Your ShelfYour Projects

F. I. RICHARDSON

4%

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 11, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 15.

Read the full edition

F. I. RICHARDSON

By F. I. Richardson

The Eastern Question—No. 1

F. I. RICHARDSON

For many years the attention of the statesmen of the civilized nations of the world has been drawn to Turkey. Each nation of Europe covets that portion of Turkey lying in Europe, and that highway for vessels between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Especially is this true of Russia; and for many years the Russians have been working to that end, carrying out the instructions of Peter the Great. But the nations, recognizing the advantage any nation would possess that held the Dardanelles, have united in holding one another in check. But the Russian bear has grown to such colossal proportions that some begin to feel that these powers will not be able to hold him in check much longer. The following words from a representative of England, the nation that has done most, perhaps, to keep the Turk where he is, reveals the situation. A writer in the Fortnightly Review, London, says: “Let us abandon the disgraceful protectorate of Constantinople, and say to France, Take Syria. It is true Russia would then go to Constantinople, but she must go sooner or later, and it is better she should go there as our friend than as our foe.”
The editor of the Keystone, the organ of the jewelers, London, speaks in the same strain: “The time is coming when Russia will secure her longed-for open port on the south. Turkey can not forever bar her way, though backed by the protection of all the powers; for Russia has the logic of the situation on her side, and the march of empire makes this destiny inevitable.”
To these might be added a multitude of testimonies showing the changed attitude of the nations toward Turkey and the undoubted intentions of Russia; but the almost daily reports from the far East, in which Russia is the central figure, are abundant proof that although the seat of operations is at present some distance away, the objective point for Russia is the driving of the Turks out of Europe. The statesman sees in this only a transfer of territory from one political power to another, and the benefits that accrue to the victor therefrom; but to the student of prophecy it has a much deeper significance. Nearly twenty-five hundred years ago the Lord, through his prophets, foretold that these very conditions would be the forerunners of startling events soon to follow, affecting the eternal welfare of every individual living upon the earth at this time.
The eleventh chapter of the book of Daniel is a prophecy, and beginning B. C. 538, gives in plain, literal language many of the important events of the world’s history, from Daniel’s time to the end of the world, dealing especially with this question we have under consideration.
“Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and strengthen him. And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.” Dan. 11: 1, 2.
“The angel, after stating that he stood to confirm and strengthen Darius, turns his attention to the future. Three kings shall yet stand up in Persia. To stand up means to reign; three kings were to reign in Persia, referring doubtless to the immediate successors of Cyrus. These were (1) Cambyses, son of Cyrus; (2) Smerdis, an impostor; (3) Darius Hystaspes.
“The fourth shall be far richer than they all. The fourth king from Cyrus was Xerxes, who was truly famous for his great wealth. He was to stir up all against the realm of Grecia. Never before had there been such a levy of men for warlike purposes; never has there been since. His army, according to Herodotus, who lived in that age, reached the fabulous number of five million and a half; but he utterly failed in that enterprise.”
“And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.” Verses 3, 4.
Xerxes was the last Persian king to invade Grecia; from that time the power of the Persians began to wane, and the power of the Greeks to rise, until they in turn became the aggressors, and with Alexander the Great at their head, overran the Persian empire, and Alexander became monarch of the world. His kingdom was to be divided, but not for his posterity; it was to be plucked up for others besides those. At the early age of thirty-two years Alexander died in a drunken debauch, and within fifteen years every one of his posterity was murdered, and the kingdom was divided between his four leading generals. Reckoning from the standpoint of Palestine, the native land of the prophet, the kingdom was divided toward the four winds of heaven. Cassander had Greece and the adjacent countries, which lay tothe west; Lysimachus had Thrace, which lay to the north of Palestine; Seleucus had Syria and Babylon, on the east; and Ptolemy had Egypt, on the south.
“And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his [Alexander’s] princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.” Verse 5.
The king of the north and the king of the south are many times referred to in the remaining portion of this chapter; but the kings of the east and of the west are not mentioned again; and the reason for the omission is that very soon Lysimachus conquered Cassander, and annexed Macedon and Greece to Thrace, and Lysimachus was in turn conquered by Seleucus, and Macedon and Thrace annexed to Syria. How appropriate are the words of the prophet. The king of the south (Ptolemy) shall be strong; but one of Alexander’s princes (Seleucus) shall be strong above him, because Seleucus had become possessed of three parts of Alexander’s kingdom. Consequently that territory over which Seleucus reigned became the kingdom of the north, and whatever changes might occur, these first divisions of the empire must determine the names which these portions of territory should ever afterward bear, or we have no standard by which to test the application of the prophecy.
“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.” Verse 40.
At least two thousand years have passed since the fulfilment of the events predicted in verse five. Many changes have taken place; empires have risen and fallen as foretold in the intervening verses; the Ptolemies, Cæsars, and Antonies have each in turn come upon the stage of action, and passed away, and we are brought down in verse 40 to the beginning of the time of the end, and find the king of the south and the king of the north are still upon the stage of action, and engaged in war with some other power.
To find the period called the time of the end, we go back to verses 31-35, and find that a power called the “abomination that maketh desolate” (verse 31, last clause) persecutes and destroys the people of God, “even to the time of the end.” Verse 35. This same power is described in Dan. 7: 25 as “wearing out the saints of the Most High.” The papacy is the power that was guilty of that awful work, as more than fifty million victims will testify at the great day of accounts. The papacy was to have this power for a time, times, and the dividing of time. Verse 25, last clause. Rev. 12: 14, 6, says that that time is 1260 days, which, being prophetic time, is 1260 years. The pope entered upon this career of power by the decree of Justinian, emperor of the Roman empire, in A. D. 538. As he was to have that power for 1260 years, we add 1260 to A. D. 538, which would bring us to 1798, which would be the beginning of the time of the end. On the tenth day of February of that year the pope lost his temporal power by being taken prisoner by Berthier at the head of the French army, and was taken to France, where he died the following year. Then as 1798 is the beginning of the time of the end, according to verse 40 of Daniel 11 the king of the south and the king of the north must engage in war with some other nation in that year. To find what power it is, we refer to verses 36-39, and find that it is an infidel nation, for verse 37 says, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, . . . nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” Scott’s Napoleon, Vol. I, pages 172, 173, makes it plain what nation it was, but for the sake of brevity we quote from an article in Blackwood’s Magazine, written some years ago:—
“France is the only nation in the world concerning which the authentic record survives that as a nation she lifted her hand in open rebellion against the Author of the universe. Plenty of blasphemers, plenty of infidels, there have been, and continue to be, in England, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere, but France stands apart in the world’s history as the single state which, by the decree of her legislative assembly, pronounced that there was no God, and of which the entire population of the capital, and a vast majority elsewhere, women as well as men, danced and sang with joy in accepting the announcement.”
We learn from history that in 1798, France did declare war against Egypt, and Napoleon, at the head of an army of fifty thousand, invaded that country; the Egyptians were able to make but a feeble resistance (push at him). The Turks, claiming Egypt as a semidependency, on learning of the invasion of the French, raised an army, fitted out their navy, and aided by English and Russian ships proceeded against them by sea and land. The French fleet was destroyed. Their army was conquered and driven from the country. And Egypt fell back again into the hands of the Turks, to whom they had to pay annually a heavy tribute. All of the above events happened in such quick succession that it could appropriately be said that the king of the north came against him like a whirlwind. These facts show indisputably that at that time the people occupying the territory of the king of the north were the Turks; so they would be, then, the king of the north, and as they still occupy that territory, they are still the king of the north.
“And he [the king of the north] shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas [Dead Sea and Mediterranean Sea] in the glorious holy mountain [Jerusalem].”
In other words, the prophet says the Turks will be driven from Constantinople, and will make their headquarters, or capital, at Jerusalem. As we noticed in the beginning of this article, all eyes are now turned with interest toward Turkey; and the unanimous opinion of statesmen is that the Turk is soon to be driven from Europe.
The next words of the prophet are of the most solemn and weighty import to the world to-day; for when the Turk goes, the prophet says, “At that time shall Michael [Christ] stand up [reign], the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
Ever since Christ ascended to heaven, he has occupied the position of high priest, and will continue to do so until the judgment is finished; then there will no longer be any necessity for a high priest, for the decision will have been made: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22: 11.
His priestly robes are then laid aside for royal vesture. The work of mercy is done, and the probation of our race is ended. All cases are decided. And from that time on, till the terrified nations behold the majestic form of their insulted King in the clouds of heaven, the nations are broken as with a rod of iron, and dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Then will be such a time of trouble as never was. A series of judgments unparalleled in the world’s history will fall upon the nations, culminating in the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel.” “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
Phœnix, Ariz.