Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The divine Author of the Holy Bible evidently intended that Daniel and Revelation should be read in the context of the other 64 books that make up the written word of God. Thus the symbolism of those two books is not hard for any thoughtful reader to understand (Jesus told the woman of Samaria that "the Father is seeking such to worship Him," John 4:23).
"Beasts" = nations or kingdoms; "sea" = large populations; whirlwind storms ("four winds") = war; "horns" on beasts = prominent leaders or kings; and time expressed in "days" = literal years, thus a "month" = 30 literal years, etc., etc. Abundant evidence discloses these and other correlations.
It's obvious that our divine Author is not trying to hide truth from the world, but He wants to reveal it, hence the name "Revelation." The book is for everyone to understand. That's why it went through a special process of being "signified"--a literary task committed to a special "angel" whose job was to translate its message into inspired "cartoons" (see Rev. 1:1).
Reverent-minded Bible students accordingly concluded centuries ago that the time symbolism in the "sixth trumpet" of Revelation was intended to pinpoint the identity of Islam (9:13-15). They recognized that the "hour and day and month and year" led to August 11, 1840, when the Muslim political power of the Ottoman Empire collapsed. In God's providence this event was widely published, resulting in the conversion of many atheists to biblical Christianity.
To see Islam in Bible prophecy was pivotal in the rise and progress of the great second advent movement that shook the world in the 1840s. It laid the foundation for a world movement today that proclaims that the second coming of Jesus is near. The prophecy in God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (cf. Psalm 119:105). Be thankful!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 5, 2005.
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