The first four trumpets led to the fall of Western Rome in 476 AD. The 5th & 6th trumpets describe the rise and purpose of Islam and the events leading to the fall of Eastern Rome...
Revelation Chapter 9
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.
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.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power [was] to hurt men five months.
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.
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.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
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.
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 mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
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.
OVERVIEW
Read the comments on Chapter 8 to see that the Trumpets are a symbolic prophecy describing a series of warlike events that befell the Roman Empire. The first four led to the fall of Western Rome in AD476.
The fifth trumpet (Rev 9) describes the rise and spread of Islam from the wastelands of the Arabia and the torments it inflicted upon the apostate Eastern Roman Empire. The sixth trumpet (Rev 9) describes the overthrow of the apostate Eastern Roman Empire by the Islamic Turks.
In Godʼs providence Islam was allowed to rise on time for the purpose of protecting the true church and later the Reformation from the evil intentions of apostate Papal Europe.
“With surprising unanimity commentators have agreed in regarding this trumpet [5th] as referring to the empire of the Saracens, or the rise and progress of the religion and empire, set up by Mohomet [Mohammed].”Dr. Albert Barnes, Notes on Revelation, p254.
Martin Luther, Joseph Mede, and Isaac Newton are among many who saw the rise and progress of Islam in the 5th & 6th Trumpets. This commentary will present Biblical evidence which supports their view.
verse 1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall [or fallen] from heaven unto the earth... Stars = Angels or men (Rev 12:4; Job 38:7; Dan 8:10, 24; 12:3).
The text literally reads” a star FALLEN.” This star is a not seen falling but FALLEN. “And unto him.” This star is a “him.” Satan is the fallen “star.” (See Luke 10:18; Isa 14:12). See chart below.
verse 1 ...and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Given key = Given power to open or shut. Christ holds the KEYS of HELL and DEATH (Rev 1:18). Christ has the key of David and power to open and shut anything (Rev 3:17). Christ “removeth kings and setteth up kings.” (Dan 2:21).
verse 2 And he opened the bottomless pit [Greek: abussos]... Satan opened the abussos The Greek word abussos, appears 9 times in the Bible and is translated “bottomless pit,” 7 times in Revelation, and “deep,” in Luke 8:31 and Rom 10:7.
The abussos is the place of that which “IS NOT,” a place of lifelessness (Rev 17:8). “Who shall descend into the deep (Gr. abussos)? that is, to bring up Christ again FROM THE DEAD.” Rom 10:7.
The GRAVE is a “PIT” which cannot be filled (See Isa 38:18; Isa 14:19; Hab 2:5; Prov 30:16) in other words a bottomless pit.
The abussos (“deep”) is the place that the devils/demons WILL BE SENT (Luke 8:31; cf. Matt 8:29). Satan, and the devils, are not YET in the bottomless pit (Rev 20; Isa 24:22).
The Septuagint (Greek translation) uses the Greek word “abussos” to refer to the LIFELESS “deep” in Gen 1:2.
In this trumpet the “abussos” is used to represent the uninhabited deserts of Ara- bia; the land from which Islam spread.
The Arabian deserts were a desolate uninhabited wilderness. Jer 2:6 “...the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of DESERTS and of PITS, through a land of drought, and of the SHADOW OF DEATH, through a land that NO MAN passed through, and where NO MAN DWELT” “Mount Sinai [is] in Arabia” Gal 4:5.
verse 2 And he opened the bottomless pit
At the time of Islamʼs rise (AD612) there were two superpowers to stop its progress. Eastern Rome (Byzantine Empire), and the Persian Empire (Sasanian Empire). For Islam to expand these powers needed taking out of the way. Satan, using the key, or power granted him, caused the Roman & Persian Empires to war with each other severely weakening both sides. This opened the way for Islam to spread from Arabia.
“Perhaps they [the warriors of Islam] would have been crushed if the superpowers had not recently been at war with each other and if they had known their opponents.”Cambridge, Illustrated History, Islamic World, p8.
“The Persian war ended in AD628. Five years later the cloud of Saracenic [or Arab] invasion rolled northward from the Arabian deserts.” W. S. Davis, A Short History of the Near East, p32.
“Persia and Byzantium, like Egypt, were quite unable to resist the attacks of the Arabs, for the two empires had spent most of the previous century locked in debilitating wars of atrition.” The World, An Illustrated History, (A Channel Four book), ©Times Books Ltd. p128
ISLAM
Islam originated in AD610-612 with Mohammed (b. 570 d. 632), a merchant living in the Arabian city of Mecca. Mohammed believed that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him and given him instructions. These became the Koran, the Moslem Bible. Mohammedʼs fundamental conviction was that there is only one God - Allah, who is identified as the God of Abraham. Mohammed taught that God has many prophets including Noah, Abraham and even Jesus but that Mohammed was the last and most important. Some of the Koranʼs teachings are good, others speak in favour of Jihad or holy war. The Koran “has promised all a good reward; but far richer is the recompense of those who fight for Him.” “Allah loves those who fight for His cause.” The Koran, Penguin Ed. p367, 104-105.
Today more than one billion people are Islamic. Considering its influence throughout history, and the part it is playing today, it is no surprise to see it described in Bible prophecy.
“After the year 612AD Mohomet sought to propogate his religion with all his might.” Modern Universal History.
verse 2 ...and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; Smoke of a furnace = Affliction (Isa 48:10; Dan 3). Torment and judgment (Rev 14:11). Smoke associated with destruction (Gen 19:28)
The smoke of a furnace is associated with the giving of laws and teaching (Exo 19:18).
verse 2 ...and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. Sun = Christ (Mal 4:2), or a ruler (Gen 1:16).
Air = Encompassing the world. That which is invisible. Satan is Prince of the air (Eph 2:2).
Darkness = The opposite of light, evil, misunderstanding.
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.
Locusts = Large numbers of MEN. The view that the locusts from the bottomless pit are demons is false because the demons are not in the pit. See on verse 1.
Locust are migratory grasshoppers. The words translated locusts is also translated grasshopper. “For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as GRASSHOPPERS for multitude; [for] both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.” (Jgs 6:5).
The Amelekites, an Arabian tribe, are likened to LOCUSTS. (Jgs 7:12). Crowned men and captains are likened to GRASSHOPPERS (Nah 3:17).
“The inhabitants of the earth are as GRASSHOPPERS.” (Isa 40:22). Grasshoppers are associated with great numbers (Jer 46:23; Nah 3:15).
Locusts are a devouring plague (Joel 1:4) that symbolize a “nation (Joel 1:6) to punish the apostate people of God.
Literal locusts come from the east of Egypt (Exo 10:13). Arabia is east of Egypt.
“The inhabitants of Syria have remarked that locusts come constantly from the desert of Arabia.” C. Volney “Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie, Chap. XX, Sec. 5.
“The swarms of these insects darken the air and appear at a distance like clouds of smoke.” Niebuhr, Travels, Vol. 2, p337.
Scorpions = The enemy (Luke 10:17-19), Scorpions live in the wilderness around Mt. Sinai (Deut 8:15), which is in Arabia (Gal 4:25). Scorpions are rebels against the truth (Eze 2:6). Scorpions have stinging tails. A tail = A false prophet (Isa 9:15).
Inspired by Mohammedʼs laws & teachings (the smoke which darkened the truth of Christ, the light of world. 2Cor 4:4), the Saracen cavalry, like locusts, swarmed out of the Arabian desert afflicting and conquering Persia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa and part of Spain.
Islam even entered France intending to conquer all of Europe but they were stopped at the battle of Tours (Poitiers) AD732. Had Islam won, Europe & the US would probably now be Islamic! Incidentally literal locusts swarm in the very same area Islam once overan and possessed! See map.
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 fore- heads.
Green = Flourishing (Jer 17:8. In Ps 92:14 “flourishing” means “green.” See margin). Jesus likened Himself to a “green thing.” (Luke 23:31; cf. Jer 17:7-8).
Trees = People good or bad. Here the righteous who are spared. Trees may represent prominent leading people in comparison to smaller green things. (Psalm 37:35; Dan 4:20-22; Eze 31:3).
The Seal of God = The Lordʼs seventh day Sabbath as shown in the comments on Rev 7:1-3. History reveals that there have always been observers of the true Sabbath.
“Grass, green thing, and tree” are here put in opposition to those men who have not the seal of God etc.. 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.
The warriors of Islam were commanded to tolerate sabbath-keeping Christians, green things, and to hurt those without the seal of God. The following indicates that a certain class, possibly shaven Sunday-keeping monks, were destroyed by Islam:
Abubeker, Mohammedʼs successor, is said to have given the following command as his troops prepared to conquer Syria in AD623: “When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves 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...you will find 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 Mohammedan or pay tribute.” E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap. LI, par. 10.
While the grass, green things and trees here symbolized those with the seal of God it is remarkable that Abubekerʼs commanded his men not to hurt literal grass (corn) or trees (fruit trees) as well!
Those with shaven crowns sound like some class of monks. As the Roman church has robbed the law of God of its Seal, by tearing out the seventh day Sabbath and replacing it with their Sunday, they are appropriatelly described as those without the Seal of God.
See Appendix for proof that the Islamic Saracens spared Sabbath keeping Christians.
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. As the language thus far has been figurative, so it must be here also. The nation of Christians who were the subjects of this plague were to be tormented five months, but not politically slain.
In this symbolic context 5 months or 150 “days” symbolize 150 years: “I have appointed thee each day for a year” Eze 4:6. Here then is described a 150 year period during which Islam “tormented” the Eastern Roman Empire but failed to “kill” it (i.e. conquer it politically.
When did this 150 years begin? Evidently not before they had a king over them. See on verse 11. Incidentally locusts are native to Arabia and actually swarm for a period of 5 LITERAL MONTHS! Locusts come from east of Egypt (Exo 10:13) and Arabia is East of Egypt!
The Saracenʼs constant incursions into Roman Territory, and their frequent assaults on Constantinople were an unceasing torment to the idolatrous Romans. Their charge was to “torment” for 5 months but not to kill. The marvel is that they did not.
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.
This, of course, is the same death as that in verse 5, viz., political conquest. Such was the misery of the Byzantines caused by the almost continual war with the Islamic powers, that some would have preferred to be conquered rather than continue under the protracted miseries the war causes. But this was not permitted; political death fled from them.
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.
ALL the Symbols are Arabian
verse 7 Locusts
Locusts = Many men, particularly Arabians (Jgs 6:5; 7:12). See comment on verse 2. Incidentally Apostate Rome was suffering this trumpet and the Roman word for locust is cavelleta - little horse.
verse 7 Horses prepared for battle
Horses for battle = Armies (Rev 19:11, 19).Incidentally horses are native to Arabia. Arabia is legendary for horses. “...[the Arabs] military force was chiefly formed of CAVALRY and archers.” Gibbon, Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol.5, p4478-479.
verse 7 As it were crowns
Crowns (Gr. stephanoi) = A victors crown. The Arabians had many victories in battle.Incidentally Arabians wore turbans, “as it were crowns.”
verse 7 Menʼs faces
Mens faces = Lacking Godʼs glory or character. To have an angelʼs face is to have Godʼs glory (Acts 6:15; Isa 60:1-3; 2 Cor 3:7). The eyes of a man are wicked (Dan 7:8).Incidentally the Arabian warriors had manly beards! Speaking of the Arabs Gibbon wrote, “He is seldom provoked to laughter, his only gesture is that of stroking his BEARD the venerable symbol of manhood.” Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, p377-378.
verse 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions. Men with Hair like women = Shame. (1Cor 11:14-15). The locusts are not Godʼs ministers as Godʼs ministers did not have long hair(Eze 44:20).
Incidentally the Arabian warriors had long hair! The Antar Poem written at the time of the Arab invasion reads, “He adjusted himself properly, twirling his whiskers, folded up his HAIR under his turban drawing it from off his shoulders...His hair flowed down his shoulders...We will hang him up by his hair.” Elliot, Horae Apocalypticae, Footnote on Rev 9:7.
verse 8 Teeth of lions
Teeth as Lions = Strength (2Sam 1:23; Prov 30:30) and enemies of the truth (Ps 57:4; 1Pet 5:8). Incidentally lions were native to Arabia.
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.
verse 9 Breastplates as it were of iron
Breastplate = Associated with priesthood, judgment (Exo 28:30). Here apparently military breastplates of iron. Iron = Strength (Dan 2:41).
Incidentally some Arabian warriors wore breatplates. Elliot claims that three Arab authorities confirm that the Saracens wore iron breastplates. Elliot, Horae Apocalypticae, Footnote on Rev 9:7.
verse 9 Wings
Wings = Speed (Jer 4:13; Hab 1:8). The Arabian cavalry moved swiftly. Incidentally winged locusts are native to Arabia.
verse 9 Chariots & Horses
Chariots = Military forces.
verse 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails...
verse 10 Scorpions
Scorpions = Enemies of truth (Luke 10:19; Eze 2:6). Incidentally scorpions are native to Arabia and come from the wilderness (Deut 8:15) near Mt. Sina which is in Arabia (Gal 4:25).
verse 10 Tail
Tail = A false prophet, one who teaches lies. “...the PROPHET that teacheth lies, he is the TAIL.” Isa 9:15. Satan deceived a third of the angels with his lies - his tail (Rev 12:4). To those who were overrun, the enforced teachings of Mohammed were as a scorpionʼs sting.
verse 10 ...and their power [was] to hurt men five months. As the preceding has been symbolic so also is this period. The warriors of Islam tormented those they later slew (verse 15)
- the third part of men, i.e. the Eastern Roman Empire. In this symbolic context 5 months or 150 “days” symbolize 150 years: “I have appointed thee each day for a year” Eze 4:6. Here then is described a 150 year period during which Islam “tormented” the Eastern Roman Empire but failed to “slay” (conquer) it politically. When did this 150 year period of tormenting begin? Evidentlty 150 years before
the hurting or tormenting ceased and their victims were slain.
verse 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. As literal locusts have no king (Prov 30:27) this confirms that these locusts and the trumpets are SYMBOLIC.
