A. G. DANIELLS by Arthur G. Daniells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 24, 1913

A. G. DANIELLS

By Arthur G. Daniells

Does the History of Turkey and Egypt Since 1798 Fulfil the Prophecy of Dan. 11:40-44? — No. 14

A. G. DANIELLS

We have now traced as fully as our space will permit the history of the French invasion of Egypt and Turkey. In response to requests from a number who desired the historical data for use, the quotations from history have been more numerous and lengthy than would have been necessary for the elucidation of the prophecy.

This history, we believe, fulfils the predictions of Dan. 11:40. Before proceeding with the study of the remainder of this prophecy and the events it foretells, we should pause long enough to put together the simple statements of the prophet in verse 40, and the plain undeniable facts of history that have been given in these studies. The prophecy says:—

“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” Dan. 11:40.

We shall consider the details of this statement in the order in which they are given:—

1. A definite, specific time is given when the events here foretold were to take place—“at the time of the end.” The time of the end began in the year 1798 when the supremacy of the Papacy was broken. In that very year, war was begun between the king of the south, the king of the north, and France. On May 19, 1798, a fleet of four hundred ships carrying 40,000 French troops sailed from France for the purpose of invading and conquering Egypt and Turkey. And before the year closed, both Egypt and Turkey were at war with France. No specification of prophecy was ever more exactly fulfilled. When the “time of the end” began, the conflicts began.

2. The king of the south shall “push at him.” Egypt is the king of the south. At the time of the end, the power ruling Egypt was to push at, contend with, and resist another power. This was done. On the night of July 1, 1798, the French army landed in Egypt near Alexandria, and the next day opened fire on the city. The innocent, surprised, and unprepared citizens offered the best resistance possible under the circumstances, but they lost in the struggle and Alexandria passed into the possession of France.

On the seventh of July, the French army left Alexandria for Cairo, the capital. The Mamelukes, who ruled Egypt, were apprised of this, and prepared to give battle. Twelve thousand horsemen and over twenty thousand foot assembled on the banks of the Nile between Cairo and the pyramids, and bravely met the French troops. Their charges were furious and desperate. “Nothing,” says Abbott, “was ever seen in war more furious than this charge.” They “displayed superhuman bravery.”

The word push is defined by Webster as meaning “to make a thrust; as, to push with the horns or with a sword. To make an attack. A forcible onset; a vigorous effort.” The American Standard Revised translation gives the word “contend” instead of “push;” and contend is defined as, “to strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute.”

Surely all this was done by Egypt, the “king of the south,” against France. The prophecy does not foretell the outcome—whether the king of the south was to triumph or suffer defeat. It simply states that the king of the south would offer resistance, and the prophecy was fulfilled.

3. “And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and horsemen, and with many ships.” This part of the prophecy introduces the “king of the north,” who, at that time, was the Turkish Empire. The prophecy inseparably connects Egypt and Turkey in this conflict, and history inseparably connects Egypt and Turkey in the French invasion of 1798. The Mamelukes were defeated at the Battle of the Pyramids, July 21, 1798, and the next day Cairo, the capital of Egypt, was taken by the French. On learning of this, Turkey declared war against France, September 4, and began at once to assemble two armies, one of 30,000, at Damascus, to march overland to Egypt, and the other of 30,000, at Rhodes, to be transported by the fleet to Alexandria. At the same time Turkey formed naval alliances with Russia and England by which she secured “help.”

On hearing of these designs and preparations of Turkey, Napoleon decided to hasten his invasion of Turkey, and on the ninth of February, 1799, he began his march from Cairo to Syria. His purpose and his fullest expectation was to defeat the Turks, as he had the Egyptians, and add Turkey to his new territory.

The small, poorly fortified towns along his march were easily taken, but at Saint Jean d’Acre he met with a surprise. The garrison did not surrender nor flee at the first attack, nor the second, nor the third. Here he met not only a furious resistance, as in the engagement with the Mamelukes, but a resolute, unyielding, and effective resistance. In the conflict between these powers, and the outcome, we have every specification of verse 40 regarding the king of the north most accurately fulfilled.

