EU: The Sick Man of End-Time Prophecy

by Todd Stromberg

The revival of the Roman Empire is often called the second most important end-time prophecy, which is just behind the rebirth of Israel. Because this organization will give rise to the dreaded Antichrist, most Christians assume this alliance will be very powerful. The Bible actually says this coming world power will be very weak.

The vision that was given to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 showed all the great Gentile empires that would come to rise on the earth. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold; Media-Persia was the breast and arms of silver; Greece was the belly of brass; and Rome was the legs of iron. The final government will be the feet of iron mixed with clay.

The interesting thing about the series of governments is that they progressively lose value as you go down the list. As the head of gold, Nebuchadnezzar had absolute power over his subjects. At the bottom was the Roman Empire, which was represented by iron. You had a ruler who was largely beholden to the Roman senate for his power base.

The Bible tells us there will be a final world power made of ten leaders. Because it is described as iron mixed with clay, this government will have a connection to the Roman Empire, and it will have an extremely weak power base.

The European Union has been a perfect match for the prophecy concerning the revived Roman Empire. It started with the Treaty of Rome, and it encompasses the core nations that made up the Roman Empire. As far as the frailty the government goes, you could not have better example of an iron and clay union. The EU has long had a confusing array of bureaucratic departments, and it has suffered a host of political setbacks. The EU's ability to survive one crisis after another has done the most to convince me that it truly is the organization spoken of in prophecy.

In 2005, the integration process suffered a huge train wreck. Unhappy with some of the provisions of the proposed European constitution, French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty. Since the debacle, the EU has been struggling to figure out how to move forward.

In the past few weeks, I have noticed the EU has been making amazing progress in getting itself back on course. Many of these changes have a direct bearing on Bible prophecy.

Right after the collapse of the USSR, most former East-bloc nations went running into the arms of the EU. Not wanting to be left out in the cold, Russia said, "Sign me up too." Of course, it would be odd to have Gog, the nation that would attack Israel, as a member of the EU.

It now appears that Russia's chances of joining the party are down to zero. At a recent EU-Russia meeting, Russian President Putin pretty much had the door slammed in his face. European leaders rebuffed Moscow for turning back the clock on democratic reforms and for its strong-arm treatment of its neighbors. EU commission president José Manuel Barroso told Russia, “The European Union is based on the principle of solidarity," which basically meant, "If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

Another nation left out in the cold is Turkey. It has long been trying to achieve EU membership. There is some dispute between prophecy scholars over Turkey's involvement in the Gog invasion. But is does seem hard to imagine a massive army from the north not passing through Turkey. With several key EU members promising to veto any proposal to allow Turkey to join the club, it appears for now that this Arab nation's destiny involves an alliance with Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy have been trying to work out a compromise on the issue of the stalled EU constitution. Both of them favor the idea of having EU nations agree on the principle of a "simplified treaty." By having a streamlined version of the EU constitution, there would be no need for a national referendum. This new approach will be one of the main topics of the upcoming June 21-22 EU summit.

The growing strength of the European currency in the EU is another sign of the times. The euro has been rising in value against the dollar and has become the currency of choice for many central banks. Iran has just announced that it has transferred 70 percent of its financial reserves away from the dollar and into the euro.

When the rapture takes place, I strongly believe the loss of such large portion of the American population will cause this nation to collapse into social and economic disarray. With only about 2 percent of Europe's population affirming to be born-again believers, at the rapture, this area of the world would not suffer a major population loss.

I find no indication from Scripture that we will be able to know who the Antichrist is before the rapture. To reach the point where we could easily point him out would violate the doctrine of an imminent rapture. The progress we are seeing in Europe does provide us with strong general warning signs that the end is drawing near.

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Lk. 21:28).

SOURCE: Rapture Ready