Turkey in Prophecy by Percy T. Magan

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 30, 1909

Turkey in Prophecy

By Percy T. Magan

PERCY T. MAGAN

The Great Sign Plague

In our last article we studied the seven last plagues, with the exception of the sixth. Bible proof was given that each of these, considered by itself, comes without giving any warning of its approach. It was also shown that each and every one of these plagues is an “act of God”—wholly an operation of God, unaided by human agency. Concerning the sixth plague, the record says:—

“And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are spirits of devils, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.” See Rev. 16: 12-16, R. V.

First let it be noted that this plague is entirely different in nature and character from the five which precede it, and the seventh, which follows it. Whereas all of those are acts of God, administered without the use of any human instrumentalities, this one, while a judgment of God, is in a large degree the act of men,—of kings and their armies. It involves action upon the part of “the kings of the East,” and of “the kings of the earth,” and of the kings “of the whole world.”

Under this plague all of these and their military forces are to be gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

These kings and their armies are to come from the north, and the south, and the east, and the west. Briton and German, American, Japanese, and Chinese are all to be there. From one end of earth to the other is to be a tremendous movement of troops and munitions and ordnance of war. There is to be a battle royal, in which all the kings of the earth are to take part. The agencies which gather all of these to this great battle, are said to be three unclean spirits, which possess the power of working miracles.

Now the lining up of nations for battle; the grouping of world powers for war; the preparation of stores, ammunition, and artillery for world-shaking battle, all take time. Political and diplomatic events and misunderstandings of one kind and another must take place, and these can not occur in a moment. Circumstances must be generated on account of commercial or territorial reasons, which result in national suspicions and frictions. These take months and years to develop.

This, therefore, is the only one of the plagues which is not, in the legal sense, “an act of God.” It is a judgment of God; but it is a visitation, or calamity, in which human instrumentalities and human agencies act a part. And in this particular it differs altogether from the rest of the plagues.

Consequently this plague is the only one which can be seen in the making. It alone can be observed shaping up. It is the only one that men can watch in the course of preparation.

Therefore the sixth plague is the great “sign” plague, to give warning, not only of itself, but of all the plagues; for when men see this plague in the making, they must know that not only is the pouring out of it near at hand, but that the five others which precede it are nearer still. This world-wide war and strife which culminates in the battle of Armageddon, is the sixth plague in order. The plague of the “noisome and grievous sore,” of the turning of the sea into “the blood of a dead man;” of the transforming of the rivers and fountains of water into “blood;” of the scorching of men with great heat by the sun; and of darkness upon a certain portion of the earth,—these, one and all, fall prior to the pouring out of the sixth.

Now into the very heart of the record of the sixth plague is injected a notable verse, the fifteenth: “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” This scripture would appear at first sight to be out of its proper place. But let it be noted that the verse is in parentheses in the Revised Version, and in most versions aside from the King James Version. Let it be noted that there is no verse of similar import anywhere in the record of the other plagues. There is not a line of like character to be found in any of them. Now why is this verse thrown into the bosom of the story of the sixth plague? It begins with the word “Behold,” which is a command, not only to look, but to watch, and to watch intently. It signifies an order to gaze steadfastly at a thing, and to study it earnestly.

This verse calls upon men to watch. We are to watch the garments of our characters, and especially and particularly are we to watch this sixth plague. We are to behold it, and to watch and observe its progress, and as we see it approaching, prepare our souls for the great day of God, which it ushers in. This is the only plague the coming of which men can watch. And that is why this fifteenth verse is embedded in the heart of its story.

For the time being, then, the sixth plague is the all-important one to watch and study and understand. In the ultimate, this plague is a war—“the war of the great day of God.” See Rev. 16: 14, R. V. “The kings that come from the sunrising,” and the kings “of the earth,” and of “the whole world” are involved in it. What more striking sign of the second coming of Christ could God give than this? War, perhaps more than anything else, attracts the interest and fastens the attention of all mankind. And universal war, in the very nature of events, is the thing of all others in which all mankind are interested. It affects more than any other earthly condition, the necessities of life, the commerce, the wealth, the homes, and all the most sacred ties of the human family.

The scenes of this plague close with the great battle of Armageddon, or the battle of the great day of God Almighty.

Let us now begin to examine the scripture which describes this plague, and learn what we can relative to the events which are there outlined, and which lead up to the last great battle of the great day of God Almighty. In the international events of to-day we shall distinguish the things portrayed in the story of the plague. Great race questions are now pending. Are these the things prophesied? Are events now taking place which will prepare the way for “the kings of the East,”—the kings that come from the sunrising?

Here are the opening words of the plague: “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared.” See Rev. 16: 12.

The Euphrates is the largest river in Western Asia. It rises in Armenia. Armenia is now and has been ever since the sixteenth century, a part of the Turkish empire. This river is first mentioned in the Bible in Gen. 2: 14. It is one of the four streams mentioned in connection with the garden of Eden. The Hebrew word rendered Euphrates literally means “to break forth.” And it may be of passing interest to note that it was in the vicinity of this body of water that our first parents fell, when the long night of sin and sorrow first broke forth and had its beginning. And it would appear from the prophecy that in the Turkish territory, where the Euphrates rises, and through which for many a mile her waters flow, the long night of earth’s history is destined to come to an end forever, at the great battle of Armageddon.

Madison, Tenn.