The Coming Universal War by F. L. Richardson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 25, 1907

The Coming Universal War

By F. L. Richardson

The Eastern Question—No. 3

The Coming Universal War

F. L. RICHARDSON

PREPARATIONS for war among all the nations have made such mighty strides that it can almost be said that the world is one vast military camp. The war spirit seems to be in the very air. From the crowned head down to the tramp we hear the cry of war, war. Even ministers of the gospel are advocating the deadly conflict from their pulpits. Furnaces and machine shops are running day and night, and thousands of busy hands are fashioning the most murderous implements of warfare.

Some are asking, with deep concern, What do these things mean? and what is going to be the outcome of these conditions? The answer comes, It is the preparation for the final conflict that is to take place just before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come.

That there will be a great, decisive battle just before the second coming of Christ and the end of the world, in which all nations will be engaged, is plainly foretold in the prophetic word; also the place where it will be fought: “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. . . . Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. . . . Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: . . . for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3: 1, 2, 9, 10, 12-14.

Here it is plainly stated that the armies of all nations will be gathered at Jerusalem when the day of the Lord is near. The Russians will be one of the leading nations in the conflict. We read: “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God, . . . Thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army; . . . it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.” Eze. 38: 14-16. They (the Russians) are already making preparations for the mighty conflict.

It will evidently be a religious war; for we read: “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [paganism], and out of the mouth of the beast [the papacy], and out of the mouth of the false prophet [Protestantism]. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Rev. 16: 13-16.

From the above we learn that the various religious bodies having a form of godliness, but in reality controlled by the spirit of Satan, go forth unto the kings of the earth and influence them to send their armies against Palestine, to recover that coveted land—the burial-place of the kings and the prophets.

The prophet also informs us that these various religious bodies will unite under the leadership of the papacy. Rev. 13: 3, 8. “And all the world wondered after the beast. . . . And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

From the early centuries of the Christian era, the Roman Catholic Church has sought to control the world. “All the inhabitants of the earth belong to her,” said Julian; and Claudian declared her to be “the fountain of laws.” “If Rome is the queen of cities, why should not her pastor be the king of bishops?” was the reasoning the Roman pastors adopted. “Why should not the Roman Church be the mother of Christendom? Why should not all nations be her children, and her authority their sovereign law?” (See History of the Reformation.)

The papacy did rise, and for many years kings and princes were submissive to the decrees of the pope. His will was virtually sovereign law. In A. D. 1798 he was taken prisoner by Berthier at the head of the French army, and lost that temporal power, and it has not yet been

restored to him; but the prophet said the deadly wound should be healed, and all the world should wonder after him; and we have reached the time when the attention of the world is being drawn to the pope. The statesmen are talking of making him the arbiter of the nations. Protestants are fast dropping their differences, and advocating union with the mother church. The pope has invited the Greek Catholic (Russian) Church to return to the fold, granting liberty to their priests to marry; but we will let the Catholics themselves tell the story, as given in the Ave Maria, a Catholic magazine published in Notre Dame, Ind.:—

“It is an incontestable fact that while other religious societies are fast losing their vitality, and fast lapsing into an indifference which must soon lead to infidelity, the Catholic Church has imbibed new life, and is making rapid progress all over the world. Since the beginning of the century the church has made giant strides among the people of the future,—the Anglo-Saxon race. Not only has it made itself acknowledged in North America and Australia, but in England itself its progress has excited the greatest alarm among the most vigilant sentinels of Anglicanism. Once more from the far East the murmur of supplicating voices is heard turned toward Rome. Regardless of old tyrannies and traditions, they turn a deaf ear to the thunders of the Muscovite Caesar. Even the Lutherans, obstinate as they have always been, are drifting toward Rome; and at this acceptable time, in this day of salvation, the scattered lines of Protestantism are all turning to the grand highway of the Vatican.”

Thus we see that the world is rapidly falling into line under the leadership of the papacy. But, says one, if all the world is wondering after the beast, where will the opposing army come from at the great battle of Armageddon? It would seem that “all the world” in John's vision was the territory occupied by the dragon (pagan Rome), the beast (the papacy), and the false prophet (Protestantism). Rev. 16:13. Then if we can find outside of that territory an opposing power, the prophecy would be complete. And we do find just such a power, in the great Mohammedan world, with the sultan of Turkey at its head. And the following ominous words from a Turkish editor, in the Vakit, published in Constantinople, Turkey, are startling evidence that they understand, and are already preparing for the mighty struggle:—

