The Book of Daniel - Number One-Hundred and Nine

The first half of Revelation chapter nine, identifies the fifth trumpet, which is the first woe, and the second half of the chapter identifies the sixth trumpet, which is the second woe. Both trumpets are graphically illustrated on the 1843 and the 1850 pioneer charts. When the last six verses of Daniel eleven were unsealed at the time of the end in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union the reformatory movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand began.

Among the truths recognized in 1989, were the great reformatory movements of Bible history, and that they all paralleled each other. All the prophets, and therefore every sacred history, including the sacred reformatory movements, illustrate the final great reformatory movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, which is also the mighty movement of the third angel. When the sealing process begins, so too, does the sprinkling of the latter rain. The unsealing of the reformatory movements in 1989, followed by the unsealing of the last six verses of Daniel eleven in 1992, produced an environment of resistance, as always occurs when a new and present truth is unsealed.

In the resistance of the truth of the last six verses of Daniel eleven, the Lord opened up the truth that the prophetic history of pagan Rome, combined with the prophetic history of papal Rome, as established upon two witnesses, identifies the prophetic history of modern Rome. The rule of the triple application of prophecy was recognized, and thereafter employed to defend against error and identify and establish truth. The rules that uphold that every reform line parallels the other reform lines, and the rules associated with a triple application of prophecy, became the bedrock of the rules that were established in the movement of the third angel, as had been typified by the rules established, employed, and published in the Millerite history.

The triple application of prophecy as a rule, was unsealed for the movement of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, for they are the movement of the latter rain, and Islam of the third woe is the message of the latter rain. The principle of the triple application of prophecy was identified by the Lion of the tribe of Judah, well before Islam of the third woe arrived in history on September 11, 2001, for He desired that His last-day people would easily recognize the message represented by the arrival of the third woe when He returned His people to Jeremiah’s old paths.

The pioneer understanding of the fifth and sixth trumpets as set forth in Revelation chapter nine, was understood to be the passage in the book of Revelation that was the most firmly and clearly supported by history. Uriah Smith begins his presentation of Revelation chapter nine by employing the words of the historian Keith to make that very point.

The chapter division of the first and second woes divides the history of the first woe, represented by Mohammed. It is geographically located by what the historian Alexander Keith calls the Saracens, which we would today call Arabia. The history of the second woe, represented by Osman 1, geographically located in Turkey, which the historian identifies as the Turks. The history of the first woe was located and fulfilled in Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and Mohammed. The history of the second woe was located and fulfilled in Turkey, the birthplace of the Ottoman Empire.

The history of the first woe, identifies a warfare that was directed against Rome by independent warriors whose only mutual alliance with one another was the religion of Islam. The history of the second woe, identifies a warfare that was directed against Rome by an organized religion and state power, which is called a Caliphate. In either case, the independent warfare against Rome in the history represented by Mohammed, or the organized warfare represented by Ottman, or the Ottoman Empire, the mode of warfare was to attack suddenly and unexpectedly. It was not a warfare that was carried out by dressing all the soldiers in the same-colored uniforms, then organizing the soldiers into a line and marching them forward into gunfire as was the military custom of that time. The word “assassin” is based upon the Islamic mode of warfare of striking suddenly and unexpectedly, and usually resulting in the death of the attacker also.

The word “assassin” is derived from the Arabic word “hashshashin,” which comes from “hashish,” meaning “hashish” or “cannabis.” The term was originally used to refer to a secretive and fanatical group of Nizari Ismaili Muslims in the Middle East during the medieval period. The members of this group were known for their unconventional and often violent methods, including the use of political assassinations to achieve their goals. It is said that they would sometimes consume hashish to prepare for their missions, which led to the use of the term “hashshashin” or “assassins” in the Western world. The Assassins were active during the medieval period, primarily in Persia and Syria, and they played a significant role in various political conflicts and assassinations during that time. The term “assassin” eventually made its way into European languages, where it came to refer more broadly to individuals who carry out political or targeted killings.

