Now for the confusing
part--just keep in mind that Jesus is speaking of the WICKED BEING TAKEN as
they were in Noah's day. "Then shall two be in the field; the one will be taken, and the other left.
Two will be grinding at the mill; the one
will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore: for you know not what
hour y*in death, like the skeptics were in the flood and the righteous are left
safe as those in the ark, then you properly understand Christ's teachings.
The
word TAKEN causes some confusion. It is derived from the Greek word paralambado which
is translated in the King James Bible
as follows:
Receive--15 times; take--32 times; take unto (taken)--2 times; and take
with--one time. It literally translates: TO TAKE ALONGSIDE.
This word is never used to
mean raptured (or resurrect--Greek: anastasis, exanastasis and egesis), yet that is how our conditioned minds want to
interpret it.
Let us review the only other
text where paralambado
is translated TAKEN. That just happens to be in a parallel verse where Jesus is
again discussing the same topic--His coming and the destruction of the wicked.
In
this chapter Jesus first tells His disciples that "the kingdom of God is
within you" (Luke 17: 21).
Then He speaks of His literal
coming where all would see Him, "For as the lightning, that flashes out of
one part under heaven and shines to the other part under heaven; so will also
the Son of man be in His day" (Ibid.,
verses 24, 34, 35).
He again likens His coming to
the destruction of the wicked in Noah's day, "and the flood came, and destroyed them all" (verse 27).
After this, He repeats this
thought by recalling the destruction of Sodom, "But the same day that Lot
went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all" (verse 29).
Now Jesus explains how God
differentiates between the "chosen" and the "lost", even if
they are in close proximity to each other:
In
that night there will be two people in one bed; the one will be taken, and the other will be left. Two people will be
grinding together; the one will be taken,
and the other left. Two people will be in the field; the one will be taken and the other left"
(verses 36). [His disciples always understood that the believers would be
saved, and wanted to know where the wicked were taken to.] They said, "WHERE, Lord?" And He said
unto them, "Wherever the body is, there will the eagles [literally
"vultures", Proverbs 30:7] be gathered together. (verse
37)
It
is quite clear that in these verses Jesus is not speaking of a resurrection to
heaven but of the death of the wicked who are gathered where corpses lay and
vultures feed.
For this to be possible, God
must make a distinction between those with the "seal of God" and
those with the "mark of the beast."
Is this possible? Yes! That is exactly what He
promises in His word. Daniel 12:2 says it this way: "And many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life [you
will want to be in this group], and some to shame and everlasting
contempt" [these will be "taken" in destruction].
The saints are to be divinely
preserved as the wicked are destroyed: "When you walk through the fire,
you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you, for I am the Lord your
God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isaiah
43:2, 3).
RESCUED DURING THE HOLOCAUST
About
one century after Isaiah wrote those words, God rewarded His faithful servants
by miraculously sparing them amid a flaming inferno. You remember the story,
don't you? The three faithful Hebrews who refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's
idol set up on the plain of Dura. God displayed His faithfulness to their
obedience, even though the furnace was made seven times hotter.
This event is written in
Daniel 3:22: "And the furnace [was] exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire
slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." Their faith
was literally tried by fire and the wicked "were taken" in destruction.
The king was amazed. "I
see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire," he exclaimed,
"and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God
[Jesus]" (verse 25).
Yes, while the wicked were
destroyed, God's faithful ones were preserved by the presence of Jesus, the Son
of God, and we will be too!
In
the past I always enjoyed the thought that the righteous would be
resurrected before this world is
destroyed. Now I must accept the chilling fact that Scripture says the
righteous must have their faith literally tested as those young men in
Nebuchadnezzar's furnace.
It is not my thoughts, feelings,
inclinations, or conditioning that matters--it is what God says that is
important because it will literally transpire. "A thousand will fall at
your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.
Only with your eyes you will look and see the reward of the wicked"
(Psalms 91:7,8).
Paul
speaks of our faith being literally tested by fire: "Every man's work
shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what
sort it is. If any man's work abides which he has built thereupon, he shall
receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as by fire"
(1 Corinthians 3:15).
The prophet Isaiah explains it
more dramatically because he devotes an entire chapter to the calamity
befalling the "cursed" in the day the earth is destroyed.
"Therefore
has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell there are desolate: therefore
the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
and few men left (Isaiah 24: 6).
Then Isaiah again writes of
the few men left--the saints who endure the flames and turmoil:
"They shall lift up
their voices, they shall sing for the majesty of the
Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord
God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth
have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. (ibid., verses
14-16)
The apostle Peter describes the intensity more graphically with these words:
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements
shall melt with fervent heat [you are
composed of elements and compounds], the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up. [Seeing]
then [that] all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner [of persons] should you be in [all] holy conversation and godliness
(2 Peter 3:10,11).
Peter's
statement sums up the theme of the whole Bible--what type of person we should
be, "in holy conversation and godliness."
This is, as Paul Harvey would
say: "The rest of the story." We must live the heavenly lifestyle
here and, with divine assistance, apply God's principles in our lives--to do
otherwise is presumptuous self-deception.
God has given ample warnings
and every provision to prepare us for the future. If there is no "secret
rapture" to snatch us out of our beds, cars, or wherever, while life goes
on and business is as usual on earth, then we need to actively prepare for the
future.
PREPARATION IS NECESSARY
The
Scripture plainly tells us that earth will be decimated by the seven plagues
preceding Christ's coming (Revelation 16:1-21).
After the sixth plague we are
still here and encouraged to endure a little longer with these words:
"Watch, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame" (verse 15).
My friends, after the government
voids God's fourth commandment by enforcing Sunday legislation, the Spirit of
God will begin to withdraw from humanity; then, the plagues will cause extreme
turmoil, including food shortages.
Blaming these calamities upon
those who refuse to honor Sunday, Satan's counterfeit Sabbath, the last-day
global organization will have assumed sufficient influence to force a Sunday
decree that none can buy or sell unless they have the "mark"
(Revelation 13:17).
Because we are facing
devastating plagues and intimidating legislation, it will be essential that we
relocate from the crowded cities to smaller towns, or better yet, to the
country where one can prepare by supplementing their food supply from a small
garden.
