01.33. The Fifth Trumpet

The Fifth Trumpet.

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star, which had fallen from heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and a smoke arose out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And locusts came out of the smoke into the earth: and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them that they should not injure the herbage of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree; but only those men who have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not allowed to kill them, but to torment them five months: and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days men will seek death, and will not find it; and will desire to die, and death will flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions. And they had breast-plates, like breast-plates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to injure men five months. They had a king over them, the messenger of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. One woe is past away; and behold, there come yet two woes hereafter."-- Revelation 9:1-12. The previous trumpets reveal the agencies which effected the dismemberment and overthrow of Western Rome. The fifth and sixth unfold those which terminated that empire in the east, embracing the territory between the Adriatic and Euphrates, the Lybian desert and the Danube. A star (Revelation 1:20) symbolizes a messenger, or head of a religious body, p. 31. Mohammed is generally regarded as represented by this symbol. He was, by birth, of the princely house of the Koreish, Governors of Mecca, a family of eminence. The star had fallen to the earth before opening the pit of the abyss, which illustrates the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, and the seeming termination of all his hopes. To save his life, he took refuge, with one companion, in a cave near Medina, in A. D. 622, which forms the epoch of the Hegira, i.e., of his flight. The bottomless pit, is where Satan is subsequently cast (Revelation 20:3); and the key of it being given to this agent, symbolizes his power to open and to cause the smoke to issue from it; the Satanic origin of which is thus indicated:

Smoke is an appropriate representative of error, and symbolizes the Mohammedan doctrines; which, like the smoke of a great furnace, were disseminated far and wide, subverting the religion, and, in time, effecting the overthrow of the remaining portion of the Roman empire--the sun, one-third of which was smitten under the fourth trumpet. The locusts were generated in the smoke from whence they issued. In a corresponding manner, the spread of Mohammedanism resulted in the organization of hordes of Saracens, who propagated the religion of the false prophet by the sword, and founded the famous Arabian empire, which extended from the Atlantic ocean to the river Euphrates. The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and the Saracenic hordes, thus symbolized, were mounted horsemen, famous for the swiftness of their flight or pursuit, and ever ready for the contest. Their crowns, faces, hair, teeth, breast-plates, &c., seem to be indicative of their personal appearance: on their heads they wore yellow turbans, like coronets; their demeanor was grave and firm; their hair, like that of women, was suffered to grow uncut; they were defended by the cuirass or breast-plate; and in rushing to battle, their onset was like that of chariots and many horses.

They had a king over them, named Abaddon in the Hebrew, and Apollyon in the Greek, both of which signified the Destroyer. The Saracens acknowledged the authority of Mohammed during the whole period of their conquests; not only recognizing him as their prophet and king during his lifetime, but his successors, after his death, considered and called themselves Mohammed’s Caliphs, or Vicars. Their mission was not against the grass, green things, and trees, but had express reference to the men who had not the seal of God in their foreheads. The antithesis here expressed, shows that by the former were symbolized the servants of God, and that these locust-warriors were particularly commissioned against infidels and apostates. Christians were not to be molested; and provision was made for their protection, in the circular letter which Abubekir sent to the Arabian tribes, A. D. 633. He said:

" ’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 battles 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 in retired monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy 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 Mohammedans or pay tribute.’ " At this epoch, the Greek church at Constantinople had been preserved from the reproach of image worship, and still later it made strenuous efforts against it; but the churches of the north of Africa, and the Asiatic portion of the Eastern empire, had become greatly debased, and worshipped saints and images. And while the territories of these were speedily subverted to Mohammedanism, and became a part of the Arabian empire, the east of Europe was wonderfully preserved from their inroads. Their power was not to kill, but to torment men five months. To kill, symbolically, according to the significance of the second seal, p. 60, is to compel men to apostasize; and they could not be in a condition to force their religion on the men of the eastern empire, without first subjecting it by force of arms. The time of this torment was limited to five prophetic months. In one hundred and fifty years from the Hegira the Saracen empire had ceased to be aggressive. In 762 Bagdad, the city of peace, was founded on the Tigris, by Al-Mansur, who died in 774. "From this time," says ROTTICK, "the Arabian history assumes an entirely different character." It was no longer progressive; the proud Saracen empire became dismembered, and three independent and hostile Caliphates, and several fragments of kingdoms, were formed from its ruins. In 841, the reigning Caliph at Bagdad, distrusting the spirit of his own troops, hired a body of fifty thousand Turkish soldiers, which he distributed in his dominions. These accelerated the ruin of the Caliphate, and, in time, the whole of the Saracen territory became subject to the Tartar rule, which had become Mohammedan, and also aimed to subject the eastern empire. The declaration that "one woe is past," Revelation 9:12, implies an interval between that and the woe following. In a corresponding manner, the crusaders from Europe, like the successive overflowing of a mighty river, restrained the Tartars from the conquest of Constantinople, which had now consented to image worship, till the sounding of: