THE first four of the Seven Trumpets, as we have seen, mark the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome, and the planting, in its place, of the peoples that formed the nations of Western Europe to-day.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.1

The fifth and sixth trumpets, likewise, mark the ruin of the Eastern Empire of Rome, and introduce the peoples by whom that ruin was accomplished, who are the modern nations of Eastern Europe and of Asia.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.2

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; 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. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 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 [“that is to say, a destroyer,” margin].” Revelation 9:1-11.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.3

This trumpet covers a period of eight hundred and seventeen years,—A.D. 632-1449,—and shows the rise and work of the Mohammedans in the destruction of Eastern Rome—first the Arabian Mohammedans and later the Turkish Mohammedans. Of this Albert Barnes remarks that, “with surprising unanimity, commentators have agreed in regarding this as referring to the empire of the Saracens, or to the rise and progress of the religion and the empire set up by Mohammed.” We can not see how any one who will ready the prophecy, and Gibbon’s history of Mohammed and his successors in the light of it, can disagree with the application of the prophecy to the Mohammedans.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.4

The term “bottomless pit,” which denotes the place of their rise, is from the Greek word abussos, and signifies a waste, desolate region. And to any one who will read Gibbon’s chapter L, paragraphs 2-5, the significance and aptness of the term as applied to Arabia will readily be discerned.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.5

The vast hordes of the Mohammedans are shown under the symbol of a cloud of locusts; and in verses 7-9 the meaning of the symbol is made plain by the words, “The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; ... and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.6

As to that which was “commanded them,” the history witnesses thus: “Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression, consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the battle of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no palm trees nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor burn their monasteries. And you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohammedan or pay tribute.”—“Decline and Fall,” LI, par. 10.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.7

And, says the Scripture, “Their power was to hurt man five months.” Five months are one hundred and fifty days; this, being prophetic time,—a day for a year,—equals one hundred and fifty years, during which they were to hurt men.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.8

This one hundred and fifty years is to be counted from the time that they had a king over them, as says verses 11: “They had a king over them.... whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [“a destroyer,” margin].” For more than six hundred years the Mohammedans had no regularly organized government, and recognized no such dignitary as that which answers to the title of king. Each tribe, under its own chief, was independent of all the others, and came and went as it pleased. While this was the case, it is evident, and it is the fact too, that their character as “a destroyer,” was not, and could not be, such as it was after they were solidly united in one government, under the sway of a ruler recognized by all.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.9

This is made more apparent when it is seen what was to be destroyed by this “destroyer.” The first four trumpets show the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome; and the fifth relates to the destruction of the Eastern Empire. And it is in the character of the destroyer of the last remains of the Roman Empire that this power acts. It was not as a destroyer of men as such, for of them it is said “that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months,” “and their power was to hurt men five months.” It is evident, then, that this character and work as “a destroyer,” relates to the final destruction of the Roman Empire, which was then represented in the Eastern Empire, with the capital at New Rome—Constantinople.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.10

Othman was the caliph who established the organized government of the Mohammedans, and from him descended the name and title of the Ottoman Empire. It was under the organized power of Othman that the work of the destroyer began. In closing his account of the devastating rage of the Moguls and Tartars under Zingis Khan and his generals, Gibbon says:—ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.11

In this shipwreck of nations [A.D. 1240-1304], some surprise may be excited by the escape of the Roman Empire, whose relics, at the time of the Mogul invasion, were dismembered by the Greeks and Latins.—Id., chap. 64, par. 13.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.12

But the decline of the Moguls gave free scope to the rise of the Moslems, under Othman. Of this the historian says:—ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.13

He was situate on the verge of the Greek Empire; the Koran sanctified his gazi, or holy war, against the infidels; and their political errors unlocked the passes of Mount Olympus, and invited him to descend into the plains of Bithynia.... It was on July 27, A.D. 1299, 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.—Id., par. 14.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.14

Several points in this quotation must be noticed:—ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.15

