The modern crusade; or, The present Russian war: its cause, its termination, and its results: viewed in connection with Scripture prophecy

Front matter

a

THE

MODERN CRUSADE;

Preface

Four weeks ago, the author had not the most distant idea of writing a line on the subject of the Russian war, that would ever meet the public eye.

On the 13th of last month, April, he delivered a lecture on the subject in the Wesleyan Chapel, Milton ; which lecture he was afterwards requested to publish.

In preparing notes for his lecture, he was for some time at a loss to determine upon any portion of Holy Scripture that seemed directly to bear upon the present portentous events in the East, as all the disquisitions on the prophecies that he had seen failed to satisfy his mind as to their application in the present instance ; and for some time he feared his lecture would prove a failure.

4 PREFACE.

In his anxiety, his attention was directed to the prophecy concerning ** Grog," recorded in the 38th and 39th chapters of the Prophet Ezekiel ; when, after a careful examination of the whole passage, he saw so many striking coincidents between the prophecy and the events of the day that he was often overpowered with astonishment.

In the conflict, on the one hand, are **Meshech" and ^* Tubal,'' or, as the Septuagint reads, '' Bosh,'' '' Meshech/' and '* Tubal,'' which can be no other than Russia, Muscovy, and Toholsh, On the other hand are '' Persia," ** Ethiopia," '' Lybia," '' Gomer," and '' Togarmah of the north quarters ; " which seems clearly to represent, Turkey in Asia, Egypt, North Africa, Western Europe, and Turkey in Europe.

The land invaded by Gog has so many particulars mentioned, that it seems scarcely possible to apply the text to any other country on earth than Turkey ; while ** Gog," the invader, is said to come ^^from his place out of the north parts, ^'^

The deception attempted by *' Gog," is noticed

PREFACE.

by the Prophet in these words : *' And thou shalt think an evil thought, verse 10;" margin, *' conceive a mischievous purpose ; '' which astonishingly depicts the duplicity under which the Emperor Nicholas has acted.

The armies of "Grog," are said to be *'like a cloud." Eussia has the largest army of any nation upon earth.

'* Gog " shall be defeated by '* an overflowing rain," ** and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." What a representation of the instruments of destruction which modern science has invented !

The place of overthrow is said to be in " the Yalley of the Passengers, on the east of the Sea ; " which, when all the particulars mentioned by -the Prophet are considered, it would be difficult to apply to any other place except the ** Gai^'^ or extensive rising ground, between the Carpathian and Oural mountains in the south of Eussia.

The future of " Gog " is named ; ** I will

turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part

of thee." Chap. 39, v. 2. 1*

6 ' PREFACE.

Eussia has made large conquests from five nations, and her own proper territory is the sixth.

The author pretends to no prophetic knowledge on his own part ; that he utterly abominates : but he respectfully submits what he thinks is a plain exposition of the sacred text; while the events of the war, so far, have all gone to prove the accuracy of his criticisms.

As to his object, he aims at doing an humble share in his heavenly Master's work ; and if the following exposition should prove correct, then it will indeed be a triumph for Christianity that a chain of prophecies, delivered twenty-five centuries ago, are in our own day, and to our own knowledge, being fulfilled in all their detail.

The following pages were compiled from the notes prepared for his lecture, which he now submits to the candid consideration of a discerning public.

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, May 10, 1854.

PREFACE. 7

P. S. A very great and unexpected delay has taken place in the publication of this work.

The intention was to publish it at the Wesley an Book Eoom, New York ; but a reply from that establishment dated May 30th was received, in which the publication was declined, in conseq^uence of the pressure of business.

The author was then advised to publish in Halifax, Noav Scotia, to which place he sent his manuscript early in June, where it remained until August ; when, finding the work was not yet in press, he ordered back his manuscript, and determined to publish in the United States.

WILLIAM WILSON.

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia., Sept. 1, 1853.

Chapter I. The Invaders

Gog — Meshech — Tubal — Rosh. — Geographical Situation, 22 CHAPTER II.

THE COUNTRY INVADED.

Time of the Invasion — Characteristics of the Country — " A Land brought back from the Sword " — " Gathered of many Nations" — "Against the Mountains of Israel" — •" Brought forth out of the Nations " — " Shall Dwell Safely " — Geographical Situation, 35

Chapter III. Reason Of The Invasion

The Covert Design of Gog — Protectorate of the Greek Church — Treaty of Kainardgi — Emperor Alexander — Speech of the Earl of Shaftsbury — Persecuting Character of Russia — Turkey — Emperor Nicholas, 51

10 CONTENTS.

CHAPTERIV.

THE OPPOSING PARTIES.

A Parenthesis — Persia — Ethiopia — Libya — Gomer — Togarmah — Sheba — Dedan — Merchants of Tarshish, . 76

Chapter V. The Conflict

The Army of Gog — Suddenness of the Invasion — Consternation of the Nations — Extent of the War — Character of the Combat — Defeat — Place of Discomfiture, 97

CHAPTER YI.

THE OVERTHROW.

Gog shall be turned back to his own Dominions — Shall be deprived of his Conquests — Shall be restrained from future Aggression — The Effect upon the Spread of Religion — Conclusion, 147

Appendix

Prophecy and the Russian War, 187

THE MODEM CRUSADE.

Introduction

Great efforts have been employed during the last half century for the diffusion of knowledge ; and in many instances those efforts have been successful to an extent that has utterly astonished the most sanguine. Steam has brought distant nations into proximity ; intelligence is now communicated with the rapidity of lightning ; unknown regions have been explored ; the truth of Biblical history has been demonstrated by the discovered monuments of antiquity among the ruins of Nineveh ; philosophy, philology, science, and general literature have mightily expanded and elevated the human mind ; and the church, while it has not done what it ought to have done, yet it also has done much within the same period ; it has given the Bible to the children of men in one hundred and fifty languages ; it has established missions in every region of the earth ; the faithful and constant preaching of ^' Christ crucified/' with the religious training of the young, has had an obvious effect upon the present generation. And as the results : in Christian countries, evangelical sentiments have powerfully prevailed and extended ; in many nations in the far east, idolatry has become antiquated ; Mohammedanism is paralyzed, so that it no longer presents that terrible front to Christianity that it formerly did ; the crescent and the '' great red dragon '' are both rapidly retiring before the standard of our Immanuel : nevertheless his standard-bearers and his armies have yet to contend with two great opposing powers, both bearing the Christian name, while anti-christian both in doctrine and in practice : one is Papal Rome, and the other is the corrupt Greek Church, as established in the Russian Empire.

THE MODERN CEUSADE. 13

The destruction of all error, and the subjugation of all nations to the sceptre of truth and righteousness, are the grand objects contemplated, and the end to be ultimately achieved by preaching the Gospel.

The trials and the triumphs of the church were frequent themes of prophetic revelation, and Christian writers of modern times have given immense interest to the prophecies of old by their learned disquisitions thereon : inasmuch as they have shewn that many of those prophecies have been already fulfilled ; that others are fulfilling in our own day ; which circumstance, while it proves the truth of the divine records, also gives presumptive evidence that all other prophecies by the same inspired men shall be fulfilled in their proper time, and that all the purposes of Jehovah in reference to the universal extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, shall be fully accomplished.

The rise, characteristics, and downfall of both the Papacy and of Mohammedanism were foretold by the Prophets ; and Scripture expositors have done great service to the cause of truth, by their references to certain historical facts, as the accomplishment of prophecy ; and by the proofs they have given, that the predictions could be applied to no other event, or chain of events, than those which were selected.

Writers on the prophecies have mostly directed their investigations to the affairs of the Western Church or the Papacy ; the corruptions and persecuting character of which they have shewn were foretold by the Prophets ; but few of them have written much concerning the Eastern, or the Greek Church; which, while not so numerous as the Church of Rome, is but little less corrupt.

It is certain that the Latin and Greek Churches are both anti-christian, and both must be radically changed or entirely destroyed, ere pure Christianity shall universally prevail, or the " earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.^^

The most corrupt portion of the Greek Church is in Russia, where the Autocrat is the acknowledged head ; and where the teeming millions of her population are as subservient to the will of that despot in religious, as well as in political matters, as were the nations of the West to the will of the Pope during the dark ages.

Whatever affects Russia as a nation will certainly affect the Greek Church as established in her domains ; and, to a great extent, determine its future character and destiny.

If the rise and fall of the empires of antiquity were the subject of prophecy, because of their connection with the church, and the present state of the European nations of the West, are described also in the sacred writings for the same reason, it might be expected that some prophetic representation will likewise be found there of the mighty empire of the North, which has under its direct control one-fifteenth of the inhabitants of our globe, and that constantly exerts all its mighty power in antagonism to the spread of religious knowledge, and to every means that may be employed for the conversion of the world.

We think Eussia is spoken of in the Bible, and that various minutise connected with the present impending war with that country are described by the Prophet Ezekiel.

We select the thirty-eighth, and part of the thirty-ninth chapters of that Prophet's writings, as the basis of our remarks.

Before presenting our views to the reader we would observe :

1. That the theme of prophecy recorded in these two chapters is perfectly isolated ; that there is no prophecy anywhere else concerning ''' Gog or Magog: ^^ or any reference thereto, except in Rev. 20 : 8 ; and possibly, also, in Rev. chap. 16 : 11, 16.

And although, as to time, the matters predicted in these chapters are coeval with other events elsewhere predicted in the Book of God, yet are they a distinct series of events, which, to be understood, must be considered in the abstract.

2. The word " Israel,'^ as it occurs in this prophecy, must not be restricted in its meaning to the Land of Judea.

If the word "IsraeP' mean only the Land of Judea, what can we understand from chap. 38: v. 15, 16? — ''And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army : And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land.^'

Where are the '' people of Israel '^ now ? Are they not scattered over all nations ? And what are we to understand by a ^' great company and a mighty army^^ coming *' against ^^ a people that have no place am^ong the nations ?

There is, indeed, an extended plain in the land of Palestine, called, or rather was called, the '' Yalley of Jezreel,'^ which is said to be thirty miles long and twenty miles wide, and which is situated on the '' east " of the Mediterranean Sea. It was in this valley " Barak ^^ discomfited Sisera ; here King Josiah fell fighting with Pharoahnechoh ; on this plain the Assyrians, and the Persians of old, and in modern times, Saracens, the Mamelukes, the Arabs, the

2*

18 THE MODERN CEUSADE.

Turks, and Christian armies, have been encamped : yet, does it not appear to be ^^ the Valley of the Passengers ^^ mentioned chap. 39 : v. 11, where the '' mighty army of Gog^' shall be overthrown. That valley must be sought for elsewhere.

As this prophecy refers to events that shall take place " in the latter years ; '^ and shall ^' be in the latter days,'^ v. 16 : it cannot be doing violence to the text, or in any way be contrary to the usual method of interpretation of the prophetic writings, to understand the word " Israel " here, as it often is to be understood, under the Gospel dispensation, not as referring exclusively to the Jews, but as including the whole Christian church, or what the Apostle calls the " Israel of God.'' 1 1 If this be granted, then, will the " land of

Israel,'' verse 18, mean the land of Christians, or Christi^i lands ; and the '' mountains of Israel," chap. 34 : 4, mean the " mountains of Christendom," and the " Valley of the Passengers," where the final conflict shall take place, will bo found in a Gentile country.

Commentators seem to have failed in their exposition of this prophecy, because they have generally restricted the word " Israel ^^ to the land of Judea.

The learned Bishop Newton, whose '' Dissertations on the Prophecies '^ are such an invaluable treasure, applies this prophecy to *'the Turk,^' who, he says, ''is of Scythian extraction. He cometh forth from his place out of the north parts, v. 15. He shall come up against the people of Israel in the latter days, y. 16. After this return from captivity, v. 8. He too shall encamp upon the mountains of Israel, chap. 39 : 2. He shall also fall upon the mountains of Israel, and all the people that is with him, v. 4. There the divine judgment shall overtake him, chap. 38 : 22, 23, and God shall be magnified and sanctified in the eyes of many nations.'^

With all deference to his Lordship, we might ask, what can we understand by " the Turk ^' invading the " land of Israel, '^ when that land is already under his dominion ? With whom is the Turk to fight, and by

20 THE MOBEEN CRUSADE.

what power is lie to be OYerthrown ? If '' the Turk ^' be the invader, it will be very difficult to answer these questions in a satisfactory manner.

The exposition given by Bagster, in his Philological note on chap. 38 : 16, is equally unsatisfactory.

He says : " It is supposed that its fulfilment will be posterior to the conversion of the Jews and their restoration to their own land ; and that the Turks, Tartars, or Scythians, from the northern parts of Asia, perhaps uniting with the inhabitants of some more southern regions, will make war upon the Jews, and be cut off in the manner here predicted.^'

It may strike the reader as very improbable, that after the Jews are converted, and restored to their own land, God should permit such an army as the army of " Gog ^^ is represented to be, to enter their land, and slaughter them upon their own mountains ; nor is there the least reason to suppose that the Jews will ever become a nation of such military power as to be able to resist and utterly overthrow the " mighty army '^ which " Gog '^ shall bring " from his place out of the north parts/'

Such, however, are the popular explanations usually given of this important prophecy.

Without adopting any particular theory, we venture to state, that in this prophecy there is represented,

1. A powerful nation of invaders.

2. A description of the invaded country.

3. The reason or ground of invasion.

4. The opposing parties.

5. The conflict.

6. The overthrow.

These subjects we now purpose to bring under the consideration of the reader.

Chapter I. The Invadees

EzEKiEL, chap. 38 : v. 1. *' And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Verse 2, '' Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

Verse 3, " And say, thus saith the Lord God : Behold, I am against thee, Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

Verse 4, " And I will turn thee back, and put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.''

A similar sentence is found, chap. 39 : 1. ^* Therefore, son of man, prophesy against

Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God : Behold, I am against thee, Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

Verse 2, '' And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.

Verse 3, '' And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

Verse 4, " Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee : I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Verse 5, " Thou shalt fall upon the open field ; for I have spoken it^ saith the Lord God.

Verse 6, '* And I will send fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles ; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Verse 7, " So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel ;

24 THE MODEKN CKUSADE.

and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more : and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.^'

In the above texts, it is evident " Gog '^ is a prince or sovereign, and that " Magog,^' ^' Meshech,'^ and " Tubal '^ are names of countries ; and that '^ Gog ^^ and his army are the invaders.

Our first inquiry is, — Who is "Gog?'^ and what countries are intended by ^' Magog,'' " Meshech,'' and " Tubal ? ''

1. ''Magog'' was the second son of Japheth. His name occurs Gen. 10 : 2, and again, 1 Chron. chap. 1, v. 5.

Joseph says : " Magog founded those that from him were Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians."

Here it is plain that the " land of Magog " was the same as Scythia ; and the Scythia of the ancients is the Tartary of our present Geography.

The inhabitants of Tartary were formerly called " Jkfog'/i," from " Magog" ; and in that country there are provinces that still bear the names, " Lug,^^ " Mongig,^^ " Mongolia,^^

" Mongogia,^^ " Cangigu,^^ and " Mogul/^ all derived from " Magog.''

" Gog/' the prince, is of the " land of Magog/' that is, he is of Tartar origin.

2. ^' Gog" is called "the chief prince of Meshech."

Meshech was the sixth son of Japheth, and the brother of Magog. Gen. 10 : 2.

Josephus tells us, " The Moscheni were founded by Mosoch, (or Meshech,) " now they are Cappadocians. There is also a mark of their ancient denomination still to be shewed ; for there is even now among them a city called Mazjaca, which may inform them that are able to understand, that so was the entire nation once called."

The descendants of Meshech," or as Josephus reads it, " Mosoch," settled in the north-eastern angle of Asia Minor, and to the south of Mount Caucasus : the country now called " Georgia."

In this country is a range of mountains formerly called " Montes Moschi," near which dwelt a race of people called " Moschi" or " Moschisi."

A portion of this tribe of " Moschi " afterwards emigrated north ; and founded the Russian nation : which from " Meshech '' or *' Mosoch," was called " MoscovyJ^ Hence also is derived " Moscow J^

" Gog " then is of Tartar origin, and he is prince of Moscovy.

3. He is also prince of ^' Tubal/'

"Tubal'' was the fifth son of Japheth. Gen. 10 : 2.

The descendants of " Tubal," according to Josephus, were called " Thobelites." " Meshech " and '^ Tubal " are usually mentioned together, from which it is concluded that they inhabited countries joining each other. A tract of land a little to the west of the "Montes Moschi," and bordering on the Black Sea, is said to have been the first settlement of " Tubal."

Some of the Tubalites emigrated north, and from " Tubal " is derived Tobolsk, and Tobolskie in Siberia.

The Septuagint version of chap. 38 : v. 2, for, " the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal " : reads, " the chief prince of Rosh,

Meshech, and Tubal/' The same reading also occurs chap. 39 : v. 1.

This reading is of very great importance, inasmuch as it introduces another tribe ; the ancient '' Rosh,^^ or '' Rossi f and thereby fixes the sense of the whole passage.

The Eiver Araxes, which discharges its waters into the Caspian Sea, near the fortieth degree of north latitude, was called by the ancients '' Rosh;^^ by which name according to Bochart it is still known to the Arabs. The country near the river was also called " Rosh; '^ and the people inhabiting the country " RkossiJ^ From this the name ^' Russia '^ is said to have been derived.

Prom these remarks it is plain, " Gog'' is of Scythian origin, or of the land of '^ Magog ; " he is prince of '' Rosk " or Russia, of ''Meshech'' or '' Moscovy,'' and of '' TuhaV ov ''Tobolsk:' "Gog" is therefore the Emperor of Russia.

The Scythians or Tartars have been always a warlike people ; and certain tribes of them are mentioned by Herodotus, as inhabiting the countries between the rivers " Borysthenes/' and the " Tanais," that is, the Dnieper and the Don.

Strabo and Tacitus mention a tribe in that district called " Roxolani/^ and afterwai^s ^^ Ros/^ as highly distinguished among the Sarmatian tribes.

Six hundred and sixty-three years before Christ, and near the time of King Josiah, a tribe of Scythians invaded both Syria and Palestine ; and in the latter country they seized upon the city of Bethshan, in the tribe of " Manasseh/^ which was in consequence afterwards called '^ Cythopolis,'^ or the City of the Scythians.

Dean Prideaux informs us that these invaders came from the parts about the " Palm Meotis,^^ and passed round Mount Caucasus.

The ^' Palus Meotis '' of the ancients is the Sea of Azof ; it was then some of the " Eos '^ tribes, that invaded Palestine at the period just named.

The tribes of the " Mosocheni," " Tubal,'' and " Eos '' or " Ehossi,'' began to wander north; and as Eome declined, these wandering tribes began to rise into national existence.

THE MODEBN CRUSADE. 29

From the neighborliood of the Caucasian mountains, they settled first on the banks of the Don and the Dnieper ; but afterwards they journeyed farther north ; and^ still retaining their original names, they gave those names to the countries where they took up their final abode : Hence we have '' Moscovy,'' '' Russia,'' and '' Tobolsk:'

Tobolsk did not indeed formerly belong to Eussia, for the Oural mountains was her eastern boundary ; and south, she was bounded by the kingdom of Astrachan, in about the forty-eighth of north latitude.

During the latter part of the sixteenth century, a Cossack named Yermak, passed the Oural mountains and discovered Siberia; which submitted to the Russian arms in 1587 ; and was attached to the Russian dominions.

The sovereigns of Russia then assumed the title of " Czar of Siberia,^^ which title they still retain.

The prophet says of " Gog," he is the " chief prince of Tubal " ; that is, '' Tobolsk'' or Siberia.

Russia continued to be heathen until near the close of the tenth century ; when the Czar Vladimir demanded the sister of the Greek Emperor Basilicus in marriage ; which was granted on the condition that he should embrace Christianity.

With this proposition Vladimir complied ; vast numbers of the people embraced Christianity likewise ; and on the same day with their sovereign twenty thousand Russians also were baptized.

Russia thus became Christianized by means of the Greek Church, and as a consequence, it embraced the ritual of that church ; and the Greek Church became the establishment of the empire.

Michael Syra, was appointed the first Metropolitan ; and for a time the Russian Church was subject to the See of Constantinople ; but it afterwards became an independent church, governed by its own Patriarchs and Bishops : who were said, like the hierarchy of Rome, to be almost independent of the civil power.

The Patriarch of Moscow was formerly almost equal in power with the Czar.

This power was however wrested from the Patriarch, by Peter the Great ; who suddenly presented himself before the Bishops who in the year 1702 had assembled to elect a new Patriarch ; when he claimed supreme authority in church as in state, by his memorable declaration, ^^ lam your Patriarch J^

Russia, although she continued to extend her borders, and caused her power to be sensibly felt, yet she had made but little progress in the arts and in civilization, until the days of Peter ; who ascended the throne about the commencement of the last century.

Peter was a most extraordinary person. He travelled through Europe in disguise, and worked as a mechanic in ship yards and rope-yards, at the forge, in saw-mills, at the manufactory of paper, wire-drawing, and other arts ; by which he acquired an extensive knowledge of men and of things, all of which he reduced to practical purposes. He built, or rather founded the present capital, and after his own name called it ^' Petersburg " : he introduced science, law, architecture, military discipline ; formed a navy ; — in fact, he laid the foundation of the present greatness of the Eussian empire.

Under the Czarina Catherine, Russia was greatly extended ; and she was the first sovereign who contemplated the expulsion of the Turks from Europe ; and the re-establishment of the Byzantine empire, or the occupation of Constantinople by Russian forces.

Thus has Russia continued to progress, until she has become by far the most extended empire, and one of the most powerful nations upon earth.

The Russian empire extends from the Arctic Ocean, to the confines of China south ; and from the Baltic Sea eastward, round the North Pole, to the British possessions in North America ; covering forty-five degrees of latitude, and two hundred of longitude ; it is the greatest unbroken empire that ever existed ; occupying nearly one-sixth of the habitable globe : it is forty-one times as large as France, and one hundred and thirty eight times as large as England : the sun never sets upon it, for before his rays have left the shores of the Baltic, he has illuminated the same empire in the wilds of North America.

Such is the present empire of '^ Gog ; " he is '' the chief prince of '' Rosh/^ or Russia ; " Meshech/^ or Moscovy ; and of " Tubal/^ or Tobolsk : and if any thing more were wanting to shew the identity, it is the geographical situation which is mentioned with such remarkable precision.

In chap. 38 : 15, it is said, " And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts ; and in chap. 39 : 2 : " And will cause thee to come up from the north parts ; " where the margin reads, " the sides of the north.^^ ^\"^_ " yarech " signifies an extended line. Gen. 49 -'13. ^'Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea ; and he shall he for a haven of ships ; and his border, "i-^i^'^ll '' we-yarchatho^^^ his extended side shall be unto Zidon."

The portion of Zebulun in the promised land extended from the Sea of Tiberias to the Mediterranean, and was at least three times as long from east to west as from north to south.