text:
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation
By COGwriter
Europe gets its name from Europa of Roman/Greek
mythology. Essentially all Teutonic languages, except English, call
Europe, Europa.
The Church of God (COG) has
long taught that the last resurrection of the Roman empire will take
place in Europe. And that this empire is represented by as a "beast"
throughout the books of Revelation and Daniel.
And that there is a woman, representing some type of church, that
Revelation shows rides that beast Revelation 17:3,7). Some within the Roman Catholic Church
also tend to teach that there will be another resurrection of the "Holy
Roman Empire" in Europe, but their view towards it is that it is a tool
for good.
This article will discuss some of that as well as certain myths and
facts of history that tie Europe into some of the prophecies in the Book
of Revelation and other parts of the Bible. (Most of the prophetic
section is in the last 1/2 of this article.)
First Some Background on Ancient Europa
Here is a version of the story of Europa from the San Diego State University website,
Zeus Lovers...One night Europa had a dream. In this dream two continents, which were in the forms of women were arguing over Europa. Asia maintained that since Europa had been born in Asia she belonged to it. The other continent, which was nameless, said that her birth was not important, that Zeus would give her to it. It was early morning, disturbed by the dream Europa did not go back to sleep. She summoned her companions, who were all daughters of nobility and of her age. It was a beautiful day and they went off gathering flowers by the sea. Zeus noticed this charming group, particularly Europa, who was the prettest [sic] of the maidens…Zeus appeared to the group as a white bull. A white bull more beautiful then any other…The bull laid down in front of Europa. She slid on to its back. Instantly, the bull charged off, plunging into the sea, and began to swim rapidly from the shore. Europa saw that a procession had joined them, Nereids riding dolphins, Triton blowing his horn, even Poseidon. From this she realized that the bull must be a god. She pleaded with him to pity her. Zeus spoke to her and explained his love. He took her to Create, where he had been raised. He promised that she would bear him many famous sons (Hunt J.M. Zeus Lovers. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/GG/zeusLover.html, 4/9/04).
Notice that the story claims that Europa was actually
born in Asia (some accounts say Europa was raped, others suggest she was
seduced, by Zeus).
Astarte, often called the 'queen of heaven', is widely believed to be of Asian origin.
Ishtar/Astarte (from where the name Easter
is derived) was a Babylonia goddess.
This woman was probably originally Semiramis (the mother of Nimrod),
who was considered the first queen of Babylon. Semiramis had herself
deified as the mother of the god Damu and installed as the "queen of
heaven" pictured in the constellation Cassiopeia. She is sometimes shown
as a virgin with child, while she was widely believed to originally
have been a harlot.
A connection between Astarte (the 'queen of heaven')
and Europa was noticed long ago. The following account was written
by one called Lucian in the second century,
In Phoenicia is another great temple which the people of Sidon keep. They say it belongs to Astarte, and Astarte...is Selene the Moon. The Emperor Elagabalus, being the Sun, brought Astarte the Moon from Phoenicia and wedded her. But she was not originally or at any time primarily the moon; and in Babylonia, as Ishtar, she had for Her emblem a star, the planet Venus. But one of the priests told me it belongs to Europa, sister of Cadmus. She was daughter of King Agenor; and after she vanished, Phoenicians honored her with that temple, and told a holy tale about her that says she was beautiful; Zeus desired her and transformed himself into the likeness of a bull, and then snatched her away and bore her on his back to Crete. That same story I heard from other Phoenicians as well; and the coinage which the Sidonians use depicts Europa sitting on the bull that is Zeus. Nonetheless, they do not agree that the temple is that of Europa. The temple itself contained, in later days at least, a painting of the Europa episode. The story was also localized at Tyre, where the house of Agenor and the bower of Europa were shown and where in the eighth century the people still mourned the abduction in a feast called the kake'opsin'. The name Europa is considered Greek; whether this particular myth is Cretan or Phoenician in origin the evidence does not seem sufficient to determine (Peri Tes Syries Theoy De Dea Syria Concerning the Syrian Goddess by Lucian of Samosata 2nd Century C.E., http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2938/deasyria1.html 4/08/04).
Here is another view of the story,
According to Greek mythology the chief Greek god Zeus fell in love with the human daughter of the Phoenician king, named Europa; in the shape of a white bull he abducted her, and had three sons through her. In order to 'make up' for his behavior, she was honored by naming a continent after her: Europa. This 'love' affair, though illegal, is 'covenantal behavior.' And giving names to territories is also 'covenantal behavior'. Zeus can be identified as Satan (Rev. 2:13). Has he tried, by establishing a false covenantal relationship with this continent, to have a 'legal' claim on this continent?...As mentioned, Europa was a Phoenician princess. In Syria she was equated with Astarte, an adaptation of the demonic principality named in the bible as the queen of heaven. She is also known as Ishtar. One of Ishtar's sacred symbols was the bull. At Knossos the queen-priestess represented the 'mother goddess,' the queen of heaven. Bulls were sacred; bull-games had a very important...Europe bore him three sons, one of whom was Minos. Then Europe married Asterios, the king of Crete (Bos, Helene. EUROPE, WHAT'S IN THE NAME? February 2004. http://184.108.40.206/search?q=cache:ercf9u3roXgJ:www.joelnews.nl/NameofEurope.doc+europa+consolation+continent+named&hl=en&i.e.=UTF-8 4/8/04).
Finally, here is another version of the story of Europa from the Greek government,
The final destination was Crete and in particular Gortyna where Zeus was joined in a "sacred marriage" with Europa, beneath a plane tree which has never lost its leaves ever since. It is interesting that the coins of Gortyna found had maintained the memory of this scene. One can see Europa seated on the trunk of the sacred tree, while on the other side of the coin the bull looks at her for one last time…She was worshipped with the name of Hellotis and at the celebrations, the Hellotia a celebration of joy for the blossoming of nature, people used to weave wreaths around her thighs as an indication of fertility. It was believed that Europa was initially a nymph, daughter of Oceanus. This version coincides with the myth of cosmogony in that the lands arose from the ocean. According to another similar version, Europa seems to be the personification of a brilliant meteor or a bright star. Europa, the daughter of Telephassa, "the one who shines from afar", might have been a figure for the moon, each morning eloping with the solar bull and each night appearing brilliant on the dark sky (Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs http://www.mfa.gr/english/greece/through_time/mythology/europa.html 4/10/04).
Apparently then, Europa was a nymph. It should
perhaps also be noted that nymphs were unmarried semi-goddesses that
frequently were involved in fornication in mythology. Many accounts of
Europa also mention that she had a least two kingly husbands. And she
seems to be tied in to "the queen of heaven".
It is also interesting to note that Lucian reported
that there was an ancient coin pictured Europa riding a beast.
Interestingly, the Greeks currentlyhave a similar coin. The 2 Euro coin
in Greece (a couple of which this author actually owns) has a woman
riding a beast on one side of it:
Thus the story of Europa riding a beast it still a symbol for modern Europe.
The Bible and the Queen of Heaven
The Bible itself warns about worship of the 'queen of heaven.' Jeremiah 7:18-20 states,
The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the LORD. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?" Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place--on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.
Lest the comments about female symbology seem to be
all negative, it needs to be understood that two different women are
represented in the Book of Revelation--one approved, while the other
condemned. Some practices associated with this Queen are currently
promoted by Rome. Notice one:
17 But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven...
It should also be mentioned that the Church of Rome promotes a non-biblical version of Mary as the Queen of Heaven (see Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions).
Revelation 12 uses the analogy of a woman who brought
forth Christ and needs to flee to the wilderness and receive God's
protection (she represents the church). The final verse of that chapter concludes with,
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17).
Thus, it is clear that the offspring of the woman in Revelation 12 includes those in the true Church as they are the ones who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. These must be those in the true church--but this is NOT the Queen of Heaven!
2 John also appears to use the analogy of a good woman ("the elect lady" 2 John 1) as a symbol the church. And the Apostle Paul does as well in Ephesians 5:25-32)--and these references cannot all be related to "Mary" as some
Catholics (Catholic bishops have repeatedly approved writings that say
this was NOT Mary) seem to wish to believe as the woman is shown to be
on the earth and to need physical protection (Revelation
12:13-16)--Mary, who died long ago, would not (for more on Mary and the
documented Catholic position, see Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions).
However, there is also a second woman. The woman in
Revelation 17:3 is unfaithful and she rides a scarlet beast with seven
heads and ten horns. According to Revelation 12:3, there is a dragon
that also shares those same characteristics,
"behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads".
It is the dragon in Revelation 12:17 that goes to make
war against those who keep God's commandments. The woman that rides
this beast in Revelation 17 is not representative of the true church--in
a sense it is the eighth church mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
(It is also "eighth" in the sense that it endorses worship on the
"eighth" day. This is documented in the article Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Church of God?).
Thus, there are two distinct women, representing two
differing churches, in the Book of Revelation (articles of related
interest may be What Does Rome Teach About Early Church History? and Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome).
One whose offspring keep the commandments of God and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17;19:7). While the other commits
fornications with the kings of the earth and rides a dragon-like beast
(Revelation 17:1-7).
The Second Century, Rome, and Babylon
Interestingly, even Roman Catholic
scholars often teach that the Apostle John's references to Babylon in
the Book of Revelation (circa 95 A.D.) are references to Rome. Notice
what the commentary in the Rheims' New Testament, the Catholic accepted translation of the Latin Vulgate into English, states:
The author of the Commentaries upon the Apocalypse set forth in St. Ambrose name, writeth thus: This...sometime signifieth Rome, specially which at that time when the Apostle wrote this, did persecute the Church of God. But otherwise it signifieth the whole city of the Devil, that is, the universal corps of the reprobate. Tertullian also taketh it for Rome, thus, Babylon (saith he) in St. John is a figure of the city of Rome, being so great, so proud of the Empire, and the destroyer of the saints. Which is plainly spoken of that city, when it was heathen, the head of the terrene dominion of the world, the persecutor of the Apostles and their successors, the seat of Nero, Domitian, and the like, Christ's special enemies, the sink of idolatry, and false worship of the Pagan gods (Annotations on Chapter 17 of the Apocalypse. The Original And True Rheims New Testament Of Anno Domini 1582. Prepared and Edited by Dr. William G. von Peters. Ph.D. 2004, copyright assigned to VSC Corp. Page 583).
Thus Roman Catholic scholars often realize that it was commonly understood from the earliest times that Apostle John's
biblical references to Babylon are referring to Rome. It should
probably also be mentioned since "Mystery Babylon" of Revelation 17:9
sits on seven hills/mountains, yet the Babylon of Mesopotamia was on a
plain, that obviously, this is a changed location from the Babylon of
Old Testament times. The Babylon near the Euphrates was not to arise
again according to scripture (Jeremiah 51:64). However, the coming final
Babylon is a northern power also referred to as "the daughter of
Babylon" in the end times in Jeremiah 50:41-42 and apparently Zechariah
2:6-7, hence it comes from a different geographical location. (Ancient
Babylon was NOT a northern power, but end time Babylon is.)
Even Catholic writers realize that the "Babylon" Jeremiah speaks of
Jeremiah 51 is the "Roman Empire" as opposed to the ancient Babylon
(Kurz, p. 49).
Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John,
is believed to have been the first who may have specifically
identified a leader of the Roman Empire with the number 666 (please see
the article SDA/LCG Differences: Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666). And Polycarp even once went to Rome in the second century to warn the Roman Bishop Anicetus not to observe Passover on a Sunday as well as to object to the one who first tried to teach that the Christian Godhead existed as three hypostases (Valentinus).
On a related note, in the late second century, Irenaeus, who claimed to have met Polycarp, wrote:
Valentinus came to Rome in the time of Hyginus, flourished under Pius, and remained until Anicetus. Cerdon, too…Marcion, then, succeeding him, flourished under Anicetus...But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna…always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time -- a man who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles... (Irenaeus. Adversus Haeres. Book III, Chapter 4, Verse 3 and Chapter 3, Verse 4).Then also Lateinos (LATEINOS) has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel]. For the Latins are they who at present bear rule: I will not, however, make any boast over this (Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Book V, Chapter 30, Verse 3).
It should thus be clear that the idea of tying the
Latin leader of Rome with 666 and the last worldly kingdom prophesied by
Daniel has been around for ages (more details can be found in the
article SDA/LCG Differences: Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666).
3rd Century Catholics Tied is Assyria/Asshur as the Beast/Antichrist Power
The famous third century Catholic theologian and Bishop Hippolytus tied Assyria in with the Antichrist/King of the North power:But Isaiah also speaks thus: "And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish (visit) the stout mind, the king of Assyria, and the greatness (height) of the glory of his eyes"…For when he has the power, he will begin to exalt himself against God, neither in truth fearing God, nor regarding the Son of God...And Isaiah also to the like effect: "Forasmuch as the people refuses…therefore, lo, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and full, even the king of Assyria." By the king he means metaphorically Antichrist…(Hippolytus. On the Antichrist, chapters 16, 57).Although he believes that the final Antichrist springs from the tribe of Dan (Ibid, chapter 15), Hippolytus seems to be connecting attributes of the King of the North who exalts himself above God (Daniel 11:36-37) with the king of Assyria (Isaiah 10:5-12). The Bible is clear that Assyria will be an end time northern power that God will punish per Zephaniah 2:13-15, which seems to go along with Revelation 18:1-10). Jerome, in his passage involving Assur and Germany, also mentioned Antichrist, hence he may have continued with Hippolytus' view.
The famous third century Catholic theologian and Bishop Victorinus tied Assur the Antichrist/Beast power of Revelation 11:7; 13:1):
7:2..."Then shall there be peace for our land, when there shall arise in it seven shepherds and eight attacks of men; and they shall encircle Assur," that is, Antichrist...
11:7. And the beast which ascends from the abyss. After many plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss. But that he shall ascend from the abyss is proved by many testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon. Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty and branching cypress— that is, a numerous people— in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans. (Victorinus. Commentary on the Apocalypse. Translated by Robert Ernest Wallis. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm>)
Notice that Victorinus tied end time Assur (Assyria)
in with representing the Beast and kingdom of the Romans during the time
of Antichrist. This is somewhat consistent with prophecies in Isaiah
4th Century Europe and the Beginning of A New Type of Persecution
How is any of this information relevant to the current Europe?
HIstorically we have seen that a type of woman (who
seemingly represents the main religion of Europa) is associated with
the dragon, is associated with secular governments (17:2), and is
involved with persecution of the saints:
I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Revelation 17:6).
Is there any church who has approved of or ordained
emperors, kings, and other leaders of Europe throughout history? Is
there any church, which rules from the famed 'city of seven hills'
(Revelation 17:9), that has instigated persecution of what it calls
'heretics' throughout its history?
And if so, how did this alliance between Europe and a church take place?
It should first be noted that the Roman Catholic
Church, and most historians, credit Constantine for making its version
of 'Christianity' the religion of the Roman Empire.
But what kind of Christianity?
In the 300s A.D., Constantine was having some
dissension within his empire. Prior to a battle, he claimed to have
received a vision from heaven that he should conquer in the sign of a
military type of cross,
In 312, the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great was in Trier, Germany where he had an unexpected vision of a cross that appeared in the sky with the haunting words, "In hoc signum vinces" ("In this sign you conquer"). The Emperor was buoyed by the apparition and encouraged his 20,000 troops for the upcoming bloody battle against Maxentius and his 100,000 men. Constantine's soldiers, the majority of whom were pagans, placed the sacred image of the cross on their shields (Mangan C.M. In This Sign You Conquer, 10/15/03 Copyright © 2004 Catholic Online).
He {Constantine} said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens , above the sun, and bearing the inscription , Conquer by this...in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens , and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens , and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies....At dawn of day he arose, and communicated the marvel to his friends: and then, calling together the workers in gold and precious stones, he sat in the midst of them, and described to them the figure of the sign he had seen, bidding them represent it in gold and precious stones...Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it. On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and within this, the symbol of the Saviour's name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by X in its centre...(Eusebius. The Life of Constantine, Chapters 28,30,31).
Well, a majority of compromised confessors of Christ
liked this, and Constantine brought the few bishops he could find to
Rome and exalted them. They in turn exalted him, and he crowned himself
Pontifex Maximus (also spelled Pontificus Maximus or Pontifax
Maximus). Pontifex Maximus was a title that the earlier Roman emperors
had taken for themselves signifying that they were the bridge between
God and humankind. With that title one essentially is claiming to be
the true physical and spiritual leader of the world.
In 313, Constantine had issued the Edict of Milan which began with,
When I, Constantine Augustus, as well as I Licinius Augustus fortunately met near Mediolanurn (Milan), and were considering everything that pertained to the public welfare and security, we thought -, among other things which we saw would be for the good of many, those regulations pertaining to the reverence of the Divinity ought certainly to be made first, so that we might grant to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred.
That is what most Catholics and many Protestants want
remembered--as they have tended to endorse Constantine's version of
"Christianity". But this was the sheep's clothing over the true
anti-Church of God wolf lying beneath.
Constantine decreed circa March 7, 321,
Let all judges, the people of cities, and those employed in all trades, remain quiet on the Holy Day of Sunday. Persons residing in the country, however, can freely and lawfully proceed with the cultivation of the fields; as it frequently happens that the sowing of grain or the planting of vines cannot be deferred to a more suitable day, and by making concessions to Heaven the advantage of the time may be lost (Code of Justinian, Book III, Title XII, III. THE JUSTINIAN CODE FROM THE CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS. Translated from the original Latin by Samuel P. Scott. Central Trust Company, Cincinnati, 1932).
It may be of interest to note that although the Bible calls the seventh-day Sabbath
holy (Exodus 20:8), it never does call Sunday holy. This edict was
clearly a compromise away from biblical Christianity. And this edict had
a major effect of the Western world:
There is a large body of civil legislation on the Sunday rest side by side with the ecclesiastical. It begins with an Edict of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, who forbade judges to sit and townspeople to work on Sunday (Slater T. Transcribed by Scott Anthony Hibbs. Sunday. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIV Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight).
The bolded quote shows one of the first official
intertwinings of European politics and Catholic doctrine--even though
the foundations were being laid in the mid-late second century (how the
Greco-Roman confederation attained the influence to become predominant
in the third century is discussed in the article The History of Early Christianity).
Some have indicated that Sunday may be the "mark of the Beast".
Certain Catholic published positions seem to lean in that direction as
the following indicate:"Sunday is our mark of authority. . . .The church is above the Bible, and this transference is proof of that fact." The Catholic Record, September 1, 1923.Interestingly, here is what Tertullian of Carthage (in eastern Egypt) noted near the beginning of the third century:
"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change (from Saturday to Sunday) was her act. It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything in matters spiritual and religious without her, and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." The Catholic Mirror, September 23, 1893.
(as reported in: Wehr J. Who Are These Three Angels? Hartland Publications, 1997, p. 112)
Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan,) sets his marks on the foreheads of his soldiers (Tertullian. The Prescription against Heretics, Chapter 40. Translated by Peter Holmes, D.D., F.R.A.S.)
Constantine had been a follower of Mithras, and Sunday was his day (more information on Mithras can be found in the article Do You Practice Mithraism?).
When Constantine established Sunday as a day of rest (which Catholics now call the "eighth day"),
he and those that followed him apparently wanted to ignore what is
written in the Book of Hebrews 4:4,9-11 (using both Protestant and
Catholic translations):
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."...9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience (NIV).
4 as one text says, referring to the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing…9 There must still be, therefore, a seventh-day rest reserved for God's people, 10 since to enter the place of rest is to rest after your work, as God did after his. 11 Let us, then, press forward to enter this place of rest, or some of you might copy this example of refusal to believe and be lost. (NJB)
About one year after conquering the Eastern empire,
and thus resurrecting the combined Roman empire, Emperor Constantine
convened the Council of Nicea in 325 AD that declared:
1) The Roman Sun-day or day of the Sun was to be the Christian sabbath.
2) Rules regarding seasonal prayers, penance, and indulgences.
3) That the Catholics believed that Jesus was God in some fashion.
4) Passover would be on Sunday and not the biblical date of Nisan 14
The last point above was somewhat a follow-up to the Quartodeciman controversies where Polycarp assured Ancicetus that Passover was to be celebrated on the 14th of Nisan according to what he had learned from the Bible and the Apostle John
(quartodeciman means "fourteenth" a reference to the 14th day of Nisan
of the Hebrew calendar). And then the dissession decades later between Polycrates and the Catholic Bishop of Rome Victor where Polycrates
argued in a letter against accepting a false Sunday date (Polycrates
did not accept that Victor had that authority to enforce such a change
above the Bible or the practices of the original apostles).
So in 325 A.D., approximately one hundred and thirty years after Polycrates'
letter, Emperor Constantine (at the Council of Nicea) made sure that
his form of 'Christianity' would not keep the Passover on the correct
date--the sun-worshipping Constantine insisted on Sunday for his empire.
It should be noted that the Bible clearly shows,
For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast (I Corinthians 5:7b-8a).
Yet it is reported that, "The Council also fixed the time for observing Easter" (Nicene Councils. World Book Encyclopedia,
1966) after again deciding against proper Passover observance (in
continuance of the position taken during the quartodeciman controversy).
The Catholic Encyclopedia states,
The emperor himself, writing to the Churches after the Council of Nicaea, exhorts them to adopt its conclusions and says among other things: "At this meeting the question concerning the most holy day of Easter was discussed, and it was resolved by the united judgment of all present that this feast ought to be kept by all and in every place on one and the same day" (Easter Controversy. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V Copyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton Company Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight).
It should be noted that apparently several historians have forgotten that it was not the date of Easter, but the date that was originally Passover that the Council decided. As the Catholic Epiphanius wrote in the mid-4th Century,
...the emperor...convened a council of 318 bishops...in the city of Nicea...They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people..."(Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp.471-472).
Eventually, those in parts of Europe changed the name from Passover to Easter.
Easter is another name for the Babylonian goddess Ishtar (which can be
pronounced as Easter), the so-called 'queen of heaven'. And of course,
"the queen of heaven" is also a title that has been given to Europa, for
whom the continent of Europe is named.
However, it may be even more astounding to note it has been reported that,
More Christians were killed (by other Christians!) in the first century after the Council of Nicea than had been killed by pagans in the century before Nicea. Constantine, only one year after convening the Council of Nicea, had his own son (Crispus) put to death. Later he suffocated Fausta (his wife) in an overheated bath. Then he had his sister's son flogged to death and her husband strangled. (1) It was also during the reign of Constantine that the cross became a sacred symbol in Christianity, just as it had been in pagan religions. (2) Throughout his reign, Constantine treated the bishops as political aides. He agreed to enforce whatever opinion the majority of the bishops formulated (Chaimberlin RA. Anti-Judiasm and the Council of Nicea. From Petah Tikvah Magazine Vol. 14, No. 3, http://www.yashanet.com/library/antisem.htm 4/28/04).
Of course, it should be understood that those in the Living Church of God
do not believe those doing or supporting any of those killings were
truly Christian (for more information, please see the article COGs and Military Service). It was not until the time of Constantine that even the majority of Greco-Romans who professed Christ decided to ignore the Bible and tradition and become militaristic.
Also, a year after the Council of Nicea, Constantine
sanctioned the confiscation and destruction of all works that challenged
orthodox teachings - works by pagan authors that referred to Jesus, as
well as works by "heretical" Christians. He also arranged for a fixed
income to be allocated to the Church and installed the bishop of Rome in
the Lateran Palace. This is clearly the beginning of a new type of
persectution: a persecution not for being a Christian, but for being a
Constantine Christian.
To enforce persecution against Christians who did not
accept Constantine's doctrines, around 332, Constantine issued what is
known as the Edict Against the Heretics,
Victor Constantinus, Maximus Augustus, to the heretics. "Understand now, by this present statute, ye Novatians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulians, ye who are called Cataphrygians, and all ye who devise and support heresies by means of your private assemblies, with what a tissue of falsehood and vanity, with what destructive and venomous errors, your doctrines are inseparably interwoven; so that through you the healthy soul is stricken with disease, and the living becomes the prey of everlasting death. Ye haters and enemies of truth and life, in league with destruction! All your counsels are opposed to the truth, but familiar with deeds of baseness; full of absurdities and fictions: and by these ye frame falsehoods, oppress the innocent, and withhold the light from them that believe. Ever trespassing under the mask of godliness, ye fill all things with defilement: ye pierce the pure and guileless conscience with deadly wounds, while ye withdraw, one may almost say, the very light of day from the eyes of men. But why should I particularize, when to speak of your criminality as it deserves demands more time and leisure than I can give? For so long and unmeasured is the catalogue of your offenses, so hateful and altogether atrocious are they, that a single day would not suffice to recount them all. And, indeed, it is well to turn one's ears and eyes from such a subject, lest by a description of each particular evil, the pure sincerity and freshness of one's own faith be impaired. Why then do I still bear with such abounding evil; especially since this protracted clemency is the cause that some who were sound are become tainted with this pestilent disease? Why not at once strike, as it were, at the root of so great a mischief by a public manifestation of displeasure? (Chapter LXIV.—Constantine's Edict against the Heretics. This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College).
Thus, began more official persecution from a combined Church and State in the old Roman Empire (see also Persecutions by Church and State). Some (probably a minority) of those referred to as Paulians (Paulicians) and Cataphrygians were part of the true Church of God (please see the article The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3).
Note that they are condemned for private assemblies and being haters of
truth. Apparently Constantine felt that supporting the biblical sabbath, the biblical Passover, and other biblical doctrines were against his non-Christian version of the truth.
It is important to understand that Constantine,
himself, was not baptized as any type of 'Christian' until he was lying
on his deathbed in 337, thus remained declared sun worshiper essentially
all his life. Even many of the coins he had produced after he allegedly saw a type of cross in the sky pictured the sun-god on them.
Even in the fourth century, Constantine's
declarations against "heretics" did not stop everyone from properly
observing Passover. Therefore, Theodosius, a later Roman Emperor,
decreed the death penalty for those who followed the biblical teachings
on this matter:
Edicts of Theodosius against the heretics, A.D. 380-394...Theodosius...decreed that...by the death of the offender; and the same capital punishment was inflicted on the Audians, or Quartodecimans, who should dare to perpetrate the atrocious crime of celebrating on an improper day the festival (Gibbon E. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume III, Chapter XXVII. ca. 1776-1788).
Is killing those that followed the example of Jesus
and John to observe the Passover on the 14th instead of Sunday a sign of
a true Christian leader or a sign of supporting Antichrist? Was the true Church to be the persecuted or the persecutors (see Persecutions by Church and State). But this is what happened from edicts European-based Roman Emperors.
The Two Legs/Two Lungs/Two Wings of the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox
After Constantine, persecutions against the true COG
and others continued (of course, prior to Constantine, the Roman empire
did persecute Catholics,
those in the COG, as well as others--but after Constantine, persecution
was limited to those who did not accept the State form of
In 364 A.D. the Council of Laodicea declared,
CANON XXIX. CHRISTIANS must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ (THE COMPLETE CANONS OF THE SYNOD OF LAODICEA IN PHRYGIA PACATIANA).
Although some Catholics point out that the bishop of
Rome did not attend this Council, the fact is that he did nothing to
stop the Council's declaration from being implemented.
It should be noted that in Daniel 2:31-33, Daniel
reports that a great image (which is another way to look at the Beast of
Revelation) has two legs, which suggests two halves or two main parts
of the Beast. Historically, the "Holy Roman Empire" has had two parts: a
Western (Rome) and Eastern (Constantinople) one, with the center of
power switching sometimes throughout the ages.
Essentially, the Council of Laodicea was apparently from the eastern leg (sometimes referred to presently as the Orthodox Church) of the image in Daniel 2 (vs. 33).
The late Pope John-Paul II once publicly stated that
the Roman and Orthodox Churches were the two lungs of the church,
which suggests that they mutually are supportive, as two legs are.
Hence Pope John-Paul II has acknowledged that the Roman Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox Churches are two parts of the same body. They
apparently make up the two legs and somewhat the two feet (with ten
toes) of the image of the Beast warned against in Daniel 2:33.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI,
interestingly wrote of Europe (the Mediterranean continent) and its two
wings, Greek and Latin:
In the process of replacing boundaries, the conceptual continuity with the preceding Mediterranean continent…was assured by a theological interpretation of history: in connection with the Book of Daniel, the Roman Empire—renewed and transformed by the Christian faith—was considered to be the final and permanent kingdom in the history of the world in general, and therefore the association of peoples and states that was taking shape was defined as the permanent Sacrum Imperium Romanum [Holy Roman Empire]. (Raztinger J. Europe today and tomorrow: addressing the fundamental issues. Translated by Michael Miller. Ignatius Press, 2007, p. 13)We can consider the rise of the Carolingian Empire, on the one hand, and the continuation of the Roman empire in Byzantium and its mission to the Slavic people, on the other, as the true and proper birth of the continent of Europe…(ibid, p. 17)Greco-Christian, European culture of Byzantium...one of the two wings of Europe (ibid, p. 18).Latin [that is, Western] Europe...(ibid, p. 19)...the Christian idea of empire...the sacred foundation for history...(ibid, p. 20)The two halves of the old Europe, before the modern era, had known essentially only one opponent that it had to confront in a life-or-death battle, namely, the Islamic world. (ibid, p. 22)Believing Christians should...contribute to Europe's recovery of the best of its heritiage and thus to the service of all mankind. (ibid, p. 34)
Dexter Wakefield made the following insightful comments about Cardinal Ratzinger's writings in that book:
His analysis, of course, does not express the full meaning of this imagery. Yet in referring to the two iron legs of the Daniel 2 statue, the current pope shows that even the Roman Catholic Church has in the past recognized that the Roman Empire and its successor, the so-called "Holy Roman Empire," are pictured in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. (Wakefield D. Will Islam Transform Europe? Tomorrow's World magazine, November-December 2010, p. 17)
So, even the current pope realizes that the "Holy
Roman Empire" is part of the image in Daniel 2 and that one leg/wing
represents the Roman/Latin Catholic west with the other the
Eastern/Greco/Byzantine east. Cardinal Ratzinger also seems to be
teaching that the "Holy Roman Empire" is the last part of the image of
Daniel 2 and that it is a good thing. Yet, he seems not to realize that
in the end, God intentionally destroys the image, by attacking the last
part (striking the feet it stands upon in vs. 34) which implies that
God was not pleased with this image or its "sacred foundation". Since
the Bible is clear that God will destroy the final formation of that
empire (Daniel 2:40-44), the development of a unified Europe to fulfill
this is not something that should be encouraged. (It is also of interest
that Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out Europe's historic opponent Islam,
as both biblical prophecy--like Daniel 11:40-43--and Catholic private
prophecy seem to tell of a time that the Europeans will defeat the
forces of Islam once again.)
Pope John Paul II (the pontiff prior to Pope Benedict XVI) stated:
By rediscovering the great cultural treasures of the Christian East, in a new dialogue of communion, we will also allow Christian witness to breathe at this level, with two "lungs", making our rightful contribution to humanity's future (Pope John Paul II. CHRISTIANITY HAS DEEPLY MARKED CULTURE OF PEOPLES. Angelus, 1 September 1996. Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 4 September 1996, "L'Osservatore Romano is the newspaper of the Holy See". http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP960901.HTM viewed 11/16/07).
The Orthodox apparently agreed that they were and are
one of the lungs as the Orthodox Metropolitan John of Pergamon stated to
John Paul II:
As Your Holiness has aptly put it some years ago, East and West are the two lungs by which the Church breaths; their unity is essential to the healthy life of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church (Speeches of Pope John Paul II and Metropolitan John of Pergamon. Made in private audience following a Mass to celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Rome, 28 June 1998. http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/ecumenical/john_pergamon_john_paul2.htm viewed 11/16/07).
It should also be noted that the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I (whose "official title" is His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch) wrote:
Today, then, it is our obligation more than ever to reclaim the Christian roots of Europe and the spiritual, sacramental and doctrinal unity that it enjoyed prior to the schism of our two Churches. The re-evangelization of our peoples is "today, more so than ever before, timely and necessary, even within traditional Christian lands," as we admitted and confessed in common here exactly one year ago.
Thus, we believe that Western and Eastern Europe must cease regarding themselves as foreign to one another...
Elder Rome has the foremost St. Peter as its apostle and patron. New Rome, Constantinople, has the brother of St. Peter, the first-called of the apostles, Andrew. Both invite us to the fraternal unity that they shared with each other and that can only be acquired when the cross becomes our point of reference and experience of approach.
Let us, therefore, beseech these two brothers and greatest of apostles that they may grant peace to the world and lead everyone to unity. (Bartholomew I's Letter to Vatican Delegation. Zenit. December 5, 2007 http://www.zenit.org/article-21198?l=english).
The Patriarch of Constantinople is generally
considered the first among equals within the Eastern Orthodox
"sees". Even if this unity with the Romans occur, individually the Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics as unifying will make them part of Babylon (according to both biblical and Roman Catholic prophecy).
I strongly believe the Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics and have had this published in 2007 on the internet and in The Journal: News of the Churches of God. Futhermore, many ecumenical meetings and pronouncements have been coming from those groups (for documented details see Ecumenism Advancing).
Jerome recognized that the Prophet Daniel warned against the Roman kingdom:
Verse 40. "And there shall be a fourth empire like unto iron. Just as iron breaks to pieces and overcomes all else, so it shall break to pieces and shatter all these preceding empires . ..." Now the fourth empire, which clearly refers to the Romans, is the iron empire which breaks in pieces and overcomes all others...While they are all included in the one Empire of the Romans, we recognize at the same time those kingdoms which were previously separate. And as for the next statement, ". . .devouring and crushing, and pounding all the rest to pieces under his feet," this signifies that all nations have either been slain by the Romans or else have been subjected to tribute and servitude...". . .And I saw that the beast was slain and its body perished." In the one empire of the Romans, all the kingdoms at once are to be destroyed, because of the blasphemy of the Antichrist....the other beast whose name was not specified but which represented the kingdom of the Romans (Jerome. Commentary on Daniel, Chapters 2,7,12. Translated by Gleason L. Archer. (1958). http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm viewed 07/30/11)
Sadly, history records that the Orthodox and the Roman
Catholics were part of the old Roman Empire, that they both have had
efforts to persecute the true Church of God (please see the article Persecutions by Church and State),
and the Bible indicates that together they (with others) will accept a
changed version of their religion and fulfill prophecies related to
Babylon (see rest of article).
