15. What warlike scene is given under this trumpet?
“The number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: ... and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.” Verses 16, 17, R. V.
Notes.—“In the year 1453, Mohammed II, the Great, sultan of the Ottomans, laid siege to the capital [Constantinople], with an army of over 200,000 men. After a short investment, the place was taken by storm. The cross, which since the time of Constantine the Great had surmounted the dome of St. Sophia, was replaced by the crescent, which remains to this day.”—Myers's “General History,” edition 1902, pages 462, 463.
Thus Constantinople, the eastern seat of the Roman Empire since the days of Constantine, was captured by the Turks.
Reference also seems to be made here to the use of firearms, which began to be employed by the Turks toward the close of the thirteenth century, and which, discharged from horseback, would give the appearance of fire and smoke issuing from the horses' mouths. In the battle of Armageddon, to which allusion may here be made, an army of “twice ten thousand times ten thousand,” or two hundred million, will doubtless be assembled.
16. What was the result of this warfare by means of “fire and smoke and brimstone”?
“By these three was the third part of men killed.” Verse 18.
Note.—This shows the deadly effect of this new means of warfare. “Constantinople was subdued, her empire subverted, and her religion trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors.”—Elliott's “Horæ Apocalypticæ,” Vol. I, page 484.
17. What definite period is mentioned under this trumpet?
“And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month; and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” Verse 15.