Part 10 (1/2)

It is said that the ”rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues” repented not. This expression doubtless signifies the Western, or Latin, church. They saw these judgments of the Euphratean hors.e.m.e.n on the Eastern empire, and the triumph of the Moslem sword and faith (the woe fell as a judgment upon the Eastern church); still, they continued as before in their abominable idolatries, by which is probably meant their wors.h.i.+p of the virgin Mary, saints, relics, and images. There was no reformation. Error, superst.i.tion, and ecclesiastical usurpation prevailed as before.

The Turks obtained their first victory over the Christians of the Eastern, or Greek, empire in A.D. 1281. Within ten years the Latins who inhabited Palestine were entirely overthrown (see Gibbon, Vol. VI, p.

47), and the way was now clear for Turkish aggression against the Greek empire. Before the end of the century the four Sultanies mentioned were combined into one consolidated empire under Osman (corrupted by Europeans into Ottoman) and from him took the name which it still retains--the Ottoman empire. From the time they were let loose, the Turks continued their aggressions until A.D. 1453, when Constantinople fell before their victorious arms, and the Eastern empire, with the last of the Constantines, sunk to rise no more. ”The Turkish sword and the religion of the Koran were enthroned in the Christian metropolis of the Roman emperors; and the proud Moslem had the Christian dog completely under his foot.” The Ottoman power, however, continued to grow and make new conquests until the year A.D. 1672, when they conducted a successful campaign against Poland, in which forty-eight towns and villages were ceded to the Sultan, with promise of an annual tribute of two hundred and twenty thousand ducats. See Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art. Turkey.

This was the last victory they ever gained wherein the Ottoman empire obtained any advantage. A little later they marched against Vienna, but sustained a miserable defeat. ”Venice and Russia now declared war against Turkey; misfortune followed misfortune; city after city was rent away from the empire; the Austrians were in possession of almost the whole of Hungary, the Italians of almost all the Morea.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art. Turkey. So the power of the Ottomans to extend their conquests and to add to their empire, ended with the victory over the Poles in A.D. 1672. This fact is even admitted by Demetrius Cantemir, prince of Moldavia, one of their historians, in the following language: ”This was the _last_ victory by which any advantage accrued to the Othman state, or any city or province was annexed to the ancient bounds of the empire.” In accordance with this statement, the same historian ent.i.tles the first part of his history up to the victory over the Poles in 1672 the History of _the Growth of the Othman Empire_, and the remaining portion, _The Decay of the Othman Empire_.

Calculating now the time during which these hors.e.m.e.n were prepared to extend their conquests--”an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year”--we find according to prophetic, or symbolic, time--thirty days in a month, three hundred and sixty in a year--that it signifies three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. This is exactly the period of time that elapsed between their first victory in A.D. 1281 and their last conquest in A.D. 1672. I can not verify the fifteen days, because no history at my command states the exact days of the month on which these victories occurred.

One more point of importance must be considered before we conclude this chapter, and that is the continuance of the Ottoman power. The first, or Saracen, woe had power to torment men ”five months,” or one hundred and fifty years, during which time they continued their ravages. The second woe began when the command was given to loose the four angels, or the beginning of the Ottoman conquests. ”An hour, and a day, and a month, and a year,” or three hundred and ninety-one years, marked the time during which they were ”prepared” to extend their conquests. But it is not stated that the woe itself, or the Ottoman power, would then cease; for it is not represented as ending until after the death and the resurrection of the witnesses (chap. 11:14), immediately following which the coming of Christ and the general judgment, or the third woe, is described. Verses 15-18. The Turkish power has made no advance for centuries, but has been on the decline; yet it will endure for its allotted time. It furnishes us a way-mark by which we can determine our position along the pathway of time; for when it falls, we may rest a.s.sured that the coming of Christ is imminent.