The Pope Becomes Pontifex Maximus in the 4th Century
It needs to be understood that although the title
Pontifex Maximus was relinquished by Roman Emperor Gratian (apparently
because the Catholics
did not think the emperors should use the title any more because of its
pagan connections), the next 'bishop of Rome' first took the title
for himself around 384:
SIRICIUS, ST. (384-399)...was the first to assume the title of pope from the Greek papa meaning father (Lopes A. The Popes: The lives of the pontiffs through 2000 years of history. Futura Edizoni, Roma, 1997, p. 13).
The title pope (papa)...It was apparently in the fourth century that it began to become a distinctive title of the Roman Pontiff. Pope Siricius (d. 398) seems so to use it (Ep. vi in P. L., XIII, 1164) (Joyce G. H. Transcribed by Gerard Haffner. The Pope. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XII. Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by Kevin Knight. Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
The office of the Pope is informally called the Papacy and formally called the Pontificate; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See...The Pope's name is frequently accompanied in inscriptions by the abbreviation "Pont. Max." or "P.M." (abbreviation of the ancient title Pontifex Maximus...)...Contrary to popular belief, it is the Pope's ecclesiastical jurisdiction (the Holy See) and not his secular jurisdiction (Vatican City) which conducts international relations...With the Christianisation of the Roman Empire in the Fourth century, the Popes received civil authority within the state as well as spiritual authority within the Church (Pope. From Wikipedia. Last modified 23:08, 15 Apr 2004).
The title Pontifex Maximus it is currently still used
by the bishops of Rome. Actually, if you visit Rome, you can see a
variety of monuments that have the letters P.M. on them, and signifying
that the Bishop of Rome is the Pontifex Maximus. Since Pontifex Maximus
was a term used to show that the pagan emperors should be worshiped and
were a bridge between God and man, no true Christian would want their
leader to use such a title (the first century heretic Simon Magus was perhaps the first associated with Christianity to want to hold a similar position).
Various ones with the title Pontifex Maximus have been responsible for the persecution of true Christians.
Later Persecutions Also Occurred
Various forms and waves of persecution of true
Christians have occurred throughout European history, with perhaps the
Spanish Inquisition of the late middle ages the most famous.
One Protestant scholar noted this about "Pontifex Maximus" Innocent III and those who followed him:
The next major step in the establishment of the Inquisition was taken by Innocent III...In the West, the same pope launched a "Crusade" against the Cathars, or Albigenses, of Southern France in 1208...In the second century of the Christian Era, most Christians refused to take up arms at all.. One millennium later, Christians were not only fighting for the church against "infidels" who had conquered ancient biblical lands, but against other Christians, heretical ones, who only asked to be able to live in peace on their ancestral soil...No matter how dreadful the use of violence against the dualistic Albigenses was, it must be acknowledged that their heresy is incompatible with Christianity, indeed with biblical religion as such...Perhaps for medieval popes the crucial factor that caused them to condemn dissidents was really the dissidents' rejection of papal authority (Brown HOJ. Heresies: Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody (MA), 1988, p. 260-261).
Notice that the Protestant scholar seems to feel that
murdering Cathars and Albigenses who simply wanted to live in peace (but
were not accepting of the Greco-Roman trinitarian
position) is more compatible with Catholic/Protestant "Christianity"
than being faithful to the teachings of Christ and the early Christians
who were against warfare. Are the real heretics those who were faithful
to New Testament teachings against warfare or those who changed those teachings and killed?
Later, the famous inquisition also in southern France,
began in earnest in 1233 when Pope Gregory IX charged the Dominican
order with wiping out Cathari (their name means Puritan, and that is
where the Puritan developed from) and others they considered to be
heretics. There is a long history of European church leaders attempting
to eliminate those part of, or sympathetic to, the Church of God (some
of this is discussed in the article The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3).
And while it is true that the Catholic Church sometimes had problems with some protesting European leaders,
most of these persecutions against the Church of God had some type of
blessing from those claiming to be representatives the Roman Catholic
Church or its Eastern Orthodox relative.
Many countries, especially in Latin America,
officially became "Catholic" in the 1800s or so, thus making it
difficult for true Christians to exist without social and other
Some persecutions have been direct, but most have been
implementations based upon interpretations by politicians of statements
made by Catholic leaders. Yet, these persecutions do not seem to be
over yet.
In the early 21st century, a Roman Catholic supporter wrote,
I believe, heart and soul, that we must begin a REAL Crusade, the First Crusade of the 21st Century. Now, by calling for a crusade, I mean one in which all are united under the banner "In Hoc Signo Vinces" (In His Sign we shall conquer). The "sign" is that of the Cross of Christ. Under this banner there can be but one voice (Una voce) crying out to God to bring harmony, unity within Holy Mother Church through the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II (In this Sign you will conquer with One Voice. Cyndi Cain's SYMPHONY OF SUFFERING column www.DailyCatholic.org September 3-5, 2001 volume 12, no. 148).
Since many died the first time "In Hoc Signo
Vinces" was raised as a battle cry, how many would die now if political
leaders started to heed these types of statements?
What church, or combination of churches, fits the description of the woman that rides the beast who is "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus"? Sadly, carnal warfare is endorsed by most Catholic leaders.
Even the current pontiff considers that the military is part of the Roman Church's teaching of peace:
The Church's teaching on the subject of peace is an essential aspect of her social doctrine. Grafted onto very ancient roots, it continued to develop in the past century in a sort of "crescendo" which culminated in the Pastoral Constitution "Gaudium et Spes," in the Encyclicals of Bl. John XXIII and of the Servants of God Paul VI and John Paul II, as well as in their Addresses to the United Nations Organization and their Messages for each World Day of Peace.
This insistent appeal for peace has influenced Western culture, fostering the ideal that the Armed Forces are "an exclusive service for the security and freedom of peoples" (John Paul II, Address, Third International Convention of Military Ordinariates; ORE, 23 March 1994, n. 5, p. 6). (Benedict XVI. Giving Priority to the Soldier's Christian Formation. Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered in the Vatican on Oct. 26 to the participants in the 5th International Congress of Military Ordinariates. From http://www.zenit.org/english/ 11/13/06 ).
Notice that in the above, the current pontiff equates
the use of the military part the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on
peace. And while not all associated with the Roman Church endorse war or
persecutions, sadly history continually demonstrates that some leaders
associated with it often have. (Two articles of possibly related
interest may include Persecutions by Church and State and Military Service and the Churches of God.)
Is There Still a 21st Century Relationship Between Rome, Europe, and the Queen of Heaven?
Does the Bible or other evidence show any relationship
between Rome, Europe, and the Queen of Heaven? Are there connections to
Europe in the 21st century?
In Jeremiah 44:25-28, the Bible states,
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: 'You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, "We will surely keep our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her." You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows!' "Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the LORD, 'that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "The Lord GOD lives."'Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them.
In other words, God was not happy that people wanted to worship the queen of heaven and He would punish them for it.
He also has other warnings about her modern, 21st century, versions.
Revelation 17:1-6 states,
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication." 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
There still is a queen of heaven worshiped throughout
the world. And she has become an interesting part of the symbol of the
European Union.
Who, according to the Roman Catholics is the queen of heaven?
Mary, of course. There is even a praise song with the expression:
Ave regina caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven). It is one of the four Antiphons of the Blessed Virgin sung in the Divine Office in turn throughout the year (Ave Regina. Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907).
Interestingly, there was even a Catholic order founded in 1889 called The Daughters of the Queen of Heaven (Queen's Daughters. The Catholic Encyclopedia,
1914). Hence, this queen of heaven has official daughters (there are
many unofficial ones {like the other churches that descended from Rome}
as well). (For more about Mary, please see the article Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions.)
Regarding symbols, did you
realize that although there were 15 nations in 1953 involved in the
initial Council of Europe, a twelve star flag was adopted in 1955?
But why use twelve stars?
Why hasn't the Council of Europe (which has 45 member states,
including the EU--which has 27 member nations) used another number or
changed it?
There seem to be two reasons.
The first is that Mary is
prominent in an unusual way in the new European Union as she was the
"inspiration" for its flag. According to the Times Online (November 16, 2005):
"The chosen flag was designed by Arsene Heitz, a German Roman Catholic who said that he had been inspired by a line in the Book of Revelation about the Virgin Mary wearing a crown of 12 stars, a common depiction in Christian iconography."
Hence, we see a clear tie
between Mary (called the "Queen of Heaven" by the Roman Catholics) and
the flag for the European Union. The final European power will also
be a religious one (Revelation 13:4,8).
Note: Many Catholics now
believe that the reason that Mary has been shown with the twelve stars
is that she is the one specifically mentioned in Revelation 12:1.
However, this interpretation of Revelation 12:1 is a change of
Catholic tradition as in the third century and the twentieth century
notice what was taught:
"Victorinus said this is "the ancient church of fathers, and prophets, and saints, and apostles" (Ante-Nicene Fathers, VII, 355) {Source: from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press}.
The woman of chapter 12 is not the Blessed Virgin Mary. The ancient interpreters beginning with Hippolytus and Methodius understood this was a figure of the Church. (Kramer HB. The Book of Destiny. Nihil Obstat: J.S. Considine, O.P., Censor Deputatus. Imprimatur: +Joseph M. Mueller, Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, January 26, 1956. Reprint TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 276)
Thus, in the third and
fourth centuries, prominent bishops like Victorinus and Methodius did
not believe that Revelation 12:1 referred to Mary--they believed it
referred to the church (more quotes and details on this are in the
article Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions).
Mary worship, etc. was not a major factor in the Roman Catholic Church for quite some time as even The Catholic Encyclopedia even admits "we do not meet with any clear traces of the cultus of the Blessed Virgin in the first Christian centuries" (see also Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions).
The second reason for 12 stars may be because of private Catholic prophecies concerning 12 kings at the end.
St. Francis of Paola (Born in Italy, 15th century). "By the grace of the Almighty, the Great Monarch will annihilate heretics and unbelievers. He will have a great army, and angels will fight at his side. He will be like the sun among the stars. His influence will spread over the whole earth. All in all, there will be on earth twelve Kings, one Emperor, one Pope and a few Princes. They will all lead holy lives." (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy. TAN Books, 1973, p.38)
The above shows that many
Roman Catholics will believe that God is on the side of the one the
Book of Revelation calls the beast--who they call "the Great Monarch"
(additional specific prophecies are listed in the article Who is the King of the North?).
Hence the flag seems to tie
Roman Catholic symbols in with a "Queen of Heaven" and a the future
European Emperor--one who is expected in the 21st century (see also Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?).
A peculiar part of the
above prophecy is that many Roman Catholics seemingly believe that
there will be twelve kings associated with the beast (who they often
seem to look forward to as "the Great Monarch"), yet the Bible states
that there are ten kings (Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12). However,
this is not necessarily a contradiction. Daniel 7:24 says the last
kingdom arises from ten kings, while Revelation 17:12 states that ten
kings will give their power to the beast. However, it may be that
after the beast power is fully formed, that he may add two additional
kings and/or perhaps some princes.
Apparitions of Mary and Wonders from the Great Monarch Are Expected According to Catholic Prophecies
And interestingly, some
Catholic private prophecies tie Mary in with a future leader of Europe.
Here are three that seem to do that:
The Ecstatic of Tours..."The revolution will spread to every French town. Wholesale slaughter will take place. This revolution will last only a few months but it will be frightful; blood will flow everywhere because the malice of the wicked will reach its highest pitch. Victims will be inumerable. Paris will look like a slaughter-house. Persecutions against the Church will be even greater, but it will not last long...Many bishops and priest will be put to death. The archbishop of Paris will be murdered...At this juncture, the French people will turn back to God and implore the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary Immaculate... "The French people will ask for the good King, he who was chosen by God. He will come, this saviour whom God has spared for France, this King who is not wanted now because he is dear to God's Heart. He will ascend to the throne; he will free the church and reassert the Pope's rights..." (Dupont, p.37)
St. Louis-Marie Grignion De Montfort (18th century). "The power of Mary over all the devils will be particularly outstanding in the last period of time. She will extend the Kingdom of Christ over the idolaters and Moslems, and there will come glorious era when Mary is the Ruler and Queen of Hearts." (Dupont, p. 33).Anna-Katarina Emmerick...July 12, 1820. "I had a vision of the holy Emperor Henry. I saw him at night kneeling alone at the foot of the main alter in a great and beautiful church...and I saw the Blessed Virgin coming down all alone...The wine was as red as blood, and there was also some water. The Mass was short. The Gospel of St. John was not read at the end. When the Mass had ended, Mary came up to Henry (the Emperor), and she extended her right hand towards him, saying that it was in recognition of his purity. Then, she urged him not to falter..." (Dupont, p.62)
Essentially, the above
prophecies suggest that "Mary" will support the future emperor of Europe
(sometimes called "the Great Monarch" in Catholic prophecies (and Mary is to have "devils" work for her) and "the Beast" and/or the King of the North in biblical ones) who is to arise up further after major unrest in Europe (to see why Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg may be the beast, see the detailed article Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?). It seems likely that it will be apparitions supposedly of Mary combined with the performance of "signs and lying wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:7-9) apparently involving "sorcery"
(Revelation 18:21; Isaiah 47:8-9), that will help persuade many
otherwise irreligious Europeans to unite behind a future ecumenical
"Catholic" leader.
It perhaps should be mentioned that the German Chancellor called for Germany to become more Christian in late 2010:
Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans debating Muslim integration to stand up more for Christian values, saying…
"We don't have too much Islam, we have too little Christianity. We have too few discussions about the Christian view of mankind," she said to applause from the hall.
Germany needs more public discussion "about the values that guide us (and) about our Judeo-Christian tradition," she said. "We have to stress this again with confidence, then we will also be able to bring about cohesion in our society." (Merkel: Germany doesn't have "too much Islam" but "too little Christianity". Reuters, November 15, 2010. http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2010/11/15/merkel-germany-doesnt-have-too-much-islam-but-too-little-christianity/)
This is significant, as it lays the groundwork for others to build on this theme. And the Europeans will get more religious.
"Catholic" prophetic writings
strongly suggest that visions of one claiming to be Mary are extremely
likely to be a major unifying factor for the European Beast power and
its future allies around the world.
Furthermore, notice the following:
St. Thomas a'Becket (12th Century). St. Thomas says:The Bible is absolutely clear that "signs and lying wonders" will be associated with the final Beast power (which some private "prophecies" call the "Great Monarch") and the final Antichrist. Notice:
"A knight shall come from the West. He shall capture Milan, Lombardy, and the three Crowns. He shall then sail to Cyprus and Famagoste and land at Jaffa, and reach Christ's grave where he will fight. Wars and wonders shall befall till the people believe in Christ toward the end of the world."Notice that St. Thomas says wars and wonders will precede a resurgence in belief in Christ during the latter times (Birch, p. 255). {The comments in italics were from Birch personally}.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).It seem that such signs and lying wonders will be factors in the final emergence of the European Beast power (see also 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 and Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions). And that is consistent with various "Catholic" writings as well. It should also be noted that many Orthodox and Roman Catholics expect signs and wonders will announce the Great Monarch, as he will be a lesser known leader before coming into power. Here is one from an Orthodox source:
Anonymou Paraphrasis (10th century): The one true King…is destined to become manifest [be revealed]…by means…of signs… The King will hear the voice and instructions by an Angel appearing to him…he has foresight and is cognizant of the text of the prophecies…the name of the King is hidden [concealed] among the nations…And the particular manner of the king's manifestation to the public [to the world] will take place as follows: A star will appear for three days…And a herald speaking with a very loud voice in the course of the three days will summon and unveil the hoped for one…There will become visible in the sky a 'nebulous firmament of the sun'…under that image will be suspended a cross…And the invisible herald from Heaven with his thunderous voice will say to the people: Is this man agreeable to you? At that moment everybody will be taken by fear and terror (Tzima Otto, H. The Great Monarch and WWIII in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Scriptural Prophecies.Verenika Press, Rock City (SC), 2000pp. 30, 31, 32, 50-51,52).
Additionally, some Catholic writers clearly have
understood that the two-horned beast in Revelation 13 is likely to be an
The combination of the signs and wonders associated with the Beast/Great Monarch and the final Antichrist/antipope is warned about in various prophecies, but the Bible teaches that Satan signs and sorcery will deceive many to support the coming new Bablyon (Revelation 18:21-23). Thus, Europe, which is considered to be a place that is highly irreligious is apparently going to change once various signs, apparitions, wonders, and sorceries are made manifest.The Didache (circa 100 A.D.): For in the last days false prophets and seducers shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; and because iniquity aboundeth they shall hate each other, and persecute each other, and deliver each other up; and then shall the Deceiver of the world appear as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands; and he shall do unlawful things, such as have never happened since the beginning of the world. (Didache, 16:3-4. Translated by C. Hoole).Priest E. Sylvester Berry (published 1920): The two horns denote a twofold authority – spiritual and temporal. As indicated by the resemblance to a lamb, the prophet will probably set himself up in Rome as a sort of anti-pope…Antichrist will establish himself in Jerusalem…with his 'lying wonders'... (Berry ES. The Apocalypse of St. John, 1920. Quoted in Culleton RG. The Reign of Antichrist. Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), pp. 199-200).
If you want a deeper understanding of these apparition/Marian matters than can be covered in short articles, you should read the book Fatima Shock! Fatima Shock! provides concerned Christians enough Catholic-documented facts needed to effectively counter every false Marian argument.
As far as Angela Merkel, she has made it clear that she wants more than an economic union for Europe:
Chancellor Angela Merkel..."We need a so-called fiscal union," she said during an appearance on German public broadcaster ARD last week. "Which means more joint budgetary policy." Up to that point, Merkel had merely repeated that which she always demanded. But then came the new tone: "More than anything, we need a political union," she said. "That means that we must, step by step through the process, give up more powers to Europe as well and allow Europe oversight possibilities." http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/europe-looks-at-plans-for-poltical-union-and-budgetary-oversight-a-838142.htmlAnd Europe will develop a political union, as well as have a type of religious union, as she also advocated.
Rome is the City of Seven Mountains, Rome is the City of Seven Hills
The Bible itself does more
than just warn against the "queen of heaven" it gives more information
to identify where the false religious power will be based.
Revelation 17:9,18 states:
Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits…And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.
It is universally
recognized that Rome is the city of seven mountains. This fact is also
noted by various Protestant and even Catholic theologians. Here are two
from Catholic writers:
The seven headed city is probably Rome (septicolis-- seven hills) (Dupont Yves. Catholic Prophecy. TAN Books, 1973, p.24).
Another code for the symbols of the beast is announced in Revelation 17:9: "This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven mountains on which the woman is seated" (an obvious reference to the city of Rome built on seven hills). (Kurz, W. What Does the Bible Say About the End Times? A Catholic View. Servant Books, Cincinnati. Nihil Obstat: Kistner H., Schehr T.P. Imprimi Potest: Link F., Paul J.M. Imprimatur: Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxillary Bishop, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 19, 2004, p. 165)
Other than Ammon Jordan,
Rome is apparently one of few great cities in the world to have the
seven hills/mountains (though there may be some less important cities
with seven mountains, and there seems to be seven near
Constantinople/Istanbul). While Rome itself was the ruling city of the
Western world for several centuries, the Roman Catholic Church, whose
headquarters is completely within the boundaries of Rome, has
maintained tremendous influence over kings and governments of the
earth for even more centuries. And still does today. Furthermore
notice that the Bible specifically warns about a certain city
ruling--Vatican City is the only city that appears to have possibly had
such rule since John penned the Book of Revelation.
It perhaps needs to be emphasized that contrary to claims to the contrary, the Church of Rome simply does NOT have the type of Apostolic Succession that most of its followers think that it has.
It should be noted that even Roman Catholic scholars realize this:
The historical lists of the popes, from those drawn up in the second century to those of the present day, form in themselves a considerable body of literature...Lightfoot has argued that this list originally contained nothing but the names of the bishops and the duration of their episcopates, the remaining notes being additions by a later hand...The "Liber Pontificalis", long accepted as an authority of the highest value, is now acknowledged to have been originally composed at the beginning of the fifth century, and, as regards the early popes, to be dependent on the "Liberian Catalogue" (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XII Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
ALTHOUGH CATHOLIC TRADITION, BEGINNING IN the late second and early third centuries, regards St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome and, therefore, as the first pope, there is no evidence that Peter was involved in the initial establishment of the Christian community in Rome (indeed, what evidence there is would seem to point in the opposite direction) or that he served as Rome's first bishop. Not until the pontificate of St. Pius I in the middle of the second century (ca. 142-ca. 155) did the Roman Church have a monoepiscopal structure of government (one bishop as pastoral leader of a diocese). Those who Catholic tradition lists as Peter's immediate successors (Linus, Anacletus, Clement, et al.) did not function as the one bishop of Rome (McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. Harper, San Francisco, 2005 updated ed., p.25).
The above statements mean that researchers in the Roman Catholic Church
know that their list of papal succession was finalized long after the
fact, hence it is not a reliable guide that the Roman Catholic Church
had an unbroken succession of popes (though various ones associated with
their beliefs have existed throughout history). This is also
consistent with the previously cited reference that the first known
'bishop of Rome' to take the title "Pontifex Maximus" was not until in
384 A.D. (See also What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? and Apostolic Succession.)
Hence instead of looking to the "city of seven hills"
as the bastion of faithful Christianity, the Bible seemingly warns
against Rome. Furthermore, those interested in the truth, may be
surprised to learn that the Church of Rome CHANGED many doctrines that
many that it considered to be early saints held. For details, please see
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God?
This Union Began Small, Will Build to Become Mighty, But Will Not Last
Interestingly, as far back as the Book of Daniel, the
Bible prophesied that a little horn would develop into what apparently
is becoming a European entity. Actually what is now the EU began as a
small organization involving three small countries located in the
northern and western regions of Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxembourg, called the Benelux nations)--they then helped form the
European Economic Community. Which expanded into the European Union.
Notice that, the Bible prophesied that a little horn would mainly expand South and East:
And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered (Daniel 8:9-12).
And while the above has had a past fulfillment, this
prophecy seems to be dual (compare with Daniel 11:27-39). Anyway, the
European Union has mainly expanded south and east of the Benelux
nations. Now, approximately 450 million people are now under a new,
single (though not completed united) government, called the European
Union, headquartered in Brussels.
While some Protestants are finally starting to wake up
to the reality of an emerging European superpower being the revival of
the old Roman Empire to represent the Beast of Revelation, the true
Church of God has known this since Polycarp.
Furthermore, even when Europe was still recovering
from being devasted in World War II, after attending a conference
related to the start of the UN, in the December 1948 issue of The Plain Truth Herbert W. Armstrong predicted a coming "United States of Europe" when he wrote:
It was the SERMON that shot forth that spark, impregnating the minds of world leaders in attendance. This amazing sermon was delivered by a foremost radio speaker of the Catholic Church, Bishop Duane G. Hunt of Salt Lake City...Without the guidance, supervision, authority of the Catholic Church, he told these men, they were laboring in vain...Notice also something else Herbert Armstrong wrote:
This was the Roman Catholic bid to resurrect the so-called "HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE" ! And PROPHECY says they will succeed!...At the psychological time, the pope will step in... Thru this political movement, he will UNIFY...nations in Europe. It will be a "The UNITED STATES OF EUROPE," but that probably will never become its official name. (Armstrong HW. Now It Can Be Told...The Plain Truth,December 1948, pp. 2,5).
"And in the days of these kings…"–it is here speaking of the ten toes, part of iron and part of brittle clay. This, by connecting the prophecy with Daniel 7, and Revelation 13 and 17, is referring to the new UNITED STATES OF EUROPE that is now forming, out of the European Common Market, before your very eyes! Revelation 17:12 makes plain the detail that it shall be a union of TEN KINGS OR KINGDOMS that (Rev. 17:8) shall resurrect the old ROMAN EMPIRE. So, mark carefully the time element! "In the days of these kings"–in the days of these then nations or groups of nations that shall, IN OUR TIME, resurrect briefly the Roman Empire… (The members of the European Common Market are probably not the same ten that will resurrect the Holy Roman Empire.) (Armstrong HW. Mystery of the Ages. Dood, Mead & Company, New York, 1985, pp. 301,302-303)These ten nations, or groups of nations, comprising the modern revived Beast, are to fight Christ at His coming. This shows the time for the fulfillment of this prophecy…Remember that there must be TEN NATIONS or groups of nations to comprise the final resurrection of the modern "Holy Roman Empire"! (AMBASSADOR COLLEGE, BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE. LESSON 32 (1963, 1965, 1967, 1969)
So, back as far as at least 1969, those of us in the
Church of God did not limit the final coming European power to the ten
nations that were in the old European Common Market. Since Revelation
17:12 says the kings of Europe did not have a kingdom until that time,
this suggests some type of restructure in Europe needs to happen before
the Beast truly rises up. The European power could contain a lot of
Interestingly in October 2002, French politician
Valery Giscard d'Estaing suggested that the name of the European
Community should be changed to United States of Europe. Furthermore,
the European Parliament had a conference entitled "The United States of Europe – Towards a Transnational Society?" And in September 2011, ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany called for a 'United States of Europe' (see Telegraph: Former German Chancellor Demands 'United States of Europe', Be Afraid) and others called for a 'United States of Europe' in June 2012 (see TW, Guido Westerwelle, HWA, and Alan Greenspan on Europe's Future)--and while that precise name is not necessary, it does show that the Church of God's basic view has long been correct. The Living Church of God, of course, continues to warn about this emerging European Beast power in its telecasts and literature.
It may be of interest to realize that the current
Pontiff admits that his version of Europe (as is apparently the
foundation of the beliefs of his church) is built upon the combination
of Greek philosophy and the Bible. Notice what he stated:
This inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of the history of religions, but also from that of world history - it is an event which concerns us even today. Given this convergence, it is not surprising that Christianity, despite its origins and some significant developments in the East, finally took on its historically decisive character in Europe. We can also express this the other way around: this convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe (Benedict XVI. REGENSBURG, Germany, SEPT. 12, 2006 (Zenit.org). Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered to scientists at the University of Regensburg).Europe is north of Jerusalem and the one that will become the King of the North (Daniel 11:40) will lead an empire that had roots in the old empire of Rome (Daniel 9:26-27). But this empire, which the Bible warns will never truly be fully unified (Daniel 2:42-43), still is not unifed enough yet.
Economic Issues, Civil Unrest, and Religion Will Be Factors in the Power Emerging
Other than "signs and lying wonders", what will bring Europe to the point of real unification?Economic concerns, civil unrest, and religion will all play a role.
In 1965, the late Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:
...European countries urgently want political union, the very UNITED STATES OF EUROPE I have been assuring PLAIN TRUTH readers for 31 years is definitely coming. It will unite them into a giant third World Power...So, he felt that while they needed a political-military leader, some type of religious leader was needed to unify Europeans.
There is a definite German "Kultur! There is a French culture that is in many respects quite different. Then there is a still different Italian culture, a Spanish culture, a Scandinavian culture, a Swiss culture--and all are different! European nations speak different languages, have different aspirations, different customs, different traditions. Europe is often called a "crazy-quilt" of nations.
HOW, THEN, CAN THEY AGREE TOGETHER AND UNITE? For years The PLAIN TRUTH has said these nations are going to have to realize their inability to unite themselves politically-to choose a common political-military Leader that all can trust. They are going to finally face the fact they must look to a Supreme Authority they can all trust! That Supreme Authority cannot be a politician, or a general (De Gaulle is both). The only possible answer is a Religious Leader! (Armstrong HW. Personal. Plain Truth, November 1965, pp.1-2)
But there was more. In a sermon on July 7, 1984, he added:
And I can see now, the event that is going to trigger the formation of the reunification in Europe; the resurrection of the medieval Holy Roman Empire that we've been looking forward to that is prophesied to come…Despite grumblings from some modern observers, Europe is actually more and more uniting because of the economic crisis. Notice the following:
But I believe that some event is going to happen suddenly just like out a blue sky that is going to shock the whole world and is going to cause the nations in Europe to realize they must unite! … Well now I think I can see what may be the very event that is going to trigger…that is the economic situation in the world…
The whole banking structure in the United States is a network all jointed together. But not only that, one nation has to deal with other nations and imports and exports. And so they have to have a means of transforming money from one nation to another. And so the banking structure is international and interwoven…
Now when the financial structure breaks down, all civilization is going to break down…
So news reports seem to be waking up to something that Herbert W. Armstrong warned of decades ago.Crisis Forces Europe to Unite on Financial Reform
IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn urges leaders to cede more sovereignty to EU
European nations need to cede more of their sovereignty and hand greater powers to the centre to avoid future crises, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.(Oborne P. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn urges leaders to cede more sovereignty to EUTelegraph – Nov 19, 2010 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100064330/margaret-thatcher-knew-the-single-currency-would-devastate-europe/)
Nick Clegg: Public fury at euro crisis will fuel extremism
A wave of "extremism and xenophobia" will sweep across Europe unless political leaders take urgent action to deal with the debt crisis, Nick Clegg has warned. (Ross T, Kirkup J. Nick Clegg: Public fury at euro crisis will fuel extremism. Telegraph.co.uk , May 21, 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9278574/Nick-Clegg-Public-fury-at-euro-crisis-will-fuel-extremism.html)
It should be mentioned that Herbert Armstrong also felt that religious events would be a factor, for the end time. Including "a 'man of sin' be revealed" by "signs and lying wonders" and that "the Roman Empire, is again restored with a great religious leader...In Revelation 19:19-20 is pictured the beast "and with him the false prophet that does miracles before him..."(Armstrong HW. Who or What is the Prophetic Beast? pp. 21,24).
Certain "Catholic" prophecies indicate that civil unrest and religious signs and wonders would be factors in the final unification. Notice some of the civil unrest prophecies:
Jean Paul Richter (died 1809): Through a terrible purgatory Europe will return to the faith. (Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, p. 182)Notice, for another example, signs and wonders that are supposed to accompany the rising up of the "Great Monarch" (known in the Bible as the final King of the North):
Monk Hilarion (15th century): The people of the peninsula of Europe will suffer by needless wars until the Holy Man comes. The Lion will come from a high mountain in the enlightened nation. (Dupont, pp. 21-22)
Brother Louis Rocco (19th century): All over Europe there will rage terrible civil wars...The German sections of Austria will join Germany, so will also the commercial cities of Belgium and Switzerland. A Catholic descendant of a German imperial house will rule a united Germany with peace, prosperity and great power, for God will be with this sovereign (the Great Monarch?)...A Great Monarch will arise after a period of terrible wars and persecutions in Europe. He will be a Catholic... (Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times, p. 195).
Discourse of a Holy Man to Emperor Manuel II Palaeologous (15th century): And the members of the clergy and the monastics as well as every social stratum of humanity, against their own will, but led by a divine sign will come to Constantinople...Then, an angel...will descend from heaven...and he will crown the Emperor of Peace. The King will be present in Constantinople (Tzima Otto, pp. 99-100).Anonymou Paraphrasis (10th century): The one true King..will hear the voice and instructions by an Angel appearing to him…the name of the King is hidden [concealed] among the nations…And the particular manner of the king's manifestation to the public [to the world] will take place as follows: A star will appear [will become visible] for three days long and during the third hour of the night, on the eve of the feast day of the Morther of the Most High (it will become visible) in the Middle of the City. And this star is not one among the planets…And a herald speaking with a very loud voice in the course of the three days will summon and unveil the hoped for one…There will become visible in the sky a 'nebulous firmament of the sun'…under that image will be suspended a cross…And the invisible herald from Heaven with his thunderous voice will say to the people: Is this man agreeable to you? At that moment everybody will be taken by fear and terror...they will elevate him on a high spot and will proclaim him (their) hereditary Monarch (Tzima Otto, pp. 30,32, 50-51, 52,53).
The combination of economic issues, civil unrest, and
signs and wonders apparently will result in a fully unified Europe.
Despite how things look, God will have it work out. Notice also the
5 Behold ye among the nations, and see: wonder, and be astonished: for a work is done in your days, which no man will believe when it shall be told. 6 For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, marching upon the breadth of the earth, to possess the dwelling places that are not their own. 7 They are dreadful, and terrible: from themselves shall their judgment, and their burden proceed. 8 Their horses are lighter than leopards, and swifter than evening wolves; and their horsemen shall be spread abroad: for their horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly as an eagle that maketh haste to eat. 9 They shall all come to the prey, their face is like a burning wind: and they shall gather together captives as the sand. 10 And their prince shall triumph over kings, and princes shall be his laughingstock: and he shall laugh at every strong hold, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take it. 11 Then shall his spirit be changed, and he shall pass, and fall: this is his strength of his god. (Habakkuk 1:5-11, Douay-Rheims)
So, despite the fact that relatively few seem to think that Europe can rise up and take over nations, the Bible says it will.
Does Rome Have a Plan for Europe?
Does Rome have plans for Europe?
It most certainly does. For example, do you recall
hearing why Cardinal Ratzinger chose the name of "Pope Benedict"? He
did it because he wants Europe unitied!
The Catholic News Agency reported:
"He said he also chose the name because Saint Benedict, founder of the Benedictine order, is one of the patron saints of Europe. "St Benedict is therefore much venerated in Germany and in particular, in Bavaria, my native land; constituting a fundamental point of reference for the unity of Europe, and a strong call to the inalienable Christian roots of its culture and civilisation."" (Source http://www.cathnews.com/news/504/151.php)
Has any other major religious group's leader claimed a name for the purpose of representing European unity?
