The Coming Struggle Among the Nations of the Earth (1853)
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Harvard College Library
GIFT OF
LUTHER S. LIVINGSTON
H 778.53
MEDAL OF A FROG FOUND IN THE TOMB OF CHILDERIC I.
THIS IS THE OLDE ARMYS OF FRANCE.
THE BANNER OF CLOVIS.
ARMORIAL SHIELD OF CLOVIS.
THE
COMING STRUGGLE
AMONG
The Nations of the Earth:
OR,
THE POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE NEXT THIRTEEN YEARS,
DESCRIBED IN ACCORDANCE WITH
PROPHECIES IN EZEKIEL, DANIEL AND THE APOCALYPSE.
SHEWING ALSO
THE IMPORTANT POSITION BRITAIN WILL OCCUPY DURING AND AT THE END OF THE AWFUL CONFLICT.
By John Thomas
TORONTO:
THOMAS MACLEAR, 45, YONGE STREET.
1853.
Harvard College Library Nov. 10, 1914 Gift of Luther S. Livingston, of Cambridge
HIN! CT 1915.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
The above is the title of the pamphlet already referred to in our strictures upon the London Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. There are several vulnerable positions assumed by the compiler of its pages, which it is remarkable the reviewers have not seized upon in demonstration of the supposed unscriptural conclusions it contains. But critical orthodox ignorance has been the compiler's safety. "Theology" has blinded the eyes of "the ministry" so that they cannot see afar off. "Divines," therefore, being in the dark, and the people being led by them, it is "like priests, like people;" all are in the fog, and the errors of The Coming Struggle have escaped detection.
In the following pages this renowned pamphlet is not reproduced as it came from the Edinburgh press. I have expurgated it of what I consider its untenable assumptions, and in so doing have converted it into a brochure properly my own. The original pamphlet undertook to present my views of the next fifteen years. But no one can present the views of another with sufficient precision to satisfy the original thinker. "The Coming Struggle" does not satisfy me. I have therefore revised and corrected it, as well as I could without re-writing the whole. I have made three hundred and twelve corrections on the thirty-two pages, which have materially altered the sense of the compilation in many places. I should not, however, have presumed to do this, but for the peculiar relation I sustain to the original.
I am not able to say who the artist is that has undertaken to work up my published ideas of things into "The Coming Struggle."
Some have stiled him the learned Dr. Cumming; others, "the eloquent Mr. Wylie;" others, "a journeyman printer in Edinburgh;" others again, "a disciple of Dr. Thomas," &c. Be he whom he may, he must be greatly astonished at the success of his doings. Seventy-three thousand sterling six-pences must have afforded him a wonderful profit on the copy of Elpis Israel, out of which he fabricated his pages. I should have no particular objection to inheriting a dividend; but hitherto the case has strictly fulfilled the saying, that "One sows and another reaps." But perhaps good has been accomplished notwithstanding the errors. In this, therefore, I rejoice; but hope that no more of the original may be sold after this revise shall appear in Britain.
JOHN THOMAS.
Mott Haven, Westchester, N. Y., June 24, 1853.
THE
COMING STRUGGLE
AMONG
THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Toronto, 1753)
Never was there a time in the past history of the world when such a terrible and universal excitement prevailed regarding political affairs, as at this moment exists in the social mind. Wherever we turn, or into whatsoever society we enter, the same restless anxiety is apparent, the same question passes from circle to circle and from friend to friend, but no reply comes forth to cheer or satisfy the alarmed interrogators. "What is about to happen?" is murmured in all the assemblies of men; and whether the sound floats along the noble halls of the great, vibrates among the rafters of the straw-roofed cottage, or wanders through mazes of tobacco smoke in a village ale-house, echo only answers. What! Conjectures, indeed, are made and opinions delivered, but as these rest solely on the shifting sand of political appearances, and assume the various aspects with which faction and party-spirit invest them, they are uttered only to be rejected; the same question is again asked by the same individual on the morrow, and with like success.
That such an excitement should prevail at the present time is not at all wonderful. The position in which the powers of Europe and Asia are placed, renders it evident to every thinking mind—and in this age of boasted intelligence all should be thinkers—that we are on the very eve of a crisis, and a crisis unparalleled in the annals of the past. It is not at one part merely, or in one or two nations, that we discern the signs of an approaching storm; but from one end of Europe to the other, the ominous cloud has gathered, and when it bursts, as soon it must, the deluge will not only be overwhelming, but universal. Such a prospect as this is entirely new. The shadows which preceded the advent of the most devastating hurricanes that swept over the world in the ages that are gone, were not so gloomy or portentous as those which now hover above our whole horizon; and as the image must resemble the reality, that reality must be awful indeed. We are in the midst of that oppressive calm which reigns when the elements are fully charged with all the ingredients of a storm, and, like the mariner, we long for its inevitable outbreak, in order that we may escape from our suspense, and learn at once how we are likely to cope with it.
But while the painful anxiety, every where visible, is, in the circumstances, extremely natural, it is not at all necessary that the equally manifest uncertainty and ignorance regarding the extent and duration of the coming struggle should remain; and were the prophetic declarations of the Bible properly understood, the inhabitants of Britain would comprehend all that is about to take place. In that Book—a book which some despise, many neglect, and nearly all misunderstand—is to be found a series of visions and prophecies, under which is symbolised the political history of the world, from the Babylonian Empire down to the Millennium, that happy era to which the human family have long looked forward with delight. Unfortunately, however, as we have said, these prophecies have been, and are, sadly misunderstood. The authorized interpreters of God's revelations have hitherto failed in finding a key to unlock their mysteries; but of this we do not complain, as we are told that the vision was to be sealed until the time of the end.
