Trumpets and Woes.

 

 

Continuing with the seven angels with the seven trumpets after the seventh seal was opened--

 

The fifth trumpet continuing-   May God bless ALL who read, hear and keep these things we are studying, please, Lord, we need to be blessed!

 

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 observers 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.

 

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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.

Continuing…..

 

Revelation 9 -

 

VERSE 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

 

"Their constant incursions into the Roman territory, and frequent assaults on Constantinople itself, were an unceasing torment throughout the empire; and yet they were not able effectually to subdue it, notwithstanding the long period, afterward more directly alluded to, during which they continued, by unremitting attacks, grievously to afflict an idolatrous church, of which the pope was the head. Their charge was to torment, and then to hurt, but not to kill, or utterly destroy. The marvel was that they did not." ( In reference to the five months, see on verse 10.)

 

VERSE 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

 

"Men were weary of life, when life was spared only for a renewal of woe, and when all that they accounted sacred was violated, and all that they held dear constantly endangered, and the savage Saracens domineered over them, or left them only to a momentary repose, ever liable to be suddenly or violently interrupted, as if by the sting of a scorpion."

 

VERSE 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

 

"The Arabian horse takes the lead throughout the world and skill in horsemanship is the art and science of Arabia. And the barbed Arabs, swift as locusts and armed like scorpions, ready to dart away in a moment, were ever prepared unto battle.

 

"'And on their heads were as it were crowns like gold.' When Mohammed entered Medina (A. D. 622), and was first received as its prince, 'a turban was unfurled before him to supply the deficiency of a standard.' The turbans of the Saracens, like unto a coronet, were their ornament and their

 

p 505 -- boast. The rich booty abundantly supplied and frequently renewed them. To assume the turban is proverbially to turn Mussulman. And the Arabs were anciently distinguished by the miters which they wore.

 

"'And their faces were as the faces of men.'   'The gravity and firmness of the mind of the Arab is conspicuous in his outward demeanor; his only gesture is that of stroking his beard, the venerable symbol of manhood.'  'The honor of their beards is most easily wounded.'"

 

VERSE 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

 

"Long hair" is esteemed an ornament by women. The Arabs, unlike other men, had their hair as the hair of women, or uncut, as their practice is recorded by Pliny and others. But there was nothing effeminate in their character; for, as denoting their ferocity and strength to devour, their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

 

VERSE 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

 

The Breastplate. - "The cuirass (or breastplate) was in use among the Arabs in the days of Mohammed. In the battle of Ohud (the second which Mohammed fought) with the Koreish of Mecca (A. D. 624), 'seven hundred of them were armed with cuirasses.'"

 

The Sound of Their Wings. - "The charge of the Arabs was not, like that of the Greeks and Romans, the efforts of a firm and compact infantry; their military force was chiefly formed of cavalry and archers. With a touch of the hand, the Arab horses darted away with the swiftness of the wind. "The sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle." Their conquests were marvelous both in rapidity and extent, and their attack was instantaneous. Nor was it less successful against the Romans than the Persians."

 

VERSE 10. And thy had tails like unto scorpions, and there were strings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

p 506 -- 11.   And 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 tongue hath his name Apollyon.

 

Thus far, Keith has furnished us with illustrations of the sounding of the first five trumpets. But we must now take leave of him, and proceed to the application of the new feature of the prophecy here introduced; namely, the prophetic periods.

 

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 afterward to slay (see verse 15); "the third part of 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.

   (1)   "They had a king over them." From the death of Mohammed until near the close of the thirteenth century, the Mohammedans were divided into various factions under several leaders, with no general civil government extending over them all. Near the close of the thirteenth century, Othman founded a government which has since been known as the Ottoman government, or empire, which grew until it extended over all the principal Mohammedan tribes, consolidating them into one grand monarchy.

   (2)   The character of the king. "Which is the angel of the bottomless pit." An angel signifies a messenger, a minister, either good or bad, and not always a spiritual being. "The angel of the bottomless pit," or chief minister of the religion which came from thence when it was opened. That religion is Mohammedanism, and the sultan is its chief minister. "The Sultan, or grand Seignior, 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." -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 two languages, it is evident that the character, rather than the name of the power, is intended to be represented. If so, as expressed in both languages,

p 507 -- he is a destroyer. 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 and Fall, etc., "Othman first entered the territory of Nicomedia on the 27th day of July, 1299."

The calculations of some writers have gone upon the supposition that the period should begin with the foundation of the Ottoman empire; but this is evidently an error; for they were not only to have a king over them, but were to torment men five months. But the period of torment could not begin before the first attack of the tormentors, which was, as above stated, July 27, 1299.

The calculation which follows, founded on this starting-point, was made and published in a work entitled, Christ's Second Coming, etc., by J. Litch, in 1838.

"And their power was to hurt men five months." Thus far their commission extended, to torment by constant depredations, but not politically to kill them. "Five months," thirty days to a month, give us one hundred and fifty days; and these days, being symbolic, signify one hundred and fifty years. Commencing July 27, 1299, the one hundred and fifty years reach to 1449. During that whole period the Turks were engaged in an almost perpetual warfare 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 Constantinople. But in 1449, the termination of the one hundred and fifty years, a change came, the history of which will be found under the succeeding trumpet.

 

One woe is past…

 

Revelation 9-

 

VERSE 12. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.   13.    And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,   14.    Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.   15.   And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

 

The first woe was to continue from the rise of Mohammedanism until the end of the five months. Then the first woe

p 508 -- was to end, and the second to 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 was enlarged so as to permit them to slay the third part of men. This command came from the four horns of the golden altar. 

 

The Four Angels. - 

 

These were the four principal sultanies of which the Ottoman empire was composed, located in the country watered by the great river Euphrates. These sultanies were situated at Aleppo, Iconium, Damascus, and Bagdad. Previously they had been restrained; but God commanded, and they were loosed.

