(February 28, 2009) Reuters posted a news story listing various protests that were taking place around Europe. (FACTBOX – Financial crisis sparks unrest in Europe) A sampling of the events that the article describes were:
- BOSNIA — Bosnia’s Muslim-Croat parliament cancelled a session on Thursday rather than confront protesters complaining about its plans to pass a law cutting benefits to narrow a big budget gap.
- GERMANY — Some 15,000 Opel workers from around Germany took part in a mass rally on Thursday at the German headquarters of their struggling company, demanding parent General Motors scrap plans for plant closures in Europe.
- BRITAIN — British workers have held a series of protests at power plants, demonstrating against the employment of foreign contractors to work on critical energy sites.
- BULGARIA — Police officers, banned by law from striking, have held three “silent” protests since December to demand a 50 percent pay hike and better working conditions. Bulgaria, the poorest EU nation, has been hit by protests demanding the government take measures to shore up the economy.
- FRANCE — President Nicolas Sarkozy faced criticism from both unions and bosses on February 19 over new measures to tackle the economic crisis.
These countries along with several other European states are in the same desperate financial straits as America and the rest of the world. This is leading governments to begin taking control over the most influential banks in their countries. (TOPWRAP 8-Govts tighten grip on banks, US economy falters) Once governments take control of their financial institutions their power over their citizens is absolute. This along with governments’ increasing use of technology to monitor their people’s movements and transactions (see my other posts on governmental monitoring) could lead to one possile End-Times scenario laid out in biblical prophecy.
This section comes from ch. 10 of my book Even at the Doors:
Some believe that the Antichrist will come to power in the continent of Europe. There are primarily two biblical reasons for this assertion. Both of them are in the Book of Daniel. The first has to do with an interpretation that Daniel gave concerning a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had. In that dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great or giant image, which may have been a statue. This statue had a head of gold, its chest and arms were made of silver, its stomach and thighs were brass, the legs were iron, and its feet and toes were part iron and part clay. Daniel stated that each of these sections of the image represented a world empire.
Daniel said that the head was the Babylonian Empire of King Nebuchadnezzar. The chest and arms would be the Medo-Persian Empire, the stomach and thighs represented the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great, and the legs of iron were the Roman Empire which would trodden down the people. Daniel prophesied concerning this fourth or Roman Empire, “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.” (Daniel 2:40) This is an apt description of the Roman Empire which did conquer the known world with its mighty and disciplined armies. Daniel then states that the toes were made of iron and clay. This means that this final kingdom would be partly strong and partly broken or weak. These ten toes represented ten future kings. Daniel speaks of these kings in a later chapter. In a vision that he himself had Daniel saw four beasts which represented the same four world empires of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Concerning the fourth beast Daniel said:
“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” (Daniel 7:7-8)[i.e., the Devil] gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” (Revelation 13:1-2)
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon
Since the Roman Empire and its people gravitated to Europe, some believe that the descendants of the Romans comprise the majority of the Europeans. This leads to the belief that from them the Antichrist will rise to power.
This section again refers to the dreadful power of the Roman Empire. There are two things to notice in this passage. The first is that the beast had ten horns of which three fell. The second is the little horn was a man who spoke great things. An angel interprets this vision for Daniel:“Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” (Daniel 7:23-26)
Both the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the vision of Daniel spoke of the Roman Empire. The ten toes of the statue and the ten horns of the beast are ten kings. Then a great king comes along who will subdue three of the ten kings and will magnify himself against the most High God. This little horn or king will be the Antichrist. The Book of Revelation also refers to these ten kings and the Antichrist who shall come from among them:
The second passage in Daniel that seems to allude to the Antichrist coming out of the Roman Empire and therefore Europe states:“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:26) The “prince” who destroyed Herod’s Temple in 70 A.D. was the Roman General Titus. Thus, the “people of the prince” were the Romans who made up his army. Since this was only a foreshadow of the final destruction of the third or Tribulation Period Temple, the fulfillment of this prophetic passage has yet to occur. However, this too appears to be a reference to the Roman Empire and a future “prince” who will arise out of it. This has led some end-times scholars to believe that the Antichrist will rise to power through a confederation of European countries such as the European Union. He may indeed ascend to the leadership of the European Parliament since Europe has been historically anti-Semitic and he will be the greatest anti-Semite who ever lived. He will have the support of ten other leaders of whom three he will overcome. At some point early on, he will use his new-found power to insert himself into the politics of Israel and the Middle East. He will make a covenant or peace treaty with Israel (anti-Semitism notwithstanding in order to further his true agenda) and possibly the other nations of the world. Finally, he will oversee the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and will be proclaimed and worshiped by the world as the messiah. [end of Even at the Doors ch. 10 section quote]
The idea that a powerful leader could arise out of economic chaos is not unprecedented. In the Book of Genesis, the godly man Joseph rose to prominence in Egypt after the pharaoh realized he was a man of the one, true God. At the leading of God’s Spirit Joseph correctly predicted that a famine would strike down the land of Egypt. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of Egypt’s financial system and by the end of the seven years of famine Pharaoh owned all the land of Egypt and the people themselves. The citizens of Egypt were in a panic over their economic hard times and willingly sacrificed their freedoms and rights in order to stave off starvation and distress. Thankfully Joseph was a benevolent leader and the people did not suffer under his rule. However, in recent history another leader took over during a time of economic strife and his rule was not benign. (Genesis ch.39-47)
After World War I, Germany was ripped apart by financial turmoil. Inflation was rampant as was the suffering of the German people. In 1920, an unknown former soldier of Germany started attending meetings of the National Socialist Party. Because of his oratorical skills he rose to power in this political party. He was preaching German nationalism while at the same time scapegoating the Jews for the German people’s misery. His message resonated with the people and he eventually became the undisputed leader of Germany in 1933. Adolph Hitler’s megalomania brought destruction to his country and caused the deaths of millions of people. However, he was destroyed and Germany had to rebuild.
[Update: March 18, 2009] – The far right is on the march again: the rise of Fascism in Austria (In Austria’s recent general election, nearly 30 per cent of voters backed extremist right-wing parties. Live visits the birthplace of Hitler to investigate how Fascism is once again threatening to erupt across Europe) – Sixty four years after the end of WWII Neo-Nazism is rearing its head again in Austria where Adolph Hitler was born in Braunau in 1889. According to this article, the far right has made significant inroads into Austrian politics. One of the heroes of the movement is Herbert Schweiger, an 85 year-old former SS officer who “makes no attempt to hide his Nazi views. At his home in the Austrian mountains, the former SS officer gazes out of a window to a view of a misty alpine valley. Described to me as the ‘Puppet Master’ of the far right, Schweiger, 85, is a legendary figure for neo-Nazis across the world. ‘Our time is coming again and soon we will have another leader like Hitler,’ he says.” Herr Schweiger is correct in that a future leader will come on the scene (very possibly out of Europe) and will try to build an empire more powerful and more evil than any that has existed in history.[end update]
The Bible describes the Antichrist as a man of great oratorical skill and deception. He will also be much worse than Hitler. His rise to power will not lead to the destruction of a country but will bring devastation to the world. Whether the current global situation leads to his rise remains to be seen. If not, it will be a similar future worldwide economic crisis that will result in the End-Times Tribulation period and the rise of the Antichrist.
