By John Thiel, mp3, pdf

Scripture reading: Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

This statement is couched among the words of the sixth plague of Revelation 16. This is the pouring out of the sixth plague:

Revelation 16:12 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.

Here is the description of something drying up. There is here something to understand because in verse 15 a blessing is pronounced on those who watch and keep their garments, lest they walk naked, and others see their shame. Our appreciation of this subject has everything to do with our salvation. It is an important subject. Jesus makes it important by saying those words in regards to the subject of the sixth plague – the plague of verse 16:

Revelation 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

The purpose of this message is for us:

1. To receive a clear understanding of what is meant by the river Euphrates drying up (which brings forth the comprehension of Armageddon),
2. To know what association this has to our spirituality.

There is a view that is dispersed in modern Adventism today which is different to the view that was held by original Adventism; therefore I will coin it as error. But we will take a brief overview of what this error is, so we can contrast it with the truth that was once taught.

Lately the subject of the drying up of the river Euphrates has been taught and interpreted this way: The river Euphrates runs through the city of Babylon (and this is indeed true, it does run through the city; and at one time the river was even drained so that Cyrus, the Persian king, and his armies, could get in underneath the walls; that was the river Euphrates); and the observation that is being made is that, if that was the river that ran through Babylon, and Babylon is a symbol of the papal church, then the drying up of the river Euphrates running through Babylon, represents the drying up of the power of the papacy. So the appreciation of Armageddon and the drying up of the river Euphrates has been presented, in this modern day, as the drying up of the papal power as they want to force their authority over God’s people. And the force of their power over God’s people is interpreted to be Armageddon. This is the modern teaching of the subject of the river Euphrates and Armageddon. There is much more to it, but I have just given you a quick overview.

But when we come to prophecy, the waters of a river, like the waters of the sea, represent a nation or a people. The waters of the sea represent multitudes, and nations, and tongues, and peoples (cf. Rev. 17:15). But a river is something more specific. It is not many nations; it is the nations through which that river runs. We have a very clear representation of that in connection with the king of Assyria, which kingdom later on became Babylon.

Isaiah 8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

In this prophecy a river represents a particular power that comes to conquer; and as it overflows it conquers Israel. It was the king of Assyria. That is how the early Adventists read their Bibles. They correctly appreciated that the seas represent peoples, nations, and tongues; and that a river represents the nation through which it flows. This is what Stephen N. Haskell, one of the pioneers of Adventism, said in his Bible Handbook:

A river, flowing through a country, is taken as a type of the country; hence, the drying up of the Euphrates would indicate the drying up of the Turkish empire under the sixth plague. {1919 SNH, BHB 27.3}

At the time when this was written, the Turkish Empire was the Ottoman Empire, which was the empire of all the Muslim nations that were actually living around that river. As you look at a map the river Euphrates has its watershed in Turkey and then runs down through the Arab world. So it is Turkey and its associated coalition that is identified by the river Euphrates. History shows that to be the Ottoman Empire; and Turkey was the headquarters of that empire, just like it is the watershed of the river Euphrates.

The River of Revelation 9

The prophecies of Revelation 9, the seven trumpets, are the history of the fall of the Roman Empire through the years to our time. The river Euphrates in that prophecy represented precisely what we have just seen in reference to chapter 16.

Revelation 9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

We see here very vividly that the trumpets represent the wars that were embarked upon to break down the Roman Empire, first the Western Roman Empire, and then the Eastern Roman Empire. It was done in the Eastern Roman Empire by the Saracens – the Arab world. And here the prophecy points to the river Euphrates and the four angels which are bound, the four messengers, the four leading forces in the river Euphrates. Here is what Uriah Smith said, in Daniel and the Revelation, regarding those four angels:

These were the four principal sultans [or sultanies] of which the Ottoman empire was composed, located in the country watered by the great river Euphrates. These sultans were situated at Aleppo, Iconium, Damascus, and Bagdad. {1897 UrS, DAR 508.1}

These are familiar names today, aren’t they? Aleppo, that is so familiar today.

Previously they had been restrained; but God commanded, and they were loosed. {Ibid.}

What period of time were they loosed for?

The four angels were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men. This period, during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist, amounts to three hundred ninety- one years and fifteen days. Thus: A prophetic year is three hundred and sixty prophetic days, or three hundred and sixty literal years; a prophetic month, thirty prophetic days, is thirty literal years; one prophetic day is one literal year; and an hour, or the twenty-fourth part of a prophetic day, would be a twenty-fourth part of a literal year, or fifteen days; the whole amounting to three hundred and ninety- one years and fifteen days. {1897 UrS, DAR 508.4}

Here was a time prophecy that the Ottoman Empire, situated along the river Euphrates, was to have dominion over the eastern side of Europe and the Arab world.