Doug Winnail, of the Living Church of God, reported,
In July of 2003, the Vatican approved the release of Pope John Paul's proposed Decalogue for constructing a new Europe—10 points the Catholic Church has formulated to guide the current efforts to unify Europe. The document carries the theme of "Ecclesia in Europe" [the Church in Europe] and expresses the papal hope that Europeans will build a "Europe of values" and not just a "Europe of merchants." The proposed Decalogue states that "Christianity is the religion of all Europeans" and that the [Catholic] Christian faith provides the only solid foundation and the only guarantee for making Europe "a family of nations" and " a model for other nations of the world." According to the Pope, "this is why in the future European Constitution reference must be made to the religious heritage" of Europe—particularly Christianity—and why the Catholic Church must play a major role in building the new Europe.
Since the above was written, the constitution
has sort of been renamed to the Lisbon Treaty (which may also be
replaced with another name--and as of November 3, 2009, all 27 member
states approved it). Since it became effective (December 1, 2009),
individual member states in the European Union have effectively lost
much of their sovereignty. So much so, officially, Europe is now more of
a confederation than nation states. It may be of interest to note that
in November 2010, the European Union's first "permanent president"
Herman Van Rompuy declared that the idea for nation states in Europe is
now dead ( EU President Declares End of Nation State, Britain Skeptical).
And it is of interest to note that the Germans
seem to have found an incredibly clever way to get the Vatican
indirectly mentioned. Notice the following news accounts:
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 3, 2007 (Zenit) - Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered today to the bishops of the Korean episcopal conference and Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in Rome for their five-yearly visit.Dear Brother Bishops,As servants of the Gospel, you have come to see Peter (cf. Gal 1:18) and to strengthen the bonds of collegiality which express the Church's unity in diversity and safeguard the tradition handed down by the Apostles (Benedict XVI's Address to Korean Bishops. http://www.zenit.org/article-21179?l=english).
Germany seeks to enshrine EU flagTelegraph - Dec 12, 2007Germany has mounted a last-ditch effort to get the European Union flag, anthem, motto and single currency recognised in the new EU Reform Treaty.Along with 15 other nations, Germany is attempting to add a new clause that enshrines those symbols of the EU that were not included in the original treaty. Gordon Brown had specifically been against them being included.It comes just days before the controversial treaty - which is almost identical to the rejected EU Constitution - is signed in Lisbon…Germany wants the document to support the EU "Stars" flag, the anthem Ode to Joy, and its motto "United in Diversity"...The other countries backing the plan are Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/11/wflag111.xml
Both the flag and the expression "united in diversity"
are interesting ways to bring Catholicism (which means universalism)
into the EU officially, without actually mentioning religion. I
suspect that when the future King of the North emerges he will tell the
Europeans that with a Catholic derived flag and unity among diversity,
that the EU always was intended to be Catholic and following him will
help make this happen.
But irrespective of how the Catholic Vatican becomes
viewed by the EU, this union between church and state will not be
permanent--nor will the states truly be closely bound together.
Some Catholic writers have warned about what is now happening in Europe. Notice:
Priest Paul Kramer (2010): We are now under a very undemocratic — one might say bureaucratic — dictatorship like the directorate dictatorship of the French Revolution, imposed on all of the member states of the European Union from Brussels...(Kramer, P. What are the missing contents of the third secret? Fatima Crusader, 95, Summer 2010, p. 50)…Our Lady spoke of the annihilation of nations…The European Union is intent on destroying nation states, suppressing national identities and borders (Semin M. The European Union: USSR Repackaged. Fatima Crusader, 95, Summer 2010, p. 75)
The situation in Europe bears watching.
Catholic Writers Have Warned About a Change to Their Religion that Will Make it Ecumenical
It needs to be understood that for centuries, Catholic
writers have believed that a major king would rise up in Europe, change
the "Catholic" religion, and force an ecumenical religion upon the
entire world.
First, here are some accounts from those who seem to feel that this is a good thing:
St. Francis de Paul (1470):...From your lordship shall be born the great leader of the holy militia...These devout men shall wear on their breasts, and much more in their hearts, the sign of the living God, namely the cross...members of this holy order......the Great Monarch...He shall be a great captain and prince of holy men, who shall be called 'the holy Cross-bearers of Jesus Christ,' with whom he will destroy the Mahometan sect and the rest of the infidels. He shall annihilate all the heresies and tyrannies of the world. He shall reform the Church of God by means of his followers, who shall be the best men upon the earth in holiness, in arms, in science, and in every virtue...They shall obtain dominion over the whole world, both temporal and spiritual...God Almighty will exalt a very poor man of the blood of Emperor Constantine...who shall on his breast wear a sign which you have seen at the beginning of this letter (a red Cross)...He will gather a grand army, and the angels shall fight for them...This religious order shall be the last and best in the Church: it shall proceed with arms...Woe to tyrants, to heretics, and to infidels to whom no pity will be shown...He shall be the great founder of a new religious order different from all the others...This shall be the last religious order in the Church and shall do more good for our holy religion than all other religious institutes. By force of arms he shall take possession of a great kingdom. He shall destroy the sect of Mahomet...There will be one fold, one shepherd. He shall reign until the end of time. On the whole earth there will be twelve kings, one emperor and one pope. (Culleton, p. 157-161).
Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (Born in the 17th century, in Germany) …there will be an ecumenical council ...by the power of the Great Monarch, and by the authority of the Holy Pontiff, and by the union of the most devout princes, atheism and every heresy will be banished from the earth. The Council will...will be believed and accepted by everyone (Dupont, p. 40).
Bl. Rabanus Maurus (d. 856): Our principal doctors agree in announcing to us, that towards the end of time one of the descendants of France shall reign over all the Roman Empire; that he shall be the greatest of the Empire; and that he shall be the greatest of the French monarch, and the last of his race. After happily governed his kingdom, he will go to Jerusalem, and depose on Mount of Olives his sceptre and crown. This shall be the end and conclusion of the Roman Empire (Culleton, p. 136).
Joseph Goires (d. 1848): The people will be united under a powerful monarch who will make new laws (Culleton, p. 197; Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p. 38).Venerable Magdalene Porzat (died 1850) (Great Monarch)...shall...restore to their dominions the legitimate kings. A just and pious man born in Galacia shall be the Supreme Pontiff: then the whole world will be united and prosperous. One faith only and one emperor shall reign over the whole earth (Connor, p. 38).Monk Hilarion (d. 1476): Before the Christian churches are renovated and united, God will send the Eagle (Great Monarch) who will travel to Rome and bring much happiness and good. The Holy Man (Angelic Pastor?) will bring peace between the clergy and the Eagle and his reign will last for four years (Culleton, p. 137; also Dupont, p. 20).
Would God institute a military order for Christians?
This is NOT something that God would approve for true followers of
Christ--this is another CHANGE that the Church of Rome has accepted (for
details, see Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare?).
Notice also that Francis prophesied that there will be
a new essentially "Catholic" crossbearing religious order that will do
more for this revised "Catholic" Church than all other religious
institutions. This is probably because the King of the North
will work with the Pope to make the world nominally Catholic. Notice
also that this is called the Roman Empire with a European to lead it.
But notice that many Catholics have warned against this:
The Prophecy of Premol (5th century) "...And I see the King of Rome and his Cross and his tiara, shaking the dust off of his shoes, and hastening his flight to other shores. Thy Church, O Lord, is torn apart by her own children. One camp is faithful to the fleeing Pontiff, the other is subject to the new government of Rome which has broken the tiara. But Almighty God will, in His mercy, put an end to this confusion and a new age will begin. Then, said the Spirit, this is the beginning of the End of Time."
Comment: From this prophecy, it is clear that the true Church will be faithful to the Pope in exile; whereas the new Pope in Rome will be, in fact, an anti-pope...a large number of Catholics will be misled into accepting the leadership of the anti-pope. (Dupont, pp. 72-73) {comment from Dupont personally}
Jeanne le Royer (d. 1978) I see that when the Second Coming of Christ approaches a bad priest will do much harm to the Church (Culligan, p. 128).
St. Methodius (385): A day will come when the enemies of Christ will boast...Then a Roman emperor will rise in great fury against them...In the last period Christians will not appreciate the great grace of God who provided a Great Monarch, a long duration of peace, a splendid fertility of the earth...Many men will wonder if the Catholic faith is the true and only saving one... ( Culleton, p. 110).
Yves Dupont (reader and collector of Catholic prophecies) "prophecies are quite explicit about the election of an anti-pope...Many prophecies predict an anti-pope and a schism " (Dupont, pp. 34,60-61).
Frederick William Faber (died 1863):...Antichrist...Many believe in a demonical incarnation--this will not be so--but he will be utterly possessed...His doctrine as apparent contradiction of no religion, yet a new religion...He has an attending pontiff, so separating regal and prophetic office (Connor, p. 87).
Blessed Joachim (died 1202): Towards the end of the world Antichrist will overthrow the Pope and usurp his See (Connor, p. 76).
Merlin (7th century): There will come a German Anti-Pope. (Culleton, p. 132).
"But as early as Scivias, Hildegard shockingly portrayed Ecclesia {the Catholic Church} as giving birth to Antichrist himself...Some other early works of Hildegard's, written before 1159, show a similar sourness of tone with respect to the institutional church" (Newman, Barbara. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. Published by University of California Press, 1998, p. 83).
St. Hildegard (d. 1179): But now you see her from the waist down; for you see her in her full dignity as the Church...And from her waist to the place that denotes the female, she has various scaly blemishes...And thus in the place where the female is recognized is a black and monstrous head. For the son of perdition will come raging with the arts he first used to seduce...causing people to deny God and tainting their minds and tearing the Church with the greed of rapine. (Hildegard of Bingen. Scivias. Paulist Press, Mahwah (NJ), pp. 497,498).
St. Hildegard (d. 1179): When the great ruler exterminates the Turks almost entirely, one of the remaining Mohammedans will be converted, become a priest, bishop and cardinal, and when the new Pope is elected (immediately before Antichrist) this cardinal will kill the pope before he is crowned, through jealousy, he wishing to be pope himself; then when the other cardinals elect the next pope this cardinal will proclaim himself Anti-Pope, and two thirds of the Christians will go with him. He, also well as Antichrist, are descendants of Dan (Culleton, Reign of Antichrist, p. 128).
St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226): There will be an uncanonically elected pope who will cause a great Schism, there will be divers thoughts preached which will cause many, even those in the different orders to doubt, yea even agree with the heretics, which will cause my Order to divide (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Reign of Antichrist, p. 130).
Priest H. Kramer (20th century): The False Prophet...will persuade all infidels, apostates and apostate nations to worship and adore him...Antichrist "sitteth in the temple of God" (I Thes. II. 4). This is not the ancient Temple in Jerusalem...this temple is shown to be a Catholic Church, possibly one of the churches in Jerusalem or St. Peter's in Rome...The False Prophet will proclaim the resurrection of the Roman Empire...The False Prophet...will advise his followers to chisel a statue...will animate it and order it to speak. The word "image" is in the singular number, indicating only one statue, which he may set up in the great church, St. Peter's (Kramer H., p. 320-323).
Priest Paul Kramer (20th century): The errors of Orthodoxy and of Protestantism will be embraced by that false church, it will be an ecumenical church because the Anti-Pope will be recognized by the world — not by the faithful, but by the world — by the secular world and the secular governments. The Anti-Pope will be recognized as the legitimate Pope of the "church," and the legitimate head of the Vatican State. That "church" will be united with all the false religions...In that motley ecumenical union will be the established religion of the so-called civilized world. This is how we will get into the time of great persecution such as the world has never seen. (Kramer P. The Imminent Chastisement for Not Fulfilling Our Lady's Request. An edited transcript of a speech given at the Ambassadors of Jesus and Mary Seminar in Glendale, California, September 24, 2004.THE FATIMA CRUSADER Issue 80, Summer 2005, pp. 32-45 http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr80/cr80pg32.asp viewed 4/15/08)
St. Gregory the Great, Pope (d. 604): In those days, near the end, hardly a Bishop, but an army of priest and two-thirds of the Christians will join the Schism (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Reign of Antichrist, p. 122).
Thus a "false pope" is expected and a great loss in Catholic members is prophesied (for more information, see also Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies?).
Hence, if you are Catholic, you too need to be
concerned that the Beast of Europe is rising up, will likely attach the
name "Catholic" to his new religious order, change Catholic practices to
make them ecumenical, and represent something very bad.
Everyone in the entire world needs to be wary of this as the seeds for this are being sown today!
Symbols of Europe Point to Fulfilling Biblical Warnings
Daniel 2:42-44
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever..
So, the Bible warns that there will be a fragile lack
of cohesiveness in the final Beast kingdom. Does not Europe still have
that problem?
It may be of interest to note that the crown of the first "Holy Roman Empire" includes iron and clay amongst its materials:
...one of Europe's great symbols of power the Iron Crown of the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne...The Iron Crown, made of gold and iron and set with precious stones, is held in the Cathedral at Monza, near Milan, in Italy...a recent refurbishment of the crown it was discovered that its precious stones were held in place by a mixture of beeswax and clay, a common adhesive of the times...
Charlemagne was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor, reputedly with the Iron Crown, by Pope Leo III in Rome on Christmas Night, 800 AD. He lived from {DOB 742} 782-814 and, as King of the Franks, established and ruled over a kingdom that spanned virtually all the Christian States of western Europe, including what is now France, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, half of Italy and Germany, part of Austria and a small part of Spain. His role in uniting much of Europe is regarded as having an impact that remains until today (source Australian Government: http://old-www.ansto.gov.au/info/press/pr1.html 11/30/07).
Even a secular news article by Europe's World noticed that Europe may have partially feet of clay as the following headline shows:
PARIS - France's imposing EU presidency has feet of clay (Autumn 2008 by Sabine Saurugger. Europe's World. viewed 11/05/08. http://www.europesworld.org/EWSettings/Article/tabid/191/ArticleType/articleview/ArticleID/21226/Default.aspx)
Europe not only fits the prophecies related to the Beast, its relics seem to as well.
The Bible, in Revelation 17:15-17, states,
Then he said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled."
The European Union now consists of around 27 nations (plus it has
associate members), numerous languages, numerous peoples and various
multitudes and well fits verse 15. It also is partly strong and partly
fragile as Daniel 2:42-44 shows--and at some point in time it will be a
strong kindgom--the biblical beast.
Note that in a sense, one could consider Zeus as the
beast of Revelation as in mythology he commits fornication with Europa
(the woman the rides the Beast in the modern Greek 2 Euro coin), plus he
turns on her in mythology--perhaps raping her--while the beast of
Revelation turns on the false church. For, as verses 16
and 17 show, the time will come when the ten horns (some version of the
European Union) of the beast will no longer wish to be ridden by the
woman (the future ecumenical Babylonish Catholicism) and will destroy
her as it will decide that even that woman's form of religion interferes
with its political ambitions.
The Babylonian religion, began by Nimrod under Satan's
influence, became (in modified form) the religion of ancient Greece and
Rome, and has been transformed to call itself Christianity in the forms
that support many teachings of Catholicism and the Orthodox Church.
Thus, the Bible, who identifies Satan as 'the god of this world' (I
Corinthians 4:4 KJV), also identifies for those who wish to see it, that
the European Union fits the description of the Beast power in the Book
of Revelation.
Notice that even the European Union identifies itself with the tower of Babel that Nimrod formed:
The above poster was produced by the Europeans over a
decade ago. It may be of interest to note that the above inverted stars
are pentagrams, a satanic symbol. The poster tower was based upon a
painting of the Tower of Babel by a European, Pieter Brueghel the
Elder, in 1563 .
In ancient times, Nimrod began his kingdom with the
city of Babel (Genesis 10:10). The Tower of Babel was began in that city
as a human attempt at unity (Genesis 11:1-4) in direct opposition to
God's command for humans to disperse around the world (Genesis 9:1). God
insured that project came to naught (Genesis 11:5-7) and His will
would be done (Genesis 11:8-9). He will do the same with the current
European attempts for its empire when it is God's time, though with
different methods (see Revelation 17-19).
Here some of what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote about end time Babylon in 1948:Her name is BABYLON THE GREAT—and she is the daughter of the ancient Babylon. Her doctrines and rituals and traditions and forms ARE THE VERY PAGANISM of the ancient Babylon, but masquerading UNDER CHRISTIAN-SOUNDING NAMES ! Thus, once this EMPIRE is revived in Europe – AND BY UNITED STATES HELP AT THAT—so gullible are we and dull of UNDERSTANDING!—the new-born Fascist-Nazi military power will without warning DESTROY AMERICAN AND BRITISH CITIES OVERNIGHT WITH ATOMIC BOMBS, conquering our peoples, taking our survivors to Europe as THEIR SLAVES! (Armstrong HW. Now it Can Be Told. The Plain Truth magazine. December 1948, p. 6)
Notice the European Parliament headquarters building in Strasbourg, France (which was made after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong), like the Tower of Babel, was unfinished and resembles that ancient tower:
Yet in the Bible, God warns His people against being affiliated with the future system of Babylon:
2 Babylon...4 Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues (Revelation 18:2,4).
Thus, the true Church would not be trying to reunite a
Europe symbolizing itself as Babylonian. Even in 2012, Europe is
considered to be related to the Tower of Babel:
The 17-nation euro zone at times has resembled a crumbling Tower of Babel (Burton J. Stock ETFs to eye if Greece gets better. Marketwatch, February 6, 2012. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-etfs-to-consider-if-europe-gets-it-together-2012-02-06?dist=countdown)
On May 27, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI warned that the
world was becoming like ancient Babel (Babylon) and mentioned the Tower
of Babel (Pope Discusses Modern 'Tower of Babel').
Yet, it should be realized that there are Roman and Byzantine Catholic
prophecies that look forward to Babel/Babylon being re-established.
Monk Leontios (died 543): Rejoice, oh most unhappy one, oh New Babylon!...You, who are the New Babylon rejoice now on behalf of Zion! New Babylon, dance, bounce and leap greatly, make known even those in Haydes what a Grace you have received. Because that peace which was yours to enjoy in times past, and which God has deprived you of in course of battles, receive it once more from the hand of an Angel...oh, the City of Seven Hills the dominion will be yours. (Tzima Otto, pp. 82-83).Abbott Joachim (died 1202)...A remarkable Pope will be seated on the pontifical throne, under special protection of the angels. Holy and full of gentleness, he shall undo all wrong, he shall recover the states of the Church, and reunite the exiled temporal powers. As the only Pastor, he shall reunite the Eastern to the Western Church...This holy Pope shall be both pastor and reformer. Through him the East and West shall be in ever lasting concord. The city of Babylon shall then be the head and guide of the world. Rome, weakened in temporal power, shall forever preserve her spiritual dominion, and shall enjoy great peace…At the beginning, in order to bring these happy results, having need of a powerful assistance, this holy Pontiff will ask the cooperation of the generous monarch of France (Great Monarch). (Connor, pp. 31-32)
Despite the fact that the current Pope seems to warn
against certain aspects of Babylon, Europe is trying to become the end
time Babylon and the next pontiff (even if he makes some anti-Babylon
statements) may be the one who truly supports the final Babylon. The
Bible, itself, warns against being part of the new Babylon (Revelation
18:4-5). And it could possibly include a cross as one of its symbols,
as ancient Babylon did as well (Hislop A. The Two Babylons. First
published as a pamphlet in 1853--greatly expanded in 1858).
Furthermore, it needs to be understood that even an
approved Catholic source suggests that the symbol originally adopted by
Emperor Constantine (the Chi-Rho, also known as Labarum cross) may be
the symbol of the beast powers of Revelation 13:
Priest P. Huchedé (19th century): What this sign shall be time alone will reveal. Yet there are some {Catholic} commentators of the Holt Writ, who, according to a special revelation pretend to say that it shall be formed out of the Greek letters X and P, interlaced...which resembles the number of Christ. (Cornelius a Lapide in Epis. 2 to Thes.). No one can either buy or sell without that…(Huchedé, P. Translated by JBD. History of Antichrist. Imprimatur: Edward Charles Fabre, Bishop of Montreal. English edition 1884, Reprint 1976. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 24).
In the above book, Priest Huchedé actually indicates that some type of cross symbol will be the symbol of Antichrist.
What is interesting is that in the Middle Ages, some of the Cathari had a similar idea. Historian Philip Schaff wrote:
Agreed as the Cathari were in opposing many customs and doctrines of the established Church...There are two Churches they held; one of the wicked and one of the righteous...They called the cross the mark of the beast, and declared it had no more virtue than a ribbon for binding the hair. It was the instrument of Christ's shame and death, and therefore not to be used. (Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Chapter X)
Thus, there are many symbols that have been
historically associated with Europe that may be associated with warnings
in the Bible (e.g. the buy and sell symbol warning is in Revelation
Now, this article is not saying that, based upon
Catholic and other private prophecies (like from the Cathari) that "the
image of the beast" and/or the "mark of the beast" (Revelation
13:16-16) must be a cross of some type (day of worship seems to be
involved for the mark, cf. Daniel 7:25; especially since Sunday was a
sign of Mithraism). However, since so many people accept the cross as a
valid religious symbol, it seems logical that Sunday and some type of
cross could be major symbols for the coming ecumenical Beast power.
The King of the North and the Destruction of the United States and Europe
It needs to be pointed out that the leader of the
ten-horned Beast of Revelation 13:1-10 and the one called 666 in
Revelation 13:10 (see SDA/LCG Differences: 666) is also the one who the Bible shows is the final King of the North.
The Bible shows that the coming European/Babylonian power will invade and take over the United States and its Anglo allies:
39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain (Daniel 11:39).
It is the USA and its Anglo-allies that currently
have "the strongest fortresses." The "he" is the one previously referred
to in Daniel 11 as the King of the North.
By the time this European power destroys the United States and its Anglo-allies (see also Anglo - America in Prophecy), it will have completely upset the world's economic system (the US dollar will be perhaps worse than worthless near then).
Now I would like all Europeans, and everyone else on
the planet, to understand that the power that destroys the United
States and its Anglo-allies is the prophesied Beast power (who will also
cooperate for a short time with the Muslims). Those in Europe and
everywhere else need to resist following it. By this time, God will
raise up two witnesses who will be able to perform miracles that the
miracle-appearing Beast power will destroy (Revelation 11:2-7). Unlike
the Beast power, God's witnesses will be pointing out the Jesus is about to return and that everyone should resist the Beast power (see Who Are The Two Witnesses?).
Will you listen to God's true servants now? Will you listen to God's
true servants then WHEN YOU SEE THAT THE US AND ITS ANGLO ALLIES ARE
While some have questioned how Europe can possibly do
this, at risk of some redundancy, here are twelve things (facts and
conjecture) to consider:
- The Europeans have the Large Hadron Collider which will likely enable them to develop unique military capabilities to fulfill Revelation 13:3-4. This is the leading physics project in the entire world and leading-edge military weaponry tends to come out of such projects (it may also help the Europeans locate gold, rare earth, and/or other precious metals).
- It was announced years ago that the Europeans intend to implement their own Galileo "GPS" system for military applications--and this Galileo project is moving along. This will give the Europeans something that I believe only the USA, Russia, and China now have--an independent targeting and tracking system, that the USA/UK did not want Europe to develop because of the fear it could be used against them militarily.
- Because of concerns over its budget, China, etc., the US announced in July 2010 that it would partially rely on the European system once Galileo is ready as its own GPS is deteriorating (this is something that was predicted in my 2009 book, 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect). Other reports have claimed that even the replacement units have problems. If Europe was to launch a surprise attack (which having Galileo would facilitate), it could greatly interfere with USA military communications and weaponry, thus greatly impeded the highly technical USA military from having a quick ability to respond
- It is my understanding that there are US nuclear weapons in the Netherlands, Germany, and elsewhere that are under European control. The Europeans would likely launch some of them against the USA (probably from aircraft).
- The USA and UK are reducing their own nuclear weapons. Most in the UK want to eliminate them. According "to a survey by ICM for the Guardian newspaper suggested, and 54 per cent of those questioned wanted the UK's nuclear weapons axed entirely" (Majority 'want Trident nuclear missiles scrapped'. Telegraph - July 14, 2009 ).
- The USA has stated that it will buy less new advanced weaponry for budget reasons.
- The Europeans have stated that they will increase their military spending.
- The Bible tells of a time where the King of the North will make a deal with the King of the South in order to destroy Israel (which for this purpose seems to be the USA, UK, the nation of Israel, etc.).
- The Europeans have long tended to use surprise (blitzkrieg was the term in WWII) to start invasions. And since September 2009, the NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe has been a European (French general at this time) which will give Europe an even greater ability this way.
- Natural disasters, economic problems, and other woes (like pestilences, disease epidemics, food shortages) will likely weaken the USA and its Anglo-allies even more and make them more vulnerable to attack. The excessive reliance on genetically-modifed agricultural production may well backfire on the USA, etc. as the prophet Ezekiel warned that famine, pestilence, then the sword will happen (Ezekiel 5:17).
- The fact that the USA has the highest total debt of any nation and the UK may have the highest per capita debt means that they will likely fulfill Habakkuk 2:6-7, "Woe to him who increases What is not his--how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges'? Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty." This will mean that there will be international support for the attack and some other nations may support the Europeans. The USA and UK eventually (probably within the next ten years) run out of the ability to increase their debt.
- I believe that a combination of terrorist attacks (by the King of the South), combined with a surprise attack (possibly due to a joint NATO exercise in North America), ethnic issues, internal strife, and possibly ground troops from south of the USA border, will possibly be how the attack will start. Essentially delivering a "knock-out punch" as this is a scenario that the USA military simply will not have planned for. For a short while, I think the USA military will be confused as to who the enemy actually is. That will give the Europeans enough time to win relatively quickly.
In my view, all of that shows how the rising
European Beast power will have the ability to take over the USA and
UK, possibly some time next decade. And of course, Bible prophecy
supports this, thus the USA and its Anglo-allies will be taken over--and
many of the things that are shown above will likely be involved. It is
also likely that some in Asia (China in particular)
may also be involved in ultimately taking possession of some or all of
Australia and New Zealand that it may obtain because of a deal with
the Europeans (one news item that hints ofof increased Sino-European
cooperation would be EU to Work Closer With China).
Because of the destruction of the
US and its dollar and its allies, the Beast may then see the
acquisition of the "gold of Egypt" (Egypt became a major gold producing
region in the past two years) as necessary to stabilize its own European currency (see also The Plain Truth About Gold in Prophecy. How Should a Christian View Gold?). Notice what the Bible shows happens shortly after taking over the USA, and immediately after a battle with the King of the South (Daniel 11:40):
40...the king of the North... 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
So, the European power will have more gold and will have invaded the Middle East--will you listen by then?
Interestingly, supporting the Euro, is the reason that the European banks are holding so much gold now:
Bundesbank said... "National gold reserves have a confidence and stability-building function for the single currency in a monetary union. This function has become even more important given the geopolitical situation and the risks present in financial market developments." (Gold reserves more important than before-Bundesbank Reuters - Aug 22, 2008. http://www.iii.co.uk/shares/?type=news&articleid=6861332&subject=markets&action=article)
If the above was true in 2008, how much more so, once the United States dollar becomes totally worthless?
The Europeans will want to keep their currency
valuable once they break all connections to paper/electronic USA
dollars. Having major gold reserves will make them quite powerful
economically. It may be of interest to note that Orthodox prophecy shows
that the coming Great Monarch (the King of the North) will accumulate gold (those prophecies are quoted in the article on the King of the North).
Europe's Power Will Not Last
But even though this European/Babylonian power will
grow, it will not last. Part of the reason will be for what it has done
to the Anglo-nations (Isaiah ), while having images will also be a
47 Therefore behold, the days are coming
That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon;
Her whole land shall be ashamed,
And all her slain shall fall in her midst.
48 Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them
Shall sing joyously over Babylon;
For the plunderers shall come to her from the north," says the Lord.
49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall,
So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. (Jeremiah 51:47-49)
A northern power will be used to punish Europe.
The Bible shows that the leader of the final Babylonian European Empire, who will be called "the King of the North", will be troubled by those from the north (Russia) and the east (China and other Asians):
44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:40,43-45).
These seem to be the same peoples that the
Bible shows goes against "the daughter of Babylon" (which is the Babylon
of Revelation, a European power):
50:41 "Behold, a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance;
They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
Their voice shall roar like the sea;
They shall ride on horses,
Set in array, like a man for the battle,
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.43 "The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw...
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
Pangs as of a woman in childbirth..."(Jeremiah 50:41-43).
17 "Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. (Isaiah 13:1, 17-19)
A Catholic private prophecy also seems to suggest that those of the east (yellow) and north (red) attack Europe:
Countess Francesca de Brillante (20th Century). "I see yellow warriors and red warriors marching against Europe and Europe will be covered by a yellow fog. The cattle in the fields will die from this fog. The nations who have risen against Christ will be destroyed by flames (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin. Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941. Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 227).
The Bible also shows that this "Babylonian" empire will be destroyed by a northern power (apparently Russia and its allies as Russia is really the only powerful nation north of Europe):
50:1 The word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 "Declare among the nations,
Proclaim, and set up a standard;
Proclaim--do not conceal it--
Say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed.
Merodach is broken in pieces;
Her idols are humiliated,
Her images are broken in pieces.'
3 For out of the north a nation comes up against her,
Which shall make her land desolate,
And no one shall dwell therein.
They shall move, they shall depart,
Both man and beast (Jeremiah 50:1-3).
Thus, the European empire is to experience destruction by a Russian led force (for more information, please see Russia: Its Origins and Prophesied Future). Do you want to wait until then? Or perhaps you should do something about your own life now.
Perhaps it should also be mentioned that the fall of
Babylon will also have a physical flood related to it (Jeremiah
51:42-43). Whether the flood precedes or comes after the attack by the
Russian led force not completely clear, but since it this flood seems to
be alluded to in Revelation 16 as well, it may be that it weakens
Babylon Europe enough for it to be attacked (more on the flooding can be
found in the article Islands and Bible Prophecy).
Furthermore, the Bible is clear that Babylon will fall
because of false religious leaders and sorceries. Notice a couple of
passages that show that:
5 "A sword is against the Chaldeans," says the Lord, "Against the inhabitants of Babylon, And against her princes and her wise men. 36 A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. 37 A sword is against their horses, Against their chariots, And against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; And they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed. 38 A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols. (Jeremiah 50:35-38)21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. (Revelation 18:21-23)
The Bible warns:
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4-5)
Will you listen before it is too late?
How Many Headed Beast?
Astoundingly, Europe is not ashamed of its mythological/pagan roots.
It may be of interest to note that in the
European Union, there are many depictions of the woman Europa riding a
beast. There is, for example, a 20th Century sculpture in front of the
Council of Ministers Office in Brussels, Belgium of an immodest female
Europa on a beast. Actually, all the modern pictures of Europa on a
beast that I have seen seem to be that of a non-modest woman.
Years ago, a Larry Blake sent me several pictures of the woman (Europa) riding the bull (a beast) as symbols of European Union which are linked for additional proof.
Revelation 17:3 states:
3 And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns (NKJV).
Even the Roman Catholic priest and Jesuit scholar William Kurz understands that this woman is Rome:
The woman sits on a scarlet beast, which is full of blasphemous names and has seven heads and ten horns (illustrating the close relationship between the historical city of Rome and the beast, symbol of the Roman Empire, see Revelation 17:3). This woman (Rome) has been called Babylon the great and is drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs (Kurz W. What Does the Bible Say About the End Times? A Catholic View. Servant Books, Cincinnati. Nihil Obstat: Kistner H., Schehr T.P. Imprimi Potest: Link F., Paul J.M. Imprimatur: Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxillary Bishop, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 19, 2004. Servant Books, Cincinnati, 2004, p. 165-166).
Hence, even Catholics seem to understand that the woman that rides the beast is some type of connection between Rome and some type of Roman Empire. Would that not be the relationship between the Vatican and the European Union?
Now perhaps the biggest biblical problem with tying
all the pictures and the story of Europa to the account of the woman in
the Bible is that the Book of Revelation shows that the woman rides a
seven-headed scarlet beast, while the available pictures show Europa as
only riding a one-headed beast (of various colors).
It is important to note that Nebuchadnezzar's image is
declared by Daniel to be an arising (or multiple resurrections) of
ruling human governments (Daniel 2:31-43), which have many of the same
physical characteristics as the individual beasts of Daniel 7:2-25. And
the apparently one-headed fourth beast (7:19-25) has ten horns the
same as beast in Revelation 17:3,12 does.
Therefore, the Bible does show the beast as one
composite creature with multiple heads as well as as individual beast
entities. Furthermore, while the Bible shows the ancient Greek empire
as a four-headed leopard-like beast (Daniel 7:6), it also shows the same
Greek empire as a single-headed goat beast with four horns (Daniel
8:21-22). Thus, the Bible allows for the concept of showing the woman
(Europa) riding a single-headed beast as various arisings of the beast
Is it only a coincidence that even anciently Europa
was believed to be another representation of the Babylonia goddess
Is it only a coincidence
Constantine and then the 'bishops of Rome' took the title of Pontificus Maximus, as a continuance of the old Roman empire?
Is it only a coincidence that the symbol of Europe is an immodest woman riding a beast?
Is it only a coincidence that a major church
headquartered in a great city with seven mountains also oversaw the
ordination of European emperors (including, for example, Napoleon)?
Is it only a coincidence that this alliance of the
Roman church and the European state persecuted and killed those who kept
the same Sabbath day as Jesus did throughout its history?
If anyone claims to believe the Bible and also
believes these are coincidences, can they point out what other church
the woman of Revelation 17 represents? What other great ruling city has
seven mountains? What other political entity other than the European
Union uses a symbol of a woman riding a beast? What other alliance of
church and state has so persecuted the COG throughout history?
Some Private Catholic Prophecies
However, there are reasons that many Roman Catholics
do not understand very well what Revelation actually teaches. And that
is because that church tends to rely on its own tradition and private
prophetic understandings in preference to the Bible.
