANGING
THESE SKETCHES HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN IN THE OFFICE OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE
ESTATE. MAY THEY ACCOMPLISH THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THEY ARE INTENDED, TO
BRING COURAGE TO GOD'S PEOPLE FOR THE TRIALS OF EARTH'S CLOSING DAYS.
THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE
WASHINGTON, D.C.