“Gott mit uns”?

The first work quoted below was published whilst the First World War was still raging:

‘Houston Chamberlain, one of the best known of [the popular German writers, has written] . . . a ponderous compilation entitled Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts [The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century], for which he is said to have been paid a large sum out of the privy purse by his appreciative Emperor. This work gratifies German pride beyond all measure, and has therefore been very successful, though as a matter of fact, the author's views are not at all original. In a fawning way he reiterates the statements that Germany is the foremost of nations, and bitterly regrets that in former invasions:

“The Teuton has not exterminated his enemies root and branch wherever he has stretched out his conquering arm . . .”

‘The traditional methods for organizing conquest are [seen as being] rather slow, and so an ingenious professor by the name of Vierordt has written an article for the Badische Landeszeitung [‘Baden State Newspaper’] to show the urgent necessity of killing off Germany's enemies by the million in order that conquered territories may be transformed into deserts, to be populated subsequently by virtuous Germans.

‘These publications give most interesting indications with regard to the mentality of their authors, who long for a far more complete destruction of Europe that that which took place in Attila's day. [And who] would no doubt organize the unravished portions of the Continent into immense factories, where the unsparing lash of the Prussian corporal would keep millions of serfs toiling to enrich the Germans in general and the professors in particular.’

(From: The Psychology of the Great War, by Gustave Le Bon, translated by E. Andrews; published New York, The Macmillan Company, 1916. pp. 164, 166).

In a chapter on ‘Kaiser Wilhelm II and German anti-semitism’ in one of his works on the Kaiser, John Röhl clarifies the different levels of anti-semitism suffered by the Jews in Germany between unification in 1871 and the Götterdämmerung of 1945. He classifies them as ranging from the first (lower) form being: ‘the anti-semitism of the salon, consisting of personal prejudice and collective but still informal discrimination’; and finally at the other extreme (number five): ‘there is the ultimate horror, the anti-semitism of extermination, the anti-semitism of the holocaust.’

And he then goes on to write that: ‘In examining the anti-semitism of Kaiser Wilhelm II, we shall need to be mindful of these five different types of anti-semitism. The baneful truth, however, is that at one time or another in the course of his long life he subscribed to all five.’

Röhl writes that after his abdication and flight to exile in Holland the Kaiser wrote the following to General August von Mackensen on 2 December 1919:

“The deepest, most disgusting shame ever perpetrated by a people in history, the Germans have done onto themselves. Egged on and misled by the tribe of Juda whom they hated, who were guests among them! That was their thanks! Let no German ever forget this, nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed and exterminated [vertilgt und ausgerottet] from German Soil! This poisonous mushroom on the German oak-tree!”

Röhl then goes on:

‘He [the Kaiser] called for a ‘regular international all-worlds pogrom à la Russe’ as ‘the best cure’. ‘Jews and Mosquitoes’ were ‘a nuisance that humanity must get rid of in some way or other’, he proclaimed, and added, again in his own hand: ‘I believe the best would be gas!’ [From notes: ‘Kaiser Wilhelm II to Poultney Bigelow, 15 August 1929. Bigelow Papers, New York Public Library. Two years earlier, Wilhelm had instructed a member of his entourage to ask Fritz Haber whether the Totalvergasung [‘Total Gasification’] of large cities had become a practicable possibility. Wilhelm von Dommes to Fritz Haber, 14 June 1927, Gutssche, Ein Kaiser im Exil, p. 92.’]

(From: The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany, by John C. G. Röhl, Cambridge University Press, 1994 [originally published in Germany as Kaiser, Hof und Staat: Wilhelm II. Und die deutsche Politik by Verlag C. H. Beck, Munich 1987]; p. 194-195, p. 210, and notes p. 266).

In line with extremist Germanic thought of the time the Kaiser didn’t envision genocide as being solely reserved and warranted by the Jews as Röhl writes:

‘In September 1914, after the German victory at Tannenberg, the Kaiser proposed that the 90,000 Russian prisoners of war be driven onto a barren spit of land in the Baltic and kept there till they died of thirst and hunger: it was left to one of his generals to point out that that would be ‘genocide’.’ [From notes: ‘Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller, diary entry for 4 September 1914, BA-MA Freiburg. This entry was omitted in Walter Görlitz (ed.), Regierte der Kaiser? Kreigstagebücher, Aufzeichnungen und Briefe des Chefs des Marine-Kabinetts Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller 1914-1918 (Göttingen 1959), pp. 54f.’] (ibid. p. 207, and notes p. 229)

The following is from a late eighteenth-century work first published in 1796:

'Thus the wars, in which the tyrants of the European world are to be subdued, with their widely scattered partisans, being of such mighty influence in deciding the condition of the human race, are foretold, in several parts of the apocalypse, and under different emblems. Such appears to be the import of THE HARVEST and THE VINTAGE, described in the xivth chapter [of the Revelation].’

According to this prophetic interpretation the subduing of these ‘tyrants of the European world’ (also being ‘the enemies of the church and the adversaries of [God’s] people’) would consist of:

‘two most signal slaughters, between which some space of time would intervene, which agreeably to analogy may be represented by the interval, which separates a harvest from a vintage.’

During the second of these ‘two most signal slaughters’ the grapes are described not just as being solely ‘ripe’ but as now being ‘fully ripe’. To continue from the quoted work:

‘The symbolic grapes are described as fully ripe “That is,” says Vitringa, “the period of the divine forbearance had expired, and villanies, no longer to be tolerated, had arisen to their utmost height. The measure of crimes was filled up. — Punishment therefore could no longer be deferred, but the destroyers of the earth were at length to be destroyed, and were in their turn to meet with their reward.” ’

(From: Illustrations of Prophecy, by the Rev Joseph Towers; published London, MDCCXCVI [1796]*. pp. 298, 300).

*For lengthier quotes from this work by the Rev Joseph Towers see the World War Armageddon blog posts ‘The two world wars; & the “Harvest of the earth”, from April 2010; and ‘The best laid schemes of FROGS and men . . .’ from March 2010.

“The Wonders of Foretold History” (1890)

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE

‘Har-Magedon (or Armageddon) is simply the “hill of Megiddo,” marking the great battle plain where the fate of armies has so often been decided. And so through the telescope of prophecy we see looming up in the not [too] distant future, a great world-crises, a mighty and decisive conflict between the forces of good and evil.

‘And as a result and culmination of this conflict we see approaching a period of tremendous social convulsion, war and revolution. This is inevitable. “Think not,” said Christ, “that I am come to send peace on earth; I come not to send peace but a sword.” Error will never consent to quit the field without an appeal to the sword, and by the sword it must finally perish.

‘Apostate Judaism fell in a mighty war. The great Reformation triumphed only through fields of blood. And slavery in America was overthrown in a conflict that shook the continent. And the crowning conflict, like others before it, must be accompanied by a social convulsion proportionate to its greatness.

‘And no sooner does the prophet see the hosts gathered in the “valley of decision,” than he writes: “AND THE SEVENTH (angel) POURED OUT HIS BOWL UPON THE AIR; AND THERE CAME FORTH A GREAT VOICE OUT OF THE TEMPLE, FROM THE THRONE, SAYING, IT IS DONE: AND THERE WERE LIGHTNINGS, AND VOICES, AND THUNDERS; AND THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE, SUCH AS WAS NOT SINCE THERE WERE MEN UPON THE EARTH, SO GREAT AN EARTHQUAKE, SO MIGHTY.”

‘If the tremendous Thirty Years War is spoken of as merely “an earthquake,” and that mighty and most bloody revolution by which Constantine overthrew the pagan emperors is still only “a great earthquake,” how surpassingly great must that revolution prove whose symbol is an earthquake such as never was since there were men upon the earth!

