We are next presented with the prophetic history of one of the most singular governments furnished by the history of the world;—a government perfectly atheistical in its character and reckless in its conduct. APEC 95.1
Verses 36-39. “And the 2The definite article should have been rendered by the indefinite—“a king shall do according to his will.” king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor, with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds, with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.” APEC 95.2
Such a character as is above described, was revolutionary France. That dreadful revolution commenced 1789, and was styled the first year of liberty. But not satisfied with the achievements of that year, and the liberty they had asserted and exercised, the revolutionists rested not, until they had established the reign of demoniac equality and frantic atheism. At an early period of the revolution, the illuminated free-masons took the name of jacobins, from the name of a convent where ‘they held their meetings. They then counted 300,000 adepts, and were supported by 2,000,000 of men, scattered through France, armed with pikes and torches, and all the implements of the revolution. On the 12th of August, 1792, the wilful king, or atheistical power, exalted himself above all law; the king of France was seized and carried a prisoner to the temple, and his right to the crown declared forfeited; and it was decreed that to the date of rational liberty, the date of equality should in future be added, in all public acts. The names and titles of the nobility of France were swept away at a stroke, and all distinctions in civil society annihilated. APEC 96.1
Not satisfied with this, on the 26th of August, 1792, this power exalted himself above all religion, and a decree was passed, establishing atheism by law; and the clergy were ordered to leave the kingdom within a fortnight of its date. APEC 96.2
Thus this king, 1. Did according to his will, asserted and claimed licentious liberty as the right of all. 2. He exalted himself above every god or power, imprisoning the sovereign of France, and setting himself up as the supreme power. 3. He spoke marvellous things against the God of gods; by decreeing that there was no God, and by banishing the ministers of God from his dominion. In November a discourse was pronounced by Dupont, upon atheism, which was applauded by the convention. And in Nov. 1793, it was stated by one of the atheists, that all religious worship had disappeared in his section, even to the very idea of religion. He added, that he and his fellows detested God. On the 17th of October, 1795, all external signs of religion were abolished, and it was decreed that an inscription should be set up in the public burying-ground, that death is only an eternal sleep. APEC 96.3
“Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women.” Not only was atheism established by law, but the most gross and unbounded licentiousness was sanctioned, by a law of June 6, 1794. He honored a strange god. An idol was introduced, and set up in one of the churches, whither the abandoned citizens flocked, not to worship their Maker, but to hear his name blasphemed. Also, after the people had become sick of atheism, and demanded the restoration of some form of religious worship, a heathen ritual was prepared, and presented to the people, as the form of worship they were to observe. Nor was this repealed until Buonaparte was appointed first consul. And they divided the land for gain. The property, both of the clergy and nobility, was seized and confiscated, and applied to the support of the republic. APEC 97.1
Verse 40. “And at the time of the end shall the king of the South push at him, and the king of the North shall come against him, like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” APEC 97.2
“The time of the end” is a period to which frequent allusion has been made, and now we are brought down to the period where it is introduced. It has before been stated, that “the time of the end” is from the fall of Popery, 1798, to the end itself. The king of the South, we have also seen in the preceding remarks, is Egypt; and the king of the North, is Syria. “Him,” in the 40th verse, is the atheistical government of France. This government was to prosper, verse 36, “until the indignation be accomplished;” or until Papal Europe should be scourged for the persecutions inflicted on the people of God. For this purpose, atheistical France was permitted to triumph. The French revolution, and the wars which followed it, and desolated Europe for so many years, were God’s sore judgment on the Papal powers. Buonaparte was an instrument of vengeance in the hand of the Almighty. “And at the time of the end”-he is presented as growing up out of the revolution, rising above, and giving direction to, that dreadful storm. The Papal dominion was taken away in Feb. 1798; and in May following, at the instigation of Napoleon, the French fitted out an expedition for Egypt, the command of which was given to Buonaparte. He landed in Egypt on the 1st of July, and landed his army at Marabout, about a mile and a half from Alexandria. The Turks, although unprepared for this invasion, mustered what force they could, and, shutting the gates of the city, held out until the French forced their way through the old, crumbling walls. Thus, in 1798, the king of the South pushed at him. After reconciling matters, however, with the Mohammedans, as well as he could, he commenced his march through Egypt to the Pyramids, in sight of which they arrived on the 21st of July. Here a decisive battle ensued with the Mamelukes, in which Buonaparte gained an important victory. The effect was, Cairo surrendered to him, and Lower Egypt was entirely conquered. In the mean time, the French fleet, which was moored in the bay of Aboukir, was destroyed by Lord Nelson. After settling the affairs of Egypt, he commenced, in the beginning of 1799, a march into Syria, with an army of 10,000 picked men. Feb. 15, he took possession of El-Arish; and, pursuing his march, he took Gaza without opposition; but at Jaffa (Joppa) the Turks made a resolute defence; but the walls were carried by storm, and 3000 Turks died with arms in their hands. And from 1200 to 3000 more, who had surrendered, were led out of the town, and murdered in cold blood. APEC 98.1
Buonaparte having ascertained that the Pacha of Syria was at St. Jean d’Acre, and was determined to defend that place to extremity with the forces he had already assembled for the invasion of Egypt, endeavored to seduce this ferocious chief from his allegiance to the Porte. But the first of Napoleon’s messengers returned without an answer; the second was put to death. Buonaparte then moved on with his army toward Acre, in all the zeal of revenge, and ordered the necessary apparatus for a siege to be sent from Alexandria, by sea. APEC 99.1