Note the exact language of the prophecy: “The king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” Segregating the points here mentioned, they are as follows:—

(a) “Come against him like a whirlwind.” Wind and whirlwind, when used as a symbol in prophecy represent strife, war, bloodshed. Dan. 7:2; Jer. 25:31-33; 2 Kings 7:6, 7. In this conflict Turkey was to make more than a frantic dash at her enemy. She was to plunge into war,—resolute, prolonged, bloody war. Turkey did this. She made every preparation for well-sustained, destructive battle with her powerful enemy. And the horrors of the different engagements may well be represented by the devastating whirlwind.

(b) “With chariots, and with horsemen.” While the garrison in Saint Jean d’Acre was offering a stubborn and successful resistance to the French troops, Turkey was gathering a great army in the eastern part of Syria to give battle. Note the description of this army as given by the historians we have quoted: “An enormous army . . . congregated to rush, with resistless numbers, upon their bold antagonist.”—Abbott. “An innumerable horde of irregular cavalry formed a vast army, . . . and threatened soon to envelop the besieging force.”—Alison. “A great Turkish army . . . of about 30,000 troops, twelve thousand of whom were the fiercest and best-trained horsemen in the world.” “Twelve thousand horsemen . . . mounted on the fleetest Arabian chariots . . . like the sweep of the wind, came rushing down upon them [French army].”—Abbott.

The very words of the prophet are used by the historians to describe the forces which Turkey brought against the French. The fact that this great army was defeated in its direct engagement with the enemy, is no objection whatever against the claim that it fulfils the prophecy. That great army of horsemen weakened and delayed the French attacks against Acre until the “ships” of the prophecy brought the reenforcements which in the end gave Turkey, the king of the north, the victory foretold in the prophecy.

(c) “With many ships.” While the French were making one desperate, destructive attack after another upon Acre, a Turkish fleet of thirty ships brought 12,000 troops to the help of the defenders of the town. The arrival of this fleet decided the fortunes of the contending forces. It brought victory to Turkey and defeat to Napoleon and his hitherto unconquered forces.

Through all this terrible struggle between these three powers, most effective and victorious service was rendered Turkey by the “many ships” that took part in the conflict. The ships of the Russian and British fleets joined the Turkish fleet to crush the French, and they succeeded.

In the last verse of this prophecy we are told that the king of the north “shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” From this it may reasonably be inferred that this power had been kept from coming to an end by help from others. This has been true of Turkey ever since the French invasion of 1798. At that time, and ever since, with the exception of the present Balkan war, some of the powers have helped Turkey in her conflicts.

Thus it makes no difference whether the “many ships” that came against France all belonged to the Turkish fleet or not. They were all used in Turkey’s behalf, and they achieved their purpose.

(d) “He shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.”

This statement forecasts the outcome of the struggle. The king of the north was to come out the victor, and thus it was. Napoleon and his invincible and always victorious forces invaded Turkey with the fullest expectation of taking the empire. They had never known defeat, and surely Turkey would go down as Egypt, Italy, and Switzerland had under their terrible onslaughts.

But Turkey did not go down. The prophet had predicted her triumph, and the prediction was fully met. The defeat of the French was a surprise to all Europe, and ever remained a mystery to Napoleon, that great man of war who had never before met with a reverse. Lanfrey says that—

“many times during the deadly delays of this fatal siege, in which he experienced his first check, he was heard to inveigh against this miserable little hole which came between him and his destiny. And many times later, when dwelling on the vicissitudes of his past life, and the different chances which had been open to him, he repeated that if Saint Jean d’Acre had fallen, he would have changed the face of the world, and been emperor of the East. And he generally added that it was a grain of sand that had undone all his projects.”—“History of Napoleon,” by Lanfrey, Vol. I, pages 295, 296.

But it was more than the miserable sand-hill of Acre that decided the issues of that conflict. The mighty hand of Providence controlled affairs. The time had not come for the king of the north to come to his end, which would have been the result if the colossal designs of Napoleon had been carried out.

This explains why everything in connection with the invasion of Turkey seemed to conspire against the invader. It explains the mystery of the defeat of the French where and when it was not looked for even by the victors themselves. It was the fulfilment of the unfailing word of prophecy.

We shall now trace very briefly the history that fulfils the remainder of the prophecy.