One prophecy, that was given no later than 1202, by Abbott Joachim states:
A remarkable Pope will be seated on the pontifical throne, under special protection of the angels. Holy and full of gentleness, he shall undo all wrong, he shall recover the states of the Church, and reunite the exiled temporal powers. As the only Pastor, he shall reunite the Eastern to the Western Church...This holy Pope shall be both pastor and reformer. Through him the East and West shall be in ever lasting concord. The city of Babylon shall then be the head and guide of the world. Rome, weakened in temporal power, shall forever preserve her spiritual dominion, and shall enjoy great peace...At the beginning, in order to bring these happy results, having need of a powerful assistance, this holy Pontiff will ask the cooperation of the generous monarch of France (Great Monarch). (Cited in Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, pp. 31-32).
This suggests that some Roman Catholics believe that they have to reunite with the Eastern Orthodox
as well as support the reuniting of the Europeans (the "temporal
powers" is a term used by Catholics to mean the political leaders in the
world) and that Babylon will then be the head of the world!
Amazingly, at least one Catholic prophecy teaches,
Antichrist will be an iconoclast...Most of the world will adore him. He will teach that the Christian religion is false, confiscation of Christian property is legal, Saturday is to be observed instead of Sunday, and he will change the ten commandments. All his wonders could not be written in a book. They will be more wonderful than the Old and New Testaments! ... He will read people's minds, raise the dead, reward his followers and punish the rest (Dionysius of Luxemburg, died 1682. as quoted in Prophecy For Today. TAN Books, 1984 version, p. 85. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, C.Ss, D.D. Bishop of Monterey-Fresno).
An iconoclast is one who is strongly against the use of idols. The last verse of 1 John 5:21 states,
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Yet, every Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church this author has been in have been filled with idols (in the Orthodox churches,
the idols are called icons, and are sometimes more like paintings than
sculptures; those icons the serve the same purpose as the idols do in
Roman Catholic Churches and often have raised, sculpted, silver covering
much of the painting).
As mentioned before, certain private Catholic/Orthodox
prophecies (the Orthodox Church did not have its great schism with the
Roman Catholic Church until 1054 A.D.) seem to suggest that the
returning Christ will be the Antichrist.
The comment about changing the ten commandments is probably because
the Roman Catholics (as well as those in the Orthodox churches) combine
what is commonly considered to be the first and second commandments
(which helps them justify their use of idols/icons), while splitting the
tenth commandment into two commands--hence when Christ returns and
repeats the ten commandments as God intended (because He is against
IDOLS), those supporting Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches will not
Also, the monk by stating that Christ will teach
against the 'Christian religion', he means the religion of the Roman
Catholic and Orthodox Churches--not necessarily the true religion
established by Christ.
What other church is trying to set up the world to resist the returning Christ?
But prior to Christ's return, many biblical and Catholic prophecies
say Europe would be reunited--which is happening now. This is one of
the reasons that those who support the Vatican are working towards
increasing the strength of the current European Union.
The main difference between the biblical and Catholic
version of prophecy is that those in the biblically-based Churches of
God see this as a fulfillment of terrifying end-time prophecies, whereas
the Catholics teach that this re-formation of a European empire is a
good thing (see also Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus?).
For example, a monk by the name of Adso in the 10th century wrote,
Some of our teachers say that a King of the Franks will possess the entire Roman Empire. He will be the greatest and last of all the Monarchs. After having wisely governed his kingdom, he will go to the end in Jerusalem and will lay down his sceptre and his crown upon the Mount of Olives. Immediately afterwards, Antichrist will come (Monk Adso, 10th century. as quoted in Catholic Prophecy. TAN Books, p. 18).
Yet in the Bible, Jesus warns,
15 Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be (Matthew 24:16-21).
It should be noted that those in the Churches of God
believe that the expression " 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" refers to a major
Vatican presence (probably including the Pope) in Jerusalem and that
this will probably come to pass sometime after a major European leader
makes come type of treaty with Israel and the Europeans will later
violate (see Daniel 9:27).
And although most Roman Catholic scholars realize that the expression, " Babylon
the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of
demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and
hated bird!" (Revelation 18:2) is referring to Rome and that the
Bible says this happens after the Antichrist comes, their prophets, as
well as the Catholic doctor Robert Bellarmine, teach that before the
coming of the Antichrist will be "the devastation of the Roman Empire"
(as quoted in Birch D.A. Trial, Tribulation & Triumph. Queenship
Publishing, Goleta (CA), 1996, p. 474).
Is it not obvious that these Catholic teachers are confused and in conflict with scripture? (See also Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus?)
Is it any wonder that the average Roman Catholic is confused?
For what its worth, as one raised as a Roman
Catholic, I too accepted the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church in
all areas that I understood when I was a child. However, after I
"searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so"
(Acts 17:11), I felt led to follow the truth as revealed in the Bible
(recall that Jesus taught that the word of God is truth and that God
sanctifies, sets apart, those who live by the truth--John 17:17).
I then concluded that although I believed that the
typical Roman Catholic member, priest, and even Pope was/is dedicated
and sincere, that many have been misled by some of the early leaders who
they never should not have listened to (Justin Martyr and Irenaeus
are examples of two such persons). The typical Roman Catholic is
unaware of the historical role of Europa and the Queen of Heaven
throughout European history. And unaware of the major persecutions
against true Christians (they are aware of battles involving
Protestants, but that is not the same--the true Church of God is not
Protestant--as it does not claim to have descended from the Reformation,
but from the beginning of the Church on the first Pentecost in the Book of Acts--please see the articles Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome and The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3).
The Bible is clear that in the end-times, it is needed
to for all to have a "love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2
Thessalonians 2:10-11).
Are you one who has a love of the truth more than a lover for the revised traditions of men? (See also Matthew 15:9).
Is the EU Currently Preparing to Have Military and Economic Rulership?
While the average European does not think much about
world or economic domination, the European Union has been taking steps
that appear to be preparing it to fulfill its prophesied roles.
Europe has been developing its own military, its own
replacement of the GPS location system (called Galileo), and definitely
its own economic system. "The EU wants to dominate the future with a
system known as Galileo that is more precise and more reliable than GPS"
(Czechs sign deal to host EU's satellite navigation. Associated Press,
January 27, 2012. http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_19833882).
In addition to its own currency, the EU has been
working for years to develop various standards for manufacturing and
manufactured goods.
The EU appears to be positioning itself to be a leader in the world.
Notice the following about a European military (see also EU Votes for New Military):
MEPs promote a strong and effective foreign, security and defence policy European Parliament
- Feb 19, 2009MEPs point out that the European Union needs to develop its strategic autonomy. This strategic autonomy will help the EU to promote peace and international security, to defend its interests in the world, to protect the security of its own citizens, to contribute to effective multilateralism, to advance respect for human rights and democratic values worldwide and to safeguard world peace. The report was adopted with 482 votes in favour, 111 against with 55 abstentions. The Parliament recognises the need for the EU to develop its strategic autonomy through multilateral cooperation in international organisations, above all the United Nations, and through partnerships with other key actors, according to the report on the European Security Strategy (ESS) and European security and defence policy (ESDP), drafted by Karl Von Wogau (EPP-ED, DE)…"SAFE" – Synchronised Armed Forces Europe
The cooperation between national armed forces should increasingly synchronised and called "SAFE" – Synchronised Armed Forces Europe. The European Parliament notes that a common defence policy in Europe requires an integrated European Armed Force which needs to be equipped with common weapon systems so as to guarantee commonality and interoperability. (source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/031-49775-047-02-08-903-20090218IPR49774-16-02-2009-2009-false/default_en.htm)European Space Agency predicts European space revolutionThe European Space Agency will add two new types of satellite launch vehicle to its rocket fleet in a move it says will revolutionise the European space launch industry with an increase in launch capacity. As a result, its Arianespace arm, which launches half the world's commercial satellites, is preparing for an exceptionally busy year.
Defence Web – Jan 18, 2011
Having three rockets to launch satellites means the European Space Agency (ESA) has greater flexibility in deciding which rocket will be the best for its payloads. This will also widen its operational menu, leading to more launches. Indeed, after all three rockets become operational in the second half of the year, the ESA could be conducting at least one launch a month.
At a press conference last week, ESA head Jean-Jacques Dordain said that 2011 is be the year of the launchers. "By the end of 2011 the ESA will not look like it does today. It is a revolution for Europe," he said (http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13081:european-space-agency-predicts-european-space-revolution&catid=35:Aerospace&Itemid=107).
'Europe Needs a Directly Elected Leader with Charisma'The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:
"According to surveys, every second European feels apathetic toward the European Union. …. Therefore, it would be in the interest of the president of the European Commission to ignite a bit of enthusiasm for Europe among Europeans. But passion is not Jose Manuel Barroso's thing. Even in his second term, in which he no longer has to rely on the support of national leaders, he has continued with his bland approach. It seems that the most important thing for him is to avoid conflict with the member states."
"Instead of revealing what he really thinks, Barroso remained true to his nickname of the 'chameleon' and spouted elegant, meaningless phrases about 'green' jobs, the fight against racism and the blessings of the internal market. Such a speech does nothing to reduce the general dissatisfaction with the EU. In order to stand up to the self-centeredness of the national capitals, Europe needs a directly elected leader with charisma."(http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/
As mentioned earlier, in 2013 or 2014, the Europeans
are planning on having their own global positioning system, called
Galileo, available for military applications (European Parliament
Approves Military Use of Galileo Satellite. DPA news agency. Deutsche
Welle - July 10, 2008.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3474226,00.html viewed
05/14/09). This will allow the Europeans to have their own system for
tracking the world and will allow them to attack others without having
to rely on the U.S.A.'s GPS. This will be the first time in the 21st
century that Europeans will be able to have that type of independent
military capability.
Furthermore, according to a 2010 report from the
U.S. government, the U.S. Air Force will start relying on the European
Galileo system (at least to a degree) beginning in 2013/2014 (U.S. +
E.U… Positioning Partners (SATCOM). August 1, 2010. http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1014062728)
as its GPS capabilities are expected to significantly deteriorate by
then (Lytle JM. Maintenance delays mean EU's Galileo may step in.
TechRadar UK - May 14, 2009.
viewed 05/17/09 ).
Since the Europeans will be able to control Galileo,
they will thus be capable of derailing certain sophisticated military
applications of the U.S.A.
This will give the Europeans a unique defensive (as well as offensive) capability that no others on the planet will have.
But there is more.
Notice the following items about physics and who will benefit from the LHC:
Notice the what the Europeans were able to do had been considered to be impossible. Also notice whatever technologies are spun-off from this project are expected to primarily benefit the Europeans and not the Americans.Europe leaps ahead on physics frontier...The buzz of activity at CERN's Swiss campus dramatically illustrates a changing of the guard on the frontier of physics, with Europe taking over from the United States. For the past 14 years, Europeans have taken the lead role in building and financing the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider, which was started up on Wednesday. The U.S. federal government kicked in $531 million for construction.The LHC is just this week's most obvious example of Eurocentrism in science: Less than 200 miles (300 kilometers) away, an even costlier international physics project, the $13 billion ITER fusion research center, is just getting started in southern France. And European officials are currently considering how to move forward with yet another fusion project, the $1 billion HiPER laser-fusion facility (Boyle A. Europe leaps ahead on physics frontier. MSNBC, September 11, 2008).Collider Sets Record, and Europe Takes U.S.'s Lead...Large Hadron Collider...Officials at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, which built the collider, said that the collisions lasted just a few minutes as a byproduct of testing, and that the Champagne was still on ice in Geneva. But in conjunction with other recent successes, those tiny fireballs displaced American physicists as the leaders in the art of banging subatomic particles together to see what nature is made of... "Particle accelerators and detectors (initially with the bold and innovative ideas and technologies) have touched our lives in many ways and I have no doubt that this will continue," Dr. Kim wrote in an e-mail message. Those spinoffs now will invigorate the careers and labs of Europe, not the United States, pointed out Steven Weinberg, a physicist at the University of Texas in Austin...(Overbye D. Collider Sets Record, and Europe Takes U.S.'s Lead. New York Times, December 9, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/science/10collide.html).Antimatter captured by CERN scientists in dramatic physics breakthroughAntimatter has been captured by scientists for the first time in a physics breakthrough that echoes the hit Hollywood movie Angels & Demons.Physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva have created the stuff of "Star Trek" for the first time ever: genuine antimatter.
A 17-member team announced the production and preservation of 38 antihydrogen atoms. Physicists Emilio Segre and Owen Chamberlain of the University California, Berkeley, earned the 1959 Nobel Prize for producing part of an antihydrogen atom, antiprotons. (Martin M. Antimatter captured by CERN scientists in dramatic physics breakthrough. TechNews World, November 18, 2010. http://www.technewsworld.com/story/CERN-Physicists-Create-Antimatter-and-Could-Build-a-Bomb-in-a-Billion-Years-71269.html?wlc=1290143968)
Major new breakthrough for CERN scientists
Fabiola Gianotti, Director of the Atlas Project, said:…
"LHC is a very important physics programme. It will allow us to find answers to some fundamental questions that are still unsolved mysteries. One of the most personally fascinating is to understand what antimatter is made of. We know that 20 per cent of the universe is made of an unknown matter, unlike the ordinary matter of atoms that we are made of."
It is the latest in a line of successful experiments for CERN, after already producing temperatures hotter than the sun, and even trapping antimatter, which was once thought impossible. (Major new breakthrough for CERN scientists. Euronews, 27 November 2010. (http://www.euronews.net/2010/11/27/major-new-breakthrough-for-cern-scientists/)
A New Particle Could Be Physics' Holy Grail
Physicists working at CERN's Large Hadron Collider said Wednesday that they had discovered a new subatomic particle that looks for all the world like the Higgs boson, a potential key to understanding why elementary particles have mass and indeed to the existence of diversity and life in the universe. "I think we have it," said Rolf Heuer, the director general of CERN, in an interview from his office outside of Geneva, calling the discovery "a historic milestone."... "It's great to discover a new particle but you have find out what its properties are," said John Ellis, a theorist at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. (Overbye D. A New Particle Could Be Physics' Holy Grail. New York Times, July 4, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/science/cern-physicists-may-have-discovered-higgs-boson-particle.html)
Perhaps I should mention that I have long suspected that
CERN projects may give the EU a unique type of military weapon to
empower it to become what will be perceived as the the premier military
power in the world (for more about CERN, please see Why Prophecy? Because the World Will NOT End Next Week and Large Hadron Collider may result in military applications). And the LHC is not the only project of that type in Europe.
Apparently desiring to build upon and surpass what has been
discovered with CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Germany has decided
on its own particle accelerator project:Plans to build a €1.6 billion particle accelerator in Germany cleared the first main hurdle on Tuesday when authorities gave the go-ahead for construction to begin…FAIR stands for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research.
"With it, Germany has secured a leading place in field of fundamental physics research," said Education Minister Annette Schavan on Tuesday.
In what is being described as one of the biggest research projects in the world, more than 3,000 scientists from more than 50 countries will work at FAIR from 2018, studying the nature and origins of the universe. JCW. Go-ahead for €1.6 billion particle accelerator. The Local, 13 June 2012 http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20120613-43113.html)
I believe that it (FAIR), along with the LHC, will help the Europeans produce military weaponry to fulfill certain end time prophecies (e.g. Revelation 13:4). They (FAIR and the LHC) are also likely to spin-off economic benefits that may help propel Europe to be (for a short while) the economic leader of the world (cf. Revelation 18). No other nation or group of nations will have the type of access to what will develop from the Large Hadron Collider or FAIR than the Europeans. The Bible is clear that the final "Beast power" (which will be primarily European) will have such unique military capabilities that the entire world will marvel (cf. Revelation 13:3-4). It appears that these capabilities are starting to be becoming developed now.
Notice the following about the EU and pollution standards:
BERLIN, March 10 (Reuters) - The European Union's adoption of measures to fight climate change this week could set an example for the United States, China and India, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.
Under Germany's presidency, EU leaders set a binding target on Friday for renewable sources to make up 20 percent of EU energy consumption by 2020 and agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount in the same period.
"We think that Europe could set an example for others to implement more attractive and better climate protection goals," Merkel said in her in weekly video "podcast" available for download on her Internet site.
"By this I mean, for example, the United States and developing countries India and China. We want to discuss this at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June."...
The EU produces about 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, while the United States, the world's largest polluter, produces some 25 percent. © 2007 Reuters
Since the EU has a larger population than the USA,
that means on a per person basis, it produces about 1/2 as much
greenhouse gas emissions as the USA. However the bigger picture is that
this is likely to be part of the rational as to why the entire world
should adopt the EU's standards for everything.
It was reported that it is the EU's intent to make its standards the standards that the rest of the world should follow:
EU wants rest of world to adopt its rules
Financial Times - Feb 18, 2007
Brussels wants the rest of the world to adopt the European Union's regulations, the European Commission will say this week . A Commission policy paper that examines the future of the Union's single market says European single market rules have inspired global standard-setting in areas such as product safety, the environment, securities and corporate governance."Increasingly the world is looking to Europe and adopts the standards that are set here," the paper, seen by the Financial Times, says.
The paper calls on the EU to encourage other jurisdictions to follow suit – for example by "promoting European standards internationally through international organisation and bilateral agreements."
