Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
That fascinating time prophecy set in the "sixth trumpet" of Revelation 9 constitutes the nearly unseen foundation on which the faith of millions in one church rests. But most have no idea of what that one-verse time prophecy means or of its historical importance in the existence of a world church that remains virtually the only Protestant church still "protesting" the claims of the Papacy.
It's verse 15: "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" (King James Version). The setting is Islam and its burgeoning explosion toward its goal of world domination. It has arisen as the scourge of apostate Christianity; the book of Revelation makes clear how that is the only reason why God permits its existence.
It's the point in world history where the Ottoman Turks are putting an end to the last gasps of the Eastern Roman Empire; the world rule of millennia is nearly at an end. Constantinople with its massive stone walls still stands wherein the teetering Emperor still sits on his crumbling throne. "The seven trumpets" portray world history in relation to the work of God on earth. The Saracens have introduced the world to gunpowder and massive cannon that smash the walls of Constantinople. A time prophecy of 391 years and fifteen literal days has begun and it will end on August 11, 1840 with the collapse of the independence of the Sultan of Turkey.
"Insignificant past history, forget it!" No! This prophetic drama on the stage of world history established for all the world to see that the biblical prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are true, because they can be understood even by a child. Children will begin preaching them. This prophecy establishes the year-for-a-day principle, which is the divinely inspired key to reading them, and human life makes sense in the context of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.
A world movement of present day Christians who believe the second coming of Christ is imminent was strengthened by this remarkable prophecy of August 11, 1840. Even atheists were converted when they saw the clear evidence of the inspiration of the Bible. Now let us renew our faith likewise.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 2, 2007.
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