This kingʼs name in Old Testament Hebrew is Abaddon “the DESTROYER.” In New Testament Greek it is Apollyon “the DESTROYER.” Satan is the desolating king of the Old & New Testaments. He is the angel of the bottomless pit and he rules through his earthly representatives.
“Satan is the destroyer; Christ is the restorer.” E.G. White, Medical Ministry, p291.
From the death of Mohammed until near the close of the 13th century the Islamic peoples were divided into various factions with no general civil government extending over them all. Near the close of the 13th century, Othman I (1299-1326), founded a government or empire, consolidating all the principle Mohammedan tribes into one grand monarchy - the Ottoman Empire. As Satan is the DESTROYER so Othman founded the Ottoman Empire which became the destroyer of Eastern Rome.
The Ottomans were Turks. The Turks came from central Asia, took over the territory
of the Islamic Saracens, and converted to Islam. According to the historian Gibbon, the Islamic Turks first attacked Eastern Rome under king Othman on July 27, 1299. For 150 years extending to 1449 the Turks tormented Eastern Rome with almost perpetual attacks or the threat of them, but failed to slay or conquer Eastern Rome politically.
In the year 1449, John Paleologus, the emperor of Eastern Rome, died, but left no children to inherit his throne, and Constantine XI (Deacozes) succeeded to it. However he would not 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 on July 27 1449...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 gracious approbation of the Turkish sultan announced his [own] SUPREMACY, and the approaching downfall of the Eastern empire.” Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap. 67.
Where was the authority of Christian Eastern Rome? After 150 years of torment it was voluntarily given into the hands of the ISLAMIC power. July 27, 1299 to July 27 1449 is exactly 150 years.
verse 12 One woe is past; [and], behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
The 5th Trumpet or first “Woe” lasted from the rise of Mahommedism until the end of the five months. The first woe then ended and the second began. When the sixth angel sounded, it was commanded to take off the restraint to merely torment men, and their commission extended to slay the third part of men.
SIXTH TRUMPET verse 13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, When the sixth Trumpet angel sounded, a voice comes from the horns of the golden altar described in the introduction to the Trumpets (Rev 8).
verse 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Euphrates means “rushing,” and is used to represent invading armies (Isa 8:7-8). The river Euphrates, on which Babylon sat, symbolizes “peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues,” worldwide (See Rev 17:1, 5, 15). The four angels are those which hold back to some degree, strife among the peoples of the world (Rev 7:1-4). Their loosing here results in the Islamic Turks slaying Eastern Rome politically. Incidentally the literal Euphrates begins in the territory of the Islamic Turks!
verse 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. Tormenting was turned to slaying the third part of men - Eastern Rome would be politically slain.This period amounts to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days; during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist in Constantinople.
An hour (1/24th of a year) = 15 days. Total = 391 years 15 days.
Commencing when the one hundred and fifty years ended, on July 27 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.
Litch wrote: “Allowing...that the 391 years 15 days, commenced at the close of the first period [i.e. began on July 27, 1449], it will end on the 11th, August, 1840, when the Ottoman power at Constantinople may be expected to be broken.” Josiah Litch, Signs of the Times, Aug 1, 1840.
In 1840 the Ottoman Empire was without hope in a war with Egypt. England, Russia, Austria & Prussia stepped in to sort it out. The Ottoman Sultan submitted to their dictates, VOLUNTARILY RECOGNIZING THEIR SUPREMACY. The ultimatum drawn up by these powers was handed to the Pasha of Egypt on Aug 11, 1840.
Where was Ottoman authority? In the hands of the CHRISTIAN powers. The event exactly fulfilled Litchʼs prediction. Many were convinced that the Advent Movement had correct principles of prophetic interpretation and a wonderful impetus was given to the Advent Movement. The Ottoman Empire limped along as the “sick man of the Europe” until the end of the first World War. Neither its existence nor its atrocities ended in every sense in 1840, any more than they had begun in every sense in the 1450s. But its period of dominance over Christian affairs, its power to slay, can be significantly identified with the 391 years here spoken of.
A year (360 days) A month (30 days) A day = 360 years = 30 years = 1 year
This remarkable fulfillment of prophecy contributed greatly to Advent Moverment which was then underway. Another of the last signs to preceed Christʼs return had been fulfilled. It greatly stimulated missionary zeal and helped convince people that the year day principle was valid. Years later one writer said that it was to “the advent movement what the power of steam is on the railroad locomotive. So from the 11th day of August, 1840, the advent cause and message, or angel, careered on its way with greater power than ever before.” Hiram Edson, The Time of the End, 1849, p8.
Returning to events near the beginning of the 391 years we read of an army and battle. Though the Emperor at Constantinople had submitted to Turkish supremacy in 1449 the next Sultan, Mohammed II, set his heart on conquering Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Rome...
verse 16 And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
As John had heard the number of the sealed saints in Rev 7 he “heard the number” of the Ottoman cavalry. In the Greek, “two myriads” - i.e. countless. Incidentally the Turks numbered using tomens which are the same as myriads!
“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.” Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Some think 200,000 twice told is meant, and, following some historians they find this number involved in the overthrow of Constantinople. Others think that the 200,000,000 means the total of all the Turkinsh warriors during the 391 years and fifteen days of the triumph.
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.
John saw their uniforms of red (fire), blue (jacinth) yellow (brimstone - sulphur). The breatsplate of the High priest was gold (yellow?), blue, purple and scarlet (red) (Exo 28:15). The locustʼs breastplates are here described as of fire (red?), jacinth (blue), and brimstone (yellow).
Literal locusts can be be coloured red, yellow and blue. Red, yellow and blue are the primary colours. Incidentally red, yellow and blue were the prevalent colours of the Ottomans uniforms!
“From their first appearance the Ottomans have affected to wear warlike apparel of scarlet [RED], BLUE and YELLOW: a descriptive trait the more marked from its contrast to the military apperarance of the Greeks, Franks, Saracens [Arabs] who were contemporary.” Daubuz, Quoted in Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, Chap. VII, p508.
verse 17 Fire smoke and brimstone out of their mouths As the command to fire came from their leaders mouths, the Ottoman artillery unleashed firery destruction. This is symbolized as “fire and smoke and brimstone” issuing from their mouths.
Fire, Smoke & Brimstone = Agents of destruction (Gen 19:24-28; Rev 14:10-11).
Under a barrage of enormous cannons blasting fire, smoke and brimstone (sulphur; a major ingredient of gunpowder) Constantinople and with it the 1/3 part of men = the third part of men, the Eastern Roman empire, was slain (conquered).
Long before they were invented John here beheld the use of firearms! At the time Constantinople fell firearms were releatively new weapons!
The Arabs actually invented the first gun, and possibly even gunpowder itself! See Britannica CD99, Std. ed., ©1994-99, art. Gun- powder.
The Turks used firearm which were relativelly new weapons and firearms, when discharged on horseback even appeared as fire from their horses mouths!
“The Moslems placed their canon in an effective position. The gates and ramparts of Constantinople were pierced in a thousand places. The FLAMES which issued from the mouths of these instruments of warfare, of brazen and FIERY jaws, cast grief and dismay among the miscreants. The SMOKE which spread itself in the air rendered the brightness of the day sombre as night; and the face of the world soon became as dark as the black fortune of the unhappy infidels.” Saadeddinʼs Diadems of Histories, cited by Dr, Keith, Aapoclypse. Vol. II, p46.
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.
By the use of firearms the third part of men - the Eastern Roman Empire, was slain (conquered).
“The volleys and lances and arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of the musketry and cannon...the long order of the Turkish artillery was pointed against the wallsʼ fourteen batteries thundering at once on the most accessible places...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 levelled with the ground...from the lines, the galleys and the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides, the camp and city, the Greek and the Turk, were involved in a cloud of smoke, which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the Roman Empire,,,the double walls were reduced by the cannon to a heap of ruins,,,the Turks at length...rushing through the breaches...Constantinople was subdued, her empire subverted, and her religion trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerers.” Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. VII, p203.
verse 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
Power = Authority (Rom 13:1).
Mouth = A nationʼs voice, a leader, a spokesman (Exo 4:16; Rev 13:15). Tail = A false prophet, one who teaches lies. (Isa 9:15). Satan deceived a third of the angels with his lies - his tail (Rev 12:4).
The power of the Turks was in their civil (mouth) and religious leaders (tail).
Incidentally the horses tail was a well known Turkish standard, a symbol of office and authority! The horse tail standard was actually used as a military standards to rally around in battle. Apparently a Turkish “general,” not knowing how to rally his troops who had lost their standard, cut off a HORSES TAIL and fixed it to a spear. The troops rallying around the tail gained the victory and thereafter the HORSES TAIL became a symbol of office. 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.
“The ensign of one, two, or three HORSE TAILS that marks distinctivelly the dignity and power of the Turkish Pascha.” Elliot, Horae Apocalypticae, Chap. VII, p514.
“The recent overthrow of the Mameluc power [in Egypt] by the Ottomans [Turks] had extended the shadow of the HORSE TAILS far along the coasts of Africa.” Elliot, Footnote, Horae Apocalypticae, p514.
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:
Sadly the fall of Western Rome under the first 4 trumpets and the fall of Eastern Rome under the 5th & 6th trumpets did not result in apostate Christian Rome repenting of their idolatry etc.
verse 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Murders, and sorceries, fornications, and thefts, still exists in the apostate church today.