How true was this time prophecy, from the time that it started to the time that they began to diminish? We have the words of the Spirit of Prophecy to verify this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As the message of the first angel was being proclaimed and people were expecting Jesus to come,

In the year 1840 another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown “in A.D. 1840, sometime in the month of August;” and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: “Allowing the first period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case.”–Josiah Litch, in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840. {GC 334.4}

At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations. The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the advent movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and in publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly extended. {GC 335.1}

Under inspiration the correct appreciation of the river Euphrates as we have been describing it so far, is actually shown to be the truth. The river Euphrates in Revelation 9 applied, not to the papacy, but to the Arab world, the Ottoman Empire, to Turkey, being the watershed of that river.

Since 1840, that river commenced to be retarded. Before that it flowed strongly; but from that time onwards the waters of that river were retarded. The waters were still there, but they weren’t flooding anymore. And since that time the coalition of nations bound by the Islamic faith was weakening. When we go to the First World War they were there in the ANZAC cove, fighting to defend, and trying to sustain, a diminishing power. For a while they seemed to be victorious, but ultimately they were conquered. So the water of the river has been subsiding ever since, until the time when, as we come to the seven last plagues, the river that represented the Islamic empire (which today is struggling with all its efforts to rebuild itself) is to be totally dried up.

Correct Bible Interpretation

Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;

Correct Bible comparison must be that the river Euphrates of chapter 9 is the same river Euphrates of chapter 16. It doesn’t make sense if it applies to anything else.

Revelation 16:12 …and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared [in the line-up of the gathering of the nations for Armageddon].

In the seven last plagues there will be an exercise on the planet that will cause a military battle. The power of a coalition of nations all bound together under Muslim control was directly related to the river Euphrates. Turkey, with all the Muslim world, is the river Euphrates. It is self-evident. And that coalition power is to come to an end, to dry up. Are there other scriptures that actually describe that?

In the study of Daniel 11 it all comes down to the description of the king of the north, north of Israel. Turkey is north. Then of course just north of Israel is the country of Syria, in war right now.

Daniel 11:45 And he [the king of the north] shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

The king of the north, the river Euphrates, will come to its end. It will be dried up, and none shall help him. For further clarification, and to show that we are not making any mistake, we turn to an interesting reference of this coming to an end, or drying up, of this power:

Kedar Shall Fail

Isaiah 21:16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: 17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken [it].

You see here that Kedar is a powerful nation; but all its glory will come to an end and fail. All within a year, according to the years of an hireling. Not according to Bible prophecy; according to the year of a hireling, which is the year of the Gentiles, who are not God’s people. This is one literal year. When you study the plagues, it says that they all come in one day (Rev. 18:8), which according to prophecy, is one year. So within a year, a literal year, it would show the complete drying up of the glory of Kedar. Now you ask the question, Who is Kedar? Let us find out.

Genesis 25:13 And these [are] the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

Who is Kedar? The son of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham by the Egyptian maid. And who are they? Does not the whole Muslim world turn its attention to Mohammed who claimed to be a direct descendant of Ishmael? The whole Muslim world, the Arab world, is identified here as Kedar. If you look at an ancient map to find out where Kedar is, you will see it right there in the river Euphrates.

We now turn to the battle and conflict that Kedar has always had the Jewish people, and which we see even today:

Psalm 120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, [that] I dwell in the tents of Kedar! 6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. 7 I [am for] peace: but when I speak, they [are] for war.

How real that is today too. You have here two names: Meshec and Kedar, which are both in a coalition against King David. Again, you look at an ancient map, and where do you find Meshec? Meshec is Turkey, the watershed of the river Euphrates, and Kedar is the Arab nations underneath it.

What do we read? All the glory of Kedar will be diminished in one year. This is the plagues. Consider prayerfully the events associated with the drying up of this power. As we are looking at the world around us today and we are seeing the Middle-East conflicts, they are all fuelled by the conflict between Israel and the Arab world. You are seeing that. That is exactly what King David said. I was listening not long ago to a man called Shimon Peres; he was always looking for peace with the Arab world, and he made great progress; but then it broke down again. This is the story that has been going on for millennia.

The Impact upon the World

How is this situation of the drying up of the river Euphrates associated with things that we cannot avoid in our lifetime today? What is its impact on the whole story of the world in these last days?

Revelation 16:12 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.

What will happen if the river dries up? The kings of the east will come. And to do what?

Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Now comes the warning for us:

Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief.

