ding and have sought to ward off,
the ancient prophecy says will surely come to pass when the king of the
north comes to his end,--a time of trouble for the nations such as never
was.

In the New Testament

In the prophecy of Revelation 16, the last great clash of the nations is
represented as following the fall of the power that rules the territory
drained by the Euphrates. Describing the last events in human history,
under the pouring out of the vials of judgment upon the world, the
prophet says:

"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.

The water of the Euphrates represents the people or power ruling by it.
When anciently the Assyrians dwelt by that river and were about to
invade Israel, the prophet said, "The Lord bringeth up upon them the
waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria." Isa.
8:7. The waters of the Euphrates meant the Assyrian power.

Just so in this prophecy, the river stands for the people. As the Nile
stood for Egypt, and the Tiber for Rome, so in all modern times the
Euphrates has stood for Turkey. The "drying up" of the Euphrates must
mean the ending of the Turkish power. And in the verses immediately
following, Revelation pictures the gathering of the nations of the whole
world to Armageddon--"the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
Following Turkey's end comes the final clash of nations. The earth
quakes, the cities of the nations fall, and the last judgments of God
come upon a warring world.

Here, as in Daniel 12, is pictured a time of trouble for the nations
such as never was, and the end of the world, when the power ruling in
Syria, by the Euphrates, comes to its end.

The Approaching End

For years statesmen and observers have discussed the approaching
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Travelers in Turkey have reported
that thoughtful Turkish people held the conviction that the crisis of
their nation was near at hand. Years ago Mr. Charles MacFarlane wrote:

"The Turks themselves seem generally to be convinced that their
final hour is approaching. 'We are no longer Mussulmans,--the
Mussulman saber is broken,--the Osmanlis will be driven out of
Europe by the _gaiours_, and driven through Asia to the regions
from which they first sprang. It is Kismet! We cannot resist
destiny!' I heard wo