THE WAY IT SEEMS TO ME
By M. L. Leach
In the dim shadows of the gathering war clouds, the later events in the line of prophecy loom up in huge proportions, while those that come before are lost sight of or sink into comparative insignificance. We look for the great battle in which the kings of the East are to take a conspicuous part, forgetting that the way of the kings of the East will not be prepared till after certain other events, prophesied of as coming first, have actually occurred. The destruction of the Turkish Empire will prepare the way of the kings of the East. The destruction of this empire will be accomplished by the pouring out of the sixth vial of wrath. This vial will be poured out in its order, after the first five. The first one has not yet been poured out, and will not be until the Image of the Beast is fully developed. Whether the prophecies of the events already mentioned are literal or symbolical, or partly literal and partly symbolical, makes practically no difference as to our knowledge of their fulfillment. When the Image of the Beast has reached the acme of its power to persecute, we shall know it. When the first vial of wrath is poured out, and there falls a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who have the mark of the Beast and his Image, we shall know it. We shall recognize, without any uncertainty, each vial of wrath, as it follows in order. When the fifth angel pours out his vial upon the seat of the Beast, and his kingdom becomes full of darkness, and the people gnaw their tongues for pain, and blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, the saints will not be left in doubt about it. Then, and not till then, we may look for the wiping out of the Turkish Empire. The war clouds may thicken; there may be actual war in many parts of the earth; but the angels will still hold the four winds. The events of prophecy must occur in their regular order.