The Hidden History of Verse Forty - Number Eighteen

The “key” representing the battle of Nineveh in Revelation nine was fulfilled with a history that produced a turning point, which, of course, is what a key does. My claim is that the battle of Nineveh was not only the historical key marking the rise of Islam, but that it is also a prophetic key. The prophetic dynamics of that battle bring all the lines of the kingdoms of Bible prophecy, as set forth in Daniel and Revelation, into alignment with the eleventh chapter of Daniel. In doing this, it allows those kingdoms to all testify to the last six verses of Daniel eleven, and more importantly—to unseal the external hidden history of verse forty.

The battle of Nineveh in 627 marked the beginning of the last ten years of the Persian power that had been defeated through the stratagem of Rome, accompanied with God’s providential fog. It marked the turning point where Mohammed’s Islamic hordes began to rise. The battle removed a restraint that had existed, a restraint that in theory would have remained, had Rome and Persia both retained their strength. Neither did.

In the prophetic representation of Islam, we find the restraint and release of Islam from the very first introduction of Scripture as Sarah convinced Abraham to restrain Hagar and Ishmael.

Even before that incident, the reason Hagar is introduced into the prophetic narrative is that the Lord has “restrained” Sarah from having a child.

The “key” of Revelation nine that was given to Mohammed, and was thereafter fulfilled by the battle of Nineveh, represents the removal of the “restraint” upon Islam at any given point in prophetic history.

The “rise and fall” of the kingdom of Mohammed is represented, not so much as a rise and a fall, but as a ‘release’ and a ‘restraint’. When Islam is released prophetically, the release has been illustrated by the battle of Nineveh.

Of the seven trumpets, only the woe trumpets of Islam span history as a consistent power from when they were first introduced into prophetic history unto the close of probation. The first four trumpets brought upon western Rome were represented by Odoacer, Genseric, Attila the Hun and Alaric, thus typifying four providential judgment powers in the latter days, but their modern counterpart is not a direct descendant of those four ancient powers. Not so with the woe trumpets. Once Islam enters history, it continues a direct line of release and restraint until it is fully released at the close of probation. With the woe trumpets, the “key” of ‘release’ is marked by the battle of Nineveh.

The pioneers correctly identified July 27, 1299, as the starting point of one hundred and fifty years that ended on July 27, 1449, which in turn began the three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days that concluded on August 11, 1840.

In the previous article, we identified the siege of 1333 unto 1337 that was brought upon Nicomedia by Sultan Orhan Gazi (son of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Beylik), when he laid siege to the important Byzantine city of Nicomedia. The siege is the conclusion of the warfare against Nicomedia that had begun with his father Osman. The one hundred and fifty years of Revelation nine, verse ten began on July 27, 1299, and as the beginning of a prophecy, the history associated with that beginning date is to be noted. Osman I (founder of the Ottoman dynasty) was Sultan Orhan Gazi’s father, who on July 27, 1299, achieved the significant early victory against the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Bapheus, which was in the region of Nicomedia, close to the city of Nicomedia, a very important capital city in Roman and early Byzantine history.

On July 27, 1299, Osman’s forces defeated a Byzantine army led by a local governor. The battle is considered one of the first major independent military successes of Osman after he had begun consolidating power in Bithynia (northwestern Anatolia). It marked an important step in the transition from a small Turkish beylik (tribal principality) to a rising power that would eventually challenge and conquer the Byzantine territories. That date marks the beginning of a period of growth for Islam that ultimately led to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire at the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Osman employed ghazi warriors (frontier raiders with Islamic motivation), and there began the formation of the ghazi frontier warriors into a more structured army that developed progressively from Osman and then on to his son, Orhan. Among other important elements of Osman’s legacy is that it allowed Islam to hold onto property, as opposed to the warfare of the ghazi warriors, whose disorganized hit-and-run tactics left them only the spoils of their victories, but never any territory.

On July 27, 1299, Osman began a campaign in the area of Nicomedia, and thirty-four years later his son began a four-year siege upon the capital city Nicomedia. The father at the beginning and the son at the ending. War begins against the area represented as Nicomedia and ends with the capturing of Nicomedia, the capital city of the area, Nicomedia. From 1299 unto 1337 is a thirty-eight-year period, and prophetically the number “thirty-eight” symbolizes a rising up.

The one hundred and fifty years from July 27, 1299 unto July 27, 1449 represents the period which led to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire of the second woe of Revelation chapter nine. The thirty-eight years of the progressive conquering of Nicomedia began with a father (Osman) and ended with his son (Orhan). The period portrays the first step of a progressive rise of a tribal principality unto an empire.

The one hundred and fifty years from July 27, 1299, unto July 27, 1449, includes a four-year siege that marks the end of the thirty-eight years. The beginning of the conquering of Nicomedia was by the father Osman, and the end was accomplished by a four-year siege from 1333 unto 1337—a siege carried out by Osman’s son.

When the one hundred and fifty years ended on July 27, 1449, the Byzantine emperor Constantine the eleventh, or the last Constantine of eastern Rome, sought permission from the Turks to take the throne. From that date until the conquering of Constantinople was four years. Those four years ended with the siege of Constantinople, and Constantine the last died in the siege. The rise of Islam is represented by the first thirty-eight years of the one-hundred-and-fifty-year prophecy, that culminated in a four-year siege. When the one hundred and fifty years ended, Islam had risen to a point where eastern Rome was humiliated by the power that the Turks then possessed. From the humiliation of July 27, 1449, four years later in 1453, Constantinople was taken by a siege. The end of the first thirty-eight years is marked by a siege, and the establishment of the Ottoman Empire is marked by a siege.

The number thirty-eight as a symbol as set forth by Moses in Deuteronomy represents the last thirty-eight years of the judgment of forty years’ wandering in the wilderness. Therefore, the number thirty-eight, as a symbol, possesses a connection to the number forty. Osman took the territory of Nicomedia on July 27, 1299, and thirty-eight years later his son took the capital city of the territory. The territory and the capital city both were Nicomedia. Historians identify this battle as the first of ‘two’ steps that identify the very beginning of the rising up of the Ottoman Empire. The second step identified by history is the battle of Nicaea in 1301. There the father Osman took the territory called Nicaea, and in 1331, thirty years later, his son took the capital city, named Nicaea, a former Roman capital city.

In relation to 1299 and the battle of Nicomedia, as the first of two steps, the second step came two years later in 1301. 1299 is a symbol of thirty-eight, and two years later (forty), the territory of Nicaea is taken by the father. The thirty-eight and forty relationships of ancient Israel rising up to take the promised land are represented in July 27, 1299, and 1301. Those first two steps of Islam rising are marked by military campaigns that begin with the father conquering the territory and the son conquering the capital of the territory at the end. When the two capitals fell, they fell at a siege. Both capitals were at some point capitals of eastern Rome.

July 27, 1299, and 1301 reach their conclusion on August 11, 1840, representing the history of 1838, when Litch first published his view and prediction of the three-hundred-and-ninety-one-year-and-fifteen-day prophecy that would ultimately be fulfilled on August 11, 1840. The two steps of rising up for the Millerites were the years 1838 and 1840.

Litch’s '38 prediction and his corrected vision of '40 include his final statement, which he penned on August 1, ten days before the corrected prediction. It was the fulfillment of the prediction that convinced the world of the correct methodology of biblical prophecy. The thirty-eight years that marked the rising up of ancient Israel included the two years from the Red Sea crossing unto the first rebellion at Kadesh.

That rebellion is identified as the final of ten tests. A two-year testing period of ten tests added to thirty-eight years in the wilderness typified 1838 and 1840, and 1840 contained a period of ten days.

The starting point of the rise of Islam with Osman on July 27, 1299 begins a thirty-eight-year period that ends with a four-year siege in 1337. July 27, 1299 was the first of two steps historians identify as the starting point of the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and the second step was 1301. The two steps of the battles of Nicomedia and Nicaea in 1299 and 1301 typify 1838 and 1840. The beginning of the prophecy illustrates the end.

Nicomedia and Nicaea both temporarily served as capitals of eastern Rome in their respective histories. Of course, Constantinople ultimately became the eastern capital in 330, remaining so until 1453. Nicomedia and Nicaea typify the fall of Constantinople; all fell from Islamic sieges that marked the conclusion of a campaign where Islam first took control of the territory and thereafter took the capital city.

The first siege of four years from 1333 unto 1337 represents the four years from 1449 to 1453 when the prophecy ended. Three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days later, Islam is restrained as the Millerites ‘rise’ under the prophetic power represented in the characteristics ‘thirty-eight and forty’ as represented in the alpha history of July 27, 1299, and July 27, 1449. The rising up of Islam and the rising up of God’s latter-day messengers are represented in a numerical symbol which is constructed by the numerical relationship of 38 and 40.

In Ezekiel thirty-seven Islam is the message of the east wind that is breathed upon the dead dry bones that they might stand up as a mighty army. When Ezekiel’s message arrives the rising up begins, as it did in the Millerite history of 1838 and 1840. That message arrived on 9/11 and at the soon-coming Sunday law those bones stand up as a mighty army. The raising up of God’s army as the church triumphant in the latter days is typified by 1838 and 1840. 9/11 unto the Sunday law was typified by 1840 to 1844, but it also typifies the period from December 31, 2023 unto the fireballs of Nashville.

The period from the division of the empire by Constantine the first (the Great) unto the last Constantine represents the prophetic history of eastern Rome. The prophetic period is therefore marked by a prophetic or symbolic father and a son, as represented by their name, though there was no direct blood descent between Constantine the Great and Constantine the eleventh. The first and last Constantine are also represented prophetically as alpha and omega symbols, and the father (alpha) chose Constantinople as the capital, and the son (omega) died in the siege when Constantinople ceased to be the capital. The prophetic period of eastern Rome is marked by the first and last Constantine. The period of 150 years that began on July 27, 1299, includes a 38-year period and ends with a 4-year siege. That siege typified 1449 to 1453. The campaign of Nicomedia began with a territory being conquered and ended with the capital of the territory being conquered. As with the first and last Constantine, the conquering of Nicomedia began with a father (the first) and ended with a son (the last).

A four-year siege in the opening period of the one hundred and fifty years that led to the four years from the humiliation of Constantine the last in 1449 unto 1453 when Constantinople was besieged and fell. The time prophecy of the second woe representing three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days began on July 27, 1449 and it ended on August 11, 1840. That date marks the beginning of a four-year period which Sister White called a glorious manifestation of the power of God.

Islam was restrained on August 11, 1840 and there was a four-year period which aligns with both the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the descent of the mighty angel of Revelation eighteen, when the “great buildings” of New York were struck by Islam of the third woe on 9/11. 9/11 marks the beginning of the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. The sealing is a period of time, and the ending of the period of the sealing possesses the characteristics of the beginning of the period. When Christ descended at 9/11, he typified Michael descending to resurrect the two witnesses on December 31, 2023, when the final period of the sealing began.

The key which is the battle of Nineveh represents the various releases of Islam, that would bring down eastern Rome by 1453. Within the one hundred and fifty years of verse ten’s “five months,” the beginning and also the ending contain a four-year period. Those two four-year periods connect with the conclusion of the three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days, that marked a four-year period from 1840 to 1844 when Christ would lighten “the whole earth with his glory.” In 1844, prophetic time ceased to be applied, for time would be, “no longer.”

Those three lines of four-year periods align with the sealing time from 9/11 unto the Sunday law, and they also align with the fractal of 9/11 unto the Sunday law that is represented from December 31, 2023 until Islam is again released to deliver the fireballs of Nashville.

The prophetic fractal of December 31, 2023, to the fireballs of Nashville has been typified by three four-year prophetic periods that all align with the sealing time from 9/11 to the Sunday law. Thus, four witnesses identify the history of December 31, 2023, until the Nashville attack, and it was the battle of Nineveh that is the “key” for each of these witnesses. 1333, 1449, 1840 and 9/11 were all turning points—“keys.”

After becoming emperor in 284, in 293, Diocletian chose Nicomedia as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire when he legally divided the empire into East and West, establishing the Tetrarchy system. Nicomedia served as the main administrative and military capital in the East for several decades. Constantine the Great used it as a base before deciding to build the new capital at nearby Byzantium (which he renamed Constantinople in 330). Even after Constantinople became the main capital, Nicomedia remained a major regional center, strategically located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara. So, while it was not the permanent capital like Rome or Constantinople, Nicomedia was officially designated as the eastern capital during a key transitional period in Roman history. At the beginning of the one hundred and fifty years, a capital of eastern Rome is conquered, and at the ending a capital of eastern Rome is conquered. Both conquerings included a siege.

The emperor Diocletian officially made Nicomedia the eastern capital of the Roman Empire when he implemented the Tetrarchy system in 293. The Tetrarchy system was made up of a western and eastern division of the empire, both east and west having a senior emperor (Augustus) and a junior emperor (Caesar) to make up the number four that is represented by the word ‘tetrarchy’.

Diocletian is the omega symbol of the church of Smyrna, and Nero is the alpha symbol. Constantine the Great is the alpha symbol of the church of Pergamos, and Justinian is the omega symbol.

The ‘legal’ division of Rome into east and west (which did not last) was accomplished by Diocletian, and the prophetic division of Rome into east and west was accomplished by Constantine. During the history of the second symbolic church of persecution, represented by Smyrna, Rome was legally divided into east and west and in the history of the third symbolic church of compromise, represented by Pergamos, Rome was prophetically divided into east and west. 293 was the alpha and 330 was the omega and on May 11, 330, Constantine the Great dedicated Constantinople as the capital of the Empire.

The legal division by Diocletian in 293 fell apart through civil war that followed until the Edict of Milan in the year 313. When the Edict of Milan was issued, legalizing Christianity and effectively ending the Tetrarchy, the system of four coordinated rulers collapsed into a struggle between two main powers (Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East). The legal division, which ushered in a collapse, represents a twenty-year period from division to division, and both divisions precipitated a collapse of the system.

The church of Smyrna began with Nero in 64 when the great fire of Rome was employed by Nero to persecute Christians, who Nero accused of starting the fire. Nero marks the beginning of persecution and typifies the final persecution of the latter days. That final persecution continues until the close of probation, when the papal power comes to its end with none to help. Thus the first period of persecution began with the burning of Rome and the last persecution ends with the burning of Rome.

The church of Smyrna began with Nero in 64 when the great fire of Rome was employed by Nero to persecute Christians, whom Nero accused of starting the fire. Two hundred and fifty years later it ended in 313 with the Edict of Milan. The “edict” is the ending of a twenty-year period that began with Diocletian’s legal division, and it was also the end of the two hundred and fifty years of Smyrna that began with Nero. The two hundred and fifty years of persecution represented by the church of Smyrna and Nero included the ten years of the very worst persecution brought about by Diocletian. That ten years of persecution was the last half of twenty years of Diocletian that began with his legal division of the empire in 293. From the legal division into east and west by Diocletian in 293 began a twenty-year period that was made up of two ten-year periods.

Diocletian legally divided the empire into east and west, thus typifying the prophetic division accomplished by Constantine. Diocletian’s division was east and west, but it consisted of two rulers in the east and two rulers in the west. One primary and one secondary ruler for each area. On February 24, 303, Diocletian issued the first of several ‘edicts’ against Christians, marking the start of the Great Persecution (also called the Diocletianic Persecution), the most severe and widespread persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

The Great Persecution continued under Diocletian’s successors (especially Galerius) until 313, when it ended at the Edict of Milan. Nero is the alpha symbol of persecution that typified Diocletian as the omega persecution of the prophetic period represented by the church of Smyrna. The persecution concluded with a political marriage and a treaty between Constantine of the west and Licinius of the east. In February 313, Constantine and Licinius met in Milan and issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious tolerance to Christians (and others) across the empire. To strengthen their political alliance, Licinius married Constantia (Constantine’s half-sister) during or around this meeting. This marriage was a classic Roman political alliance—sealing the agreement between the two emperors and helping stabilize the empire temporarily after years of civil war. The alliance did not last long. Constantine and Licinius later fought each other, and Constantine defeated Licinius in 324, becoming the sole ruler.