What we regret, however, is that in the face of this declaration, our divines should have attempted an explanation of these mysteries, before God's time for their solution was come. They have done this, and the result is, that, by their erroneous interpretations, a mass of obscurity, contradiction, absurdity, and error, has been heaped upon them, which serves completely to mystify both its authors and the world. Had Fleming and others contented themselves with tracing those parts of the prophecy which were fulfilled in their day, and left those sublime consummations mentioned in the Apocalypse to be disclosed at "the time of the end," the present generation would not now be under the necessity of throwing off a host of commentaries and opinions, which from early childhood they have considered unerring. This, however, must be done. The position of the world clearly intimates that the end has come, and events now furnish an explanation of the hitherto dark visions of Daniel and John, and by a careful examination of these and other prophets, the political history of the next 13 years is spread out before us, nay, we are enabled to pass beyond that period, and trace almost accurately the regular course of events down to the beginning of the thousand years. Dr. Thomas, of America, was the first to find the key, and they who have read his book will at once be able to understand the following description of the period mentioned. For the sake, however, of those who have not seen Dr. Thomas' work—and we believe this applies to the majority of general readers—it will be necessary to give a rapid and connected sketch of the prophecy on which the whole hangs, and point out the errors into which former interpreters have fallen.
The first intimation we have of the prophecy is in the second chapter of Daniel, where we are told that one morning during the palmy days of the Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, its head, awoke from a troubled sleep, in which he had a strange and unaccountable dream.
Being fully awake, he endeavoured to call to mind the particulars of the vision which had passed across his sleeping spirit, but the "thing had gone from him," and do what he could he was unable to recall it. Nevertheless his "spirit was troubled to know the dream," and this he demanded of his magicians, who being of course unable to comply, Daniel, a young Hebrew captive, volunteered to make it known and interpret it. Having "desired the mercies of the God of heaven concerning the secret," Daniel had it revealed to him in a vision, and with a joyful countenance went with it to the king. He informed the monarch that in his sleep he had seen a great image standing before him. The head was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet partly iron and partly clay. After the king had gazed on this giant of metal for some time, he beheld a stone poised in the air, unsupported by hands, slowly descending to the earth. Falling at length with a heavy crash upon the feet of the image, it "brake them to pieces," and the whole superstructure was hurled to the ground, where the wind carried it entirely away. The stone which smote it, however, grew into a great mountain, and filled the earth.
The interpretation given by Daniel to the king, was to the effect that the golden head, silver arms, brazen thighs, and iron legs, denoted a succession of four dynasties in the Babylonian Empire. The iron kingdom, which was the last, was at first to be divided into two parts, and latterly into ten, temporarily cemented to the feet by clay, and these were finally to be destroyed by the establishment of a kingdom of God upon the earth, a kingdom which should never be destroyed. This was a dim, yet true outline of the future history of the great empire which was at that time aptly termed the whole earth; but it was only a rough sketch, and the purpose God had in view in disclosing it required that a more detailed representation should be given; accordingly, after the death of Nebuchad-nezzar, Daniel was favored with a more extended view.
In this second vision, the four dynasties were symbolised by four beasts, and an outline of the history of each given. The fourth power, which in the first vision was described as iron, and divided into ten parts, is in the second shadowed forth by a beast of ten horns. The causes of the destruction of these ten powers by the God of heaven is in this vision also accounted for, and the time of their duration determined. They were to be destroyed on account of their civil and spiritual despotism,—crimes which can never in the moral government of Jehovah pass unpunished. After the ten horns had been for some time established, a little horn came up among them, in which were the "eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things." After making room for itself by plucking up three of the large horns, this little horn waxed insolent and domineering, and continued so "till the beast was slain, and his body given to the burning flame." Daniel was extremely anxious to find out the meaning of this, and having asked "one of them that stood by," he was informed that the ten horns were ten kings that should arise out of the fourth dominion; that another should rise after them, diverse from all the others, that he would "subdue three of the first kings, speak great words against the Most High, wear out the Saints of the Most High, and think to change the times and laws;" but after continuing thus for "a time and times, and the dividing of time," his dominion would be taken away, and he would be utterly destroyed.
In future visions a still more detailed representation of certain portions of this first vision was given to Daniel, and many of the prophecies of Ezekiel contain important developments of the same history; but God's determined measure of revelation was not yet full. Indeed, the chief part remained behind, and consisted of an ample view of the operations of the fourth beast and his ten horns, especially of that little horn which subsequently sprung up and became so prominent. Many hundred years after Daniel's time, when the gold, silver, and brass of Nebuchadnezzar's image had given place to the iron power, there lived an aged man on one of the desert islands that dot the bosom of the Aegean Sea.
To this place he had been banished for adhering to, and promulgating, the gospel of the kingdom in the name of Jesus Christ, emanating from the land of Judea, but now almost entirely unknown to the professors of Christianity. In this lonely spot, and to this persecuted follower of the despised Nazarene, God gave his concluding Revelation to man, and wound up the whole by shadowing forth the history of the beast, and the horn, under the emblems of seals, trumpets, and vials. The iron power of Nebuchadnezzar's Image, or fourth beast of Daniel, is here represented by a dragon with seven crowned heads and ten crownless horns; and the system of governments of the Roman West is at first called a beast, with seven uncrowned heads and ten crowned horns—the one being thus exactly the reverse of the other—and afterwards Daniel's Little Horn power of the west is represented as a two-horned beast covering the area of three of the horns. The same distinguishing features are apparent here as in Daniel's vision. The beast, waxes great; the dragon gives him his power, and his seat, and great authority; he makes war against the saints for a time, and times, and half a time, till the judgment sits and his dominion is taken away, and he is cast with the Little Horn into a fiery lake, and the dragon into imprisonment for a thousand years.
