Verse 6: “And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”
This, of course, is the same death as that in verse 5. Such was the misery of the Greeks, occasioned by the wars in which they were almost continually embroiled with the Mahommedan powers, that very many would have preferred an entire subjection of the empire to them, to the protracted miseries the war occasioned. Nevertheless, this was not permitted; political death fled from them.
THE EXTERMINATOR TORMENTS THE GREEKS ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS
Verse 10: “Their power was to hurt men for five months.”
1. The question arises. What men were they to hurt for five months? Undoubtedly, the same they were afterwards to slay (See verse 15). “The third part of the men,” or third of the Roman empire the Greek division of it.
2. When were they to begin their work of torment? The 11th verse answers the question: “They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek hath his name Apollyon [meaning destroyer].”
a. “They had a king over them.” From the death of Mohammed the Mohammedans were divided into various factions, under several leaders, with no general civil government extending over them all. Near the close of the 13th century, Othman founded a government, which has since been known as the Ottoman government, or empire, extending over all the principal Mahommedan tribes, consolidating them into one grand monarchy.
b. The character of the king. “Which is the angel of the bottomless pit.” An angel signifies a messenger, or minister, either good or bad. The messenger was not always a spiritual being. “The angel of the bottomless pit,” or chief minister of the religion which came from hence when it was opened. That religion is Mahommedism [Islam], and the Sultan is its chief minister.
“The Sultan, or Grand Signior, as he is indifferently called, is also Supreme Caliph, or high priest, uniting in his person the highest spiritual dignity with the supreme secular authority.” Perkins, “World as it is,” p. 36…
3. His name. In Hebrew, “Abaddon,” the destroyer; in Greek, “Apollyon,” one that exterminates or destroys. Having two different names in the two languages, it is evident that the character rather than the name of the power is intended to be represented…Such has always been the character of the Ottoman government…
But when did Othman make his first assault on the Greek empire? According to Gibbon (“Decline & Fall,”) “Othman first entered the territory of Nicomedia on the 27th day of July, 1299”
“And their power was to torment men five month” Commencing July 27th, 1299, the one hundred and fifty years reach to 1449. During that whole period the Turks were engaged in an almost perpetual war with the Greek empire, but yet without conquering it. They seized upon and held several of the Greek provinces, but still Greek independence was maintained in Constantinople. But in 1449, the termination of the one hundred and fifty years, a change came. Before presenting the history of that change, however, we will look at verses 12-15.” One woe is past; and behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice, from the four horns of the golden alter which is before. Saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, ‘Loose the four angels that are bound in the great river Euphrates.’ And the four angels were loosed which were prepared for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, for to slay a third part of men.”
The first woe was to continue from the rise of Mohammedism until the end of the five months. Then the first woe was to end, and the second begin. Moreover, when the sixth angel sounded, it was commanded to take off the restraints, which had been imposed on the nation, by which they were restricted to the work of tormenting men, and their commission extended to slay the third part of men. This command came from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. “The four angels,” are the four principal sultanies of which the Ottoman empire is composed, located in the country of the Euphrates. They had been restrained; God commanded, and they were loosed.
In the year 1449, John Paleologus, the Greek emperor, died, but left no children to inherit his throne, and Constantine Deacozes succeeded to it. But he would not venture to ascend the throne without the consent of Amurath, the Turkish Sultan. He therefore sent ambassadors to ask his consent, and obtained it, before he presumed to call himself sovereign. Let this historical fact be carefully examined in connection with the prediction above. This was not a violent assault made on the Greeks, by which their empire was overthrown and their independence taken away, but simply a voluntary surrender of that independence into the hands of the Turks, by saying, “I cannot reign unless you permit.”
The four angels were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men. This period amounts to three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days; during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist in Constantinople.
Commencing when the one hundred and fifty years ended, in 1449, the period would end August 11th, 1840. Judging from the manner of the commencement of the Ottoman supremacy, that it was by a voluntary acknowledgment on the part of the Greek emperor that he only reigned by permission of the Turkish Sultan, we should naturally conclude that the fall or departure of Ottoman independence would be brought about in the same way; that at the end of the specified period, the Sultan would voluntarily surrender his independence into the hands of the Christian powers, from whom he received it.