The hordes of Saracens and Turks were let loose as a scourge and punishment upon apostate Christendom. Men suffered the punishment, but learned nothing.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN?
1. We learn that God in His providence allowed Islam to arise and peak in power at the very time the Papacy was seeking to destroy Protestantism in Europe. Islam distracted the Papacy from its goal and thus preserved Protestantism.
“When a crisis arose in the affairs of the Reformation, and the kings obedient to the Roman See had united their swords to strike, and with blow so decisive that they should not need to strike a second time, the Turk, obeying One whom they knew not, would straightway present himself on the Eastern limits of Europe, and in so menacing an attitude, that the swords unsheathed against poor Protestants had to be turned in another quarter. The Turk was the lightning-rod that drew off the tempest. Thus did Christ cover His little flock with the sheild of the Moslem.” J.A. Wylie, The History of Protestantism, Vol. I, Book 9, chap. 1, p473.
“There would have been no Protestantism had there been no Turk.” Kenneth Oster, Islam Reconsidered, p72.
“ʻIt is you,ʼ said the adherents of the old creed addressing the Lutherans, ʻwho have brought this scourge upon us. It is you who have unloosed these angels of evil; they come to chastise you for your heresy. You have cast off the yoke of the Pope, and now you must bear the yoke of the Turk.ʼ ʻNot so,ʼ said Luther, ʻit is God who has unloosed this army, whose king is Abaddon the destroyer. They have been sent to punish us for our sins, our ingratitude for the Gospel, our blasphemies, and above all, our shedding of the blood of the righteous.ʼ” J.A. Wylie, The History of Protestantism, Vol. I, Book 9, chap. 18, p566-577.
“In the 16th and 17th centuries support and encouragement for Protestantism and Calvanists...were one of the fundamental principles of Ottoman policy.” Halil Inalcik, The Heyday & Decline of the Ottoman Empire, in the History of Islam, p325-329.
The ongoing US led “crusade” against Islam, the Papacyʼs old foe, is distracting the Papacy from its goal of erradicating true Protestantism. Islam will open its doors to Christianity allowing evangelism in Islamic countries before the end comes.
2. We learn that God cannot protect apostate Christianity and He allowed Islam to punish them.
3. We learn the true origin and purpose of one of the worldʼs great religions - Islam.
4. We learn what to expect when the four angels are fully loosed.
5. We learn that God in His providence had the prophecy of the sixth trumpet fulfilled in 1840 to give great impetus to the Advent Movement. This fulfillment helped verify the Day=Year principle of the TIME prophecies.
6. We learn that just as the trumpet (“plagues” v 20) fell upon the Roman world after apostate Christendom influenced the State to enforce Sunday laws and persecute commandment-keepers, so the seven LAST plagues will fall on the whole world after apostate Christendom influences the State to enforce Sunday laws and persecute commandment-keepers. The seven LAST plagues occur after the trumpet plagues have sounded. Before they fall Godʼs last loving call will be given.
Thus between the 6th and 7th trumpets is described the rise of the great Second Advent Movement which will give the last warning. See on Revelation 10.
APPENDIX 5 “month” periods at the beginning and end of the 5th Trumpet Besides the 150 year period at the end of the 5th Trumpet some see a 150 year period at its beginning. 150 years reach from the time Mohammed began to seriously propagate his religion in AD612 to the founding of Baghdad (“city of peace”) in AD762. The founding of Bagdad may be considered the end of the spread of the Arabian Empire.
“After the year 612AD Mohomet sought to propogate his religion with all his might.” Modern Universal History.
Hour of judgment
Days, months, and years are the usual way of giving a fixed POINT in time. “Days, months, times, and years, bring to mind the Jewish ordinances which occurred on certain days, months and years. Gal 4:10 “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.”
Christ died on the 9th hour (Mk 15:34), on the 14th day of the first month in the year AD31. See on Dan 9. THE “hour” of Eastern Romeʼs judgment may be seen as occurring on the 29th “DAY” of the “MONTH” of May, in the “YEAR” 1453 when the capital, Constantinople, fell to the Islamic Ottomans.
Hour of judgment
Rev 9:15 “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.”
Taken symbolically an HOUR a DAY a MONTH and a YEAR = 391 years 15 days: Hour 1/24 day = 1/24 year (15 days). Day = 1 year (Eze 4:6; Num 14:34). Month (30 days) = 30 years Year = (360 days) = 360 years.
In the Greek Rev 9:15 says, “...THE hour, A day, A month, A year.” Only the word hour in preceded by the word “the.” This sets the hour apart from the other terms and may indicate that the “hour” is an “hour” of judgment. In Rev 14 “hour” is used to refer to an indefinite period of judgment.
