Thoughts on Daniel by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 15, 1882

Thoughts on Daniel.

By Uriah Smith

BY ELDER U. SMITH.

CHAPTER XI.—A LITERAL PROPHECY.

VERSE 41. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

The facts just stated relative to the campaign of the French against Turkey, and the repulse of the former at St. Jean d'Acre, were drawn chiefly from the Encyclopedia Americana. From the same source, we gather further particulars respecting the retreat of the French into Egypt, and the additional reverses which compelled them to evacuate that country.

Abandoning a campaign in which one-third of the army had fallen victims to war and the plague, the French retired from St. Jean d'Acre, and after a fatiguing march of twenty-six days, re-entered Cairo in Egypt. They thus abandoned all the conquests they had made in Judea; and the "glorious land," Palestine, with all its provinces, here called "countries," fell back again under the oppressive rule of the Turk. Edom, Moab, and Ammon, lying outside the limits of Palestine, south and east of the Dead Sea and Jordan, were out of the line of March of the Turks from Syria to Egypt, and so escaped the ravages of that campaign. On this passage, Adam Clarke has the following note: "These and other Arabians, they [the Turks] have never been able to subdue. They still occupy the deserts, and receive a yearly pension of forty thousand crowns of gold from the Ottoman emperors, to permit the caravans with the pilgrims for Mecca to have a free passage."

VERSE 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

On the retreat of the French to Egypt, a Turkish fleet landed 18,000 men at Aboukir. Napoleon immediately attacked the place, completely routing the Turks, and re-establishing his authority in Egypt. But at this point, severe reverses to the French arms in Europe called Napoleon home to look after the interests of his own country. The command of the troops in Egypt was left with Gen. Kleber, who, after a period of untiring activity for the benefit of the army, was murdered by a Turk, in Cairo, and the command was left with Abdallah Menou. With an army which could not be recruited, every loss was serious.

Meantime, the English Government, as the ally of the Turks, had resolved to wrest Egypt from the French. March 13, 1800, an English fleet disembarked a body of troops at Aboukir. The French gave battle the next day, but were forced to retire. On the 18th, Aboukir surrendered. On the 28th, reinforcements were brought by a Turkish fleet, and the Grand Vizier approached from Syria with a large army. The 19th, Rosetta surrendered to the combined forces of the English and Turks. At Ramanieh, a French corps of 4,000 men was defeated by 8,000 English and 6,000 Turks. At Elmenayer, 5,000 French were obliged to retreat, May 16, by the Vizier, who was pressing forward to Cairo with 20,000 men. The whole French army was now shut up in Cairo and Alexandria. Cairo capitulated June 27, and Alexandria, Sept. 2. Four weeks after, Oct. 1, 1801, the preliminaries of peace were signed at London.

"Egypt shall not escape," were the words of the prophecy. This language seems to imply that Egypt would be brought into subjection to some power from whose dominion it would desire to be released. As between the French and Turks, how did this question stand with the Egyptians? They preferred French rule. In R. R. Madden's Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Turkey, and Palestine, in the years 1824-27, published in London in 1829, it is stated that the French were much regretted by the Egyptians, and extolled as benefactors; that "for the short period they remained, they left traces of amelioration," and that, if they could have established their power, Egypt would now be comparatively civilized. In view of this testimony, the language would not be appropriate if applied to the French; for the Egyptians did not desire to escape out of their hands. They did desire to escape from the hands of the Turks, but could not.

VERSE 43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

In illustration of this verse we quote the following from "Historic Echoes of the Voice of God," p. 49.

"History gives the following facts: When the French were driven out of Egypt, and the Turks took possession, the Sultan permitted the Egyptians to reorganize their government as it was before the French invasion. He asked of the Egyptians neither soldiers, guns, nor fortifications, but left them to manage their own affairs independently, with the important exception of putting the nation under tribute to himself. In the articles of agreement between the Sultan and the Pasha of Egypt, it was stipulated that the Egyptians should pay annually to the Turkish Government a certain amount of gold and silver, and 'six hundred thousand measures of corn, and four hundred thousand of barley.'"

"The Libyans and the Ethiopians," the "Cushim," says Dr. Clarke, "the unconquered Arabs," who have sought the friendship of the Turks, and many of whom are tributary to them to the present time.

VERSE 44. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

On this verse, also, Dr. Clarke has a note which is worthy of mention. He says: "This part of the prophecy is allowed to be yet unfulfilled." His note was printed in 1825. In another portion of his comment, he says: "If the Turkish power be understood, as in the preceding verses, it may mean that the Persians on the east, and the Russians on the north, will at some time greatly embarrass the Ottoman government."

Between this conjecture of Dr. Clarke's, written in 1825, and the Crimean war of 1853 to 1856, there is certainly a striking co-incidence, inasmuch as the very powers he mentions, the Persians on the east and the Russians on the north, were the ones which instigated that conflict. Tidings from these powers troubled him [Turkey]. Their attitude and movements incited the Sultan to anger and revenge. Russia being the more aggressive party was the object of attack. Turkey declared war on her powerful northern neighbor in 1853. The world looked on in amazement to see a government which had long been called "the Sick Man of the East," a government whose army was dispirited and demoralized, whose treasuries were empty, whose rulers were vile and imbecile, and whose subjects were rebellious and threatening secession, rush with such impetuosity into the conflict. The prophecy said that they should go forth with "great fury"; and when they thus went forth, the profane vernacular of an American writer described them as fighting "like devils." England and France, it is true, soon came to the help of Turkey; but she went forth in the manner described, and, as is reported, gained victory after victory, before receiving the assistance of these powers.

VERSE 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

We have now traced the prophecy of the 11th of Daniel down, step by step, and have thus far found events to fulfill all its predictions. It has all been wrought out into history except this last verse. The predictions of the preceding verse having been fulfilled within the memory of the generation now living, we are carried by this one past our own day into the future; for no power has yet performed the acts here described. But it is to be fulfilled; and its fulfillment must be accomplished by that power which has been continuously the subject of the prophecy from the 40th verse down to this 45th verse. If the application to which we have given the preference, in passing over these verses, is correct, we must look to Turkey to make the move here indicated.

And let it here be noted how readily this could be done. Palestine, which contains the "glorious holy mountain," the mountain on which Jerusalem stands, "between the seas," the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, is a Turkish province; and if the Turk should be obliged to retire hastily from Europe, he could easily go to any point within his own dominions, to establish his temporary headquarters, appropriately described as the tabernacles, movable dwellings, of his palace; but he could not go beyond them. The most notable point within the limit of Turkey in Asia, is Jerusalem.

And mark, also, how applicable the language to that power: "He shall come to his end, and none shall help him." This plainly implies that this power has previously received help. And what are the facts? In the war against France in 1798-1801, in the war between Turkey and Egypt in 1838-1840, in the Crimean war in 1853-56, and in the late Russo-Turkish war, Turkey received the assistance of other powers, without which she would probably have failed to maintain her position. And it is a notorious fact that since the fall of the Ottoman supremacy in 1840, that empire has existed only through the sufferance of the great powers of Europe. Without their pledged support, she would not be long able to maintain even a nominal existence, and when that is withdrawn, she must come to the ground. So the prophecy says the king comes to his end, and none help him; and he comes to his end, as we may naturally infer, because none help him; because the support previously rendered is withdrawn.

Have we any indications that this part of the prophecy is soon to be fulfilled? As we raise this inquiry, we look not to dim and distant ages in the past, whose events, so long ago transferred to the page of history, now interest only the few, but to the present, living, moving world. Are the nations which are now on the stage of action, with their disciplined armies and their multiplied weapons of war, making any movement looking to this end?

All eyes are now turned with interest toward Turkey; and the unanimous opinion of statesmen is, that the Turk is destined soon to be driven from Europe. Some years since, a correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune, writing from the East, said: "Russia is arming to the teeth, . . . to be avenged on Turkey. . . . Two campaigns of the Russian army will drive the Turks out of Europe." Carleton, formerly a correspondent of the Boston Journal, writing from Paris, under the head of "The Eastern Question," said:—

"The theme of conversation during the last week has not been concerning the Exposition, but the 'Eastern Question.' To what will it grow? Will there be war? What is Russia going to do? What position are the Western powers going to take? These are questions discussed not only in the cafes, and restaurants, but in the Corps Legislatif. Perhaps I cannot render better service at the present time than to group together some facts in regard to this question, which, according to present indications, is to engage the immediate attention of the world. What is 'Eastern Question'? It is not easy to give a definition; for to Russia it may mean one thing, to France another, and to Austria still another; but sifted of every side issue, it may be reduced to this: the DRIVING OF THE TURK INTO ASIA, and a scramble for his territory."

Again he says:—

"Surely the indications are that the Sultan is destined soon to see the western border of his dominions break off, piece by piece. But what will follow? Are Roumania, Servia, Bosnia, and Albania, to set up as an independent sovereignty together, and take position among the nations? or is there to be a grand rush for the estate of the Ottoman? But that is of the future—a future not far distant."

Shortly after the foregoing extracts were written, an astonishing revolution took place in Europe. France, one of the parties, if not the chief one, in the alliance to uphold the Ottoman throne, was crushed by Prussia. Prussia, another party, was too much in sympathy with Russia to interfere with her movements against the Turk. England, a third, in an embarrassed condition financially, could not think of entering into any contest in behalf of Turkey, without the alliance of France. Austria had not recovered from the blow she received in her late war with Prussia; and Italy was busy with the matter of stripping the pope of his temporal power, and making Rome the capital of the nation. A writer in the N. Y. Tribune remarked that if Turkey should become involved in difficulty with Russia, she could count on the prompt "assistance of Austria, France, and England." But none of these powers, or any others who would be likely to assist Turkey, were in any condition to do so, owing principally to the sudden and unexpected humiliation of the French nation.

Russia then saw that her opportunity had come. She accordingly startled all the powers of Europe in the fall of the same memorable year, 1870, by stepping forth and deliberately announcing that she designed to regard no longer the stipulations of the treaty of 1856. This treaty, concluded at the termination of the Crimean war, restricted the warlike operations of Russia in the Black Sea. But Russia must have the privilege of using those waters for military purposes, if she would carry out her designs against Turkey; hence her determination to disregard that treaty right at the time when none of the powers were in a condition to enforce it.