From “The Sick Man”; to “The Strong Man” of Europe . . .

ISRAEL IN THE BOOK

OF REVELATION

BY

REV. L. G. A. ROBERTS

(Commander R.N. Retired)

RECTOR OF ARDLEY, BICESTER, OXFORD,

Secretary of the Imperial British-Israel Association.

WITH PREFACE BY

REV. W. M. H. MILNER, M.A., F.R.G.S. A.V.I.

LONDON:

R. BANKS & SON, 5, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.

1 9 1 1.

'Whilst Revelation xiv. 1-6 is taking place, another scene is being enacted in the Roman earth, in the Kingdom of the Beast. We have in the figure of Revelation xiii, all the nations represented in the Beast, but his last form is the peculiar one. After the wounding of one of the heads of the beast (France under Napoleon) (Rev. xiii. 3-12) his deadly wound is healed (by Germany?). Notice the remarkable language of Revelation xiii, 11 : “And I beheld another Beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon.” The first beast rises out of the sea (Rev. xiii. 1), the same as seen in Daniel vii. 3, “The four great beasts came up from the sea” – i.e., they all surrounded the Mediterranean. This last, however, has progressed northwards and is represented as inland as coming up “out of the earth,” and when seen to restore the Roman Empire he has two horns. It is well known that the Germans infest Austria, and that even to-day Germany and Austria are one in objects, they are two horns united for a purpose, moreover they are lamb-like – i.e., Christian, pretended followers of the Lamb. This is their profession; as to the last characteristic, “he spake as a dragon.” We must leave our readers to consider whom this autocrat seems to point to either Prussian or Russian? It is not to be assumed that this system is yet fully developed, and we know not what intrigue with Rome may eventually bring about, but coming events have already cast a shadow before, and events hurry on at a tremendous pace. The spirit that will animate this beast is the same as he “that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.”

'This interpretation does not render void the ecclesiastical aspect of the beast thereof, for he has a dual object: one purely anti-Christian, the other political, or Rome working with any tool which her craftiness can entice to do her work.' (pp. 196-197).

'THE STRONG MAN OF EUROPE – The Throne and Country, which appears this week under new proprietorship and editorship, publishes an article by Mr. Arnold White entitled “Dare Germany go to War?” Mr. White declares that the strong man in Europe is not the Emperor William but the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. “The question of war or peace depends primarily not on the will of the German Kaiser, but on the question as to which of the two parties gains the ascendancy. If the war party, which franctically supports the world policy of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, succeeds in silencing the peace party, Germany will make war, and will be defeated just as France made war and was defeated twice in the course of the last century.” – (From the Standard, September 20th, 1911).'

(Israel in the Book of Revelation, p. 198).

From “Kulturkampf”, to mourning over her . . .

Kaiser Wilhelm (William) II

(Born 1859; German Emperor 1888-1918; died 1941)

From the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors:

“Kulturkampf conflict 1872-87 between the German government and the papacy”.

Returning back to Bishop Christopher Wordsworth (1807-85), and his work Union with Rome; the following is taken from the Tenth Edition of the said work – published three years after his death; and coinciding with the ascension, that very same year, of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the throne of the German Empire :

“The Apocalypse foretells a remarkable phenomenon, which may soon be manifested, namely that, Powers, which have destroyed the mystical Babylon, will mourn over her.

“The cause of this seemingly strange anomaly is now beginning to disclose itself. Where Ultramontanism is dominant, there the Papacy will now have acquired new force; but in other places, where Ultramontanism does not prevail, there, as is notorious, the usurpation and corruptions of the Roman Church have given a strong impetus to Infidelity. Infidelity produces Anarchy. Anarchy is impatient of all civil rule, especially of royal power. As long as kings reigned by hereditary right, or where they were allied with the Papacy, and wherever the religion of Rome had some hold over the minds of the people, there the Throne rested (though not very securely) on some religious foundation. But this foundation has almost disappeared. Many European Sovereigns are now nominees of the people. They are made and unmade by popular passion. And the Papacy is no longer confederate with them, but is arrayed against them. Can such Monarchies have any permanence? Is it not probable, that the time will soon come, when some of them may even regret their own act in destroying the temporal power of the Papacy, and, according to the prophecy of the Apocalypse, mourn over the ruins of that mystical Babylon which they themselves have laid low?”

(From, Union with Rome. “Is not the Church of Rome the Babylon of the Book of Revelation?” An Essay, by Chr. Wordsworth, D.D. Late Bishop of Lincoln; Tenth Edition, Rivingtons, Waterloo Place, London, 1888; pp. 103-104)

In the light of the above, the quote that follows below is from a small pro-German work emanating from America (purporting to be based on “the Light of Bible Prophecy”), and published in the very same year as the outbreak of the First World War; in it its Author writes the following – which supplies the historical realisation to Bishop Wordsworth's above apocalyptical dissertations, regarding things, which as he wrote, would – according to the divine revelation held within the pages of the Apocalypse – “soon come” to be :

“The Kaiser has a reputation for being a devout churchman. He has said on several occasions he believed himself appointed of God. Some years ago he said he felt he was called to do two things in his career. One was to oppose socialism, which was anarchy against governments; the other [was] to uphold the Pope of Rome, because the Pope stood for God and the Bible, and because unbelief was anarchy against God. He believed the Pope had more influence for peace than any other man in Europe. . . .”

(Quoted from: The European War in the Light of Bible Prophecy, by G.H. Gudebrod [German-American?]; 44 Court Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1914; Pages unnumbered).

Antebellum: Upon the Seven Hills

The first work quoted below is from a work by the late Rev James Aitken Wylie (1808-90) – the author of the 1848 work, The Seventh Vial, that was the main text of my second posting on this blog on 1 September 2009.

And the second authority (after a brief introduction from another source) is the nineteenth century Anglican Bishop of Lincoln, Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. (1807-85); the nephew of the poet 'Wordsworth', who (in the conclusion of the work sourced) remarks of the coming, “final struggle of Christianity against open Infidelity”.

First from Wylie's work:

'Societies, not less than individuals, reap as they have sowed; and in the convulsions and revolutions of our times, Rome is reaping the fruit of ages of superstition and despotism. The Papacy at this moment is fighting its third great battle. Its first was with the empire; in that it was victorious. Its second was with Christianity, in the persons of its Albigensian and Waldensian confessors; and in that, too, it was victorious. Its third great war is that which it is now waging with an ATHEISTIC COMMUNISM, which has risen contemporaneously, and with extraordinary intensity and power, in all the Catholic countries of Europe. Whence has come this new and destructive principle? It is the natural issue of the bondage in which the human mind has so long been retained,—of the violence done to reason and faith,—for superstition is the parent of atheism. The national mind in France long struggled to find vent through means of Christianity. This was denied it. It next sought liberty in scepticism, which speedily terminated in atheism. With French infidelity came French democracy. We have already said that the democratic element entered the world with Christianity, and revived again in the Reformation of John Calvin. There is this difference, however, that whereas the doctrine of Calvin would have given true liberty,—constitutional government,—to Europe, the doctrine of Voltaire gave it an anarchy which baptized itself in blood. Scepticism, engendered thus from superstition, has overspread Europe, and set free the masses from all divine control, and, by necessary consequence, from all earthly authority. The brood of revolutions which now torments Europe is the progeny of Rome. From her own loins has sprung the hydra that threatens to tear her in pieces. The sorceress of the Seven Hills, like the Hag of Pandemonium, is now

“With terrors and with clamours compass’d round Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed.”'

(Taken from: The Papacy: its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects, by Rev James A Wylie, LL.D, 1851).