Furthermore, in New Testament times it was common practice in the Greek to use the word “AND” in an explanatory or epexegetical manner. e.g. God gives it a body as he has chosen, AND [that is to say] to each kind of seed its own body.” 1Cor 15:38. In view of these considerations we might understand the passage as, “for the hour of judgment; that is to say, a period of a day, a monh and a year symbolizing 391 years.”
Assuming that the expression refers to 391 years when did this period begin and end?
From 1449, when the last ʻChristianʼ Emperor of Eastern Rome voluntarily asked the Islamic Ottomans for permission to ascend his own throne to the year 1840 when the Islamic Ottomans voluntarily placed themselves in the hands of the ʻChristianʼ powers of Europe was exactly 391 years.
From 1453 when Constantinople fell to the beginning of the “hour” of Godʼs judgment in 1844 is exactly 391 years.
Could the fallen star be Mohammed or some other man? The fallen star was given a key to open the bottomless pit. Neither Mohammed nor any other man was given such a key. The way was opened for the warriors of Islam to issue out of Arabia by the mutual destruction of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) and the Sassanian (Persian Empire) empires. Who was given the key to cause this mutual destruction? Satan. Satan is the angel of the bottomless pit (v 11).
Is the star seen falling under the 3rd trumpet the star seen fallen in the 5th trumpet? 1. The star seen in the act of falling at the time of the third trumpet cannot be Satan because Satan fell long before the third trumpet occurred. As the fallen star of the 5th trumpet is Satan, it cannot therefore be the star seen falling under the 3rd trumpet.
2. Furthermore the two stars have different names.
Didnʼt Litch give up his view regarding the Trumpets? Josiah Litch did discard his views regarding the Seven Trumpets. This does not however prove that everything he believed was wrong.
Lost days?
In 1582 ten days were removed from the calendar in order to bring the days back in harmony with the seasons. The 5th was followed by the 15th but the weekly cycle was unchanged. Does this affect Litchʼs calculations?
CRITIQUE OF A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
FIRST TRUMPET As the Churches and Seals begin in Apostolic times some believe that the Trumpets should also begin in Apostoilic times. Such see the hail burning up the green grass in the first trumpet as the destruction of Jerusalem. (a) It is unlikely that the fall of Jerusalem would be the subject of the first Seal as Jerusalemʼs fall was a finished event long before the Revelation was given. (b) The first four trumpets form a set (Sevens in Revelation always come in a first set of four then a second set of three). The first four trumpets affect ONE entity not two, not Jerusalem and Rome. (c) The first Trumpet burned up all “green” grass. Green represents flourishing (usually in righteousness). At the time of its fall Jerusalem was not green, not flourishing and not righteous.
SECOND TRUMPET Some see the mountain cast into the sea as a symbol of the Roman Empire sin ing into the sea of nation which make up Europe. This view makes the mountain the recipient of the judgment. (a) As the hail cast on the earth in the first trumpet was the AGENT of destruction and the earth on which it fell the recipient, So the mountain cast into the sea in the Second Trumpet was the AGENT of destruction, and the sea upon which it fell was the recipient. The burning mountain was not therefore Romeʼs disolution.
THIRD TRUMPET Some see the fountains being turned to wormwood as the truth being corrupted by an apostate church. (a) This view would mean that this trumpet was not a judgment on an apostate people but merely a description of the apostates chosen actions. However the Trumpets are judgments on an apostate people. (b) Wormwood represent the PUNISHMENTS God sends on those who are corrupt, not corruption itself. (Deut 29:18; Jer 23:15). Wormwood follows corruption.
FOURTH TRUMPET Some think that this refers to the lights of the truth (Sun, Moon, Stars) being darkened by a corrupt church in the Dark Ages.
(a) This view would mean that this trumpet was not a judgment on an apostate people but merely a description of the apostates chosen actions. However the Trumpets are judgments on an apostate people. (b) In this Trumpet only 1/3 of the Sun, Moon and Stars was darkened for 1/3 of the day and night, whereas the corrupt church virtually blotted out ALL the light of truth during its supremacy.
The views presented in this commentary will bring to light many other factors which this new view fails to accomodate.
Relevant Quotations
FIFTH TRUMPET The Koran [the Moslem Bible] continually speaks of the KEYS OF GOD which opened to them the gates of the world and of religion. So in the Koran; ʻDid not God give to his legate [Mohomet] the power of heaven which is beneath? With the KEY, did he not give him the title and power of a porter, that he may open to those whom he shall have chosen?” Peyronʼs, Essais Sur lʼEspagne, p189. “The rise and expansion of Islam was perhaps the most important development in world history between the fall of Rome and the Europeanʼs discovery of America. Within a remarkably short time, a new world religion created a dynamic civilization which now embraces about one seventh of the present global population. There are today over one billion Muslims in the world...
Two questions are immediately posed by this dynamic success story. First, why did a new religion of such immense vigour spring to life during the seventh century in the sparsely populated Arabian peninsula? And, second, how was it that, within a century, the inhabitants of that arid peninsula were able to impose their authority and faith on half - or rather more than half - of the Eurasian world?” The World, An Illustrated History, (A Channel Four book), ©Times Books Ltd. p123.
“After the year 612A.D. Mohomet sought to propagate his religion with all his might.” Modern Universal History
“There broke out among the nations of Asia that mighty conflagration whose flames were scattered over the terrified globe by the sons of the desert, guided by their new prophet of unbelief.” Friedrich von Schlegal, The Philosophy of History, Vol. II, Lec. 12.
“The Persia Empire soon attracted the arms of ʻthese locustsʼ as the swarms of hungry Saracens were not inaptly called.” Upham, The Ottoman Empire, Vol. 1., p40.
“The Persian war ended in 628A.D. Five years later the cloud of Saracenic [or Arab] invasion rolled northward from the Arabian deserts.” Prof. W. S. Davis, A Short History of the Near East, p32.
“Onward and still onward like swarms from the hive, or flights of locusts darkening the land, tribe after tribe issued forth and hastening northward spread in great numbers to the east and to the west.” Sir William Muir, The Caliphate, p44.
“The Persian Empire soon attracted the arms of ʻthese locustsʼ as the swarms of the hungry Saracens were not inaptly called.” Edward Upham. The Ottoman Empire, Vol. 1, p40
“These conquests, which astonish the careless and superficial, are less perplexing to a calm inquirer, than their cessation; the loss of half the Roman Empire, than the preservation of the rest.” Henry Hallman, History of the Middle Ages, Book 6, p54.
“There would have been no Protestantism had there been no Turk.” Kenneth Oster, Islam Reconsidered, p72.
Did the Saracens spare Sabbath-keeping Christians? “In the early centuries of the Christian Era, the Church of the East [not the Western or Latin Church] sometimes called the Assyrian church, sometimes the Nestorian church [who observed the true Sabbath] very effectively spread throughout Asia and the East, but remained seperate from the church in the West, especially the apostasy. These true Christians became teachers of the Saracens, and were responsible for establishing an educational system in Syria, Mesopotamia, Turkestan, Tibet, China, India, Ceylon and other areas.
The Arabs, like the Persians were very partial to the Assyrian Christians, because they found it necessary in the early days of their power, to lean upon the splendid schools which the Church had developed. Medicine made great progress in the hands of the Church in the East. The Arabian court and its extended administrations employed its members as secretaries and imperial representatives...Assyrian Christians sufered comparativelly little at the hands of the Moslems, but later much more at the hands of the Jesuits...The leader of the Church in the East sensing that the conquest of the Persian Empire was imminent, succeeded in obtaining a pledge of protection and freedom of worship on condition that the Christians paid certain tribute... These immunities extended by Abubeker were not only confirmed by Omar his successor, but even the taxes were remitted. When the Arabian Empire was fully established, it built up Bagdad its magnificent new capital. The Church of the East...removed its spiritual capital from Selucia to Bagdad, where it remained for approximately the next 500 years.” B.G. Wilkinson, Truth Triumphant, p268-291,
INSPIRED STATEMENTS
BOTTOMLESS PIT “THE BOTTOMLESS PIT...The whole earth appears like a DESOLATE WILDERNESS... Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years.” E.G. White, The Faith I live by, p353.
SIXTH TRUMPET THE TURKS RISE TO POWER WAS PROVIDENTIAL “A dark and threatening day had come for the Reformation. Notwithstanding the Edict of Worms, declaring Luther to be an outlaw and forbidding the teaching or belief of his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far prevailed in the empire. GODʼS PROVIDENCE had held in check the forces that opposed the truth. Charles V was bent on crushing the Reformation, but often as he raised his hand to strike he had been forced to turn aside the blow. Again and again the immediate destruction of all who dared to oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical moment the armies of the TURK [THE TURK WERE ISLAMIC] appeared on the eastern frontier, or the king of France, or even the pope himself, jealous of the increasing greatness of the emperor, made war upon him; and thus, amid the strife and tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen and extend.” Great Cintroversy11, p197.
SIXTH TRUMPET A REMARKABLE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY “In the year 1840 another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of REVELATION 9, predicting the all of the Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown “in A.D. 1840, sometime in the month of August;” and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: “Allowing the first period, 150 YEARS, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case.” - Josiah Litch, in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840. At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations. THE EVENT EXACTLY FULFILLED THE PREDICTION. A WONDERFUL IMPETUS was given to the advent movement.” Great Controversy 1911, p 334-5.
See Revelation 8 on the first 4 trumpets and introductary notes.
Comments