Fifth Trumpet
continued…
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.
Rev 9:2 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.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon
the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have
power.
Rev 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should
not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but
only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Daniel and
Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897
(excerpts)
VERSE 4. And it was commanded them that they
should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any
tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
After the death of
Mohammed, he was succeeded in the command by Abubekr, A. D. 632, who, as
soon as he had fairly established his authority and government, dispatched
a circular letter to the Arabian tribes, from which the following is
an extract: - "'When you fight the battles of
the Lord, acquit yourselves
p 501 -- like
men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained with the
blood of women and children. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of
corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you
kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good
as your word. And as you go, you will find some religious persons who live
retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way; let
them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy their monasteries. And you will
find another sort of people that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have
shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till
they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute.'
"It is not said
in prophecy or in history that the more humane injunctions were as scrupulously
obeyed as the ferocious mandate; but it was so commanded them. And the
preceding are the only instructions recorded by Gibbon, as given by Abubekr to
the chiefs whose duty it was to issue the commands to all the Saracen hosts.
The commands are alike discriminating with the prediction, as if the caliph
himself had been acting in known as well as direct obedience to a higher
mandate than that of mortal man; and in the very act of going forth to fight
against the religion of Jesus, and to propagate Mohammedanism in its stead, he
repeated the words which it was foretold in the Revelation of Jesus Christ that
he would say."
The Seal of God in Their Foreheads. - In
remarks upon chapter 7:1-3, we have shown that the seal of God is the Sabbath
of the fourth commandment; and history is not silent upon the fact that there
have been observers of the true Sabbath all through the present dispensation.
But the question has
here arisen with many, Who were those men who at this time had the seal of God
in their foreheads, and who thereby became exempt from Mohammedan oppression?
Let the reader bear in mind the fact, already alluded to, that there have been
those all through this dispensation who have had the seal of God in their
foreheads, or have been intelligent ovservers of the true Sabbath; and let them
consider further
p 502 -- that
what the prophecy asserts is that the attacks of this desolating Turkish power
are not directed against them, but against another class. The subject is thus
freed from all difficulty; for this is all that the prophecy really asserts. Only,
one class of persons is directly brought to view in the text; namely, those who
have not the seal of God in their foreheads; and the preservation of those who
have the seal of God is brought in only by implication.
Accordingly, we do
not learn from history that any of these were involved in any of the calamities
inflicted by the Saracens upon the objects of their hate. They were
commissioned against another class of men. And the destruction to come upon
this class of men is not put in contrast with the preservation of other men,
but only with that of the fruits and verdure of the earth; thus, Hurt not the
grass, trees, nor any green thing, but only a certain class of men. And in
fulfilment, we have the strange spectacle of an army of invaders sparing those
things which such armies usually destroy, namely, the face and productions of
nature; and, in pursuance of their permission to hurt those men who had not the
seal of God in their foreheads, cleaving the skulls of a class of religionists
with shaven crowns, who belonged to the synagogue of Satan.
These were doubtless
a class of monks, or some other division of the Roman Catholic Church. Against
these the arms of the Mohammedans were directed. And it seems to us that there
is a peculiar fitness, if not design, in describing them as those who had not
the seal of God in their foreheads; inasmuch as that is the very church which
has robbed the law of God of its seal, by tearing away the true Sabbath, and
erecting a counterfeit in its place. And we do not understand, either from the
prophecy or from history, that those persons whom Abubekr charged his followers
not to molest were in possession of the seal of God, or necessarily constituted
the people of God. Who they were, and for what reason they were spared, the
meager testimony of Gibbon does not inform us, and we have no other means of
knowing; but we have every reason to believe that none of those who had the
seal of God were molested, while another class, who emphatically had it not,
were
p 503 --
(picture not
included)
p 504 -- put to
the sword; and thus the specifications of the prophecy are amply met.
*******
Seal of God in their
foreheads- in their minds.
We are hoping for
the seal of God and these men HAD the seal of God.
Are all who are
Christ's sealed to be His? I suppose they would have to be, the laws written in
their hearts, their minds.
Is all that is
written here proven beyond doubt? Honestly, I don't know. I can put two and two
together, I can follow down through history, but some could see everything in a
totally different light. We need to PRAY for understanding, PRAY for what truth
our LORD would have us know! He will not
let us be deceived if we are truly HIS, if we truly desire truth that can only
be found in HIM.
We do know factually
that by the Holy Spirit the truth has never been snuffed out not to be known.
Throughout all the ages our Lord has kept a people as HIS, those who would
choose HIM and HIS love! He keeps them because they desire to be kept by Him,
He works in them, lives in them, loves them.
So we know He will protect those who He needs to be kept protected for
His will, His purpose. We will continue
to study and pray that we are guided to ONLY the truth we need to belong to
HIM.
Please, Lord,
protect us in YOU, all through YOUR Son Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior!
Forever and ever, amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment