The Sixth Vial Judgment
The Drying up of the Turkish Euphrates
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the
great river Euphrates; and the water thereof
was dried up,
that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared. Rev. 16:12
"But what at length shall we say this Euphrates is,
whose waters shall be dried up? . . . Why should not
now this Euphrates of the vials be understood of the
Turks? Therefore by this sixth vial this
Euphratean deluge shall be dried up."
Joseph Mede - Clavis Apocalypticae 1643
The Euphrates began to recede in the 18th Century
Turkey became known as The Sick Man of Europe
Russia experienced enormous growth in both
territory and population in the 18th century. They
needed a warm sea port, the Ottoman Empire stood
in its way.
By the middle of the 19th century the Ottoman
was a hopeless case. Its weak central
government had lost control of many of its provinces
and its military was ineffective.
In 1853, Czar Nicholas I of Russia famously said the
Ottoman empire was "a very sick man." But,
the conflicting interests of European powers propped
the ailing empire up until WWI.
WWI was a Disaster for Ottoman Empire
Britain Took Jerusalem in 1917
Abdulhamid II (ruled 1876-1909) developed strong
ties with Germany, and the Ottomans fought on
Germany's side in World War I. This was a
disasterous
decision and Turkey was ruinously defeated.
The last sultan, Mohammed VI, fled in 1922
and all members of the Ottoman dynasty were
expelled from the country. The spirit of nationalism
from the French Revolution transformed Turkey into a
republic under Ataturk.
The Ottoman empire "dried up" as foretold but that
was only half of the prophecy. The way was prepared
for the Kings of the East. This important
prophetic figure will be the subject of the next
several newsletters.