When the foregoing calculation was made, it was purely a matter of calculation on the prophetic periods of Scripture. Now, however, the time has passed by, and it is proper to inquire what the result has been—whether it has corresponded with the previous calculation.
1. Has the ottoman independence in Constantinople departed, and is it in Christian hands? Let the following testimony answer the question…
The London Morning Herald, after the capture of St. Jean dAcre, speaking of the state of things in the Ottoman Empire, says: “We have dissipated into thin air the prestige that lately invested as with a halo the name of Mehemet Ali. We have in all probability destroyed forever the power of that hitherto successful ruler. But have we done aught to restore strength to the Ottoman empire? We fear not. We fear that the sultan has been reduced to the rank of a puppet; and that the sources of the Turkish empires strength are entirely destroyed.”
“If the supremacy of the Sultan is hereafter to be maintained in Egypt, it must be maintained, we fear, by the unceasing intervention of England and Russia.”
2. When did Mahommedan independence in Constantinople depart?
In order to answer this question understandingly, it will be necessary to review briefly the history of that power for a few years past.
For several years the Sultan has been embroiled in war with Mehemet [Mohammed] Ali, Pacha [sic] of Egypt. In 1838 there was a threatening of war between the Sultan and his Egyptian vassal. Mehemet Ali Pacha, in a note addressed to the foreign consuls, declared that in the future, he would pay no tribute in the Porte, and that he considered himself independent sovereign of Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. …In 1839, hostilities again commenced, and were prosecuted, until, in a general battle between the armies of the Sultan and Mehemet, the Sultans army was entirely cut up and destroyed, and his fleet taken by Mehemet and carried into Egypt. This fleet Mehemet positively refused to give up and return to the Sultan. In 1840, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, interposed, and determined on a settlement of the difficulty; for it was evident, if let alone, Mehemet would soon become master of the Sultans throne.
The Sublime Porte, with a view of putting a stop to the effusion of Mussulman blood, and to the various evils, which would arise from a renewal of hostilities, accepted the intervention of the great powers.
Here was certainly a voluntary surrender [part of the official document reads:]
“The powers have, together with the ottoman plenipotentiary, drawn up and signed a treaty, whereby the Sultan off
ers the Pacha, the hereditary government of Egypt, and all that part of Syria extending from the gulf of Suez to the lake of Tiberias, together with the province of Acre, for life. The Pacha, on his part, evacuated all other parts of the Sultans dominions now occupied by him and returning the Ottoman fleet. A certain space of time has been granted him to accede to these terms; and, as the proposals of the Sultan and his allies, the four powers, do not admit of any change of qualification, if the Pacha refuse to accede to them, it is evident that the evil consequences to fall upon him will be attributable solely to his own fault.
“His Excellency, Rifat Bey, Musleshar for foreign affairs, has been despatched in a government steamer to Alexandria, to communicate the ultimatum to the Pacha” [Moniteur Ottoman, Aug. 22, 1840].
The question now comes up, when was that document put officially under the control of Mehemet Ali?
“By the French steamer of the 24th, we have advices from Egypt to the 16th. The Turkish government steamer, which had reached Alexandria on the 11th, with the envoy Rifat Bey on board, had by his (the Pachas) orders been placed in quarantine, and she was not released from it until the 16th. However, on the very day [August 11, 1840] on which he had been admitted to practice, the above named functionary had an audience of the Pacha. He had communicated to the Pacha the command of the Sultan, with respect to the evacuation of the Syrian province, and appointed another audience for the next day. When, in the presence of the consuls of the European powers, he would receive from him his definite answer, and inform him of the alternative of his refusing to obey; giving him the ten days which have been allotted him by the convention to decide on the course he should think fit to adopt.” [The London Morning Chronicle, Sept. 18, 1840].
According to previous calculation; therefore, ottoman supremacy did depart on the eleventh of August [August 11, 1840] into the hands of the great Christian powers of Europe.
