2nd, 3rd, & 4th Trumpets Sound
Revelation
...
And the second angel sounded,
and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea
and the third part of the sea became blood
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea
and had life,
died
and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
...
Again - Taking from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith--
*
The Second Trumpet.--The Roman Empire, after Constantine the Great, was divided into three parts. Hence the frequent remark, "a third part of men," is an allusion to the third part of the empire which was under the scourge. This division of the Roman kingdom was made at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius possessed the East, and fixed his residence at Constantinople, the metropolis of the empire. Constantine II held Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Constans held Illyricum, Africa, and Italy.
The sounding of the second trumpet evidently relates to the invasion and conquest of Africa, and afterward of Italy, by Gaiseric (Genseric), king of the Vandals. His conquests were for the most part naval, and his triumphs were "as it were a great mountain burning with fire, cast into the sea."
What figure would better, or even so well, illustrate the collision of navies, and the general havoc of war on the maritime coasts? In explaining this trumpet, we are to look for some events which will have a particular bearing on the commercial world. The symbol used naturally leads us to look for agitation and commotion. Nothing but a fierce maritime warfare would fulfill the prediction.
If the sounding of the first four trumpets relates to four remarkable events which contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire, and the first trumpet refers to the ravages of the Goths under Alaric, in this we naturally look for the next succeeding act of invasion which shook the Roman power and conduced to its fall.
The next great invasion was that of Genseric, at the head of the Vandals. His career reached its height between the years A.D. 428-468. This great Vandal chief had his headquarters in Africa. But as Gibbon states, "The discovery and conquest of the black nations [in Africa], that might dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he cast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a naval power, and his bold resolution was executed with steady and active perseverance." [5] From the port of Carthage he repeatedly made piratical sallies, preyed on the Roman commerce, and waged war with that empire. To cope with this sea monarch, the Roman emperor, Majorian, made extensive naval preparations.
"The woods of the Apennines were felled; the arsenals and manufacturers of Ravenna and Misenum were restored; Italy and Gaul vied with each other in liberal contributions to the public service; and the imperial navy of three hundred large galleys, with an adequate proportion of transports and smaller vessels, was collected in the secure and capacious harbor of Carthagena in Spain. . . . But Genseric was saved from impending and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some powerful subjects, envious, or apprehensive, of their master's success. Guided by their secret intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in the Bay of Carthagena: many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt; and the preparations of three years were destroyed in a single day. . . .
"The kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western Empire was gradually reduced, was afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant depredations of the Vandal pirates. In the spring of each year, they equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage; and Genseric himself, though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person the most important expeditions. . . .
"The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily. . . .
"The celerity of their motions enabled them, almost at the same time, to threaten and to attack the most distant objects, which attracted their desires; and as they always embarked a sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed, than they swept the dismayed country with a body of light calvary." [6]
A last and desperate attempt to dispossess Genseric of the sovereignty of the seas, was made in the year 468 by Leo I, the emperor of the East. Gibbon bears witness to this as follows:
"The whole expense of the African campaign, by whatsoever means it was defrayed, amounted to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold, about five million and two hundred thousand pounds sterling. . . . The fleet that sailed from Constantinople to Carthage consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand men. . . . The army of Heraclius and the fleet of Marcellinus either joined or seconded the imperial lieutenant. . . . The wind became favorable to the design of Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the Moors and Vandals, and they towed after them many large barks filled with combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were awakened by the sense of their instant danger. Their close and crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with rapid and irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and mariners, who could neither command nor obey, increased the horror of the nocturnal tumult. Whilst they labored to extricate themselves from the fire ships, and to save at least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them with temperate and disciplined valor; and many of the Romans who escaped the fury of the flames, were destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals. . . . After the failure of this great expedition, Genseric again became the tyrant of the sea; the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia were again exposed to his revenge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he added Sicily to the number of his provinces; and before he died, in the fullness of years and of glory, he beheld the final extinction of the empire of the West." [7]
Concerning the important part which this bold corsair acted in the downfall of Rome, Gibbon uses this significant language: "Genseric, a name which, in the destruction of the Roman Empire, has deserved an equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila." [8]
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
[6] Ibid., 481-486.
[7] Ibid., 495-498.
[8] Ibid., chap. 33, p. 370.
*******
Revelation
...
And the third angel sounded,
and there fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp,
and it fell upon the third part of the rivers,
and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood:
and the third part of the waters became wormwood;
and many men died of the waters,
because they were made bitter.
...
Taken from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith-
*
The Third Trumpet.--In the interpretation and application of this passage, we are brought to the third important event which resulted in the subversion of the Roman Empire. In revealing the historical fulfillment of this third trumpet, we shall be indebted to the notes of Albert Barnes for a few extracts. in explaining this scripture, it is necessary, as this commentator says, "that there would be some chieftain or warrior who might be compared with a blazing meteor; whose course would be singularly brilliant; who would appear suddenly like a blazing star, and then disappear like a star whose light was quenched in the waters. That the desolating course of that meteor would be mainly on those portions of the world that abounded with springs of water and running streams. That an effect would be produced as if those streams and fountains were made bitter; that is, that many persons would perish, and that wide desolations would be caused in the vicinity of those rivers and streams, as if a bitter and baleful star should fall into the waters, and death should spread over the lands adjacent to them, and watered by them." [9]
It is here premised that this trumpet has allusion to the desolating wars and furious invasions of Attila, king of the Huns, against the Roman power. Speaking of this warrior, particularly of his personal appearance, Barnes says:
"In the manner of his appearance, he strongly resembled a brilliant meteor in the sky. He came from the East gathering his Huns, and poured them down, as we shall see, with the rapidity of a flashing meteor, suddenly on the empire. He regarded himself also as devoted to Mars, the god of war, and was accustomed to array himself in a peculiarly brilliant manner, so that his appearance, in the language of his flatterers, was such as to dazzle the eyes of beholders." [10]
In speaking of the locality of the events predicted by this trumpet, Barnes has this note:
"It is said particularly that the effect would be on 'the rivers' and on 'the fountains of waters.' If this has a literal application, or if, as was supposed in the case of the second trumpet, the language used was such as had reference to the portion of the empire that would be particularly affected by the hostile invasion, then we may suppose that this refers to those portions of the empire that abounded in rivers and streams, and more particularly those in which the rivers and streams had their origin--for the effect was permanently in the 'fountains of waters.' As a matter of fact, the principal operations of Attila were in the regions of the Alps, and on the portions of the empire whence the rivers flow down into Italy. The invasion of Attila is described by Gibbon in this general language: 'The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field.' " [11]
The Name of the Star Is Called Wormwood.--The word "wormwood" denotes bitter consequences. "These words--which are more intimately connected with the preceding verse, as even the punctuation in our version denotes--recall us for a moment to the character of Attila, to the misery of which he was the author or the instrument, and to the terror that was inspired by his name.
" 'Total extirpation and erasure,' are terms which best denote the calamities he inflicted. . . .
"It was the boast of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot which his horse had trod. 'The scourge of God' was a name that he appropriated to himself, and inserted among his royal titles. He was 'the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world.' The Western emperor with the senate and people of Rome, humbly and fearfully deprecated the wrath of Attila. And the concluding paragraph of the chapters which record his history, is entitled, 'Symptoms of the Decay and Ruin of the Roman Government.' The name of the star is called wormwood." [12]
[9] Albert Barnes, Notes on Revelation, p. 239, comment on Revelation 8: 11.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid., p. 240.
[12] Alexander Keith, Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 267-269.
*******
Revelation
...
And the fourth angel sounded,
and the third part of the sun was smitten
and the third part of the moon
and the third part of the stars
so as the third part of them was darkened
and the day shone not for a third part of it
and the night likewise.
And I beheld,
and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven
saying with a loud voice,
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
...
Taken from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith--
The Fourth Trumpet.--We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy, who was so intimately connected with the downfall of Western Rome. The symbols sun, moon, and stars--for they are undoubtedly here used as symbols--evidently denote the great luminaries of the Roman government, its emperors, senators, and consuls. The last emperor of Western Rome was Romulus, who in derision was called Augustulus, or the "diminutive Augustus." Western Rome fell in A.D. 476. Still, however, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subordinate luminaries shone faintly while the senate and consuls continued. But after many civil reverses and changes of political fortune, at length the whole form of the ancient government was subverted, and Rome itself was reduced from being the empress of the world to a poor dukedom tributary to the Exarch of Ravenna.
The extinction of the Western Empire is recorded by Gibbon as follows:
"The unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of his own disgrace: he signified his resignation to the senate; and that assembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom, and the forms of the constitution. An epistle was addressed, by their unanimous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of Leo, who had lately been restored, after a short rebellion, to the Byzantine throne. They solemnly 'disclaim the necessity, or even the wish of continuing any longer the imperial succession in Italy; since in their opinion the majesty of a sole monarch is sufficient to pervade and to protect, at the same time, both the East and the West. In their own name, and in the name of the people, they consent that the seat of universal empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constantinople; and they basely renounce the right of choosing their master, the only vestige that yet remained of the authority which had given laws to the world.' " [13]
Keith comments on the downfall of Rome:
"The power and glory of Rome as bearing rule over any nation, became extinct. The name alone remained to the queen of nations. Every token of royalty disappeared from the imperial city. She who had ruled over the nations sat in the dust, like a second Babylon, and there was no throne where the Caesars had reigned. The last act of obedience to a Roman prince which that once august assembly performed, was the acceptance of the resignation of the last emperor of the West, and the abolition of the imperial succession in Italy. The sun of Rome was smitten. . . .
"A new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, speedily arose, who unscrupulously assumed the purple, and reigned by the right of conquest. 'The royalty of Theodoric was proclaimed by the Goths (March 5, A.D. 493), with the tardy, reluctant, ambiguous consent of the emperor of the East.' The imperial Roman power, of which either Rome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the West or the East, was no longer recognized in Italy, and the 'thirdpart of the sun' was smitten till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The power of the Caesars was unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned over Rome.
"But though the third part of the sun was smitten, and the Roman imperial power was at an end in the city of the Caesars, yet the moon and the stars still shone, or glimmered, for a little longer in the Western hemisphere [empire], even in the midst of Gothic darkness. The consulship and the senate ["the moon and the stars"] were not abolished by Theodoric. 'A Gothic historian applauds the consulship of Theodoric as the height of all temporal power and greatness;'--as the moon reigns by night, after the setting of the sun. And instead of abolishing that office, Theodoric himself 'congratulates those annual favorites of fortune, who, without the cares, enjoyed the splendor of the throne.'
"But, in their prophetic order, the consulship and the senate of Rome met their fate, though they fell not by the hands of Vandals or of Goths. The next revolution in Italy was its subjection to Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of the East. He did not spare what barbarians had hallowed. 'The Roman Consulship Extinguished by Justinian, A.D. 541,' is the title of the last paragraph of the fortieth chapter of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of Rome. 'The succession of the consuls finally ceased in the thirteenth year of Justinian, whose despotic temper might be gratified by the silent extinction of a title which admonished the Romans of their ancient freedom.' 'The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars.' In the political firmament of the ancient world, while under the reign of imperial Rome, the emperorship, the consulate, and the senate shone like the sun, the moon, and the stars. The history of their decline and fall is brought down till the two former were 'extinguished,' in reference to Rome and Italy, which so long had ranked as the first of cities and countries; and finally, as the fourth trumpet closes, we see the 'extinction of that illustrious assembly,' the Roman senate. The city that had ruled the world, as if in mockery of human greatness, was conquered by the eunuch Narses, the successor of Belisarius. He defeated the Goths (A.D. 522 [*]), achieved 'the conquest of Rome,' and the fate of the senate was sealed." [14]
E. B. Elliott speaks of the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy in the extinction of the Western Empire, as follows:
"Thus was the final catastrophe preparing, by which the Western emperors and empire were to become extinct. The glory of Rome had long departed; its provinces one after another been rent from it; the territory still attached to it become like a desert; and its maritime possessions and its fleets and commerce been annihilated. Little remained to it but the vain titles and insignia of sovereignty. And now the time was come when these too should be withdrawn. Some twenty years or more from the death of Attila, and much less from that of Genseric (who, ere his death, had indeed visited and ravaged the eternal city in one of his maritime marauding expeditions, and thus yet more prepared the coming consummation), about this time, I say, Odoacer, chief of the Heruli--a barbarian remnant of the host of Attila, left on the Alpine frontiers of Italy--interposed with his command that the name and the office of Roman Emperor of the West, should be abolished. The authorities bowed in submission to him. The last phantom of an emperor--one whose name, Romulus Augustus, was singularly calculated to bring in contrast before the reflective mind the past glories of Rome and its present degradation--abdicated; and the senate sent away the imperial insignia to Constantinople, professing to the emperor of the East that one emperor was sufficient for the whole of the empire. Thus of the Roman imperial sun, that third which appertained to the Western Empire was eclipsed, and shown no more. I say that third of its orb which appertained to the Western empire; for the Apocalyptic fraction is literally accurate. In the last arrangement between the two courts, the whole of the Illyrian third had been made over to the Eastern division. Thus in the West 'the extinction of the empire' had taken place; the night had fallen.
"Notwithstanding this, however, it must be borne in mind that the authority of the Roman name had not yet entirely ceased. The senate of Rome continued to assemble as usual. The consuls were appointed yearly, one by the Eastern emperor, one by Italy and Rome. Odoacer himself governed Italy under a title (that of patrician) conferred on him by the Eastern emperor. And as regarded the more distant Western provinces, or at least considerable districts in them, the tie which had united them to the Roman Empire was not altogether severed. There was still a certain, though often faint, recognition of the supreme imperial authority. The moon and the stars might seem still to shine on the West with a dim reflected light. In the course of the events, however, which rapidly followed one on the other in the next half century, these, too, were extinguished. Theodoric the Ostrogoth, on destroying the Heruli and their kingdom at Rome and Ravenna, ruled in Italy from A.D. 493 to 526 as an independent sovereign; and on Belisarius's and Narses's conquest of Italy from the Ostrogoths (a conquest preceded by wars and desolations in which Italy, and above all its seven-hilled city, were for a time almost made desert), the Roman senate was dissolved, the consulship abrogated. Moreover, as regards the barbaric princes of the Western provinces, their independence of the Roman imperial power became now more distinctly averred and understood. After above a century and [a] half of calamities unexampled almost, as Dr. Robertson most truly represents is, in the history of nations, the statement of Jerome--a statement couched under the very Apocalyptic figure of the text, but prematurely pronounced on the first taking of Rome by Alaric,--might be considered as at length accomplished: 'Clarissimum terrarum lumen extinctum est.' 'The world's glorious sun has been extinguished;' or as the modern power has expressed it, still under the same Apocalyptic imagery--
'She saw her glories star by star expire.' till not even one star remained, to glimmer on the vacant and dark night." [15]
The fearful ravages of these barbarian hordes who under their bold but cruel and desperate leaders devastated Rome, are vividly portrayed in the following spirited lines:
"And then a deluge of wrath it came,
And the nations shook with dread;
And it swept the earth, till its fields were flame,
And piled with the mingled dead.
Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood,
With the low and crouching slave,
And together lay, in a shroud of blood,
The coward and the brave."
Fearful as were the calamities brought upon the empire by the first incursions of these barbarians, they were light as compared with the calamities which were to follow. They were but as the preliminary drops of a shower before the torrent which was soon to fall upon the Roman world. The three remaining trumpets are overshadowed with a cloud of woe, as set forth in the following verses.
Verse 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.
This angel is not one of the series of the seven trumpet angels, but simply another heavenly messenger, who announces that the three remaining trumpets are woe trumpets, because of the more terrible events to take place under their sounding. Thus the next, or fifth trumpet, is the first woe; the sixth trumpet, the second woe; and the seventh, the last one in this series of seven trumpets, is the third woe.
[13] Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. III, chap. 36, p. 512.
[14] Alexander Keith, Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 280-283.
[15] Edward B. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, Vol. I, pp. 354-356.
[*] Edward Gibbon, in History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume IV, chapter 43, pages 273, 274, places the defeat and death of Teias, the last king of the Goths, in A.D. 533. This is the date usually accepted by historians, and is the one used by the author of this book. (See pages 127, 128.)--Editors.
*******
History.
Does it all fit? Only time will tell. Greater minds than mine have studied all this and put it together. I'm willing to entertain the idea that it fits and will continue to do so as I keep my mind open to be guided by the Lord to all truth.
May God continue to bless us as we seek to understand His word, putting things together as history unfolds.
9/14/10
Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
The promises of God are sure. The promises of God are everlasting. The promises of God are given to us- all of us- and they are promises that won't be broken, that can't be broken.
Promises can take a long time to fulfill. The trouble with us we want instant fulfillment. Or, maybe we aren't expecting instant fulfillment, but we expect our promises to be fulfilled in a timely fashion. We set dates on our promises a lot of time. A promise isn't really broken unless there is a time limit attached to it, right? I'm not saying it's bad to make time limited promises, we almost have to don't we? I promise to get that room clean. It's no good to make that promise and not keep it in a timely fashion. Thirty years later and the room still isn't clean, well that's just crazy, right? I promise to love you. Now there's a promise we want to go on forever, don't we? I promise to be good. Another promise that hopefully won't ever end. We can promise things that might take a while though, can't we? I promise we'll go on vacation in Europe someday. What happens if that promise isn't kept in say ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? People stop believing as time goes on that promises will be kept. They lose hope that it will be kept. Maybe at forty years later finally it's possible for that vacation and the promise is kept- all is good. But that's not always the case with us and our promises. We sometimes make promises that are not kept, in fact we do it ALL the time. Why though? Why do we make promises we don't keep? Good intentions? Mostly likely it is good intentions although some times promises are made that are made with no intention of them being kept. A promise made to pacify someone. Yes, I'll love you and stay with you forever. Then the next day they're gone.
Promises.
Abraham was promised that his seed would be multiplied - that he would have many, many descendents. And upon having received that promise it is logical to imagine that he believed the promise would be fulfilled in a timely fashion. Years go by, years and years and years. And Abraham wasn't without fault. He did doubt… He did. So when we read that 'he had patiently endured' it doesn't mean he didn't have his doubts. He took Sarah's maid to have children with her at Sarah's request. People sometimes try to lay the blame for that on Sarah, but would Abraham have agreed to take Hagar and have children with her if he wasn't doubting at all?
We have our doubts in our walk with Christ, even as we hope for Salvation and have faith, we do sometimes doubt. Can we doubt without wavering? You can. You know what I’m talking about don't you? You keep doing something, you keep at it even though you aren't sure it will work out. You might even voice your doubt but you keep on keeping on as the saying goes. Your actions say you are in it until the end no matter the outcome. You are in it until the end, you know you are, but that doesn't keep you from wondering, it doesn't keep you from doubting that you're doing the right thing.
Life is tumultuous at best. We have hope in our own lives because we know that some of God's beloved had doubts, that some of God's beloved were blatant sinners who repented- giving us hope. We have our examples of faith, faith that believes even if doubts are apparent.
Have you ever trusted in someone but doubted in them at the same time? I know I have. That desire to trust them is there, the hope to trust them is there, but doubts rear up their ugly heads and while we continue to trust we doubt. We have faith even through all the doubts, doubts Satan will play on hoping that we'll lose faith, that we'll stop hoping, that we'll stop believing.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
He patiently endured. He endured through the doubts. He persevered through the doubts. He didn't waver- He didn't turn his back on God even though he tried to work out how God was going to do as He promised, believing that maybe he had to help God out.
We have to endure through all our doubts. We can't waver though we doubt. We have to keep on through all the turmoil life throws at us. We might question but through all the questions that faith has to remain. Through all the misunderstanding, we have to remain in love. Love is a choice and we have to choose love always in Christ!
By His Grace! By His Love! In Him Always!
Amen.
9/14/11
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the
sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places.
Again,
there is no horse-no rider- no beast to portray this message to John - rather
as soon as Jesus opens the sixth seal John experiences a number of different
things all very physical in nature . He beheld instantly- there was no 'coming
and seeing', no 'and I looked and saw', these strange sights were seen one
after the other in quick succession.
A
great earthquake
Sun
black as a mourning symbol
Moon
as blood
Numerous
stars fell quickly to the earth
Heaven
departs as a scroll
Every
mountain and island moved
Tell
me why this sudden departure from seemingly completely symbolic gestures to the
physical signs in nature? Why the leap from following the time line of the
Seven Churches to seemingly jumping in this time period straight to the end of
all things? From the point in time after the sixth angel things would seem to
happen very
swiftlywithout slowing down right to the end of time, right?
Seriously,
think about it. In about the mid-1800's the knowledge of people all over the
world seemed to suddenly spring to life. By the early 1900's people had
invented things that would keep the ball in motion right up until where we are
today, after thousands of years of seeming stagnation with only little bouts of
inspiration. For example, the horse for transportation and such existed for
thousands of years- thousands, then suddenly we have cars. The increase in
knowledge didn't slow down either after a short burst. We didn't suddenly have
one startling change such as having the printing press or other noteworthy yet
seemingly singular invents taking place. We had this sudden outpouring of
knowledge and it hasn't ceased to this very day and it shows no sign of
stopping- people are not getting dumber, or slowing down, the fount of
knowledge hasn't been exhausted if anything it's increased exponentially and
continues to do so. You take a person from the 1700, 1800's and drop them into
the 1900's, or into the new millennium and there would be such shock it would
be unbelievable.
