Last time out, we began to examine the End Times scenarios offered up by some theologians as to where and how this period of time will flesh out. Today, we’ll continue laying out the case for that ‘Standard Prophetic Line,’ and in the future, offer some alternatives.

It has been a rather traditional view, that the European Union would fulfill the role of the Revived Roman Empire, that would usher in the Antichrist and ultimately be brought to an end by Christ Himself. In building the case for the EU as the revived Roman Empire that will rule the world during the Tribulation, it’s proponents use Daniel 2, quoted above, and then add in Daniel 7:24. “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth.” Daniel 7:19 describes this fourth beast as “exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze,” and having “ten horns,” lining up with the ten toes of the statue in Daniel 2. The number ten-fold formation of this final world power is referenced again in the Book of Revelation. “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. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” (Revelation 17:12-13)
Some years back, while writing for Contender Ministries, Jennifer Rast gave an interesting summary of the case for the EU as fulfillment of chapters 2 &7 of Daniel. The European Union grew out of the European Coal and Steel Community formed in 1950. By 1965 the Treaty of Brussels began to put in place the rudimentary foundation of European government, for what many believe is the Revived Roman Empire. There were 10 member states in the original EU, and for a long time, those ten remained the “permanent member states.” They formed what was known as the Western European Alliance.[i]
The 10-nation Western European Union (WEU), revived by the Rome Declaration of 1984, served as the legal & de facto military arm of the EU. However, the WEU went defunct in 2011, dealing a blow to the theory. Another blow was delivered when the UK left the EU through Brexit. Just a few years back, both organizations were controlled by one man; Javier Solana. Solana had served as Secretary General for the WEU and Foreign Minister for the full EU.[ii] He was at the head of this reviving Roman Empire. The really interesting part of all this is that the authority to legally wield that military power was granted on June 5, 2000, by something called the WEU Assembly Recommendation 666. In #12 of that bit of legislation, the High Representative, (Javier Solana at the time), was granted the power to take personal control of the EU’s armed forces in case of an emergency.[iii] That legislation, – Recommendation 666, – has created an office / mechanism through which some future leader, – could assume authority of the whole of Europe, all the while maintaining the veneer of legality. This was all part of a drive for the consolidation of power within the organization through a one-time attempt to secure the ratification of the EU constitution. It failed. Still, in light of Recommendation 666, the essential next step that the EU strategy group looked at was the creation of a unified European Army.[iv] With such a Continental Army, the EU could project power around the world. By early 2020, while some progress was made, the Continent was still far away from realizing that dream. And today, it seems farther still, as Europe seems more of a vassal state of the US under the umbrella of NATO. The Ukraine War and the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipeline with its’ disastrous consequences for European energy security has made that seem so. Still, however, they continue, at least at this point to support American hegemony.
The dream however remained; that Europe would speak with “one voice” and carry the weight of a superpower like the United States.[v] Rast explains: “The purpose of the EU’s creation was and is, ultimately, to create a European super-state or ‘United States of Europe,’ as some have suggested naming it, that would eventually rival the United States in influence and military might. That has actually become the official position of the Council of Europe.
Then there is the religious symbolism that is an EU-sanctioned by-product of the Union. In an official publication, the EU identified “Europe with the rebuilding of Babel,” the ancient symbol of Man’s rebellion against God. A poster was put out showing the people of modern Europe rebuilding the Tower of Babel with the motto “Europe: Many Tongues One Voice.”[vi] So taken is the EU with this God-defying symbolism that it incorporated that very ‘unfinished Babel’ design into the parliament building in Strasbourg, France, – a replica that some of the European press has dubbed, “Eurobabel.”[vii] Another favorite symbol of this New Europe is the Woman Riding the Beast, an echo of Revelation 17:7. Europe has embraced this symbolism in posters, stamps and statues. Rast, again: “The EU flag has a circle of 12 stars on a blue background. These stars were inspired by the halo of 12 stars appearing around the Madonna as depicted in Catholic pictures of her. Leon Marchal, former secretary general of the Council of Europe, confirmed that the stars are representative of ‘the woman of the Apocalypse.’” The scriptural reference however is to Revelation 12 and biblical scholarship argues strongly that the woman in the passage represents the nation of Israel, NOT a Madonna figure. And the official European Anthem, Ode to Joy by Beethoven with lyrics by Schiller is “actually about the entering of the shrine of a pagan goddess and the uniting of all men in brotherhood, by the power of magic.”[viii] [ix]
Another argument used to advance the theory that the EU represents the Revived Roman Empire that will serve as the host for the Beast / Antichrist is found in Revelation 17:7-8 and then verse 11. “But the angel said to me, ‘Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is…. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to]perdition.’” The argument, summarized by author Jack Smith is this. “The Roman paradigm also includes the interpretation of Revelation 17:11 that the empire that ‘was,’ and ‘is not,’ and ‘is about to come up’ (Revelation 17:8) refers to Rome. Hence, the Roman Empire ‘was.’ The Roman empire ‘is not’ (because it collapsed in the 5th century A.D); and, it is ‘about to come up’ in some form or revived empire, e.g., the European Union. (3) Rome is further supported as the fulfillment of these passages because it uniquely fulfills Daniel 9:26 (‘the people of the prince who is to come’) in that the Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70.”[x]
[i] Jennifer Rast, Is the E.U. the Revived Roman Empire?, Contender Ministries
[ii] Hal Lindsey, ‘Late Great Planet Earth’ revisited, World Net Daily, December 16, 2004
[iii] Herbert L Peters, Recommendation 666: The Rise of the Beast From the Sea, Chapter 11, December 2004
[iv] Question of Peace or War in Europe, Spende, March 25, 2007
[v] We have finally decided…, Financial Times, March 9, 2007
[vi] Europe’s Part in the End Times, The Watcher, (Monitored online on April 5, 2007)
[vii] Jennifer Rast, Is the EU the Revived Roman Empire, Contender Ministries
[viii] Jennifer Rast, Is the E.U. the Revived Roman Empire?, Contender Ministries
[ix] Dr David R Reagan, Europe in Bible Prophecy, Lamb and Lion Ministries, http://www.lamblion.com/New10.php
[x] Jack Smith, The Revived Roman Empire Paradigm and the Impact of Brexit, JackSmithprophecy.org, June 25, 2016
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