This mode of warfare is an important prophetic characteristic of the three woes, for the prophetic role of Islam is to produce war. Islam as a symbol is all about warfare, and in Revelation chapter nine, Islam of the first and second woes is an illustration of their warfare. Their warfare is identified in the book of Revelation, as the action that angers the nations, just before probation closes.

The “nations” are made “angry”, just before God’s wrath comes, and God’s wrath, as represented in the book of Revelation, is the seven last plagues that come when human probation closes. There are three waymarks in the verse; the angering of the nations, the wrath of God, and the time to judge the dead. The judgment of the dead here referenced is the judgment of the wicked dead that occurs during the thousand-year millennium, and not the investigative judgment of the dead that began on October 22, 1844. Sister White is clear that the three waymarks in this verse are distinct, and occur in the order in the verse.

The role of Islam in the last book of the Bible is to anger the nations, and they do this through warfare. The role of Islam in the first book of the Bible is to bring every man’s hand in the world together against Islam, represented as Ishmael.

The word “hand,” as a symbol is like all biblical symbols, and it can have more than one meaning depending upon the context where it is used. By far the “hand,” as a symbol in Bible prophecy, is a symbol of warfare. The Hebrew word translated as “wild man,” is the word for the wild Arabian ass, which possesses several important prophetic implications, one of which is that the Arabian ass is a member of the Equidae family of animals, as is the horse. In Revelation chapter nine, and on both of the sacred charts of Habakkuk (the 1843 and 1850 pioneer charts), the horse is used as the symbol of the warfare represented by Islam of the three woes. The first and last mention of Islam, as represented in the book of Genesis, and the book of Revelation identify Islam with the symbol of the Equidae family (ass or horse), and they both emphasize the role of Islam as being to bring warfare to “every man” (the nations).

In the book of Revelation, chapter NINE, verse ELEVEN, the character of Islam is identified, for prophetically character is represented by a name. The name given to the king that rules over Islam reflects that first reference to Islam in the book of Genesis, where it is written that the character or spirit of Ishmael “shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” The king which rules over all of Islam is the spirit of Ishmael (their king), whose hand is “against every man”.

In the Old Testament, represented by the Hebrew, or the New Testament, represented by the Greek, the character that reigns over the adherents of the religion of Islam is identified as either Abaddon or Apollyon, which in either means “death and destruction.” Death and destruction are the character of Islam, whether represented in the Old or New Testaments. The specific characteristics of the spirit that rules within every adherent of Islam, in connection with the symbol of the ass or the horse are both elements of the First and the Last references to Islam. These two prophetic attributes possess the signature of Alpha and Omega. When Sister White identifies the message that brings the one hundred and forty-four thousand to life as the mighty army of the third angel, she states the following:

The four winds are held during the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and the four winds are an “angry horse” that bears “death and destruction in its path.” On September 11, 2001 the third woe arrived into prophetic history bringing “death and destruction,” thus “angering the nations,” when it struck the spiritual glorious land “suddenly and unexpectedly.” On October 7, 2023, the third woe, continued on its path of “death and destruction” thus further “angering the nations” when it attacked the literal glorious land “suddenly and unexpectedly.” The first unexpected attack marked the beginning of the period of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and the recent attack on October 7, 2023, marks the beginning of the ending period or “binding off” of the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Shall we sleep on the very verge of the eternal world?

On both sacred pioneer charts Islam of the first and second woes is graphically illustrated by Islamic warriors riding upon their warhorses. The rider upon the warhorse of the first woe in both illustrations is carrying a spear, and the rider of the horse representing the second woe, is firing a rifle. The distinction is plainly identified in Revelation chapter nine, for it was in the history of the second woe, that gunpowder was invented and first used in warfare. Commenting on verses seventeen through nineteen, of Revelation chapter nine, Uriah Smith records the following:

We will continue the study of the third woe, in the next article.