Turkey and His End by E. E. Andross

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 24, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 50.

Turkey and His End

By E. E. Andross

The Eastern question involves the fate of the Ottoman Empire. “The Balkan or Near Eastern question has been one of the most complicated political problems of the world's history for half a century. . . . For four centuries and a half, ever since the conquering Turk crossed the Bosporus and took Constantinople, the grim contest has been on to dislodge him by war and diplomacy.”—“American Review of Reviews,” November, 1912, pp. 539, 540.

The “Sick Man”

For two centuries Turkey has been in a state of decadence. On the night of January 9, 1853, a very expressive phrase was coined by the czar of Russia while conversing with the British ambassador regarding Turkey. He said: “We have on our hands a sick man—a very sick man. It will be a great misfortune if one of these days he should slip away from us before the necessary arrangements have been made.” Ever since that night, the phrase “sick man” has clung to the Turkish power. That power is known to-day as “the sick man of the east.”

His Strategic Position and His Character

Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, is one of the most strategic points in all of Europe or Asia, and hence is a prize greatly to be coveted. In addition to this, he holds in his possession Jerusalem—the holy city—all of Palestine, and very largely those lands where the gospel message was proclaimed first by Abraham, and later in greater fulness by the apostles, and whence it was carried to all the world. Like the smoke of a great furnace, Mohammedanism has overspread all these lands, and till now has resisted every attempt at either Christianization or civilization. W. E. Gladstone—“the grand old man” of England—once said:

“It is not a question of Mohammedanism simply, but of Mohammedanism compounded with the peculiar character of a race. They are not the mild Mohammedans of India, nor the chivalrous Saladins of Syria, nor the cultured Moors of Spain. They were, upon the whole, from the black day when they first entered Europe, the one great antihuman specimen of humanity. Wherever they went, a broad line of blood marked the trace behind them; and as far as their dominion reached, civilization disappeared from view. They represented everywhere government by force as opposed to government by law. They were indeed a tremendous incarnation of military power. This advancing curse menaced the whole of Europe.”

Why Not Driven Out Before

It will be apparent, from the foregoing, that Europe has regarded the Turkish Empire as an Oriental power properly belonging to Asia rather than to Europe. The Turks would long ago have been driven back across the Bosporus into Asia, whence they came, had it not been for the fear that serious complications among the great powers of Europe would result from the division of the spoils. This was clearly stated by the marquis of Salisbury, then prime minister of Great Britain, in his Mansion House speech November 9, 1895, when he said:

“Turkey is in that remarkable condition that it has now stood for half a century, mainly because the great powers of the world have resolved that for the peace of Christendom it is necessary that the Ottoman Empire should stand. They came to that conclusion nearly half a century ago. I do not think they have altered it now.”

In recent years, the demand for the expulsion of the Turkish power from Europe has been growing louder and louder. This has been in consequence of the constant trouble in some portion of his dominion, now in Armenia, then in Macedonia or Albania, between his Christian and Mohammedan subjects. Tens of thousands of Christians have been ruthlessly slaughtered by the cruel Turks. These massacres may not have been wholly without provocation; but however that may be, they have resulted in a mighty chorus of voices from every part of the Christian world demanding that an end be put to Turkish rule in Europe. At this writing one of the bloodiest wars of history is being fought between the allied powers of the Balkan States, embracing Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro, and Greece, on one side, and Turkey on the other, with a series of uninterrupted victories crowning the efforts of the allies, who are now at the gates of Constantinople. The daily press reports: “An end of Turkey in Europe—the irreducible minimum of the Balkan allies.”

If this were all that was implied in this struggle it would not be so serious; but the fear is daily expressed that all of Europe may be involved in one gigantic war. The late marquis of Salisbury said:

“The danger, if the Ottoman Empire should fall, would not merely be the danger that would threaten the territories of which that empire consists; it would be the danger that the fire there lit should spread to other nations, and should involve all that is most powerful and civilized in Europe in a dangerous and calamitous contest. That was a danger that was present to the minds of our fathers when they resolved to make the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire a matter of European treaty, and that is a danger which has not passed away.”

His Expulsion Certain

In an article by E. Alexander Powell, entitled “The Balkan Union Against Turkey,” in the American Review of Reviews, November, 1912, the following statement appears:

“That the Turk will win in this struggle, now that he has obtained a free hand by concluding peace with Italy, is probable. That, win or lose, he will be compelled to give Macedonia a decent government, is certain. That he will, sooner or later, be driven across the Bosporus for good and all, is inevitable.”

In view of the apparent certainty of the Turkish power eventually being forced out of Europe, involving all the complications foreseen by European statesmen, the Eastern question becomes one of grave and serious import.

But this is only the beginning. The half has not yet been told of all that will follow the expulsion of the Turk from Europe, and his final destruction in the Holy Land. This whole question is clearly outlined in the prophetic word; and since the departure of the Turk from Europe constitutes one of the last signs marking the approach of the great day of the Lord, and the beginning of the reign of the Prince of Peace, the

Eastern question becomes one of supreme importance.

God Rules in the Affairs of Men

“The God that made the world and all things therein, . . . made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation.” Acts 17:24, 26, R. V.

God in His wisdom produced the whole human race from one man, and in His providence scattered them over the face of the earth. In His wisdom and goodness He has also appointed each family and nation to a particular place, having determined or marked out the boundaries of their dwelling-place, and the set or proper time of their residence. God has also made known through His prophets the rise and fall of nations, in some instances having revealed the exact time of their rise as well as the period of their continuance, and has also given the name of the power to succeed them.

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth My counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.” Isa. 46:9-11.

The Lord has particularly revealed the events of importance that were to take place among the nations of earth near the end of time:

“And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed [Hebrew, moed, a fixed time or season] the end shall be.” Dan. 8:19.

Introductory Prophecies

In the eleventh chapter and the first few verses of the twelfth chapter of the book of Daniel, the angel revealed to the prophet the things that were to befall the nations of earth and the people of God “in the latter days.” Beginning with the days of the prophet, the history of nations is traced even to the time where “the kingdoms of this world” “become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.” The concluding reflection of Bishop Newton on this prophecy is quite to the point:

“It may be proper to stand a little here, and reflect how particular and circumstantial this prophecy is. . . . There is not so concise, comprehensive, and regular an account of their kings and affairs to be found in any authors of those times. The prophecy is really more perfect than any history. . . . No one could thus declare the times and seasons, but He who hath them in His own power.”

Kingdom of Media and Persia

“Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to 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.”

Following Darius, the three kings referred to were Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspes; then came the fourth, Xerxes, who led an army of over five and a half millions against Greece.

Alexander the “Mighty King”

“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.”

This mighty king was Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia in 331 B.C. (It will be of interest to read in this connection Dan. 8:20-22.) Soon after Alexander's death, his generals formed a compact for the government of his empire; but it was soon broken, and out of his conquests four kingdoms arose “toward the four winds of heaven.” Cassander obtained Macedon and the other Greek territory on the west; Lysimachus took Thrace and the parts of Asia Minor on the Hellespont and Bosporus on the north; Seleucus obtained Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and far beyond them eastward to the Indus; Ptolemy received Egypt, Libya, and Palestine on the south.

The Divisions of Alexander's Empire

It was not long after this division had been effected till Cassander was conquered by Lysimachus, and Macedon was annexed to Thrace. Then Seleucus conquered Lysimachus, and Macedon and Thrace were annexed to Syria. Throughout the history of the kingdom of the Seleucidae, covering a period of 250 years, it remained a Greek government (tho almost wholly in Asia), and introduced the Greek language and literature to all the lands of the Orient. At that time the city of Byzantium on the Bosporus was, and through nearly all the succeeding centuries till the present time it has continued to be, the center; tho since Constantine made it the seat of the Roman government, it has been known by the name of Constantinople.

The Kings of the “North” and “South”

From this time forward, there were but two of the original four divisions of Alexander's kingdom remaining: the kingdom of the Seleucidae, with its center at Byzantium, called by the angel “the king of the north;” and the kingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt, called “the king of the south.” It therefore seems certain that the territory of these two kingdoms remains the territory of the kingdom of the north and the kingdom of the south to the end of the prophecy; and whatever kings reign over these territories are “the king of the north” and “the king of the south.”

In verses 5 to 14, the angel speaks only of the principal events occurring between these two powers. In verse 14 the Roman power is introduced into the prophecy as “the children of robbers” (margin), and soon becomes the principal actor on the stage. And in all these scriptures plainly referring to Rome, it is not once called by the prophecy “the king of the north.” In verse 35, we are brought to the close of the period of papal supremacy in 1798, which is also the beginning of “the time of the end.” Once more in verse 40 “the time of the end” is mentioned, and “the king of the south” and “the king of the north” are again introduced, the latter henceforth occupying a prominent place in international conflicts to the very end itself.

The Rise of the Mohammedan Power

The rise and spread of the Mohammedan power is presented in the ninth chapter of Revelation under the symbols of the fifth and the sixth trumpet. The prophet saw the bottomless pit opened, “and 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.” Rev. 9:2. It was indeed a dark day when this advancing curse spread over a large part of Asia, and crossing the Bosporus in 1453, brought the ancient city of the Caesars under its power. They soon advanced as far as Italy and Vienna, menacing the whole of Europe. Henceforth to the end of the seventeenth century they occupied a very prominent place among the nations of Europe, and took their part in the shaping of its destinies.

A Time Prophecy

The period of the supremacy of this destructive monster as given in the prophecy is “an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year.” Rev. 9:15. Counting 30 days to the month, and 360 days to the year (according to the rule in symbolic prophecy, Eze. 4:6), we have one year, 360 days or years; a month, 30 days or years; and a day, which is one year. These added together give 391 years. But there is “an hour” to be added to this period. An hour is one twenty-fourth part of a year, or 15 days. This gives us an entire period of 391 years and 15 days. In order to obtain a starting point from which to reckon, we must go back to 1299, when the roving bands of Saracens were organized by Othman into a nation. Of this event the prophet states, “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” Rev. 9:11. In each of these tongues, the name means “a destroyer” (margin), which is surely descriptive of the character of the successive heads of the Ottoman or Turkish Empire. The prophecy further declares that there was to be a period of “five months” (Verse 10), 150 days or years, when he was to hurt men.

A Remarkable Fulfilment

The following significant words are used by the historian:

“It was on the twenty-seventh day of July, in the year 1299 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.”—“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” by Gibbon, chapter 64, par. 14.

One hundred and fifty years from July 27, 1299, brings us to July 27, 1449, at which time the heir to the Greek throne, Constantine XIII, refused to ascend his throne till after he had obtained the consent of Sultan Amurath II, thereby acknowledging his own servile dependence upon the Ottoman power, and their supremacy. This marks the date from which the Turks were “let loose” upon the Greek Empire: also the time when the first wo ended and the second wo began. Four years later, Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, the Greek Empire was no more, and Turkish rule in Europe was begun.

By this the Turks conquered Eastern Rome, and thereby obtained whatever title Rome may have had by virtue of this territory.