From Nero to Constantine, the prophetic period of Smyrna of two hundred and fifty years was accomplished, and in 313 the church of Pergamos, the church of compromise, began, ending with the church of Thyatira in 538. The two hundred and fifty years of Smyrna represented a period of persecution, and in the ending of the overall period, Diocletian's persecution fulfilled Revelation’s “ten days” (ten years) where the worst period of persecution represents a fractal of the overall period. The ten years are a fractal of the two hundred and fifty years. Those ten years represent the omega of Nero’s persecution, and at their conclusion the omega division of the empire into east and west.

Smyrna began at the burning of Rome in 64 and ended two hundred and fifty years later in 313 with the Edict of Milan and the political marriage of east and west. The ten-year fractal of persecution began in 303 and ended in 313 with the Edict of Milan and the political marriage of east and west. The twenty years that began with the legal division of east and west in 293 by Diocletian ended in 313 with the political marriage of east and west. The marriage treaty of 313 between east and west ended with the divorce of 324, when Constantine defeated Licinius of the east and became sole ruler of Rome. The prophetic divorce of 324 came three years after the first Sunday law in 321.

The seventeen years from 313 unto 330 identify a political marriage, and the end of the persecution represented by Smyrna and Nero, and the beginning of the church of compromise represented by Pergamos. The beginning of Pergamos in 313 at the marriage was followed by the beginning of the persecution that began at the first Sunday law in 321. That was followed by the prophetic divorce of 324, which brought east and west into one empire under Constantine. Six years later in 330, the division into east and west was prophetically repeated. The seventeen years represent the alpha period of the church of Pergamos that would continue until the church of Thyatira arrived in prophetic history in 538. That alpha period would represent an omega history at the end of the period from 330 unto 538. The omega history of Pergamos represents the period of 496, 508 and 533.

Ptolemy of the battle of Raphia reigned “seventeen years,” and there were “seventeen years” between the battle of Raphia and the battle of Panium. Those seventeen years symbolically align with the seventeen years from 313 unto 330. Nero’s two hundred and fifty years of Smyrna led to the first seventeen years of the church of Pergamos, and connect with the two hundred and fifty years that began at the third decree in 457 BC, the starting point of the 2300 years of Daniel eight and verse fourteen, which is the foundation and central pillar of Adventism. The two witnesses of two hundred and fifty years align with the two hundred and fifty years of the sixth kingdom of Bible prophecy that began in 1776 and ends this year in 2026.

The pioneers of Adventism did not see or understand the seventeen years of 313 to 330, for in 1844 they did not yet even understand the issue of the seventh-day Sabbath or the day of the sun. They did however recognize the one hundred and fifty years of verse ten of Revelation nine, and it became the starting point of a period that led to the three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days that ended on August 11, 1840. That understanding produced a mighty “manifestation of the power of God.”

The pioneers did not recognize a second period of one hundred and fifty years in Revelation nine. Their foundational understanding represents the platform that the “new light” of Revelation nine is built upon. That light is opened by the “key” of the battle of Nineveh. That “key” allows a student of prophecy to recognize all the kingdoms of Bible prophecy represented in Daniel and Revelation: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires, the kingdom of Mohammed; and more significantly, it magnifies the empire of Rome by identifying the rise and fall of not only Rome, but also the kingdoms of eastern and western Rome, as well as the United States (the false prophet), the papacy (the beast) and the United Nations (the dragon). All the rises and falls of these kingdoms testify to the movements of the dragon, the beast and false prophet that ultimately bring the world to Armageddon. That movement is represented within the last six verses of Daniel eleven, and the beginning of that movement is represented in the hidden history of verse forty.

The battle of Nineveh provides the prophetic point of reference to align the testimonies of the empire of Rome, the kingdoms of eastern and western Rome and papal Rome in the sequence of end-time events. Thus, the battle of Nineveh is the key that fully illustrates the various prophetic testimonies of Rome, and according to verse fourteen of Daniel eleven, it is Rome that establishes the vision. The key that brings those lines together is the battle of Nineveh.

We will begin to bring together the previous five articles addressing the woes of Revelation nine in our next article.