Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 9
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Chapter Nine
THE FALL OF CHRISTENDOM
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall
from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given
the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose
a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by
reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the
earth: and unto them was given power, as the
scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not
hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green
thing, neither any tree; but only those men which
have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
This prophecy concerns the Muslim invasions of Asian and African
Christendom that began about 633 AD. At first, Muslim warriors
were noted for their justice and tolerance of other Faiths,
notably Sabaeanism, Christianity and Judaism._/1 Muslm warriors
were, however, ferocious fighters against idol worshippers and
other enemies of monotheism. It is important to understand that
the aggressive invasions of Islam were not instigated by Muhammad
but by the Successors (Caliphs) following the death of the
Prophet.
The question of the Successorship was the historical origin of
the Shi'ah and Sunni divisions of Islam._/2 The first four
Caliphs, often called the Rightly-Guided, generally followed the
policy laid down by Muhammad. However, according to Shi'ah
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belief, Muhammad had actually chosen His son-in-law, 'Ali, as His
Caliph. Although 'Ali later arose to His appointed station, He
was assasinated before He could consolidate His power. The
caliphate fell to the Umayyad pretender, Mu'awiya, whose father,
Abu-Sufyan, was the arch-enemy of Muhammad and His Revelation.
The course of political intrigue set in motion by Abu-Sufyan
eventually achieved success, and, by beclouding the principles of
Islam, Abu-Sufyan became a "fallen star."
The bottomless pit is the pit of
error._/3 The smoke arising from
the pit symbolizes obscurement.* *Smoke can also mean grave
The sun of spiritual truth was dissensions, abrogation of
obscured, and the atmosphere of recognized standards, and
nearness to God was stifled by the the destruction of their
smoke. "As for them who have narrow minded exponents.
disbelieved in Him, they shall be See _The Book of
in the shadow of a black Certitude_, p. 76.
smoke."--Baha'u'llah_/4
The scorpion was a quickfirer that permitted rapid discharge of
arrows._/5 John describes the plague of mounted warriors as
"locusts." The magnificent horses of the Arabian warriors are
commenorated in fable.
Grass, green things and trees are the commoners, the righteous
people and their spiritual leaders._/6 The command not to hurt
the righteous was given by Muhammad._/7
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill
them, but that they should be tormented five months:
and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion,
when he striketh a man.
6 And in thise days shall men seek death, and shall
not find it; and shall desire to die, and death
shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto
horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were
as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as
the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their
teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates
of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the
sound of chariots of many horses running
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to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there
were stings in their tails: and their power was to
hurt men five months.
A "month" is 30 years._/6 Hence, 5 months is 150 years. The
Muslim Empire was carved out in a space of about 150 years, from
the initial invasions of 633 AD until the peak of the Empire
under Caliph Harun ar-Rashid in 786 AD.
Verses 7 to 10 describe the appearance of the mounted Arabian
warriors (locusts), their quickfirers (scorpions), and the sound
of their chariots (wings). John's metaphor for the Arabian
warriors draws upon the contellation Sagittarius the Archer,
figure 17, which is adjacent to Scorpio the Scorpion and the
Southern Crown. Sagittarius was one of the four pillars or
corners during the age of Pisces, and also belongs to the "fiery
triplicity," verse 8:13.
[Drawing of constellation omitted.]
SAGITTARIUS-SCORPIO
Figure 17
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel
of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew
tongue is Abaddon, but in the greek tongue hath his
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name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes
more hereafter.
_Abaddon_ and _Apollyon_ mean "The Destroyer" and refer to the
Umayyad dynasty personified by Abu-Sufyan.
The woe that is past is the Advent of Muhammad. The two
remaining woes are to be the Advents of the Bab and Baha'u'llah.
<11 #1; 9:12 #1; G #6>
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice
from the four horns of the golden altar which is
before God.
13 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet,
Loose the four angels which are bound in the great
river Euphrates.
15 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.
The four horns_/9 symbolize the Four Winds of prophecy that blow
over the world of man. The symbolism of the four angels bound in
the Euphrates River is that Islam, bound together by the
Euphrates, will be the origin of the punishments and tests to
follow. The new Tetrad of four angels (see 7:1) will control the
corners of the square earth during the Dispensation of
Muhammad._/10 These angels are to "slay" a third part of men for
a period of 391 years.
The prophecy refers to the fall of Constantinople (Byzantium) and
Eastern Christendom_/11 to the Turks under Sultan Mehmet II on 30
May 1453. The period of time from 30 May 1453 to 23 May 1844,
the date of the second woe and the beginning of the Baha'i Era,
was 391 Roman years. This is the period of time that the third
part of Christendom would be cut off or deprived (slain),
beginning with the collapse of the Christian East and lasting for
the duation of the Dispensation of Muhammad. Mehmet's victory
was said to have cut off one-third of Christendom. By the year
1453, Christendom had become divided into
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these three major parts: the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman
Catholic, and the anti-papist Christians who would soon form the
Protestant branch._/13
The computation of time is as follows:
According to verse 15 the span of time is
BIBLICAL TERM CALENDAR TIME
1 "hour" an "hour"
1 "day" 1 year
1 "month" 30 years
1 "year" 360 years
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Total 391 years and an "hour"
Old Roman calendar years are meant because the prophecy is
addressed to the early Christians. The Roman year was 365 days
long with an extra day added every fourth or leap year. There
were 97 leap years between 1453 and 1844 AD. But by the Papal
Bull of 1582 AD, 10 days were removed from the calendar in 1582
and one more day was removed in 1600. Thus the number of days by
the Roman calendar between 30 May 1453 and 23 May 1844 was
(391)x(365)+97-10-1-7 \ 142,794 days, a span of time almost
exactly 391 old Roman years of 365 1/4 days. The "hour" refers
to "the time of the end" and the second woe. (Revelations 3:10,
11:13, 14:7, <11:13>) It will commence with the fulfillment of
the 391 years.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were
two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the
number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them
that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and
of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the
houses were as the heads of lions; and out of their
mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
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Two hundred thousand thousand
(200,000,000)* has an archetypal *The actual size of the
value of 2. Mehmet's army army was about 80.000.
consisted of his own Muslim
regulars and an independant army of Christians called
Janissaries. John "heard" the number of the army. In his vision
he "sees" the army that stormed Constantinople, describing early
flared cannons as "horses" with heads that roar like lions. The
description of the sulphurous (brimstone) smoke that issues from
their mouths is remarkably accurate. In the imagery of the first
century he describes the colorful armor and equopment of the
fifteenth century._/12
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,
by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
which issued out of their mouths.
19 For their power is in their mouths, and in their
tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and
had heads, and with them they do hurt.
Mehmet employed the Hungarian engineer, Urban, to construct the
cannons for the assault. The largest of these was 26 feet long
and fired a ball weighing 1,200 pounds. John explains that the
tails (breeches) of the houses (cannons) contain heads
(projectiles) with which they do damage.
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by
these plagues yet repented not of the works of their
hands, that they should not worship devils, and
idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and
of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk;
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of
their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of
their thefts.
John describes the state of affairs in Christendom and the Church
following 1453. The result was further disintegreation of
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the Church, religious wars, and the formation of the Protestant
and Catholic branches, and eventually hundreds of sects._/13
Notes to Chapter NIne
1. See References 31 and 32.
2. The Sunni position is that the Successorship should be a
matter of election of person most qualified to fill the position.
One can see parallels to this controversy among the Christian
churches; that is, was Peter the true Successor of Jesus, and
how valid is the claim of the Roman Catholic Church that the
papacy is descended from Peter?
3. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 60.
4. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, p. 43.
5. Reference 12, p. 228.
6. See Revelations 8:7.
7. Reference 31, pp. 176, 268; Reference 32, p. 57; _The Qur'an_
73:15, 46:11, 42:11.
8. See Table in Chapter 2.
9. The Jewish altar of burnt-offerings had a horn extending from
each of its four corners. In antiquity, an oath was contracted
by seizing a horn of the altar with the right hand. See Psalm
18:2; Leviticus 4:34; Ezekiel 43:20.
10. See Revelations 7:1.
11. The Eastern Roman Empire centered at Constantinople was
technically an extension of the old Roman Empire centerd at Rome.
After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire following the
invasions of Alaric, etc., the eastern part of the Empire
maintained the name of Rome. However, the eastern culture became
so different from that of the conquered West that most historians
classify the eastern part as a new empire and call it Byzantium.
Byzantium was oroginally the name of a small town at the entrance
to the Bosphorus where Constantine set up the eastern capital of
the Roman Empire.
The Holy Roman Empire, a third entity, was an amorphous political
grouping originated by Pope Leo III in 800 AD as an attempt to
resuscitate the Western Roman Empire. Its first "Emperor" was
Charlemagne. The attempt to revive Western
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Rome was a failure. In the words of Voltaire, the Holy Roman
Empire was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. It was
officially terminated in 1806 AD.
12. See Reference 33. The term "horse" is applied to various
mechanical contrivances in the modern lexicons.
13. The first definitive breach in the Western Church occurred in
1431 at the Council of Basel by which Hussitism was to be
tolerated in Bohemia. (Ref. 14, p. 241.) The ninety-five
theses were nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg
my Martin Luther in 1517.