Prophecy Sign #4: The Revival of the Roman Empire

See Prophecy Sign #5

Daniel's prophecies in chapters 2 & 7 indicate a strong connection between the Revived Roman Empire and the European Union.

Someday, the Roman Empire, with the Antichrist ruling over it, will return.  Today, for the first time in 2000 years, we are seeing the Roman Empire being successfully revived through a European unification process that has come to be known as the European Union.  The EU is made up of 27 countries.

However, in 1995 a ten nation alliance also appeared in Europe - the Western European Union (WEU).  These ten nations have status as full members, while those nations who joined subsequent to the original ten have only associate membership, or observer status. 

Could these ten nations, controlling the same geography as the Old Roman Empire, be the 10 kings of prophecy and the Revived Roman Empire spoken of by Daniel? 

This 10-nation military alliance of the EU appeared on January 1,1995 known as the Western European Union (WEU).  These nations are members of both NATO and the European Union (EU).  What binds these 10 nations together is their mutual defense obligation under the Brussels Treaty.  They are also known as the Brussels Treaty Powers.  The Brussels Treaty began the process of rebuilding the old Roman Empire through unification of European states under one political system, one economic system, and eventually under the protection of one military force.

Member countries: (modified Brussels Treaty - 1954)

All of them being members of both NATO and the European Union. These are the only nations that have full voting rights.

• Germany
• France
• Italy
• United Kingdom
• Belgium
• Netherlands
• Luxembourg
• Portugal (March 27, 1990)
• Spain (March 27, 1990)
• Greece (1995)

This 10 nation coalition may be the fulfillment of the prophecy of the beast with ten horns.

Daniel 7:7 (NIV)
⁷ "After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast--terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

Javier Solana, a very powerful player in the European Union, is sometimes referred to as "Mr. Europe."  He continues to exert great influence on the upcoming peace talks in Annapolis.  Still relatively unknown by Americans, he may have created the office of the Antichrist.  He is currently the Secretary General of the 10 nation Western European Union (WEU) the military arm of the EU.

Circles of Power

Working together for Peace and Security

Herb Peters posted this Nato graphic on his excellent website www.fulfilledprophecy.com in April '07. I found it to be very helpful as it simplifies the complexities of how the international organizations overlap, and yet work together.  It is also intriguing how the Western European Union (WEU) is at the "center of power."  This ten nation coalition could represent Daniel's ten kings of the revived Roman Empire.

Revelation 17:9-11 ⁹ "Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. ¹¹ "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.

The Seven Historical Beast Empires

John explains that the 8th and final beastly empire, is a composite of the seven historical beastly kingdoms that were empowered by Satan and attempted to destroy Christ and the Jewish people. Each of these empires has outwardly opposed the purposes of God. Satan, the god of this world, has used these historical kingdoms to attempt to persecute and ultimately destroy God's chosen nation Israel. In the Bible, these kingdoms are referred to as "beast empires." There are seven historical kingdoms, which Satan has used to attempt to annihilate God's people Israel. Each of these empires has had an unholy hatred of the Jew and has taken action to destroy the race. All of them have been intensely anti-Semitic, pagan and worshipped false gods. What is the reason for such hatred? God, in His sovereignty, chose Israel to be His special people, a nation of destiny. They were to be politically ruled by God. Jesus, the Messiah, was to come from that nation and in God's timing; He is to rule the world in righteousness. Israel is the nation God chose to rule all other nations, and be the blessing to the Gentiles. Satan, in his attempt to thwart God's purpose has attempted to wipe out the Jewish people several times and looking back we can see the historic evidence of his plan to destroy. Who are these past seven kingdoms and the seven kings who ruled these 7 beast empires, with the goal of destroying Israel's covenant with God? (Adapted from Marvin Rosenthal, Zion's Fire.) (1)    Egypt - Pharaoh (Thutmosis III) enslaved the Jews and he tried to destroy the race by ordering all the male children drowned. See Exodus 1 (2)   Assyria - Exceedingly wicked kingdom, destruction of Israel was so severe, and we speak of the 10 lost tribes. In 722B.C. Tiglath-pileser (See 2 Kings 15:29) took the 10 northern tribes into captivity and they never came back to the land as 10 tribes (See 2 Kings 17:7-23). (3)   Babylon - Nebuchadnezzar marched on Israel on 3 occasions - 606, 589 and 586 B.C. He destroyed Solomon's temple and took the two southern tribes into captivity, and put an end to the rule of King David's royal reign. This empire was represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as the "head of gold." See Dan 2:31, 36-38. (4)   Medo-Persia - In 474 B.C. in the reign of Xerxes, the evil Haman of Persia plotted to kill all the Jews in 127 provinces in Persia. Esther interceded on behalf of her people - Esther 7:3-6. This empire was represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as the "breasts and arms of silver." See Dan 2:39, 8:20. (5)   Greece - After Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was divided among 4 generals. It was from one of these 4, Seleceus, who was given Syria to rule. Following him, a very wicked and prideful king, Antiochus Epiphanes ruled over Syria and he was a great persecutor of Israel. He was responsible for sacrificing a pig on the altar, desecrating the rebuilt temple and murdering a large numbers of Jews (Dan 11:31). This empire was represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as the "belly and thighs of brass." See Dan 2:39, 8:21-25. (6)   Rome - Several Roman rulers personified the evil persecution of the saints; Nero, Domitian...Titus was responsible for the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. This empire was represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as the "2 legs of Iron, representing West-Rome and East-Constantinople." See Dan 2:40-43. Israel was dispersed and not to be restored again until 1948. (7)   A mysterious kingdom, likely Nazi/Germany - After the Roman empire, John reveals a mystery kingdom will arise before the final 10-nation empire. See Rev 17:10,11. I believe John was prophesying of Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich, who had an unholy hatred of the Jew. The holocaust was a period of extreme anti-Semitism and of the most uncivilized acts in history toward the Jewish race. Hitler/Germany only ruled for a short span of time. This empire was NOT mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, because it was "hidden" and emerged during the church age. (However, God used this persecution to re-establish the Jewish nation in 1948!!!) But the end is not yet. Seven beast empires have appeared in history, an 8^th is yet to come - the most violent of them all. The 8^th and final beast empire that will yet achieve worldwide control will be under the leadership of the Antichrist.

(8)    Antichrist's future 10-nation kingdom that will dominate during the 70^th week of Daniel. Look for an unholy hatred of Jews, zealously anti-Semitic, with an obsession to destroy the Jewish people. This empire was represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as the "ten toes of iron and clay." See Dan 2:44.

The Colossus is Back!