When God's people can no
longer enter into commerce, the saints will be living more closely to the
lifestyle of their forefathers: No running water, no television or telephone, no
air conditioning, hot tubs, refrigerators, no automobiles. . . .
"Oh!" you say,
"I'd rather die than forsake these luxuries!" God's word is
explicitly true, you will be abandoned to perish in
the last plague. Your death will be with those who receive the mark of the
beast (Revelation 14: 9-12).
Preferably, though, you will not be with this
group but will be found among the faithful who trust in Jesus' teachings and
adequately prepare--your every movement must be supplemented by earnest prayer,
firm trust in God's Word, and His faithfulness. It may seem that you will
perish but God promises deliverance to His faithful.
JESUS ENCOURAGES US
This
reasoning is enforced by Jesus' statements that appear contrary to common
reasoning. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it and
whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it" (Matthew 16:24; Mark
8:35; Luke 9:24; 17:33).
Those faithful saints who
refuse to receive the mark of the beast will be those appointed for translation
without knowing death.
The promise to these saints is
predicted by Isaiah. "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" "He
shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks:
bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure" (Isaiah 33:14, 16 ).
When the Abomination of
Desolation obtains enough influence to enforce death legislation against the
saints, they must then flee the villages to solitary places as lot fled
Sodom--remember Christ's admonition to not look back: "remember Lot's
wife", Christ warns (Revelation 13:15, Genesis 19: 17; Luke 17:32).
God's loyal saints will be
cared for in the wilderness like the children of Israel being given water from
the Rock and manna, the bread from heaven.
When Ahab decreed death for
Elijah, he fled for solitary places and his food was miraculously provided by
ravens--God will not abandon His faithful, and he will have a people of faith
to translate alive like Enoch and Elijah.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good: for his mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, who he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands.... They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distress. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a [heavenly] city of habitation.... Those who are wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. (Psalm 107:1-7, 43)
To
survive these troublesome times will require a complete trust in God manifested
by obedience to all of his commandments: "If I regard iniquity [sin] in my
heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18).
We are encouraged to overcome
eight times in the book of Revelation with such words as "To him that
overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna", and "He that
overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my
son" (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3: 5, 12, 21; 21:7).
God has made provisions for
the sanctification of His saints, and promises that our essential needs will be
met. We must trust in God's faithfulness at this time, "bread shall be
given him; his waters shall be sure" (Isaiah 33: 16). This luxury will not
be accorded to the wicked.
FINALLY RESCUED
As conditions grow increasingly worse for earth, hope is kindled in the hearts of God's faithful people who have been hated and rejected by society for their faithfulness to God's law.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring. Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And THEN SHALL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD, with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, THEN LOOK UP, AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS; FOR YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR. (Luke 21: 25-28)
And at that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people: and there
shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to
that same time: and at that time your people will be delivered..." (Daniel
12: 1). The wicked see the "Prince of Peace" coming, wearing His
royal crown and adorned in garments of rulership;
casting aside their weapons of war, "every battle of the warrior is with
confused noise... [and they shall be for] fuel
of fire. (Isaiah 9: 6, 5)
Ministers who have preached smooth words of salvation to transgressors are filled with terror:
With
lies you have... strengthened the hands of the wicked... by promising him
life" (Ezekiel 13: 22). Too late they realize they have herded their flock
to barren ground, and they must answer to Him who demands purity: "And the
shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
(Jeremiah 25: 34, 35)
Terror fills the hearts of
those who received the mark of the Beast, who haughtily bought and sold while
neglecting the saints. They attempt to "enter into the rocks and hide in
the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty....”
For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up: and he shall be brought low... And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold... to the moles and to the bats. (Isaiah 2:10,12,19,20)
At
this moment the righteous dead will be raised from their graves, and the saints
who have endured the trial by fire will be changed and receive a new body
that will never again know aging, disease, or death.
Paul says: "Behold I show
you a mystery: We will not all sleep [die] but we will all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we [the living saints] will be
changed.... And this mortal must put on immortality.... then will be brought to
pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.' 1
Corinthians 15;51,54
EARTH RESTORED AFTER 1,000 YEARS
When the saints "meet the Lord in the clouds" and are raised to heaven, the abandoned corpses of the wicked lie wasting on the surface of the earth with no one left to bury them.
Thus says the LORD of hosts,
Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall
be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be
at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth:
they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung
upon the ground. (2 Thessalonians 4:17, Jeremiah 25:32,33)
We
arrive at the Holy City with "ten thousands times ten thousand and
thousands of thousands" of holy angels, we will have time to converse with
those faithful saints who overcame by the "blood of the lamb" (Jude
14; Revelation 5:11).
There will be repentant
Adam, who agonized over his transgression that brought the epidemic of sin to
his domain; Able, who was murdered for his obedience, and faithful Abraham, who
saw Christ's day afar. To honor this he built altars to sacrifice wherever he
journeyed and he did not withhold his only son, Isaac, but offered him on Mt. Moriah, the very place where our heavenly Father offered
His Son, Jesus, almost 2,000 years later.
And
let us not forget Job. While in the greatest agony, he trusted God and
said: "I know my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed this I know:
That in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall
behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25:28).
Job remained faithful even
though his wife said: "Curse God and die!" Now he stands before his
Redeemer and at the last [still 1,000
years in the future] he will stand on the New Earth with Jesus.
We
will be able to sit with those who "looked for a city which has
foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God" (Hebrews 11:10).
Yes, and we will have our
private "mansion" in the city of God. We will wear our crowns of
victory in heaven for 1,000 years as
this planet stabilizes from the onslaught of Armageddon--but it doesn't end
here.
Then
there will be the lovely John who leaned against his Master on the night of
betrayal. John will again tell you, only this time in person, We are now going
to be in heaven for 1,000 years (Revelation. 20:6). After that we will travel
in the Holy City; it will descend to the earth “prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband" (ch. 21: 2).
Peter will also be there. He sincerely
repented for denying his Lord at the moment of His greatest need; but Peter
will again assure us: "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13).