The
rapidity of events shown to John here in a very physical way are like markers
in time. This will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), this will happen
(when?), and so on right up to a point we haven't seen it happen and yet having
markers along the way tell you something don't they? Think about it.
You're
on a trail with markers along the path - will you expect the markers to remain
true to form until you reach your destination? You would.
Here
are markers in time that are so blatant that to ignore them is to risk ignoring
the fact that Christ is returning and the world is as we know it is ending.
Following markers is important even if there are varying lengths of time
between them. If I'm journeying on a supposedly marked path, I keep on it and
hope for the markers even if it seems like a long, long time since I've seen
the last marker. That hope for the last marker has to remain and it's through
faith that hope stays firm. The hope for the last marker is the hope for the
end of the journey. Christ
admonishes the Laodicean church to buy of Him gold tried in fire- faith. Through
the early time period of these markers it's easy to follow, to believe, and the
sixth church of Philadelphia has this remarkable renewal of faith, a clarity of
these markers.
A
GREAT EARTHQUAKE -
The
1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place
on 1 November 1755, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake)
SUN
BLACK as the mourning symbol -
The
Great Dark Day - New England's Dark Day refers to an event which occurred on 19
May 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New
England states and parts of Canada. The primary cause of the event is believed
to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud
cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It
did not disperse until the middle of the next night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England's_Dark_Day)
MOON
AS BLOOD -
Moon
Turned Into Blood - "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31 May
19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses, no
period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration has ever been
recorded. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31.
The
moon became as red as blood on the night of the "dark day," May 19, 1780. Milo
Bostick in Stone's History of Massachusetts says, "The moon which was at its
full, had the appearance of blood."
(http://www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/moon-turned-into-blood.aspx
"New
England's Dark Day" in The Weather Doctor Almanac 2004. Retrieved from http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2004/alm04may.htm.
"An
Account of a very uncommon Darkness, in the State of New England, May 19, 1780"
in The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an
Enlarged Plan, p. 519.
^
Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 193 )
Numerous
STARS FELL Quickly to the Earth -
Silliman
believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much
attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November
1833.[23] People all across the Eastern US saw thousands of meteors, radiating
from a single point in the sky. Astute observers noticed that the radiant, as
the point is now called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation
Leo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid)
The
meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over
one hundred thousand meteors an hour,[2] but another, done as the storm abated,
estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour[3] over the entire
region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It was marked by the
Native Americans, slaves and owners, and many others. That same 1833 shower,
near Independence, Missouri, was taken as a sign to push the growing Mormon
community out of the area.[3]
(http://www.answers.com/topic/leonids)
*******
Heaven
Departs as a Scroll
Every
Mountain and Island Moved
*******
Now
we come to a time when the heaven departs as a scroll- how does a scroll depart
when it's rolled together? If you have a scroll laid out on a table you put
weights down on the corners to hold it open, don't you? It's hard to study
otherwise, unless you are just going to stretch out your arms and put your
hands on it to keep the two halves from closing. What happens when you lift the
weights, or your hands? It snaps back into place doesn't it? And very quickly
at that.
So
the heavens departing in a snap - has this happened? We've breached the
atmosphere sending shuttles into space and still the sky doesn't snap away does
it? Surely we'd know. We've set off atomic bombs which have sent mushroom clouds
billowing upwards spreading the poison it contains for miles, but have the
heavens departed? No.
This
is a marker in time that hasn't occurred- in fact the last marker would be in
1833 almost 176 years ago. Time indeed for the waters to become lukewarm.
This
day is coming there is no doubt about it, and only those who are not
lukewarm but found counseled by Christ will escape the dreadful coming of the
end of times for those not found safe in the righteousness of Christ.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come;
and who shall be able to stand?
John
saw this amazing trail of events and then it ended and he was seeing after
those things - this:
Rev 7:1 And after these things I saw four
angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the
earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any
tree.
The
angels of God are holding in check the strife that would come upon the earth
should they not hold it back. Why are they holding it back? Because of
this...
Rev 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from
the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to
the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the
sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which
were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all
the tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe
of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe
of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the
tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Those
that are God's in this time before the angels fully release the winds of strife
will be sealed. Sealed how? If I give my seal of approval it means nothing
unless say you are my child- my son or daughter. They do something and I
approve, giving them my seal of approval and it means a lot to them, it shows
my approval of them which they hold in high esteem. If God seals us we are
sealed as being His. We are given a mark that reveals that we are His and He
approves of us. God approves of
our total reliance upon the Son of God for all things, for allowing Christ's
righteousness to reign in us, for accepting fully the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
our Lord and Savior.
After
the sealing John was allowed to see this:
Rev
7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo,
a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands;
Rev
7:10 And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Rev
7:11 And all the angels stood
round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev
7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and
glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto
our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Amazing!
Such a glorious sight! John witnessed the saints throughout time gathered
before the throne of God, the angels, the elders, the beasts all of them fell
before the throne and worshipped God! Truly this was an amazing sight to
behold. God reigns forever in all blessing, all glory, all wisdom, all
thanksgiving, all honor, all power, all might to God! Forever and ever!
Was
John through with this vision yet? No. One of those 24 elders before the throne
spoke to John as he witnessed the wonder of things to come.
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and
whence came they?
The
elder wanted to know what John thought he was seeing. He asked- What are those
in white robes and where did they come from? John answers--
Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
He
doesn't presume to know does he? He doesn't launch into some speech about who
he thinks they are or where they come from but he tells the elder that the
elder himself knows. He doesn't even ask that it be revealed to him, but lets
the elder decide if that is something he wishes to reveal and he does...
Rev
7:14 ...And he said to me, These
are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev
7:15 Therefore are they before
the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that
sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev
7:16 They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev
7:17 For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
How
amazing! How beautiful! John is told the truth of the whole matter.
Those
who come through the great tribulation- for what other tribulation is there
than to fight in the war of good and evil and prevail through Jesus Christ our
Savior?
This
is a battle we ALL fight in, we are all called to war in it by our very birth.
Those
who take their own filthy garments of unrighteousness and wash them in the
blood of the Lamb are truly making them white in His righteousness, pure in the
only righteousness that exists anywhere- the righteousness found alone in
Christ.
Those
who do this, who claim Christ's righteousness will stand before the throne of
God- they will serve him always in his temple and that is wherever He dwells.
No more hunger of any type! No more thirst of any kind! No more sun and heat to
burn us and we will be fed by Jesus! We will be taken to the living fountain of
water! And GOD shall wipe the tears from our eyes! Tears that we know so well,
so deeply, agonizingly felt for all that goes on around about us.
May
God bless and keep us! May God accept us through the righteousness of His Son
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever may we be found in Him
forgiven by Him as we ask for forgiveness and repent of our sins.
By
His grace!
Amen
...
And the second angel sounded,
and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea
and the third part of the sea became blood
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea
and had life,
died
and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
...
Again - Taking from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith--
*
The Second Trumpet.--The Roman Empire, after Constantine the Great, was divided into three parts. Hence the frequent remark, "a third part of men," is an allusion to the third part of the empire which was under the scourge. This division of the Roman kingdom was made at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius possessed the East, and fixed his residence at Constantinople, the metropolis of the empire. Constantine II held Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Constans held Illyricum, Africa, and Italy.
The sounding of the second trumpet evidently relates to the invasion and conquest of Africa, and afterward of Italy, by Gaiseric (Genseric), king of the Vandals. His conquests were for the most part naval, and his triumphs were "as it were a great mountain burning with fire, cast into the sea."
What figure would better, or even so well, illustrate the collision of navies, and the general havoc of war on the maritime coasts? In explaining this trumpet, we are to look for some events which will have a particular bearing on the commercial world. The symbol used naturally leads us to look for agitation and commotion. Nothing but a fierce maritime warfare would fulfill the prediction.
If the sounding of the first four trumpets relates to four remarkable events which contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire, and the first trumpet refers to the ravages of the Goths under Alaric, in this we naturally look for the next succeeding act of invasion which shook the Roman power and conduced to its fall.
The next great invasion was that of Genseric, at the head of the Vandals. His career reached its height between the years A.D. 428-468. This great Vandal chief had his headquarters in Africa. But as Gibbon states, "The discovery and conquest of the black nations [in Africa], that might dwell beneath the torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he cast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a naval power, and his bold resolution was executed with steady and active perseverance." [5] From the port of Carthage he repeatedly made piratical sallies, preyed on the Roman commerce, and waged war with that empire. To cope with this sea monarch, the Roman emperor, Majorian, made extensive naval preparations.
"The woods of the Apennines were felled; the arsenals and manufacturers of Ravenna and Misenum were restored; Italy and Gaul vied with each other in liberal contributions to the public service; and the imperial navy of three hundred large galleys, with an adequate proportion of transports and smaller vessels, was collected in the secure and capacious harbor of Carthagena in Spain. . . . But Genseric was saved from impending and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some powerful subjects, envious, or apprehensive, of their master's success. Guided by their secret intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in the Bay of Carthagena: many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt; and the preparations of three years were destroyed in a single day. . . .
"The kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western Empire was gradually reduced, was afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant depredations of the Vandal pirates. In the spring of each year, they equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage; and Genseric himself, though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person the most important expeditions. . . .
"The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece, and Sicily. . . .
"The celerity of their motions enabled them, almost at the same time, to threaten and to attack the most distant objects, which attracted their desires; and as they always embarked a sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed, than they swept the dismayed country with a body of light calvary." [6]
A last and desperate attempt to dispossess Genseric of the sovereignty of the seas, was made in the year 468 by Leo I, the emperor of the East. Gibbon bears witness to this as follows:
"The whole expense of the African campaign, by whatsoever means it was defrayed, amounted to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold, about five million and two hundred thousand pounds sterling. . . . The fleet that sailed from Constantinople to Carthage consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand men. . . . The army of Heraclius and the fleet of Marcellinus either joined or seconded the imperial lieutenant. . . . The wind became favorable to the design of Genseric. He manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the Moors and Vandals, and they towed after them many large barks filled with combustible materials. In the obscurity of the night, these destructive vessels were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting fleet of the Romans, who were awakened by the sense of their instant danger. Their close and crowded order assisted the progress of the fire, which was communicated with rapid and irresistible violence; and the noise of the wind, the crackling of the flames, the dissonant cries of the soldiers and mariners, who could neither command nor obey, increased the horror of the nocturnal tumult. Whilst they labored to extricate themselves from the fire ships, and to save at least a part of the navy, the galleys of Genseric assaulted them with temperate and disciplined valor; and many of the Romans who escaped the fury of the flames, were destroyed or taken by the victorious Vandals. . . . After the failure of this great expedition, Genseric again became the tyrant of the sea; the coasts of Italy, Greece, and Asia were again exposed to his revenge and avarice; Tripoli and Sardinia returned to his obedience; he added Sicily to the number of his provinces; and before he died, in the fullness of years and of glory, he beheld the final extinction of the empire of the West." [7]
Concerning the important part which this bold corsair acted in the downfall of Rome, Gibbon uses this significant language: "Genseric, a name which, in the destruction of the Roman Empire, has deserved an equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila." [8]
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
[6] Ibid., 481-486.
[7] Ibid., 495-498.
[8] Ibid., chap. 33, p. 370.
*******
Revelation
...
And the third angel sounded,
and there fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp,
and it fell upon the third part of the rivers,
and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood:
and the third part of the waters became wormwood;
and many men died of the waters,
because they were made bitter.
...
Taken from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith-
*
The Third Trumpet.--In the interpretation and application of this passage, we are brought to the third important event which resulted in the subversion of the Roman Empire. In revealing the historical fulfillment of this third trumpet, we shall be indebted to the notes of Albert Barnes for a few extracts. in explaining this scripture, it is necessary, as this commentator says, "that there would be some chieftain or warrior who might be compared with a blazing meteor; whose course would be singularly brilliant; who would appear suddenly like a blazing star, and then disappear like a star whose light was quenched in the waters. That the desolating course of that meteor would be mainly on those portions of the world that abounded with springs of water and running streams. That an effect would be produced as if those streams and fountains were made bitter; that is, that many persons would perish, and that wide desolations would be caused in the vicinity of those rivers and streams, as if a bitter and baleful star should fall into the waters, and death should spread over the lands adjacent to them, and watered by them." [9]
It is here premised that this trumpet has allusion to the desolating wars and furious invasions of Attila, king of the Huns, against the Roman power. Speaking of this warrior, particularly of his personal appearance, Barnes says:
"In the manner of his appearance, he strongly resembled a brilliant meteor in the sky. He came from the East gathering his Huns, and poured them down, as we shall see, with the rapidity of a flashing meteor, suddenly on the empire. He regarded himself also as devoted to Mars, the god of war, and was accustomed to array himself in a peculiarly brilliant manner, so that his appearance, in the language of his flatterers, was such as to dazzle the eyes of beholders." [10]
In speaking of the locality of the events predicted by this trumpet, Barnes has this note:
"It is said particularly that the effect would be on 'the rivers' and on 'the fountains of waters.' If this has a literal application, or if, as was supposed in the case of the second trumpet, the language used was such as had reference to the portion of the empire that would be particularly affected by the hostile invasion, then we may suppose that this refers to those portions of the empire that abounded in rivers and streams, and more particularly those in which the rivers and streams had their origin--for the effect was permanently in the 'fountains of waters.' As a matter of fact, the principal operations of Attila were in the regions of the Alps, and on the portions of the empire whence the rivers flow down into Italy. The invasion of Attila is described by Gibbon in this general language: 'The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field.' " [11]
The Name of the Star Is Called Wormwood.--The word "wormwood" denotes bitter consequences. "These words--which are more intimately connected with the preceding verse, as even the punctuation in our version denotes--recall us for a moment to the character of Attila, to the misery of which he was the author or the instrument, and to the terror that was inspired by his name.
" 'Total extirpation and erasure,' are terms which best denote the calamities he inflicted. . . .
"It was the boast of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot which his horse had trod. 'The scourge of God' was a name that he appropriated to himself, and inserted among his royal titles. He was 'the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world.' The Western emperor with the senate and people of Rome, humbly and fearfully deprecated the wrath of Attila. And the concluding paragraph of the chapters which record his history, is entitled, 'Symptoms of the Decay and Ruin of the Roman Government.' The name of the star is called wormwood." [12]
[9] Albert Barnes, Notes on Revelation, p. 239, comment on Revelation 8: 11.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid., p. 240.
[12] Alexander Keith, Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 267-269.
*******
Revelation
...
And the fourth angel sounded,
and the third part of the sun was smitten
and the third part of the moon
and the third part of the stars
so as the third part of them was darkened
and the day shone not for a third part of it
and the night likewise.
And I beheld,
and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven
saying with a loud voice,
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
...
Taken from the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith--
The Fourth Trumpet.--We understand that this trumpet symbolizes the career of Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy, who was so intimately connected with the downfall of Western Rome. The symbols sun, moon, and stars--for they are undoubtedly here used as symbols--evidently denote the great luminaries of the Roman government, its emperors, senators, and consuls. The last emperor of Western Rome was Romulus, who in derision was called Augustulus, or the "diminutive Augustus." Western Rome fell in A.D. 476. Still, however, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subordinate luminaries shone faintly while the senate and consuls continued. But after many civil reverses and changes of political fortune, at length the whole form of the ancient government was subverted, and Rome itself was reduced from being the empress of the world to a poor dukedom tributary to the Exarch of Ravenna.
The extinction of the Western Empire is recorded by Gibbon as follows:
"The unfortunate Augustulus was made the instrument of his own disgrace: he signified his resignation to the senate; and that assembly, in their last act of obedience to a Roman prince, still affected the spirit of freedom, and the forms of the constitution. An epistle was addressed, by their unanimous decree, to the emperor Zeno, the son-in-law and successor of Leo, who had lately been restored, after a short rebellion, to the Byzantine throne. They solemnly 'disclaim the necessity, or even the wish of continuing any longer the imperial succession in Italy; since in their opinion the majesty of a sole monarch is sufficient to pervade and to protect, at the same time, both the East and the West. In their own name, and in the name of the people, they consent that the seat of universal empire shall be transferred from Rome to Constantinople; and they basely renounce the right of choosing their master, the only vestige that yet remained of the authority which had given laws to the world.' " [13]
Keith comments on the downfall of Rome:
"The power and glory of Rome as bearing rule over any nation, became extinct. The name alone remained to the queen of nations. Every token of royalty disappeared from the imperial city. She who had ruled over the nations sat in the dust, like a second Babylon, and there was no throne where the Caesars had reigned. The last act of obedience to a Roman prince which that once august assembly performed, was the acceptance of the resignation of the last emperor of the West, and the abolition of the imperial succession in Italy. The sun of Rome was smitten. . . .
"A new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, speedily arose, who unscrupulously assumed the purple, and reigned by the right of conquest. 'The royalty of Theodoric was proclaimed by the Goths (March 5, A.D. 493), with the tardy, reluctant, ambiguous consent of the emperor of the East.' The imperial Roman power, of which either Rome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the West or the East, was no longer recognized in Italy, and the 'thirdpart of the sun' was smitten till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The power of the Caesars was unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned over Rome.
"But though the third part of the sun was smitten, and the Roman imperial power was at an end in the city of the Caesars, yet the moon and the stars still shone, or glimmered, for a little longer in the Western hemisphere [empire], even in the midst of Gothic darkness. The consulship and the senate ["the moon and the stars"] were not abolished by Theodoric. 'A Gothic historian applauds the consulship of Theodoric as the height of all temporal power and greatness;'--as the moon reigns by night, after the setting of the sun. And instead of abolishing that office, Theodoric himself 'congratulates those annual favorites of fortune, who, without the cares, enjoyed the splendor of the throne.'
"But, in their prophetic order, the consulship and the senate of Rome met their fate, though they fell not by the hands of Vandals or of Goths. The next revolution in Italy was its subjection to Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of the East. He did not spare what barbarians had hallowed. 'The Roman Consulship Extinguished by Justinian, A.D. 541,' is the title of the last paragraph of the fortieth chapter of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of Rome. 'The succession of the consuls finally ceased in the thirteenth year of Justinian, whose despotic temper might be gratified by the silent extinction of a title which admonished the Romans of their ancient freedom.' 'The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars.' In the political firmament of the ancient world, while under the reign of imperial Rome, the emperorship, the consulate, and the senate shone like the sun, the moon, and the stars. The history of their decline and fall is brought down till the two former were 'extinguished,' in reference to Rome and Italy, which so long had ranked as the first of cities and countries; and finally, as the fourth trumpet closes, we see the 'extinction of that illustrious assembly,' the Roman senate. The city that had ruled the world, as if in mockery of human greatness, was conquered by the eunuch Narses, the successor of Belisarius. He defeated the Goths (A.D. 522 [*]), achieved 'the conquest of Rome,' and the fate of the senate was sealed." [14]
E. B. Elliott speaks of the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy in the extinction of the Western Empire, as follows:
"Thus was the final catastrophe preparing, by which the Western emperors and empire were to become extinct. The glory of Rome had long departed; its provinces one after another been rent from it; the territory still attached to it become like a desert; and its maritime possessions and its fleets and commerce been annihilated. Little remained to it but the vain titles and insignia of sovereignty. And now the time was come when these too should be withdrawn. Some twenty years or more from the death of Attila, and much less from that of Genseric (who, ere his death, had indeed visited and ravaged the eternal city in one of his maritime marauding expeditions, and thus yet more prepared the coming consummation), about this time, I say, Odoacer, chief of the Heruli--a barbarian remnant of the host of Attila, left on the Alpine frontiers of Italy--interposed with his command that the name and the office of Roman Emperor of the West, should be abolished. The authorities bowed in submission to him. The last phantom of an emperor--one whose name, Romulus Augustus, was singularly calculated to bring in contrast before the reflective mind the past glories of Rome and its present degradation--abdicated; and the senate sent away the imperial insignia to Constantinople, professing to the emperor of the East that one emperor was sufficient for the whole of the empire. Thus of the Roman imperial sun, that third which appertained to the Western Empire was eclipsed, and shown no more. I say that third of its orb which appertained to the Western empire; for the Apocalyptic fraction is literally accurate. In the last arrangement between the two courts, the whole of the Illyrian third had been made over to the Eastern division. Thus in the West 'the extinction of the empire' had taken place; the night had fallen.
"Notwithstanding this, however, it must be borne in mind that the authority of the Roman name had not yet entirely ceased. The senate of Rome continued to assemble as usual. The consuls were appointed yearly, one by the Eastern emperor, one by Italy and Rome. Odoacer himself governed Italy under a title (that of patrician) conferred on him by the Eastern emperor. And as regarded the more distant Western provinces, or at least considerable districts in them, the tie which had united them to the Roman Empire was not altogether severed. There was still a certain, though often faint, recognition of the supreme imperial authority. The moon and the stars might seem still to shine on the West with a dim reflected light. In the course of the events, however, which rapidly followed one on the other in the next half century, these, too, were extinguished. Theodoric the Ostrogoth, on destroying the Heruli and their kingdom at Rome and Ravenna, ruled in Italy from A.D. 493 to 526 as an independent sovereign; and on Belisarius's and Narses's conquest of Italy from the Ostrogoths (a conquest preceded by wars and desolations in which Italy, and above all its seven-hilled city, were for a time almost made desert), the Roman senate was dissolved, the consulship abrogated. Moreover, as regards the barbaric princes of the Western provinces, their independence of the Roman imperial power became now more distinctly averred and understood. After above a century and [a] half of calamities unexampled almost, as Dr. Robertson most truly represents is, in the history of nations, the statement of Jerome--a statement couched under the very Apocalyptic figure of the text, but prematurely pronounced on the first taking of Rome by Alaric,--might be considered as at length accomplished: 'Clarissimum terrarum lumen extinctum est.' 'The world's glorious sun has been extinguished;' or as the modern power has expressed it, still under the same Apocalyptic imagery--
'She saw her glories star by star expire.' till not even one star remained, to glimmer on the vacant and dark night." [15]
The fearful ravages of these barbarian hordes who under their bold but cruel and desperate leaders devastated Rome, are vividly portrayed in the following spirited lines:
"And then a deluge of wrath it came,
And the nations shook with dread;
And it swept the earth, till its fields were flame,
And piled with the mingled dead.
Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood,
With the low and crouching slave,
And together lay, in a shroud of blood,
The coward and the brave."
Fearful as were the calamities brought upon the empire by the first incursions of these barbarians, they were light as compared with the calamities which were to follow. They were but as the preliminary drops of a shower before the torrent which was soon to fall upon the Roman world. The three remaining trumpets are overshadowed with a cloud of woe, as set forth in the following verses.
Verse 13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.
This angel is not one of the series of the seven trumpet angels, but simply another heavenly messenger, who announces that the three remaining trumpets are woe trumpets, because of the more terrible events to take place under their sounding. Thus the next, or fifth trumpet, is the first woe; the sixth trumpet, the second woe; and the seventh, the last one in this series of seven trumpets, is the third woe.
[13] Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. III, chap. 36, p. 512.
[14] Alexander Keith, Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 280-283.
[15] Edward B. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, Vol. I, pp. 354-356.
[*] Edward Gibbon, in History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume IV, chapter 43, pages 273, 274, places the defeat and death of Teias, the last king of the Goths, in A.D. 533. This is the date usually accepted by historians, and is the one used by the author of this book. (See pages 127, 128.)--Editors.
*******
History.
Does it all fit? Only time will tell. Greater minds than mine have studied all this and put it together. I'm willing to entertain the idea that it fits and will continue to do so as I keep my mind open to be guided by the Lord to all truth.
May God continue to bless us as we seek to understand His word, putting things together as history unfolds.
9/14/10
Heb 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
The promises of God are sure. The promises of God are everlasting. The promises of God are given to us- all of us- and they are promises that won't be broken, that can't be broken.
Promises can take a long time to fulfill. The trouble with us we want instant fulfillment. Or, maybe we aren't expecting instant fulfillment, but we expect our promises to be fulfilled in a timely fashion. We set dates on our promises a lot of time. A promise isn't really broken unless there is a time limit attached to it, right? I'm not saying it's bad to make time limited promises, we almost have to don't we? I promise to get that room clean. It's no good to make that promise and not keep it in a timely fashion. Thirty years later and the room still isn't clean, well that's just crazy, right? I promise to love you. Now there's a promise we want to go on forever, don't we? I promise to be good. Another promise that hopefully won't ever end. We can promise things that might take a while though, can't we? I promise we'll go on vacation in Europe someday. What happens if that promise isn't kept in say ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? People stop believing as time goes on that promises will be kept. They lose hope that it will be kept. Maybe at forty years later finally it's possible for that vacation and the promise is kept- all is good. But that's not always the case with us and our promises. We sometimes make promises that are not kept, in fact we do it ALL the time. Why though? Why do we make promises we don't keep? Good intentions? Mostly likely it is good intentions although some times promises are made that are made with no intention of them being kept. A promise made to pacify someone. Yes, I'll love you and stay with you forever. Then the next day they're gone.
Promises.
Abraham was promised that his seed would be multiplied - that he would have many, many descendents. And upon having received that promise it is logical to imagine that he believed the promise would be fulfilled in a timely fashion. Years go by, years and years and years. And Abraham wasn't without fault. He did doubt… He did. So when we read that 'he had patiently endured' it doesn't mean he didn't have his doubts. He took Sarah's maid to have children with her at Sarah's request. People sometimes try to lay the blame for that on Sarah, but would Abraham have agreed to take Hagar and have children with her if he wasn't doubting at all?
We have our doubts in our walk with Christ, even as we hope for Salvation and have faith, we do sometimes doubt. Can we doubt without wavering? You can. You know what I’m talking about don't you? You keep doing something, you keep at it even though you aren't sure it will work out. You might even voice your doubt but you keep on keeping on as the saying goes. Your actions say you are in it until the end no matter the outcome. You are in it until the end, you know you are, but that doesn't keep you from wondering, it doesn't keep you from doubting that you're doing the right thing.
Life is tumultuous at best. We have hope in our own lives because we know that some of God's beloved had doubts, that some of God's beloved were blatant sinners who repented- giving us hope. We have our examples of faith, faith that believes even if doubts are apparent.
Have you ever trusted in someone but doubted in them at the same time? I know I have. That desire to trust them is there, the hope to trust them is there, but doubts rear up their ugly heads and while we continue to trust we doubt. We have faith even through all the doubts, doubts Satan will play on hoping that we'll lose faith, that we'll stop hoping, that we'll stop believing.
Heb 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
He patiently endured. He endured through the doubts. He persevered through the doubts. He didn't waver- He didn't turn his back on God even though he tried to work out how God was going to do as He promised, believing that maybe he had to help God out.
We have to endure through all our doubts. We can't waver though we doubt. We have to keep on through all the turmoil life throws at us. We might question but through all the questions that faith has to remain. Through all the misunderstanding, we have to remain in love. Love is a choice and we have to choose love always in Christ!
By His Grace! By His Love! In Him Always!
Amen.
9/14/11
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the
sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the
earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places.
Again,
there is no horse-no rider- no beast to portray this message to John - rather
as soon as Jesus opens the sixth seal John experiences a number of different
things all very physical in nature . He beheld instantly- there was no 'coming
and seeing', no 'and I looked and saw', these strange sights were seen one
after the other in quick succession.
A
great earthquake
Sun
black as a mourning symbol
Moon
as blood
Numerous
stars fell quickly to the earth
Heaven
departs as a scroll
Every
mountain and island moved
Tell
me why this sudden departure from seemingly completely symbolic gestures to the
physical signs in nature? Why the leap from following the time line of the
Seven Churches to seemingly jumping in this time period straight to the end of
all things? From the point in time after the sixth angel things would seem to
happen very
swiftlywithout slowing down right to the end of time, right?
Seriously,
think about it. In about the mid-1800's the knowledge of people all over the
world seemed to suddenly spring to life. By the early 1900's people had
invented things that would keep the ball in motion right up until where we are
today, after thousands of years of seeming stagnation with only little bouts of
inspiration. For example, the horse for transportation and such existed for
thousands of years- thousands, then suddenly we have cars. The increase in
knowledge didn't slow down either after a short burst. We didn't suddenly have
one startling change such as having the printing press or other noteworthy yet
seemingly singular invents taking place. We had this sudden outpouring of
knowledge and it hasn't ceased to this very day and it shows no sign of
stopping- people are not getting dumber, or slowing down, the fount of
knowledge hasn't been exhausted if anything it's increased exponentially and
continues to do so. You take a person from the 1700, 1800's and drop them into
the 1900's, or into the new millennium and there would be such shock it would
be unbelievable.
The
rapidity of events shown to John here in a very physical way are like markers
in time. This will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), this will happen
(when?), and so on right up to a point we haven't seen it happen and yet having
markers along the way tell you something don't they? Think about it.
You're
on a trail with markers along the path - will you expect the markers to remain
true to form until you reach your destination? You would.
Here
are markers in time that are so blatant that to ignore them is to risk ignoring
the fact that Christ is returning and the world is as we know it is ending.
Following markers is important even if there are varying lengths of time
between them. If I'm journeying on a supposedly marked path, I keep on it and
hope for the markers even if it seems like a long, long time since I've seen
the last marker. That hope for the last marker has to remain and it's through
faith that hope stays firm. The hope for the last marker is the hope for the
end of the journey. Christ
admonishes the Laodicean church to buy of Him gold tried in fire- faith. Through
the early time period of these markers it's easy to follow, to believe, and the
sixth church of Philadelphia has this remarkable renewal of faith, a clarity of
these markers.
A
GREAT EARTHQUAKE -
The
1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place
on 1 November 1755, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake)
SUN
BLACK as the mourning symbol -
The
Great Dark Day - New England's Dark Day refers to an event which occurred on 19
May 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New
England states and parts of Canada. The primary cause of the event is believed
to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud
cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It
did not disperse until the middle of the next night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England's_Dark_Day)
MOON
AS BLOOD -
Moon
Turned Into Blood - "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31 May
19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses, no
period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration has ever been
recorded. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31.
The
moon became as red as blood on the night of the "dark day," May 19, 1780. Milo
Bostick in Stone's History of Massachusetts says, "The moon which was at its
full, had the appearance of blood."
(http://www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/moon-turned-into-blood.aspx
"New
England's Dark Day" in The Weather Doctor Almanac 2004. Retrieved from http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2004/alm04may.htm.
"An
Account of a very uncommon Darkness, in the State of New England, May 19, 1780"
in The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an
Enlarged Plan, p. 519.
^
Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 193 )
Numerous
STARS FELL Quickly to the Earth -
Silliman
believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much
attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November
1833.[23] People all across the Eastern US saw thousands of meteors, radiating
from a single point in the sky. Astute observers noticed that the radiant, as
the point is now called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation
Leo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid)
The
meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over
one hundred thousand meteors an hour,[2] but another, done as the storm abated,
estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour[3] over the entire
region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It was marked by the
Native Americans, slaves and owners, and many others. That same 1833 shower,
near Independence, Missouri, was taken as a sign to push the growing Mormon
community out of the area.[3]
(http://www.answers.com/topic/leonids)
*******
Heaven
Departs as a Scroll
Every
Mountain and Island Moved
*******
Now
we come to a time when the heaven departs as a scroll- how does a scroll depart
when it's rolled together? If you have a scroll laid out on a table you put
weights down on the corners to hold it open, don't you? It's hard to study
otherwise, unless you are just going to stretch out your arms and put your
hands on it to keep the two halves from closing. What happens when you lift the
weights, or your hands? It snaps back into place doesn't it? And very quickly
at that.
So
the heavens departing in a snap - has this happened? We've breached the
atmosphere sending shuttles into space and still the sky doesn't snap away does
it? Surely we'd know. We've set off atomic bombs which have sent mushroom clouds
billowing upwards spreading the poison it contains for miles, but have the
heavens departed? No.
This
is a marker in time that hasn't occurred- in fact the last marker would be in
1833 almost 176 years ago. Time indeed for the waters to become lukewarm.
This
day is coming there is no doubt about it, and only those who are not
lukewarm but found counseled by Christ will escape the dreadful coming of the
end of times for those not found safe in the righteousness of Christ.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come;
and who shall be able to stand?
John
saw this amazing trail of events and then it ended and he was seeing after
those things - this:
Rev 7:1 And after these things I saw four
angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the
earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any
tree.
The
angels of God are holding in check the strife that would come upon the earth
should they not hold it back. Why are they holding it back? Because of
this...
Rev 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from
the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to
the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the
sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which
were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all
the tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe
of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe
of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the
tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Those
that are God's in this time before the angels fully release the winds of strife
will be sealed. Sealed how? If I give my seal of approval it means nothing
unless say you are my child- my son or daughter. They do something and I
approve, giving them my seal of approval and it means a lot to them, it shows
my approval of them which they hold in high esteem. If God seals us we are
sealed as being His. We are given a mark that reveals that we are His and He
approves of us. God approves of
our total reliance upon the Son of God for all things, for allowing Christ's
righteousness to reign in us, for accepting fully the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
our Lord and Savior.
After
the sealing John was allowed to see this:
Rev
7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo,
a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands;
Rev
7:10 And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Rev
7:11 And all the angels stood
round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev
7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and
glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto
our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Amazing!
Such a glorious sight! John witnessed the saints throughout time gathered
before the throne of God, the angels, the elders, the beasts all of them fell
before the throne and worshipped God! Truly this was an amazing sight to
behold. God reigns forever in all blessing, all glory, all wisdom, all
thanksgiving, all honor, all power, all might to God! Forever and ever!
Was
John through with this vision yet? No. One of those 24 elders before the throne
spoke to John as he witnessed the wonder of things to come.
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and
whence came they?
The
elder wanted to know what John thought he was seeing. He asked- What are those
in white robes and where did they come from? John answers--
Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
He
doesn't presume to know does he? He doesn't launch into some speech about who
he thinks they are or where they come from but he tells the elder that the
elder himself knows. He doesn't even ask that it be revealed to him, but lets
the elder decide if that is something he wishes to reveal and he does...
Rev
7:14 ...And he said to me, These
are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev
7:15 Therefore are they before
the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that
sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev
7:16 They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev
7:17 For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
How
amazing! How beautiful! John is told the truth of the whole matter.
Those
who come through the great tribulation- for what other tribulation is there
than to fight in the war of good and evil and prevail through Jesus Christ our
Savior?
This
is a battle we ALL fight in, we are all called to war in it by our very birth.
Those
who take their own filthy garments of unrighteousness and wash them in the
blood of the Lamb are truly making them white in His righteousness, pure in the
only righteousness that exists anywhere- the righteousness found alone in
Christ.
Those
who do this, who claim Christ's righteousness will stand before the throne of
God- they will serve him always in his temple and that is wherever He dwells.
No more hunger of any type! No more thirst of any kind! No more sun and heat to
burn us and we will be fed by Jesus! We will be taken to the living fountain of
water! And GOD shall wipe the tears from our eyes! Tears that we know so well,
so deeply, agonizingly felt for all that goes on around about us.
May
God bless and keep us! May God accept us through the righteousness of His Son
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever may we be found in Him
forgiven by Him as we ask for forgiveness and repent of our sins.
By
His grace!
Amen