Then the second woe is past, and the sixth trumpet has ceased its sounding; and the conclusion is now inevitable, because the word of God affirms the fact in so many words, “Behold, the third woe cometh quickly…”
END
FOOTNOTES
PART I
1 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade script, Wikipedia
2 Islamic Association of Palestine, Hamas Branch, from The River to The Sea, video conference in the U.S.
3 Livingstone, Robert. Christianity and Islam: The Final Clash. Enumclaw: Pleasant Word, 2004. P.12
PART II
1 Kabbani, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham, The Approach of Armageddon? An Islamic Perspective. Canada: Supreme Muslim Council of America, 2003. p. 228
2 Ibn Kathir, The Signs Before the Day of Judgment. London: Dar Al-Taqwa, 1991. p. 18
3 Furnish, Timothy. Holiest Wars, Islamic Mahdis, their Jihads and Osama Bin Laden, 2005.
4 An Interview With Harun Yahya http://www.jesuswillreturn.com/a_3.html
5 Ibn Maja, Kitab al-Fitan #4084 as quoted by Kabbani, p. 231
6 Sunan Abu Dawud, Narrated by Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu’minin
7 “What is the Sunnah, Part 2 of 2,” The Religion of Islam, http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/655/
8 Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, from Sahih Bukhari 84.59
9 Abu Muslim, Book 041, Number 6961, In Hadiths of the ‘twelve successors’
10 Mufti Muhammad Shafi and Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani in their book, Signs of the Qiyama [the final judgment] and the Arrival of the Maseeh [the Messiah]
11 Kabbani, p. 237
12 Al-Sadr and Mutahhari, prologue p. 3
13 Schneider, Ludwig. Israel Today, Was the Dome of the Rock a Church. 11/14/2006
14 Sahih Buhkari: Volume 8, Book 74, Number 290 Shirk: The Ultimate Crime Islam: The Religion of All Prophets http://www.islaam.ca/what-is-islam-/polytheism-association-with-allah/shirk-the-ultimate-crime-2.html
15 John Calvin Institutes of Religion (Book 2, chapter 6:4)
16 Polycarp Letter to the Philadelphians 7:1 [A.D. 135]
17 Al-Sadi from Al-Tibyan, by Al-Tousi) See also Tafseer Al-Jalalyn 3:54, Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan (http://www.aalalbayt.org), see also Tafsir Ibin-Abbas 3:54, and Ibin-Katheer 3:54. Also see Qurtubi, IV, pp. 98-99; cf. Zamakhshari, I, p. 366 Also see Dr. Mahmoud M. Ayoub, The Qur’an and Its Interpreters, Volume II, The House of Imran, (1992 State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany) p. 166
18 Muhammad ibn Izzat, Muhammad. ‘Arif, Al Mahdi and the End of Time. London: Dar Al-Taqwa, 1997. p 40
19 Muhammad ibn Izzat, Muhammad. ‘Arif, Al Mahdi and the End of Time. London: Dar Al-Taqwa, 1997. p 16
20 Muhammad ibn Izzat, Muhammad ‘Arif, Al Mahdi and the End of Time. London: Dar Al-Taqwa, 1997. p 16
21 Wikipedia, The Smithsonian Institution, Archeology and the Book of Mormon.
22 See Toby Lester (January 1999). “What Is The Koran”. The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
23 Tafsir Ibn Kathir Surah 2:42
24 Sunan Abu Dawood Book 14, Number 2631: Narrated Ka’b ibn Malik.
25 A Shite Encyclopedia October 1995 Revised January 2001 http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia/chapter6b/1.html
26 Ibn Abbas, commenting on Qur’an 3:28, as narrated in Sunan al-Bayhaqi and Mustadrak al-Hakim, said: “al-Taqiyya is the uttering of the tongue, while the heart is comfortable with faith.”
27 Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir-Surah 3:28
28 Maimonides, Epistle Concerning Apostasy, 1160 AD, Historical Society of Jews from Egypt.
29 Abu Hamid Imam Al-Ghazali, Ulum id Din pp. 3, 137
30 Al-Sirah al-Halabiyyah, v3, p61, http://www.alislam.org/encyclopedia/chapter6b/1.html
31 Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59, Number 369 Narrated by Jabir bin ‘Abdullah
32 Islam Review, Lying in Islam Abdullah Al Araby http://www.islamreview.com/articles/lying.shtml
33 members.fortunecity.com/mist91/hztabuubaidajarrah.html
34 Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, (Amana publications, 1997), section r8.2, page 745
35 Ghazali Ulum id Din pp. 3, 137
36 Islam Review, Lying in Islam Abdullah Al Araby http://www.islamreview.com/articles/lying.shtml
37 The Kashmir Telegraph, Jagan Kaul, April 14th 2002. See also The Danger Within, Militant Islam in America, by Daniel Pipes, November 2001.