Before moving on to quote from Bishop Wordsworth's work – I'll first give the following brief quote – by means of introduction to it:

'In common with most of the learned Divines of the Church of England since the Reformation and – as we have seen – in accordance with the teaching of her Homilies, we object to Reunion with the Papacy because the Church of Rome is the Babylon of the Revelation. This has been clearly and conclusively proved in that brief, able, unanswered, and unanswerable treatise of the late Bishop Christopher Wordsworth, of Lincoln, entitled :– Union with Rome: Is not the Church of Rome the Babylon of the Apocalypse? I cannot too urgently press upon my readers the great advantage of reading this shilling book. It was not written by an Evangelical Churchman, but by one of the old-fashioned High Church School, one whose great learning is acknowledged by all scholars.'

(Walter Walsh writing in, The Secret History of the Oxford Movement, Third Edition; London: Swan Sonenschein & Co., Ltd., Paternoster Square, E.C., 1898).

To begin – first the title-page to Bishop Wordsworth's above mentioned work:

UNION WITH ROME.

“IS NOT THE CHURCH OF ROME THE

BABYLON OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION?”

An Essay,

BY

CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D.

LATE BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

TENTH EDITION.

RIVINGTONS,

WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON.

MDCCCXXXVIII.

[Sic MDCCCLXXXVIII (1888)]

And now to the work proper:

'[T]he marvel predicted by the Apocalypse is this and a stupendous mystery it is that some of the Powers of the Earth, which received strength with the Beast, and at one time gave up their might to it, would, under the overruling sway of God's retributive justice, arise against the Woman seated on the Beast, and “tear her flesh,” and burn her with fire. And, what is still more marvellous, they will do this, although, in the first instance, they have been leagued with the Beast and with the False Prophet, or False Teacher, who is the Ally of the Beast, on whom the Woman sits as a Queen, in opposition to Christ: and it is foretold, that they will punish Rome in a mysterious transport of indignation, and in a wild ecstasy of revenge.

'Such is the prophecy of St John. And let us ask the candid reader, Is not this prophecy even now in course of fulfilment, in the eyes of the World?

'Of all the princely houses of Europe that were once devoted to the Roman Papacy, none was a more abject vassal of it, than the house of Savoy. In the seventeenth century, AD 1655, it executed with ruthless obsequiousness the sanguinary mandates of Rome, exhorting it to exterminate the Vaudois – the Protestant communities of the Alps – with fire and sword. Such was its eagerness in the work of destruction, that Oliver Cromwell wrote a letter of expostulation to the Duke of Savoy, and sent an ambassador from England to deprecate this crusade of desolation; and Milton then wrote his famous sonnet, which has proved almost prophetic, “On the late Massacre in Piedmont,”

“Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold.”

'And what is now the case, at the present time?

'A Prince of that same house, the house of Savoy, has now been raised up to the Throne of Italy, Victor Emmanuel; and he has “torn the flesh” of Rome, he has despoiled her of the greater part of her temporal dominions; France (which is now virtually mistress of Rome), Spain, and Portugal, have recognized him as King of Italy; he has suppressed her Monasteries, and has thus deprived Rome of her most powerful spiritual Army; and it is not improbable, that either his dynasty, or that of some other secular Potentates formerly devoted to the Papacy, may be employed as an instrument for inflicting more chastisements on Papal Rome.' (pp. 29-30).

And again, later in the same work, from its:

POSTSCRIPT

ON SOME PASSING EVENTS, CONSIDERED WITH REFEEENCE TO PROPHECIES IN THE APOCALYPSE.

' . . . It was there foretold, that the mystical Babylon would be punished for her sins. It was also prophesied there that (as the literal Babylon was punished by the Medes and Persians, who were formerly subject to her, and who rose up against her, and took the city, according to Daniel's interpretation of the handwriting on the wall), so likewise the mystical Babylon would be chastised by God, using the agency of some who had once been her allies and tributaries. It was predicted that some of them would revolt from her, and “hate her, and make her desolate and naked, and tear her flesh;” in other words, that they would despoil her of her Temporal Power, and would ravage her dominions, and take from her that carnal Sovereignty in which she trusted.

'And what is now the fact?

'The House of Savoy, which was once the most devoted vassal of the Papacy, and which exercised its power in obedience to the Papacy in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in successive sanguinary persecutions of its own Protestant subjects, the Waldenses, whom it almost exterminated at her bidding, has been raised up by Almighty God against the Papacy in the person of Victor Emmanuel, a Prince of that house, and now King of Italy.

'Not by conquests of his own, but by the inscrutable Providence of God, overruling the events of War for his exaltation and aggrandizement, and for the humiliation and overthrow of the Temporal Power of the Papacy, Victor Emmanuel has now become Sovereign of Rome and of all the Papal States.

'It is also a remarkable coincidence, that the promulgation of the dogma of the personal Infallibility of the Papacy by the present Pope, in the Council which commenced its sessions on the Festival of the Immaculate Conception, was followed on the next day after that promulgation (July 19, 1870) by the declaration of War on the part of France against Prussia; which has led to the sudden humiliation of France, the protectress of Rome, and to the withdrawal of the French troops from Rome, and to the opening of the gates of Rome to the forces of Victor Emmanuel.

'It is also worthy of notice that in the same year, 1870, on the very next day after the Anniversary of the Festival of the Immaculate Conception on which (in 1854) the novel dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated, and on which (in 1869) the Vatican Council met, which has decreed the Pope's Infallibility, a public document and Manifesto was laid before the Italian Parliament, in which the Government of the King of Italy announced a royal decree, accepting the City and provinces of Rome, transferred to the King by a “plebiscito” of the Roman people themselves, and in which it is declared that the Pope's Temporal Power is extinct, and that Rome is no longer to be the Metropolis of the Roman Papacy, but is henceforth to become, in lieu of Florence, the Capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

'These coincidences were undesigned; the principal actors in them thought nothing of the Apocalypse. But they who have that divine book in their hands, and who remember Christ's command to “discern the signs of the times,” and who consider the blessing which is promised to those who read and meditate upon the Apocalypse, will mark these facts, and will observe these coincidences, and will enquire with reverence, whether the prophecies of the Book of Revelation are not now receiving their accomplishment in Italy and at Rome.

'It was foretold, in these prophecies, as has been already noticed, that some who have been tributaries and vassals of the mystical Babylon, will “tear her flesh, and make her desolate and naked, and burn her with fire.” That prophecy has a spiritual meaning. The mystical Babylon is compared to a faithless woman, and her chastisement is likened to that which was inflicted on Hebrew women for harlotry. They who were once her votaries will tear the flesh of her who once enchanted them with her charms. It is added that they will “burn her with fire;” this is also a figurative phrase; and its meaning is that, as, among the Hebrews, unchaste women were burnt, so the mystical Babylon will be punished, and her glory will be consumed for her sins, as with fire.

'I do not venture to express a confident opinion, whether the present occupation of Rome by the arms of Victor Emmanuel, and the destruction of the Temporal Power of the Papacy by the People of Italy, including the Romans themselves, and by the Sovereign of Italy at the invitation of the Romans themselves, is a fulfilment of this prophecy; but it seems to be an approach towards it. Time will show. The capture of the literal Babylon by Cyrus was not the total destruction of Babylon, it was the transfer of its sovereignty from the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians.' (pp. 97-99).

'We are no advocates of aggression, or apologists of spoliation, but we cannot fail to remark, that it is written in the Apocalypse concerning the mystical Babylon, “Her sins have reached unto heaven” (did they not reach to heaven when the Pope proclaimed himself to be Infallible? did they not then come to a head? And is it surprising that the cup of God's wrath should now overflow upon her?), “and God hath remembered her iniquities; reward her, even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.” And we cannot but observe the evidence which is now displayed to the world, that God is a righteous Judge, that He is the moral Governor of the world, and Arbiter of the destinies of nations, and that, after long forbearance, He punishes Churches and Empires in a manner proportioned to their sins; and that the prophecies of the Apocalypse are true.

'There are other portions of this prophecy which now claim careful attention.

'The Apocalypse predicts that the spiritual dominion of the Papacy will survive the fall of the temporal power of Rome.

'In that Book the mystical Babylon falls, but that spiritual Empire, which is personified as the Beast (a term derived from Daniel's prophecy) on which she sits, is described as remaining after her fall. The fall of the Pope's temporal power will not be the extinction of the Papacy. On the contrary, it is very probable, that the fall of the temporal power of the Papacy will add fresh strength and confidence to its spiritual domination.' (pp. 100-101).

'There is another prophecy in the Book of Revelation which is a fit subject for solemn meditation at the present time.

'It seems to foretell, that after the destruction of its temporal sway, the Papacy will act, if not in alliance with some Infidel powers, yet concurrently with them...

[As detailed in his earlier work: Lectures on the Apocalypse; Critical, Expository, and Practical; delivered before the University of Cambridge; by Chr. Wordsworth D.D. (then) Canon of Westminster; published by Francis & John Rivington, London, 1852]

' . . . [T]hen [after this] the final struggle of Christianity against open Infidelity will ensue; and then, after that great conflict, the Victory of Christ will be complete, and the General Resurrection and Universal Judgment of quick and dead will take place, and His faithful soldiers and servants will be received into the everlasting glory of His heavenly kingdom. Then will be the consummation of all things which is revealed in the last chapters of the Apocalypse. . . . “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come . . . . . Amen, so come, Lord Jesus.”' (pp. 104-105).

“Marx & Satan”

There is little doubt in my mind – that with the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 – the same lying spirit that was let loose in the Revolutionary Terror that engulfed France at the close of the eighteenth century, was re-energised, and again erupted upon the war-weary world during the opening decades of the twentieth century – but this time in an explosion of a far greater-reaching and destructive magnitude . . .

The American journalist, and socialist, John Reed appropriately titled his first-hand account of the events of that epoch-shaking event, as Ten Days that Shook the World (1919).

(“And there was a great earthquake [revolution], such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” Revelation 16:18).

The late Rev Richard Wurmbrand* in his book, Marx & Satan, shined the light of Truth into the spiritual darkness that lay within the hearts of the writers of The Communist Manifesto. Perversely it would be in Russia, amongst the people Marx describes as being “Slavic riffraff”, and a “retrograde” race, that his twisted ideology first fully blossomed and took hold – viz the following from Wurmbrand's above cited work:

“Marx wrote in his new year's roundup of 1848 about 'the Slavic riffraff,' which included [the] Russians [and their kindred peoples] . . . [He wrote that, what he termed] these 'retrograde' races had nothing left for them by fate except 'the immediate task of perishing in the revolutionary world storm.' [Marx also wrote that:] 'The coming world war will cause not only reactionary classes and dynasties, but entire reactionary peoples, to disappear from the face of the earth. And that will be progress.'”

Wurmbrand continues: “Neither Marx nor Engels were concerned about the destruction of millions of people. The former wrote, 'A silent, unavoidable revolution is taking place in society, a revolution that cares as little about the human lives it destroys as an earthquake cares about the houses it ravages. Classes and races that are too weak to dominate the new conditions of existence will be defeated.' ...

“Engels wrote in the same vein:

'The next world war will make whole reactionary peoples disappear from the face of the earth. This, too, is progress. Obviously this cannot be fulfilled without crushing some delicate national flower. But without violence and without pitilessness nothing can be obtained in history.'”

In the Revelation, chapter 16; verses 13-14, (which follows directly after the act of the sixth angel pouring out his vial upon the symbolic Euphrates – which according to Sir Isaac Newton, et al – represents the drying up and decaying Ottoman Empire): it speaks of, “three unclean spirits like frogs . . . [coming] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils . . . which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”

There is no doubt in my mind, that Marx and his ideology, were a vast mouthpiece for the “unclean” spirit out of the mouth of the “dragon” (“that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world...” Revelation 12:9).

William T Still, in his book New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies (Huntington House Publishers, 1990), provides us with the following insight into the true nature of the lying spirit here at work:

“Marx was not the only Satanist of his day who professed Communism for political gain. In fact, many of his friends were of like mind. Mikhail Bakunin, the Russian anarchist, admitted the direct connection between Socialist revolutions and Satanism:

'The Evil One is satanic revolt against divine authority, revolt in which we see the fecund germ of all human emancipation, the revolution. Satan [is] the eternal rebel, the first freethinker and the emancipator of worlds. He makes man ashamed of his bestial ignorance and obedience; he emancipates him, stamps upon his brow the seal of liberty and humanity, in urging him to disobey and eat of the fruit of knowledge.'

“Bakunin, who was also a member of [the] Russian nobility, goes on to explain that the true nature of revolutions is not to free the poor from exploitation, but to 'awaken the Devil in the people, to stir up the basest passions. Our mission is to destroy, not to edify.'”

(From: “Chapter Ten: Karl Marx and the Internationale”, op. cit.)

(As to the nature of the other two 'personages' detailed in the Revelation, out of the mouths of which “unclean spirits like frogs” are emitted to call forth “the kings of the earth and of the whole world . . . to . . . the battle of that great day of God Almighty”; I shall not here, at this point, elude to the historical documentation and prophetic works, that, in my opinion, furnish light on this part of the Revelation – and which, indeed, places it firmly within the historical and Historicist context).

But continuing on from the “great earthquake” (of Rev 16:18) that takes place under the seventh Vial; Revelation chapter 16; verses 19-21, describes its affect thus:

“And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell . . . And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”

The quote below is taken from a book produced in association with the Imperial War Museum, entitled World War II (published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2000). In the chapter entitled “A world divided”, the following appears:

“During the early decades of the 20th century, the world was divided into three main political camps. The first consisted of democratic nations, where people elected their own governments . . . The second – fascist Italy and Spain, Nazi Germany, nationalist Japan, and the one-party states of eastern Europe – were ruled by powerful dictators. The final camp had only one member – the Soviet Union. . . . Conflicts between the three ideologies concerning territory and economic wealth led to the world war that broke out in 1939.”

E B Elliot, in his Horæ Apocalypticæ, wrote the following interpretation concerning the seventh Vial of the Apocalypse:

“The result [of this vial is] a most remarkable revolution [which] is . . . destined to befall the European commonwealth; viz . . . [its] final breaking up . . . into a new and tripartite form . . . after fearful wars and convulsions a tripartition like this shall take place in the European commonwealth, it must be regarded as the proximate sign, and very alarum bell to Christendom, of the judgment, the great judgment being then at length close at hand.”

 (Horæ Apocalypticæ: A Commentary on the Apocalypse, Critical and Historical; including also an examination of the chief prophecies of Daniel, Fifth Edition, Vol. IV, Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, London, 1862).

*Rev Wurmbrand (1909-2001) was imprisoned by the Communist regime in his native Romania between 1948-1956 and 1959-1964. Whilst imprisoned he was tortured for his faith in Christ. In May 1966 (having escaped his homeland with the assistance of a Scandinavian mission to the Jews), he testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington, DC, about his terrible experiences under Romania's Communist regime.

Darwin & “Realpolitik”

The following is from Sir Fred Hoyle's, The Intelligent Universe: A New View of Creation and Evolution (published by Michael Joseph, London, 1983) :

“The protective instinct in man took a long step backwards from 1860 onwards. Whether Darwinism, with its philosophy that opportunism is all, was the cause of the Realpolitik that overwhelmed the world from 1860 onwards, or whether it was Realpolitik that spawned Darwinism, is hard to say, for the two went hand-in-hand, leading with mounting inevitability to two World Wars in the present century, and to a situation which today looks increasingly like a one-way journey towards self-destruction for the whole species.”

And (once more) Churchill on Realpolitik, (again) from A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol. 4, “The Great Democracies”; (Cassel & Company Ltd, 1958, 1974); “Book Twelve; Chapter Fifteen – The Rise of Germany” :

“Realpolitik meant that standards of morality in international affairs could be ignored whenever material advantage might be gained.”

Bismarck & Prince Hohenlohe

From a letter from Count Bismarck to Prince Hohenlohe,

Varzin, August 11, 1869 :

“There is a party there (at Rome) which has deliberately set itself to disturb the ecclesiastical and political peace of Europe with the fanatical conviction that the general misery which results from a catastrophe will augment the consequence of the Church. They reason from the experience of 1848, and they found themselves on the psychological fact that in this world, man, when he is miserable, seeks the support of the Church more eagerly than when he is contented.” – (From the Memoirs of Prince Hohenlohe, Vol. i., p. 358.)

PRINCE HOHENLOHE OF BAVARIA,

Chancellor of the German Empire

From a letter: Aussee, September 8th, 1872. “If the Jesuit Father Schrader in his book, The Pope and Modern Ideas, advanced a whole system of theories dangerous to the State; if the Civiltà Cattolica and the Korrespondenz of Geneva – the first under the eyes of the Pope, and the latter with his expressed approval – both being edited by Jesuits, both proclaim the sovereignty of the Church over the State; when the local Bavarian papers, under the control of the Jesuit Father Weisser, daily preach the destruction of the State, when the Osservatore Romano, conducted by Jesuits, reminds us that no heretic [Protestant] can be Emperor of Germany – these are 'no rash journalistic excesses,' but Acts of such importance that no one can shut his eyes to them.

“From the Catholic standpoint, it may be regrettable that we are not a Catholic country with a Catholic dynasty. But this objective complaint must not be made the spring of political action, and it can still less be tolerated that anyone in Germany makes it the starting-point of an attack on the Empire. This the Jesuits have done since the institution of their Order, and to this they are committed: that is, to the violent extermination of Protestantism.” – (Memoirs, Vol. ii., p. 83.)

“Gentlemen, what astounds me about the whole Jesuitical and anti-Jesuitical movement of our day is that the Jesuits and their friends wonder that the modern State abhors them. And yet the Society has taken upon itself to make war upon the modern State, and its members declare with the utmost openness that their purpose is to maintain the unity of the ecclesiastical doctrine and the ecclesiastical life in rigid connection with the Church as the centre of the system. In this of itself lies no danger, but the interpretation which has been put on this original definition of the founder contains a distinct declaration of war by the Jesuits against the foundations of our life as a State.”

“I am always, therefore, of the opinion that the German people must expel the Jesuits in self-defence, and if you object that I, a Catholic prince, have no right to participate in this, I answer that I am before all things a German Prince, and as such must do my duty.” – (PRINCE HOHENLOHE, Memoirs, Vol. i., pp. 75, 84.)

Extracted from the following work:

The Unveiling

OF THE

APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE

CHAPTER X

THE ANGEL OF THE REFORMATION

H. W. Layclerc

NEW (THIRD) EDITION REVISED

LONDON:

THYNNE & Co. Ltd.

28-30 WHITEFRIARS STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C. 4.

MCMXXXVI

[1936]

The Rise of Germany

From Winston S Churchill's, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol. 4, “The Great Democracies”; (Cassel & Company Ltd, 1958, 1974); “Book Twelve; Chapter Fifteen – The Rise of Germany” :

'In 1861 William I of Prussia ascended the throne of Frederick the Great, and marked the first years of his reign with three public appointments whose impact on European history and modern events is incalculable. Count von Moltke became Chief of the General Staff, Count von Roon Minister of War, and – most important of all – Count Otto von Bismarck was recalled from the Embassy in Paris to become Minister-President of Prussia. First as Chancellor of the North German Federation, and finally of the German Empire, this singular genius presided with a cold passion over the unification and Prussianisation of Germany, the elimination of Prussia's nearest European rivals, and the elevation of William to the German Emperor's throne in 1871. . . .

'Absolute monarchy was [Bismarck's] ideal and aim. Liberalism and Parliamentarianism were anathema [to him]. [He believed that] Prussia must be purged of weak and liberal elements so that she could fulfil her destiny of leading and controlling the German-speaking peoples. A decisive struggle with Austria was [therefore] inevitable.

'Before a background of intense, brilliant, and unscrupulous diplomatic activity the three hammer-blows that forged Germany were deliberately prepared and struck. These were the war with Denmark in 1864, by which the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were attached to Prussia, the Seven Weeks' War of 1866, in which Austria was crushed and her associates in Germany overrun, and as culmination the war against France in 1870.' (pp. 207-208)

'Britain played no effective part in this affair. Palmerston would have liked to intervene, for Britain had guaranteed the integrity of Denmark by the Treaty of Berlin in 1852, which he himself had helped to negotiate. Before the blow fell he had said in the House of Commons: “We are convinced – I am convinced at least – that if any violent attempt were made to overthrow [Danish] rights and interfere with that independence those who made the attempt would find in the result that it would not be Denmark alone with which they would have to contend.” But the Cabinet was hesitant and divided and was not prepared to back these imprecise assurances. . . . [Under these circumstances, and in the reluctance of any of the other European Powers to involve themselves on the side of the Danes in the dispute] Palmerston felt he could do no more than press for conferences and mediation. It is not the only time in British history when strength has been lacking to reinforce bold words. Palmerston's words had given the Danes a false sense of security and tempted them to obduracy in an argument where legality did not entirely lie on their side, though some justice did. An ominous precedent was thus set for what the Germans politely called Realpolitik, while Britain and France looked on. Realpolitik meant that standards of morality in international affairs could be ignored whenever material advantage might be gained.' (p. 209)

In Two Years After and Onwards, or The Approaching War Amongst the Powers of Europe, (published the same year as the Dano-Germanic war of 1864) the works' Author, David Pae, wrote the following concerning the position then taken by Britain in that conflict:

'The course she did take, in not rendering material aid to Denmark, was the right course, though naturally her sympathies lay on the side of the weak and ill-used power. But the course of neutrality she adopted was consistent with her policy in regard to Poland and Italy. The claims of Denmark were not greater than the claims of those other countries; but Britain, being the guardian of universal, and not sectional liberty, kept neutral towards all.' (p. 93)

And he was of the opinion that in the predicted 'universal war' to come, that it would be in the best interests of Britain to remain neutral – to 'husband her strength and resources' – up until such time as she would need to intervene in Palestine, and the Near East, to safeguard the overland route to her 'Eastern [Indian] possessions'.

John Charmley, the British historian who specialises in modern diplomatic and political history, in the Introduction to his work, Splendid Isolation? Britain, the Balance of Power and the Origins of the First World War (1999), writes:

'One strand in the 'inevitability' argument is the belief that Britain had a role to play in maintaining the balance of power in Europe and that this 'traditional' policy was being fulfilled in 1914 and 1939. Neville Chamberlain is assaulted for not following this tradition. Yet where was this 'tradition' between 1815 and 1914, or between 1714 and 1793 for that matter?

'This book dissents from the view that there was such a traditional foreign policy, and therefore from the opinion that the British involvement in the war of 1914 was inevitable; it dissents, by implication, from the view that British participation was desirable. Just before this book begins in 1874, the Germans had defeated the French. The skies had not fallen in and civilisation had not ended; nor would it have done in 1914 had the German once more defeated the French.'

But returning back to Churchill's work, and the actual events of history – Churchill continues:

'The outcome of the war with Denmark was soon to furnish the pretext and occasion for the next and far more important step of eliminating Austria from the German Confederation [(in the Seven Weeks' War of 1866), and therefore ensuring Prussian hegemony] . . . Schleswig and Holstein had [on annexation] become a condominium of Prussia and Austria. Bismarck played upon the awkwardness of this arrangement, maintaining a screen of protests against the indignant but long-suffering Austrians [whist seeking the support of the other Continental Powers]. . . .

'The stage was set. . . . Within ten days of the outbreak of war Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony were occupied. The King of Hanover, grandson of George III, fled to England and his country was incorporated in Prussia. Thus disappeared the ancient Electorate which had given Britain her Protestant dynasty in 1714. . . .

'Three weeks later the Prussians were within reach of Vienna. At Bismarck's vehement insistence the capital was spared the humiliation of occupation and the peace terms were once again lenient. Bismarck's mind was already turned to his next move, and he set store by future Austrian friendship. “So to limit a victory,” he said, “is not only generous but a most wise policy. But for the victor to benefit from it the recipient must be worthy.” Austria's only territorial loss was Venetia, granted to Italy, but she was finally excluded from Germany and her future ambitions had inevitably to lie south-eastwards among the Slavs. So ended the Seven Weeks' War. . . . The balance of Continental power had changed radically. A premonitory shudder went through France . . . .' (pp. 210, 212)

“The Position of Britain”

'The downfall of Napoleon in 1815 left Britain in unchallenged dominion over a large portion of the globe. France and indeed the whole continent of Europe was exhausted. A United Germany had not yet arisen and Italy still lay in fragments. Russia was withdrawing from Western Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese peoples were busy in their peninsula and in their tropical possessions overseas. In the following decades revolution and civil commotion smote many of the Powers of Europe, and new nations were born. Britain alone escaped almost unscathed from these years of unrest.'

(From the Preface to Winston S Churchill's, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol. 4, “The Great Democracies”; Cassel & Company Ltd, 1958, 1974).

What follows is extracted from Chapter VI of, The Approaching War Among the Powers of Europe (1864):

CHAPTER VI

THE POSITION OF BRITAIN

'Whatever be Britain's shortcomings and defections, surely she is a nation in which lives the genius of the gospel of Jesus. Liberty, benevolence, public charity, progress, enlightenment, have all had a starting-point in the land. If there is error, sin, and backsliding, let it be remembered that humanity is in a state of imperfection; and let this also never be forgotten, that Britain has only to be true to the religious foundation on which she rests, to reach national purity and righteousness. The foundation is laid, and needs not to be changed. What she requires to do is to build in harmony with the foundation, and to sweep away her false erections; and when “the time of trouble” comes . . . the day of fiery trial shall purge this land, but shall not destroy it . . . . [T]he trial to which Britain is to be subjected shall be in proportion to her failure to build aright on her true foundation. . . .

'This is the test to which Britain shall be put in the day of European judgment. Her highest wisdom now is to cultivate that righteousness which exalteth a nation; to rid herself more and more of her connexion with Antichrist; and to understand, better than she yet does, the relation of antagonism which she occupies to the despotic powers of Europe, so that she may clearly know the work that has been given her to do, and do it, not from the promptings of instinct and feeling and interest alone, but from a regard for truth and justice, from a conviction of duty, and from a deeper spiritual insight. She is like a great giant, working with half-opened eyes, and in the main she takes the right path, but it is less through judgment than through instinct. What she much wants is a clearer knowledge of her position, and of her high mission in the interests of humanity. Let but her statesmen govern and her people obey, under a knowledge of the truth, and she shall proceed on her high course with immensely increased intelligence and power.

'Britain is the natural antagonist of the despotisms of Europe, and she and they are equally conscious that she is so. She is openly disliked by the whole of them; her liberal laws, her free institutions, her popular government, her protest against oppression, and her unfettered advocacy of human rights, make her hated by those powers whose thrones are based on tyranny and maintained by iron rule — while her physical power makes her feared as much as she is hated. . . .

'Britain proves incontestable that popular government is no vain theory, and that free thought and action lead not to anarchy, but to the safest and securest order. Nowhere in Europe is the majesty of the law so manifest as in this country, where the law-makers are the law-obeyers, and where the highest freedom is found to spring directly out of the strongest necessity. Accordingly, Britain has ever been a stimulative to patriots and peoples who have struggled to be free: to this land of ours all true hearts and panting nationalities turn for sympathy and guidance; Britain is to them the land of the morning, the land of light and hope, the bright beaming star in the darkness of their sky: and likewise, by a correspondence of feeling, the despots and oppressors regard Britain with a common hatred, and view her as the nursery of European revolution. There can possibly be no cordial friendship between her and them; they belong to the doomed past, she belongs to the promised future; they are the offspring of darkness, she is the child of light; they are an incarnate and developed lie, she is the embryo of undying truth. In all things she stands as their antipodes, and though political expediency may cause them to maintain with her an external correspondence, they would gladly hail a safe opportunity to crush and overthrow her.

'She is, however, a divinely-reserved power to work against them. Her place and influence in fulfilled prediction have been prominent within the last fifty years, and her whole history for more than three hundred years back has been a preparation for her grand mission on the earth. She was made the great centre of truth, and she has been a centre of influence for the whole world. Her ideas are not those ideas of conquest or of military glory, which have ever animated heathen and antichristian powers; but they are ideas of peace, of industry, of commerce, and moral and intellectual progress. Thus she has colonised the earth, and planted her race and her principles on distant continents. Her language is spoken, and her institutions flourish, in all parts of the globe; while her power is so far spread as to induce the remark, that on the British Empire the sun never sets. In prosecuting this work, she has by no means kept her garments spotless. She has sometimes been unjust and oppressive towards the tribes whose territories she entered upon; and one serious blot upon her conduct was the introduction of negro slavery into America. But see how the gospel principles she rested on ultimately brought her right on that matter, and caused her, at the cost of an immense sum of money, to emancipate the slaves in her West Indian possessions, and to decree that the moment the foot of a slave rested on British soil, that slave was free! It is the noble characteristic of our country, and one which makes amends for many faults, that she is open to the ingress of truth; and that when she comes to see her duty, she will do it, at whatever sacrifice.

'It was for a very important purpose that Britain rose to supremacy, and extended herself over the globe. The territory occupied by the Babylonian empire was given up to Antichrist There he was to establish his seat — to set up his banner of rebellion; and there he was to reign and triumph in his wickedness, till the time determined should be accomplished. But the world at large was not to be given him for a prey. Christ was to have the heathen for His inheritance, and the uppermost parts of the earth for His possession; and it was necessary that a diffusive and evangelising power should be raised up to spread His truth and maintain His cause, and to prepare the way for His kingdom that was to come. At the very borders of the antichristian territory, therefore, — and so near that Antichrist cast its shadow over it, yet so separated by insular position as to remain distinct and apart, — the Anglo-Saxon people grew into a strong and independent power. Keeping Continental despotism in check, and sending its God-received life and truth into unpeopled wastes and heathen wilds, Britain has shadowed with its wings the very ends of the earth. . . . It has sent its people to occupy the far West, and the still far more distant South. It has sent its missionaries and spread the Bible among the regions of the shadow of death. It is easy enough to sermonise on the sins of our land; but let her be judged by the wide charity of the gospel of Christ, and let justice be done to the efforts she has made, and the achievements she has accomplished, on behalf of human freedom. Fix the thoughts not on particular flaws and blots, but on general tendencies and characteristics, and these will be found to be on the side of truth and for the sake of that Christian truth which she holds, and on which she rests . . .