 

In the year 1449, John Palaeologus, the Greek emperor, died, but left no children to inherit his throne, and Constantine, his brother, succeeded to it.   1   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 given 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. The authority and supremacy of the Turkish power was acknowledged when Constantine virtually said, "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, during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist, amounts to three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days. Thus: A prophetic year is three hundred and sixty prophetic days, or three hundred and sixty literal years; a prophetic month, thirty prophetic days, is thirty literal years; one prophetic day is one

 

1-- Some historians have given this date as 1448, but the best authorities sustain the date here given, 1449. See Chamber's Encyclopedia, art., Palaeologus.

 

p 509 -- literal year; and an hour, or the twenty-fourth part of a prophetic day, would be a twenty-fourth part of a literal year, or fifteen days; the whole amounting to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days.

 

But although the four angels were thus loosed by the voluntary submission of the Greeks, yet another doom awaited the seat of empire. Amurath, the sultan to whom the submission of Constantine XIII was made, and by whose permission he reigned in Constantinople, soon after died, and was succeeded in the empire, in 1451, by Mohammed II, who set his heart on securing Constantinople as the seat of his empire.

 

He accordingly made preparations for besieging and taking the city. The siege commenced on the 6th of April, 1453, and ended in the capture of the city, and the death of the last of the Constantines, on the 16th day of May following. And the eastern city of the Caesars became the seat of the Ottoman empire.

 

The arms and mode of warfare which were used in the siege in which Constantinople was to be overthrown and held in subjection were, as we shall see, distinctly noticed by the Revelator.

 

VERSE 16. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

 

Innumerable hordes of horses, and them that sat on them! Gibbon thus describes the first invasion of the Roman territories by the Turks:       "The myriads of Turkish horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles, from Taurus to Erzeroum; and the blood of 130,000 Christians was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet."       Whether the language is designed to convey the idea of any definite number or not, the reader must judge. Some suppose 200,000 twice told is meant, and, following some historians, they find that number of Turkish warriors in the siege of Constantinople. Some think 200,000,000 to mean all the Turkish warriors during the three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days of their triumph over the Greeks. Nothing can be affirmed on the point. And it is nothing at all essential. 

 

p 510 -- VERSE 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

 

The first part of this description may have reference to the appearance of these horsemen. Fire, representing a color, stands for red, "as red as fire" being a frequent term of expression; jacinth, or hyacinth, for blue; and brimstone, for yellow. And these colors greatly predominated in the dress of these warriors; so that the description, according to this view, would be accurately met in the Turkish uniform, which was composed largely of red, or scarlet, blue, and yellow. The heads of the horses were in appearance as the heads of lions, to denote their strength, courage, and fierceness; while the last part of the verse undoubtedly has reference to the use of gunpowder and firearms for purposes of war, which were then but recently introduced. As the Turks discharged their firearms on horseback, it would appear to the distant beholder that the fire, smoke, and brimstone issued out of the horses' mouths, as illustrated by the accompanying plate.   1

 

Respecting the use of firearms by the Turks in their campaign against Constantinople, Elliott (Horae Apocalyticae, Vol. I, pp. 482-484) thus speaks: -    "It was to 'the fire and the smoke and the sulpliur,' to the artillery and firearms of Mahomet, that the killing of the third part of men, i. e., the capture of Constantinople, and by consequence the destruction of the Greek empire, was owing. Eleven hundred years, and more had now elapsed since her foundation by Constantine. In the course of them, Goths, Huns, Avars, Persians, Bulgarians, Saracens, Russians, and

 

1 -- Quite an agreement exists among commentators in applying the prophecy concerning the fire, smoke, and brimstone to the use of gunpowder by the Turks in their warfare against the Eastern empire. (See Clarke, Barnes, Elliott, Cottage Bible, etc.) But they generally allude simply to the heavy ordnance, the large cannon, employed by that power; whereas the prophecy mentions especially the "horses," and the fire "issuing from their mouths," as though smaller arms were used, and used on horseback. Barnes thinks this was the case; and a statement from Gibbon confirms this view. He says (IV, 343): "The incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their musketry and cannon." Here is good historical evidence that muskets were used by the Turks; and, secondly, it is undisputed that in their general warfare they fought principally on horseback. The inference is therefore well supported that they used firearms on horseback, accurately fulfilling the prophecy, according to the illustration above referred to.

p 511 --

 

(Turkish Warrier)

p 512 -- indeed the Ottoman Turks themselves, had made their hostile assaults, or laid siege against it. But the fortifications were impregnable by them. Constantinople survived, and with it the Greek empire. Hence the anxiety of the Sultan Mahomet to find that which would remove the obstacle. 'Canst thou cast a cannon,' was his question to the founder of cannon that deserted to him, 'of size sufficient to batter down the wall of Constantinople?' Then the foundry was established at Adrianople, the cannon cast, the artillery prepared, and the siege began.

 

"It well deserves remark, how Gibbon, always the unconscious commentator on the Apocalyptic prophecy, puts this new instrumentality of war into the foreground of his picture, in his eloquent and striking narrative of the final catastrophe of the Greek empire. In preparation for it, he gives the history of the recent invention of gunpowder, 'that mixture of saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal,' tells of its earlier use by the Sultan Amurath, and also, as before said, of Mahomet's foundry of larger cannon at Adrianople; then, in the progress of the siege itself, describes how 'the volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of the musketry and cannon;' how 'the long order of the Turkish artillery was pointed against the walls, fourteen batteries thundering at once on the most accessible places;' how 'the fortifications which had stood for ages against hostile violence were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman cannon, many breaches opened, and near the gate of St. Romanus, four towers leveled with the ground:' how, as 'from the lines, the galleys, and the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides, the camp and city, the Greeks and the Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke, which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the Roman empire:' how 'the double walls were reduced by the cannon to a heap of ruins:' and how the Turks at length 'rushing through the breaches,' 'Constantinople was subdued, her empire subverted, and her religion trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors.' I say it well deserves observation how markedly and strikingly Gibbon attributes the capture of the city, and

p 513 --

 

(Entry of Mohammed II, Into Constantinople)

p 514 -- so the destruction of the empire, to the Ottoman artillery. For what, is it but a comment on the words of our prophecy? 'By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the sulphur, which issued out of their mouths.'"

