Michael stands up

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Michael Stands Up
Daniel 11
Introduction
A careful study of Daniel 11 verses 20-45 which covers the time of the Messiah and the Jewish nation to the close of this
world’s history. Prophecy is future history not yet written, so when it comes to pass, we may believe and know that the word of the
Lord is true.
“A LITERAL PROPHECY”
Verse 20. Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed,
neither in anger, nor in battle.
Luke, speaking of events that took place at the time when Christ was born, says: "It came to pass in those days, that there
went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." Luke 2:1. During the reign of Augustus new taxation
was imposed; one quarter of the annual income from all citizens and a capital levy of one eighth on all freedmen. Rome reached the
pinnacle of its greatness and power during the “Augustan Age” and Caesar stood up "in the glory of the kingdom." His life ended not
“in battle or in anger”, but peacefully in his bed in AD 14.
Verse 21. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come
in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Tiberius Caesar followed Augustus on the Roman throne at the age of 29. Tiberius obtained the throne through flattery and
deceit. The citizens never gave him the love, respect and honor of the kingdom normally due, at least due to an upright and faithful
sovereign. He came in peaceably by concealing his own intentions to do so and without opposition. He repeatedly declined the office
by way of false humility. This then gained the sympathy of the Senate, whom he flattered to the point of their insistence he take the
office. Brought to view in this text is "a vile person." The reign of this tyrant is little more than a disgusting narrative of his despotic
ferocity. Tyranny, hypocrisy, debauchery, and uninterrupted intoxication were the traits and practices of his rule. As a vile man,
Tiberius exhibited that character to perfection.
Verse 22. And with the arms of a flood shall they be over flown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the Prince of the
covenant.
Another reading is, "And the arms of the over-flower shall be over-flown from before him and shall be broken.” This
signifies revolution and violence; and in fulfillment we should look for the arms of Tiberius the over-flower to be over-flown, in other
words for him to suffer a violent death.
Acting the hypocrite to the last, Tiberius disguised his increasing debility as much as he was able. On the sixteenth of March,
AD 37, he sunk into a lethargy, in which he appeared dead. Caligula was preparing to take his place when Tiberius suddenly revived.
At this critical moment, Macro the royal body guard, caused him to be suffocated with pillows. Thus the emperor Tiberius expired, in
the seventy-eighth year of his age, and the twenty-third of his reign. He was universally hated.
The significance of the 490 year (70 weeks) prophecy.
After taking us down to the death of Tiberius, the prophet now mentions an event to take place during his reign which is so
important it should not be passed over. The cutting off of the "Prince of the covenant” or the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the
Messiah the Prince," who was to “confirm the covenant" one week with His people, see Daniel 9: 25-27 (the 490 year prophecy).
Christ's death took place during the reign of Tiberius. Luke informs us that in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar, John the Baptist began his ministry, Luke 3:1-3. The reign of Tiberius is to be reckoned from his elevation to the throne, to
reign jointly with Augustus his stepfather, in August AD 12. His fifteenth year would therefore be from August, AD 26, to August,
AD 27.
Christ was six months younger than John and began His ministry six months later. Both entered upon their work when they
were thirty years of age, in accordance to the law of the priesthood. If John began in the spring, in the latter part of the fifteenth year
of Tiberius, it would bring the beginning of Christ's ministry to the autumn of AD 27. Right here the best authorities place the
baptism of Christ, the exact point where the 483 years from 457 BC, extended to the Messiah the Prince terminated. Christ then
proclaimed that the time was fulfilled. From this point we go forward three years and a half years to find the date of the crucifixion,
for Christ attended but four Passovers, and was crucified at the last one. Three and a half years from the autumn of AD 27 brings us to
the spring of AD 31 (crucifixion). The death of Tiberius is placed but six years later, in AD 37. AD 34 is the termination of the 490

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year prophecy, when Stephen was martyred. The gospel message was then taken from the Jewish Nation as the primary chosen
messengers and was given to the Gentiles as the new chosen messengers to the world.
Verse 23. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a
small people.
The "him" in verse 23 is the same power which has been the subject of the prophecy since verse 14, the Roman Empire; with
whom a league was made. The fulfillment of the prophecy is shown by the three individuals who successively ruled over the empire,
Julius, Augustus, and Tiberius Caesar.
Now that the prophet has taken us through events of the Roman Empire to the end of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9: 24-27
he takes us back to the time when the Romans became directly connected with the people of God; when a league was formed with the
Jewish nation, in 161 BC.
Grievously oppressed by the Syrian kings, the Jews sent an embassy to Rome to solicit the aid of the Romans and to ally
themselves in "a league of amity and confederacy with them." The Romans granted them a decree of protection and mutual help.
This was the first league of assistance and friendship with the Jews granted by the Romans.
At that time, 161 BC, the Romans were a small people and they began to work deceitfully, or with cunning, as the word
signifies. But from this time they rose steadily and rapidly to the height of power.
Verse 24. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not
done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey and spoil and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices
against the strong holds, even for a time.
Before the days of Rome, nations entered upon valuable provinces and rich territory by war and conquest. Rome was now to
do what had not been done by the fathers of the fathers' fathers, namely, receive these acquisitions through peaceful means. The
custom was now inaugurated of kings' leaving they’re kingdoms to the Romans by legacy. Rome came into possession of large
provinces in this manner. Those who thus came under the dominion of Rome derived a great advantage. They were treated with
kindness and leniency, it was like having the prey and spoil distributed among them. They were protected from their enemies, and they
rested in peace and safety under the support of the Roman power.
Rome forecast its devices “against the strong holds”, that is, “from their strongholds”, the strong fortress of their seven-hilled
city. "Even for a time" doubtless refers to a prophetic time, 360 years. From the next verse, we can determine when this “time” began
and what it signified.
Verse 25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south
shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.
Verses 23 and 24 brought us down this side of the league made between the Jews and the Romans, in 161 BC, to a time when
Rome had acquired universal dominion. Verse 25 now brings to view a vigorous campaign against the king of the south (Egypt) and a
notable battle between mighty armies. The war was between Egypt and Rome, and the battle was fought at Actium. The historic facts
of this conflict are well known because of the actions of Antony and Cleopatra!
Augustus Caesar and Mark Antony had become locked in a power struggle that would end only in war. Antony, having
become hopelessly infatuated with Cleopatra had given many Roman provinces to Egypt. This infuriated Augustus and the citizens of
Rome. The war commenced on September 2, 31 BC, at the mouth of the gulf of Ambracia, near the city of Actium. Hundreds of
ships and thousands of soldiers clashed. Augustus would return to Rome as the victor. Antony was ruined and Cleopatra, taken as a
royal slave, caused herself to be bitten by an asp and expired.
This battle marks the beginning of the "time" mentioned in verse 24. As during this "time" devices were to be forecast from
the stronghold, or Rome. At the end of this period of “time” (beginning 31 BC) the western supremacy of Rome, its seat of
government, would be removed.
A prophetic "time" is one year or 360 days as reckoned by the bible and each day in this prophetic time equals a year (see
Ezekiel 4:6). Thus, the phrase “even for a time” in verse 24 equals 360 years. From 31 BC this “time” then brings us to AD 330.
This is when the seat of the empire of Western Rome was removed to Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey), by Constantine the Great.
Verse 26. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down
slain.
Those that fed "of the portion of his meat", means “his” allies, his army. Antony’s army, disgusted with his infatuation of
Cleopatra, went over to Augustus. When Antony arrived at Libya, he found that the forces which he had left there under Scarpus to
guard the frontier, had also declared for Augustus. In Egypt his forces surrendered. Ruined by his own forces, in rage and despair,
Antony then took his own life.

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Verse 27. And both of these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper:
for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
Under the garb of friendship, Antony and Augustus, had both aspired to gain full control of the empire. Their profession of
friendship for each other was but the utterances of hypocrites. They spoke lies at one table. The rupture came and in the conflict that
ensued, Augustus emerged victorious.
Verse 28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do
exploits, and return to his own land.
Here is brought to view two Roman campaigns. The first was after the events narrated in verses 26 and 27, and the second
after Rome had indignation against the holy covenant and performed exploits. The first was fulfilled in the return of Augustus Caesar
after his expedition against Egypt and Antony. He arrived back in Rome with abundant honor and great riches from pillaging Egypt.
The next great enterprise of the Romans was the expedition against Judea; the capture and destruction of Jerusalem. The holy
covenant is the covenant which God has maintained with his people under different forms in different ages of the world. The Jews
rejected Christ, and according to the prophecy all who would not hear “that Prophet” (Christ), should be cut off. They were destroyed
and scattered to every nation under Heaven. While Jews and Christians alike suffered under the oppressive hand of the Romans, it
was in the destruction of Judea and Jerusalem that the exploits mentioned in the sacred text are shown.
Jerusalem and many surrounding towns and villages were destroyed. Moses had predicted that appalling calamities would
come upon the Jews if they departed from God. It had been prophesied that even the tender and delicate woman would eat her own
children in the straightness of the siege, Deuteronomy 28:52-55. Under the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, a literal fulfillment of this
prediction occurred. The starving Jews turned to cannibalism of the lowest forms and other atrocities to secure food.
Jerusalem fell in AD 70, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down," Matthew 24:2.
As the temple burned, the gold that lined its walls melted and lodged between the stones of its foundation. The Temple was
completely leveled; its foundations were plowed up to retrieve the gold. The duration of the whole war was seven years, and almost a
million and a half persons are said to have fallen victims to its awful horrors. Thus Rome performed great exploits and again returned
to his own land.
Verse 29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
The time appointed is the prophetic time of verse 24, 360 years from 31 BC. It closed, as already shown, in AD 330; at
which time the Roman power was to return and come again toward the south. But not as on the former occasion, when it went to
Egypt and returned with great honor and riches, nor as the latter, when it went to Judea and destroyed Jerusalem. Those were
expeditions which resulted in conquest and glory. This return led to demoralization and ruin. The removal of the seat of the empire to
Constantinople was the signal for the downfall of the empire. Rome then lost its prestige. The western division (Italian peninsula) was
exposed to the incursions of foreign enemies (the Goths and others). On the death of Constantine, the Roman Empire was divided
among his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantine II and Constans quarreled, and the victorious Constans
gained the supremacy of the entire West. The barbarians of the North soon began their incursions and extended their conquests until
the imperial power of the Western Empire expired in AD 476.
Note here that Rome was divided into three sections. We will see more about this in the Revelation section of this study
where we consider a third part of men being destroyed, see Revelation 9:15.
Verse 30. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against
the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
Chittim is the coast and islands of the Mediterranean and a celebrated city situated in that region is Carthage. Naval warfare,
with Carthage as a base of operations, was waged against the Roman Empire. History records the terrible onslaught of the Vandals
upon Rome under the fierce Genseric (king of the Vandals and Alans). Every spring he sallied forth from the port of Carthage at the
head of his large and well-disciplined naval forces, spreading consternation through all the Maritime Provinces of the empire. That
this is the work brought to view is further evident when we consider verse 29, the transfer of the empire to Constantinople. The
Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire is here mentioned. The years AD 428-477 mark the career of Genseric and the “ships of
Chittim” coming against Rome.
"He shall be grieved, and return" may have reference to the desperate efforts which were made to remove from Genseric his
command of the seas. The first effort was made by Majorian, a prominent General of Western Rome. The second effort was by Leo I
the Thracian, Emperor of Rome (not Pope Leo I), both of which were utter failures. Rome was obliged to submit to the humiliation of
seeing its provinces ravaged and pillaged by the enemy.
"Indignation against the holy covenant" refers to efforts to destroy God's covenant by attacking the Holy Scriptures, the book
of the covenant. A revolution of this nature was accomplished in Rome. The Goths, Vandals and others who conquered Rome,
embraced the Arian faith, which asserts that Christ is not fully divine and thus became enemies of the Catholic Church. It was

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especially for the purpose of exterminating this heresy that Justinian decreed the Pope to be the head of the church and the “corrector
of heretics”. The Bible soon came to be regarded as a dangerous book that should not be read by the common people. All questions of
biblical dispute were to be submitted to the Pope. Thus was indignity heaped upon God's word. From J. A. Wylie, “The Papacy”, pp.
180, 181, we find this revealing report:
"One would have thought that the Church of Rome had removed her people to a safe distance from the Scriptures. She has
placed the gulf of tradition between them and the Word of God. She has removed them still farther from the sphere of danger, by
providing an infallible interpreter, whose duty it is to take care that the Bible shall express no hostility to Rome. But, as if this were
not enough, she has labored by all means in her power to prevent the Scriptures coming in any shape into the hands of her people.
Before the Reformation she kept the bible locked up in a dead language, and severe laws were enacted against the reading of it. The
Reformation unsealed the precious volume. Tyndale and Luther, the one from his retreat at Vildorfe in the Low Countries, and the
other from amid the deep shades of the Thuringian forest, sent forth the Bible to the nations in the vernacular tongues of England and
Germany. A thirst was thus awakened for the Scriptures, which the Church of Rome deemed it imprudent openly to oppose. The
Council of Trent enacted ten rules regarding prohibited books, which, while they appeared to gratify, were insidiously framed to
check, the growing desire for the Word of God. In the fourth rule, the Council prohibits anyone from reading the Bible without a
license from his bishop or inquisitor; that license to be founded on a certificate from his confessor that he is in no danger of receiving
injury from so doing.”
The Council adds these emphatic words: “That if any one shall dare to read or keep in his possession that book, without such
a license, he shall not receive absolution till he has given it up.” These rules are followed by the bull of Pius IV, in which he declares
that those who shall violate them shall be held guilty of mortal sin. Thus did the Church of Rome attempt to regulate what she found it
impossible to wholly prevent. The fact that no Papist is allowed to read the Bible without a license does not appear in the catechisms
and other books in common use among Roman Catholics in this country. But it is incontrovertible that it forms the law of that
Church. In accordance therewith, we find that the uniform practice of the priests of Rome, from the Popes downward, is to prevent the
circulation of the Bible. Preventing it entirely in those countries where they had the power to do so, such as Italy and Spain. And in
other countries, to all the extent to which their power enabled them. Their uniform policy then is to discourage the reading of the
Scriptures in every possible way. Where they dare not employ force to gain this object, they declare that those who presume to
oppose the will of Rome in this matter are guilty of mortal sin.
The emperors of Rome, the Eastern Division of which still continued, had intelligence, or connived, with the Church of
Rome, which had forsaken the covenant and constituted the great apostasy, for the purpose of putting down heresy. The man of sin
was raised to his presumptuous throne by the defeat of the Arian Goths. He then held possession and effective rule of all of Rome, in
AD 538.
Verse 31. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice
and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate.
"They shall pollute the sanctuary of strength," Rome. If this applies to the barbarians, it was literally fulfilled; for Rome was
sacked by the Goths and Vandals, and the imperial power of the West ceased through the conquest of Rome. Or if it refers to the rulers
of the Empire who were working on behalf of the papacy (against paganism and other opposing religions), it would signify the
removal of the seat of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople, which contributed to the downfall of Rome. The passage would then
be parallel to Daniel 8:11, Revelation 13: 2.
Papacy Takes Away "the Daily." The word "sacrifice" in Daniel 8:13 is a word erroneously supplied. It should be
"desolation." The expression denotes a desolating power, of which the “abomination of desolation” is in essence, the same. It seems
clear therefore that the "daily" desolation was paganism, and the "abomination of desolation" installed to replace it, is the papacy. But
it may be asked, “How can this be the papacy since Christ spoke of it in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem?” The answer is
Christ evidently referred to Daniel 9, which predicts the destruction of Jerusalem, and not to this verse in Daniel 11, which does not
refer to that event. In the ninth chapter, Daniel speaks of desolations and abominations in the plural. More than one abomination,
therefore, treads down the true church; that is, as far as the church is concerned, both paganism and the papacy are abominations. But
as distinguished from each other, the language is restricted. One is the "daily" desolation, and the other is pre-eminently the
transgression of "abomination" of desolation.
How was the "daily," or paganism, taken away? As this is spoken of in connection with the placing or setting up of the
“abomination of desolation”, the papacy, it must denote, not merely a change of the religion of the empire, from paganism to
Christianity, but to a complete eradication of paganism from all the elements of the Empire. This would open the way for the papal
“abomination” to arise and assert its arrogant claims. The so-called “conversion” of Constantine to Christianity was a major event that
began this transition from paganism to Christianity. A revolution occurring about two hundred years after his death completed it.
As we approach the year AD 508, we behold a mighty crisis ripening between Catholicism and the pagan influences still
existing in the empire. Up to the time of AD 496, the French and other nations of Western Rome was pagan. After that, efforts to
convert idolaters to Romanism were crowned with great success. Between AD 496 and AD 508, by alliances, capitulations and
conquests, the Visigoths, other peoples and tribes along with the Roman garrisons in the West were brought into subjection to
Catholicism.

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From the time when this was accomplished, AD 508, the papacy was triumphant so far as paganism was concerned. But
paganism in prominent powers in Europe was holding back the growing power of the Roman pontiff. When these prominent powers
gave up their attachment to paganism, they only changed to abomination in another form. That of Christianity as exhibited in the
Roman Catholic Church. Which was, and remains, only paganism baptized.
Such was the direction in which events were tending in the West. A strong Papal presence was also in the East, in
Constantinople. Encouraged by the success of the West, they began open hostilities toward paganism in the east and all forms of
religion not in subjection to Rome.
Soon after the year 508, paganism had so far declined, and Catholicism had so far relatively increased in strength, that the
Catholic Church for the first time was able to wage a successful war against both the civil authority of the Empire and the church of
the East, who embraced the Monophysite doctrine. A doctrine concerning itself with the nature of Christ that Romanism opposed.
Rome in counting it as heresy inspired a zeal of fanaticism and civil war which swept in fire and blood throughout Constantinople.
Open war took place a few years later in 508-518.
Vitalian (General of the Eastern Empire), with an army of Huns and Bulgarians, for the most part idolaters, declared
himself a champion of the Catholic faith. In this pious rebellion Thrace was depopulated, Constantinople was besieged and sixty-five
thousand “fellow” Christians were killed. This was the first of religious wars waged in the name and by the disciples of, the God of
Peace. Thus, the daily was taken away by AD 508. This was preparatory to the establishment of the papacy, which was a separate
and subsequent event. Of this the prophecy says, "They shall place the abomination that makes desolate."
Having shown quite fully what constitutes the taking away of the daily, or paganism, we now inquire, “When was the
abomination that makes desolate, the papacy, placed, or set up?” The little horn that had eyes like the eyes of man could now see that
the way was open for his advancement and elevation. From the year AD 508 his progress toward universal supremacy was without a
parallel.
When Justinian was about to begin the Vandal war, in AD 533, he wished to secure the blessing of the bishop of Rome. The
Bishop had risen to a position in which his opinion carried great weight throughout a large part of Christendom. It had long been
contested between the city of Rome in the west and Constantinople in the east as to which should have the precedence. Justinian gave
his preference to Rome in an official letter to the Pope. He declared in the fullest terms that the bishop of that city should be chief of
the whole ecclesiastical body of the Empire. In his letter to Epiphanius he states that all affairs touching the church shall be referred to
the Pope. Who is referred to as the head of all bishops and the true and effective corrector of heretics.
In the same month of the following year, AD 534, the Pope adopted the titles of the “Imperial Mandate”. Such a title means,
“Heaven bestows its mandate to a just leader”, a title also employed in China by Confucianism. All the churches in the Empire were
now united under the Pope. To make this the law of government, Rome instituted a new constitution, the 'Novellae'. It states that the
elder Rome was now the founder of laws and the supremacy of the pontificate was not to be questioned. The most holy Pope of the
elder Rome is the first of all the priesthood and the Archbishop of Constantinople was second.
But this decree could not at once be carried into effect; for western Rome and Italy were still held by the Ostrogoths, who
were Arians in faith, and strongly opposed to the religion of Justinian and the Pope. It was therefore evident that the Ostrogoths must
be rooted out of Rome before the Pope could exercise the power he had been given. To accomplish this, the Italian war against the
Vandals began in AD 534.
In the month of March, 538, the combination of Justinian’s aggression and dangers threatening the Ostrogoths from other
quarters caused their retirement from battle. They burned their tents and in tumult and confusion fled from the city. With numbers
scarcely sufficient to preserve their existence as a nation or their identity as a people.
Thus the Gothic horn, the last of the three, was plucked up before the little horn of Daniel 7. Nothing now stood in the way
of the Pope. He held full sway to exercise the power conferred upon him by Justinian, five years before. The saints, times, and laws
were now in the hands of the Pope, not in purpose only, but in fact. This must therefore be taken as the year, AD 538, when this
abomination was placed, or set up. It is from this point we date the beginning of the prophetic period of 1,260 years of papal
supremacy.
Verse 32. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall
be strong and do exploits.
Those who forsook the book of the covenant, the Holy Scriptures, who thought more of the decree of Popes and the decisions
of councils than they did of the word of God, were corrupted by flatteries. That is, they were led on in their zeal for the Pope by
receiving wealth, position, and honors.
At the same time a people existed who knew their God, and these shall be strong, and do exploits. They were Christians who
kept pure religion alive in the earth during the Dark Ages of papal tyranny. They performed marvelous acts of self-sacrifice and
religious heroism for their faith. Prominent among these were the Waldenses the Huguenots and many others.

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Verse 33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by
captivity, and by spoil, many days.
.
The long period of papal persecution against those who were struggling to maintain the truth and instruct their fellow men in
the ways of righteousness, is here brought to view. The number of the days during which they were thus to “fall” is given in Daniel
7:25; 12:7; Revelation 12:6 and14 and 13:5. This period is called "a time, and times, and the dividing of time;" "a time, times, and a
half;" "a thousand two hundred and threescore days;" and "forty and two months." All these expressions are various ways of denoting
the same, 1,260 years of papal supremacy. This Papal power was broken through the actions of Revolutionary France 1,260 years
after it first rose to full power in AD 538.
Verse 34. Now when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
In Revelation 12, where this same papal persecution is brought to view, we read that the earth helped the woman (the people
of God, His Church) by opening her mouth and swallowing up the flood which the dragon cast out after her. The Protestant
Reformation led by Martin Luther and his co-workers furnished the help here foretold. The German states embraced the Protestant
cause, protected the reformers, and restrained the work of persecution carried out by the papal church. But when the Protestants were
helped and when their cause began to be popular, many were to cleave unto them (the Protestants) with flatteries, or embrace the faith
from unworthy motives. Leavening the righteous and diluting the meaning of what it meant to be a protestant, a Christian.
Verse 35. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the
end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Though restrained, the spirit of persecution was not destroyed. It broke out whenever there was opportunity. Especially was
this the case in England. The religious state of that kingdom remained in flux right up to the “time of the end.” Protestant or papal
jurisdiction was the question to be settled in England and that followed the religion of the ruling monarch. "Bloody Queen Mary" was
a mortal enemy to the Protestant cause and multitudes would fall victim to her relentless persecutions. The natural conclusion would
be that when the time of the end should come, the power of the Church of Rome to punish heretics, the cause of so much persecution,
and which for a time had been restrained, would be broken. The conclusion would be equally evident that this taking away of papal
supremacy would mark the beginning of the period here called the "time of the end." Thus the time of the end began in 1798; when
the papacy was overthrown by the French. Never since has it been able to wield the power to “correct heretics” (even unto death) that
it had previously held. The papacy corrected heretics by whatever means it could, and did employ. The oppression of the church by
the papacy is referred to here because this verse is the only one, with the possible exception of Revelation 2:10, connected with "a
time appointed," or a prophetic period of time. This, 1798, is when Catholicism received its “deadly wound” by removing from it the
power to “correct heretics” through the means of force and even war.
It was not because the Pope himself was taken captive that this was lost. It was lost through the removal of the combination
of religious and political power it had held to enforce religious and civil law by means of force. Only when this power of “force by
means of civil and/or military power” is restored will the “deadly wound” be completely healed. This power or system of worship
will then return to the same devices and means it has always used to correct heretics by force.
Verse 36. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall
speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined
shall be done.
The king here introduced cannot denote the same power that was last noticed, namely, the papal power; for the specifications
will not hold well when applied to that power. Consider a declaration in the next verse: "Nor regard any god." This has never been
true of the papacy. God and Christ, though often placed in a false position, have never been professedly set aside and rejected from
that system of religion.
Three peculiar features must appear in the power which fulfills this prophecy:
It must assume the character here delineated near the beginning of the time of the end, which is that period to which we are brought
down to in the preceding verse. It must be a willful power. It must be an atheistical power.
Perhaps the two latter specifications might be united by saying that its willfulness would be manifested in the direction of atheism.
France fulfills the Prophecy. A revolution exactly answering to this description took place in France at the time indicated in
the prophecy. Atheists sowed the seeds which bore their logical and baleful fruit. Voltaire (French philosopher famous for his attacks
on the established Catholic Church), in his pompous but impotent self-conceit, said, "I am weary of hearing people repeat that twelve
men established the Christian religion. I will prove that one man may suffice to overthrow it." Along with his allies he undertook to
accomplish his threat. The Roman Catholic Church was notoriously corrupt in France during this period, and the people were anxious
to break the yoke of ecclesiastical oppression. Their efforts culminated in the "reign of terror" of 1793, when France discarded the
bible and denied the existence of the Deity.

7
The populace cried the priests were 'harlequins and clowns in black garments’ and set up the “Worship of Reason.” Civic
festivals were greatly insisted. Christian worship was abolished. All of spiritualism was removed from the republican program.
Death was declared an eternal slumber. The President declared that as the Supreme Being desired no worship other than the worship
of “Reason” that should in future, be the national religion.
But there are other and still more striking specifications which were fulfilled by France.
Verse 37. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify
himself above all.
The Hebrew word for woman is also translated wife; this passage is more properly rendered "the desire of wives."
This would indicate that this government, at the same time it declared that God did not exist, would trample underfoot the law which
God had given to regulate the marriage institution. And we find from history the atheism and licentiousness of this government in the
same order they are presented in the prophecy. The family had been destroyed. Under the old regime it had been the very foundation
of society, the decree of September 20, 1792 which established divorce was carried still further by the Convention in 1794. The fruit
of which was something the Legislature itself had never dreamt: an immediate divorce could be pronounced on for “incompatibility of
temper” (“irreconcilable differences” we might call it today). It was to come into force within a year at farthest, if either of the couple
should refuse to separate before then.
There was a rush for divorce; by the end of 1793 fifteen months after the passing of the decree 5,994 divorces had been
granted in Paris. Under this Directory women passed from hand to hand by a legal process. What was the fate of the children born of
these successive unions? Some people got rid of them: the number of foundlings in one year rose to 4,000 in Paris and to 44,000 in
other areas. Even when the parents kept the children a tragi-comical confusion was the result. A man would marry several sisters, one
after the other. One citizen presented a petition to the “Five Hundred” (the French legislature) for leave to marry the mother of the
two wives he had already possessed. The family unit was destroyed.
"Nor regard any god." The constitutional bishop of Paris was brought forward in full procession. He declared to the
Convention that the religion which he had taught so many years was, in every respect, a piece of priestly craft. He said it had no
foundation either in history or sacred truth. He disowned, in solemn and explicit terms, the existence of the Deity to whose worship he
had been consecrated. He devoted himself in the future to the homage of liberty, equality, virtue, and morality. He then received a
fraternal embrace from the president of the Convention. Several apostate priests followed the example of this prelate. Many associates
then appeared at the bar, and declared that God did not exist.
All worship was prohibited, except that of liberty and the country. The gold and silver plates of the churches were seized and
desecrated. The churches were closed. The bells were broken and cast into cannons. The Bible was publicly burned. The sacramental
vessels were paraded through the streets on an ass, in a token of contempt. A week of ten days instead of seven was established, and
death was declared an eternal sleep.
The crowning blasphemy, if these orgies of hell would admit to degrees, was performed by the comedian Monvel (a priest of
“Illuminism”) who said: "God if you exist . . . avenge your injured name. I bid you defiance. You remain silent; you dare not launch
your thunders; who, after this, will believe in your existence?" Behold what a man becomes when left to himself! What infidelity is
seen when the restraints of law are thrown off and one takes the power in his own hand! Can it be doubted that these scenes are what
the Omniscient One foresaw and noted on the sacred page? When He pointed out a kingdom to arise and exalt itself above every god,
and disregard them all? France fulfills this prophecy in every regard!
Verse 38. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and
silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
We meet a seeming contradiction in this verse. How can a nation disregard every god, and yet honor “the god of forces”? It
could not at one and the same time hold both of these positions. But it might, for a time, disregard all gods and then introduce a new
system of worship and regard the “god of forces”.
Such a change did occur in France at this time. The attempt to make France a godless nation produced such anarchy that the
rulers feared their power would pass entirely out of their hands. Therefore they perceived that as a political necessity, some kind of
worship must be introduced. But they had no intention of introducing anything which would increase devotion, or develop any true
spiritual character among the people. Only enough religion to keep them in power and give them control of the national forces.
“Liberty” and “country” were at first the objects of adoration. "Liberty, equality, virtue, and morality," the very opposites of anything
they possessed or exhibited in fact. These were the words set forth to describe the “deity” of this atheistic nation.
In 1793 the worship of the “Goddess of Reason” was introduced. During the time when this fantastic “worship of reason”
was the national craze, the leaders of this revolution were known to history as "the atheists." But it was soon seen that the religion of
the “worship of reason”, which was in vogue, was not enough to hold the people and secure the power of the rulers. A form of
worship with even more powerful sanctions followed in which the object of adoration was the "Supreme Being." It was equally
hollow so far as any reformation of life and vital godliness were concerned. It took hold upon the supernatural. The “Goddess of

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Reason” was indeed a "strange god" but the "god of forces" that is, the supernatural and spiritualism, may more appropriately be
applied to this verse in the later phase of France finding a “religion” to gain influence over the people.
Verse 39. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and
he shall cause them to rule over many and shall divide the land for gain.
The system of paganism which had been introduced into France, as exemplified in the worship of the idol set up in the person
of the “Goddess of Reason” was regulated by a heathen ritual, enacted by the National Assembly for the use of the French people,
This continued in force until the appointment of Napoleon to the provisional consulate of France in 1799. The adherents of this
strange religion occupied the fortified places and the strongholds of the nation, as expressed in this verse.
But that which serves to identify the application of this prophecy to France, as clearly as any other particular, is the statement
made in the last clause of the verse; that they should "divide the land for gain." Previous to the Revolution, the land property of
France was owned by the Catholic Church and a few landlords in immense estates. These estates were required by the law to remain
undivided, so that no heirs or creditors could partition them. But revolution knows no law and in the anarchy that now reigned, as
noted also in Revelation 11, the titles of the nobility were abolished. Their lands were disposed of in small parcels for the benefit of
the tax collector. The government was in need of funds, and these large land estates were confiscated and sold at auction, in parcels to
suit purchasers.
Two thirds of the land property in the kingdom was confiscated resulting from the decrees of the Convention. The land taken
from emigrants, clergy, and persons convicted at the Revolutionary Tribunal’s was then sold. The funds, worth more than
£700,000,000 sterling, were placed at the disposal of the government.
When did ever an event take place and in what country, fulfilling a prophecy more completely than this? As the nation began
to come to itself, a more rational religion was demanded, and the heathen ritual was abolished. A third and a bolder measure was the
discarding of the heathen rituals, and the reopening of the churches for Christian worship. Napoleon wholly takes the credit for this
third change in a system of worship! He recognized the need for a more powerful religion to stabilize the government and the
populace. In France, he would now reintroduce Catholicism. Later, in Egypt, he would embrace the Muslim faith for the same
purposes. This he correctly deemed would secure a state of tranquility. The priests who chose to take the oath of fidelity to the
government were readmitted to their functions; and this wise measure was followed by 20,000 or more of these ministers of religion,
who had been languishing in the prisons of France.
When the Reign of Terror and the French Revolution terminated, out of the ruins arose Napoleon Bonaparte. He would guide
the tumult to his own elevation, place himself at the head of the French government and strike terror to the hearts of nations.
Verse 40. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like
a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and
pass over.
After a long interval the King of the South and the King of the North again appear on the stage. Here is brought to view a
triangular war involving Egypt, Turkey and France. The king of the South was at that time, Egypt and the king of the north was Syria,
which included Thrace and Asia Minor. Turkey ruled over the territory of the north, as it had for more than four hundred years. The
third king brought to view in this triangular war would be Revolutionary France, first noted in verse 36. This application of the
prophecy calls for a conflict to spring up between “Egypt and France” and between “France and Turkey” in the year 1798. There is
nothing to indicate that we are to look to any location for these powers other than those are noted following the death of Alexander the
Great. Upon his death his kingdom was divided to the “four winds”, that is, four points of the compass. Each compass zone was then
taken by one of his four generals. They fought among themselves and in time, the north and south areas, or “kingdoms” became
dominant as it concerns the prophecy.
History testifies that such a triangular war did indeed break out in that very year, 1798, the time of the end. It is conclusive
proof of the correctness of this application. At that “time of the end” Egypt did "push”, or make a comparatively feeble resistance.
Turkey became a resistless "whirlwind," against "him", that is, the government of France. More to the point, it was against Napoleon,
the representative, aggressor and protector of France. We have already produced some evidence that the time of the end began in
1798; and in that year a state of open hostility between France and Egypt was developed.
The French, in the person of Napoleon, contrived to make Egypt be seen as the aggressor. "In a skillfully worded
proclamation he (Napoleon) assured the peoples of Egypt that he had come to chastise only the governing caste of Mamelukes (the
rulers of Egypt originating from Turkey). These had held the Egyptian throne from about 1250 and remained powerful until 1811.
Napoleon declared that he embraced the religion of the Muslim. He had more respect for God, Mohammed, and the Koran than the
Mamelukes had shown. He noted that the French had destroyed the Pope and the Knights of Malta who had levied war on the
Muslim. Blessed, therefore, would be those who sided with the French, blessed those who remained neutral, and unhappy those who
dared to fight against him.
The beginning of the year 1798 found the French indulging in immense projects against the English. The French Directory
desired Bonaparte to undertake at once a crossing of the Channel and an attack upon England. But Napoleon would wisely wait for

9
autumn before beginning that campaign. Yet unwilling to spend his summer in idleness he saw a far-off land, where glory was to be
won. Victory would gain him a new charm in the eyes of his countrymen by the romance and mystery which hung upon Egypt. The
land of the Pharaohs and Ptolemies would be a noble field for his new triumphs.
His broader visions of glory included those Eastern historic lands, covering not only Egypt, but Syria, Persia, Hindustan,
even to the Ganges itself. He had no difficulty in persuading the Directory that Egypt was the vulnerable point through which to strike
at England by intercepting her Eastern trade. Hence on the pretext above mentioned, the Egyptian campaign was undertaken.
The downfall of the papacy, which marked the termination of the 1,260 years and according to verse 35, showed the
beginning of the time of the end, occurred in February, 1798. On the 5th of March following, Bonaparte received the decree of the
Directory to advance against Egypt. He left Paris May 3, and set sail from Toulon on the 19th
. With a large naval armament consisting
of thirteen ships-of-the-line, fourteen frigates (some of them unarmed), a large number of smaller vessels of war, and about 300
transports. Upwards of 35,000 troops were on board, along with 1,230 horses. If we include the support crews, the total number of
persons aboard was about 50,000; it has even been placed as high as 54,000.
On July 2, Alexandria, Egypt was taken, and immediately fortified. On the 21st the decisive Battle of the Pyramids was
fought, in which the Mamelukes contested the field with valor and desperation. But they were no match for the disciplined legions of
the French. On the 25th, Bonaparte entered Cairo, the capital of Egypt. He waited only for the floods of the Nile to drain sufficiently
to continue to Upper Egypt and make a conquest of the whole country. Thus the king of the south was able to make but a feeble
resistance.
At this juncture, however, the situation of Napoleon began to grow precarious. The French fleet, which was his only channel
of communication with France, was destroyed by the English under Lord Nelson at Aboukir. On September 11, 1798, the sultan of
Turkey was encouraged by the English ambassadors at Constantinople to declare war on France. The Sultan feared that Egypt, a semi
dependency of the Ottoman Empire, would become a French province.
Thus the king of the north, Turkey, came against him, France, in the same year that the king of the south, Egypt, "pushed”
against France. This all took place "at the time of the end!" This is another conclusive proof that the year 1798 is the year which
begins that period. So many events, taken together, meeting accurately the specifications of the prophecy, decisively confirms the
fulfillment and the interpretation of verse 40.
Napoleon had crushed the armies of Egypt, and determined to do the same against the armies of the sultan, which were
threatening an attack from the side of Asia. He began his march from Cairo to Syria, February 27, 1799, with 18,000 men. Swarms of
Mussulmans gathered in the mountains of Samaria, ready to swoop down upon the French when they should besiege Acre. Two
English ships then reinforced the Turkish garrison. The apparatus for a siege, which Napoleon had sent by sea from Alexandria, was
captured. A Turkish fleet soon appeared, along with Russian and English vessels that were then co-operating with the sultan. This
constituted the "many ships" of the king of the north.
On the 18th of March the battle began. After a continuance of sixty days, Napoleon sounded the note of retreat and for the
first time in his career on the 21st of May, 1799 he began to retrace his steps to Egypt in defeat.
"He . . . shall overflow and pass over.” We now reach a point where the views of expositors begin to diverge. To who do the
words he "shall overflow and pass over," refer to, France or to the king of the north. Some apply the words to France, and endeavor to
find a fulfillment in the career of Napoleon. Others apply them to the king of the north, and accordingly point for a fulfillment to
events in the history of Turkey. We speak of these two positions only, as the attempt to bring in the papacy, as some do, is so wide of
the mark it need not be considered. Only one position has the weight of evidence in its favor, leaving scarcely room for doubt.
Turkey, now occupying the territory which constituted the northern division of Alexander's empire, is the king of the north of
this prophecy. If not, then we are left without any principle to guide us in the interpretation. There is no room for the introduction of
any other power here. France and the king of the north are the only ones to whom the prophecy, can apply. The fulfillment then must
lie between these two.
The king of the north with the aid of his allies, the English and Russian ships, gained the day in this contest. The French,
defeated in their efforts, were driven back to Egypt. A natural application then to the phrase "overflowing and passing over" would go
to that power which emerged triumphant from the struggle. That power was Turkey.
Verse 41. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his
hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
After a fatiguing march of twenty-six days Napoleon re-entered Cairo in Egypt. Thus he abandoned all the conquests made in
Judea, and the "glorious land," Palestine, with all its provinces, here called "countries.” Palestine once again came under rule of the
oppressive Turk. Edom, Moab, and Ammon lay outside the limits of Palestine, being south and east of the Dead Sea and Jordan.
These countries were out of the line of the route of Napoleons army. And also of the Turks who came through Syria to Egypt. Thus,
Edom, Moab, and Ammon escaped the ravages of the campaign. The Turks were not then, or today, able to subdue these and other
Arabians, who still occupy the deserts.

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Verse 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
On the retreat of the French to Egypt, a Turkish fleet landed 10,000 men at Aboukir, (Battle of Aboukir 1799). Napoleon
immediately attacked the place, completely routing the Turks, and re-establishing his authority in Egypt. But at this point, severe
reverses to the French arms in Europe called Napoleon home to look after the interests of his own country. The command of the
troops in Egypt was left with one on his generals.
Meanwhile, the English government, as an ally of the Turks, had resolved to wrest Egypt from the French. On March 13,
1801, and English fleet disembarked a body of troops at Aboukir. The French gave battle the next day, but were forced to retire. On
the 18th Aboukir surrendered. On the 28th
reinforcements were brought in by a Turkish fleet and the grand vizier (prime minister of
the Ottoman sultan) approached from Syria with a large army. On the 19th, the French surrendered to the combined forces of the
English and the Turks. On October 1, 1801, the preliminaries of peace were signed in London.
"Egypt shall not escape" were the words of the prophecy. This language implies that Egypt would be brought into subjection
to some power from whose dominion it would desire to be released. Egypt preferred French rule as the French were much regarded
by the Egyptians and extolled as benefactors. The Egyptians did not desire to escape from the hands of the French. They desired to
escape from the hands of the Turks. But “Egypt shall not escape” reads the prophecy and they did not.
Verse 43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the
Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
Mehemet Ali was the Turkish governor of Egypt who rose to power after the defeat of the French. He needed to exact large
revenue from his subjects, in order to send such sums to Constantinople to satisfy the sultan. The sultan then would understand that it
was in his best interest to sustain the power of his Egyptian governor. Mehemet, acting upon this principle used many unjust means to
obtain possession of large estates. He denied the legitimacy of many successions; he burned title deeds, and seized properties; in
short, he set at defiance all universally acknowledged rights of landholders. Great disturbances followed, but Mehemet was prepared
for these, and, by his firmness he made it appear that the bare assertion of claims was an aggression on the part of the Sheikhs. The
taxes were constantly increased and their collection put into the hands of the military governors. By this means the peasantry was
ground to the very lowest point.
Verse 44. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy
and utterly to make away many.
On this verse Adam Clarke, who authored a well respected commentary on the bible, has a note which is worthy of mention.
In 1825 commenting on this verse he says, "This part of the prophecy is allowed to be yet unfulfilled." In another part of his
comment, he says: "If the Turkish power be understood, as in the preceding verses, it may mean that the Persians on the east, and the
Russians on the north, will at some time greatly embarrass the Ottoman government."
Between this conjecture by Adam Clarke, written in 1825, and the Crimean War of 1853-1856, there is certainly a striking
coincidence! Florence Nightingale is one of the more famous persons associated with this war. The very powers Adam Clarke
mentions, the Persians on the east, and the Russians on the north, were the ones which instigated this conflict.
Tidings, news, from these powers troubled him, Turkey. Their attitude and threatening movements incited the sultan to anger
and revenge. Russia, being the more aggressive party, was the object of attack. Turkey declared war on her powerful northern
neighbor in 1853. The world looked on in amazement to see a government which had long been called "the Sick Man of the East," a
government whose army was dispirited and demoralized, whose treasuries were empty, who rulers were vile and imbecile, and whose
subjects were rebellious and threatening secession, rush so quickly and without apparent thought into this conflict. The prophecy said
that they should go forth with "great fury," and when they thus went forth in the war aforesaid, they were described, in the profane
vernacular of an American writer, as "fighting like devils." England and France, it is true, soon came to the help of Turkey; but she
went forth in the manner described, and as reported. Turkey gained important victories before receiving assistance from these powers.
Verse 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his
end, and none shall help him.
We have now traced the prophecy of the 11th of Daniel down, step by step, and have thus far found events to fulfill all its
predictions. It has all been wrought out into history except this last verse. We are carried by this verse past our own day and into the
future; for no power has yet performed the acts here described. But it is to be fulfilled; and its fulfillment must be accomplished by
that power which has been continuously the subject of the prophecy from the 40th verse down to this, the 45th verse. If the
application, to which we have given the preference in passing over these verses, is correct, we must look to Turkey to make the move
here indicated.
And mark the language concerning that power: "He shall come to his end, and none shall help him." This expression
plainly implies that this power has previously received help. And here are the facts.

11
In the war against France in 1798-1801, England and Russia assisted the sultan. In the war between Turkey and Egypt in
1838-1840 England, Russia, Austria and Prussia intervened in behalf of Turkey. In the Crimean War of 1853-1856, England, France,
and Sardinia supported the Turks. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the great powers of Europe interfered to arrest the progress
of Russia. Modern Turkey is a member of NATO and has received help from different allies over the centuries. This is for the most
part been done as a means of maintaining a certain balance of power in the regions. In that no single country could control the
commerce of Europe and Asia. Without this help Turkey would likely have failed to maintain her position.
Since the fall of the Ottoman supremacy in 1840, the empire has existed only through the sufferance of the great powers of
Europe. Without their pledged support, she would not have long been able to maintain even a nominal existence; and when that is
withdrawn, she must come to the ground. So the prophecy says the king comes to his end and none help him.
One possibility is that he comes to his end, as we may naturally infer, because none help him. Because the support
previously rendered is withdrawn. Ever since the days of Peter the Great, 1672-1725, Russia has cherished the idea of driving the
Crescent from the soil of Europe. If this happened the "the equilibrium of Europe" would be drastically altered. Turkey has been a
buffer between Russia and Europe and this is one reason why Europe has always allied itself when necessary, to defend Turkey. But
this cannot always continue for the prophecy declares, "He shall come to his end, and none shall help him."
"Between the seas in the glorious holy mountain” must denote, as we have shown, some part of the Holy Land. There the
Turk shall encamp “and come to his end, and none shall help him”. The prophecy states the king of the north will come into
Jerusalem (between the seas and the glorious holy mountain) and will establish some kind of head quarters (tabernacles and palace)
before coming to his end.
In the Russo-Turkey War of 1877-1878 all the world watched anxiously to see if Russia would drive Turkey out of
Constantinople into Palestine. At the time, Israel did not exist and Palestine was a part of the Ottoman Empire. It was widely felt that
this would be the end result of that war and should it happen, it would have been the fulfillment of verse 45.
Had Russia been victorious that is what Turkey would have done. God is in control of the timing of prophetic events and on
this verse it has not been revealed when that time may be. It is He who determines rulers, nations, peoples, when they shall stand,
when they shall fall, when they shall come to their end. The event noted in verse 45 with no specific prophetic time associated with it,
is yet future. This is the last verse of a prophecy that has been fulfilled point by point since the times of ancient Babylon. This verse
is as sure to be fulfilled, just as stated, as accurately as the earlier verses have been.
So we wait and watch, just as all those who came before us have done, waiting and watching for the coming of the Messiah.
Just as Daniel and many other biblical authors had prophesied, so the Messiah did come the first time. And so He will return the
second. On this, we have the sure word of prophecy.
In 1877 or 1878 had Turkey’s capital been relocated to “Palestine” such an event would have led to an unbalance of global
power, resulting in global war. And more so will that be the case today! When the king of the north, Turkey, comes into Palestine
(Jerusalem), as it surely will, it will lead to a global war. Israel will either surrender as the only option to survival against the united
forces of an attacking Muslim power (a Caliphate) or it will be forced to commit national suicide. Either way, the Caliphate won’t
care how they take Israel; they would welcome a martyr’s death at the hand of a nuclear Israel. The “nations will be angry”, furious in
fact. The king of the north will come to his end and none shall help him.
For centuries Turkey was the seat of the “Caliphate”. As the Pope was to all of Christendom during the dark ages, so the
Caliphate has been to Muslims (Islamists). It maintained a certain degree of cooperation and uneasy harmony among the various sects
of Islam (Sunni, Shiite, Druze and many more). When these various sects unite once again, under a Caliphate, they will have
immense power to cause war. And they will go forth to conquer, the world. The aim of the Caliphate, for centuries, has been global
domination.
We have seen the prophecies of Daniel unfold just as the Lords servant said they would. We can be confident that this final
verse, 45, will surely be fulfilled just as those before it have been, down through the centuries. That head of gold, Babylon, brought to
view in Daniel 2, fulfilled the first part of this prophecy to the letter. Regardless of how impossible it may look to man.
The more impossible it looks to man, the more certain it will be that this was truly the hand of God when it comes to pass.
When this takes place, when this final verse, 45, is fulfilled, then what follows? An event only paralleled by that of Noah’s flood. For
as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of our Lord. All the inhabitants of this world will be impacted.
As the next chapter, verse one, reveals.
Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:
and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy
people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
There is only one way to be delivered from the coming wrath that will lead to the end of this world, your name, written in Gods book.

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Revelation 8
Seven Trumpets, Rome and Islam
The first verse of this chapter relates to the events of the preceding chapters and therefore should not have been separated
from them by the division of the chapter. The series of seven seals is here resumed and concluded. The sixth chapter of Revelation
closed with the events of the sixth seal and the eighth chapter begins with the opening of the seventh seal. Hence the seventh chapter
stands parenthetically between the sixth and seventh seals and it appears that the sealing work of Revelation of 7 belongs to the sixth
seal.
Verse 1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
The sixth seal does not bring us to the second advent of Christ, although it embraces events closely connected with that
coming. It introduces the fearful commotions of the elements, described as the heavens rolling together as a scroll, the breaking up of
the surface of the earth, and the confession by the wicked that the great day of God's wrath is come. But the seal stops just short of the
personal appearing of Christ and must therefore be allotted to the next seal.
When the Lord appears, He comes with all the holy angels with Him, Matthew 25:31. When all the heavenly angels leave
the courts above to come to this earth with their divine Lord as He descends to gather the fruit of His redeeming work, will there not
be silence in heaven?
Prophetic time is accurate and definite and in some cases can be fixed to the very day of its occurrence. The time here
brought to view is about “half an hour.” It is thus more reasonably seen as literal rather than prophetic time, more or less a half an
hour. A literal application for the time mentioned in this verse makes good sense at is stands and does no violence to the simple laws
of nature (William Millers rules of interpretation, rule #11).
Verse 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
This verse introduces a new and distinct series of events. In the seals we have had the history of the church during what is
called the Christian era. In the seven trumpets now introduced we have the principal political and warlike events that occur during the
same time as the seals. Thus it is possible to confuse events related to the seals with events related to the trumpets.
Verse 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that
he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Verse 4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
Verse 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and
thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
After introducing the seven angels upon the stage of action in verse 2, John for a moment directs attention to an entirely
different scene. The angel who approaches the altar is not one of the seven trumpet angels. The altar is the altar of incense, which in
the earthly sanctuary was placed in the first apartment.
Here then is another proof that there exists in heaven a sanctuary with its corresponding vessels of service, of which the earth
was a figure and we are taken into that sanctuary by the visions of John. A work of ministration for all the saints in the sanctuary
above is thus brought to view. Doubtless the entire work of mediation for the people of God during the gospel era is here presented.
This is apparent from the fact that the angel offers his incense with the prayers of all saints. That we are here carried forward to the
end of time, is evident from the act of the angel in filling the censer with fire and casting it unto the earth; by this act he shows that his
work is done. No more prayers are to be offered up mingled with incense. This symbolic act can have its application only at the time
when the ministration of Christ in the sanctuary on behalf of mankind has forever ceased. Following the angel's act there are voices,
thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Such occurrences as these are also brought to view in other parts of the sacred text as
unfolding at the close of human probation. See Revelation 11:19; 16:17 and18.
But why are these verses inserted here? They are a message of hope and comfort for the church. The seven angels with their
warlike trumpets had been introduced; terrible scenes are to take place when they should sound. Before they begin to blow, the people
of God are directed to behold the work of mediation on their behalf in heaven and to look to their source of help and strength during
this time.
Though they should be tossed upon the tumultuous waves of strife and war, they were to know that their great High Priest
still ministered for them in the sanctuary in heaven. To that sacred place they could direct their prayers with the assurance that they
would be offered with incense to their Father in heaven. Thus could they gain strength and support in all their tribulations.

13
Verse 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The subject of the seven trumpets is resumed. These trumpets occupy the rest of this chapter and all of Revelation 9. The
blowing of the trumpets by the seven angels comes as a complement to the prophecy of Daniel 2 and 7, beginning with the breaking
up of the old Roman Empire into its ten divisions. In the first four trumpets we have a description of the special events which marked
Rome's fall.
Verse 7 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.
The first Trumpet. Edward Gibbon in “Decline and fall of the Roman Empire” has so elucidated the texts on Revelation 8
and 9 that the professed interpreter could simply point to the pages of his work for a detailed history of the crimes, follies, violence
and misfortune which befell the empire.
The first sore and heavy judgment which fell on Western Rome in its downward course was the war with the Goths under
Alaric, which opened the way for later inroads. The death of Theodosius, the Roman emperor, occurred in January AD 395. Before
the end of the winter the Goths, under Alaric, were in arms against the empire.
The first invasion under Alaric ravaged the Eastern Empire. He captured the famous cities and enslaved many of the
inhabitants. Thrace, Macedonia, Attica, and the Peloponnesus, were conquered; but he did not reach the city of Rome. Later, the
Gothic chieftain crossed the Alps and Apennines and appeared before the walls of the Eternal City, which would fall prey to the fury
of the barbarians in AD 410.
"Hail and fire mingled with blood!" were cast upon the earth. The terrible effects of this Gothic invasion are represented as;
"Hail" from the northern origin of the invaders, "fire" from the destruction by flame of both city and country and "blood" from the
terrible slaughter of the citizens of the empire by the bold and intrepid warriors. The blast of the first trumpet has it location about the
close of the fourth century and onward, and refers to these desolating invasions of the Roman Empire under the Goths.
In Gibbon's “Decline and fall”, concerning the conquests of the Goths, an admirable summary of the historian's words could
be seen as remarks on the fulfillment of prophecy. Large extracts clearly show how amply and well Gibbon has expounded his text in
a way that we may apply this history to the first trumpet. The first storm that pervaded the Roman earth and the first fall of Rome. To
use his words in a more direct comment, we read thus the sum of the matter: “The Gothic nation was in arms at the first sound of the
trumpet and in the uncommon severity of the winter, they rolled their ponderous wagons over the broad and icy back of the river. The
fertile fields of Phocis and Boeotia were crowned with a deluge of barbarians: the males were massacred; the females and cattle of the
flaming villages were driven away. The deep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths could easily be discovered after several
years.”
The whole territory of Attica was blasted by the baneful presence of Alaric. The most fortunate of the inhabitants of Corinth,
Argos, and Sparta were saved by death by beholding the conflagration of their cities from a distance. In a season of such extreme heat
the beds of the rivers were dry. Alaric then invaded the dominion of the West. A secluded 'old man of Verona' the poet, Claudian,
pathetically lamented the fate of his contemporary trees, which must blaze in the conflagration of the whole country. Note the words
of the prophecy, 'The third part of the trees was burned up' and the emperor of the Romans fled before the king of the Goths. A
furious tempest was excited among the nations of Germany; from the northern extremity of which the barbarians marched almost to
the gates of Rome, they achieved the destruction of the West.
The dark cloud which collected along the coasts of the Baltic burst in thunder upon the banks of the upper Danube. The
pastures of Gaul, in which flocks and herds grazed and the banks of the Rhine, which were covered with elegant houses and well-
cultivated farms, formed a scene of peace and plenty. It was suddenly changed into a desert, distinguished from the solitude of nature
only be smoking ruins.
Many cities were cruelly oppressed, or destroyed. Many thousands were inhumanly massacred. The consuming flames of war
spread over the greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. Alaric again stretched his ravages over Italy. For four years the
Goths ravaged and reigned over it without control. And in the pillage and fire of Rome, the streets of the city were filled with dead
bodies; the flames consumed many public and private buildings; the ruins of a palace remained, after a century and a half, a stately
monument of the Gothic conflagration.
The concluding sentence of the thirty-third chapter of Gibbon's History is of itself a clear and comprehensive commentary;
for in winding up his own description of this brief but most eventful period, he concentrates the sum of the history and the substance
of the prophecy, as though seen through the eye of biblical interpretation. But the words which precede it are not without their
meaning: “The public devotion of the age was impatient to exalt the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church on the altars of Diana
and Hercules. The union of the Roman Empire was dissolved; its genius was humbled in the dust; and armies of unknown barbarians,
issued from the frozen regions of the North had established their victorious reign over the fairest provinces of Europe and Africa.”
That last word, “Africa”, is the signal for the sounding of the second trumpet. The scene changes from the shores of the
Baltic to the southern coast of the Mediterranean or from the frozen regions of the North to the borders of burning Africa. Instead of a
storm of hail being cast upon the earth, it was now to be a burning mountain cast into the sea.

14
Verse 8 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;
Verse 9 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.
The Second Trumpet. The Roman Empire, after Constantine the Great, was divided into three parts. Hence the frequent
remark, "a third part of men," is an allusion to the third part of the empire which was under the scourge. This division of the Roman
kingdom was made at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius
possessed the East, and fixed his residence at Constantinople, the metropolis of the empire. Constantine II held Britain, Gaul, and
Spain.
Constans held Illyricum, Africa, and Italy. The sounding of the second trumpet relates to the invasion and conquest of Africa
and afterward of Italy, by Genseric, king of the Vandals. His conquests were for the most part naval and his triumphs were "as it were
a great mountain burning with fire, cast into the sea." What figure would better, or even so well, illustrate the collision of navies and
the general havoc of war on the maritime coasts? In explaining this trumpet, we are to look for some events which will have a
particular bearing on the commercial world. The symbol used naturally leads us to look for agitation and commotion. Nothing but a
fierce maritime warfare would fulfill the prediction.
The sounding of the first four trumpets relates to four remarkable events which contributed to the downfall of the Roman
Empire. The first trumpet refers to the ravages of the Goths under Alaric. The next invasion, which shook the Roman power and
conduced to its fall, was that of Genseric, the head of the Vandals. His career reached its height between the years AD 428-468. This
great Vandal chief had his headquarters in Africa. From the port of Carthage he repeatedly made pirate sallies, preying on the Roman
commerce, waging war with that empire.
To cope with this sea monarch, Majorian, the Roman emperor, made extensive naval preparations. The woods of the
Apennines were felled; the arsenals and manufacturers of Ravenna and Misenum were restored. Italy and Gaul vied with each other in
liberal contributions to the public service. The imperial navy of three hundred large galleys, with an adequate proportion of transports
and smaller vessels, was collected in the secure and capacious harbor of Carthagena in Spain. But Genseric was saved from
impending and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some powerful subjects, envious, or apprehensive, of their master's success. Guided
by their secret intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in the Bay of Carthagena. Many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt
and the preparations of three years work were destroyed in a single day.
The kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western Empire had been gradually reduced, was afflicted by the incessant
attacks of the Vandal pirates. In the spring of each year, they equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage. Genseric himself,
though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person the most important expeditions. The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts
of Spain, Tuscany, Campania, Greece, Sicily and many more. They attacked the most distant areas. With a large number of horses,
disembarked immediately upon landing, they swept the dismayed country with their light cavalry.
A last and desperate attempt to dispossess Genseric of the sovereignty of the sea was made in the year 468 by Augustus Leo
I, emperor of the East. The fleet that he assembled sailed from Constantinople to Carthage and consisted of eleven hundred and
thirteen ships. The number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand men. The army of Heraclius and the fleet of
Marcellinus either joined or seconded the imperial fleet.
But the wind became favorable to Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the Moors and Vandals
and they towed after them many large barges filled with combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night these destructive vessels
were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were awakened by the sense of their instant danger.
Their close and crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with rapid and irresistible violence. The
noise of the wind, the crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and mariners, who could neither command nor obey,
increased the horror of the night’s tumult. Whilst they labored to save at least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted
them with tempered and disciplined valor. Many of the Romans, who escaped the fury of the flames, were destroyed or taken by the
victorious Vandals.
After the failure of Leo I’s great expedition, Genseric again became the tyrant of the sea; the coasts of Italy, Greece and Asia
were again exposed to his revenge and anger. Tripoli and Sardinia were returned to his obedience. He added Sicily to the number of
his provinces; before he died, in the fullness of years and of glory, he beheld the final extinction of the empire of the West. The name,
Genseric, as it concerns the destruction of Western Rome, deserves an equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila.
Verse 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;
Verse 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.
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 and in explaining this
scripture, it is necessary 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

15
in the waters. The desolating course of that meteor would be mainly on those portions of the world that abounded with springs of
water and running streams. The 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 and watered by them.
It is here premised that this trumpet has allusion to the desolating wars and furious invasions against the Roman power by
Attila, king of the Huns. Speaking of this warrior, particularly of his personal appearance, Albert Barnes offers this description: “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."
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.’”
The Name of the Star Is Called Wormwood and the word, "wormwood", denotes bitter consequences. These words which
are more intimately connected with the preceding verse, recall the character of Attila. He was the author of misery, his name inspired
terror. Total annihilation and erasure are terms which best describe 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 disapproved the wrath of Attila. The name of the star is rightly called, wormwood.
Verse 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.
.
The Fourth Trumpet. We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy,
who was intimately connected with the downfall of Western Rome. The symbols sun, moon and stars are undoubtedly here used as
symbols denoting the great luminaries of the Roman government; its emperors, senators, and consuls. The last emperor of Western
Rome was Romulus and Western Rome fell in AD 476. However, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subordinate luminaries
shone faintly in continuation of the senate and consuls. 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
tributary, a dukedom of Italy. The senate and consuls in Rome consented that the seat of the empire should then be transferred to
Constantinople. The power and glory of Rome, as bearing rule over any nation, had become extinct.
A new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, speedily arose. He unscrupulously assumed the purple and reigned by
the right of conquest. The royalty of Theodoric was proclaimed by the Goths on March 5, AD 493, with the reluctant and ambiguous
consent of the emperor of the East (Constantinople). The imperial Roman power, consisting of Rome and Constantinople was no
longer recognized in Italy. The 'third part of the sun' was smitten till it emitted no longer the even faintest rays and now a Gothic king
reigned over Rome.
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. The consulship and the senate
were not abolished by Theodoric.
Rome so long had ranked as the first of cities and countries; and finally, as the fourth trumpet closes, we see its complete
extinction. The city that had ruled the world was conquered with the defeat of the Goths in AD 522. The conquest of Rome and the
fate of its Senate were sealed at that time. Before this, the glory of Rome had long departed, little remained to it but vain titles and
insignia of sovereignty. Now the time had come when even these should be withdrawn.
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 under Justinian, emperor of the East. He did not spare what the barbarians had allowed,
continuation of the consul, he extinguished the Roman consulship in AD 541. 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 had shone like the sun, the moon and the stars. The history of their decline and fall
continued until both Rome and Italy were extinguished.
Thus the Roman imperial sun; which comprised the Western Empire, was eclipsed and shown no more. Here, the
apocalyptic fraction, “one third,” is literally accurate. In the last arrangement between the two courts, the whole of the Illyrian third
had been included in the Eastern division. Thus the third part, the Western Empire, was extinguished, the night had fallen.

16
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. The three remaining trumpets are overshadowed with a cloud of woe, as set forth
in the following verses.
Verse 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.
Revelation 9
The Rise of Islam in Prophecy
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.
The Fifth Trumpet. The application of the fifth and sixth trumpets, or the first and second woes, to the Saracens (a generic
term for Muslims) and the Turks 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, equal portions, is occupied with their description.
The Roman Empire declined, as it arose, by conquest. Heraclius was the emperor of Constantinople, which came under siege
by the king of Persia, Chosroes II. The prophet said, “I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit”.
While the Persian monarch, Chosroes II, contemplated the wonders of his art and power, he received a letter from an obscure
citizen of Mecca, inviting him to acknowledge Mohammed as the apostle of God. Chosroes II rejected the invitation, and tore the
epistle. That citizen of Mecca, an Arabian prophet then said, “It is thus that God will tear the kingdom, and reject the supplications of
Chosroes.” Mohammed observed with secret joy the progress of mutual destruction taking place between the Roman Empire and the
Persia Empire.
It was not on a single spot that this star fell, as did the one that designated Attila, but upon the earth. The Roman Empire
itself had been reduced to the walls of Constantinople; along with a remnant of Greece, Italy, Africa and some maritime cities of the
Asiatic coast.
For six years the Persian king attempted a conquest of Constantinople and then changed tactics. He specified a ransom, an
annual tribute for the Roman Empire. It was a thousand talents of gold, a thousand talents of silver, a thousand silk robes, a thousand
horses, and a thousand virgins. Heraclius was forced to accept the disgrace of the terms and was given time and space obtain the
treasure from the poverty of the East. This time and space he spent in preparation for a bold and even desperate counter attack against
the king of Persia.
The king of Persia despised the obscure Saracen Muslims, who were steadily gaining power. But even the destruction of the
Roman Empire would not open the door for the progress of the Muslim religion. For the Muslims to rise, both empires would have to
fall. The Persian and Roman monarchies were consumed with war against each other and in time, it would exhaust the strength of
both.
Since the days Hannibal, no bolder enterprise has been attempted than that which Heraclius achieved for the deliverance of
his empire. He made his perilous way through the Black Sea and the mountains of Armenia to penetrate into the heart of Persia. He
rallied the armies of his empire to the defense of their bleeding country.
The battle of Nineveh 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 the Assyria Empire were opened for the first time to the
Romans.
But the Roman emperor was not strengthened by the conquests he achieved. Those victories served more to prepare the way
and by the same means for the multitudes of Saracen Muslims from Arabia. Like locusts from their region, they came in with their
dark and delusive Mohammedan creed and speedily overspread both the Persian and the Roman empires.
Although a victorious army had been formed under the standard of Heraclius, the unnatural effort had left his armies
exhausted. While the Roman emperor was celebrating at Constantinople or Jerusalem, an obscure town on the confines of Syria was
pillaged by the Muslims. They cut in pieces some troops who advanced to stop them. What should have been a rather ordinary and
trifling occurrence, proved to be the prelude of a mighty revolution. These robbers were the apostles of Mohammed, in their fanatic
valor they had emerged from the desert. In the last eight years of his reign, Heraclius lost to the Arabs the same provinces which he
had taken from the Persians.

17
The spirit of fraud and enthusiasm, whose abode is not 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 the Persian king, Chosroes. He had contemptuously torn the letter of an obscure citizen of
Mecca, an Arabian prophet. But when from his blaze of glory he sunk into the tower of darkness the name of Chosroes was suddenly
to pass into oblivion, replaced by that of Mohammed. The crescent had but to wait it’s rising with the falling of this star.
Chosroes, following the loss of his empire, was murdered in the year 628. The year 629 is marked by the conquest of Arabia,
the first war of the Mohammed Muslims 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 upon the earth, not a
nation, not an empire, but on the earth. When the strength of the Roman Empire was exhausted, when the king of Persia had expired;
from the pillage of an obscure town on the borders of Syria, came the prelude of revolution. The apostles of Mohammed had emerged
from the desert.
The Bottomless Pit. The meaning of this term, from the Greek is, “abyssos”. Deep, bottomless, profound, it may also refer to
any waste, desolate, and uncultivated place. It is applied to the earth in its original state of chaos, Genesis 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. The fall of Chosroes II 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 forth from their obscure country and propagate their delusive doctrines with
fire and sword until 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 diffuse in Arabia, Islam spread its destructive influence. It 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 Mohamed, of itself, or as compared with the pure light of the gospel of Jesus. It was not like a light from heaven, but of
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 (no dancing, western music, smoking
etc.), filled the world with darkness and delusion; 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 (Alaric Goths); the burning
mountain fell upon the sea from Africa (Genseric Vandals); and the locusts, a fit symbol of the Arabs, issued from Arabia, their native
region. They came as destroyers, propagating a new doctrine, and stirred up to rapine (violent seizure of property) and violence by
motives of personal interest and religion.
A specific illustration may be given of the power like unto of scorpions, which was given them. Not only was their attack
speedy and vigorous, but their nice sensibility of honor, which weighs the insult rather than the injury, sheds its deadly venom on the
quarrels of the Arabs. An indecent action, a contemptuous word, can be removed only by the blood of the offender; and such is their
patience that they wait whole months and even years to pass for the opportunity of revenge.
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 Abu-bekr in AD 632, who as soon as he had fairly
established his authority and government gathered the Arabian tribes for conquest. When the army was assembled, he instructed his
chiefs on the methods of conquest:
"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. When you make any covenant, or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As
you go on, 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 Mohammed or pay
tribute."
It is not recorded in prophecy or in history that the humane aspects of these instructions were obeyed as much as the
ferocious parts of the mandate; but at least, it was commanded of them.
These instructions were recorded by Gibbon in “Decline and fall”. They were given by Abu-bekr to the chiefs of the tribes
who in turn issued the commands to all the Saracen Muslim hosts. The commands are as if he himself had been acting in unknown
harmony with the Revelation of Jesus Christ! He repeated the commands which were foretold.

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