Sir Sidney Smith was cruising in the Levant, with two British ships of the line, and being informed by the Pacha of the approach of Napoleon, he hastened to support him in the defense of Acre. Napoleon’s vessels and stores for the siege, fell into his hands, and he arrived at Acre two days before Buonaparte appeared in sight. Smith, and Philippeaux, a French Royalist, were permitted to regulate, as far as possible, the plan of defense. Although the loss of his heavy artillery and the presence of two British ships were inauspicious omens, yet Buonaparte immediately commenced the siege. This siege continued for weeks to be carried on with great spirit on both sides. Meantime, a vast army of Mussulmen was assembled on the mountains, and was preparing to descend upon the besiegers, in concert with the garrison of Acre. Junot, a French general; was sent to oppose this vast army of horsemen, and was followed by Napoleon himself; and they succeeded in dispersing the army. The siege continued to be vigorously carried on, day after day, until Buonaparte’s army was thinned before the Pacha’s gallantry and the skill of his allies. At this critical moment, a Turkish fleet appeared in sight with reinforcements for, the Pacha. Napoleon determined to finish the siege before the arrival of the fleet, and Smith was as determined to hold out until it arrived. But Buonaparte’s efforts were fruitless; on the 21st May, Napoleon yielded to stern necessity, raised the siege, and retreated upon Jaffa. APEC 99.2
Thus “the king of the North,” Syria, came” against him like a whirlwind,” with “horsemen,” with “chariots,” or wheeled artillery, and with many ships; two British ships, and a Turkish fleet. And he was defeated and driven back with great losses. APEC 100.1
Verse 41. “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” APEC 101.1
In his march from Egypt to Syria, he stood in the glorious land, Palestine, and fought several battles, and also in his retreat he passed through the same countries. And many, not countries, but persons, were overthrown by him. But the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites, countries bordering on Palestine, in consequence of his defeat at Acre, escaped him. He did not invade these ancient countries. Verses 42, 43—“He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Lybians and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” APEC 101.2
Although, when he left Egypt, he intended to go by land either to Constantinople or India, yet his defeat in Syria forced him back again into Egypt, so that it did not escape his grasp. He then became master of that ancient and renowned kingdom, and had power over all its treasures. The Lybians and Ethiopians, nations bordering on Egypt, were both at his steps; but, in consequence of his sudden departure from. Egypt, neither of them were conquered by him. APEC 101.3
Verse 44. “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many. APEC 101.4
After Buonaparte’s retreat into Egypt, in the course of his negotiations, Sir Sidney Smith found means of sending a file of newspapers to Buonaparte, giving him an account of the disastrous state of French affairs on the. continent of Europe. Thus tidings out of the north, from Syria, and the total failure of his East-India expedition, caused a manifest uneasiness, and induced him to desert his army in a helpless and enfeebled condition, and make his way, with a single vessel and a few of his intimate friends, back to France. APEC 101.5
He immediately commenced another Italian campaign, which in two months restored the Cisalpine Republic to the French dominions. APEC 102.1
And for fifteen years, every successive year brought with it a fresh sacrifice of human life, to gratify the ambition of the insatiable Buonaparte. During that period, Europe was deluged with the blood of millions. In his Russian campaign, of an army numbering near 500,000 when he began his march, not 50,000 ever returned to their homes. And in addition to this, hundreds of thousands of his enemies perished. Thus, truly, did he “utterly make away many.” APEC 102.2
Verse 45. “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain;” or, according to the margin, “mountain of delights of holiness.” APEC 102.3
A tabernacle is a temporary abode. “Tabernacles of his palace” would be many temporary palaces. Such were Napoleon’s. Between the seas with which Europe is surrounded, there was not a kingdom, with the exception of Turkey, where he was not at one time or other master, temporarily, of a palace, even to Russia itself. APEC 102.4
Other sovereigns had their established palaces, and with their kingdoms transmitted them to their posterity, from generation to generation. But this mighty conqueror of the nations, although he possessed many palaces, yet had none abiding. “Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” APEC 103.1
After the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon, the second, time, abdicated the throne of France, and, finding his escape cut off, he voluntarily surrendered himself into the hands of the British, by whom he was doomed to exile on the island of St. Helena; where, on the 5th of May, 1821, amid a dreadful storm of wind and rain, which tore up trees by the roots, and laid waste almost all which came in its way, Napoleon’s spirit left the scenes of earth, to appear before him who is the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Thus he came to his end, and there was none to help him. And the Bourbon family were restored to the throne of France. APEC 103.2
Thus far, we can trace the fulfilment of the prophecy on the page of history. But what remains of this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. It has been remarked that the time of the end began in 1798, at the time of the fall of Popery. That it did so, is proved by the fact, that, when it came, the king of the south, Egypt, was to push at an infidel or atheistical government, which was fulfilled in 1798, when the Egyptians opposed themselves against the French. And the whole prophecy, from the 40th to the 45th verse, which was more than seventeen years in being accomplished, was all predicted to take place at the “time of the end.” Nor is that all which was predicted to be accomplished at the time of the end. The three first verses of the 12th chapter also relate to events which are to take place during the time of the end; but they are yet in futurity. APEC 103.3