A War-Making Union
Simple self-preservation provides a powerful motivation to watch Europe for any sign of a unified military power. But the ultimate reason the Trumpet watches this trend is Bible prophecy.
Mr. Armstrong based his prophecies on scriptures like Daniel 2 and 7 and Revelation 13 and 17. These describe a European power made up of 10 nations or groups of nations that would appear in this end time.
Revelation 17:12, for example, describes “ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”
“The seventh head” of this beast power, he explains “with its 10 horns, in the 17th chapter, will be, as the 17th chapter explains, the revival of the beast, the Roman Empire, ‘out of the bottomless pit’ by a ‘United States of Europe,’ or federation of 10 European nations centered within the bounds of the old Roman Empire.”
These 10 kings will rule together as part of the beast power. This is an important point that you need to prove from the Bible. Ample scriptural proof of this can be found in Herbert W. Armstrong’s free booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?
This union of 10 kings is clearly a military union. The Bible says these kings shall “make war” (verse 14).
Many other passages warn of a great war-making power in this end time. In Isaiah 10:5-7, God says that He has raised up Germany—end time Assyria—to “destroy and cut off nations not a few.” Habakkuk talks about the same time period, calling the end-time European power “Chaldeans”—this time referring to the religious nature of this power. He describes them as a “bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.”
The Bible is full of prophecies foretelling a military empire that will march in and conquer Israel. “I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say,” states Jeremiah 5:15. Ezekiel 6:3 states: “Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.”
Both these prophets were writing 100 years after ancient Israel went into captivity. Their warnings make no sense—unless you realize that they are intended for when God would “bring again the captivity of … Israel” during “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:3, 7).
The military power building in Europe right now is the one God prophesied would “bring again” this captivity.
It is because of these prophecies that Mr. Armstrong forecast that Europe would become a military power. But Mr. Armstrong also saw from the Bible’s prophecies that this unification would not come easily.
“The nations of Europe have been striving to become reunited,” he wrote in the January 1979 Plain Truth. “They desire a common currency, a single combined military force, a single united government. They have made a start in the Common Market. They are now working toward a common currency. Yet, on a purely political basis, they have been totally unable to unite.”
How, then, will they unite? Mr. Armstrong went on to explain that it would happen through the addition of a religious force in Europe—the same one that has been associated with every major European empire in the past 15 centuries: the Roman Catholic Church. (Read our free book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy.)
How, then, will they unite? Mr. Armstrong went on to explain that it would happen through the addition of a religious force in Europe—the same one that has been associated with every major European empire in the past 15 centuries: the Roman Catholic Church.
Yes, the unification project on the European continent will have serious obstacles. The Continent that has been repeatedly riven by warfare will not readily come together nor will it ever be a picture of harmony. In fact, even once its unification into a single empire is complete, the 10 nations of this superpower “will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay” (Daniel 2:43; New International Version). Prophecy reveals that it is a fractious and fatally flawed union that will only manage to hold together for a few short—but shockingly destructive—years.
These prophecies are accelerating toward their fulfillment. Though Europe has much to do before its military union is fully formed, Europeans are under great pressure. Major crises are driving this push for a European military. That is why it must be taken seriously, despite all past failed rhetoric. Terrorist attacks, the migrant crisis, Russia’s increasing aggression—none of these problems are going away. If Europe’s efforts stall, one or more of these forces will push Europe again toward its prophesied destiny: a superstate whose individual nations lose sovereignty but gain the power projection of a 21st-century superpower.
The arrival of an independent European military force will be one of the most radical developments in decades. At the same time, Germany is emerging as a clear leader in this drive to form an army.
Though, at present, many nations support Europe’s efforts to expand its military power, biblical prophecy shows that this trend is one of the most dangerous happening in the world today!
THE BEAST POWER IS REAL
A superpower that crushes one nation after another. A tyrant who uses false religion to control the beliefs of millions of people. A nuclear-powered evil empire that plunges the world into a new holocaust—World War iii.
This is not just the plot of a terrifying novel—it’s a biblical description of the future. The detailed, vivid history that the Bible recorded came to pass centuries after it was written. But the final chapter of the history of the beast power has not yet happened. Discover how, when and where this final chapter will unfold: Request your free copy of Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?by Herbert W. Armstrong.
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