A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse Part 8
"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 that the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night in like manner."-Rev. 8:12.
The sun, moon, and stars cannot here, any more than under the sixth seal (6:12,13), symbolize agents of their own order, but must represent the rulers of the Roman empire. Says Dr. Keith:-
"At the voice of the first angel, and the blast of his trumpet, the whole Roman world was in agitation, and 'the storms of war' pa.s.sed over it all.
'The union of the empire was dissolved;' a third part of it fell; and the 'transalpine provinces were separated from the empire.' Under the second trumpet, the provinces of Africa, another, or the maritime, part, was in like manner reft from Rome, and the Roman ships were destroyed in the sea, and even in their harbors. The empire of Rome, hemmed in on every side, was then limited to the kingdom of Italy. Within its bounds, and along the fountains and rivers of waters, the third trumpet reechoed from the Alps to the Apennines. The last barrier of the empire of Rome was broken. The plains of Lombardy were ravaged by a foreign foe: and from thence new enemies arose to bring to an end the strife of the world with the imperial city.
" 'In the s.p.a.ce of twenty years since the death of Valentinian' (two years subsequent to the death of Attila), 'nine emperors had successively disappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth recommended only by his beauty, would be the least ent.i.tled to the notice of posterity, if his reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman empire in the west, did not leave a memorable era in the history of mankind.' "
The throne of the Caesars had been for ages the sun of the world; while other kings were designated as stars. The imperial power had first been transferred to Constantinople by Constantine; and it was afterwards divided between the east and the west; but the eastern empire was not yet doomed to destruction. The precise year in which the western empire was extinguished, is not positively ascertained, but it is usually a.s.signed to A. D. 476. Some place it in 479. The imperial Roman power, of which either Rome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the West or the East, ceased to be recognized in Italy; and the third part of the sun was smitten, till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The power of the Caesars became unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned over Rome.
Dr. Keith considers that "the concluding words of the fourth trumpet imply the future restoration of the Western empire: 'The day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.' In respect to civil authority, Rome became subject to Ravenna; and Italy was a conquered province of the Eastern empire. But, as more appropriately pertaining to other prophecies, the defence of the worship of images first brought the spiritual and temporal powers of the Pope and of the emperor into violent collision; and, by conferring on the Pope all authority over the churches, Justinian laid his helping hand to the promotion of the papal supremacy, which afterwards a.s.sumed the power of creating monarchs. In the year of our Lord 800, the Pope conferred on Charlemagne the t.i.tle of Emperor of the Romans.
The t.i.tle was again transferred from the King of France to the Emperor of Germany. By the latter it was formally renounced, within the memory of the existing generation. In our own days the iron crown of Italy was on the head of another 'emperor.' " Then the sun was suddenly darkened, as symbolized under the sixth seal, 6:12. p. 66.
The Woe-denouncing Angel.
"And I beheld, and heard an eagle flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, from the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are to sound."-Rev. 8:13.
The word eagle, instead of angel, is in accordance with the more recent revised editions of the Greek. It must symbolize persons peculiarly apprehensive at this crisis, of disasters to follow the extinction of the Roman empire in the west. During the first half of the sixth century, the Sclavonians invaded the east, "spread from the suburbs of Constantinople to the Ionian Gulf, destroyed thirty-two cities or castles, razed Potidaea, which Athens had built, and Philip had besieged, and repa.s.sed the Danube, dragging at their horses' heels one hundred and twenty thousand of the subjects of Justinian."-_Gibbon._ And they continued their inroads, until the citizens became apprehensive that the Empire of the East would be extinguished like that of the West.
This symbol also indicates that the events under the trumpets which were to follow, would be far more dreadful and terrible than those of the preceding ones. For this reason, the last three are sometimes denominated THE WOE TRUMPETS.
The Fifth Trumpet.