 

VERSE 18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.   19.    For their power is in their month, and in their tails; for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

 

These verses express the deadly effect of the new mode of warfare introduced. It was by means of these agents, - gun-powder, firearms, and cannon, - that Constantinople was finally overcome, and given into the hands of the Turks.

 

In addition to the fire, smoke, and brimstone, which apparently issued out of their mouths, it is said that their power was also in their tails. It is a remarkable fact that the horse's tail is a well-known Turkish standard, a symbol of office and authority. The meaning of the expression appears to be that their tails were the symbol, or emblem of their authority. The image before the mind of John would seem to have been that he saw the horses belching out fire and smoke, and, what was equally strange, he saw that their power of spreading desolation was connected with the tails of the horses. Any one looking on a body of cavalry with such banners, or ensigns, would be struck with this unusual or remarkable appearance, and would speak of their banners as concentrating and directing their power. 

 

This supremacy of the Mohammedans over the Greeks was to continue, as already noticed, three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. Commencing when the one hundred and fifty years ended, July 27, 1449, the period would end Aug. 11, 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 reigned only by permission of the Turkish sultan, we should naturally conclude that the fall or departure of the Ottoman independence would be brought about in the same way; that at

p 515 -- the end of the specified period, that is, on the 11th of August, 1840, the sultan would voluntarily surrender his independence into the hands of the Christian powers, just as he had, three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days before, received it from the hands of the Christian emperor, Constantine XIII.

 

This conclusion was reached, and this application of the prophecy was made by Elder J. Litch in 1838, two years before the predicted event was to occur. It was then 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 such events did transpire according to the previous calculation. The matter sums itself up in the following inquiry: -

When Did Mohammedan Independence in Constantinople Depart? - For several years previous to 1840, the sultan had been embroiled in war with Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. In 1838 the trouble between the sultan and his Egyptian vassal was for the time being restrained by the influence of the foreign ambassadors. In 1839, however, hostilities were again commenced, and were prosecuted until, in a general battle between the armies of the sultan and Mehemet, the sultan's army was entirely cut up and destroyed, and his fleet taken by Mehemet and carried into Egypt. So completely had the sultan's fleet been reduced, that, when the war again commenced in August, he had only two first-rates and three frigates as the sad remains of the once powerful Turkish fleet. This fleet Mehemet positively refused to give up and return to the sultan, and declared that if the powers attempted to take it from him, he would burn it. In this posture affairs stood, when, in 1840, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia interposed, and determined on a settlement of the difficulty; for it was evident that, if let alone, Mehemet would soon become master of the sultan's throne.

The sultan accepted this intervention of the great powers, and thus made a voluntary surrender of the question into their hands. A conference of these powers was held in London, the Sheik Effendi Bey Likgis being present as Ottoman plenipotentiary. An agreement was drawn up to be presented to

p 516 -- the pasha of Egypt, whereby the sultan was to offer him 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; he on his part to evacuate all other parts of the sultan's dominions then occupied by him, and to return the Ottoman fleet. In case he refused this offer from the sultan, the four powers were to take the matter into their own hands, and use such other means to bring him to terms as they should see fit.

 

It is apparent that just as soon as this ultimatum should be put by the sultan into the hands of Mehemet Ali, the matter would be forever beyond the control of the former, and the disposal of his affairs would, from that moment, be in the hands of foreign powers. The sultan dispatched Rifat Bey on a government steamer to Alexandria, to communicate the ultimatum to the pasha. It was put into his hands, and by him taken in charge, on the eleventh day of August, 1840! On the same day, a note was addressed by the sultan to the ambassadors of the four powers, inquiring what plan was to be adopted in case the pasha should refuse to comply with the terms of the ultimatum, to which they made answer that provision had been made, and there was no necessity of his alarming himself about any contingency that might arise. This day, the period of three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days, allotted to the continuance of the Ottoman power, ended; and where was the sultan's independence? - GONE! Who had the supremacy of the Ottoman empire in their hands? - The four great powers; and that empire has existed ever since only by the sufferance of these Christian powers. Thus was the prophecy fulfilled to the very letter.

 

From the first publication of the calculation of this matter in 1838, before referred to, the time set for the fulfilment of the prophecy - Aug. 11, 1840 - was watched by thousands with intense interest. And the exact accomplishment of the event predicted, showing, as it did, the right application of the prophecy, gave a mighty impetus to the great Advent movement then beginning to attract the attention of the world.

 

p 517 -- VERSE 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:   21.   Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

 

God designs that men shall make a note of his judgments, and receive the lessons he thereby designs to convey. But how slow are they to learn! and how blind to the indications of providence! The events that transpired under the sixth trumpet constituted the second woe; yet these judgments led to no improvement in the manners and morals of men. Those who escaped them learned nothing by their manifestation in the earth. The worship of devils (demons, dead men deified) and of idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, may find a fulfilment in the saint worship and image worship of the Roman Catholic Church; while of murders, sorceries, (pretended miracles through the agency of departed saints), fornications, and thefts in countries where the Roman religion has prevailed, there has been no lack.

 

The hordes of Saracens and Turks were let loose as a scourge and punishment upon apostate Christendom. Men suffered the punishment, but learned there from no lesson.  

 

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History, so much history. The realization of predicted outcomes being fulfilled with such accuracy is amazing, is miraculous. We can witness these truths or deny them and rip them apart to tiny shreds, our choice. 

 

So often we choose to rip things apart just to appease what we believe to be our superior unbiased selves.  W claim there is no connection between history and these Revelation prophecies, but rather the are all yet to be fulfilled and that is a LIE, a deception we've been allowed to indulge.