For nearly two centuries it has been the wonder of civilized nations how that corrupt, tyrannical government, which has been described as a ”despotism tempered by a.s.sa.s.sination,” could exist in the increased light and onward advance of modern civilization. Concerning its position in Europe, Judson, in his recent history of Europe in the Nineteenth Century, says: ”The Turkish empire has been an element of unrest in Europe. It has long been plain to all that it is not permanent. It has taken no root. The Turks are merely encamped in Europe; and it is merely a question of time when the last of them must return across the Bosphorus.” Pp. 269, 270. But Turkey will continue to hold this territory of the old Greek empire until the time appointed by the Father for her overthrow. The nations of Europe have often conspired for her overthrow. This is what is known as the great Eastern Question, which has been described by one writer as ”the expulsion of the Turk from Europe, and the scramble for his territory.” But it has not yet been accomplished, for the very reason doubtless, that it _could not_ take place before the resurrection of the witnesses, of which we will speak later. Judson thus continues his account of the matter: ”As soon as this idea was realized [that Turkish power in Europe must fall] by the Western nations, in place of the dread of the Turk which had so long been part and parcel of European thinking, the question of the disposal to be made of the Turkish possessions became matter of live interest.

And this is the Eastern Question. The Greek empire vanished forever when the last Constantine fell in 1453. The only problem is one of part.i.tion.

And the heart of it all is the disposal to be made of Constantinople.

That imperial city is a site that, in strong hands, means power and wealth. What shall become of it? Russia early formed designs of conquest.... The empress Catherine ... had a grand scheme for a restoration of the Greek empire under a Russian prince. Alexander I., at Tilsit, planned a part.i.tion of the Ottoman empire with Napoleon, but the latter declined to see Constantinople in Russian hands.

'Constantinople,' said he, 'is the empire of the world.' In 1844 Nicholas visited England and made guarded suggestions to the prime-minister about the Turkish lands. The Ottoman empire, said he, was a sick man, nearly at the last extremity.... England declined to plan for a share of the inheritance, and nothing was done. In 1853 Nicholas resumed the subject with the British amba.s.sador at St. Petersburg. The sick man, he now held, was at the point of death.... But again England declined and, indeed, the next year went to war with Russia to save the sick man from a premature end at the hands of the would-be administrator of the estate. Another power doubly interested in the future of the Turkish dominions is Austria. That empire has been the traditional enemy of the Turk, and at the end of the seventeenth century was the actual bulwark of Europe against Mohammedan conquest. When the tide of war rolled the other way, Austria was ready to share in the spoils. Twice near the end of the eighteenth century, was an alliance made between Russia and Austria for the part.i.tion of Turkey,” etc. Pp. 270, 271.

Thus, we find that these designs of nations for the overthrow of Turkey have so far been overruled; for G.o.d will not allow that power to come to ”a _premature end_.”

CHAPTER X.

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

2. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

3. And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

5. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,

6. And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of G.o.d should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

8. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

9. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

In the preceding chapter we had a history of the two great woes that befell apostate Christendom. In this chapter we have in contrast a portion of the history of G.o.d's true church, to show us that all was not lost even though the Eastern church was greviously tormented by the serpent-tails of the horses and the Western church still continued as before in her sorceries, fornications, and abominable idolatries.

The symbol is that of an angel from heaven. This is not the seventh, or the third woe angel, who ushers in the general judgment (chap.

11:15-18), but it is a special messenger appearing on earth with the awful message that the end of time is near and that when the seventh angel soon begins to sound the mystery of G.o.d shall be finished and there shall be time no longer. This mighty angel is symbolical of some human agencies of distinguished character; for it stands in striking contrast with the destructive powers described under the preceding trumpets. When angels appear on the panoramic scene only in the temple above, they themselves are not symbolic characters, but only the conductors of the Revelation; but whenever they appear on earth, they represent distinguished agencies among men. In the present vision the symbol is drawn, not from the natural world, but from the heavenly, and the scene is laid upon earth; therefore we must look to the history of the church to find its fulfilment in some distinguished agencies appearing for the defence of Christ and his truth. The cloud, rainbow, face as the sun, and feet as pillars of fire, are doubtless intended to set forth their beautiful, benignant character, and to show that the angel is not such an one as those that were bound in the river Euphrates. This one has the bow of covenant promise upon his head, and his face s.h.i.+nes as the sun.