The Prophet Who Lies

The “power,” or authority, of the Ottomans was found “in their mouth,” “out ?of their” muskets and cannons. But what about “their tails”? How can a tail also ?be a head?

At the front of every army flew a standard, such as a flag; the standard for the Ottoman Empire, specifically for its military, was a horse or yak tail. Called a tugh, it consisted of a pole atop which hung the dyed tail.

The Turkish heads are described “like serpents,” singled out for the “harm,” or injustice, they inflicted upon their enemies. Notice the similarity in today’s verses to Revelation 9:4, in which the locusts were “to harm … only those men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (emphasis added). We then learned in Revelation 9:5 that the “harm” came from their scorpion tails.

After the Ottomans gained the capital, they did not stop. For the next century, in a period of rapid expansion, which historians call the empire’s Classical Age, they overtook the Middle East, including the city of Jerusalem; most of North Africa, including Egypt; and parts of Western Asia.

And with them came their religion, Islam, founded by Muhammad, who Muslims believe is the greatest prophet of all. Remember also this warning we saw in the fifth trumpet: “The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail” (Isaiah 9:15, emphasis added).

As the fifth trumpet saw the rise of Islam, the sixth trumpet saw its continuous dispersion across the known world. Under the Ottoman reign, converted Muslims were plentiful, no doubt due to such influential measures as the jizya, an annual tax placed upon dhimmi, people of other religions residing in an Islamic state.

In this we see that their most powerful and lasting effect upon the world was their religion. Indeed, we are living in the time of the sixth trumpet. At 1.9 billion adherents, Islam has become the world’s second-largest religion behind Christianity.

Lord God, keep me from the snares of deceit, cruelty, and harm; lead me down Your narrow path of truth, mercy, and justice.

For Further Study: Deuteronomy 28:13; Matthew 24:24; 2 Corinthians 11:3

Key Bible Texts

By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. (Revelation 9:18 KJV)