 

We are told to prove it. We are told anyone can take anything and make it fit according to their own beliefs.  We are told a lot of things, and all of them meant to direct us away from the truth- that prophecy has been fulfilled according to God's will. When we have a firm foundation upon the truth of prophecy we are given so much!  Many key events are unlocked, future events are revealed, all things we could never see without the past laying open the predicted events.

 

Truly we are blessed as we read and seek to keep all within this book of Revelation.

 

By the grace and mercy of God may we find truth and understanding, wisdom in all things.

 

All through the love of our God, of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit!

 

We are to obey God over man. We are to listening to God over man.

 

Now and forever,

Amen.

History Interpreting Prophecy- The Trumpets Continued.

 

 

Continuing with the seven trumpets…  Remember there were seven seals, the seventh seal was opened and there were seven angels and the seven angels were given seven trumpets… we are continuing with the fifth angel sounding the fifth trumpet.

 

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. 

 

Let's see with D&R has to say about this…

 

VERSE 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.

 

For an exposition of this trumpet, we shall again draw from the writings of Mr. Keith. This writer truthfully says:      There is scarcely so uniform an agreement among interpreters concerning any other part of the Apocalypse as respecting the application of the fifth and sixth trumpets, or the first and second woes, to the Saracens and Turks. It is so obvious that it can scarcely be misunderstood. Instead of a verse or two designating each, the whole of the ninth chapter of the Revelation, in equal portions, is occupied with a description of both.

 

"The Roman empire declined, as it arose, by conquest; but the Saracens and the Turks were the instruments by which a false religion became the scourge of an apostate church; and hence, instead of the fifth and sixth trumpets, like the former, being designated by that name alone, they are called woes.

 

"Constantinople was besieged, for the first time after the extinction of the Western empire, by Chosroes, the king of Persia."

 

"A star fell from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit."

 

"While the Persian monarch contemplated the wonders of his art and power, he received an epistle from an obscure citizen of Mecca, inviting him to acknowledge Mohammed as the apostle of God. He rejected the invitation, and tore the epistle. 'It is thus,' exclaimed the Arabian prophet, 'that God will tear the kingdom, and reject the supplication of Chosroes.' Placed on the verge of these two empires of the East, Mohammed observed with secret joy the progress of mutual destruction; and in the midst of the Persian triumphs he ventured to foretell, that, before many years should elapse, victory would again return to the banners of the Romans. 'At the time when this prediction is said to have been delivered, no prophecy could be more distant from its accomplishment (!) since the first twelve years of Heraclius announced the approaching dissolution of the empire.'

 

"It was not, like that designative of Attila, on a single spot that the star fell, but UPON THE EARTH.

 

"Chosroes subjugated the Roman possessions in Asia and Africa. And 'the Roman empire,' at that period, 'was reduced to the walls of Constantinople, with the remnant of Greece, Italy, and Africa, and some maritime cities, from Tyre to Trebizond, of the Asiatic coast. The experience of six years at length persuaded the Persian monarch to renounce the conquest of Constantinople, and to specify the annual tribute of the ransom of the Roman empire, - a thousand talents of gold, a thousand talents of silver, a thousand silk robes, a thousand horses, and a thousand virgins. Heraclius subscribed to these ignominious terms. But the time and space which he obtained to collect those treasures from the poverty of the East, were industriously employed in the preparation of a bold and desperate attack.'

 

"The king of Persia despised the obscure Saracen, and derided the message of the pretended prophet of Mecea. Even the overthrow of the Roman empire would not have opened a door for Mohammedanism, or for the progress of the Saracenic armed propagators of an imposture, though the monarch of the Persians and chagan of the Avars (the successor of Attila) had divided between them the remains of the kingdoms of the Caesars. Chosroes himself fell. The Persian and Roman monarchies exhausted each other's strength. And before a sword was put into the hands of the false prophet, it was

p 497 -- smitten from the hands of those who would have checked his career and crushed his power.

 

"'Since the days of Scipio and Hannibal, no bolder enterprise has been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of the empire. He explored his perilous way through the Black Sea and the mountains of Armenia, penetrated into the heart of Persia, and recalled the armies of the great king to the defense of their bleeding country.'"

 

"In the battle of Nineveh, which was fiercely fought from daybreak to the eleventh hour, twenty-eight standards, besides those which might be broken or torn, were taken from the Persians; the greatest part of their army was cut in pieces, and the victors, concealing their own loss, passed the night on the field. The cities and palaces of Assyria were opened for the first time to the Romans."

 

"The Roman emperor was not strengthened by the conquests which he achieved; and a way was prepared at the same time, and by the same means, for the multitudes of Saracens from Arabia, like locusts from the same region, who, propagating in their course the dark and delusive Mohammedan creed, speedily overspread both the Persian and the Roman empire.

 

"More complete illustration of this fact could not be desired than is supplied in the concluding words of the chapter from Gibbon, from which the preceding extracts are taken."   "Although a victorious army had been formed under the standard of Heraclius, the unnatural effort seems to have exhausted rather than exercised their strength. While the emperor triumphed at Constantinople or Jerusalem, an obscure town on the confines of Syria was pillaged by the Saracens, and they cut in pieces some troops who advanced to its relief, - an ordinary and trifling occurrence, had it not been the prelude of a mighty revolution. These robbers were the apostles of Mohammed; their frantic valor had emerged from the desert; and in the last eight years of his reign, Heraclius lost to the Arabs the same provinces which he had rescued from the Persians."

 

"'The spirit of fraud and enthusiasm, whose abode is not

p 498 -- in the heavens,' was let loose on earth. The bottomless pit needed but a key to open it, and that key was the fall of Chosroes. He had contemptuously torn the letter of an obscure citizen of Mecca. But when from his 'blaze of glory' he sunk into the ' tower of darkness' which no eye could penetrate, the name of Chosroes was suddenly to pass into oblivion before that of Mohammed; and the crescent seemed but to wait its rising till the falling of the star. Chosroes, after his entire discomfiture and loss of empire, was murdered in the year 628; and the year 629 is marked by 'the conquest of Arabia,' and 'the first war of the Mohammedans against the Roman empire.'   

 

 '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. And he opened the bottomless pit.'  He fell unto the earth. When the strength of the Roman empire was exhausted, and the great king of the East lay dead in his tower of darkness, the pillage of an obscure town on the borders of Syria was 'the prelude of a mighty revolution.'   'The robbers were the apostles of Mohammed, and their frantic valor emerged from the desert.'"

 

The Bottomless Pit. - 

 

The meaning of this term may be learned from the Greek abussoV, which is defined "deep, bottomless, profound," and may refer to any waste, desolate, and uncultivated place. It is applied to the earth in its original state of chaos. Gen. 1:2. In this instance it may appropriately refer to the unknown wastes of the Arabian desert, from the borders of which issued the hordes of Saracens, like swarms of locusts. And the fall of Chosroes, the Persian king, may well be represented as the opening of the bottomless pit, inasmuch as it prepared the way for the followers of Mohammed to issue from their obscure country, and propagate their delusive doctrines with fire and sword, till they had spread their darkness over all the Eastern empire.

 

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.

 

"Like the noxious and even deadly vapors which the winds, particularly from the southwest, diffuse in Arabia, Mohammedanism

p 499 --

(picture not included ) 

 

p 500 -- spread from thence its pestilential influence, - arose as suddenly and spread as widely as smoke arising out of the pit, the smoke of a great furnace. Such is a suitable symbol of the religion of Mohammed, of itself, or as compared with the pure light of the gospel of Jesus. It was not, like the latter, a light from heaven, but a smoke out of the bottomless pit."

 

VERSE 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.

 

"A false religion was set up, which, although the scourge of transgressions and idolatry, filled the world with darkness and delusion; and swarms of Saracens, like locusts, overspread the earth, and speedily extended their ravages over the Roman empire from east to west. The hail descended from the frozen shores of the Baltic; the burning mountain fell upon the sea from Africa; and the locusts (the fit symbol of the Arabs) issued from Arabia, their native region. They came as destroyers, propagating a new doctrine, and stirred up to rapine and violence by motives of interest and religion.

 

"A still more specific illustration may be given of the power like unto that of scorpions, which was given them. Not only was their attack speedy and vigorous, but 'the nice sensibility of honor, which weighs the insult rather than the injury, shed its deadly venom on the quarrels of the Arabs; an indecent action, a contemptuous word, can be expiated only by the blood of the offender; and such is their patient inveteracy, that they expect whole months and years the opportunity of revenge.'"  END EXCERPT from D&R

 

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We live in a world today where we are being manipulated by the main stream media to be accepting of every single thing there is..  good and BAD.  We are being told if we don't accept things we are racist, biased, hypocritical, hateful, abusive, you name it we are called it when we DARE to call something wrong that the world has deem right. 

 

In this description of the fifth trumpet woe- men of Biblical understanding far greater than my own have surmised that it is discussing the rising of the Islam religion.  Truly we all know that if we spout anything against it we are the ones who are in the wrong. We are being told the terrorist using Islam's religion in a hateful way are not the majority but the minority, but we can read in their holy book all about hateful responses to those who don't follow their religion and there is NO new testament to expound on truth, there is no Savior in their holy book that tells them to turn the other cheek and accept ALL, love ALL, even if you do NOT agree with them and they are your enemies.  They do not have a Savior in their holy book who has come to sacrifice Himself for all of mankind who choose to believe in Him and His love.  I'm not saying their holy book is only filled with hatred, it's not, but it is not the truth of our God the Father, and our Savior God, and our Holy Spirit God.  Their holy book does not contain thousands years old prophecies that have all come true down through history.  But if we say this is something that is wrong, then we are called unloving. We are not allowed to believe in wrong religion without being called intolerable. We are told we cannot love one another truly unless we ACCEPT and AGREE with their beliefs- that is WRONG!  Our Savior loved us as sinners but NEVER agreed and accepted our sins as being good, NEVER! Why do people think we have to accept and agree with others beliefs to love them?   As long as I am NOT unloving towards others I do NOT have to love their sins any more than our Savior loves them. I don't expect a single person to accept my sins in order to love me!  They can love me but absolutely hate my sins, sin is hateful.

 

We truly do live in an age that tells us that GOOD is BAD and BAD is GOOD.  God help us!

 

Please, Father God in heaven, please forgive us, save us!  In the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord now and forever!

 

Amen!  (The majority of this was written from a previous study of mine, but it still holds true today and is worth the repeating.)  

The Trumpets Continue to Sound.

 

The seventh seal was opened by the Lord. There were seen seven angels about the throne and they were given seven trumpets…

 

History reviewed.

 

The third angel sounds the third trumpet.

 

Revelation

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

Rev 8:11  And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

 

Taken from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith (D&R)

 

'The Third Trumpet.--In the interpretation and application of this passage, we are brought to the third important event which resulted in the subversion of the Roman Empire.

 

In revealing the historical fulfillment of this third trumpet, we shall be indebted to the notes of Albert Barnes for a few extracts. in explaining this scripture, it is necessary, as this commentator says, "that there would be some chieftain or warrior who might be compared with a blazing meteor; whose course would be singularly brilliant; who would appear suddenly like a blazing star, and then disappear like a star whose light was quenched in the waters. That the desolating course of that meteor would be mainly on those portions of the world that abounded with springs of water and running streams. That an effect would be produced as if those streams and fountains were made bitter; that is, that many persons would perish, and that wide desolations would be caused in the vicinity of those rivers and streams, as if a bitter and baleful star should fall into the waters, and death should spread over the lands adjacent to them, and watered by them." [9]

It is here premised that this trumpet has allusion to the desolating wars and furious invasions of Attila, king of the Huns, against the Roman power. Speaking of this warrior, particularly of his personal appearance, Barnes says:

"In the manner of his appearance, he strongly resembled a brilliant meteor in the sky. He came from the East gathering his Huns, and poured them down, as we shall see, with the rapidity of a flashing meteor, suddenly on the empire. He regarded himself also as devoted to Mars, the god of war, and was accustomed to array himself in a peculiarly brilliant manner, so that his appearance, in the language of his flatterers, was such as to dazzle the eyes of beholders." [10]

 

In speaking of the locality of the events predicted by this trumpet, Barnes has this note:

"It is said particularly that the effect would be on 'the rivers' and on 'the fountains of waters.' If this has a literal application, or if, as was supposed in the case of the second trumpet, the language used was such as had reference to the portion of the empire that would be particularly affected by the hostile invasion, then we may suppose that this refers to those portions of the empire that abounded in rivers and streams, and more particularly those in which the rivers and streams had their origin--for the effect was permanently in the 'fountains of waters.' As a matter of fact, the principal operations of Attila were in the regions of the Alps, and on the portions of the empire whence the rivers flow down into Italy. The invasion of Attila is described by Gibbon in this general language: 'The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field.' " [11]

 

The Name of the Star Is Called Wormwood.--The word "wormwood" denotes bitter consequences. "These words--which are more intimately connected with the preceding verse, as even the punctuation in our version denotes--recall us for a moment to the character of Attila, to the misery of which he was the author or the instrument, and to the terror that was inspired by his name.

 

" 'Total extirpation and erasure,' are terms which best denote the calamities he inflicted. . . .

"It was the boast of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot which his horse had trod. 'The scourge of God' was a name that he appropriated to himself, and inserted among his royal titles. He was 'the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world.' The Western emperor with the senate and people of Rome, humbly and fearfully deprecated the wrath of Attila. And the concluding paragraph of the chapters which record his history, is entitled, 'Symptoms of the Decay and Ruin of the Roman Government.' The name of the star is called wormwood." [12]

[9] Albert Barnes, Notes on Revelation, p. 239, comment on Revelation 8: 11.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid., p. 240.

[12] Alexander Keith, Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 267-269.

 

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Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

 

Taken from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith--

 

The Fourth Trumpet.--We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy, who was so intimately connected with the downfall of Western Rome. The symbols sun, moon, and stars--for they are undoubtedly here used as symbols--evidently denote the great luminaries of the Roman government, its emperors, senators, and consuls. The last emperor of Western Rome was Romulus, who in derision was called Augustulus, or the "diminutive Augustus." Western Rome fell in A.D. 476. Still, however, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subordinate luminaries shone faintly while the senate and consuls continued. But after many civil reverses and changes of political fortune, at length the whole form of the ancient government was subverted, and Rome itself was reduced from being the empress of the world to a poor dukedom tributary to the Exarch of Ravenna.

 

The extinction of the Western Empire is recorded by Gibbon as follows:

"The unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of his own disgrace: he signified his resignation to the senate; and that assembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom, and the forms of the constitution. An epistle was addressed, by their unanimous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of Leo, who had lately been restored, after a short rebellion, to the Byzantine throne. They solemnly 'disclaim the necessity, or even the wish of continuing any longer the imperial succession in Italy; since in their opinion the majesty of a sole monarch is sufficient to pervade and to protect, at the same time, both the East and the West. In their own name, and in the name of the people, they consent that the seat of universal empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constantinople; and they basely renounce the right of choosing their master, the only vestige that yet remained of the authority which had given laws to the world.' " [13]

 

Keith comments on the downfall of Rome:

"The power and glory of Rome as bearing rule over any nation, became extinct. The name alone remained to the queen of nations. Every token of royalty disappeared from the imperial city. She who had ruled over the nations sat in the dust, like a second Babylon, and there was no throne where the Caesars had reigned. The last act of obedience to a Roman prince which that once august assembly performed, was the acceptance of the resignation of the last emperor of the West, and the abolition of the imperial succession in Italy. The sun of Rome was smitten. . . .

"A new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, speedily arose, who unscrupulously assumed the purple, and reigned by the right of conquest. 'The royalty of Theodoric was proclaimed by the Goths (March 5, A.D. 493), with the tardy, reluctant, ambiguous consent of the emperor of the East.' The imperial Roman power, of which either Rome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the West or the East, was no longer recognized in Italy, and the 'thirdpart of the sun' was smitten till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The power of the Caesars was unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned over Rome.

"But though the third part of the sun was smitten, and the Roman imperial power was at an end in the city of the Caesars, yet the moon and the stars still shone, or glimmered, for a little longer in the Western hemisphere [empire], even in the midst of Gothic darkness. The consulship and the senate ["the moon and the stars"] were not abolished by Theodoric. 'A Gothic historian applauds the consulship of Theodoric as the height of all temporal power and greatness;'--as the moon reigns by night, after the setting of the sun. And instead of abolishing that office, Theodoric himself 'congratulates those annual favorites of fortune, who, without the cares, enjoyed the splendor of the throne.'