‘We are not surprised that the next feature that rises upon our view is a scene of unexampled horror and carnage. “AND EVERY ISLAND FLED AWAY,” (we are told) “AND THE MOUNTAINS WERE NOT FOUND. AND GREAT HAIL, EVERY STONE ABOUT THE WEIGHT OF A TALENT, COMETH DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN UPON MEN: AND MEN BLASPHEMED GOD BECAUSE OF THE PLAGUE OF THE HAIL; FOR THE PLAGUE THEREOF IS EXCEEDING GREAT.”

‘If the terrible raids and sack of Rome by the Goths is called a “hail,” and the tumult and carnage of thrice ten years of blood is only “great hail,” what must be the scene that shall be witnessed on the earth when war's destruction shall become so stupendous and overwhelming that it can only be compared to the showering down out of heaven of solid globes of ice of a hundred pounds weight!

‘And yet we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that already the conditions exist for just such a conflict. The weapons of destruction have been brought to a point of tremendous energy. Armored ships, rifled cannon, sea-coast guns that hurl six hundred pounds of iron fifteen miles, dynamite bombs, repeating rifles, Maxim guns, capable of discharging sixty balls per minute, are fast revolutionizing the art of war. Steam and electricity have almost annihilated time and space, so binding the nations together that any great shock is instantly felt to the world's end. Europe is an armed camp. Sixteen millions of trained soldiers are ready at the war-signal to fly at each others throats.

‘. . . The antitypical Euphrates, the Turkish empire, is rapidly drying up; and it is easy to see that the rich prize which is slipping from her grasp is liable at any hour to prove the spark which shall fire the train, and when the explosion comes (from this cause or some other) then shall begin a carnival of blood and death such as the world has never witnessed – a mighty hailstorm of retributive judgment.’ (pp. 317-319).

WHEN? OR PROPHETIC DATES

‘. . . [T]he papacy is not the only form of false religion dealt with in prophecy. There is another “little horn” (and only one other) which is mentioned in Dan. 7: 9-14, as destined to “take away the daily sacrifice,” and “give the sanctuary to be trodden under foot.” This is Mahometanism which arose simultaneously with the papacy, and keeps pace with it till both perish at the advent. But before Mahomet arose in the East the Syrian kings appeared, of whom was Antiochus Epiphanes, known as the bitter enemy and persecutor of the Jews. He was a precursory “little horn;” the prophetic symbol evidently including both. And the whole period thus defined is declared to be two thousand three hundred years. From what point do they begin? Not earlier certainly than the decree of Artaxerxes B.C. 457, from which begin the seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years to the resurrection of Christ. From this date two thousand three hundred years bring us to A.D. 1844, noted as the very year when by the determined intervention of England the Turkish government reluctantly consented to cease persecuting its Christian subjects, and actually issued (for the first time) an edict of toleration. In thus yielding to foreign dictation it virtually surrendered its independence, and appeared as already practically fallen.

‘But there is another point from which it is still more natural to reckon this period, and that is B.C. 312, the date of the rise of the Syrian kings (called the Seleucidæ) just referred to. And from this point (reckoning by lunar years, because this was customary with Mahometans) the period extends to 1919 – exactly seventy-five years later than in the first case – indicating this date as likely to be a marked one in the decline of the Turks, the freeing of Palestine from Mahometan thraldom, and the restoration of the Jews; but if solar years are reckoned we are brought to 1988. . . .

‘Thus the very nature of prophetic dates renders it impossible to lay down with rigid certainty the time of the end. We are not sure which one of several starting points is to be preferred; and we do not certainly know whether we are to reckon by lunar or by solar years. Still the variations of reckoning thus caused are all comprised within comparatively narrow limits; and so we are well assured that the “time is at hand” – it may be at the very doors.

‘If it shall be (according to the reckoning already given) that the dawning years of the next century shall see the fall of the Turkish powers; [it could be most likely] that by 1919 the ancient people of God shall again possess the promised land . . .’ (pp. 343-345).

Armageddon – the valley of “excision”

(Above: A WWI German machine-gun crew. From a footnote to the work cited below: 'Joel iii. 14. . . . a threshing instrument, formed with revolving cylinders, armed with sharp pieces of iron. See Jahn Archæol. Bibl. § 64.')

From Canon (later Bishop) Wordsworth's Lectures on the Apocalypse (1849):

'What is meant by Armageddon?

'St. John refers us to the Hebrew tongue, and there the word Har signifies a Mountain; and it is rightly affirmed that Armageddon is a word formed by St. John to signify a defeat and slaughter, such as that of the Kings of Canaan at Megiddo, in the region of Galilee, wrought by a miraculous interposition of Almighty God, discomfiting the vast and terrible army of Sisera and his confederate Princes. . . . (pp. 447).

'It must also be observed, that King Josiah was defeated and mortally wounded at Megiddo [2 Chron. xxxv. 20.]; and though Josiah was a pious King, yet it must be remembered that, when at Megiddo, he was disobeying a divine command, given him by the Prophet Jeremiah. He was endeavouring to repel Pharaoh-Necho, who was marching towards the river Euphrates, to besiege Babylon . . .

'Thus Megiddo, or Mageddo, was a name, made ready for St. John, to express a sudden and mysterious defeat and slaughter of God's foes, and of the allies of Babylon.

'This explanation is satisfactory, as far as it goes; and it must be carried further.

'St. John, in the Apocalypse, expresses ideas by Hebrew terms, understood literally.

'Thus, for example, the word Jew is always used in the Apocalypse in a spiritual sense, founded on its Hebrew etymology, which indicates one who confesses and praises God — a true Christian.

'Another reference to Hebrew etymology is found in the word Abaddon, formed by St. John to describe the Angel of the bottomless pit; and derived from a Hebrew term, signifying perdition. . . .

'Observe, also, St. John here specially calls our attention to the Hebrew etymology, by saying that the place is called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

'Armageddon is formed of two Hebrew words; the one signifying a Mountain, the other, a cutting to pieces; and thus it means the Mountain of excision, or of slaughter*.

[*From footnote: 'Lightfoot and Vitringa, who were the first of modern Interpreters that called attention to this etymology, do not seem to have been aware that they had been anticipated by Andreas and Arethas ad loc. (and in the Ancient Greek Catena, Cramer, p. 420,) and also by Ecumenius, ibid. p. 552, who deserve to be cited. Catena Cramer, p. 420. xvi. 16 . . .' ]

'When the Prophet Zechariah is speaking of the destruction of all nations that come against the City of God, he says that there will be a great mourning in the valley of Megiddon; and Megiddon is there translated by the Septuagint Interpreters, cut up, or destroyed.

'The word Armageddon, then, signifies a place of slaughter* [*From footnote: 'Lightfoot, Harmony N.T. on Rev. xvi. “The word Armageddon signifies a Mountain of men cut to pieces.”']; and it connects the judgments predicted in the Apocalypse with those foretold by the Hebrew Prophets.

'If we refer to the third chapter of the Prophet Joel, from the ninth verse to the end, we there see a sublime description of the gathering together of the foes of Christ, and of their final overthrow.

'Multitudes! Multitudes! exclaims the Prophet, in the valley of decision.

'The word here rendered decision is one which signifies threshing, bruising, cutting, and crushing* [*From footnote: 'Joel iii. 14. . . . a threshing instrument, formed with revolving cylinders, armed with sharp pieces of iron. See Jahn Archæol. Bibl. § 64.']; and the words rendered valley of decision are translated by the Septuagint, valley of judgment.

'It is observable, also, that God says by the Prophet Joel, in the same place, that He will gather all nations, and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And again; Let the heathen come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. [Joel iii. 12.]

'In the word Jehoshaphat there is an historical reference to a signal and miraculous slaughter of God's enemies in King Jehoshaphat's reign; just as in the word Megiddo there is an historical reference of the same kind.

'And, in both cases, there is something more.

'Megiddo means destruction; and Jehoshaphat signifies judgment of God.

'All nations cannot be gathered together to one valley, or to one mountain, on earth.

'Hence it is rightly concluded, that the Valley of Jehoshaphat here mentioned is a general term for a signal execution of God's Judgment on all His enemies throughout the world.

'In a word, the gathering together of the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is the same as the gathering together to Armageddon.' (pp. 448-452).

* * * * * * *

Envoi:

From John S Fox's A Flood of Light Upon the Book of Revelation (The Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C., Canada; circa late 1940s) :

“ARMAGEDDON” AS A EUROPEAN

CONFLAGRATION

'In the Book of Revelation the name “Babylon” . . . certainly does not refer to the old Far-Eastern city, but rather to the New Testament prophetical Papal “Babylon”. That being so, why do prophetic interpreters claim that the reference here to “Ar-Megiddo” (if indeed it refers to “Megiddo” at all: see below) should refer to the Eastern or Palestinian Megiddo, when the whole context of the drama in which it is named occurs within the Papal regime of WESTERN EUROPE!

'There does not seem to be any reference to “Megiddo” at all in this Scripture, the word “Armageddon” being divisible into three Hebrew words; not two as usually suggested. Here the word “Arma” signifies “bare grain”: “Gai” signifies a “valley”: and “Don” signifies “judgment”.

'The composite word Armageddon thus depicts the fact that God's time had come to “thresh Babylon” (See Jer. 51. 33) in the “Valley of Jehoshaphat” which means the Valley where “Jehovah judges”, the name Jehoshaphat meaning “Jehovah judges”.' (pp. 114-115).

“The Kings of the East” . . . & Armageddon

(The title-page above is that of the second and enlarged edition of The Kings of the East published in 1849; the quotes below - from a post originaly submitted on the Mail on Sunday journalist Peter Hitchens' blog - are taken from the first edition of The Kings of the East, published 1842).

In a post on this [Peter Hitchens'] blog (15 April 2008 at 12:15 AM) on the thread, 'The Gathering Storm' (in the Archives for April 2008), I wrote that I thought that the British Empire was the power that was symbolically prefigured under the symbol of the 'kings of the east' (or, to give another translation: 'the kings from the rising of the sun'); as the 'sun' in the Revelation is used to indicate a power in the ascendancy – in this instance the 'sun' of the British Imperial interest rising over the long-held Turkish lands.

Since then I've come into possession of a most remarkable book written three-quarters of a century before the so-called, 'Balfour Declaration' of November 1917. From its title page I reproduce the following:

“THE KINGS OF THE EAST;”

AN

EXPOSITION OF THE PROPHECIES

DETERMINING,

FROM SCRIPTURE AND FROM HISTORY,

THE POWER

FOR WHOM THE MYSTICAL EUPHRATES

IS BEING “DRIED UP;”

WITH AN EXPLANATION

OF CERTAIN OTHER PROPHECIES CONCERNING

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.

[By Edward Heycock, Esq., Bombay]

PUBLISHED BY R.B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE

AND SOLD BY L. AND G. SEELEY,

FLEET STREET, LONDON.

MDCCCXLII

[1842]

After first determining from biblical prophecy that, 'the Mahommedans were to possess the East'; and from history that, 'India [was] the most eastern Mahammedan empire'; the Author of the work went on to exposit from Scripture that Britain was foreordained to rule over India – the eastern-most part of the 'Mahommedan empire'; and concerning the then status of Turkey, he writes: 'The way is [at the moment] only being prepared; the Turkish empire is not yet dried up.' But looking forwards in time towards Britain's future destiny as a latter-day Cyrus, as revealed in the ancient prophecies – he wrote: 'How, or when, the British will issue this proclamation for the restoration of Israel is uncertain.'

Before returning back again later to Edward Heycock's work, to see the pivotal role that he envisioned Britain would fulfil in the great conflict to arise, it seems necessary to remark, that – like the prophecies concerning the Messiah in His two roles: First as the suffering servant, 'The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world' (John 1:29); and Second in His Glory as, 'the Lion of the tribe of Juda' (Revelation 5:5) – that the differing Messianic prophecies have been compared to two peaks of the same great mountain separated by the gulf of time. And so in a sense 'Armageddon' (which some term, 'mountain of destruction'. Hebrew Har (Ar) = mountain) should not be seen as a single great conflict at the end of time.

Or as Peter Hitchens remarked on the thread, 'Was World War Two just as pointless and self-defeating as Iraq . . .' (Again, in the Archives for April 2008) :

'The First and Second World Wars, as [Patrick] Buchanan says [in his book, Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War], are really one [great] conflict.'

The following is taken from a book that was written whilst the First World War was still raging – but prior to the October Revolution of 1917 – that would first shake Russia before sending its shock waves throughout the world:

'In Rev. xvi. 18, the seventh angel . . . [pours] out his vial [into the air], which is followed by “voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth.” That earthquake is here shown to be unprecedented. It refers to an unprecedented time of trouble. An earthquake in the book of Revelation always means some great political, or religious, upheaval. . . . 'Have we not an instance in the present war? It is the greatest in history. It has characteristics which cannot possibly have been experienced in the past. In the passions let loose, the spirit of hatred which is at work, we have repetitions of former wars, but the instruments used for slaughter, the millions employed in mortal combat, the present war is absolutely unprecedented, so that already we have a political earthquake such as was not since man was upon the earth. But we are only at the beginning, and we may expect that what is yet to be will be far greater than anything that has yet happened. “A time of trouble,” says Daniel, “such as never was.” “Great tribulation,” says our Lord, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” But the present is only the preliminary shock of that which is to come, The worst is yet future, and will eclipse in horror all the trouble of to-day. . . . [pp. 219-220]

'In the last lecture I referred to the interpretation given by some exponents that the “king of the north” refers to Russia and “the king of the south” to Egypt, or rather to the Power that controls Egypt, namely, England, and at the “time of the end,” or the closing epoch of this dispensation, these two powers – Russia and the British Empire – will be in conflict regarding the “glorious land,” or Palestine. If this interpretation proves to be correct, there must come a temporary peace in the present war in order to enable events so to adjust themselves to turn Russia, our present ally, into our chief foe . . . Some, however, hold that Germany is the NORTHERN POWER signified. If that be so, the present war may merge without interruption into the final great conflict . . .' [Emphasis added.]

(Taken from: Light from the Book of Daniel: On History Past, Present, and Future. A Course of Twelve Lectures delivered in the Central Hall, Westminster, 1915-16. By Augusta Cook; London: Robert Banks & Son, Racquet Court, Fleet Street, E.C., 1916).

On the previously mentioned thread from 2008, Peter Hitchens wrote: 'It makes me feel like a traitor to write this ['Was World War Two just as pointless and self-defeating as Iraq . . .']. [For] the Second World War was my religion for most of my life. Brave, alone, bombed, defiant, we, the British, had won it on our own against the most evil and powerful enemy imaginable [those were my former thoughts].'

From the dark days of the 1940s back to the 1840s, and (as I previously mentioned) a return to Edward Heycock's aforementioned work – to see what he saw as Britain's destined role in that coming great conflict:

'Can any description be imagined more awfully sublime than this which the pen of inspiration has given this dreadful conflict? All nature, animate and inanimate, is represented as trembling . . . whilst every feathered fowl, and every beast of prey, is summoned to assemble at the ensanguined battlefield . . .

'This is the day for which Britain is strengthened, and prepared as an instrument to be employed by the hands of the Almighty. Not only is she being prepared with physical means, but also with moral courage to undertake, if needful, single-handed the defence . . . against this powerful coalition. Of the British it is said, “The isles shall WAIT UPON ME, AND ON MINE ARM SHALL THEY TRUST.” Isaiah li. 5. And it is promised that, “They THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not weary, and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah xl. 31.' (The Kings of the East, 1842 [pp. 294]).

General Sir William Dobbie, Governor of Malta during the dark days of that Island's great Second World War siege, would later write the following on that great conflict:

'The summer of 1940 was a time of crisis for the British Empire, and indeed for the whole world. Disaster had come to our expeditionary force in France, and although most of the personnel were saved, we lost nearly all our equipment, and our Army ceased to exist (for the time being) as an effective instrument of war. The French nation, our ally at that time, was brought to its knees, and forced out of the war. The British Empire then stood entirely alone, and faced the victorious might of Germany and her satellites. The heart of the Empire, Great Britain, was exposed to a full-scale attack by sea and air from the near-by bases in France and Belgium, recently acquired by the Germans, and the forces available for the defence of the country were ludicrously inadequate. It was at this time that Italy, the chief satellite of Germany, and till then theoretically neutral, or at any rate nonbelligerent, decided to throw in her lot unreservedly with Germany, and declared war against us. . . .

'The situation in Malta, moreover, was a replica, in miniature, of the general situation in Great Britain. The isolation, the formidable strength of the enemy's forces, the proximity of bases from which his attacks could be launched, the unbelievable paucity of our defensive resources, the great civilian population exposed to a ruthless enemy, the dependence on seaborne supplies and the expectation of attack in overwhelming strength – all these things and many others went to make up the defence problem of Malta, as they did the similar problem in Great Britain on a vaster scale. . . . [pp. 9-11]

'[It was] obvious to us that our human resources were woefully inadequate, and many of us were constrained to turn our eyes to “the hills, from whence cometh my help.” . . . God's Word was a great stand-by to me, and doubtless to many others, too, at this time. In it I read how God had helped His people in old times when they were faced with situations similar to that confronting us. And God reminded us that although outward circumstances have changed since those days in many ways, and although the problem might be enunciated in different words, yet God, the solver of problems, does not change. He is the same today as He has ever been, and “His hand is not shortened, that it cannot save.” The difficulty is likely to rest with us, either that we do not exercise the simple faith which lays hold on that power or that our iniquities separate between us and God, so that He cannot use it on our behalf. Many persons in Malta, both in responsible and other positions, did, I think, realize our need of His help, and were prepared to ask Him to give it us. By no other means could we be sure of holding this vital outpost of the Empire, and so we turned to Him who alone is the Giver of victory. . . .

'I humbly believe that God, in His mercy, answered the prayers offered to Him in this way, and in the two years and more of the siege which followed His help was very obvious and very real.

'At about the same time, I was greatly encouraged by a telegram I received from the chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir Edmund Ironside (later, Field-Marshal Lord Ironside). It showed me that others in high places at home were thinking along the same lines as we were in Malta. The telegram, which was addressed to me personally, contained the reference “Deuteronomy, chapter 3, verse 22.” I looked up the reference in my Bible, and I read: “Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you”. This was a very welcome and timely reminder of a great and well-proved truth, and, coming as it did from a person in his position, and being addressed to one in mine, in view of the special circumstances of the time, it meant much to us.

'I have said that the help which God gave was very obvious and real. The same help was noticed at the time of the withdrawal from Dunkirk, and during the “Battle of Britain.” It certainly was so in the “Battle of Malta.” During the two years which followed the declaration of war by Italy, God's protecting hand was so much in evidence that people were noticing it and remarking about it. On a number of occasions officers have come to me and said quite spontaneously: “Do you know, sir, I think that Someone up there (pointing upwards) has been helping us today.” I no doubt replied, “Yes, I think so, too,” and I may have added, “You may remember we asked Him to help us, and today we have been watching Him doing it.” Such a conversation took place not once nor twice, but a number of times.' [pp. 107-109]

(From: A Very Present Help: A Testimony to the Faithfulness of God, By Lt-General Sir William Dobbie, GCMG, KCB, DSO; Third Edition, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; circa 1946).

Nigel Jones in a review of the historian Andrew Roberts' latest book, The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, (Sunday Telegraph, 'Seven' magazine, 26/07/09) writes:

'But in the end, as even the super patriotic Roberts recognises, it was not British sang-froid, or evacuations like Dunkirk – no matter how miraculous – that turned the tables of Hitler's war, but the vast manpower, limitless resources and dogged determination of Soviet Russia.'

The quote I give below is taken from the Daily Telegraph, February 25th, 1942:

'By all military logic, the stripped B.E.F. should have been destroyed on the Dunkirk beaches. Then a Britain without defences should, in July 1940, have been occupied by overwhelming German numbers from land and sea if Hitler had not been mysteriously blind to his unparalleled opportunity of ending the war. . . .[Again], we could never have hoped (as we now realize) to cope with the German Juggernaut if it had not been gratuitously thrown into the melting-pot of Russia. . . . The Power behind events . . . has “covered us in the day of battle.”'

'But I will remove far off from you the NORTHERN ARMY, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.' (Joel 2:20).

______________________

ADDENDUM:

From The Kings of the East, 1842

'Britain has been raised up to her present powerful state for the purpose of executing God's righteous judgments upon his enemies, we cannot escape from the conviction “that the hour of His judgment is come,” and that our nation will speedily be involved in wars, which shall terminate to the glory of God, and the overthrow of his enemies.' (pp. 72)

'As Britain is expressly prepared for . . . [this] work, and receives her commission from the Almighty to march under the banner of the Most High, whilst executing together with Him his righteous judgments, we of this highly-favoured land may rejoice in our privileges, and contemplate the coming contest, the gathering storm and mighty conflict, not only without fear, but with full assurance of victory. Let us only wait upon God, and trust on his arm, as it is promised: “The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.” Isaiah li. 5. Then shall it be seen in the hour of trial that “they that have waited upon the Lord, shall have renewed their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” Isa. xl. 31.' (pp. 339-340)

________

ENVOI

'How consolatory this view of the prophecies, supported as it is by the word of God. The British Christian may hear of wars and rumours of wars, rejoicing when he beholds the rising storm, for the Saviour is with him in the ship and will speedily rebuke the winds, and there shall be a great calm.' (ibid. pp. 340)

- DUNKIRK 1940 -

“Daniel and The Revelation: The Chart of Prophecy and our Place in it” (1898)

'Our present position :– [is] near the close of the Sixth Vial period. (Revelation xvi. 15.)'

'When we read in Revelation xvi. 13, 14, of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, as the prime agents in bringing about the final war of Armageddon, we cannot imagine three visible corporeal beings on earth, working to stir up the war by breathing frog-like spirits out of their mouths; but, consistently with the Historical method which we have followed, assigning a symbolical meaning to these strange symbolic figures which St. John saw again and again in his visions, we must understand that Satan, together with the Papal Power, and the body of the Romish Priesthood, the most complete organization in the world, will work by all the dark means which may then be at their disposal, in order to embroil the nations, as they have often done before, and as in our time they have endeavoured to stir up mischief in Ireland.' (ibid. p. 206-207).

'Some interesting information concerning the scheming ambition of the Papacy in the present [1898], and its power to embroil the nations in the future, is given in a remarkable article contributed to McClure's Magazine by M. de Blowitz, who from his experience and political insight is admitted to be an authority on such a matter. He Says : “To the Vatican flow innumerable missives from every corner of the world, and could I only tell some of them, it would seem how long still is the arm extending from the shadow of St. Peter's: how dreadful still are the lips that speak in the shade of the Vatican. I should show the Holy Father and his cardinals writing to the Emperor of Austria, directing him by counsel and advice, and sometimes almost by orders.”' (ibid. p. 215).

'[W]e read in Revelation xix. 19, where the coming of Christ to overthrow His enemies at this same crisis is described, “And I saw the beast, and the Kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army,” we must not, of course, fall into the error of Futurist literalism, or imagine that this passage of Scripture means that one day Christ will be seen descending from the “heaven opened” sitting upon a white horse, with myriads of saints and angels also on white horses, and that two supernatural individuals, Antichrist or the Beast, and a False Prophet, are to lead an army with an array of modern artillery, and breech-loading rifles, and smokeless powder, in order to shoot down Christ and His heavenly followers. It must be obvious to a sober judgment that this passage is simply the record of a vision which St. John saw at Patmos; and a “mind that hath wisdom,” which is mentioned in the Revelation as a needful qualification for understanding these mysterious predictions, should seek to discern the prophetic meaning of the figures which St. John saw. We trust that the explanation which has been given is a consistent and reasonable interpretation. It shows us that this vision of Revelation xix. 19, etc., in which St. John beheld the symbolic figures of the Beast and the False Prophet leading kings and armies against Christ and His armies, was a symbolic prediction of the final crises of that GENERAL WAR OF NATIONS at the close of this dispensation. . . . It shows that the Powers symbolised by the Beast and the False Prophet, namely, the Papal Imperial Power and that body of the Romish Priesthood, will be chief agents in bringing about that war . . .' (ibid. p. 216-217; emphasis added).

'[T]he era of the sixth Vial, under which we are now living, does not simply include the judgment upon the Turkish Power, which is a lengthy preliminary, [from footnote: 'Mr. Gladstone, in a reply to an Armenian deputation, recently said : “I have lived to see the Empire of Turkey in Europe reduced to less than half of what it was when I was born, and why? Simply because of its misdeeds – a great record written against it by the hand of Almighty God.”] but it also includes that tremendous outpouring of judgment upon the world which will result from the disastrous agency of the “three unclean spirits” whose going forth under this Vial is next described.' (ibid. p. 365).

'We know that the Dragon means Satan; and we have shown . . . that the Beast, in accordance with the meaning of that symbol in Daniel signifies the Roman world-empire in its last form, the Papal form, as represented by the person of the Pope at the head of it; whilst the False Prophet, or second Beast of Revelation xiii., symbolises the corporate body of the Romish priesthood, the typical example of false and anti-Christian teaching, whose subserviency to the interests of the first Beast is mentioned as one of its chief characteristics.

'In accordance with the meaning of the sources from which the three unclean spirits or evil agencies go forth over the word, we cannot be far wrong in regarding the agencies themselves as – (1) the spirit of infidelity, that special weapon of Satan, with all that follows in its train, agnosticism, socialism, spiritualism, anarchy, etc.; (2) the spirit of Papal imperial and political ambition, which, in spite of the fall of the Temporal Power, will be active up to the very end, and allied, perhaps, with the revolutionary powers of socialism, will yet embroil the world; (3) the spirit of the superstitious teachings and influence of the Romish clergy – more especially of the Jesuit Order, “the power behind the Pope” – in support of priestcraft and Papal aims. These three agencies are quite sufficient to bring about that period of confusion, tribulation and judgment, that has yet to burst forth during the era of the sixth Vial, of which they are here said to be the chief instigators . . .

'Here let us ask whether the signs of the times in which we are now living do not corroborate this Historical interpretation, and whether they do not indicate to us just that point in the era of the sixth Vial which has already been reached at the present date. No one will deny that the pernicious spirit of infidelity has gone forth with alarming activity and subtlety in this latter half of the nineteenth century, and especially during the last ten years. Perverted intellectual power is Satan's strongest lever for overturning the foundations of faith, and for loosening the bonds of truth and morality by which society is held together. Attacks on the inspiration of the Bible, on the sanctity of the Sabbath, and on the most essential points of Christian belief, are openly made in the newspapers and magazines, in novels, and, more insidiously, even in the pages of professedly religious literature.

'Nor are the other two agencies less bold and active. Both on their political and ecclesiastical side, the schemes of the Papacy are being pushed forward with a marvellous degree of astuteness and audacity. The persistent aim of the Pope, fostered by the Jesuits, and backed up by his clergy all over the world, is the restoration of the Temporal Power, and of Papal supremacy. There is no saying how soon the prosecution of these schemes may bring about an embroilment of the nations. Thus all three of the evil agencies are abroad. The seed is being sown, and in due time the crop will appear.' (ibid. p. 368-369).

'Let us now review our position, and see how we stand with regard to the events which we have shown to be foretold as destined to take place during the era of the sixth Vial in which we are now living. The drying up of the Euphrates has long been going on: the power of Turkey has long been declining. Our statesmen tell us “The Sick Man is sicker than ever.” In our daily papers we read: “The Ottoman Empire exhibits all the signs of a state in dissolution.”. . . Those evil agencies symbolised by the three frog-like spirits, which are yet to embroil the world, have began to show signs of increased activity. No one can deny that there is in the minds of thinking men, whose eyes are open to see the signs of the times, a presentiment that a great crises is approaching in the history of our world. There ever lingers on the horizon the dark storm-cloud of the Eastern Question. Now and again it seems gathering to a head, and threatening to burst. But, as often happens in thundery weather, the storm is averted for a while. Yet there the cloud is still, waiting for the time fixed by God's eternal decree, and when that time comes the cloud of the Eastern Question will once more gather and come down, involving the nations in widespread calamity and destruction. There can be little doubt that in the crises of the end of this dispensation the Eastern Question will play its part.

'We have before given examples of the coincidence of political forecasts with the anticipations of prophetical students. It may be interesting here, in connection with the Historical interpretation of the events of the sixth Vial which we have placed before our readers, to give the following extract from a leading article in one of our chief daily papers. Which is only a sample of the political anticipations that are constantly appearing in the public prints. Referring to the question of active measures being taken by the Powers in order to check Turkey in her infamous course of exterminating Armenian Christians, this article says, in words that read like a commentary on this passage of the Revelation: “With the firing of the first shot the whole of the Eastern Question, the bugbear of the diplomatist, the terror of the politician, the insoluble problem of statesmanship, would be reopened with all its intricacy and its perils. Austria with her reversionary interests on the shores of the Black Sea and the Golden Horn; Greece with her perpetual hankering after Macedonia; Bulgaria, Servia [Serbia], and Roumania, with all the rash intolerance of young and treaty-made states; Russia with her naval ambitions at the Dardanelles; France with her desire to rival Great Britain as a Mediterranean Power; and England herself,with her one predominant aim of keeping the route open to her Indian possessions [a policy affecting the occupation of Egypt and Palestine] – such would be the elements of rivalry and animosity let loose over the prostrate body of 'the Sick Man of Europe.' It is terrible to contemplate such a turmoil even in imagination.”

'Here, therefore, we may recognise our present position in the sixth Vial. We see the storm-cloud on the Eastern horizon, and we know that it will one day gather overhead, and the drops will begin to fall. That day may be near at hand or it may be years hence, for diplomacy is doing its utmost to avert it. But diplomatists know full well that it must come sooner or later. No diplomacy can prevent that which is decreed in the counsels of Providence, and marked down in the chart of God's prophetic Word. We do not know what time will be occupied by the train of events that will then be set in motion. But the full consequences of this great storm that is brewing will not reach their climax till the final crisis of the seventh Vial . . .' (ibid. p. 370-371).

A(i)r-mageddon: the “great hail” of Revelation 16:21

THE AFTERMATH: COLOGNE 1945

“The 'fall of hail' is to be viewed as accompanying, not following, the fall of cities . . . As hail-stones are symbolical of divine judgments, and as there may be allusions here to another of the plagues of Egypt, (Exod. ix. 18:) so more especially may the facts of history supply the figurative language with which the judgments of the vials terminate. If any escaped the destroying sword in the battle of Armageddon, they are overtaken by these ponderous hail-stones out of heaven . . .”

(From: Notes on the Apocalypse; With An Appendix, containing dissertations on some of the Apocalyptical symbols, together with animadversions on the interpretation of several among the most learned and approved expositors of Britain and America, by David Steele, Sr., Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation, Philadelphia; Philadelphia: Young & Ferguson, No. 14 South Seventh St., 1870; p. 246).

Moving on from a work detailing some of the prophetic interpretations of some of “the most learned and approved expositors of Britain and America”; to the actual “facts of history”, and the aviators of Britain and America:

“A(i)r- mageddon in West”

“FROM dawn onwards yesterday the thunder of massed aircraft filled the sky over the north German plain as the greatest tactical air blitz in history gained momentum.

“Bomber Command, the Eighth & Ninth U.S.A.A.F. And the entire strength of R.A.F. Second T.A.F. were flying into yesterday's onslaught, in which well over 6,000 sorties were flown.”

(From a newspaper clipping reproduced in John S. Fox's Today, Tomorrow and the Great Beyond – newspaper and date of publication not stated.)

The British historian Andrew Roberts, in a chapter (entitled, “The Cruel Reality”) concentrating on the Anglo-American air offensive against Germany (to be found in his latest history of the Second World War), remarked that the “division of labour between [the USAAF's] daylight and [the RAF's] night-time bombing automatically solved a number of possible operational problems [that would have otherwise existed between the two allied forces].” And went on to state that: “On 6 March 1944 the Americans began daylight raids on Berlin, which was now being pounded almost round the clock.”

“they have no rest day nor night . . .” (Rev. 15:11).

Andrew Roberts concluded the aforementioned chapter, on the following note:

“The fact that more than ten times the number of Germans died – some 600,000 in all – in the retaliation against the Blitz than Britons who actually died in the Blitz itself echoes the biblical phrase about David multiplying the numbers killed by Saul. . . . Whereas the Luftwaffe flattened 400 acres of London, the RAF and USAAF turned 6,247 acres of Berlin into little more than rubble. Total War did not allow for what is today called 'a proportionate response'. No fewer than sixty major German industrial cities suffered colossal material damage during the Second World War. Yet Germany is today such a model democracy, and so pacific in her foreign policy, partly because of the terrible retribution that that war visited upon her. If the Second World War had not seen civilian casualties on German soil, just as the Great War had not, a new spirit of revanchism might have been rekindled there. As it was, the Germans looked into the face of Armageddon, and it has instilled an aversion for foreign military intervention that might occasionally frustrate NATO policy-makers today, but is overall a very welcome development for the world.”

(The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, 2009; pp. 459-460).

Williamson Murray, writing in War in the Air 1914-45 (Cassell History of Warfare series, 1999, 2002), first remarks that:

“[T]he most controversial aspect of Anglo-American air power [during the Second World War] had to do with the Combined Bomber Offensive, the strategic bombing effort against Germany. This author at least would rate its contribution as one of the four essential elements in Allied victory over Nazi Germany, the others being the Eastern Front, the battle of the Atlantic and American productive superiority.”

He then goes on to state:

“It is hard to measure the impact of bombing because, in contradiction to many of the tenets of air power, so much of its effect was indirect. . . . The responses that the Nazi government made to the night-bomber offensive suggest the profound indirect impact of the Combined Bomber Offensive. The growth of the Flak (anti-aircraft fire) forces defending the Reich at a time when on any number of fronts German ground forces were confronting increasingly numerous and effective opponents suggests the impact the bombing made on the minds of the Nazi leadership and their worries that the home front might again collapse as in 1918. The number of Flak batteries rose from 791 guarding the Reich in 1940, to 967 in 1941, 1,148 in 1942 and 2,132 in 1943. By the end of 1943 the Germans had nearly 10,000 high-velocity anti-aircraft guns and 500,000 men firing huge numbers of shells into the skies over the Reich and hitting little. The impact of such weapons and manpower on other fronts in 1943 or 1944 hardly needs emphasis.

“The second indirect effect of 'area' bombing also occurred in the minds of the Nazi leadership. Worried by the bombing's impact on German morale, Hitler and his advisers hit on a strategy of retaliation. . . As a result, the Germans poured enormous resources into the so-called revenge weapons, the V-1 and V-2. The former did not require a huge investment, but the latter made no sense at all. The V-2 demanded complex technological support; it was inordinately expensive; it used scarce resources; and its production overloaded the instrument and electrical-component industries. . . . After the war the US Strategic Bombing Survey estimated that the industrial effort and resources devoted to these weapons was roughly equivalent to that of the production of 24,000 fighter aircraft. A more recent analysis has calculated that the V-2 programme was roughly equivalent in proportional terms to the cost of the Manhattan project (the atomic bomb) in the United States – all in order to produce a one-way weapon that carried a ton of explosives and needed a target the size of the entire metropolitan area of London.” (pp. 180-182).

AFTERMATH

After the “great hail” of the aerial bombardment that laid waste so many of the cities of Europe during the Second World War, the post-war record adequately testifies to the abandonment of the belief of organising society on Godly principles. The Council of Europe, in a poster from circa 1990, thought it fit to symbolise the construction of the new Europe, by showing the image of the Tower of Babel being rebuilt. Based on the famous painting by the Flemish artist Breughel it ominously showed 11 of the 12 stars of the EU flag inverted. (The twelfth star's position was obscured by the structure of the 'Tower'). Christopher Story in The European Union Collective – Enemy of its Member States, writes: “The upside-down pentagram, often superimposed on a goat's head, is a commonly used symbol in occult and satanic rituals. The distorted circle of upside-down stars in the poster conveyed the subliminal message that the European Union is bound to and by a Force that is defiantly opposed to the Truth.” The wording of the poster was also in open defiance of God's judgement at Babel – it read: “Europe: Many tongues, one voice.”

Whilst doing some research on Duncan Sandys and flying saucers (see my first posting on this blog, Churchill, Sandys and flying saucers, from 31/08/2009) I happened to chance upon an interesting document, dating from just a few years after the close of the Second World War, that indicates that an anti-Christian zeitgeist was noted to be at work – by some of those at the very heart of the project to unite Europe – and was present within the movement from the laying of its initial foundations.

First a brief quote to give the historical setting:

“In summer 1948, Duncan Sandys, British Conservative MP and President of the International Committee for European Unity, gives an initial assessment of the Congress of Europe in The Hague and identifies the areas which are not entirely satisfactory.”

Now to quote the relevant part of Sandys' assessment:

“(c) the failure to recognise that our civilisation has broken down because our standards and values have been too low, and an unwillingness to recognise that we must draw fresh inspiration from those spiritual resources which we, each in our own way, consider adequate and valid.

Two disquieting consequences followed from this.

(i) the belief that all that is needed is to apply the same ideals, seek the same goal, and work the same machinery on a bigger scale, and all will be well.

(ii) an indifference and insensibility to Christian values and convictions. Here I speak with restrained but deep concern. The strain put upon some of us was heavy and at times almost unbearable. The to us almost blasphemous use of the 'Annunciation' and 'the Nativity' in the Report of the Political Commission was almost intolerable. In private I was informed that it was not the report of the Commission but a personal statement of M. Ramadier, but it was never publicly stated to be such. And this did not stand alone. In the Cultural Commission there was a definite resistance to the inclusion of the very word Christian, and the dialectics of the Chairman as to its use added to the tension under which some of us laboured.”

(Source: Archives historiques de l'Union européenne, Florence, Villa Il Poggiolo. Dépôts, DEP. Mouvement européen. ME 1183.)

Sandys was not alone in expressing these sentiments: the same year The Hague also witnessed the final debate on the United Nations Organisation's “Declaration of Human Rights”, at which the representative from the Netherlands gave the following speech – in which he addressed, what he thought was the document's major flaw and deficiency:

“I only want to stress one particular aspect which, to our great regret, has not obtained due recognition in this document. I am referring to the origin of these rights. The fact that man's rights and freedoms are based on his divine origin and immortal destiny. The fact that there is a Supreme Being who is the fount of these rights, increases their value and importance. To ignore this relation would mean the same thing as breaking a plant from its roots, or building a house and forgetting its foundations.” (Our rights as human beings – A discussion guide on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 3rd revision, United Nations Dept. of Public Information, New York., 1953).

A few years previous to his attendance at The Hague, whilst Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Supply, Sandys had been tasked with eliminating the V-1 and V-2 menaces – against which the full onslaught of Bomber Command was swiftly turned. A year after final victory had been achieved - in what was the twentieth century's second great global conflict, the British Daily Sketch ran a leading article in its 5th June 1946 edition, entitled, “To Whom is the Victory?”, and asked, “Are we a nation of infidels or 'an acceptable people in the sight of God'? Have we no gratitude in our hearts? No faith?” In answer to these pivotal questions, the following discourse was provided:

“It would seem as if uncertain answers would have to be given to each of these important questions.

“On Saturday next, June 8, 1946, this nation will celebrate, in the streets of London, its glorious victory over two great enemies. That dual triumph, whatever unbelievers may hold to the contrary, we believe to be due solely to the mercy of Almighty God. We believe that but for His Divine Intervention we should be fed with the bread of tears, biting the dust in humiliation and degradation. Defeat and all the sorrows that wait on the vanquished would have been our lot.

“Pick up your official programme. Search its twenty pages from end to end. You will find a single reference to God on its front page in the motto of the Kings of England – Dieu et mon droit.

“In the days of our trial, in the dark and terrifying years through which we had to pass, we felt it necessary to organize, throughout the land, twenty-six days and two whole weeks of urgent prayer. We filled our churches with congregations kneeling in genuine devotion and faith to the great Mediator and Advocate, imploring His forgiveness for their sins, pleading for help in our tribulation and the danger of others than ourselves. He answered our cry. Now that victory has come, we adorn our houses and streets with decorations, make the night brilliant with illuminations. . . . Could we not have spared two minutes for prayer to God?”

* * *

“And the cities of the nations fell . . . 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.”

(Revelation 16:19, 21).

* * *

Envoi

From Canon Wordworth's, Lectures on the Apocalypse (3rd edition; 1852) :

“What shall we think, when we see that some Nations of Christendom no longer promote the Religion of Christ? CHRIST Himself has declared, All Kings shall bow down before Me, all Nations shall do Me service; but many now venture to proclaim Religious Indifference as one of their principles of national Law. The political Equality of all Religions — this is their Shibboleth. All Creeds are to be treated as equally true — and therefore all Creeds may be regarded as equally false. They denounce all opposition to this impious principle as bigotry and intolerance! They vaunt and glory in this principle as if it were a noble privilege! And so they appear to be ready, and almost eager, to erase the cross of Christ from the forehead of Christendom, and to make it into a Pantheon!

“What, again, are the words of men, blending the holiest names with unholiest acts, making Christianity a watchword of Socialism and Communism, and using the Gospel itself as a lever to shake the World, and even, if it were possible, to subvert the throne of God?

“Are there not here some sounds of a gathering together of armies, some blasts of the trumpets of war, some unfurlings of hostile banners, some noise of chariots and trampling of horses rushing to the battle?

“In a word, is not the World at this hour on the eve of an Armageddon?

“Observe now what follows.

“The plague of the Frogs was the last effort of the magicians of Egypt. The going forth of the unclean spirits, like frogs, from the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, to gather their forces together against Christ, will, it is probable, be the final struggle of their united powers. Their confederacy will be routed in the mystical conflict of Armageddon.

“Then, says St. John, The Beast will be taken, and his False Prophet, that wrought miracles before him; . . . and these both will be cast alive into the lake of fire. But then the Dragon, or Satan, will remain; and he will no longer use any specious arts [the 1st edition of 1849 reads “any specious names”]; he will return to the form he wore in the first Seal, and will wage an open war with Heaven.

“His doom is also revealed. The Devil will be cast into the lake of fire, where the Beast and False Prophet are. Christ's victory will then be complete. The Kingdom of this World will become the KINGDOM of the LORD and of HIS CHRIST.” (pp. 413-414).

* * *

Amen

The best laid schemes of FROGS and men . . .

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

PROPHECY:

IN THE COURSE OF WHICH

ARE ELUCIDATED MANY PREDICTIONS, WHICH OCCUR

IN ISAIAH, OR DANIEL,

IN THE WRITINGS OF THE EVANGELISTS,

OR THE BOOK OF REVELATION;

And which are thought to foretell, among other Great Events,

A Revolution in France, favourable to the Interests of Mankind,

The Overthrow of the Papal Power, and of Ecclesiastical Tyranny,

The Downfal of Civil Despotism,

And the subsequent Melioration of the State of the World:

TOGETHER

WITH A LARGE COLLECTION OF

EXTRACTS,

INTERSPERSED THROUGH THE WORK, AND TAKEN FROM

NUMEROUS COMMENTATORS;

AND PARTICULARLY FROM

Joseph Mede, Vitringa, Dr. Thomas Goodwin, Dr. Henry More, Dr. John Owen, Dr. Cressener, Peter Jurieu, Brenius, Bishop Chandler, Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. William Lowth, Fleming, Bengelius, Daubuz, Whitby, Lowman, Bishop Newton, and Bishop Hurd.

VOL. I

LONDON.— M,DCC,XCVI.

[1796]

CHAPTER XVI.

ON THE GENERAL COURSE OF FUTURE EVENTS,

AND PARTICULARLY ON THE PREDICTION OF

THE WAR OF ARMAGEDDON.

'“In the ordinary wars which nations have waged,” says a recent writer*, “they have, perhaps, lost one hundred thousand lives, and slaughtered as many of their enemies; countries have been laid waste, and taxes incurred to the oppression of the industrious; but in other respects they may have sat down much as they were [. . .]” [* Mr. Bicheno in, The Signs of the Times, p. 42.]

'I now pass to a very remarkable prediction, already alluded to, which distinctly announces a military combination of divers European kings against the happiness of mankind. As the exact time is not marked out, it remains to be illustrated by the Event. It is plain, however, from its situation in ch. xvi. that it is to be accomplished during the period of the seven vials: It is plain, that the confederacy is to be planned and completed, and that the war is to be commenced, prosecuted, and concluded, whilst they are pouring out.

'But, previously to citing it, I shall allege one or two preliminary observations. The first, which is from Daubuz, there has before been occasion to cite. “Wherever the Beast and False Prophet are named, by the Beast must be understood the former with seven heads and ten horns; and by the False Prophet, the Beast with two horns.” Now it has been already seen, that the former of these is the representative of the antichristian princes who inhabit the Western part of the Roman empire; and that the latter is emblematic of the members of the antichristian priesthood. And if the Dragon be mentioned as joined with them in a great confederacy, it must signify such antichristian potentates, as have entered into the confederacy, but do not constitute a part of the proper ten-horned Beast. Such for instance may be the empress of Russia, the king of Prussia, and some of the princes of Germany, who reign over territories that lie out of the bounds of the Western Roman empire.

'St. John commences the passage by alluding to those partisans of the princes, who provoke the war, and employ themselves with activity in concerting the general alliance. It is as follows: and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth the False Prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto, or, as I think it ought rather to be translated, among the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. — And he gathered them together into a place, called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

'In the first of these verses, St. John has wrapped up his meaning under the cover of prophetic emblems. In the next, he changes his style; and employing phraseology for the most part plain and unfigured, proceeds to explain the reason, why he had described the emissaries as coming out of the mouth of the Dragon and the Beast. For, says he, they go forth among the kings of the earth and of the whole world. To these two verses a remark of bp. [Bishop] Newton is applicable. “It is customary with the prophets, after they have described a thing in the most symbolical and figurative diction, to represent the same again in plainer language.” This episode is introduced between the sixth and the seventh vials. With a reference to the expression, and I saw, Daubuz says, “This is a fresh vision that is, the vision of a fresh matter different from the former, and therefore hath this fresh mark of attention. The Holy Ghost has here followed the method observed before in those parts of the vision, which are distinguished by seven epochas: namely, to have an episode or parenthesis discovering some collateral and remarkable accidents, which seem not to follow the same kind of matters, and could not be so well placed elsewhere; and this is done constantly after the sixth epocha.” But there is another reason, more weighty than mere precedent, to account why this episode is placed just before the description of the seventh vial. Though the confederacy of princes which it announces may be supposed to exist during the effusion of the most early of the vials, and the war conducted by them may continue to be carried on while the six first are pouring out; there nevertheless appears to be a manifest propriety, why it should be inserted immediately before the seventh [vial], because it is descriptive of those great events, which are the foundation, and indeed the immediate cause, of the mighty Revolution foretold in the last of the vials.