And then you can sit at
Isaiah's feet and marvel at his faith. Even though he was sawed in half for his
faithfulness, he is not complaining. "It's not over yet!" He will
say. "Planet earth is not to be abandoned; don't you remember I wrote that
the Lord will restore it: 'For, behold, I create new
heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into
mind'" (Isaiah 65:17).
But best of all, there will be
our new emperor, King Jesus. By sinning Adam forfeited his right to leadership
so the King of the entire universe came to take Adam's vacant throne (1 Corinthians
15:22-45). But He gained victory over the "serpent" in a much harder
way--God, in the person of Jesus, became a little child. He knew poverty,
hardship, temptation and a lifetime of assaults by Satan.
In heaven we will look at
Jesus' radiating face but it will look different than normal. There are a few
blemishes where the crown of thorns was so mockingly forced upon His noble
brow. His robe of glory will cover the scars on His shoulders, back and
side--these testify of His Majesty's abuse. He will never show these to us, but
we know they are there. And of course, we all see the pierce marks in His
hands. They glow much brighter than the rest of His body. We first saw them
when He came to rescue us from this planet during its destruction (Habakkuk
3:3, 4).
Now, in the Holy City, we sit at
Jesus' feet. We humbly take our crowns off and lay them before Him--He deserves
all the glory--it was not our
righteousness, but His, that qualified us for glorification--we know that He is
the only reason we have eternal life.
He could have abandoned us to
perish along with Lucifer and the fallen angels but His love was so unspeakable.
Forsaking the glories of heaven, He became a man. Yes, a stunted, weakened,
human; just for us He accepted our punishment for disobedience to God--we
deserved those lashes with a whip; yes, and eternal death.
We take His scarred hand in
ours and recall that He told us 1,000 years in advance of their mutilation:
"Like lions, they are at my hands and my feet... They part my garments
among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" (Psalm 22: 17, 19).
We know, and He knows, so well
the story of His great sacrifice. But then, just because we never want to
forget what one "little" sin cost, we ask the question: What happened
to your hands? "'What are these wounds in your hands?' Then He shall
answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends'"
(Zechariah 13:6).
A
SINLESS ETERNITY WITH JESUS
Did you hear that, my brothers
and sisters? My God, and your God, calls us friends. He did not die in
vain.
It was because of a love that
is deeper than the most profound thought can fathom. It is higher than the
heavens can span and will never be fully understood throughout the endless days
of eternity.
And as dimly as we perceive
this sacrifice of love, and as often as we "crucified afresh" our
Lord and Savior through un-heavenly conduct, we can look at the scars in His
hands and say: "I can see exactly what He did for me”, and know that more
than a parent loves and pities his wayward child, my Savior loves me.
We are in the Kingdom because
He pardoned our sins, and accounted us as perfect as God himself. God nurtured
our spiritual growth with His Holy Spirit, and He enabled us to tenaciously
cling to His promises: "Let him take hold of my strength,
[that] he may make peace with me; [and] he shall make peace with
me" (Isaiah 25:5).
Come
with me, my friends in Christ--make that all important decision. "Blessed
is he who WAITS, and attains to the 1335 days" (8010), and "all these
things shall be finished" (Daniel 12:7, 12).
These are the ultimate
messages sealed in Daniel 12--the restoration of
earth and a sinless eternity with our Savior.
It has not entered into our
imaginations what God has prepared for us; we can only imperfectly speculate of
the glories prepared for those who WAIT for the Lord.
After one-thousand years in
heaven, earth will be re-created and Jesus will govern the entire universe from
our "rebuilt" home. Yes, this unworthy "prodigal" planet,
once lost, will wear God's best robe and ring of rulership.
It will be exalted as the new capitol for the endless galaxies of God's vast
creation--the least will become the greatest; "And the Lord my God shall
come [to earth], and all the [redeemed] saints with Him" (Zechariah 14: 5).
THE GLORIES OF PARADISE RESTORED
Our unique galaxy displays stars
visible from earth and was created especially for us (Genesis 1: 17, 18).
Because of the blight of sin, it, like the earth, has experienced decay since
the fall of man, but is then restored from the curse (Romans 8: 20-23).
Even the illuminator of our
solar system, our sun, diminishing in intensity and size (about 1-1/2 meter, or
5 ft. per year) for 7,000 years (seven times), will be perpetually renewed to
the brilliance of Eden: "Moreover the light of the moon will be as the
light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold [restored to its
original intensity], as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds
up the breach of his people, and heals the stroke of their wound" (Isaiah
30: 26).
Like a colossal space ship, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, travels from heaven and descends to the mount of Olives; then Jesus cleanses the earth of all evidences of sin and sinners (Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 21:2).
The
world is now restored to its immaculate condition before the curse of sin.
The mount of Olives is the very point where Jesus triumphantly descended into
Jerusalem and cleansed the temple 3,000 years earlier, but this time the
cleansing is permanent: "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband" (Mark 13:3; Luke 19:37).
Jesus is not sitting on a donkey
this time but upon His majestic throne: "And I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God" (Revelation 21:3).
Angels who have been traveling
between God's throne and earth will then have a new planet for a home base. We
will "mount up with wings as eagles" and join them as we soar vast
regions to celestial systems where our finest telescopes have never penetrated
(Isaiah 40:31).
There will be a "river of
life" flowing from the throne, watering the now thirsty deserts of this
parched globe we cling so tenaciously to; and the tree of life with its
"12 manner of fruit..." (Revelation 22:1-5; Isaiah 35:1-10).
Each month we will attend a
special banquet and taste a different fruit that contains a unique ingredient
that keeps our DNA replicating throughout eternity--we will never grow old.
"And it shall come to pass, from one new
moon to another [monthly], and from one Sabbath to another [not Sunday], shall
all flesh come to worship before me, says the LORD" (Isaiah 66:23 ).
In addition to a weekly church
service there, we have our personal "royal suite" in the Holy City
that Jesus and the angels have prepared for us (John 14: 2; Revelation 21:1-3).
But
that is not all--we will have a country home. If it takes you 10,000 years to
build, so what! We have eternity to finish the construction. And the best part
is that "They shall build houses and
inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and
another eat: for as the days of a tree [are] the days of my people, and my
elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands" (Isaiah 34;35; 65:21, 22).