"But, in their prophetic order, the consulship and the senate of Rome met their fate, though they fell not by the hands of Vandals or of Goths. The next revolution in Italy was its subjection to Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of the East. He did not spare what barbarians had hallowed. 'The Roman Consulship Extinguished by Justinian, A.D. 541,' is the title of the last paragraph of the fortieth chapter of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of Rome. 'The succession of the consuls finally ceased in the thirteenth year of Justinian, whose despotic temper might be gratified by the silent extinction of a title which admonished the Romans of their ancient freedom.' 'The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars.' In the political firmament of the ancient world, while under the reign of imperial Rome, the emperorship, the consulate, and the senate shone like the sun, the moon, and the stars. The history of their decline and fall is brought down till the two former were 'extinguished,' in reference to Rome and Italy, which so long had ranked as the first of cities and countries; and finally, as the fourth trumpet closes, we see the 'extinction of that illustrious assembly,' the Roman senate. The city that had ruled the world, as if in mockery of human greatness, was conquered by the eunuch Narses, the successor of Belisarius. He defeated the Goths (A.D. 522 [*]), achieved 'the conquest of Rome,' and the fate of the senate was sealed." [14]

E. B. Elliott speaks of the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy in the extinction of the Western Empire, as follows:

"Thus was the final catastrophe preparing, by which the Western emperors and empire were to become extinct. The glory of Rome had long departed; its provinces one after another been rent from it; the territory still attached to it become like a desert; and its maritime possessions and its fleets and commerce been annihilated. Little remained to it but the vain titles and insignia of sovereignty. And now the time was come when these too should be withdrawn. Some twenty years or more from the death of Attila, and much less from that of Genseric (who, ere his death, had indeed visited and ravaged the eternal city in one of his maritime marauding expeditions, and thus yet more prepared the coming consummation), about this time, I say, Odoacer, chief of the Heruli--a barbarian remnant of the host of Attila, left on the Alpine frontiers of Italy--interposed with his command that the name and the office of Roman Emperor of the West, should be abolished. The authorities bowed in submission to him. The last phantom of an emperor--one whose name, Romulus Augustus, was singularly calculated to bring in contrast before the reflective mind the past glories of Rome and its present degradation--abdicated; and the senate sent away the imperial insignia to Constantinople, professing to the emperor of the East that one emperor was sufficient for the whole of the empire. Thus of the Roman imperial sun, that third which appertained to the Western Empire was eclipsed, and shown no more. I say that third of its orb which appertained to the Western empire; for the Apocalyptic fraction is literally accurate. In the last arrangement between the two courts, the whole of the Illyrian third had been made over to the Eastern division. Thus in the West 'the extinction of the empire' had taken place; the night had fallen.

"Notwithstanding this, however, it must be borne in mind that the authority of the Roman name had not yet entirely ceased. The senate of Rome continued to assemble as usual. The consuls were appointed yearly, one by the Eastern emperor, one by Italy and Rome. Odoacer himself governed Italy under a title (that of patrician) conferred on him by the Eastern emperor. And as regarded the more distant Western provinces, or at least considerable districts in them, the tie which had united them to the Roman Empire was not altogether severed. There was still a certain, though often faint, recognition of the supreme imperial authority. The moon and the stars might seem still to shine on the West with a dim reflected light. In the course of the events, however, which rapidly followed one on the other in the next half century, these, too, were extinguished. Theodoric the Ostrogoth, on destroying the Heruli and their kingdom at Rome and Ravenna, ruled in Italy from A.D. 493 to 526 as an independent sovereign; and on Belisarius's and Narses's conquest of Italy from the Ostrogoths (a conquest preceded by wars and desolations in which Italy, and above all its seven-hilled city, were for a time almost made desert), the Roman senate was dissolved, the consulship abrogated. Moreover, as regards the barbaric princes of the Western provinces, their independence of the Roman imperial power became now more distinctly averred and understood. After above a century and [a] half of calamities unexampled almost, as Dr. Robertson most truly represents is, in the history of nations, the statement of Jerome--a statement couched under the very Apocalyptic figure of the text, but prematurely pronounced on the first taking of Rome by Alaric,--might be considered as at length accomplished: 'Clarissimum terrarum lumen extinctum est.' 'The world's glorious sun has been extinguished;' or as the modern power has expressed it, still under the same Apocalyptic imagery--

'She saw her glories star by star expire.' till not even one star remained, to glimmer on the vacant and dark night." [15]

The fearful ravages of these barbarian hordes who under their bold but cruel and desperate leaders devastated Rome, are vividly portrayed in the following spirited lines:

"And then a deluge of wrath it came,

And the nations shook with dread;

And it swept the earth, till its fields were flame,

And piled with the mingled dead.

Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood,

With the low and crouching slave,

And together lay, in a shroud of blood,

The coward and the brave."

 

Fearful as were the calamities brought upon the empire by the first incursions of these barbarians, they were light as compared with the calamities which were to follow. They were but as the preliminary drops of a shower before the torrent which was soon to fall upon the Roman world. The three remaining trumpets are overshadowed with a cloud of woe, as set forth in the following verses.

 

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

 

This angel is not one of the series of the seven trumpet angels, but simply another heavenly messenger, who announces that the three remaining trumpets are woe trumpets, because of the more terrible events to take place under their sounding. Thus the next, or fifth trumpet, is the first woe; the sixth trumpet, the second woe; and the seventh, the last one in this series of seven trumpets, is the third woe.

[13] Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. III, chap. 36, p. 512.

[14] Alexander Keith, Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 280-283.

[15] Edward B. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, Vol. I, pp. 354-356.

[*] Edward Gibbon, in History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume IV, chapter 43, pages 273, 274, places the defeat and death of Teias, the last king of the Goths, in A.D. 533. This is the date usually accepted by historians, and is the one used by the author of this book. (See pages 127, 128.)--Editors.

 

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History.

 

Does it all fit? Only time will tell. Greater minds than mine have studied all this and put it together. I'm willing to entertain the idea that it fits and will continue to do so as I keep my mind open to be guided by the Lord to all truth.

 

May God continue to bless us as we seek to understand His word, putting things together as history unfolds.

 

In His most amazing LOVE. Through the Holy Spirit may we be guided always! Please Lord let us see, let us know all we need to know, let Your love shine through to us in all things. We need Your wisdom, Your righteousness, Your love all by the grace of our Lord and Savior!

 

Amen.

My Thoughts On Sabbath Keeping.

 

My Thoughts On Sabbath Keeping.

 

God tells us- NOT man says- but GOD says…

 

Exo 20:8  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 

Exo 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: 

Exo 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.

 

We are to REMEMBER - meaning we are NOT to forget the Sabbath day.