"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star, which had fallen from heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and a smoke arose out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And locusts came out of the smoke into the earth: and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them that they should not injure the herbage of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree; but only those men who have not the seal of G.o.d on their foreheads. And they were not allowed to kill them, but to torment them five months: and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days men will seek death, and will not find it; and will desire to die, and death will flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions. And they had breast-plates, like breast-plates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to injure men five months. They had a king over them, the messenger of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. One woe is past away; and behold, there come yet two woes hereafter."-Rev. 9:1-12.
The previous trumpets reveal the agencies which effected the dismemberment and overthrow of Western Rome. The fifth and sixth unfold those which terminated that empire in the east, embracing the territory between the Adriatic and Euphrates, the Lybian desert and the Danube.
A star (1:20) symbolizes a messenger, or head of a religious body, p. 31.
Mohammed is generally regarded as represented by this symbol. He was, by birth, of the princely house of the Koreish, Governors of Mecca, a family of eminence.
The star had fallen to the earth before opening the pit of the abyss, which ill.u.s.trates the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, and the seeming termination of all his hopes. To save his life, he took refuge, with one companion, in a cave near Medina, in A. D. 622, which forms the epoch of the Hegira, _i.e._, of his flight.
The bottomless pit, is where Satan is subsequently cast (20:3); and the key of it being given to this agent, symbolizes his power to open and to cause the smoke to issue from it; the Satanic origin of which is thus indicated:
Smoke is an appropriate representative of error, and symbolizes the Mohammedan doctrines; which, like the smoke of a great furnace, were disseminated far and wide, subverting the religion, and, in time, effecting the overthrow of the remaining portion of the Roman empire-the sun, one-third of which was smitten under the fourth trumpet.
The locusts were generated in the smoke from whence they issued. In a corresponding manner, the spread of Mohammedanism resulted in the organization of hordes of Saracens, who propagated the religion of the false prophet by the sword, and founded the famous Arabian empire, which extended from the Atlantic ocean to the river Euphrates.
The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and the Saracenic hordes, thus symbolized, were mounted hors.e.m.e.n, famous for the swiftness of their flight or pursuit, and ever ready for the contest.
Their crowns, faces, hair, teeth, breast-plates, &c., seem to be indicative of their personal appearance: on their heads they wore yellow turbans, like coronets; their demeanor was grave and firm; their hair, like that of women, was suffered to grow uncut; they were defended by the cuira.s.s or breast-plate; and in rushing to battle, their onset was like that of chariots and many horses.
They had a king over them, named Abaddon in the Hebrew, and Apollyon in the Greek, both of which signified the Destroyer. The Saracens acknowledged the authority of Mohammed during the whole period of their conquests; not only recognizing him as their prophet and king during his lifetime, but his successors, after his death, considered and called themselves Mohammed's _Caliphs_, or _Vicars_.
Their mission was not against the gra.s.s, green things, and trees, but had express reference to the men who had _not_ the seal of G.o.d in their foreheads. The ant.i.thesis here expressed, shows that by the former were symbolized the servants of G.o.d, and that these locust-warriors were particularly commissioned against infidels and apostates. Christians were not to be molested; and provision was made for their protection, in the circular letter which Abubekir sent to the Arabian tribes, A. D. 633. He said:
" 'Remember, that you are always in the presence of G.o.d, on the verge of death, in the a.s.surance of judgment, and the hope of paradise: avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. 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 in retired monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve G.o.d 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 Mohammedans or pay tribute_.' "
At this epoch, the Greek church at Constantinople had been preserved from the reproach of image worship, and still later it made strenuous efforts against it; but the churches of the north of Africa, and the Asiatic portion of the Eastern empire, had become greatly debased, and worshipped saints and images. And while the territories of these were speedily subverted to Mohammedanism, and became a part of the Arabian empire, the east of Europe was wonderfully preserved from their inroads.
Their power was not to kill, but to torment men five months. To kill, symbolically, according to the significance of the second seal, p. 60, is to compel men to apostasize; and they could not be in a condition to force their religion on the men of the eastern empire, without first subjecting it by force of arms.
The time of this torment was limited to five prophetic months. In one hundred and fifty years from the _Hegira_ the Saracen empire had ceased to be aggressive. In 762 Bagdad, the city of peace, was founded on the Tigris, by Al-Mansur, who died in 774. "From this time," says ROTTICK, "the Arabian history a.s.sumes an entirely different character." It was no longer progressive; the proud Saracen empire became dismembered, and three independent and hostile Caliphates, and several fragments of kingdoms, were formed from its ruins. In 841, the reigning Caliph at Bagdad, distrusting the spirit of his own troops, hired a body of fifty thousand Turkish soldiers, which he distributed in his dominions. These accelerated the ruin of the Caliphate, and, in time, the whole of the Saracen territory became subject to the Tartar rule, which had become Mohammedan, and also aimed to subject the eastern empire.
The declaration that "one woe is past," v. 12, implies an interval between that and the woe following. In a corresponding manner, the crusaders from Europe, like the successive overflowing of a mighty river, restrained the Tartars from the conquest of Constantinople, which had now consented to image worship, till the sounding of:
The Sixth Trumpet.
"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice out of the four horns of the golden altar before G.o.d, saying to the sixth angel having the trumpet, Loose the four messengers bound near the great river Euphrates. And the four messengers were loosed, prepared for an hour, and day, and month, and year, to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the hors.e.m.e.n were two hundred thousand thousand: I heard the number of them. And thus I saw on the horses in the vision, and those, who sat on them, having red, blue and yellow breast-plates: and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and fire, and smoke, and brimstone issued from their mouths. By these three plagues the third part of men was killed; by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails having heads were like serpents, and they injure with them. And the rest of the men, who were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, and silver, and bra.s.s, and stone, and of wood: which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; nor did they repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."-Rev. 9:13-21.
The great river, the Euphrates,-waters being a symbol of people, (17:15)-must symbolize those who sustain a relation to the Roman hierarchy, as its defenders and supporters; a.n.a.logous to that sustained by the river Euphrates to the city of Babylon; which was situated on, and drew its wealth and support from it.
The angels bound near the Euphrates, must then be those powers, which, approaching and attacking the Roman Empire, were _restrained_ from effecting its conquest and enforcing the profession of Mohammedanism.
Their being loosed, signifies the removal of those restraints. Mr. Lord suggests that they symbolize leaders of the four armies of the Tartars, which successively overran the surrounding provinces. He says:
"The first horde were the Seljukians, who invaded the Eastern empire about the middle of the eleventh century, under Togrul Beg. He suddenly overran, with myriads of cavalry, the frontier, from Taurus to Arzeroum, and spread it with blood and devastation. Alp Arslan, his successor, soon renewed the invasion, conquered Armenia and Georgia, penetrated into Cappadocia and Phrygia, and scattered detachments over the whole of lesser Asia. His troops being subsequently driven back, he renewed the war, and recovered those provinces. His descendants, and others of the race, soon after extended their conquests, and established the kingdoms in the east of Persia and Syria, and Roum, in lesser Asia, which they maintained through many generations, and made their sway a scorpion scourge to the idolatrous inhabitants. The Christians were allowed the exercise of their religion on the conditions of tribute and servitude, but were compelled to endure the scorn of the victors, to submit to the abuse of their priests and bishops, and to witness the apostasy of their brethren, the compulsory circ.u.mcision of many thousands of their children, and the subjection of many thousands to a debasing and hopeless slavery.
"The second army was that of the Moguls, who, in the thirteenth century, after the conquest of Persia, pa.s.sed the Euphrates, plundered and devastated Syria, subdued Armenia, Iconium, and Anatolia, and extinguished the Seljukian dynasty. Another army advancing to the west, devastated the country on both sides of the Danube, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia, Hungary, Austria, and spread them with the ruins of their cities and churches, and the bones of their inhabitants. This horde had been prepared for this invasion by vast conquests in the East.
