Ver. 4. _Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it
toward the south._
Although this passage is left in the text as it originally stood, yet the
writer acknowledges a manifest inadvertency in supposing the division here
spoken of into northern and southern to have reference to the position of
the prophet, any more than to that of the reader; with neither of which it
has any connection. It has been objected by a judicious friend of the
author, that Mahommedism has prevailed, and still does prevail in
countries lying north of Judea, where the prophet wrote. The objection is
perfectly just, not was it unperceived by the writer, though he did not at
first see how to remove it, simple as is the solution of the difficulty,
and striking as then appears the fulfilment of the prophecy.
The solution is—that this division of the nominal Christian world here
foretold, into two grand apostacies, Anti-christianism and Mahommedism,
which were destined to occupy a position northward and southward, had no
relation to the prophet, but simply to each other—that is, they were to be
north and south of each other.—Now let a line be drawn, such as might be
expected from the fracture of a mountain by an earthquake, extending from
the west of Europe to the east of Asia, over a surface of not less than
180 degrees of longitude, and no where deviating more than 10 degrees of
latitude, and we shall find the Greek and Latin churches occupying the
whole portion lying to the north, while Mahommedism engrosses all to the
south. And we shall find those parts only of Europe cut off which were
pre-ordained to fall under the Moslem yoke, as Spain, Sicily, Corsica, and
Sardinia, Calabria, Greece, and Turkey in Europe; while Russia forms the
boundary line from all the Mahommedan nations lying to the south of it.
This line will be comprised between 40 and 50 deg. of nor. lat. Thus
singularly have the words of the prophecy been accomplished. And thus
strikingly is the will of Heaven, in the pre-ordination and disposal of
human events, made manifest to the mind of man.