“We shall do our utmost in order to keep England's support; but at last if we do not succeed in it, then it is very easy to know what we have to do. When Europe will not look at us, then we shall lay aside all the European customs which we have lately adopted, and shall enter on our old way; from the boy of thirteen years to the old man of seventy-five, every one of us will be armed, and we shall defend by the aid of God, and by the daring of the old days, the country we have held for five hundred years. And if the issue should come to this, as Islamism is not limited to Turkey, then we will blend all the different Moslem races into one. The Moslems of India, of Central Asia, of the Caucasus, of Africa, and of Algeria will come forward, and we shall again take measures which we adopted once for the conquest of Jerusalem. We shall send proclamations everywhere, and declare a general war against the whole world. . . . If the Moslems rise to defend their sacred religion, and if the treasure accumulated every year at Mecca is disposed of for the protection of the Mohammedan faith, then the scenes of the ancient European wars, where the Moslems were both victorious and destructive, will be repeated, and will destroy the progress and civilization of an entire century.”

Another writer says: “Is it not true to-day that what all the nations of Europe, nay, of the whole earth, most dread is the proclamation by this same terrible Turk of a holy war?”

Also consider the following, written by a Turk in the Cape Times published at Cape Town, South Africa: “One after another events have occurred during the past few years that have aroused hostility to England and the English in all parts of India and the East, especially among the Moslem peoples. Europeans generally have no idea whatever of the influence those Turkish victories in Greece have had throughout Islam. They have awakened hopes and aspirations that have long been dormant, and have given a wholly new direction to Moslem thought. . . . There is one thought more to which I would refer—the growing tendency of the Hindu and Mohammedan peoples of India to combine and co-operate.”

Again we quote from the REVIEW AND HERALD: “Sheik Abdul Hagk, of Bagdad, who is the head of a ‘Holy Islamic League,’ an organization embracing all nations in its scope, and designed to guard and foster Mohammedan interests in general, has issued a document addressed to the Christian people of the world, which is in the nature of a Mohammedan declaration of war on Christianity. It bears the title, ‘Islam's Last Word to Europe.’ We quote a few characteristic statements from an English translation made for the Literary Digest:—

“Christian peoples! it is time we should be heard. The hatred entertained by the people of Islam for Christianity is irreconcilable. After centuries of hard work spent in the attempt to make us friendly toward you, the only result has been that we now despise you more than was ever the case in the annals of history. . . . The whole structure of the Mohammedan faith is based on the doctrine of the unity of the one god, who is absolute, without limitations or restrictions, eternal, who has never been begotten, and who has begotten none other. This article of our faith is in direct opposition to Christian teaching. Throughout this article the Christian dogma of a trinity becomes the sworn enemy of the god of Islam. The absolute hostility of these two fundamental doctrines is a cruel trial to the patience of every Mohammedan. . . . To this we must add a second indisputable point: between our faith and yours there is an impassable and eternal gulf fixed, on account of your concept of the divinity of Christ. . . . Then, too, we have not forgotten the Crusades. These are being continued in a hundred accursed forms even now. You have contended against us and humiliated us with all your power. You have forced back the boundaries of Islam in all corners of the globe; but what is left of the Mohammedan nations you are seeking to disintegrate through your diplomats and your missionaries. Your scheme has been systematically devised. You make no secret of your intentions to annihilate Islam. Instead of excusing yourselves for your aggressive and hostile policy, you boldly declare that we are rebels against your civilization. Yes, we are rebels, and will remain rebels until death. . . .”

“Ye Christian conquerors, know well that no skill or science, no money or treasure, no miracles, will ever reconcile us to such a godless supremacy. Know ye that the very sight of your flags flying in our land is a torment for the soul of a Moslem. . . . We know that we are three hundred million strong: we have needed organization and concentration, and you have forced us to take these steps. Islamic unity is now becoming a reality from one end of the earth to the other, and a holy zeal is uniting us, and driving us to our inevitable destiny. We do not fear your threats or your arms. What do we care for the things of this world? Victory or defeat are in the hands of god alone. It is our duty to die rightly, and the world has learned during the past thirteen centuries that the Moslem knows how to die.”

Dear reader, are not the foregoing evidences sufficient to convince any candid mind that the preparations for the battle of the great day of God Almighty are fast, being completed, and that in a short time the clash of arms will be heard in the Holy Land? What a battle that will be! Two colossal armies, inspired with the most deadly hatred for each other (for there is no more cruel or bloodthirsty hatred than that inspired by false doctrine), contending for their religion, urged on by their fanatical priests, the restraining power of God withdrawn, and with the terrible death-dealing instruments of warfare of the present day in their hands, the loss of life will be appalling. The Turk will be wiped out. “He shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” Then Jesus himself will suddenly appear, followed by the armies of heaven, and the remnant (the rest of the wicked) will be “slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth.” Rev. 19:11-21. Then will be heard that clarion voice ringing through the vaulted arches of heaven, calling together the faithful ones to accompany him to that home of bliss where the clash of arms will be heard no more.