We are to KEEP IT HOLY- meaning God has sanctified the Sabbath, and by His presence in the Sabbath it becomes holy- He alone constitutes holiness.

 

When we are told to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet 1:15,16) we are being told as our God is, to honor His ways.

 

Keeping the Sabbath holy is keeping it God's day, it is special, a day set aside, a day different from all the other six days that make up a week. It MUSTN'T be considered just another day as if it is not God's holy day. In attitude, in action, in all the observance of the entire day we must comprehend the day has the presence of God in it, as no other day of the week does. This makes the day holy and we keep it holy.

 

We are to HAVE six other days to do our workings WHATEVER they may be. We have six other days to do the ordinary tasks that make up our lives.  AND we are NOT to make anyone else do our work, or work on that day.

 

We are to keep in mind the reason for this weekly day of remembrance in which we set aside all ordinary tasks. The reason is to honor God as our creator who MADE it a day of rest- that HE chose to rest this day - not because He needed rest, but because He CHOSE to rest from all His work of creation by creating a rest. 

 

We are to know the seventh day is a day blessed and made holy by God.

 

Keeping the Sabbath day HOLY, SPECIAL, SET ASIDE, BLESSED, in ALL WE DO- allows us to REMEMBER forever our creature status, created by a beloved Creator who wants us to NEVER forget HIM as our CREATOR.

 

People dishonor the day when they use it as any other day to go about the day as if it has absolutely no significance.

 

It's not enough to take an hour or two of the Sabbath to remember God as creator- in doing so we minimize what God meant to be maximized. An entire day of rest in God.

 

Does this mean we are NOT to do anything on this day but live in a state of suspended animation directed towards God?

 

We look to our greatest example for the answer and that greatest example is JESUS who broke NO law and remained SINLESS His entire life.

 

Jesus honored the Sabbath by worshiping in the temples and synagogues as all the Jewish people of His day did. He was found teaching God's word on the Sabbath day, He was found fellowshipping on the Sabbath day. He was found eating on the Sabbath day and being fine with His disciples taking a food source readily available to eat from. He walked casually on the Sabbath day. He helped others on the Sabbath, going so far as to do what leaders of the Jewish people considered work by making a simple mud paste to heal the eyes of a blind man. Jesus taught that the Sabbath was a holy day- He was never accused of not keeping the Sabbath day entirely but that some of His actions were breaking traditions the Jewish hierarchy had built up around the basic Sabbath commandment. He wanted us to realize that the Sabbath wasn't meant to be bound up so tightly we could not live on that day without fear of taking a wrong step.  (Matt. 12:1-14, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:16,31)

 

Yes, the day before the Sabbath remained a day to prepare for the Sabbath- to do all the things you could do prior to the Sabbath so it wasn't a day of endless work tasks for anyone, but a day for all to equally rest and keep holy in constant remembrance of our God, our Creator, our Redeemer. (Luke 23:54-56)

 

To do just any old thing on the Sabbath day because we are bored, anxious, tired of not doing our ordinary things, is not what Jesus was telling us to do. To do God's work on the Sabbath day with God as our focus without making it a day of self-centeredness where we insist on pleasing ourselves in pursuits that take our mind from God, this is what we must do.

 

We need to prepare BEFORE the Sabbath so the Sabbath can be geared towards God. We aren't to get to the Sabbath day unprepared and expect to be able to keep the Sabbath day holy as God is holy. 

 

We need to structure our Sabbath time- ahead of time if we are prone to giving in and mindlessly entertaining ourselves with things that aren't God focused, God centered.  If we are likely to get bored make sure you have a variety of things to choose from that you can do.

 

Prayer groups- reading prayer requests of others and making a real, deliberate effort to pray for people.

Study- have a subject you can do an in-depth study of from the Bible using all sorts of Biblical resources.

Elderly outreach-  bake several loaves of bread prior to the Sabbath and take them to a nursing home or two.  Gather a few bouquets of flowers and separate them as you please to distribute a flower to an elderly person.

Family- make a special effort to communicate with family members you might not have an opportunity to talk with during the week.

 

The thing is… pray about it and God will open the heart and mind to the things He would have us do so we may do HIS will and not our own.

 

If something is questionable that you think to do on the Sabbath- then you need to pray about it, take it to God's word, and ultimately for conscience sake err on the side of caution if you are not given direct confirmation for your actions.

 

We must call the Sabbath a delight- because in it we seek to do God's will not our own. We seek ways that honor our Creator.  Our Creator KNEW that we'd want to disobey the Sabbath commandment, that our human flesh following, spirit denying self, would seek to solely please self on that day as any other day. This is why it is so incredibly important for us to KEEP the day holy THROUGH Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, CHOOSING to DENY SELF, to take up our CROSS with HIM- it's all a part of living for God, with Christ in US our hope!

 

If you are going to do something you're just not sure is acceptable on this holy, blessed day- lay it out in all truth before God as something you are going to do and while doing it honor Him, remember Him, keep Him right there with you in your thoughts the whole time you are undertaking the questionable.  If a serious doubt remains as you continue your actions you must inquire in prayer whether or not that IS the conviction of the Holy Spirit pressing right and wrong upon you. We do NOT want to deny the convictions of the Holy Spirit- as mentioned above, it's much better to err on the side of caution. We don't want to push the Holy Spirit away because ultimately that leads us to being spiritually blinded- deceived and among those who Christ will say He never knew. In truth if we follow the spirit of evil rather than the Holy Spirit we can't be known of Christ because we aren't His followers. We can be deceived into thinking we are Christ's when we aren't, we must PRAY that we aren't among those so deceived.

 

May we seek to do God's will fully, wholly, completely as we are shown His will, led to His will, guided towards His will and His will alone.

 

Forgive us, Father, forgive us - and give us all we need in our will, in our lives, in our actions, in our thoughts, in all of our lives to be Yours, wholly Yours now and forever!   All through our Savior, Jesus Christ! Amen.