38 Ayatullah Baqir al-Sadr and Ayatullah Muratda Mutahhari, The Awaited Savior, (Karachi, Islamic Seminary Publications, prologue, p. 1
39 Abdulaziz Abdhulhussein Sachedina, Islamic Messianism, the Idea of the Mahdi in Twelver Shi’ism, (Albany, State University of New York, 1981) p. 2
40 Kabbani, p. 229
41 Sefer Zerubbavel, in Midreshei Ge’ullah, p. 80ff.
42 Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 36, Number 4273, Narrated by Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu’minin
43 Ayatullah Baqir al-Sadr and Ayatullah Muratda Mutahhari, The Awaited Savior, Karachi, Islamic Seminary Publications, prologue, pp. 4, 5
44 Local Push for Islamic State, Barney Zwartz, The Age, January 9, 2007
45 At-Tabarani, Related by Abu Hurayra, as quoted by ‘Izzat and ‘Arif, p. 9
46 Izzat and Arif, p. 15
47 Ibid.
48 “Islam 101,” From Jihad Watch, also see “Religion of Peace?” by Robert Spencer, Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2007, p. 165.)
49 Dr. Waleed A. Muhanna, a Brief Introduction to the Islamic (Hijri) Calendar, http://fisher.osu.edu/~muhanna_1/hijri-intro.html
50 Sahih Ashrat as-Sa’at, as quoted in Kabbani, p. 236
51 Veliankode, p. 351
52 Sahih Bukhari: 29, 304, 1052, 1462, 3241, 5197, 5198, 6449, 6546, Sahih Muslim: 80, 885, 907, 2737
53 Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64; see also Numbers 65 and 88
54 Musnad Ahmad, Number 25636
55 Minister named to’Islamic Cabinet’ September 4, 2007 PJSTAR
56 Sideeque M.A. Veliankode, Doomsday Portents and Prophecies (Scarborough, Canada, 1
999)p. 277
57 Ayatullah Baqir al-Sadr and Ayatullah Muratda Mutahhari, The Awaited Savior, (Karachi, Islamic Seminary Publications), prologue, pp. 4, 5
58 Abdulrahman Kelani, The Last Apocalypse, An Islamic Perspective, (Fustat, 2003), pp. 34-35
59 Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, from Sahih Bukhari 84.59
60 Fruchtenbaum., “Nationality,” pp. 17-18. From Article by Dr. Thomas Ice, The Ethnicity of The Antichrist, May 8th, 2007, Prophetic News
61 http://iisca.org/knowledge/jihad/jihad_for_allah.htm
62 Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah, trans. by Franz Rosenthal (New York: Pantheon Books Inc., 1958) Vol. 1:473
63 Jurisprudence in Muhammad’s Biography, Dr. Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti (page 134, 7th edition)”. http://www.secularislam.org/jihad/exegesis.htm
64 E. Tyan, “jihad,” Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden: Brill, 1965)
65 Tafsir Ibn Kathir Surah 9:123 Tafsir.com
66 Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, narrated by Al-Miqdaam Ibn Ma’di Karib, Tirmidhi & Ibn Maajah.
67 Tirmidhi, Nasaa’i and others
68 Bukhaari & Muslim
69 Al-Quds Al-Arabi London, May 11, 2001
70 USA Today, June 26, 2001).
71 The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition, 9, 6, 2001
72 Malik 362:1221
73 The Evident Smoke, 44:54 Shakir, Shakir, M. H., “The Qur’an”, Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc, Elmhurst, NY, 1993
74 The Beneficent, 55:54-58 Dawood, Dawood, N. J., “The Koran”, Penguin, London, England, 1995
75 p. 367_Digest of Islamic Law_ N. Bailli e, Premier Book House, Pakistan
76 Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 84, Number 59, Narrated Abu Huraira
77 Joseph Farah, IslamicTerror.com? Muslim websites in West defend bin Laden, call for ‘5th column’ World Net Daily, November 13, 2001
78 Narrated Abu Burda. Volume 9, Book 84, Number 58.
79 Narrated Anas Bin Malik, Hadith Sahih Bukhari Vol. 1 # 387
80 Christian Leaders Association 21 June, 1998. Jakarta, Indonesia
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