This strategy, it claims, will help European businesses beat their rivals abroad since it "works to the advantage of those already geared up to meet these standards".
The EU's drive to establish itself as the pacesetter for worldwide business regulation could well lead the bloc into conflict with the US and other trading partners...
Some critics of the European approach argue that the Union's stance on issues such as GM foods may also reflect a desire to protect the region's commercial interests.
However, as the Commission paper points out, the sheer size and wealth of the Union's single market mean that few corporations can afford to ignore it. By harmonising the rules for a market boasting 500m consumers, the Union has set standards "which partners then have to meet if they are to benefit from the single market", it says.
"[The single market] gives the EU the potential to shape global norms and to ensure that fair rules are applied to worldwide trade and investment. The single market of the future should be the launch pad of an ambitious global agenda." The Commission paper forms part of an ambitious review of the Union's single market – widely seen as one of the proudest achievement of European integration. Thanks to product harmonisation, common business rules and the erosion of national trade barriers, the single market means that goods, services, capital and people can move freely among the EU's 27 member states.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/af609b2c-bf72-11db-9ac2-000b5df10621.html
The above standards and developments will help the
stage for the EU to fulfill many prophecies. Notice the following that
this type of system may help fulfill:
"Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Revelation 13:4)It probably also should be mentioned that while the current European Union is not the final Beast power per se, the Bible shows that there will be a structural change will occur:
17 ... that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (Revelation 13:17).
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury (Revelation 18:3).
12 "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)So, there will come a restructure change in Europe. And many current events are lining up for this to happen (see, for example, Britain's Ostracization, Euro-geddon, & China-geddon).
What About a Coming Trade Block Tentatively Called the Transatlantic Common Market?
The Living Church of God reported the following news item in its February 28, 2008 Weekly Update:
Coming: A New Trade Block. Fifty-five U.S. Senators and Congressmen currently serve as advisors to a "working group" for the Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union. "An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration." The idea of this union came to light in April 2007, when President Bush, German Chancellor Merkel, and European Commission President Barroso launched the Transatlantic Economic Council. Efforts are already underway to create a North American Community, including the U.S., Mexico and Canada. This community is to be based on security and economic issues and is intended to be in place by 2010 (WorldNetDaily.com, July 20, 2005; September 25, 2006). The Transatlantic Common Market is intended to combine the North American Community with the EU, creating the world's most formidable trade bloc—a trade bloc that would be so large that its trading policies would automatically become policies for the world. Plans for this new "common market" are proceeding and are intended to pass through in a "treaty" form, much like the most recent EU Treaty, in order to avoid the scrutiny and debate that often come with more "formal" agreements (January 16, 2008). Revelation 18 warns of a future Beast, known as Babylon the Great, through which "the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury" (v. 3).
This type of proposed agreement has been expected for some time.
These negotiations will
continue and some type of loose agreements will happen. Many of the
"standards" of the European Union will be adopted by nearly all of the
countries of the world.
However, over time, it will
become increasingly clear that the British will be in more agreement
with the Canadians and Americans and that the European Union in more
agreement with the Mexicans than the EU will have with the
English-speaking nations.
Trade wars and/or serious trade disputes will most likely arise.
The Brits will likely
decide that they are more supportive of the Americans and Canadians.
They will be so much more supportive that they will end up in a
trading agreement with them (with the Australians and New Zealanders
probably also becoming part of that agreement).
The EU will decide that
Mexico and the rest of Latin America are in more agreement with it and
thus make some type of serious trading agreement with most (or all)
of Latin America (see also Mexico, Central America, South America, and Brazil in Prophecy).
Additionally, because of widespread declining European birthrates, it
is likely that there will be increase immigration from Latin America to
Europe in the future. The Vatican will also have influence with all of
this as Latin America is highly Roman Catholic.
The Europeans and Americans, however, will continue to have military agreements, though many will be tense about them.
Eventually, the Europeans
(probably under the cover of pretending that they are involved in a
"NATO-like" exercise in North America) will eventually launch a
surprise attack against the United States in fulfillment of both
biblical (Daniel 11:39) and Catholic prophecies. The Mexicans will most likely be allied with the Europeans for this to happen.
Additional Biblical Prophecies
For at least 70 years, and perhaps for much, much
longer, the Church of God has generally understood that when the Bible
refers to Assyria in end-time prophecy, it is referring to the Germanic
peoples that will be the main force behind the Vatican supporting
European superstate.
Here are two such writings from the late John Ogwyn and Dr. Douglas Winnail:
Coming threats of catastrophic economic and social collapse will set the stage for some soon-coming events, according to Bible prophecy. In answer to growing fears, there will suddenly emerge onto the world scene a powerful and charismatic leader in Europe. In alliance with a religious leader who will ignite an emotional mass hysteria through what the scripture terms "lying wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9), this military-political leader will use deceit to achieve great power. He will lead a revived Holy Roman Empire, called in scripture "Babylon the Great" (Revelation 17; 18).
This European union of church and state will promise universal prosperity and will exercise worldwide economic dominance for a short while. Ezekiel 27, using the figure of the ancient commercial city of Tyre, speaks of this global economic combine which will include nations of Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia along with Israel and Judah (v. 17). Portions of Ezekiel 27 are paraphrased or quoted in Revelation 18 where the end-time system, called Babylon the Great, is described.
The English-speaking nations will not prosper for long in connection with this system, however. In fact, they will ultimately be overpowered and destroyed by it militarily. Prior to military attack and occupation, devastating weather problems, combined with internal civil strife ("tumults in the midst" cf. Amos 3:9) will bring our nations to the point of internal collapse. (Ogywn J. The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. LCG Booklet, Charlotte (NC)).
A great worldwide trading combine will seem to offer incredible profits to international cartels. Later, responding to crises involving both the Middle East and the English-speaking nations, this leader will move with lightning speed and iron determination. Annulling a treaty previously made with the Jewish state, his armies will overwhelm Jerusalem and will take half of the city into captivity (Zechariah 14:2). At the same time, an attack of overwhelming force will be launched on America, Britain, Canada and related nations (Ogwyn J. The Beast of Revelation Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality? LCG Booklet, Charlotte (NC)).
The Bible indicates that at the end of this age, the Israelite nations' chief antagonist will be Assyria (Isaiah 10). God will use Assyria and its allies to punish Israelite nations that have forgotten their God (Isaiah 10:5–7; 24–25). Just like their ancient ancestors, the modern Assyrians have espoused a "master race" philosophy, have acquired a reputation for a certain aloofness and arrogance and have executed military operations with deadly precision and efficiency (Isaiah 10:8–14). Though few modern scholars look to the Bible for clues to understand geopolitics, the Bible's prophetic references to Assyria in the "last days" do indeed point to modern Germany. (Winnail D. Modern Nations and God's Ancient Plan. Tomorrow's World. Jul-Aug 2006).
(To read the historic Church of God position on the
United Kingdom's position in the final European power, please check out
the article Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel.)
While some historians do not believe that ancient
Assyria is now essentially modern Germany, there is evidence that is
still available for public view in Germany that suggests otherwise.
There is also a very old legend that claims that the city of Trier in
Germany was founded by an Assyrian leader:
For legend, going history better by more than 2000 years, ascribes the founding' of Trier to Assyrian Prince Trebeta, who gave it his name, in 2053 BC. (Fodor E. Germany 1962. D. McKay, 1962 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Oct 12, 2006, p. 175; see also Treverorum A. British Quarterly Review, July 1875, pp. 1-3)Hence, the idea that at least some of the Germans have Assyrian heritage is not a new idea. Various researchers, including Pliny in the first century, reported that the Assyrians migrated to north of the Black Sea, while others noted that they ended up in Central Europe, like the areas of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Bavaria (which is in Southern Germany) (Winnail, Resurgent Germany: A Fourth Reich? Tomorrow's World, Volume 9, Issue 5, September-October 2007; White C. The Great German Nation. Author House 2007, pp. 85-100; Pratt MR. The capture of the Kaiser: his trial and death and the death of the crown prince as foretold in prophecy. 1918 Original from Princeton University, Digitized Apr 27, 2010, p. 32).
It is also of interest to note that Germany also has the physical gates of entrance to ancient Babylonian, which is interesting for the Bible warns of Babylon, as this article mentioned before.
Anyway, notice some of what God had the prophet Isaiah write about Assyria:
5 "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. 6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations. (Isaiah 10:5-7.)
Notice that the Assyrian does not mean to do so. But
will do it anyway. Thus while I am not saying that the European Union is
full of people who now intend to destroy the USA and its Anglo-Allies,
this is prophesied to happen anyway. Notice, however, that even now, the
groundwork to consider the USA a potential enemy is being publicly
Helmut Schmidt, the former German chancellor who initiated the US arms buildup against the Soviet Union during his term in office, considers today's Russia to be less dangerous than the United States...
Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt ...says: "Russia poses far less of a threat to world peace today than, for example, the United States. You can go ahead and print that." These were the words Schmidt uttered in an interview with his own paper, the weekly Die Zeit (How Dangerous Is America? Spiegel - Nov 20, 2007 http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,518399,00.html).
So even though most Germans are not intending at this
instant to destroy the USA and its English-speaking allies, the fact
that some of its leaders consider the USA a threat should be sobering to
all (for more about who the Anglo-American peoples are descended from
and why God may allow them to receive this attack, please see the
article Where Are the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel?).
Perhaps it should be mentioned that the famous third
century Catholic theologian Hippolytus tied Assyria in with the
Antichrist power:
And Isaiah also to the like effect: Forasmuch as the people refuses to drink the water of Siloam that goes softly, but chooses to have Rasin and Romeliah's son as king over you: therefore, lo, the Lord brings up upon you the water of the river, strong and full, even the king of Assyria. By the king he means metaphorically Antichrist, as also another prophet says: And this man shall be the peace from me, when the Assyrian shall come up into your land, and when he shall tread in your mountains. (Hippolytus. On the Antichrist, Chapter 57).
Now, there are also modern writers not part of the
Church of God who see that a European Empire is being formed that will
have military ambitions:
The EU is an empire, and empires mean war
Partisans of the European project invariably argue that nationalism leads to war and while the development of Europe will safeguard peace – a noble objective that is more than sufficient compensation for any loss in democracy, sovereignty and transparency caused by Brussels. However, this theory is fundamentally flawed.
Nationalism does not lead to war. Attempts to build European empires lead to war. The urge to impose a straitjacket on the will of peoples will leads to war. In short, the European project will lead to war…
The irrational fear of nationalism could ultimately result in the establishment of a restrictive empire in Brussels. The time has come to call a halt and restore the nation state. (Baudet T. The EU is an empire, and empires mean war. NRC Handelsblad, Press Europ, July 9, 2012. http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/2300601-eu-empire-and-empires-mean-war)
Thus, even some secular sources can see where this is leading. Hopefully, you can as well.
With all that is going on with the Middle East,
perhaps this article should mention that the Bible suggests that the
Arab nations will make eventually make a deal to destroy Israel, and
with a European (Assyrian) power. Notice the following:
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more." For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. (Psalm 83:3-8.)
Many Moslem nations have been contacting the Europeans
in order to make various deals supposedly for peace in the Middle East.
And as Psalm 83 shows, a deal to destroy will be made (see also Deal Leading to Psalm 83?).
Some Roman Catholics suggest this is a time of peace
(and others have warned that it is a time of false peace), but the Bible
shows that it will not be a time of real peace. Also notice what
Jeremiah was inspired to write:
14 They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, 'Peace, peace!' When there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD (Jeremiah 6:14-15).
Jeremiah also was inspired to write that God will punish end-time Babylon, who is the European King of the North,
for God will remember what was done to Israel (which includes the USA
and many of its major English-speaking allies) and Judah:
Thus says the LORD:
"Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind. 2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom they shall be against her all around. 3 Against her let the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy all her army. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the LORD of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel."
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; He shall recompense her...
49 As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall (Jeremiah 51:1-6).
Furthermore, it needs to be understood that the idea
of a revived "Holy Roman Empire" in Europe being led by a Great Monarch
who attacks the English-descended peoples is NOT simply a viewpoint of
the Living Church of God. Many Roman Catholic private prophecies also teach this. Here is one related Catholic "prophecy":
Saint Cataldus of Tarentino (c. 500): "The Great Monarch will be in war till he is forty years of age....he will assemble great armies and expel tyrants from his empire. He will conquer England and other island empires" (Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p.30; also Culleton , p.118-119).
The island empires would seem to include Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand (also the term translated as England above would probably be better translated as the English because of the time that "prophecy" was given, hence the "prophecy" would seem to include the United States). There are other Catholic prophecies,
biblical, and Church of God writings that indicate that this same
European leader will conquer the United States (for more information,
please see the article Who is the King of the North?).
Concluding Comments on Europa
What does all this mean? It
means that despite the current fragility within Europe, the final
European power will be the endtime "daughter of Babylon". It means that
the current EU will be transformed into a major military power--despite
the fact that it does not think it so (Isaiah 10:7), it is not well
united (Daniel 2:41-42), and people do not think that it will emerge
that way (Habakkuk 1:5-11).
It means that many within the current Roman Church do not now properly seem to understand biblical prophecy related to that religion and Europe. Yet, some Roman Church
of its own writers have long warned that compromises will lead to it
changing to an ecumenical faith that the Bible also warns against.
Europe will make one or more dangerous deals with the Arabs.
History shows that Europe has pagan roots. History shows that when the
Roman Church has had a lot of power, original Christians have tended to
suffer persecution.
The current European Union has the trappings of the
old Holy Roman Empire and certain Catholics believe that it will be
reborn as a peaceful Holy Roman Empire. Europe has always had a woman as
its symbol. It still has a woman as its symbol now. A revised
ecumenical forced religion calling itself "Catholic" will be embraced by
this Babylonian empire that God warns against being part of (Revelation
18:4). Apparitions claiming to be Mary (along with other signs and
lying wonders) are likely to become a significant factor leading to the
rise of the European Beast power.
Once the European Union gets its full power, true Christians will have persecution (see Persecutions by Church and State), the U.S.A. and its English-speaking allies conquered (see Anglo - America in Prophecy), and the world ultimately, tribulation, like never before (see Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2012, 2013, or 2014?).
The Bible shows that most in the world, because of fear, economic pressures, and lying wonders will get caught up in it.
Just because the whole world will be temporarily
deceived by the rising European Beast power, you do not have to be.
Hopefully this article has given you some reasons to look at the world
and your life and will motivate to come to God now on His terms. To
learn more about what happened to Christianity, a good place to start
may be The History of Early Christianity
page. May God call you today and grant you the understanding so that
you will "pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these
things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man"
(Luke 21:36).
Yet, because most in Europe do not truly stive now to
know the true God, God will punish them as well as the other inhabitants
on the Earth. The beginnings of this empire are taking shape.
Remember that Jesus taught,
37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:37).
As the "Holy Roman Empire" appears to be in the process of
reforming as the European Union (or perhaps a descendant of it), this is
definitely a time to watch.
Throughout history, the true Church of God has watched
and has known that the final Roman empire, which to a degree mainly
occupies Europe, is the representative of the Beast of Revelation (more
information is included in the article Doctrines of Antichrist). Everyone needs to watch Europe as it becomes more of a military empire once again.
But, even more than that, it is a time for true Christians to
gather together before the final end is here (Zephaniah 2:1-3) and to
help proclaim the true gospel to the world (Matthew 24:14), a gospel
that tells the full truth from the Bible.
(By the way, perhaps it should be mentioned that although there is not secret rapture for the Church, the Bible does explain when and where is the faithful can be protected).
The true gospel will get to the world as witness. And
the true gospel shows that Europa will not ultimately succeed, but that
the Kingdom of God will
Thiel B., Ph.D. Europa, the Beast, and Revelation. www.cogwriter.com 2004/2005/2006/2007/2008/2009/2010/2011/2012 0714
Several articles of possibly related interest may include:
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church?
Who is the King of the North? The Bible, in Daniel chapter 11, describes this king in a negative light, yet some Catholic prophecies seem to endorse him.
Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Are there biblical and non-biblical prophecies about Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? This is the longest and most detailed of the articles here related to prophecy and Barack Obama.
The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 Do they matter? Most say they must, but act like they do not. This article contains some history about the Church of God (sometimes referred to as the continuation of Primitive Christianity) over the past 2000 years.
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions.
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Churches of God Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist. This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of "the false prophet".
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 This article explains how the COG views this, and compares this to Seventh-day Adventist views, such as those of Ellen White.
End of Mayan Calendar 2012--Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Who is the King of the North? The Bible, in Daniel chapter 11, describes this king in a negative light, yet some Catholic prophecies seem to endorse him.
Anglo - America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Are there biblical and non-biblical prophecies about Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? This is the longest and most detailed of the articles here related to prophecy and Barack Obama.
The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 Do they matter? Most say they must, but act like they do not. This article contains some history about the Church of God (sometimes referred to as the continuation of Primitive Christianity) over the past 2000 years.
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions.
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Churches of God Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist. This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of "the false prophet".
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 This article explains how the COG views this, and compares this to Seventh-day Adventist views, such as those of Ellen White.
End of Mayan Calendar 2012--Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?