You see, we are all to be involved in this understanding.

Revelation 16:15 …Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

As the drying up of the river Euphrates takes place as a final event in these plagues, it provides for the work of these three unclean spirits to gather the nations of the world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, a battle of military dimension in which people will be slaughtered – a plague of military engagement.

Do you notice what it says? “He gathered them together into a place called … Armageddon.” There is a prophecy in Joel that speaks of the exact same event:

Joel 3:9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I [am] strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about:

They will be gathered together under the three unclean spirits. What are they told to do? To turn their plowshares into swords and their pruninghooks into spears. The United Nations have the symbol of a plowshare in front of their building to say, We have turned our weapons into plowshares (Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares sculpture). They don’t want to have the war, that’s what the United Nations is all about. But now God says, No, no, you’re going to turn your plowshares into swords. Assemble yourselves, gather yourselves together.

Joel 3:11 …thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. 12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord [is] near in the valley of decision.

Here we have a prophecy pointing directly to the gathering of the heathen, in which God is going to judge the wicked by their own activity – a plague of military proportion, in which nations will be gathering together. Is this also written in other prophecies? Jeremiah gives us a direct representation of the outpouring of the vials of God’s wrath, the plagues.

Jeremiah 25:15 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

You see here the gathering of the nations in military fury; mad nations. He then names all the nations that will be gathered together, including Israel, and continues thus:

Jeremiah 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. 30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread [the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.

Remember the words of Joel? “Come, get you down; for the press is full.” It is a winepress. And what is this winepress?

Jeremiah 25:31 A noise shall come [even] to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them [that are] wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. 32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33 And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

This is the gathering into the winepress of God’s wrath, a military activity. Remember, in Joel it says, Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. And in Revelation 14 the very same language is used, by which we can clearly see the winepress of God’s wrath:

Revelation 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

This all goes back to Joel and Jeremiah. It’s all exactly the same.

Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.

Here we have been showing from scripture the culmination of all the retribution of the wicked warring empires throughout history. All through history each empire was given its privilege and opportunity to receive God’s counsel. But each one failed the test, and they were kept in readiness for this great and final judgment. This is where we turn our attention to understand that the drying up of the river Euphrates has something to do with us as well. We can see the connection that when something dries up it produces the wrath and outpouring of God’s plagues.

The strength of nations and of individuals is not found in the opportunities and facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is not found in their boasted greatness. That which alone can make them great or strong is the power of God. They themselves, by their attitude toward His purpose, decide their own destiny. {SD 338.2}

Are you picking something up here? The glory of Kedar, the power that makes him invincible, the strength of nations and of individuals, is not found in the opportunities and facilities that appear to make them invincible. It is not found in their boasted greatness. When something dries up, what dries up? The glory of man. And when that dries up, then people decide their own destiny by why they have dried up.

When Something Dries Up

Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that it might be seen whether it would fulfill the purpose of “the Watcher and the Holy One.” Prophecy has traced the rise and fall of the world’s great empires–Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with nations of less power, history repeated itself. Each had its period of test, each failed, its glory faded, its power departed, and its place was occupied by another. {Ed 176.4}

This involves both nations and individuals. They don’t realise that although each person and each nation is seeking its glory, that glory will depart, that drying up will take place, as it does with the river Euphrates, the Arab world, in its final scenes. All the other empires that have continued as nations now come to their final destruction.

The history of nations that one after another have occupied their allotted time and place, unconsciously witnessing to the truth of which they themselves knew not the meaning, speaks to us. To every nation and to every individual of today God has assigned a place in His great plan. Today men and nations are being measured by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes. {Ed 178.2}

These statements you need to meditate upon in the light of this whole message. The privilege that God gives to every nation, empire, and individual, is that they might pass the test of what He wanted to give them; and if they fail that test, the destiny of that failure is going to be destruction, as we will see it in the nations when they do their final warfare in the plagues.

What then does it mean for individuals and nations to be dried up? You and I may be dried up also. What generates this? What generates a drying up, as is represented in the drying up of the river Euphrates? This subject that I am sharing with you now is of vital importance. What is the drying up going to unleash?

The selfish thoughts and feelings have dried up your souls. The moisture of heaven is not upon many of you. You are as dry as the hills of Gilboa, that were not visited by dew nor rain. Grand opportunities are being lost, and you are shriveled and dying spiritually of non-use of your talents. You cannot fulfill your solemn responsibilities to God unless you are transformed in character. {ST, February 8, 1892 par. 4}

What is the drying up caused by? Selfishness, the accusational spirit against those whom we claim are our enemies, as the nations do. As individuals and nations they plunge into selfish thoughts and feelings, and they lift up their glory; but what will happen? That glory will wither away; it will dry up. And what is the result, both for nations and individuals?

