1. DAN. 11: 36-39. What nation have we found fulfilled the specifications of the prophecy recorded in these verses?
2. Verse 40. "At the time of the end" (1798) what attitude was Egypt, "the king of the south," to assume toward France? How was Turkey, "the king of the north," to come against France at the same time? What was to be the success of the Turkish arms in this triple war? Does history record such a triple war in 1798, in which these three powers were involved? Note 1.
3. Verse 41. How is the success of Turkey, "the king of the north," still further foretold in this verse? What three powers were to escape the conquests of Turkey? Note 2.
4. Verse 42. What land was not to escape the ravages of Turkey? Note 3.
5. Verse 43. Over what was Turkey to retain power?
6. Verse 44. By tidings from what quarters was Turkey to be troubled? What was this to incite Turkey to do? Note 4.
7. DAN. 11: 1-44. How many of the predictions recorded in these verses have been wrought out in history? What may be said of the remaining verse of this remarkable chapter? Note 5.
8. Verse 45. According to this prophecy, where must Turkey remove her seat of government? What is suggested as the reason why Turkey will come to his end in Europe? Has Turkey been upheld by other powers? Note 6.
9. Give the main facts in the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Note 7.
10. How exactly has history prescribed the date when Othman began to invade the Greek territory? Note 8.
11. Rev. 9: 10. How long were the Mohammedan invading forces to have power to hurt men? How many literal years in five prophetic months (30 days to the month, according to ancient usage)? Adding 150 years to July 27, 1299, would bring us to what date?—July 27, 1449, in which year the Greek emperor virtually surrendered to the Turkish power, occupying the throne of Constantinople only by permission of the sultan.
12. Rev. 9: 15. How much time is here allotted to the supremacy of the Ottoman Empire, following the 150 years of verse 10? Note 9.
13. What calculation was made by Josiah Litch in the year 1838? Note 10.
14. Did events transpire on Aug 11, 1840, to justify this application of the prophecy? Note 11.
NOTES.
1. On the 5th of March, 1798, Bonaparte received the decree of the French Directory relative to the expedition against Egypt. He left Paris May 3, and set sail from Toulon on the 19th, with a large naval armament, consisting of 500 sail, carrying 40,000 soldiers and 10,000 sailors. July 5, Alexandria was taken and fortified. On September of this same year, the sultan of Turkey declared war against France. Thus the king of the north (Turkey) came against him (France) in the same year that the king of the south (Egypt) "pushed," and all at the time called for in the prophecy,—the time of the end. On the 18th of March, 1799, the siege of Acre was begun. After the siege had been kept up sixty days, it was raised, and Napoleon sounded, for the first time in his career, the note of retreat, and on the 21st of May commenced to retrace his steps to Egypt. Turkey (the king of the north) came off the victor in that struggle, driving the French back into Egypt. Thus the king of the north (Turkey) "overflowed and passed over."
2. The French, after the siege of Acre, abandoned all that they had gained in the land of Judea, which is called in the prophecy "the glorious land," and it fell back into the hands of the Turks, under whose domination it still remains. Dr. Adam Clarke remarks concerning the countries of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, lying outside the limits of Palestine: "These and other Arabians they [the Turks] have never been able to subdue. They still occupy the deserts, and receive a yearly pension of forty thousand crowns of gold from the Ottoman emperors to permit the caravans with the pilgrims from Mecca to have a free passage."
3. Egypt, desiring to escape from Turkish rule, preferred to be under the domination of the French. But the tide of events turned otherwise. The English, as the ally of the Turks, determined to wrest Egypt from the French. After a series of battles, in which the French were worsted by the combined forces of the English and the Turks, the whole of the French army was shut up in Cairo and Alexandria. Cairo capitulated June 27, 1801, and Alexandria on September 2. Four weeks later (October 1), the preliminaries of peace were signed at London.
4. It is a remarkable fact that in the year 1825, twenty-eight years before the Crimean War broke out, Dr. Adam Clarke, in commenting upon the fulfilment of this very prophecy, wrote the following comment: "This part of the prophecy is allowed to be yet unfulfilled. If the Turkish power be understood, as in the preceding verses, it may mean that the Persians on the east and the Russians on the north will at some time greatly embarrass the Ottoman Government."
Just twenty-eight years after Dr. Clarke penned this suggestion, the world was amazed to see Turkey, a government which had long been regarded as "the sick man of the east," declare war against her powerful neighbor, Russia. Thus Turkey fulfilled the specifications of this part of the prophecy, which describes her as going "forth with great fury."
5. As Dr. Clarke said of the 44th verse in 1825, we can now say of this 45th verse,—it is yet unfulfilled. All except the closing verse of this remarkable chapter has now been wrought out in history. We must look to Turkey to fulfil the movement predicted in this verse.
6. The expression, "none shall help him," clearly implies that he has previously been helped by other powers. In the war with France (1798-1801), England and Russia assisted the sultan. In the war between Turkey and Egypt (1838-1840), England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia intervened in behalf of Turkey. In the Crimean War (1853-1856), England, France, and Sardinia supported the Turks. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, the great powers of Europe interfered to arrest the progress of Russia.
7. Since the death of Mohammed, A.D. 622, his followers, the wild hordes of barbarians, were under no general civil government. Gibbon refers to them as "this shipwreck of nations." The first king who organized these tribes into a government was Osman, afterward called Othman. The rise and progress of Mohammedanism is the subject of a prophecy recorded in the ninth chapter of the Revelation. The first incursions of these hordes are described in verses 1-3. The beginning of Othman's reign is noted in the 11th verse, where it is stated that "they had a king over them." From this point the Ottoman Empire began to fulfil its mission as one of the scourges of the corrupt Roman Empire—the destroyer of the Greek or eastern portion of it, ruled from Constantinople.
8. Gibbon says: "It was on the twenty-seventh day of July, in the year twelve hundred and ninety-nine of the Christian era, and 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."—Chapter 64, par. 14.
9. The time allotted for the Mohammedan conquest was given as "five months," and a further period of "an hour, a day, and a month, and a year" was allotted to its supremacy. This being prophetic time, must be reckoned in the following manner, from the initial date as given by Gibbon:—
Date given by Gibbon . . . . . July 27, 1299
"Five months," 150 days—150 literal years . . . . . July 27, 1449
"An hour," 24th part of a day—15 literal days . . . . . Aug. 11, 1449
"A day"—1 literal year . . . . . Aug. 11, 1450
"A month," 30 days—30 literal years . . . . . Aug. 11, 1480
"A year," 360 days—360 literal years . . . . . Aug. 11, 1840
10. In the year 1838, two years prior to the above date, Josiah Litch, one of the Advent believers, of Boston, Mass., published the statement, based upon the above calculation, that the Ottoman supremacy would cease on the 11th day of August, 1840. Being challenged as to how much he would venture on the prediction, he said, "I will stake my belief in the inspiration of the old Book [meaning the Bible] that the event will transpire on that day."
11. It is a remarkable historical fact that the ultimatum drawn up by the great powers (England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia), dictating terms of settlement with the pasha of Egypt, with whom the Porte was then at war, was submitted to the Turkish Government for acceptance, and by the sultan's agents was placed in the hands of the opposing ruler, ON THE 11TH DAY OF AUGUST, 1840. By the acceptance of this ultimatum, the independence of the Ottoman power came to an end, and it has since existed only on sufferance of the powers.