'Britain is, we say, a divinely-reserved power, and her mission is twofold, — to spread the truth, and take a stand against despotism. This latter work she has most obviously been doing for the past half century. . . . (pp. 84-92)

(“Britannia” Union Flag image modified from image by Charles Ashburner from: “FOTW Flags Of The World Website” at http://flagspot.net/flags)

“The Approaching War Amongst the Powers of Europe” (1864)

TWO YEARS AFTER

AND ONWARDS

OR

THE APPROACHING WAR AMONGST THE

POWERS OF EUROPE

AND OTHER FUTURE EVENTS DESCRIBED AS FORETOLD

IN SCRIPTURE PROPHECY

BY THE AUTHOR OF

“THE COMING STRUGGLE”

LONDON HOULSTON AND WRIGHT

65 PATERNOSTER ROW

MDCCCLXIV

[1864]

PREFACE

'We had no intention of saying more in the way of introduction to this little Work than what we have said in the First Chapter; but inasmuch as the notice of its publication has called forth remarks in various newspapers, we think it just to ourselves and due to our readers, again to protest against the unfounded and absurd assumption that we, and all who write on the subject of Scripture prediction, pretend to possess prophetic power or insight. We do no such thing. We do our best to explain a portion of the Word of God, which is not only extremely interesting but most important, and all the more important because it seems so much neglected and misunderstood. The London Standard, of August 23d, contained a leading article devoted to us and our former works, the spirit, tone, and general character, of which were eminently representative of that hostility which a large portion of the newspapers press manifest towards those who venture to give an explanation of Bible prophecy. Such critics speak as if the very attempt were a presumption, and as if the exposition given must be nonsense. Is that portion of the Bible, then, a sealed mystery, not to be studied, and not to be understood, even remotely? or do the conclusions of interpreters make religion too real for the secular tastes and perhaps sceptical notions of mere political writers? The hostility to which we refer must be based on one or other of these grounds, because it takes the form not of criticism but of scoffing, taunting vituperation; the lowest motives are attributed to those who take up the subject, and, under cover of a notice of their productions, an opportunity is taken to make an attack on the Bible itself.

'The writer in the Standard declares that the eleven years which have elapsed since the issue of our pamphlet, “The Coming Struggle,” have not brought to pass any of the events which we there anticipated. Well, but have these eleven years falsified our interpretation? On the contrary, we assert that the events which have occurred, have been plainly in the direction indicated, and have produced a situation of affairs in Europe which points significantly to such occurrences as we declared, and still declare, to be Bible predictions soon to come to pass. . . .

'It is to the Christian faith and the religious feeling of the people of this country that we address ourselves. Those who believe in the Bible, and love and reverence the sublime truths it reveals, will not scoff or sneer at an effort made to render these truths clearer and more precious by a fuller possession. Believing, as we do most firmly, that the events of latter-day prophecy are on the eve of fulfilment, and that these events are of the character indicated in this little Work, we send it forth in the hope that it will help to prepare the Christian people in this country, or wherever it may be read, for “the time of trouble that is coming upon the earth,” and for the dread realities which the approaching war among the nations shall precede and usher in.

October 1864.'

(pp. v-viii)

CHAPTER I

THE FUTURE

'But whatever diversity there may be amongst expositors of prophecy, there is this general agreement, that the last of the Scripture predictions are on the eve of fulfilment.... All, or nearly all, are agreed that the “seals” and trumpets, with the events they import, are past; that five of the vials are poured out; that the sixth has been running for some time; and that the seventh and last, and most terrible and momentous of all, was in all probability opened about the year 1830. Now, this seventh vial is, as we know, the final boundary of Scripture prophecy. In it the mystery of God shall be finished; it will contain “the indignation” spoken of by Isaiah, “the great day” of Jeremiah, “the time of trouble” of Daniel, and the terrible period of “great tribulation” predicted by Christ in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. And for a full and detailed account of the unparalleled events of the period, read in the Book of Revelation, from the seventeenth verse of the sixteenth chapter to the end of the nineteenth chapter. The language of these chapters is, no doubt, the language of symbolism; but Divine symbolism never exceeds the reality. If the description there is not to receive a literal fulfilment, the events symbolised will be of a character as dreadful as the images employed to shadow them forth. In plain words, they indicate a series of events which are very soon to transpire upon the continent of Europe, involving the whole powers there in war, and resulting in an issue which shall totally alter the character and condition of the world.

'Seeing, then, that the general, almost universal opinion of interpreters is, that this unequalled period of political change and physical conflict is near at hand . . . [Once] the strife [has] begun . . . [it] shall rage as no earthly strife has raged before, and terminate with a catastrophe which the [whole] world shall witness . . . [so] is it not of the very highest importance that Christians should be looking for it, and coming to some understanding of it? Yet how very few Christians in this country are familiar with the subject of Scripture prophecy! The supposed hopelessness of its mystery, and, shall we say, the aversion manifested to it by most of the clergy, have led them away from it, and [so] they have now come to regard the world's relation to God with comparative indifference.' (pp. 11-13)

CHAPTER II

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

'New Testament prophecies, and the predictions in the Old Testament concerning New Testament times, are not less, but more plainly, inspirited by “the testimony of Jesus.” They relate to the rise, progress, and fall of anti-Christ; of a power or powers that should work in the Church and the world in opposition to Jesus, and His doctrines and precepts — to Jesus, as the Redeemer and King of this earth. Here we have sin again as the cause of prophecy. If Christianity had not been oppressed, persecuted, and corrupted; if the precepts and doctrines of Jesus had been received by man, and kept in their purity and simplicity, the wars and revolutions predicted, and in part accomplished in Europe, would never have been matter of prophecy, and would never have taken place. But the antichristian power arose, as God foresaw that it would arise; it arose and put forth its energy against Christianity, it prevailed, and it was punished, — just as the Spirit of God shewed by the mouth of prophets that it should.

'The seventeen centuries of New Testament prophecy that are now past, have contained in their fulfilment nothing which can be looked upon as arbitrary Divine interference. All the events have arisen out of natural causes. God has no doubt arranged them and disposed them for the punishment of the antichristian power, and the progress of Christian truth, but they have fallen with all natural smoothness into the course of human history. The actors were men of flesh and blood, men of human passions and human powers, who, by their deeds and attempts, sought only the furtherance of their own interests, and had no thought whatever of God's plan or of prophetic fulfilment.' (pp. 20-21)

CHAPTER III

THE CONSTRUCTION AND UNITY OF PROPHECY

'The destruction of the present political and ecclesiastical structure of continental Europe is approaching; and we may easily suppose that a change so awful must be preceded and accompanied by events of the most terrible description. A universal war must come, so fierce and sanguinary that no previous war can in its character be compared with it.' (p. 33)

CHAPTER IV

THE TIME OF THE END

'Britain, if she did not miss the [Antichristian] fiend altogether, made a much less closer acquaintance with him; and at an early date caught sight of the true and fair Divinity.

'Here, then, in this little rocky island of the sea a powerful kingdom was established, based professedly on Gospel principles, with a Church whose worship was comparatively simple and pure, and whose constitution rested on principles which are eternal. This was the power which, in connexion with Protestant Germany, fitly came against the Napoleonic democracy, and destroyed it.

'In this work of ridding Europe of Napoleon we obtain a glimpse of the true mission and destiny of our country. Britain is the power reserved by God for maintaining and defending the truth. The despotisms of Europe will war among themselves, and the principles on neither side shall be worthy of victory; but Britain — however defectively she may, in practice, have realised her principles — does stand upon the glorious basis of Christian truth; and is capable of opposing, on a moral and spiritual ground, the power of Antichrist. Britain may be considered the only real antagonistic power which Antichrist has; and by and by we have no doubt that she will have Antichrist to fight with. But geographically, and morally, and spiritually, she is beyond the image territory, and is not one of the toe kingdoms, or ten horns . . . Nevertheless, as the antagonistic or Christian power, she has a great work to do — the first instalment of which was the withstanding and overthrowing of Napoleon. When we come to treat of the events that are future, we shall obtain a more extended view of the important mission and glorious destiny for which our country is reserved.' (pp. 57-58)

CHAPTER V

THE PRESENT TIME

'[The] rise [of the Turkish power] is prefigured in the sixth trumpet [of the Apocalypse], where the four angels were loosed in the great river Euphrates, and came in with an immense army of horsemen. From the time of this inroad of the Turks their power grew, till, in 1453, Mahomet the Great took Constantinople, and established the Ottoman power....

'[The] fate [of the Turkish power] was also shadowed forth under the sixth vial, and it seems almost certain that this vial began in 1820, when the Greeks successfully rebelled against the sultan, and set up a kingdom of their own. The decay of the Turkish power is represented by the drying up of the river Euphrates, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. It is somewhat difficult to understand who are meant by “the kings of the East;” but the drying up of the river Euphrates is easily understood. From the time of the Greek rebellion the Turkish empire has been gradually weakened and shaken. It has had to sustain heavy wars against Russia and France, the former of whom wrested from it a large portion of its Greco-Roman territory, while the latter divested it of the province of Algeria. Then it received a heavy blow when, in 1839, Egypt and Syria were taken by Mehemet Ali, who established his kingdom on its southern frontier.' (pp. 64-65)

'So far, then, the sixth vial has been poured out. During the last forty years the Turkish power has been greatly weakened. What with insurrections and rebellions at home, and wasting wars with stronger powers, she is well-nigh exhausted. The waters of the Euphrates are visibly drying up, and but for foreign aid, the Ottoman Empire would, ere this, have been overthrown.' (pp. 68-69)

'The seventh vial, as well as the sixth, is being poured out at the present time. It was to be poured out into the air, thus signifying that it would affect the whole of the social and political atmosphere of Europe. This is the last and greatest vial of wrath, and culminates in the roar of a universal conflagration. In it the awful judgments of a righteous Lord are gathered and concentrated. It contains, as it were, the dregs of all the other vials [including the sixth – so, that under the seventh vial, in the ensuing predicted, “great war”, the Ottoman Empire is finally extinguished!]. . . . Under [the seventh vial] it is “the time of trouble,” and “the last indignation.” Under it nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; when men's hearts shall fail them for fear, and for looking for those things that are coming upon the earth. Under it shall be national and political convulsions, unparalleled in all past history.' (p. 70)

CHAPTER VII

THE COMING EVENTS OF THE SIXTH VIAL

'The Ottoman empire is to be overthrown, “that the way of the kings of the east might he prepared.” We shall [later] offer an explanation of the meaning of this [passage of the Revelation] . . .' (p. 96)

'[T]he Divine purpose which is required of [the British power, is to initiate] . . . we believe . . . the return to Palestine of its former light and glory, [that is] — the restoration of the Jews to their own land . . . [It will be Britain which will further] the colonisation of Judea, with its old inhabitants the Jews. Thus the way of the kings of the East will be prepared. The kings of the East must mean either the British power which rules in India, or the Jews, who are to be the future rulers in the Holy Land.

'This is the next event which naturally claims our consideration – THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS.

'Nothing in the form of prophetic interpretation has surprised us more than the opinion seriously expressed by some commentators, that the predictions regarding the future of the Jews will find their whole fulfilment in the conversion to Christianity of God's ancient people. To our view the scheme of interpretation which does not recognise the physical, national, and political restoration of the Jews misses the scope of prophecy altogether. The idea is neither in accordance with its letter nor its spirit; for the predictions regarding the return of the Jews to their own land are abundant, and couched in language so explicit, that nothing but an utter perversion of the meaning of words can make them apply to spiritual conversion, and to that alone. Thus a physical restoration is so evidently in harmony with the spirit of God's gracious dealings, that to leave that out as an event to be accomplished gives a shock both to the reason and the heart, and creates a void in the universality of the Divine restoration of all things. Our conviction on this matter are strong and unwavering. The restoration of the Jews appears to us to be the central point on which Scripture prophecy turns.' (pp. 100-102)

CHAPTER VIII

THE COMING EVENTS OF THE SEVENTH AND LAST VIAL

'Turning now to the prophecy, we read that the outpouring of the seventh vial on the air was immediately followed by voices and thunders and lightnings — that is, by great public agitation, and threatenings of a general conflict. Now, this has been precisely the state of matters in Europe since 1830. Throughout its entire length and breadth it has been excited and alarmed; and frequently have the lightnings flashed and the thunders of war rolled. As yet these lightnings have been fitful, and the thunder-peals not greatly prolonged; but, to every one who has had occasion to consider them, they give indication of a terrible impending storm — the awful character of which, however, is to be gathered from Scripture prophecy alone. It is thus that the apostle John describes it:—

“And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven : and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” — Rev. xvi. 18-21.

'Daniel characterises the appalling catastrophe as “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.” And Christ, the greatest authority of all, thus prophesies of it:— “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

'Can language indicate anything more appalling than this coming war? It will be universal and unprecedented. All the wars that have in former times raged on the earth are as nothing to this final and overwhelming conflict; and we believe it is nigh at hand, even at the door. It comes as a preparation for, and the immediate occasion of, the fall of Papal Rome — an event which is calculated by most interpreters to take place in or near to the year 1866*. In all probability, therefore, it is just on the eve of bursting forth. Let us try to come to some understanding of its political and physical features.

[*1870 saw the actual fall of Rome to the forces of Victor Emanuel; and the Temporal Power of the Papacy was ended that very year.]

'It is a war which, in its various characteristics, shall be final — that is, the opposing powers will instinctively understand that they are fighting for very existence — that their quarrel is mortal, and can only terminate with the overthrow of one side or the other. It is the last and uncompromising struggle between democracy and despotism — between the ancient and the later blasphemies. They well know that they cannot exist together, and conclude that Europe must be ruled either by the one or the other. Despotism, standing on its pedestal of hoary antiquity, and looking upon democracy as a deadly heresy, which threatens its existence, will muster for its destruction; and democracy, imagining in its turn that it is destined to annihilate the old superstitions and oppressions, and realise its wild dream of liberty, will put forth its utmost efforts to hurl the thrones of tyrants to the dust. It is long since the two combatants entered the lists; but hitherto they have been only measuring their strength, and feinting at each other with a few passages of arms. Once before, indeed, they met in deadly determined conflict, and the young demon of democracy was restrained. But its strength has returned, and it looks forward to resume the contest on more equal terms. Thus both sides are prepared for a decisive encounter, and are conscious that they must conquer or die. . . .

'In what direction, or in what manner, is the storm likely to burst? Where, or from what cause, shall the war begin? These questions naturally arise, but the prophecy does not answer them. A very trivial matter may suffice to bring on a contest for which everything is so ripe. . . . We are inclined to think, however, that it will be the Italian question which shall bring on the conflict*. The power most directly opposed to France in Europe is Austria. These two are not only the chief representatives of democracy and despotism, but they are jealous rivals, their interests clash, and in Italy meet in direct opposition.' (pp. 114-118)

[* The following quote is taken from the historian Sidney Bradshaw Fay's work, Before Sarajevo: The Origins of the [First] World War , Vol 1, 1928:

'The most valuable to the historian of all the Austro-Hungarian memoirs is the voluminous work of the Austrian Chief of Staff, Baron Conrad von Hoetzendorf (entitled, Aus meiner Dienstzeit [My Years of Service], 5 vols.; published Vienna, 1921-25). It consists in large part of an undigested mass of important documents of all sorts, copies of which he evidently took from the official files and published in chronological order, with a commentary of his own. It also includes conversations in dialogue form which appear to be taken from a diary kept from day to day. With extraordinary frankness, he recounts the repeated efforts he made to have Austria make war on Italy or Serbia on what he regarded as numerous favourable occasions between 1906 and 1914. In July, 1914, it was probably he, more than anyone else, who galvanised the incompetent and hesitating Berchtold into an active advocate of war against Serbia.']

