Page 14 - BV13
P. 14

The vast hordes of the Muhammadans are signified by the symbol of a cloud of locusts; and
        verse 7 states that the shapes of the locusts were like "horses outfitted for battle." The words
        "horses outfitted for battle" indicates the readiness, fearlessness and swiftness of those armies in
        making war. Notes Gibbon --


               Arabia, in the opinion of the naturalist, is the genuine and original country of the horse;
               the climate most propitious, not indeed to the size, but to the spirit and swiftness of that
               generous animal. The merit of the Barb, the Spanish, and the English breed, is derived
               from a mixture of the Arabian blood; and the Bedoweens preserve with superstitious care
               the honors and the memory of the purest race. These horses are educated in the tents,
               among the children of the Arabs, with a tender familiarity, which trains them in the habits
               of gentleness and attachment. They are accustomed only to walk and to gallop; their sen-
               sations are not blunted by the incessant use of the spur and whip; their powers are re-
               served for the moment of flight and pursuit; but no sooner do they feel the touch of the
               hand or the stirrup, than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind (The Decline and
               Fall of the Roman Empire).

        Verse 7: "On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like hu-
        man faces."


               When Muhammad entered Medina in A.D. 622, and was first received as its prince, "a tur-
        ban was unfurled before him to supply the deficiency of a standard." The turbans of the Saracens,
        like that of a coronet or a crown, were their ornament and their boast. To assume the turban is to
        proverbially become a Muslim-man. And the Arabs were distinguished by the turbans which they
        wore, in which YELLOW was the most prominent color.

               The fact that they wore "crowns" or turbans marks them as a sovereign people, setting them
        apart from the mercenary armies of Rome. Furthermore, Revelation 9 says they had faces like
        those of men. Writes Gibbon:

               And their faces were as the faces of men. The gravity and firmness of the mind [of the
               Arab] is conspicuous in his outward demeanour...his only gesture is that of stroking his
               beard, the venerable symbol of manhood....The honour...of their beards is most easily
               wounded (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. V, chapter 50, pp. 86, 88).


        Verse 8: "They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like those of lions."

               This indicates they are a virile people -- notwithstanding the long hair which in Bible times
        was the mark of a barbarian people (see 1 Corinthians 11:14-15). Writes Alexander Keith:

               Long hair is esteemed an ornament by women. The Arabs, unlike to other men, had their
               hair as the hair of women, or uncut, as their practice is recorded by Pliny and others. But
               there was nothing effeminate in their character; for as denoting their ferocity and strength
               to devour, their teeth were as the teeth of lions (Signs of the Times, Vol. I, p. 312).

               Regarding the long hair, Hengstenberg makes the following comment --

                                                             14
   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19