1. Othman was the man who succeeded in bringing the disjointed elements of the Mohammedan power into a compact and distinctly organized governmental shape. From him, consequently, comes the term that still attaches to the government of the Turks, namely, the Ottoman Empire. From him dates the time when, as never before, “they had a king over them.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.16

2. Note the expression of the historian—“the destructive growth of this monster.” Thus he distinguishes the very characteristic of “destroyer,” which is predicted of it in the Scriptures.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.17

3. The historian emphasizes “the singular accuracy of the date.” In the original documents from which he drew his material, he found this date made so specific that he himself is forced to remark its “singular accuracy.” Yet, to those who recognize God’s dealings with the nations and kingdoms, and who consider that from the time when these had a king over them, a period of a hundred and fifty years is given in which to do a certain work, it is not surprising that the date should be indicated with such singular accuracy.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.18

The work of destruction, then, which was to subvert the last remains of the Roman Empire, began July 27, 1299, and never ceased till the imperial power passed into the hands of Amurath, July 27, 1449.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.19

And “one woe is passed; and, behold there come two woes more hereafter.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 568.20

“Studies in Galatians. Galatians 5:6” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36, p. 569.

“FOR in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.1

This is the climax of Paul’s argument in answer to the “Pharisees which believed,” who preached to those who were saved by faith of Jesus Christ, that “except ye be circumcised and keep the law, ye can not be saved.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.2

The force of it is more fully discerned when there is understood just what was claimed for circumcision, and what it represented to those who there preached it. By them it was held that “so great is circumcision, that, but for it, the Holy One, blessed be he, would not have created the world:” that “but for circumcision, heaven and earth could not exist;” “it is as great as all the other commandments;” and “how great is circumcision, since it is equivalent to ALL the commandments of the law?” Thus, in their estimation, he who was circumcised had, in that, all the keeping of all the commandments. How this emphasizes the weight of that sentence of Paul’s: “I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” Instead of his having in circumcision all the keeping of the commandments, he had by that none of it at all; but was still in debt to do the whole law, with nothing at all wherewith to pay.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.3

From the value which they gave to circumcision, it is easy to see how the “Pharisees which believed” could insist that persons who believed in Jesus, and so were saved by the faith of Jesus, must yet be circumcised in order to be saved. This was so, and was so easy, simply because to them circumcision was greater than was Jesus; and because to them, in every sense, circumcision stood exactly in the place that Christ in truth occupies.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.4

Thus the question involved between Christianity and “the Pharisees which believed,” the question which was settled by the Holy Spirit, and which is made plain in Galatians, is: Are men saved by faith of Christ, or by something else? Is Christ the true Saviour, or is something else the savior?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.5

Yet, in reality, though that was the question, it did not stand exactly that way. Notice: the people to whom came preaching the “Pharisees which believed,” were already believers in Jesus; and the “Pharisees which believed” did not say that men should not believe in Jesus. They admitted that it is proper to believe in Jesus. The themselves professed to believe in Jesus. But they insisted that the faith of Jesus is not enough to save: salvation must be by the faith of Jesus and something else.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.6

Therefore the question in reality stood: Is Christ alone sufficient for salvation? or must salvation be by Christ and something else?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.7

Does faith in Christ alone, save the soul? or must salvation be by faith in Christ and something else?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.8

Is it by Christ alone? Or is it by Christ and circumcision?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.9

It is by Christ alone? or is it by Christ and penance?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.10

Is it by faith of Christ alone? or it is by faith and works?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.11

Is it by faith which comes from God as the gift of God, and therefore itself works the works of God? or is it by a so-called faith which springs from mere assent of the mind, is thus “of yourselves,” and therefore must be supported by the works of the law in self and self-righteousness.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.12

Is it by faith which works? or is it by faith and works?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.13

And to this question, in all the various and subtle ways of insinuating self in place of Christ, the divine answer stands full and complete forever, in the single mighty sentence, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.14

“In Christ Jesus”—that is, with whomsoever believeth in Jesus—“neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.15

“In Christ Jesus”—with whomsoever believeth in Jesus—“neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,“—neither works, availeth anything, nor no works,—“but faith WHICH WORKS.”ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.16

“In Christ Jesus”—with whomsoever believeth in Jesus—“Neither circumcision... nor uncircumcision”—neither keeping the commandments availeth anything, nor not keeping the commandments; “but FAITH WHICH worketh by LOVE”—FAITH WHICH keepeth the commandments of God; for “this is the LOVE of GOD, that we keep his commandments.” And he who has Christ, and is in Christ, has IN CHRIST all the keeping of all the commandments.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.17

Even as it is written in another place in Galatians: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but A NEW CREATURE.” Galatians 6:15. And this, simply because “if any man be in Christ he IS a new creature.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. If he is not a new creature, his profession of being in Christ is only a profession, and is in vain.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.18

And as it is written yet again in another place: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping of the commandments of God” is something. But this only when the man “is a new creature;” only when the keeping of the commandments is the result of faith, which is of God, and which therefore works the works of God; only when the keeping of the commandments is the effect, of which the sole cause is “faith WHICH worketh BY LOVE”—faith which is of God and worketh by the love of God, which love in itself is expressed and can be expressed only in the keeping of the commandments of God, and which therefore is the keeping of the commandments of God; all of which is because of Christ within,—“Christ IN YOU the hope of glory,“—by whose obedience alone every believer in Jesus is made righteous.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.19

“Editorial” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36, p. 569.

THE Advance says: “In this country the church has led all other agencies in the promotion of classical education. It founded the first college, and has multiplied the number. In these Christian colleges the study of Greek and Latin has heretofore held the principal place. But now a rapid change is passing over our institutions of learning. The classics are going. Not a shred of Greek is left in some of the new courses, and Latin is left more and more to the tender mercies of ‘the electives.’” The classics ought to go. Especially from every school that makes any pretensions to being Christian. For how is it possible for a study of pagan literature to be of any benefit to any Christian student? How can Christianity be learned from paganism?ARSH September 4, 1900, page 569.1

“Back Page” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36, p. 576.

THE Independent confesses that for world-politics of the kind now occupying the United States with the other world-powers, “popular or representative governments are ill fitted. Question of foreign policy can not be made the subjects of party controversies. When the administration has taken a stand, ... the opposition can do nothing but support it.... An aristocracy or a despot may maintain a permanent foreign policy; but so long ago as when Thucydides wrote, it was understood that a democracy was incompetent to govern dependencies.” It is now fixed that the United States will have a permanent foreign policy. Since such can be maintained only by an aristocracy or a despotism, and since there is here no aristocracy, it remains inevitable that this permanent foreign policy can be maintained only by a despotism. That despotism has begun, and is growing as steadily as the clock ticks.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 576.1

IN the Treaty of Paris, which transferred the Philippine Islands and people to the sovereignty of the United States, this nation bound herself, by first allowing herself to be bound, “to observe the standing and rights accorded by custom to the religious corporation in the Philippines.” And now a representative of the Associated Press in the Philippines publishes, in the Independent of August 30, that “according to Archbishop Chapelle, these measures were indirectly introduced into the treaty by Chapelle himself.” Thus in that treaty the United States was bound by Rome to the interests of Rome, forever.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 576.2

IN the order issued by the United States for the Cuban Constitutional Convention, it is said that this convention shall “meet in the city of Havana, at twelve o’clock noon, on the first Monday of November, in the year 1900, to frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and, as a part thereof, to provide for and agree with the government of the United States, upon the relations to exist between that government and the government of Cuba.” Note that this orders that the convention shall “adopt” the constitution as well as “frame” it, for the people of Cuba. And there are to be thirty-one delegates.ARSH September 4, 1900, page 576.3

August 28, 1900

September 11, 1900