'The persons spoken of in this episode are represented as coming out of the mouth of the Dragon, &c; and this, says Daubuz, is a symbol of decorum, because they are said to be spirits. Of the passage that follows from this author a part has before been cited. “The mouth,” he says, “is the organ of speech, and words in the sacred style are the same as commands and actions, because they imply the effects of the thoughts, — To come out of the mouth therefore signifies to be constituted and commanded; to become an agent or minister, under a superior power.” Accordingly those mentioned in the verse under consideration are, he adds, such agents, as execute the commands of those, “out of whose mouth they are said to come” Though they are, says Vitringa, a numerous body of men, they are spoken of as if they were only three, because the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, from whom they proceed, are three in number.

'Since the False Prophet is mentioned, it is plain, that the war of Armageddon shall be some war, which shall not only be distinguished by an extraordinary confederacy of princes, but which shall also meet with the marked approbation of the [Roman] ecclesiastical orders; a war, which the great body of priests, in the different hierarchies, shall be active to kindle, and zealous to promote. . . .' (pp. 289-293).

* * *

'The word Armageddon alludes, says Vitringa, to the Valley of Megiddo, which is mentioned in the book of Chronicles and in the prophecy of Zechariah. Indeed, says Lowman, Megiddo, being “famous in the history of God's people for several memorable slaughters, became a proverbial expression for a place of destruction and mourning.” The commentators accordingly observe, that it here signifies such a place; and Vitringa declares, that it without doubt points to some great plain situated in Europe, wherein the two parties are to be engaged together. The defeat at Armageddon, says this eminent commentator, will cause the mightiest changes, and draw after it the downfal of the antichristian empire, as is most clearly evident from the succeding prophecy. “The battle of Armageddon,” says Mede, “shall give an end to the antichristian sovereignty.” But it is not to a single engagement, but to a war, in which a succession of battles are to be fought, that the prediction of St. John probably refers; for the word translated battle signifies more properly a war, and it has been seen, that that other word, day, standing in connexion with it, is perfectly reconcileable with this notion. . . . Mr. Lowman [says] “Whoever the three unclean spirits are,— they seem plainly to intimate some powerful league or CONFEDERACY, by which the principal Popish Powers* [*from footnote: 'Who are the principal Popish Powers? Austria and Spain.'] shall be engaged with all their forces in some war, in which they shall be totally overthrown, and which shall end in their final destruction, as seems to be more fully expressed in the description of the seventh vial or last cup.” If Mr. Lowman apprehended, that these coalesced princes would be such only as profess popery, he would have found it a task of no small difficulty to have assigned any valid reason for drawing such a line of distinction. The expression, the kings of the earth, is general, and appears to be no farther restricted, than to the European quarter of the world. They go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, i.e. says Peganius, “of the whole Roman dominion, as we read of Augustus, that he taxed all the world, Luke 2. Among these are perhaps comprehended also those kings and princes, that heretofore were under the Roman jurisdiction, but have renounced the Romish religion: for certainly, amongst them also, all things are not so very well.”

'It is said in v. 16, and he gathered them, that is, says Mr. Cradock in his paraphrase, “God by his all wise providence permitted it so to be.” To the same purpose Mr. Brightman. “Whatsoever the kings of the earth aimed at, God's secret providence shall so guide and over-rule them, that whatsoever destruction they devise and intend to bring upon others, it should fall upon themselves.” It is worthy of remark, says Mr. Bicheno, “that these foul spirits are to go forth unto the kings of the earth, and not to the people,which seems to indicate that it, will be a war, in which kings will be more interested than mankind at large.” The prophet says of them, that “they are the spirits of devils working miracles. No one supposes these to be real miracles. This figurative language is used to set forth the impostures, lies, and frauds, with which they deceive men, and draw them into their destructive measures.”' (pp. 294-296).

* * *

'As the Psalmist says [Ps. cv. 30.], describing the plagues of Egypt, the land brought forth Frogs, even in their Kings' chambers. . . . Such is the Plague which St. John announces to the World in the Sixth Vial. He represents it as issuing from the mouth of the Dragon, – the Devil – and of the Beast, and of the False Prophet.'

(Canon Wordsworth, Lectures on the Apocalypse, Third Edition, 1852. p. 387).

* * *

'When we read in Revelation xvi. 13, 14, of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, as the prime agents in bringing about the final war of Armageddon, we cannot imagine three visible corporeal beings on earth, working to stir up the war by breathing frog-like spirits out of their mouths; but, consistently with the Historical method which we have followed, assigning a symbolical meaning to these strange symbolic figures which St. John saw again and again in his visions, we must understand that Satan, together with the Papal Power, and the body of the Romish Priesthood, the most complete organization in the world, will work by all the dark means which may then be at their disposal, in order to embroil the nations, as they have often done before . . .

'Some interesting information concerning the scheming ambition of the Papacy in the present [1898], and its power to embroil the nations in the future, is given in a remarkable article contributed to McClure's Magazine by M. de Blowitz, who from his experience and political insight is admitted to be an authority on such a matter. He Says : “To the Vatican flow innumerable missives from every corner of the world, and could I only tell some of them, it would seem how long still is the arm extending from the shadow of St. Peter's: how dreadful still are the lips that speak in the shade of the Vatican. I should show the Holy Father and his cardinals writing to the Emperor of Austria, directing him by counsel and advice, and sometimes almost by orders.”'

(From: Daniel and the Revelation: The Chart of Prophecy, and our place in it; A Study of the Historical and Futurist Interpretation, by Rev. Joseph Tanner, B.A.; Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1898. pp. 206-207, 215).

* * *

'“The day before, on 26 July [1914], Baron Ritter, Chargé d' Affaires of Bavaria at the Holy See, had written to his Government: “The Pope approves of Austria's harsh treatment of Serbia. He has no great opinion of the armies of Russia and France in the event of a war against Germany. The Cardinal Secretary of State does not see when Austria could make war if she does not decide to do so now.” [Author's Note: This despatch from Baron Ritter appears in, Bayerische Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch, III (Bavarian Documents on the Outbreak of War), p. 206.]

'“The authenticity of [this text] . . . has been acknowledged after many debates in the Catholic press . . .” notes Pierre Dominique [La politique des Jésuites, pp. 248 and 250]. “The key to the question maintains Count Sforza, along with a few others, was the necessity of converting Francis Joseph to the idea of war. The opinions of the Pope and his minister were certainly the most likely to influence him. Hence the [latter] despatch of [July 29, from] Count Palffy. . . .”'

(Edmond Paris, The Vatican Against Europe. First Published France 1959; First English Edition 1961; Reprinted 1993 by The Wickliffe Press, p. 47).

* * *

Envoi

'Lateran Treaty. A treaty concluded between the Holy See and the kingdom of Italy in 1929, establishing as sovereign the Vatican City State, thus ending the “Roman Question” began in 1870 when the temporal power of the papacy was finally abrogated and Rome became the capital of the Italian kingdom.'

'Lateran. The ancient palace of the Laterani family, which was appropriated by Nero (AD 66) and later given to Pope Sylvester I (reigned 314-335) by the Emperor Constantine. It remained the official residence of the popes until the departure to Avignon in 1309. The present palace is now a museum. Legend derives the name from Latin latere, “to hide”, and rana, “frog”, and accounts for it by saying that Nero once vomited a frog covered with blood, which he believed to be his own progeny and so hid in a vault. The palace built on its site was called the “Lateran”, or palace of the hidden frog.'

(From: Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable; Fifteenth Edition (paperback), 1997; pp. 615-616).

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs . . .

(Rev 16:13)