"The third were the Ottomans, who in the beginning of the fourteenth century conquered Bithynia, Lydia, Ionia, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, and in the following century Constantinople itself, and have maintained their empire to the present time. They were released from restraint on the one hand by the decay of the Mogul Khans, to whom they had been subject, and on the other by the dissensions and weakness of the Greeks.
"The last was that of the Moguls under Tamerlane, who in the beginning of the fifteenth century overran Georgia, Syria, and Anatolia, and spread them with slaughter and desolation. He also had been prepared for this incursion by his previous victories and conquests."-_Ex. Apoc._, pp. 225, 226.
These armies, the number of which is literally "myriads of myriads," were not all subsequent to the time when they had power to subject the Eastern Roman empire; but may be the four, from the fact that the Mohammedan power was extended by these armies, which till this time had been restrained from accomplishing the subjugation of Constantinople.
The restraints being removed, they were now to have power to kill, by compelling the third part of men to embrace the doctrines of Mohammed,-evident reference being had to the men of the eastern empire; the conquest of which was now to be effected, the dial of heaven having indicated the arrival of the predicted epoch.
In 1449 Constantine Deacoses, being ent.i.tled to the throne of Constantinople by the death of John Paleologus, did not venture to take possession till he had sent amba.s.sadors and gained the consent of Amurath, the Turkish Sultan. From this fact, Ducas, the historian, counts Paleologus as the last Greek emperor-for he did not consider as such, a prince who did not dare to reign without permission of his enemy. Amurath died and was succeeded in the empire, in 1451, by MAHOMET II., who set his heart on Constantinople, and made preparations for besieging the city. The siege commenced on the 6th of April, 1453, and ended in the taking of the city, and death of the last of the Constantines, on the 16th of May following, when the eastern city of the Caesars became the seat of the Ottoman empire; and its "religion was trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors." Thus the two-horned beast (13:11), became merged in, and identified with the false prophet, 16:13, and 19:20.
The description of the horses, and those who sat on them (v. 17), is strikingly emblematic of the Turkish warriors who subjugated Constantinople. Says Dr. Keith: "The breast-plates of the hors.e.m.e.n, in reference to the more destructive implements of war, might then, for the first time, be said to be fire, and jacinth, and brimstone. The musket had recently supplied the place of the bow. _Fire_ emanated from their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. _Brimstone_, the flame of which is _jacinth_, was an ingredient both of the _liquid fire_ and of gunpowder.... A new mode of warfare was at that time introduced, which has changed the nature of war itself, in regard to the form of its instrument of destruction; and sounds and sights unheard of and unknown before, were the death-knell and doom of the Roman empire. Invention outrivalled force, and a new power was introduced, that of musketry as well as of artillery, in the art of war, before which the old Macedonian phalanx would not have remained unbroken, nor the Roman legions stood. That which JOHN saw 'in the vision,' is read in the history of the times."
By these three, the fire, smoke, and brimstone, were the third part of men killed (v. 18), and by these was the conquest of Constantinople effected.
Says Gibbon: "At the request of Mahomet II., Urban produced a piece of bra.s.s ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible magnitude. A measure of twelve palms was a.s.signed to the bore, and the stone bullet weighed about six hundred pounds. A vacant place before the new palace was chosen for the first experiment; but to prevent the sudden and mischievous effects of astonishment and fear, a proclamation was issued that the cannon would be discharged the ensuing day. The explosion was felt or heard in a circuit of a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of the gunpowder, was driven about a mile, and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom deep in the ground. For the conveyance of this destructive engine, a frame or carriage of thirty wagons was linked together, and drawn along by a train of sixty oxen; two hundred men, on both sides, were stationed to poise or support the rolling weight; two hundred and fifty workmen marched before to smooth the way and repair the bridges, and near two months were employed in a laborious journey of a hundred and fifty miles.