|
VI.
The Sure Word of
Prophecy
»
Chapter 64
:
The Seven Trumpets
1. FOLLOWING the seven seals, under what symbols
was the next series of thrilling events shown
the Apostle John?
"And I saw the seven angels which stood before
God; and to them were given seven trumpets."
Rev. 8:2.
2. With what do these trumpets deal?
With the wars, commotion, and political
upheavals which result in the breaking up and
downfall of the Roman Empire the first four with
the downfall of Western Rome, the fifth and
sixth with the downfall of Eastern Rome, and the
seventh with the final downfall of Rome in its
broadest sense, or all the kingdoms of the
world. See Revelation 8 and 9 and 11:14-19. A
trumpet is a symbol of war. Jer. 4:19,20; Joel
2:1-11.
3.
Under what figures is the first trumpet described?
"The first angel sounded, and there followed hail
and fire mingled with blood, and they were
cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was
burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." Rev. 8:7.
NOTES-"Twice, at least, before the Roman Empire
became divided permanently into the two parts, the
Eastern and the Western, there was a tripartite
division of the empire. The first occurred 311 A.D.,
when it was divided between Constantine, Licinius,
and Maximin; the other, 337 A.D., on the death of
Constantine, when it was divided between his three
sons, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius."-Albert
Barnes, on Rev. 12:4. To Constantius was given
Constantinople and the East; to Constans, Italy,
Illyricum, and northern Africa; and to Constantine
11, Britain, Gaul, and Spain.
This trumpet describes the first great invasion upon
Western or ancient Rome, by the Goths, under Alaric,
from 395 A.D. to 410 A.D. In 408 he descended upon
Italy, the middle "third part," pillaging and
burning cities, and slaughtering their inhabitants.
Says Gibbon in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire," chapter 33, closing sentence: "The union of
the Roman Empire was dissolved; its genius was
humbled in the dust; and armies of unknown
barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of the
North, had established their victorious reign over
the fairest provinces of Europe and Africa."
4.
What striking figure is used to describe the destruction
wrought under the second trumpet?
"And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great
mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea:
and the third part of the sea became blood; and the
third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and
had life, died; and the third part of the ships were
destroyed." Verses 8, 9.
NOTE.-This describes the invasions and conquests of
the Vandals under the terrible Genseric-first of
Africa and later of Italy-from 428 to 476 A.D. His
conquests were largely by sea. In a single night,
near Carthage, he destroyed, by fire and sword, more
than half of the Roman fleet, consisting of 1,113
ships and over 100,000 men. See Gibbon's "Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire," chapter 36.
5.
What was to take place under the third trumpet?
"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; 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." Verses 10,11.
NOTES.-The harassing invasions and conquests of
Attila, the Hun, are foretold here. His conquests
were characterized by fire, sword, and pillage along
the Rhine, in Gaul, and northern Italy. He claimed
descent from Nimrod, styled himself the "Scourge of
God" and the "Dread of the World," and boasted that
grass would never grow again where his horse had
trod. His greatest battle was at Chalons, in Gaul,
451 A.D., where of his 700,000 men from 100,000 to
300,000 are said to have been left dead on the
field. See Gibbon's Rome, Chapter 35, and "Fifteen
Decisive Battles of the World," by Sir Edward
Creasy, chapter 6.
Says Gibbon (chapter 34), "In the reign of Attila,
the Huns again became the terror of the world"; and
he proceeds to describe "the character and actions
of that formidable barbarian, who," he says,
"alternately insulted and invaded the East and the
West, and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman
Empire."
6.
What was to occur under the fourth trumpet?
"And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of
the sun was smitten, and a 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 f or a third
part of it, and the night likewise." Verse 12.
NOTE.-This trumpet brings us to the fall of Western
Rome, in 476 A.D., when the Herulian barbarians,
under the leadership of Odoacer, took possession of
the city and scepter of Rome; and the great empire
which had hitherto been the empress of the world was
reduced to a poor dukedom, tributary to the exarch
of Ravenna. Its luminaries, or civil rulers, were
smitten, and ceased to shine. "Italy now became in
effect a province of the empire of the East. The
Roman Empire in the West had come to an end, after
an existence from the founding of Rome of 1,229
years."- Myer's "General History," page 348.
7.
What was to be the character of the last three trumpets?
"And I beheld, and heard . an angel flying through the
midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe,
woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of
the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,
which are yet to sound!" Verse 13.
8.
After the fall of Western Rome, what power in the East
arose to harass and overrun the Roman world, East and
West?
Mohammedanism, commonly known as the Turkish or Ottoman
power, which arose in Arabia, with Mohammed, in 622 A.D.
9.
How is the fifth trumpet, or first woe, introduced?
"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; 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.
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the
earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions
of the earth have power." Rev. 9:1-3.
NOTES.-Attila is symbolized by the star of the third
trumpet (Rev. 8:10,11); Mohammed, by the star of
this trumpet. The bottomless pit doubtless refers to
the wastes of the Arabian desert, from which came
forth the Mohammedans, or Saracens of Arabia, like
swarms of locusts. The darkening caused by the smoke
from this pit fitly represents the spread of
Mohammedanism and its doctrines over Asia, Africa,
and portions of Europe. Their power as scorpions is
strikingly seen in their vigorous and speedy attacks
upon, and overthrow of, their enemies.
"Over a large part of Spain, over north Africa,
Egypt, Syria, Babylonia, Persia, north India, and
portions of Central Asia were spread-to the more or
less perfect exclusion of native customs, speech,
and worship-the manners, the language, and the
religion of the Arabian conquerors."-Myers's
"General History," page 401.
10.
What command was given these locusts?
"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." Verse 4.
NOTES.-When the Arabian tribes were gathered for the
conquest of Syria, 633 A.D., the caliph Abu-Bekr,
the successor of Mohammed, instructed the chiefs of
his army not to allow their victory to be "stained
with the blood of women and children;" to "destroy
no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn;" to "cut
down no fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cattle;"
and to spare those religious persons "who live
retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to
serve God in that way;" but, he said, "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 Mohammedan or pay tribute." In this,
Mohammedanism, itself a false religion, is revealed
as a scourge to apostate Christianity.
"In a short time they [the Mohammedan Saracens] had
taken from the Aryans all the principal old Semitic
lands-Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and
Babylonia. To these was soon added Egypt." -Encyclopedia
Britannica, article "Mohammedanism."
11.
What were these locusts said to have over them?
"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 [margin, a destroyer]." Verse 11.
NOTES.-For hundreds of years the Mohammedans and
invading Tartar tribes, like the locusts (Prov.
30:27), had no general government or king over them,
but were divided into bands, or factions, under
separate leaders. But in the twelfth century
Temuljin, king of the Mongols, or Moguls, who is
described as "the most terrible scourge that ever
afflicted the human race," built up an empire "at
the cost," it is estimated, says Myers in his
"General History," page 461, of "fifty thousand
cities and towns and five million lives." This was
followed by the more permanent Tartar empire founded
by Othman a century later, commonly known as the
Ottoman Empire, and ruled by the sultan.
From the first, the great characteristic of the
Turkish government has been that of a "destroyer."
Speaking of a war by the Turks upon the Byzantine
Empire in 1050, Gibbon (chapter 57) says: "The
myriads of Turkish horse overspread a frontier of
six hundred miles from Taurus to Erzeroum, and the
blood of one hundred and thirty thousand Christians
was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet."
In 1058 the Turks wrested the Holy Land from the
Saracens, desecrated the holy places, and treated
the pilgrims to Jerusalem with cruelty. This brought
on the nine unsuccessful crusades of the next two
centuries for the recovery of the Holy Land.
12.
What definite period is mentioned under this trumpet?
"And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were
stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men
five months." Verse 10. See also verse 5.
NOTES.-"It was on the twenty-seventh of July, in the
year 1299," says Gibbon, "that Othman first invaded
the territory of Nicomedia," in Asia Minor, "and the
singular accuracy of the date," he adds, "seems to
disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive
growth of the monster."-"Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire," chap. 64, par. 14. This, then, we
take to be the beginning of the period referred to.
A Bible month consists of thirty days; five months
would be 150 days. Allowing a day for a year, 150
years from July 27, 1299 would reach to July 27,
1449. During this period the Turks were engaged in
almost constant warfare with the Greek Empire, and
yet without conquering it.
13.
With what statement does the fifth trumpet close?
"One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more
hereafter." Verse 12.
14.
What command is given under the sixth trumpet?
"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from
the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet,
Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river
Euphrates." Verses 13, 14.
NOTES.-These four angels are understood to refer to
the four leading Turkish sultanies--Aleppo, lconium,
Damascus, and Bagdad-of which the Ottoman Empire was
composed, situated in the country watered by the
river Euphrates.
As a striking parallel it may be noted that under
the sixth plague (Rev. 16:12-16) the four angels of
Rev. 7:1-3 will loose the winds of war, the waters
of the river Euphrates (the Turkish Empire) will be
dried up, and the armies of the nations will
assemble for the battle of Armageddon.
15.
What warlike scene is given under this trumpet?
"The number of the armies of the horsemen was twice
ten thousand times ten thousand: . . . and the heads
of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of
their mouths proceeds fire and smoke and brimstone."
Verses 16,17, R.V.
NOTES.-In the year 1453, Mohammed 11 the Great,
sultan of the Ottomans, laid siege to the capital
[Constantinople], with an army of over 200,000 men.
After a short investment the place was taken by
storm. The cross, which since the time of
Constantine the Great had surmounted the dome of St.
Sophia, was replaced by the crescent, which remains
to this day."-Myers's "General History" edition
1902, pages 462, 463.
Thus Constantinople, the eastern seat of the Roman
Empire since the days of Constantine, was captured
by the Turks.
Reference also seems to be made here to the use of
firearms, which began to be employed by the Turks
toward the close of the thirteenth century, and
which, discharged from horseback, would give the
appearance of fire and smoke issuing from the
horses' mouths. In the battle of Armageddon, to
which allusion may here be made, an army of "twice
ten thousand times ten thousand," or two hundred
million, will doubtless be assembled.
16.
What was the result of this warfare by means of "fire
and smoke and brimstone"?
"By these three was the third part of men killed." Verse
18.
NOTE.-This shows the deadly effect of this new means
of warfare. "Constantinople was subdued, her empire
subverted, and her religion trampled in the dust by
the Moslem conquerors."-Elliott's "Horae
Apocalypticae," Vol. I, page 484.
17.
What definite period is mentioned under this trumpet?
"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."
Verse 15.
NOTE.-An hour in prophetic time is equal to fifteen
days; a day stands for a year, a month for thirty
years, a year for 360 years. Added together, these
amount to 391 years and fifteen days, the time
allotted for the Ottoman supremacy. Commencing July
27, 1449, the date of the close of the fifth
trumpet, this period would end August 11, 1840. In
exact fulfillment of the words of Inspiration, this
date marks the fall of the Ottoman Empire as an
independent power. Wasted beyond hope of recovery in
a war with Mohammed Ali, pasha of Egypt, the sultan
of Turkey submitted to the dictates of the four
great powers of Europe-England, Russia, Austria, and
Prussia,-and, through his minister Rifat Bey, on
that very day, August 11, 1840, placed in the hands
of Mohammed Ali the decision, or ultimatum, drawn up
by these powers. Since then Turkey has existed only
by the help of sufferance of the great powers of
Europe, and has commonly been referred to as "the
Sick Man of the East."
18.
With what announcement does the sixth trumpet close?
"The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe
comes quickly." Rev. 11:14.
NOTE-The definite period under the sixth trumpet
brings us to 1840, when Turkey lost her
independence. Her final downfall, we understand,
will come at the opening of the seventh trumpet.
19.
What is to be finished when the seventh trumpet is about
to sound?
"But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when
he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of
God, according to the good tidings which He declared
to His servants the prophets." Rev. 10:7, R.V.
NOTE.-The mystery of God is the gospel. Eph. 3:3-6;
Gal. 1:11,12. When this trumpet is about to sound,
therefore, the gospel will close, and the end will
come. The "time of trouble," of Dan. 12:1, and the
seven last plagues and the battle of Armageddon,
spoken of in Revelation 16, will take place when
this trumpet begins to sound.
20.
What events mark the sounding of the seventh trumpet?
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ;
and He shall reign for ever and ever. And the four
and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats,
f ell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We
give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and
was, and art to come; because Thou has taken to Thee Thy
great power, and has reigned." Rev. 11:15-17.
NOTES.-The seventh trumpet, therefore, brings us to
the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom.
21. What is the condition of the nations, and what other
events are due or impending at this time?
"And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is
come, and the time of the dead, that they should
be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward
unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints,
and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."
Verse 18.
NOTES.-The closing scenes of this world's history
and the judgment are clearly brought to view here.
Ever since the loss of independence by the Ottoman
Empire in 1840, the nations have been preparing for
war as never before, in view of international
complications and a world war which all fear is
inevitable upon the dissolution of Turkey and the
final disposition of its territory. Towering above
all others, the Eastern question has been the one of
paramount concern to them.
The investigative judgment began in heaven in 1844,
at the close of the prophetic period of 2300 days.
See readings in Chapters 53. thru 56. of this book.
When this is finished, the time of reward will have
arrived, the end will have come, and the saints will
themselves sit in judgment. See Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor.
6:1-3.
22.
What scene in heaven was presented to the prophet as the
seventh trumpet was about to sound?
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and
there was seen in His temple the ark of His
testament: and there were lightnings and voices, and
thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev.
11:19.
NOTES.-This forcibly calls attention to the closing
work of Christ in the second apartment, or most holy
place, of the sanctuary in heaven, which began in
1844. See readings referred to in preceding note.
The reference to the ark of God's testament is a
forcible reminder also of that which is to be the
standard in the judgment,-the law of God, or ten
commandments. See Eccl. 12:13,14; Rom. 2:12,13;
James 2:8-12.
From its dosing words-the reference to "great hail"-
the seventh trumpet evidently embraces the seven
last plagues (see Rev. 16:17,18); and from its
opening words-"the kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord"-it marks the setting up of
God's everlasting kingdom.
|