The Bible is precisely
correct! God has revealed His plan of redemption and restoration throughout His
Word and for humanity today, especially by the Daniel 12 code--"the wise
shall understand."
Once more, just so you do not
forget, God's message to us living at "the end of the days" is
this: "These words are true and faithful", and "all these
things will be finished"; "blessed is he who WAITS, and comes to the
thousand three hundred and five and thirty days [8010]" (Revelation 21:5;
Daniel 12:7;12).
What do you think? Is this
magnificent inheritance worth the WAIT? Yes! A thousand times, Yes! All
heaven is willing that you obtain these immeasurable riches. Yes! And God requests
your presence R.S.V.P. Yes! And God sends the following invitation
:
"And the Spirit and the
bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come, and let him that is athirst
come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely... [Jesus, who]
testifies these things says, 'Surely I come quickly. Amen.' Even so, come, Lord
Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Abide with you all.
Amen" (Revelation 22: 17, 18, 20, 21).
APPENDIX
Daniel, Chapter 12, The Holy Bible, K.J.V
12:1 And at that time shall
Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your
people: and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was
a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time your people will be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
12:2 And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame
[and] everlasting contempt.
12:3 And they that are wise will
shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness
as the stars for ever and ever.
12:4 But you, O Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many will run to and
fro, and knowledge will be increased.
12:5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood two
others, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that
side of the bank of the river.
12:6 And [one] said to the man
clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, How long [shall it
be to] the end of these wonders?
12:7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon
the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto
heaven, and sware by him that lives for ever that [it
shall be] for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished
to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] will be finished.
12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my
Lord, what [will be] the end of these [things]?
12:9 And he said, Go your way, Daniel:
for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
12:10 Many shall be purified, and
made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked
will understand; but the wise shall
understand.
12:11 And from the time [that] the
daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, [there shall be] a thousand two
hundred and ninety days [1290 days].
12:12 Blessed [is] he that waits,
and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days [1335 days].
12:13 But you go your way till the end [your death]: for you
shalt rest [in the grave], and stand in your lot at the end of the days
[resurrection].
God's 10 Commandment Law, Exodus 20
20:1 And God spoke
all these words, saying:
20:2 I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
1. 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2.
20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that
[is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
20:6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,
and keep my commandments.
3. 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4.
20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
20:9 Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work:
20:10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath
of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that [is] within thy gates:
20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
7. 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
9. 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbors.
The Rise
and Decline of Islam as Predicted in
the Bible
Undoubtedly you have wondered why God allows Islamic militants to ravage our world. The Bible has the answers and predicted the rise and decline of Mohammedanism.
God’s Holy Book emphasizes that His people are in all cultures (John 10:16). They live peaceably with others according to dictates of their civil laws and the truths they have but God condemns those who commit crimes in His name because the ten-commandment law still says: “Thou shalt not murder.”
You
may trust the Great I AM because His Word
foretells the future many years in advance; He controls world events and our
destinies.
God says through the prophet
Isaiah:
Remember the former things of old:
for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times things that are not done, saying: ‘My counsel will stand,
and I will do all my pleasure. (Isaiah 46:9,10)
In
deciphering the prophetic revelation on Islam
in the Bible, it is useful to acknowledge the writings of Dr. Josiah Litch, a 19th Century physician and itinerant minister for
the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Like other Bible scholars of
his day, Litch confirmed the identity of Moslem
warriors in the Bible; in addition, he accurately predicted, two years in advance, the decline of the Islamic Ottoman Empire
in August of 1840.
After
the death of Mohammed in A.D. 633, Islamic nations were in relative disarray
until the rise of the Ottomans who interpreted Muhammad’s writings to support
evangelism for Allah through military conquests.
They became a formidable
alliance of Arab nations governed from Turkey and, with their battalions of
several hundred thousand warriors, they consumed much
of Asia, North Africa, and Europe.
Its decline in 1840 was an
exact fulfillment of Bible prophecy in chapter nine of the book of
"Revelation." Litch continued his research
and two months before the event, he predicted the exact day, Tuesday, August 11, 1840.
Litch's
bold prediction was first made during a year that the optimistic Ottomans were
victorious in suppressing an Egyptian rebellion and maintaining sovereignty
over their vast domain. Both believers and skeptics watched in anticipation as Litch’s prediction was widely circulated in Christian
journals and newspapers in the United States.
Scripture
foretold that a latter-day power would "plant the tabernacles of his
palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain" and Moslems
"planted" the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:45).
An ancient Arab saying is:
"Religion is a convenient falcon with which to hunt." And during
their supremacy oil was not a marketable commodity so the Ottomans, in addition
to subjugating the land of others, acquired their wealth and built Mosques by
looting and taxing Christian nations in the name of Allah.
Today the Turkish Republic is impoverished and
although possessing sovereign boundaries, it no longer threatens Christian
countries. This partially fulfills Daniel 11:45: "He shall come to his end
and… [no Islamic nations] shall help him [regain his empire]."
But the prophecy of Revelation
9:15 says they would have power to "slay the third part of men." Under Constantine's reign the Roman Empire
was officially Christian and after the Crusades regained some of their land from
Muslims. Islam still possess a full
third, including much territory once occupied by the Eastern Church.
The
Ottomans are no longer a superpower today but the Bible warns us to stay
alert--although relatively dormant, Arab nations must unite once more.
The prophecies will meet
complete fulfillment by reviving Ottoman-Empire principles; that is, a
coalition of Islamic nations will again attack Israel.
These nations will initiate
the great and final battle of Armageddon--at that time the angel declares:
"It is finished" (Revelation 16:16,17).
Like the Philistines who
taunted the mighty Samson, Israel will perish while destroying their
antagonists: "So the dead which he [Samson] slew at his death were more
than those which he slew in his life" (Judges 16:25-30).
The decline of the Islamic
Ottoman Empire, as described in the Bible, is most remarkably manifest one
century later in 1948 when the United Nations formed a "sovereign
boundary" and portioned the "Holy Land" (once part of the
Ottoman Empire) into two parts, one to Israel and the other to the
Palestinians. Immediately the Arabs
began militant protests yet Israel's return was also a fulfillment of prophecy,
"after many days...,” when they were "gathered from many people [nations]"
(Ezekiel 38:8; 14).
The return of Israel to
Palestine is an established fact today but Ezekiel's prophecies were mysteries
for earlier Bible students.
The Israel/Arab land-conflict
creates unimaginable stress in our world yet God has limited Arab territory.
The reduced boundaries of the extinct Ottoman Empire are identified in Ezekiel
38.
Because borders and names of
countries frequently change with military conflicts and treaties, God uses
mostly tribal names of land named in Genesis and originally occupied by Noah's
descendants to give approximate
locations.
This includes Rosh, once
belonging to the tribe of Benjamin and now a Hamas “time-bomb” in Palestine
north of Jerusalem; Gog, once Reubenites, is now
Jordan; Magog is Georgia and fell to the Islamic
control of Turkey and Iran in the 16th century; its significant Islamic
community is transitional and sovereign government unstable; Persia is Iran who
one leader officially declared: "Israel is a “façade” nation and should be
wiped off the map"; and Tubal, Mesheck and Togarmach are Turkey; as is Gomer,
also occupying the area north of the Black Sea (Ezekiel 38:2-8,16).
According to the Bible, these
countries extending around the Mediterranean Sea to ancient Ethiopia (now
Sudan) and Libya will, "with many [other] people", initiate their
ultimate suicidal attack on Israel (Ezekiel 38:9).
When someone is under
"the destroyer’s" control, they will fulfill God's predictions regardless
of evidence they are wrong. You may recall that after God's judgments ravaged
Egypt, Pharaoh blindly marched his army to their death in the parted Red Sea;
likewise, because Satan controlled Judas,
he ignored Jesus' warning that he would be His betrayer: "What you
do, do quickly", Jesus said (Exodus 14:21,28; John 13:27).
The
Islamic scourge upon Christian nations was a "wake-up-call" for them
to repent of their sins; in fact,
Mohammedanism began in Medina and Mecca near the Red Sea. North Africa is the
battleground where Asian Christians had been in military conflict with Arian
Christians.
The Greek Emperor Justinian first
attempted to forcibly unite all people to the Catholic faith. His edict of A.D.
532 forced sanctions against those not united with Rome and "declared [non-Catholics] infamous
[despicable], and as such excluded from all employments both civil and
military; rendered incapable of leaving anything by will; and all their estates
confiscated, whether real or personal" (Boniface II, History of the Popes, Page 199, Id., par. 2).
Those restrictions did not
force enough “conversions” so the next year he again declared the Roman Church
supreme and in June of 533 they began violent crusades against what they deemed
false-Christianity.
Justinian's liberator of Rome,
General Belisarius, initiated his African campaign after Justinian was told by
church leaders that he was compelled by God to attack Christian heretics.
Belisarius launched 600 war
ships, 35,000 troops and sailors, and 500 horses against African Christians
with differing beliefs (Gibbon, Decline
and Fall… chap. xii, par. 3, 7-12).
Jesus never commanded His
followers to kill those in error; His mission was to save. Therefore, within
one century of Justinian's decree to force-feed Christianity to the world, Muhammad
was born and died, leaving a legacy of thievery, bloodshed, and forced
conversions to Islam. God allowed
Mohammedanism to surface with mandates in the Koran to kill infidels that do
not submit to their encroachments; therefore, the "Christians"
received the same punishment they unlawfully inflicted on others.
As Christians punished
"heretics" during the "Spiritual Dark Ages", the Moslem
scourge also "tormented" and "killed" Christian nations
throughout history (Revelation 9: 5,15). Of those surviving God's chastisement, the
Bible says: "They repented not"--and the same sins that caused those
plagues are still committed today among some unrepentant Christians (Revelation
9:20,21).
Although Jesus said it would
be easier for heaven and earth to disappear than God's law change, compromising
Christians only keep that portion of God's 10-commandment law that is
convenient; the most frequent offenses are against commandments number four and
ten (Exodus 20:8-11, 17; Matthew 5:17-22; Revelation 9:19,20).
Let us take notice of the past and reform our
lives in conformity with God's Word during this reprieve, while Moslem nations
remain divided. Often they are vigorously defending their borders from attacks
by their Arab neighbors.
This polarization renders them
unable to effectively wage coordinated wars against non-Islamic countries as in
previous centuries. As you know, this has given rise to independent Islamic
fundamentalist groups (terrorists) murdering civilian populations and beheading
captives for viewing on national television in the hope of achieving their old
political goals, including a New World Order for Allah.
Their dreams will never be
achieved and such extremism stimulates "cooperating" countries to
implement, with greater zeal, their strategies for global peace under a
one-world judicial system that establishes distinct boundaries and prohibits
"holy wars" from "rogue" [non-complying] countries.
Today, altogether too many people
have a "Timothy McVeigh attitude" against our government; that is,
they grasp any rumor to "bear false witness" against our leaders;
they "despise government and speak evil of dignitaries" (Exodus
20:16; 2 Peter 2:10; Jude 1:8).
This includes spreading
propaganda that a U.S. led conspiracy planted explosives and ignited a
controlled detonation at the instant Moslem extremists
crashed airplanes into the twin towers and the Pentagon.
This fabrication originated
with an Egyptian Professor, Zaynab Abd Al-Aziz, who spoke on Saudi Iqra
TV in a May 26, 2005, interview.
Do not be fooled, such
folk-tales are actually laughable fiction to masquerade terrorist strategies
for world dominance; and yes, Al-Aziz was almost right on one point, that there
is a Catholic conspiracy for world control.
Catholic leadership feels
compelled by God to convert the world to their faith by any means and, believe
it or not, that is also the goal of many zealous Protestants. Like Justinian's
decree that was mentioned before, they think global peace is achievable only
through a legislated one-world-government for Jesus.
Some 20 and 21st century expositors of
scripture and publishers of futuristic movies and books are obviously not aware
of the past fulfillment of these apocalyptic prophecies on August 11 of 1840.
Instead, they imaginatively
apply Revelation's prophecies to some future attack upon Israel by Russia or
China, yet the rise and conquest of Christian nations by Islamic warriors for
about 1,400 years was recognized as a literal fulfillment of Bible prophecies
by the great majority of Bible commentators of previous centuries, including
Martin Luther and Sir Isaac Newton.
How simplistic it is for ministers
to not study history, ignore precisely fulfilled prophecies, and merely
forecast the future like gurus and fortune tellers.
The 150 year duration of Ottoman "torment" began in July 27, 1299 when Nicomedia was invaded (Revelation 9:5,10, Gibbon, Rise and Fall…). Add these 150 days of tormenting (actually years in Bible prophecy; Ezekiel 4:6; Revelation 9:5) to the 391 years and 15 days “to kill” of Revelation 9: 15, takes us to August 11, 1840. That is when the Ottomans were too weakened to continue their supremacy.
It
is easy to doubt the accuracy of one part of John's apocalyptic predictions
concerning Mohammedanism because no government in the world has an active
military of 200 million: “And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two
hundred thousand-thousand: and I heard the number of them” (Revelation 9:16).
Some aptly suggest the
200,000,000 warriors, two myriads of
myriads in the original Greek language and described in Revelation 9:16,
actually describes an innumerable host as myriads
does in other parts of the Bible; others suggest a better translation is
200,000 yet about 400,000 Saracens attacked
Charles Martel’s troops in Tours, France, and assailed the walls of
Constantinople.
Since the rise of Mohammed
1,400 years ago, innumerable warriors have never completely ceased their
battles for Allah; therefore, historical facts indicate that Revelation nine is
describing an unending jihad of Islamic
warriors and their allies throughout the centuries-long "holy-war"
against non-Islamic countries. Their numbers were often augmented when
captives were asked to accept Allah as their god, then immediately conscripted
into Islamic fighting forces.
Lacking the technological
advantages the military have today, such as "carpet bombing" and
satellite targeting with laser-directed "smart bombs", ancient
nations only survived by reason of their massive manpower. King David's census gives us an estimate of their
size when Israel counted 1,570,000 men who "drew the sword" (1
Chronicles 21:5).
Let us underestimate Moslem armies and assume that an alliance of all
Islamic nations around the Mediterranean Sea combined had the same number of
warriors as David's census of Israel showed.
Then consider a ten-year
turnover of combatants; that would give you 15,700,000 men per century. Stretch
that figure over the fourteen centuries of Islamic wars and you have
219,800,000 warriors (15,700,000 men X 15 centuries = 219,800,000).
No modern general would
subject such a massive number to extermination in one battle. This deduction
indicates that the 200,000,000 Moslem warriors described in the symbolic prophecies
of Revelation nine is really a larger number, and their unending “holy war”
extends throughout time as they "torment, slay", intimidate, and
finally perish in the battle of Armageddon.
Litch's
works gave these apocalyptic predictions pin-point accuracy. After the Turkish
Empire declined on August 11 of 1840, Litch reports
receiving over 1,000 letters, some from atheist societies, who became
"believers" after his published research fulfilled exactly as predicted.
In our world with relatively sovereign
boundaries, it is difficult to understand Revelation nine unless you remember
society was different in previous centuries--slavery of humans and nations was
rampant with subjects "paying tribute to Caesar."
Today United States students
are reminded of the Boston Tea Party when the Colonies protested against
taxation without representation and began its rebellion against English subjugation.
As noted, Turkey was also a superpower called the Ottoman Empire, and like
another empire, the massive Soviet Union, it was about to collapse.
In 1838, Turkey maintained
their sovereignty by successfully suppressed an Egyptian rebellion.
With only five ships left and
a greatly weakened army, battles in 1840 would obviously witness the complete
destruction of the Ottoman Empire and new dominance by Egyptian extremists,
that is, unless God moved upon Christian nations to help the Ottomans.
God is great! He controls
destinies; and to maintain a balance of power and stability in that region, He
intervened to avoid massive battles and the shedding of blood.
England, Russia, Austria and Prussia,
four Christian nations with their massive fleets, came to Turkey's assistance
and established ultimatums against Egypt. They reduced the boundaries of
Egyptian rule and forced the pasha of Egypt, Mehemet
Ali, to return the captured fleet to the Turkish Sultan.
Note this point: The weakened
Ottoman Empire legally admitted that
their existence depended upon the protection of Christian nations when this
ultimatum took effect as the Turkish envoy personally delivered it to the
Egyptians on August 11, 1840, in fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
The humbled Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire saved his reign and probably his life by accepting protection
from those Christian powers.
The Turkish Sultan then
watched the dismemberment of his weakened Empire as his "protectors"
appropriated parts of his dominion to their own use, piece by piece.
It will be observed that armies
and politics take time to build and shape; therefore, no single event normally
marks the exact beginning or end of any military power but in 1840, and today,
many know the obvious prophetic fulfillment on August 11, 1840, marked the fall
of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
With their returned fleet,
Turkey made some attempts to revive but they became popularly known as the sick man of Europe (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 1968, Ottoman
Empire).
They are no longer the ongoing
threat as the Bible predicted; however, Islamic nations will make one final
stand: He who was once so powerful will again "plant the tabernacles of
his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain [and] shall come to
his end [in the battle of "Megiddo"], and none [not even Allah] shall
help him" (Daniel 11:45; Ezekiel 38:14-16).
Megiddo (or Armageddon) literally translates to "the place of God" and that is the Holy Land where transgressors and the “Ottomans’” will perish as this planet is destroyed. Then the angel cries: "It is done!"
Then... there was a great
earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an
earthquake, [and] so great.... And every
island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a
great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent [57lbs.;
26 kg]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the
plague thereof was exceeding great" (Revelation 16:16-21). [This is] the
day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements
will melt with fervent heat. (2 Peter 3:12)
Jesus also told us to watch and prepare for the day when:
"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:26-28).
As you can see, the final
scourge of the militant factions of Mohammedanism will result in the
destruction of earth, sinners, and those who have "a zeal for God but not
according to godliness"; and "the earth will wobble back and forth
like a drunkard, and will be removed like a cottage; and the transgression of
it shall be heavy upon it; and it will fall,
and not rise again" (Romans 10:2; Isaiah 24:20).
It was not God’s design that
we would suffer destruction but He does have a remedy: 2 Peter3:13: “Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells
righteousness.”
Yet Armageddon was avoidable because Bible prophecies are conditional; had God's people obeyed Jesus and formed virtuous characters, attracting converts with "cords of love", this Islamic scourge would never have happened (Hosea 11:4). "And [these blessings] will come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God" (Zechariah 5:16).
- END -
The following is a reprint of Litch's nineteenth-Century Christian publication in The Midnight Cry, January 6, 1843, pp. 7-10. It uses language and attitudes toward Mohammed and Islamists representative of the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the great majority of Moslems do not interpret the Qur’an to support military "holy wars" against innocent civilians and non-Islamic populations—under certain conditions, this is prohibited.
THE THREE WO TRUMPETS. WO! WO!! WO!!!
Fall of the Ottoman Empire, or Ottoman
Supremacy Departed, August 11, 1840 by Josiah Litch
The
book of Revelation has long been looked upon as a book of inexplicable
mysteries, altogether beyond the reach of the comprehension of mortals.
And this opinion has received too much encouragement from professed teachers
and expounders of the word of God, many of them of eminent talents and various learning. . .much evil has been done by their unguarded
remarks respecting the obscurity of unfulfilled prophecy in general, and the
book of Revelation in particular. . . . The Holy Spirit is grieved, and
the God of Revelation slighted and insulted, by such insinuations and remarks.
. . . How differently has the author of the book expressed himself in
reference to it! He calls it, "The Book of the Revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants
things which must shortly come to pass . . . ."
If it is a revelation, then it
is not an inexplicable mystery, but the mind of God made known to man.
"Blessed," then "is he that reads, and they which hear the words
of the prophecy of this book." If God, then, has
pronounced a blessing on the reader of this book, who shall disannul it?
Rev. 8:13.
"Wo [sic], wo, wo to the inhabiters of the
earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which
are yet to sound. Rev. 9:1. "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw
a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit."
A star, in the figurative language of Revelation, is a minister of religion. See Rev. 1:20.... A fallen star, then would signify a fallen or heretical minister of religion. This was undoubtedly the Arabian imposter, Mahomet. [Mohammed] There is so general an agreement among Christians, especially protestant commentators, that the subject of this prediction is Mahommedism [Islam], I shall not enter into the argument at large to prove it; but in passing, shall merely give a brief exposition of the emblems used, and their application in the text.
Verse 2: "And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. . . . "
The smoke was the cloud of errors which arose through his instrumentality, darkening the sun, (gospel light,) and the air, (the influence of Christianity on the minds of men.) In this enterprise, he and his followers were so successful that the light of Christianity almost disappeared wherever he gained an influence; and the smoke of the pit produced nearly total darkness throughout the eastern church.
Verse 3: "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and unto them was given power as scorpions of the earth have power. . . ."
That these locusts were emblems of an army, is clear. . . : "And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were crowns like gold, and their faces were the faces of men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions," &c. . . . Such is the description of a Mahommedan [Muslim] horseman prepared for battle. A horse, a rider with a man's face, long flowing beard, woman's hair, flowing or plaited, and the head encircled with a yellow turban, like gold.
"Was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. . . ." Martinicus says, Scorpions have nippers, or pincers, with which they keep hold of what they seize, after they have wounded it with their sting.... "
Like the scorpion, Mahomet stung the subjects of his proselytism, and infused the poison of his doctrines, and continued to hold them by the force of arms, until it had affected the whole man, and the subject settled down in the belief of his delusive errors. . . . Wherever his arms triumphed, there his religion was imposed on men, whether they believed it or not. . . .
"The successors of the prophet propagated his faith and imitated his example; and such was the rapidity of their progress, that in the space of a century, Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain had submitted to the victorious arms of the Arabian and Saracen conquerors." Ruter
Verse 4: "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth neither any green thing, neither any tree [a direct command also found in the Koran]; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. "
"Grass, green thing, and tree" are here put in opposition to those men who have not the seal of God, &c. If so, they must mean those who have the seal of God - his worshipers.
". . .Infidels, who rejected the Christian religion, and also all idolaters, they forced to receive the Mahommedan religion [Islam], upon pain of death. But Jews and Christians, who had their Bibles and their religion, they left to the enjoyment of them, upon their paying large sums, which they exacted. But where the payment of such sums was refused, they must either embrace the new religion or die." Smiths Key to Revelation.
Verse
5: "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but
that they should be tormented five months."
As the language thus far has
been figurative, so it must be here also. To kill, signifies, a political
death, or subjection. The nation of Christians who were the subjects of
this plague were to be tormented five months, but not
politically slain. Five months is one hundred and fifty days; each day a
full solar year; the whole time, one hundred and
fifty years.
Verse 6: "And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."
This, of course, is the same death as that in verse 5, viz., political. Such was the misery of the Greeks, occasioned by the wars in which they were almost continually embroiled with the Mahommedan powers, that very many would have preferred an entire subjection of the empire to them, to the protracted miseries the war occasioned. But this was not permitted; political death fled from them.
THE EXTERMINATOR TORMENTS THE GREEKS ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS
Verse 10: "Their power was to hurt men five months."
1. The question arises. What men were they to hurt five months? Undoubtedly the same they were afterwards to slay; (See verse 15.) "The third part of the men," or third of the Roman empire - the Greek division of it.
2. When were they to begin their work of torment? The 11th verse answers the question: "They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek hath his name Apollyon [meaning destroyer]."
a. "They had a king over them." From the death of Mahomet. . .the Mahommedans were divided into various factions, under several leaders, with no general civil government extending over them all. Near the close of the 13th century, Othman founded a government, which has since been known as the Ottoman government, or empire, extending over all the principal Mahommedan tribes, consolidating them into one grand monarchy.
b. The character of the king. "Which is the angel of the bottomless pit." An angel signifies a messenger, or minister, either good or bad; not always a spiritual being. "The angel of the bottomless pit," or chief minister of the religion which came from hence when it was opened. That religion is Mahommedism [Islam], and the Sultan is its chief minister.
"The Sultan, or Grand Signior, as he is indifferently called, is also Supreme Caliph, or high priest, uniting in his person the highest spiritual dignity with the supreme secular authority." Perkins, "World as it is," p. 361. . . .
3. His name. In Hebrew, "Abaddon," the destroyer; in Greek, "Apollyon," one that exterminates or destroys. Having two different names in the two languages, it is evident that the character rather than the name of the power is intended to be represented. . . . Such has always been the character of the Ottoman government. . . .
But when did Othman make his
first assault on the Greek empire? According to Gibbon ("Decline
& Fall," &c.) "Othman first
entered the
"And their power was to torment men five months. . . ."
Commencing July 27th, 1299, the one
hundred and fifty years reach to 1449.
During that whole period the Turks were engaged in an almost perpetual war with
the Greek empire, but yet without conquering it. They seized upon and
held several of the Greek provinces, but still Greek independence was
maintained in
The first wo was to continue from the rise of Mahommedism until the end of the five months. Then
the first wo was to end, and
the second begin. And when the sixth angel sounded, it was commanded to
take off the restraints which had been imposed on the nation, by which they
were restricted to the work of tormenting men, and their commission extended to
slay the third part of men. This command came from the four horns of the
golden altar which is before God. "The four angels," are the four principal sultanies
of which the Ottoman empire is composed, located in the country of the
In the year 1449, John Paleologus, the Greek emperor, died, but left no children to inherit his throne, and Constantine Deacozes succeeded to it. But he would not venture to ascend the throne without the consent of Amurath, the Turkish Sultan. He therefore sent ambassadors to ask his consent, and obtained it, before he presumed to call himself sovereign . . . . Let this historical fact be carefully examined in connection with the prediction above. This was not a violent assault made on the Greeks, by which their empire was overthrown and their independence taken away, but simply a voluntary surrender of that independence into the hands of the Turks, by saying, "I cannot reign unless you permit."
The four angels were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men. This period amounts to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days; during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist in Constantinople.
Commencing when the one hundred and fifty years ended, in 1449, the period would end August 11th, 1840. Judging from the manner of the commencement of the Ottoman supremacy, that it was by a voluntary acknowledgment on the part of the Greek emperor that he only reigned by permission of the Turkish Sultan, we should naturally conclude that the fall or departure of Ottoman independence would be brought about in the same way; that at the end of the specified period, the Sultan would voluntarily surrender his independence into the hands of the Christian powers, from whom he received it.
[Addendum by Josiah Litch]
When the foregoing calculation was made, it was purely a matter of calculation on the prophetic periods of Scripture. Now, however, the time has passed by, and it is proper to inquire what the result has been - whether it has corresponded with the previous calculation.
1. Has the ottoman
independence in
The London Morning Herald, after the capture of St. Jean dAcre, speaking of the state of things in the Ottoman empire, says: "We have dissipated into thin air the prestige that lately invested as with a halo the name of Mehemet Ali. We have in all probability destroyed forever the power of that hitherto successful ruler. But have we done aught to restore strength to the Ottoman empire? we fear not. we fear that the sultan has been reduced to the rank of a puppet; and that the sources of the turkish empires strength are entirely destroyed.
"If the supremacy of the Sultan is hereafter to be maintained in Egypt, it must be maintained, we fear, by the unceasing intervention of England and Russia . . . ."
2. When did Mahommedan independence in
In order to answer this question understandingly, it will be necessary to review briefly the history of that power for a few years past.
For several years the Sultan has
been embroiled in war with Mehemet [Mohammed] Ali, Pacha [sic] of Egypt. In 1838 there was a threatening
of war between the Sultan and his Egyptian vassal. Mehemet
Ali Pacha, in a note addressed to the foreign
consuls, declared that in the future, he would pay no tribute in the Porte, and
that he considered himself independent sovereign of
The Sublime Porte, with a view of putting a stop to the effusion of Mussulman blood, and to the various evils which would arise from a renewal of hostilities, accepted the intervention of the great powers....
Here was certainly a voluntary surrender. . . ,[part of the official document reads:] The powers have, together with the ottoman plenipotentiary, drawn up and signed a treaty, whereby the Sultan offers the Pacha, the hereditary government of Egypt, and all that part of Syria extending from the gulf of Suez to the lake of Tiberias, together with the province of Acre, for life; the Pacha, on his part, evacuating all other parts of the Sultans dominions now occupied by him, and returning the Ottoman fleet. A certain space of time has been granted him to accede to these terms; and, as the proposals of the Sultan and his allies, the four powers, do not admit of any change of qualification, if the Pacha refuse to accede to them, it is evident that the evil consequences to fall upon him will be attributable solely to his own fault.
"His Excellency, Rifat Bey, Musleshar for foreign affairs, has been despatched in a government steamer to Alexandria, to communicate the ultimatum to the Pacha." [Moniteur Ottoman, Aug. 22, 1840.]
The question now comes up, when was that document put officially under the control of mehemet ali?
"By the French steamer of
the 24th, we have advices from Egypt to the 16th. . . . The Turkish
government steamer, which had reached Alexandria on the
11th, with the envoy Rifat Bey on board, had by his
(the Pachas) orders been placed in quarantine, and
she was not released from it till the 16th. . . however. . .on the very day [August 11, 1840] on which he had been
admitted to Pratique, the above named functionary had
had an audience of the Pacha, and had communicated to
him the command of the Sultan, with respect to the evacuation of the Syrian
province, appointing another audience for the next day, when, in the
presence of the consuls of the European powers, he would receive from him his
definite answer, and inform him of the alternative of his refusing to obey;
giving him the ten days which have been allotted him by the convention to
decide on the course he should think fit to adopt. . . ." The
According to previous calculation, therefore, ottoman supremacy did depart on the eleventh of August [August 11, 1840] into the hands of the great Christian powers of Europe.
Then the second wo is past, and the sixth trumpet has ceased its sounding; and the conclusion is now inevitable, because the word of God affirms the fact in so many words, "Behold, the third wo cometh quickly."
~ END ~