What happens to the beauty of what God has given to nations and individuals? Remember Nebuchadnezzar; God had led him to the point where he finally received the glory of God and was redeemed. He was the one that passed the test, but as a nation, eventually, under Belshazzar, Babylon withered; and so it has done in each successive empire.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

This is the opposite to selfishness

Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 16 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

If you don’t walk in the Spirit but you walk in your own selfishness, the Spirit will be dried out of your life. Spiritual moisture will be dried out. And when spiritual moisture is dried out, love is dried out; and what will happen? You will consume each other. This is what is going to be happening very soon in the plagues. People will consume each other, both individuals and nations. It’s part of the plagues, God’s final judgment.

As individuals and nations pursued ungodly selfishness, the final drying up of an empire unleashes the war, a consuming of each other. Isn’t that what Armageddon is all about? They will consume each other. You and I who do not understand this subject, will be involved in the consuming of one another, whether we believe in war or we don’t; because the spirit of selfishness and condemnation and judgmentalism is the spirit that will end up in consuming and destroying each other, devouring each other.

Regarding the punishment of God that will be upon the nations the Spirit of Prophecy says:

This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is “alienated from the life of God.” Christ says, “All they that hate Me love death.” Ephesians 4:18; Proverbs 8:36. {DA 764.1}

We are seeing it unfolding in the world history of nations and individuals.

God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them. {Ibid.}

This is all still to be played out in its grand finale, but we need to understand the message of this hour. As the nations of the world have made their decisions not to follow God as Nebuchadnezzar did, they have been given their time to develop their character, and now they come to the grand finale of the drying up of all spirituality out of their nations and finally they will have a war of devouring one another. This is the outpouring of God’s plagues.

Blessed Is He That Watcheth

The warning of Revelation 16:15 is now very clear in our minds. The Armageddon subject is the winepress of God’s wrath. And if it is a winepress, should you be there if you are a true follower of Jesus?

In Matthew 24 we are given a description of the faithful and wise servant that gives meat in due season. He is not selfish; he is feeding the flock correctly. But then it says:

Matthew 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite [his] fellowservants,

What is he doing? He is devouring his fellowservant, because he is saying, My Lord delayeth His coming. If this servant begins to do that,

Matthew 24:49 …and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for [him], and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is an interesting statement if we come back to Jeremiah; because in that time of the outpouring of God’s wrath there is something which will happen. At the time when “the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;” this will be the reality for the evil servant:

Jeremiah 25:34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves [in the ashes], ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 36A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, [shall be heard]: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. 37 And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

The Bible spells it all out for us. We must make the decision that we do not become part of those who will be gnashing their teeth because of what is coming, the false shepherds, those that devour the faithful servant. The faithful servant who, like Abel, does not use any force, who just lets it all take its course, he will be protected, while the others will consume each other, including the shepherds, and including their members.

When the First World War broke out, the faithful Seventh-day Adventists refused to go to war and were disfellowshipped from the Seventh-day Adventist church. Why didn’t they go to war? Because they knew that war in the last days, as war in all times, is a demise of those who have been tested by God and have failed their test. But as God’s people are being tested, as faithful people they will pass the test and will not go and be consumed by the selfishness of the nations and the pride of man that will eventually be dried up for them to be finally destroyed.

May God teach us this, and may we realise that what we have seen here is the truth that has been proclaimed by early Adventism, and that physical warfare is part of the plagues and is Armageddon and that we are to have nothing to do with it, because the glory of God is what we focus on and that glory will never dry up.

Amen.

 

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“Unfortunately we the Muslims lost our aim to head towards Jerusalem. The water of our eyes froze making us blind, and our heart that was destined to beat for Jerusalem is now instead conditioned for rivalry being in a state of war with each other.”

Turkish president called on citizens to “raise their hands in supplication for this blessed night towards Allah to restore the Al-Aqsa Mosque [Jerusalem] to be re-owned by Muslims, and to remove the mist from their eyes, to see Jerusalem in their hands at every moment and at every opportunity”. –Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey.

“Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca, or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem, Allah willing. Our cry shall be: “Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.” Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem. … Indeed, all the lovers of martyrdom are Hamas. I say from this podium, from Al-Mahalla, from the heart of the Delta, the heart of Egypt, so that the whole world may hear. We say it loud and clear: Yes, Jerusalem is our goal. We shall pray in Jerusalem, or else we shall die as martyrs on its threshold.” –Safwat Higazi, member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt.