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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



There is another erroneous doctrine that is directly related to the belief that Revelation's "kings of the east" represent communist China and other nations of the Orient. I believe it too is a result of poor exegesis -- or interpretation of the Scriptures -- by certain preachers and Bible teachers. Quite simply, this doctrine promotes the belief that this supposed great invasion from China represents the army of two hundred million that is mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Now, if we rely upon our human wisdom and reason, we naturally think "Where else could such a huge army possibly come from if not from China? After all, China currently has a population of about 1.5 billion citizens, and the Chinese could easily create an army of such tremendous proportions."

Sad to say, that is exactly what some of these preachers have done. In other words, they have erroneously put these two ideas together -- the "kings of the east" and the army of two hundred million -- and they have taught their flocks that Bible prophecy states that communist China will invade Israel with a massive army comprised of two hundred million soldiers. We have already seen what happens when we choose to carefully examine the Scriptures for ourselves, instead of just relying upon the words of some of these preachers. If the "kings of the east" might not be who these preachers say they are, is it possible that they are likewise in error regarding their understanding of the army of two hundred million?

Well, it may surprise some of you to learn that the "kings of the east" and the army of two hundred million are not even found in the same chapter in the Book of Revelation. The "kings of the east" are mentioned in chapter sixteen, while the army of two hundred million is mentioned in the ninth chapter; and I suspect that they may be two separate and unrelated events. Allow me to explain to you exactly how I arrived at this conclusion. First of all, there isn't any mystery concerning where this massive army of two hundred million comes from; because the Bible tells us plainly; and as you'll see by the following verses, it is most certainly not from China. These verses are taken from chapter nine of the Book of Revelation, and they describe for us an event which the Angel of the Lord refers to as the "first woe":

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."


Please notice exactly where this great army comes from: the Bottomless Pit. Now, unless you believe that China is the Bottomless Pit, then this great army of two hundred million cannot possibly originate from China. Furthermore, these horrendous creatures are led by a spiritual entity known as Abaddon, or Apollyon, which -- as I have explained before -- means "destroyer" in both the Hebrew and Greek languages. Now, some of you might argue that the previous verses don't say anything about this horde from hell being comprised of two hundred million. You are absolutely right; they don't. However, the Apostle John then continues his narrative by telling us about the "second woe". Let's continue reading:

"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 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. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 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. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt."


Please notice what John is doing in those verses. He is in fact referring back to the terrible army that ascends out of the Bottomless Pit. Carefully compare the descriptive terms that John uses in both sets of verses, and you will see that he is talking about the very same horde from hell and their demonic leader Abaddon, or Apollyon.

For example, in the first set of verses, John tells us "and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power . . . and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man . . . And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months". In the second group of verses he basically says the very same thing with "For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." So in both groups of verses, we see that John describes these hellish creatures as having tails that hurt men.

But the similarities do not end there. In the first set of verses John states "And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions"; while in the second set of verses he states "and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions". So putting both descriptions together, John is saying that these creatures had heads of lions, and teeth like lions. It is also possible that the reference to women's hair may just be another way that John chose to describe a male lion's mane.

John also compares the locusts in the first set of verses to horses and horsemen, and he does the very same thing in the second set of verses as well. In the first set he says "And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men . . . and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. In the second set of verses, John describes the very same horde from hell for us using slightly different terminology with "And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them . . ."

Both sets of verses also discuss breastplates, fire, smoke and brimstone, because these vile creatures ascend out of the Bottomless Pit, which -- as I describe in other articles -- is a region of the place we refer to as Hell. Again, unless you are of the belief that China is Hell, there's no possible way that this demonic army of two hundred million can be from China. There should be no doubt then that the second group of verses is actually a continuation of the first set of verses.

Furthermore, by putting all of these verses together, we can gather two key pieces of information. In the "first woe", we are informed that these demonic creatures ascend out of the Bottomless Pit; and in the "second woe" we are told that they number two hundred million. So to reiterate my point, there's no way on Earth that these verses can be describing an army of two hundred million arising out of communist China. They are a demonic horde ascending out of the very bowels of Hell itself, and they are led, not by human military leaders, but by the demonic Destroyer known as Abaddon or Apollyon.

Now that we have cleared up this confusion regarding China and the army of two hundred million that ascends out of the Bottom Pit, I would like to share with you some additional information that relates directly to our primary discussion concerning Turkey and the "kings of the east". Thanks to a Facebook friend who offered me some feedback regarding this article, I discovered something interesting while searching through some of my older articles. Nine years ago, in part four of my 2003 series called "Capture of Saddam Hussein and the New Babylon", I mention a possible betrayal of Israel by Turkey. Following is a direct quote from that series:

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As an additional note, it might interest you to know that even though Turkey has a military alliance with the nation of Israel, in recent months, Syria and Turkey have begun to warm up to each other again, following a cold spell which resulted from their differences of opinion over the war in Iraq, as well as other issues, such as water supplies. Let us also not forget the fact that in the elections which were held in Turkey last year, Islamic fundamentalists made some important gains in certain key provinces. While the military still remains in control of Turkey, you just never know what the future might hold. The tide of Islam might some day take hold of that country again. If that were to occur, and if Turkey and Syria continue to patch up old wounds, you just never know. Under the influence of the Islamists, Turkey may in the end betray Israel, as I have long suspected that she might do; but this is just a personal speculation on my part. Time will certainly tell what road she will eventually take.

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It encourages me to know that nine years ago God impressed upon me the possibility that the day might arrive when the at-that-time cordial relations between Israel and Turkey would sour. Please notice that in the above quote I state "I have long suspected that she might do". This indicated to me that even before the year 2003, I was already anticipating a betrayal of Israel by Turkey. I immediately suspected that it was in my April 1997 six-part series entitled "The Seven Heads". To my delight, upon conducting a global search with my text editor, I discovered that I had written these words in the final part of the series:

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As I have made clear in the previous parts of this series, as well as in other of my Endtime articles, it is my current belief that the coming Kingdom of Darkness of the Beast may be an Islamic Empire comprised of Muslim states currently in existence in the Middle East. Based on my understanding of the prophecies of such Books as Daniel and Revelation, I have proposed that the political/military figurehead of this Empire may quite possibly arise out of Syria; and if not there, then possibly out of Iraq.

In fact, due to new information I have discovered, I will take this a step further and suggest that Turkey also offers some possibilities. While Turkey is currently warming up to Israel, we must remember that the Middle East is a very volatile area of the world. Conditions are always changing; loyalties are always changing. While we are presently witnessing a military alliance between the U.S.A., Turkey and Israel, things could change dramatically overnight. For example, if the Muslims were somehow able to gain control of the secular government, it is obvious that Israel would lose her ally and gain a very powerful enemy. Therefore, Turkey is a key player in the Endtime scenario.

As I stated previously, in a geographical sense, Syria and Iraq are both potential "kings of the north" because they are situated north and northeast of Israel. This also applies to Turkey. Additionally, all three of these countries occupy territory which was formerly the northern and eastern regions of the divided Grecian Empire as I partially explained in the article "The Kings of the North and the South". This makes them the perfect candidates for the home of the Beast.

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In short, fifteen years ago, when Israel and Turkey were just beginning to warm up to each other, even then the Lord laid it upon my heart that their alliance might not endure. One of the reasons why I suspected this coming betrayal, was precisely because of my understanding of who the "kings of the east" might really be, which, as you have now seen, is quite contrary to what a lot of other preachers and Bible teachers have been promoting. Thankfully, I take my leading from the Lord -- as we should all do -- and not from other preachers and teachers. I prefer to wait on God's Spirit to reveal things to me from His Word. I don't like to have my understanding influenced by other writers. As we are told concerning the Holy Spirit:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."


"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."


That is the wonderful promise of God's Spirit, which I also discuss in such articles as "A Treasure in Earthen Vessels: God's Promise of the Spirit". So if you really want to learn and understand God's Word the proper way, then take time to let His Holy Spirit guide you. He will amaze you by the new discoveries that you will make in the bounties of His Word.

In case you are wondering why I was surprised to make these discoveries in my 1997 and 2003 series, it is because, quite frankly, I honestly do not remember everything that I have ever written. You need to understand that I have written a considerable volume of material over the past eighteen years, and I cannot possibly remember it all. In fact, quite often, when one of my readers sends me feedback and makes mention of a particular article or series, I usually have to go back and re-read what I have written just so I can offer them a proper answer. This is precisely what happened with this particular friend from Facebook. The result has been a major expansion of this current article. Thank the Lord!

But there is more. On December 5, 2011 I made an entry on my Bill's Bible Basics Blog which is directed related to our current discussion. Let me share some excerpts from it with you:

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I was just reading an interesting article in the New York Times entitled "For Turkey, Lure of Tie to Europe Is Fading".

This news article describes how Turkish interest in becoming a member of the European Union has been fading in recent years, particularly due to the financial difficulties that Europe has been facing in recent years, as well as due to the fact that the Europeans have been giving a cold, indifferent shoulder to Turkish aspirations in recent years.

While many people will probably overlook this news article, due to my knowledge of the Bible, it immediately caught my attention.

. . . . .

While Israel and Turkey previously enjoyed warm relations -- for political, economic and military advantages -- as this news article briefly mentions, relations have been cooling off ever since Israel attacked the flotilla that was headed for the Gaza Strip, which set sail from Turkey.

I have long expected Turkey to double-cross Israel, and it now appears to be happening.

So again, keep your eyes on Turkey, because it is important in God's Plans.

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For those of you who are not familiar with what is now being called the "Gaza Flotilla Raid", on May 31, 2010, a serious and deadly confrontation occurred in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, between Israeli military forces and a flotilla of six ships called the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. This flotilla had been organized by the Free Gaza Movement, along with the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. Its objective was to carry humanitarian aid and construction materials to the Gaza Strip, which has been subject to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade which was first put into effect in June of 2007.

While the Israelis eased the naval blockade for non-military goods in June of 2010, and while Egypt likewise reopened the Rafah border crossing for persons in 2011 as a result of the fall of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, and the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian politics, for all intents and purposes, the blockade continues to be enforced at this current time, April, 2012. The flotilla's intention was to defy and break through the blockade, which was a sure recipe for trouble from the start.

At any rate, on May 31, 2010 Israeli naval commandos, using both speedboats and helicopters, boarded the six ships in the flotilla in order to force them to the Israeli port of Ashdod where they were to undergo an inspection. While the raid proceeded as planned on five of the ships without any serious violence occurring, such was not the case with the Turkish ship MV Mavi Marmara.

While precise details remain sketchy -- obviously manipulated by both parties involved -- violence erupted on the MV Mavi Marmara. Dinner plates, iron bars and knives are claimed to have been used by ship occupants, which resulted in the death of eight Turks and one Turkish-American. The majority of the dead were shot multiple times -- some at close range -- and many other of the ship's occupants were also wounded. Ten of the Israeli commandos were likewise wounded as a result of the violent confrontation. Ultimately, the ships were towed to Israel, where all of the passengers on board were detained and deported.

As was to be expected, the incident was quickly condemned around the world. In the end, the members of the flotilla were accused of acting recklessly, while the Israelis were accused of using excessive and unreasonable force. This is no surprise to me, being as the Israelis have repeatedly been accused of using -- and have indeed used -- excessive and unreasonable force over the decades in their dealings with the Palestinians. While American newspapers are quick to report the number of Israeli casualties that result from Palestinian suicide bomber attacks and missile attacks, the fact of the matter is that in recent decades, substantially more Palestinians -- thousands in fact -- have died as a result of Israeli aggression against them.

If you are interested in taking a deeper look at my views regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, please consider reading such articles as "Palestinian Quest For Statehood and UN Resolution 377", "Palestinian Suicide Bombers and Middle East Peace", "United Nations Confrontation: Abbas vs. Obama" and "Yasser Arafat's Ultimatum: Why May 4, 1999?".

In the aftermath of the Gaza Flotilla Raid, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and announced that it was freezing its military ties with Israel, until such time when Israel would apologize for the deaths of the Turkish citizens, and also compensate the victims' families. Additionally, Turkey has demanded that Israel end the blockade. For its part, Israel has been very adamant about refusing to offer an apology.

So basically, two major shifts have occurred with Turkey since I first wrote this article in 2010. First, while she is still a NATO member, her hopes of joining the European Union are now greatly diminished. Second, depending on how you want to look at it, she has betrayed Israel, or at the very least, turned her back on Israel for the time being due to the Gaza Flotilla Raid incident.

While you may not know it, there is historical and Biblical significance to this latter development. As I explain in the series "The Psalm 83 War False Doctrine Exposed", all of the Patriarch Abraham's descendants from Ishmael, his second wife Keturah, and later from Esau, eventually became the enemies of the Israelites. While Heth -- from whom the modern Turks may be partially descended -- was not related to Abraham, his descendants also became the enemies of the Israelites, except for a few people such as Uriah the Hittite, who was a soldier in King David's army. Of course, David basically had Uriah murdered after he -- David -- committed adultery with Uriah's wife. Thus, if the modern Hittites -- the Turks -- once again become the enemies of the Israelis, the historical circle will be complete.

What comes next is anyone's guess. Will Turkey play a vital role, and possibly even be in the forefront when the Beast's military forces invade Israel at some point in the future? Time will certainly tell. All I know is this:

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"


So maybe we don't yet know the precise future, but God most certainly does. This fact should be a great motivation for us all to remain close to Him, and immersed in His Word, if we want to understand where the world is headed, and why.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Capture of Saddam Hussein and the New Babylon
The Seven Heads
The Kings of the North and the South
Palestinian Quest For Statehood and UN Resolution 377
Palestinian Suicide Bombers and Middle East Peace
United Nations Confrontation: Abbas vs. Obama
Yasser Arafat's Ultimatum: Why May 4, 1999?

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