With reference to the first question,—Has the present state of Turkey been foretold in prophecy? I have not the least hesitation in expressing my own conviction that it has been foretold in a most remarkable manner, and that the present state of things is nothing more than the fulfilment of what God predicted little less than 1800 years ago.
It is impossible in a short lecture to give all the reasons for this opinion. I can only attempt the barest outline. But we may gain some idea of the subject if we consider what is meant by the Euphrates; what by its overflow; and what by its drying up, as described in Rev. xvi. 12: ‘And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters thereof were dried up.’
I. The Euphrates. By this we must not understand the literal river, for the whole book is symbolical. The river, therefore, stands as the symbol for something else. It is this that makes the subject so difficult, for the symbols are like hieroglyphics, and therefore, though full of meaning, peculiarly liable to be misunderstood. The question then is, What is the power of which the Euphrates in this verse stands as a symbol, or hieroglyphic? Of course, in the answer to such a question we must distrust ourselves, and I dare not speak on it with the certainty with which we ought to speak of the plainly revealed facts of Scripture. All I can do is to express my own very confident conviction that by the Euphrates is symbolized the Ottoman, or, as it is frequently called, the Turkish Empire.
For this I give two reasons:—
(1.) It is the one great empire existing in the world that originated on the banks of the river Euphrates. It was in the district to the east of that river that the Turk, who originally came from Turkistan, became a formidable power, and from thence that the Turkish hosts were let loose against Roman Christendom. For we must remember that the Turks, or Ottomans, do not belong to the soil of Turkey. The French are the natives of France, and the Italians of Italy, but the Turks are not the natives of Turkey, but invaders from Asia. They hold the country by conquest. The head-quarters of the empire are now in Turkey, on the shores of the Bosphorus; but its birthplace was on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates.
(2.) There are two series of prophecies in the book of Revelation, the one given under the figure of seven trumpets, the other of seven vials, and they appear to be linked together by a very remarkable connexion as to the subject of the prophecies. You will see the correspondence clearly if you compare the account of the trumpets in chapters viii. and ix. with that of the vials in chapter xvi.
When the first trumpet sounded the judgment was on the earth, viii. 7; and so the first vial was poured on the earth, xvi. 2.
When the second trumpet sounded, the judgment was on the sea, chap. viii. 8. So the second vial was poured on the sea, xvi. 3.
When the third trumpet sounded, the judgment was on the rivers and fountains of waters, viii. 10. So the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and fountains of waters, xvi. 4.
When the fourth trumpet sounded, the judgment was on the sun, viii. 12. So the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun, xvi. 8.