Such, then, is a brief outline of this important prophecy—a prophecy which has occupied the attention, and engaged the interest of Bible readers, for many generations. The language in which it is couched has hitherto rendered it impossible for interpreters to agree concerning its fulfilment; and indeed, in past times, the occurrence of the events it foretells was the only guide to its course. Fleming is thought to have verged upon a correct interpretation of a part that was as yet unfulfilled; but it was only a faint glimpse he obtained of the truth; the 11
elements that were to be engaged in the final conflict had not, at the time he wrote, assumed the position, by which the time of the end could be recognised, and this, together with his adherence to the stereotyped but false theories of commentators, let him far astray. All, however, are agreed as to the general meaning of the prophecy.* The gold, silver, brass, and iron powers of the image, and the four beasts of the vision, are the Babylonian, Persian, Grecians, and Roman empires. The seven heads and ten horns are the various forms of government and kingdoms of this latter power. The first beast of John is the civil and ecclesiastical system of Roman-Europe; and the second, or two-horned beast, is the Austro-Papacy grafted upon it. Thus far the history of the past might have enabled our divines to expound and agree could their theologies have permitted them to interpret the prophecy by the things that are. With regard to the time of the end, and the nature of the events which must take place previous to it, there exists an almost endless diversity of opinion,—the greatest union lying in a universal misapprehension of both, particularly of the latter.
The great cause of misapprehension, besides that to which we formerly alluded,—viz., a premature interpretation,—is owing to the fondness of theologians for the allegorising method of Origen. Following this early father, they assert that the events to take place at the time of the end, are less physical than moral, and will consist of a series of spiritual changes which will usher in the universal triumph of the Church, and the regeneration of the world. They do not understand, or rather they refuse to believe, that the Jews will be restored to their own land, and that the kingdom of Israel will once more be established, though not precisely after its ancient model or with its former inferior splendor.
With a very restricted partiality, they have construed all those glorious promises of a political restoration, which have lighted up with hope the heart of the wandering Jew, into nothing more and nothing else than a spiritual conversion, and they claim for the Church all the glory of the latter-day. This we apprehend is a fatal mistake. The restoration of the Jews to Palestine forms the very keystone to the whole political structure of the world, and is the principal object to be accomplished by the awful events of the coming years. It is the grand consummation of which Hebrew prophets spake and Jewish bards sung; it is "emphatically the hope of Israel," and the word of Judah's God is pledged to its accomplishment.
Having done away with a literal restoration, our interpreters have necessarily erred in deciding regarding the many minor parts of the prophecy. Hence the locality of the final conflict has been a matter of much dispute. The general notion is, that Italy will be the scene of the great battle of Armageddon, and one individual has actually measured a large valley in that country to see if it answers the inspired inscription. Another class, in the extremity of their fondness for spiritualism, say that at the moral destruction of Popery, wherever Protestantism encounters and overcomes Romanism there will Armageddon be. In the sequel of this pamphlet, we shall show how erroneous are both of these conjectures.
Another great error, and one which has led to a host of misconceptions, is the belief that Britain is one of the ten horns, and that consequently she will be involved in the destruction that overtakes the toes of the great metallic image. This is a complete mistake. Though once a part of the Roman dominion, she is not within the boundary of the image territory; and none of the countries beyond that territory will be overthrown with Papacy, except those who have continued to worship the beast, such as Austria and others.
And this is just an evidence of the evil effects of a premature interpretation of the prophecy. At the period when many of our commentators wrote, it was actually necessary to include Britain in the toe kingdoms, in order to make up the number required. Up to the year 1820, there were only eight independent powers within the Roman Empire, but in that year the Greeks rebelled against the Sultan, and after several years' war, succeeded in establishing a new kingdom, which became the ninth horn. Still another was wanted to complete the prophetic symbol, and it did not come up till 1830, when the revolution of Paris divided the kingdom of the Netherlands into two, and Belgium became a separate Power, to defeat the calculations of divines, and pluck Britain from the anomalous position in which they had placed her. We say anomalous, for how is it possible to reconcile the past history of Anglo-Saxon progression—of which she has been the mover and sustainer—with sudden and complete destruction? The very thought is a libel on the eternal law of development and the wisdom of the moral government; but it is false; and we will by-and-bye show how different is the destiny of this country, and what the part that has been assigned her in the last act of the mighty drama. The powers which really answer to the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image are Bavaria, Lombardy, Hungary, Greece, Sardinia, Naples, Portugal, Spain, France, and Belgium; and if we understand the prophecy aright, these kingdoms will be brought to the verge of their final subversion at the end of the next thirteen years.
The next great error of our interpreters, and the last to which we will particularly advert, is in regard to the "time, and times, and half a time," or the duration of the beast. They do not understand that it means a period of 1260 solar* years, and they have failed to find the true commencement of the era.
The general theory dates it from the year 606, when Phocas proclaimed the universal supremacy of the Bishop of Rome. This fixes the secondary termination of the 1260 years in 1866. But the "time, and times, and half a time" began by its primal epoch earlier than this. The year 606 is the period of the ecclesiastical constitution of the beast, or the time when the dragon gave to its Lion-mouth his authority. Its civil constitution dates 75 years earlier, or from 531, when the Justinian code was completed and published. These two epochs were the real beginnings of the 1260 years. The victorious reign of the beast ought, then, to terminate about the years 1791 and 1866, or two years earlier or later. The resurrection of the two witnesses (or civil and ecclesiastical class-antagonists to the Powers,) which were slain by Louis the Fourteenth, took place in 1789, or at the period of the first French revolution, and this was the first time any successful opposition was made to the Papal power after 1685. Then wrath began to pour out, and the civil dominion of the Pope was taken away, to be "consumed and destroyed unto the end." And as 75 years elapsed between the imperial concession of a new code, and the acknowledgment of the Roman Bishop as the universal Father of the western dominion, or beast, so 75 years must elapse as the transition period, ending in the arrival of "the Hour of Judgment." This period is represented by the seven vials, the mission of which is to pour chastisement on the beast and his followers, till at the end of the combined sixth and seventh the whole will meet with a wonderful and signal destruction. It is a mistake to suppose that the 1260 years limits the existence of the beast—it merely limits his unwaning power. The full term of his civil and ecclesiastical pre-judicial existence as a Roman power is 1335 years,* and this terminates in 1866, or about 13 years from this period.
But what a number of awful events must take place in that short time; what revolutions, and strife, and bloodshed must be witnessed on the Continent, and in many parts of Asia! No wonder that the political sky is black and lowering, charged as it is with the elements of a storm, which, for tremendous force and severity, has never been equalled. The people of the present age have come to the very border of a thrilling epoch, and they know it not. The newspaper press laughs at the cry of war which has risen on every hand. It points to the progress of railways and electric telegraphs, and ask if these are signs of war. Railways and telegraphs, steam engines and copper wire, can these overturn the purpose of God, or falsify his word? A few hours of strife will suffice to tear up every vestige of these so-called pledges of peace, and their component parts may yet form efficient instruments to carry on the conflict. In these days of scepticism and intellectual supremacy, it may be a hard matter to get such Bible truths borne home to the hearts of men; but in a very short time they will be compelled to acknowledge the reality and genuineness of that revelation they now despise or neglect. Amid the terror and confusion of the approaching hurricane, when men's hearts are failing them for fear, they will be glad to turn to its long-forsaken pages, to learn the nature and extent of the fearful calamity. If the people of Britain and America are wise, they will make themselves acquainted with this beforehand, and thus enjoy that tranquility which the knowledge will impart. It is, even on other grounds than personal comfort and mental peace, extremely necessary that they should do so. Though for the present they will, by caution and prudence, keep free from the struggle, they have a high and holy mission to fulfil, and are as yet ignorant of it. To them has been committed the task of conducting the moral progression of the world, and preparing it for the coming millennium.
While other nations are murdering and devouring each other, and gnawing their tongues and blaspheming under the iron rod of Jehovah, the Anglo-Saxon race will be opening up the pathway for the entrance into this sin-cursed and strife-torn world of the reign of peace and love. Blessed, indeed, are they that wait, and come to the thousand, three hundred and five and thirty days.
But it is now time that we enter on the principal part of our present work, to which the foregoing forms a necessary introduction. And before speaking of what is about to occur, let us see the exact portion of the prophecy that has been fulfilled. By going back along the history of the past, we could clearly trace the course of the prophecy, from its first beginning to the present time, but this is unnecessary. It will suffice if we make the reader understand where we are at present. We are, then, under the sixth and seventh vials. The gold, silver and brass of Nebuchadnezzar's image, in their imperial ascendancy, have passed away; three of Daniel's beasts have, in this sense, departed; and John's seals have been opened, his trumpets have been sounded, and five of his vials have been exhausted. By turning to the 12th verse of the 16th chapter of Revelation, the reader will find a description of the sixth vial. It was to be poured out on the Euphrates—or the Turkish Empire,—and began in 1820, when the Greeks rebelled against the Sultan and established a new kingdom. From that time Turkey has been subjected to incessant trouble with neighbouring powers, distraction and strife from civil rebellions, and ravaging pestilences from the hand of God. Six years after the successful revolt of the Greeks, the Janisaries attempted to withstand the will of the Sultan, but their fanaticism was repressed, and by the despot's command thousands of them were butchered. The next year she lost 110 ships in the battle of Navarino, and in the following season had to sustain a double conflict, in a Russian war and an Albanian insurrection.
Then followed the long war of France against Turco-Algeria, which resulted in the separation of that province from the Moslem empire, and its annexation to that kingdom. In 1839 Egypt and Syria were taken by Mehemet Ali, and this led to sanguinary and bloody strife in that direction. Besides these reverses at the hand of man, the country was scourged with cholera and plague for eleven years; and thus wasted and weakened, she is in daily fear of being totally overthrown by a foreign power. But why, it may be asked, is such a vial of wrath poured upon the Turkish Empire? Ah! God had a long and heavy account to settle with this nation! What iniquity and injustice did it not perpetrate against the Jews, God's own peculiar people; and though permitted to succeed in its cruelty for the express purpose of punishing the Jewish nation for their transgressions against the Most High, yet such is God's jealousy with regard to this race which he has chosen, that even the instruments with which he chastises them are made the objects of his retributive vengeance. It was so with the Babylonian nation who carried them into captivity, and it is so with the Ottoman Empire, which has now the seat of the dragon, which in former days dispersed them among the Gentiles. For this and other causes, enumerated in the 11th chapter of Daniel, the Lord has a controversy with Turkey which will never cease till its power is destroyed unto the end.
The seventh vial began in 1830, when the whole political atmosphere, as if charged with democratic electricity, gave forth flashes, and appeared to be on the eve of an explosion. These two vials are therefore both going on at this time, and will end together, at the beginning of the thousand years. It is at this critical period that the vision is to be unsealed. In other words, the Roman powers are to be placed in a certain position, and to be actuated by a certain agency, which, we are told, is to indicate the time of the end, and warn the inhabitants of the earth to prepare for the coming of the kingdom. This important inform-
2 mation is given in the following words:—“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
They are spirits of demons working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and the whole habitable, to gather them to the war of that great day of God Almighty.” The demons that represent the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet powers, are the Sultan, the Emperor of Austria, and the Pope; and the frogs, or frog-power, is France—frogs being the original heraldric symbol of that nation. When, therefore, we perceive the French government causing “unclean spirits,” or evil policy to emanate from these three incarnations of power, then are we to recognise the immediate approach of the end; for this, says the prophecy will cause the kings of the earth to be gathered together to “the war of that great day of God Almighty.” This period has now come. We are living in it. France has at this moment the Pope, the Emperor, and the Sultan, in a very critical position. By occupying Rome and forcing its protection on the Pope, it has obtained the power, to some extent, of dictating the policy of his holiness,—now, alas for him, robbed of his imperial dignity, and reduced to the position of a “false prophet”—and is, by its policy, causing him to contribute to the involvement of other governments in war. By this move it has also placed itself in inevitable antagonism to Austria, and brought forth an unclean spirit from thence, which in a little time will create an open war between the powers, involving many other kingdoms in the strife, and ultimately producing consequences of a fatal nature to the whole ten kingdoms. France is also causing an unclean spirit to proceed from the Sultan, by its diplomacy connected with the Holy Places and demonstration of support in case of a Russian invasion, and thus involving him in a war with that mighty power, when he would otherwise quietly yield to it. Thus we see in full operation that agency which was to indicate the time of the end, and produce the terrible events which must precede and accomplish that period.
Let us now, by the light of the prophecy, try to discovor the nature of these, and thus be able to read the political history of the next thirteen years, and learn something of the events which will take place from that time till the millennium.
From what we stated at the outset, our readers will perceive that we have no sympathy with that system of wholesale spiritualizing, which our commentators have pursued in treating of the future part of this Bible history. That large portion of it which has been illustrated in the past, gives us no warrant to believe—far less to assert—that its future predictions are but emblems of the changes and occurrences that will pass over the church, and that the wars spoken of are moral, not literal. Hitherto it has been most accurately illustrated by real wars and political events, and until we have a better authority to go upon than Origen and his followers, we prefer to construe the language of the Bible in a literal manner, and doing so, we believe that the following will be the principal coming events:—
I. The seizure of Constantinople, and overthrow of Turkey by the Emperor of Russia.
In following Daniel's version of the prophecy, which is more detailed than John's, we find, that the unfulfilled part begins at the first colon of the 40th verse of the 11th chapter. That verse opens with the declaration, that "the King of the South," or Mehemet Ali would "push" at the Sultan. This was accomplished in 1839, when that monarch wrested Egypt and Syria from him, and endeavoured to seize Constantinople itself, and probably would have done so, had not the other powers prevented him, or rather, had not God determined that he should only push, not overthrow. The next part of the verse is, however fraught with dire calamity to the Moslem Dynasty of the dragon. "The king of the north," or Russia, it is stated, "shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overthrow and pass over."
Here, we read at once the doom of Turkey, notwithstanding the assurance of assistance from France and England, the Ottoman empire will soon be no more. It is very probable that these allies will be deceived by professions of peace, which the autocrat is holding out, and when they are off their guard, he will suddenly invade and conquer the kingdom. Evidence of this consummation is already apparent. Notwithstanding the presence of the Russian Fleet in the Black Sea, Britain has been so far deceived as to recall the only man* who could have pursued efficient measures, in the event of an invasion. The country is thus left open to the inroad of the northern emperor. and ere long the news will doubtless come that he his at the gates of the Sultan's capital. We have no date by which to determine the exact time of its occurrence but considering the number and character of the events to succeed it, and the short space allowed for their performance, it must of necessity be almost immediately.
II. War between France and Austria—Overthrow of the former, and subsequent destruction of the Papacy.
Leaving for a time the sixth vial to run its course on the Turkish Empire, we must follow the seventh in its operations on the horns. After the angel had poured it into the air, where it caused a world of dire commotions, the apostle was carried away into the wilderness to see the judgments these would cause to fall on the beast and his image—in other words, on Roman Europe. For, let it be observed, that the Papal powers as well as Turkey, are doomed to hard experiences before the ten toes of the image are finally smitten with the Stone.
As the Dragon had yeilded to the Western Beast its secular and ecclesiastical power, so Austria, a secular imperial element of that beast, has supported this twofold authority more than any of the the other powers, and therefore shall suffer a more signal punishment. Indeed, we find this dominion, which is in the prophecy styled the two-horned beast, identified with, and assimilated to, the Papacy in all its more damnatory features.
The history of its rise and progress is given in the last eight verses of the 13th chapter of Revelation, as well as in the seventh of Daniel, where its fate is particularly described: "They (the saints) shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end." In that dark history of cruelties and crimes perpetrated by the horns against the saints, or friends of truth and liberty, Austria occupies an unenviably prominent distinction. The blood of the two witnesses lies heavily on that country, and has long cried for vengeance from on high. Nor has it cried in vain. When these witnesses were raised, and their power exerted itself through Napoleon, the iron hand of a stern retribution was laid upon Austria, and this horn's dominion over the imperial west was for a time taken away. The conflict was temporarily suspended by the removal of the ambitious Corsican; but though vengeance has been delayed it cannot be much longer averted. The Austrian horn's Roman Dominion was at that time only temporarily taken away, but hereafter it must be "consumed and destroyed unto the end." And the earnest of this will doubtless be initiated by the same power that punished him before. France, though herself one of the doomed toe kingdoms, will be the scourge of this horn, and preparation is being speedily consumated for the accomplishment of the work. Already are the two powers adversely situated, and their position will not fail to ultimate in war. The result of this will be presently disastrous to the "bloody house of Austria;" but premillennially and temporarily its occultation in the shadow of the Czar. Jesus appears as a thief, and the saints are raised from the dead. The power of Russia is broken and the obscuration ends. Then comes the fall of Babylon. The Austrian and its cotemporary horns, the supporters of the False Prophet, now become confederate against the Destroyer of the Czarocracy. But Babylon must of necessity fall. The time when the ten horns "shall hate Rome, and make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire," obtains in the preadventural contest between France and the Northern Powers.
The account of her overthrow is contained in the eighteenth of Revelations, and is one of the most fearful and awe-inspiring nature. It is not for us to describe in detail the events which will produce and accompany her death. These are but partially indicated in the prophecy; we are only told that the people of God will be the agents, and that the powers of Europe will be filled with fear, and wonder when they behold her desolation.
III. The occultation of the Horns or Continental Powers by the Emperor of Russia:
By the time the above occurrences have taken place, the thirteen years will have expired, and the Hour of Judgment come. The whole ten horns will be greatly weakened by the war, and in this condition will manifest "one mind, and give their power and strength to the Beast." This power is Russo-Austrian, which is temporarily consolidated by the overthrow of many countries into the image of Nebuchadnezzar standing on its feet of iron and clay. It is necessary that the original Roman territory become subject to one majesty, bicurally displayed, in order that the image of Nebuchadnezzar may be manifested in its latter day apparition to that king; and though we have not an exact description of their occultation by Russia, further than being informed that he would overflow and pass over, we find that Ezekial, who gives a most minute and graphic account of the great battle introductory of the war of Armageddon, styles him "Gog, of the land of Magog, Prince of Rosh, Mosc and Tobl," and enumerates Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, and the bands of Gomer, in those that follow him. Now, it can be satisfactorily proved that Magog and Gomer mean Germany and France. These countries he must therefore conquer; and having conquered them the whole continental Europe is within his grasp. The metallic image will thus be joined in all its parts, the territory comprehended in the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian.
Roman, and latter day Assyrian Empires, will be ruled by one majesty, and that autocrotic, or a majesty ruling by its own will. Events will now hurry forward to the mighty catastrophe. The heart of the emperor will be lifted up by success, and in his pride and arrogance he will endeavour to make the world his slave. But at last the Stone rejected by the builders descends heavily or his feet; the Roman iron, and the Russian or Assyrian clay separate; the brass, the silver, and the gold are broken to pieces, and "become as the chaff of the summer threshing floors," and the whole is scattered by the winds of heaven.
But what it will be eagerly asked, is Britain about all this time? Surely she must have an important part to play in this direful game of war. Yes, but after an exceptionable type, so far as we have yet gone, Britain is exempted from catastrophe, through her proximity to the scene of the unequalled struggle will keep her in a state of alarm, and her rulers anxious and watchful. But yet, though beyond the eddies of the whirlwind vortex of the Continent, she must not, can not, will not be idle. She has a mission to fulfill, and she must feel straitened till it is accomplished—a mission of the strongest necessity, and she cannot evade it—a mission of the noblest nature, and she will not shun it. To her—to the whole Anglo-Saxon race, of which she is the head and representative—is the task assigned of carrying forward the religious, moral, and social preadventural progress of the world, and in this she may well be assisted by her children in the west and south. America may be united with her in the work, and Australia must grow in strength for the same purpose; and thus supported on each side by a strong and stalwart son the brave old empire will be energized to the task. Talk of America and Britain going to war! the thing is incredible; nature forbids it, and the Bible forbids it, too. When they do fight it will be on one side, and against a common foe; but they have a far different battle to fight in these coming years, than the sword or cannon can accomplish.
The great moral contest of spiritual freedom and social morality must be sustained, and the cause must unite them and us in a hearty bond of brotherhood. A people must be presented to the Lord, that his domain may be populated when the time to establish the kingdom shall come; and Britain with her sons is called on to cherish and protect them. But to be more definite; the next event, though not in chronological order, will be—
IV. Britain extends her Eastern possessions westward, prevents the immediate occupation of Judea by Russia, and initiates its colonization by the Jews.
The many and severe wars which our country has had to sustain, in order to preserve her Eastern territories, have by many been considered as too dear payment for their possession. We do not here however, enter on this question, but beg to inform such, that a far higher purpose than commercial interest or extended empire is to be served by the presence of the British power in the East. So far, indeed, as she herself is concerned, this may have been the real aim; and now that she is in possession, the commercial advantages which accrue from them will be a sufficient incitement to their retention. To preserve the East India market, and keep a path open to it, Britain will strive much and do much; but while her rulers may think they are merely serving the nation, they are really accomplishing one of the grand designs of God, and evolving events, while they cause her to take measures for the preservation of this distant part of her empire, will really and only produce occurrences which will facilitate the great design of Jehovah. Both God and Britain had a special design in the annexation of the Indian territory to the lion power, but these designs were as different in nature and object as the finite is from the infinite. While Britain thought only of wealth and conquest, God thought of his ancient people, and of his covenant, and placed the British Lion in the East to prepare a way for his ransomed, and to become their protection in the infancy of their restoration.
Such is God's design, and he has enlisted the energy of the Anglo-Saxons in its accomplishment, by making it their interest to bring it to pass. The value of these lands to the nation is the inducement he has given it to retain them at all risks; and one means of their retention, which will by-and-bye become very obvious, will be to do that which will tend to introduce the accomplishment of Jehovah's long promised purpose—the restoration of the Jews. The idea has long been held, by those few who do believe in a restoration, that it must be preceded by a conversion. This is erroneous. The Jews, to some extent, will return to their own land as faithless in Jesus as the Christ as when they left it. They will be converted—of this we are assured; but it will be subsequent to their partial re-establishment in Palestine, and by a divine agency little suspected by "Christendom." In the many passages of Scripture which speak of this people acknowledging the Messiah, we can never identify the agency to be employed in bringing about the change as merely human. The Lord invariably speaks of it as his own work, and to be done, as only Divinity can do it—in one day. The veil is to be taken away, the blindness is to be removed, and this after Judah is in part returned to the hill of Zion: "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then ye shall know that I am the Lord."
(Ezekial xxxvii. 12.)
It is needless, therefore, to look for the conversion of Israel as an indication of the coming of the latter days. It is the preadventural partial colonization of Judea that becomes an evidence of this; and we can imagine with what surprise the conversiontheorists will witness the approaching colonization of the land of Israel by its former inhabitants. But how, it is asked, will they be colonized there, and how does Britain become the principal agent in the work? In this very simple manner: When Britain sees the Emperor of Russia in possession of Turkey, and overthrowing the hosts of continental Europe, she will become alarmed for her Indian possessions, and seek to strengthen her position in the Mediterranean Sea to prevent the autocrat dominating there.
Having succeeded in dethroning the Sultan, and annexing much of the Turkish dominions to his sway, he will naturally endeavor to take possession of Palestine, as that country forms a part of the Ottoman Empire. This, however, Britain will not consent to. To let him occupy this territory would be a virtual relinquishment of the Eastern market, because the road to it by the Red Sea would be shut up. What course Britain will actually adopt to prevent this we cannot learn from the prophecy, but that she will for a while prevent it we are sure. Not only will her own interests demand it, but the word of Jehovah is concerned in the matter, and demands it too. These political and commercial interests are but the means employed by God to cause this great nation to perform his long expressed determination, to preserve the Holy Land for the elected, eldest born of his children. Were the Russian Emperor to succeed in taking possession of it, he would carry the land tenure of the north along with him, and thus the soil of the land of Canaan would become part and parcel of another nation, its peculiar character as an inalienable possession would be gone, and being "common," it would no longer be called sacred or "holy." But this final alienation of the land cannot be. Jehovah hath said, "the land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." It is therefore impossible that it can ever be finally occupied by a power that would at once incorporate it with other territories. An attempt since the expiry of the 1290 years, has already been made to do this, but, as was to be excepted, it signally failed. Shortly after Mehemet Ali established himself as "king of the south," he attacked and conquered Syria, and, as we before stated, "pushed at" the Sultan's throne. The powers of Europe, however, interfered to prevent him from gaining his point, and in negotiating terms of peace between the two countries, ordered Mehemet to restore Palestine to Turkey. This the king of the south refused to do, and claimed the land as his forever by right of conquest. He was, however, at length compelled to yield to the demand, and the land of Israel was given back to those whose creed will not allow them to claim the soil.
They have indeed "divided the land for gain," but those pashas who occupy it hold it by no tenure, and may be, and indeed often are, deprived of their possession, without having the right to complain. According to the Mahommedan creed, the land is God's, and though it may be occupied, cannot be owned by any mortal; and certainly, whatever doctrine of the Koran is false this is true. The Jews cannot even sell any part of it from one to another, far less can the uncircumcised Gentiles get it for a prey.
The only way that seems likely for Britain to preserve her Eastern market open in this emergency, will be to favor the formation of a Jewish colony in Palestine; and thus, it will appear, that the Euphrates is drying up in order "that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared." The drying up of the river, which is in part the destruction of Turkey, will render it necessary for the British power, which then extends to the Euphrates, to promote the return of the Jews to their own land, by extending its pretection over it, and holding out every inducement for the sons of Abraham to repair to it. Be this. however, as it may, it is Britain that favors the return of the sons of Judah, as we learn from the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet is furnished with a command to "the land shadowing with wings, that sendeth ambassadors by the sea," enjoining it to render service in the presentation to the Lord of "a nation scattered and peeled, a nation terrible from their beginning hitherto, a nation rooted out and trodden down, whose lands the rivers have spoiled." What a powerful and graphic description is this of the present and past state of the Jews! How their former greatness and present degredation and desolation is associated and contrasted! But how, it may be asked, do we identify the "land widely over-shadowing with wings?" We are told that it is from beyond to the rivers of Cush. Now, going east, from Judea, across the Euphrates and Tigris, we reach to the "beyond," that is, to Hindostan, the most important of our Indian possessions, and therefore governed by a power that "sendeth its ambassadors by the sea," in other words, by an island state, which shows that the reference is to Britain, and to her alone.
The allusion will, however, become more apparent in a short time, when our empire is greatly extended in that quarter, and when the lion-flag waves o'er many an island and country, proving as much its protector as its ruler. There can then be no doubt as to the fact that this country will open up a way for the despised and persecuted race of Abraham, to stand once more in their father-land, and raise anew the songs of David upon the holy hill of Zion, and it is probable that the event will be brought about in some such manner as we have indicated. But, first of all, this country must seize a great amount of territory adjacent to the Holy Land. In the present state of affairs, there would neither be peace nor safety for the Jews in their own country. The Sultan has "divided it for gain," and his pachas lay it waste, and hold it waste at their pleasure. It will, therefore, be necessary to occupy Egypt, Ethiopa, and Seba, besides other places, in order to make these a wall of defence for the Jewish colony, and hence the language of Jehovah to his restored people—"I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee." By possessing these she will also lay her hands upon Edom, Moab, Ammon, and other places on the Red Sea, till at length shadowing "to the rivers of Cush," and on every side the new colony, under the wings of this great maratime power, will grow and prosper, like a ceder on their own mountain of Lebanon.
But by this time the autocrat of Russia has got the nations of continental Europe beneath his feet, and, like Alexander in ancient, and Napolean in later times, he thirsts for universal conquest. For the history of his career from this point, onward to its close we turn again to the regular course of the prophecy. If the reader will, before going any further, take up his Bible, and read carefully the last five verses of the eleventh of Daniel, and from the beginning of the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel to the twentythird verse of the thirty-ninth chapter, he will clearly understand the following, which is but a paraphrase of it.
Turning his eyes eastward, on the wealth and prosperity of the countries under British protection, the triumphant conqueror of Europe will conceive the idea of spoiling them, and appropriating their goods and cattle. Scarcely is this idea formed than its execution is begun, and sudden and terrific as a whirlwind from the north he enters "the glorious land." So overwhelming is the invading force, that the British armies retire before it towards the south-east, and Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya fall into his hands. But tidings out of the East and North shall trouble him. "Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto him, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey?" How emphatically does the lauage identify Britain as the belligerent opponent of Gog the king of the north, and corroborate our former statements regarding the extension of her empire in the East? We would particularly point our reader's attention to the "merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thoreof;" what an appropriate designation is this of the Honorable East India Company, in its peculiar relation to the British Government! This constitution of things, as is well known, is both civil and military, commercial and imperial. The former is represented by the merchants, the latter by the young lions, or the officials of the imperially-controlled Company, which receives its authority from the Lion of Britain, and may therefore be fitly termed thus, even as the representatives of the Persian and Macedonian sovereignties were called young rams and young goats. Indeed, the applicability of the title is admitted by the Company itself, whose arms are a shield, the quarterings of which are filled with young lions rampant.
The Anglo-Indian government, alarmed at the inroads of the autocrat, and the loss of Egypt, will adopt vigorous measures for opposing him. Hence, "tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him." The news that the Anglo-Saxons have resolved to oppose his despotic progress will annoy and infuriate him.
It is possible he may think of a time when another man, ambitious like himself, endeavoured to possess the empire of the world, and went forth conquering till he was met by this same power, and overthrown; and no wonder that such a thought should fill him with trouble. But quickly rage takes the place of fear; he looks proudly at the heaving army that follows at his back, and his enraged at the presumption which dares to thwart a will and power like his, "therefore he goes forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many." Proceeding onward, he seizes the unwalled villages and gateless cities, till at length his huge and multifarious army pitch their tents before Jerusalem. He lays seige to the Holy City, which soon surrenders to his power, and enables him to "plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain."
He has now reached the farthest limit of his conquering mission. The degree peals forth from the eternal throne, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther;" and could he but look a little forward, as he paces with proud and haughty step along the brow of Zion, he might see that large and spacious valley, which stretches itself out before him, filled with a mangled mass of dead and dying, swimming in blood, and ready to be devoured by the birds of prey which hover over the scene. But no such vision crosses his spirit, and he passes on to his tented palace to slumber in pride.
Meanwhile Britain has been making strenuous efforts to stop the progress of this gigantic Napolean; and every soldier that can be spared is sent away in the direction of the rising sun But what can the British army do against such a host as the Russian autorat has around him? Brave as the officers and men may be, what success or what renown can be gained in such an unequal conflict? In the critical emergency the parent island may send a cry across the Atlantic, "Come over and help us.' Swiftly is the sound borne over the waves, and soon an answering echo is wafted back from the shores of Columbia. The cause is common, and the struggle must be common too.
"We are coming, brother John, we are coming," is the noble reply; and almost ere it is delivered, a fleet of gallant vessels is crossing the Pacific, with the stars and stripes gleaming on every mast. Another force is on its way from the far south, and soon the flower and strength of the Anglo-Saxon race meet on the sacred soil of Palestine. The intelligence of their approach reaches the sacrilegious usurper, and he leads forth his army towards the mountains that rise in glory round about Jerusalem. The Jews within the city now arm themselves, and join the army that has come from the east and west, the north and the south for their protection, and thus these two mighty masses meet face to face, and prepare for the greatest battle that ever was fought on this struggling earth. On the one side the motley millions of Russia, and the nations of Continental Europe are drawn up on the slopes of the hills and the sides of the valleys toward the north; while on the other are ranged the thousands of Britain and her offspring, from whose firm and regular ranks gleam forth the dark eyes of many of the sons of Abraham, determined to preserve their newly-recovered city, or perish, like their ancestors of a former age, in its ruins.
All is ready. That awful pause which ensues before the work of death begins, is broken by the clash of arms; and while yet the contending hosts, are plunging incessant fire upon battallions of bleeding and quivering flesh, a strange sound— "The voice of the Archangel and the trump of God"—outroar the din of battle.* The time for the visible manifestation of God's vengeance has arrived, his fury has come up in his face, and he calls for a sword against Gog throughout all his mountains. 'Tis this roaring voice of Jehovah that breaks forth with terror and confounds the assembled armies. The scene that follows baffles description. Amid earthquakes and showers o fire the bewildered and maddened multitude of the autocrat rush, sword in hand, against each other, while the Israelites and their Anglo-Saxon allies become unwittingly Jehovah's sword upon the enemy.
The stone cut without hands fall on the Image feet, and breaks them to pieces; after which the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold, become like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the wind shall carry them away. The various descriptions which we have of this battle all intimate that Jehovah of armies is the mighty foe that shall contend with the autocrat in Armageddon. John terms it "the battle of that great day of God Almighty," and a principal instrument of their defeat will be mutual slaughter. The carnage will be dreadful. Out of all the myriads that came like a cloud upon the land of Israel, only a scattered and shattered remnant will return; the great mass will be left to rot upon the land, and fill the valley of Hamongog with graves.
We pause at this point of the prophecy, considering it unnecessary at the present time to enter into a minute examination of the nature or duration of the millennial period. We have already followed the subject beyond the limits indicated by our title page, and it would swell this pamphlet far beyond its intented size, to enter into a discussion of these points. A great obscurity rests on the events that immediately follow the battle of Armageddon, so that although we might come pretty near the reality, our remarks would be essentially conjectural. It is probable that Assyria, Persia, and Britain will be the only three powers that will exist in the old world, besides the kingdom which the Most High will establish in Jerusalem; for it is stated by Daniel that "the rest of the beasts" lived for a "season and a time," after the destruction of the dragon. It is very natural to suppose that Britain will continue to hold a high place among the nations, though what that position will be, or how long she will retain it, the compiler of this pamphlet cannot say. The Anglo-Saxon race must, from the very nature of their constitution, be a notable people; but it is evident that the Hebrews will have the chief place during that glorious era which these stirring changes are to usher in. These will certainly become greater than any of the nations, and that in virtue of the covenant of Jehovah with their fathers.
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