Returning back to, The Approaching War Among the Powers of Europe (1864):

'[From the] moment [that] the war becomes universal and beyond all control . . . . the strongest passions and the wildest hopes [will be] let loose, [and] further compromise . . . [will then become] impossible. France, Italy, and the oppressed nationalities on the one side, and Prussia, Russia, and Austria on the other, will wage a war, which even unaided reason sees must be unparalleled by all former wars. Reflect what progress the powers of Europe have made in the construction of warlike weapons since the last great Continental war; what an increase has been made on the power of heavy ordnance, and in the capabilities of vessels! There are the tremendous iron ships of the French navy, and the immense guns and mortars, which all the powers possess, both for land and sea service. All these indicate a power of destruction utterly unknown in former times, and render it no difficulty to understand that a great war now must be inconceivable in its effects. How, then, shall we imagine the consequences of a conflict in which the whole world-power is engaged? The destructive power of evil will never become so apparent as then, when it is turned in upon itself. Then, also, will appear the true value of European civilisation and advancement in art and science when cultivated apart from Christianity. The very forces of nature which evil takes to work upon, contribute finally to its overthrow. In connexion with obedience to law, and with the principles of rectitude, Nature and all its powers work for human well-being; but when . . . the conditions of well-being are rejected, nature's forces can be, and are, turned to purposes of destruction. Thus we have the ruining and desolating influence of the engines of war; and these will do their fell work with unexampled intensity in the world's final conflict. The apostle John saw in vision that “the cities of the nations fell.” What particular cities will be laid in ruins, we know not; but the fact that there will be cities destroyed indicates the fierceness and uncompromising character of the contest. A fallen city implies an array of unimagined horrors — a dark and terrible scene of plunder and massacre, and cruelties of the very worst description. And yet it is not one city, but many, that shall be overtaken by this fate . . . . The power of Austria will probably be the first to feel the shock of a wave of retribution from this surging sea of Divine judgment. Austria, as the two-horned beast, has been the chief supporter of Papal Antichrist. It has been the most obedient and zealous servant of the Papacy. It practised all its abominations and cruelties, and shall be dragged first into the whirlpool of wrath.' (pp. 123-125)

The Predicted Downfall of the Turkish Power

THE PREDICTED DOWNFALL

OF

THE TURKISH POWER

THE

PREPARATION FOR THE RETURN

OF THE TEN TRIBES.

BY

G. S. FABER, B.D.

MASTER OF SHERBURN HOSPITAL AND PREBENDARY OF SALIBURY

LONDON:

THOMAS BOSWORTH, 215 REGENT STREET.

MDCCCLIII

[1853]

From the Preface to the above work:

“I. With our best commentators, I consider the Downfall of the Ottoman Power to be clearly predicted in Scripture. Hence, whenever the destined time shall arrive, all the complications of modern political diplomacy will be found totally unable to prevent the Ruin of that once formidable Empire.

But, though its downfall is thus, I think, absolutely certain, we have no warrant for specifying any precise year. . . .

II. The Downfall of the Ottoman Power, let it occur when it may, is a matter of vast scriptural importance.

It will prepare the way for the Return of the Ten Tribes: and their Return will synchronise with the Return of the Two Tribes.

We have no right, however, to conclude, that the Restoration of Israel will immediately follow the Downfall of Turkey. A way will be prepared by the removal of an obstacle: but it does not therefore follow that Israel will instantaneously avail itself of the preparation. . . .

[Of these things] we may be certain in the abstract, without being certain in the concrete.

III. The Subversion of the Turkish Power will evidently occasion, as all seem to anticipate, a fearful general war. . . .

Thus, plainly, the Downfall of Turkey will be, at once, both the signal and the cause of this terrible war.

The Confederation will be formed by the joint intrigues of what are called Three Unclean Spirits: and, by noting the sources whence they had proceeded, we may form no unreasonable conjecture as to their character. Be they what they may, they are spirits of evil. Whence we may be sure, that the gathering of the Roman Kings infers no good purpose.

A general war may clearly, I think, be set down as the consequence of the Downfall of Turkey: and, in the course of its evolutions, Israel will be restored. As to particulars, we must not venture further than Scripture doth, as it were, take us by the hand. Of this, however, we may be sure, that the DOWNFALL OF TURKEY WILL BE THE HARBINGER OF THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.”

And from pages 32-36:

“Such a course of regular decay [as that which afflicts the Ottoman Empire] has been rarely witnessed. But if we suppose the Effusion of the Sixth Vial to mark the Commencement of such decay and not its Completion, we shall find ourselves compelled to place that Effusion in the year 1699: an arrangement which is plainly intolerable.

V. The Turkish Empire has not yet fallen: therefore the Sixth Vial cannot as yet have been poured out.

1. There is a matter immediately connected with it which I must take this opportunity of noticing: and I do it all the rather because it has led to a good deal of expositorial inaccuracy.

The three unclean spirits like frogs have very commonly been thought to issue respectively, from the mouths of the Dragon and the Wild-Beast and the False Prophet, as soon as the Sixth Vial begins to flow. Hence it is assumed, as a matter of course, that, upon the Effusion of the Sixth Vial, St. John beheld them issue from the three specified mouths.

But nothing of the kind is said in the prophecy.

St. John beheld them, not in the act of issuing, but after they had issued.

What the Apostle describes himself to have seen is the going forth of the three spirits to gather together the Kings of the whole Roman World to the war of the Great Day of God Almighty.

The passage runs thus.

I saw, from the mouth of the Dragon and from the mouth of the Wild-Beast and from the mouth of the False Prophet, three unclean spirits as frogs.

It is subjoined, which had come forth. This makes the sense of the passage somewhat more explicit: but it is not necessary: and Griesbach rejects the past participle, which more fully brings out the sense. Still the sense remains the same. When the Sixth Vial was poured out, the Apostle beheld, stationed upon the Roman Platform, three unclean spirits as frogs, which had already issued from the three mouths of the Dragon and the Wild-Beast and the False Prophet: and then he saw them immediately go forth with the object of forming a mighty Confederacy of the Papal Kings. The formation of the Confederacy is the immediate consequence of the Completed Exhaustion of the Waters of the mystic Euphrates; or, in other words, it is the immediate result of the Downfall of the Ottoman Power produced by the Effusion of the Sixth Vial.

2. From the matters now before us, we may reasonably anticipate, that the Destruction of Turkey will produce the outbreak of that fearful war, which, commencing in Europe, will, at the Time of the End or at the Close of the 1260 years, pass into Palestine and Egypt and the East.

Then, as Daniel speaks, will there be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation: and then Michael, the Great Prince, will stand up for the children of the Prophet's people; and that ancient people, whether Jews or Israelites, will be delivered out of the hand of their enemies.

3. The agents, who stir up this war, will be the three unclean spirits.

As they do not issue from the mouths of the Dragon and the Wild-Beast and the False Prophet immediately upon the pouring of the Sixth Vial, but were beheld by St. John as having already thus issued, we may reasonably suppose them to be even now in existence, though they have not as yet formally gone forth to the Kings of the Earth to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

This will not occur, until the Sixth Vial shall have been poured out and until the Ottoman Power shall have been overturned.

Meanwhile, supposing them to be even now in existence, and judging of their characters from their parentage, we may easily form no improbable conjecture as to what they are. At any rate, purely as a fact, we may now perceive, ready prepared and harmoniously co-operating for a bad end. Infidelity, and Military Despotism called into action by Anarchy, and Jesuitism of the most arrogant and tyrannical Ultramontane School.

To assure any such co-operation might once have been thought paradoxical: but we have already seen enough of their conjoined practices to feel little difficulty in believing, that they will cordially act together against pure religion, and that they will be the main artificers of the final great Anti-christian Confederation.”