The Final Stand of the Turk—Where Will It Be? What Will Be Its Significance?
By ALBERT M. DART
“My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste.” Jer. 4:19, 20.
For nearly a year, the world has been stirred by the horrors of the European war, since modern engines of destruction have been used by sagacious minds of so-called civilized lands to destroy as many lives as possible. Surely the prophet’s words, “Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste,” are fulfilled in current events. Complications continue to arise, and human foresight cannot discern the end.
WHERE DOES THE WAR LEAD?
The possibility of the United States’ being drawn into the fray is recognized. But to suggest what may or may not transpire along these lines is not so much the object of this writing, as to set forth the meaning of these things in the light of the “sure word of prophecy.”
What the outcome of this war will be, what changes will take place in the map of Europe or of the world, is not of so great moment as what change is taking place in the lives of men in view of what these things portend.
None who carefully study the prophetic portions of the Bible—and these constitute about three fourths of the Book—can fail to see that the end of this world is attended by disastrous wars without parallel, involving the whole world.
AWAKENED TO WAR
The prophet Joel, in looking down the ages to the last days, when the harvest of the earth would be ripe, spoke of the war spirit prevailing in the world, when “the mighty men” and “the heathen” would be awakened by it, and the nations of the earth would beat their “plowshares into swords” and their “pruning hooks into spears,” and the weak would be accounted strong. “For their wickedness is great,” said the prophet. Joel 3:9–13.
As wickedness increases, war increases. War is wicked, cruel, murderous. War is not Christlike, for Christ is “the Prince of peace.” True, He said, “I came not to send peace, but a sword”; but remember that the rejectors of the peace He offers are the ones who take the sword. “Put up . . . thy sword,” is His command: “for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
SATAN’S CAREER ENDS IN WAR
War is the work of Satan, and a result of sin. “There was war in heaven;” and Satan, the originator of sin, “was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Rev. 12:7, 9.
He and his angels end their career in war, involving the whole world in “the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Rev. 16:14, 16.
“Armageddon” is a word frequently used these days, but too often without an adequate conception of what it means to the human family, and of the nearness of the great battle.
Not only is general war in the last days prophesied, but definite points gained in battle are mentioned, so that the inhabitants of the world may see clearly the hand of God in the affairs of men, and be duly warned of just retributions for sins wantonly committed against God.
THE TURK AND THE WAR
“To illustrate this matter, we will take one phase, the most prominent of Holy Writ—that of the Turkish government. Prophecy mentions four definite points in the career of the Turk, which should be continually kept before the minds of the people, so striking is their fulfillment, and so significant to the world’s inhabitants.
These points are: His establishment as an independent power; the loss of his independence; his expulsion from Europe; his establishment at Jerusalem, where “he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”
The significance of the last point is seen in the fact that the prophecy states that “at that time shall Michael [Christ] stand up: . . . 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.” Dan. 12:1.
Thus, as before indicated, developments in the formation of character to stand the test of the Judgment are of more importance than developments threatening further complications in the war. But the latter are intended of God to arouse individuals to a sense of their true condition in the light of what these things mean, and lead them to seek God for forgiveness of sin, that their names may be “written in the book,” and that they may be delivered.
MOHAMMEDANISM AND PROPHECY
The rise of Mohammedanism to a place of supremacy is prophesied in the ninth chapter of Revelation, under the symbol of locusts coming out of the “bottomless pit” (Arabia) and spreading over the earth.
The prophet says, “There arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit”—a striking figure of the darkness of Mohammedan doctrine.
Constantinople was in possession of the Greeks, and its overthrow by the Turks marks the beginning of the independent career of the Turkish government. In this connection there are definite historical dates confirming the prophecy with great clearness.
SINGULAR ACCURACY
Says the historian Gibbon: “It was on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year twelve hundred and ninety-nine of the Christian era, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster.”
This is indeed a singularly accurate date; for the prophet said that they were to “hurt men”—torment with their invasions—“five months,” which in prophetic time is 150 years. 150 years from July 27, 1299, reaches to July 27, 1449—another accurate and definite date, as seen from the fact that this date marks the time when the Greek empire would be overthrown and Constantinople fall into the hands of the Turks.
ALLIES LANDING REENFORCEMENTS IN THE DARDANELLES UNDER COVER OF BATTLESHIPS
From this date, the prophet definitely points out the time of Ottoman supremacy. It was to be for “an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year.” This time, computed by the year-for-a-day system, established in prophecy, amounts to 391 years and 15 days. At the termination of this time, prophecy calls for the loss of Turkish independence.
What are the facts in the case? This will be considered in our next article.
