Is the —Beast— Awakening?

BERLIN—Here in the revitalized Germany, the favorite bird is the "crane." That is, the hundreds of construction cranes all over the nation—symbols of the dynamic growth of this prosperous and powerful nation of some 85-million people. Germany is Europe's largest nation and boasts the world's third largest economy. It is now looked to by many as the real "leader" of Europe.

But where is Germany heading?

Right now, the German Parliament is meeting in the Reichstag—the massive and impressive structure that contained the German Parliament at the time of Adolph Hitler's rise to power. It has been rebuilt and refurbished along elegant lines now that the German nation has moved its capital once again to Berlin. In fact, many are calling the new Germany the "Berlin Republic." The German Parliament or Bundeshouse, is debating how to increase the effectiveness of Germany's army. The ostensible goal is to make it more modern, more flexible and capable of being the core of a powerful European strike force, which could act in concert with—or independently of—NATO and the United States.

In concert with this new military force, some German leaders are also calling for "a fully federal Europe." This shocked France's interior minister, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, to declare:

A German-led revival of the Holy Roman Empire? That is exactly what some of us have been warning our readers about for many years. Because that is precisely what biblical prophecy indicates! And now, it has come directly from the words of a leading Cabinet member in the French government.

These developments have also caused concern in the United States government. As the International Herald Tribune, May 24, 2000, reported:

Encouraging a "Frankenstein Monster"?

For decades, the United States has enthusiastically encouraged the rebuilding of Germany and the eventual creation of what even Sir Winston Churchill envisioned as "a kind of United States of Europe." In the past, the West felt that a strong Europe would be a "buffer zone" to protect Britain and the United States from Soviet aggression. Most Americans sympathized with this goal, and wished to see Germany return to normalcy after the horrors of the Nazi era.

All this was very good.

Germans as individuals are as kind and good-hearted as any other nationalities. Yet history shows that the collective German nation has often shown a desire to dominate and to RULE other nations. Throughout history, one German ruler after another has convinced himself that other nations "need" German leadership and domination. Of course, this manifested itself in World War I and again in World War II—horrifying conflicts that cost tens of millions of human lives.

Many students of history and of biblical prophecy realize that the German people are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians—the same people whom God used to punish our Israelitish ancestors back in 721bc (see 2 Kings 17:1-8). Through the prophet Isaiah, the Eternal God has this to say about the Assyrian (or modern German) peoples: "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. 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. 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. For he says, 'Are not my princes altogether kings?'" (Isaiah 10:5-8).

Note in the above prophecy that although modern Assyria is to be used by God as His "tool" to punish Israel, it does not realize or "mean so" but is just following its warlike tendencies. As when Germany's Nazis proclaimed themselves the "super-race," modern Assyrians think their "princes" equal to other nations' "kings."

Most people do not realize that Isaiah's prophecy was to have a dual fulfillment—an earlier fulfillment on the ten-tribed house of Israel in 721bc, and a later fulfillment on its descendants at the prophesied "time of the END." If you read this prophecy carefully—all the way through chapter 11—you will clearly see that the final fulfillment of this prophecy extends right up to Christ's Second Coming and His millennial rule on the earth. Notice verses 20-21: "And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God." Here, God is obviously describing the END-time remnant of Israel and how they will NEVER again depend on these Gentile allies. But, the prophecy says, Israel at that time "WILL depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth."

And a few verses later in Isaiah 11:9-12, God says: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from ASSYRIA and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

Modern Israel Punished for Its SINS

Part of the "deliverance" Jesus Christ will bring at His Second Coming will be the deliverance of MODERN Ephraim, from national slavery brought about by their mounting SINS. Most Bible students know that Judah indicates the Jewish people, but many do not realize that Ephraim and Manasseh are today's British and American peoples. If you have not yet done so, be sure to request your free copy of our powerful, fully documented booklet explaining this entire topic, What's Ahead for America and Britain? Just write or call the regional office nearest you (listed on page two of this magazine).

This is the Great Tribulation Jesus Christ spoke of in Matthew 24:21-22. Note that in the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11, Israel is delivered first of all from "Assyria"—modern Germany! This coming national punishment is specifically described in Jeremiah 30:4-9. Addressing Himself to END-time Israel AND Judah (v. 4), God speaks of their deliverance when foreigners "no more ENSLAVE" them (v. 8). This deliverance will occur at the time of the END—when the resurrection from the dead will occur and King David will once again be made king over all 12 tribes of Israel (see also Hosea 3:4-5 and Ezekiel 37:19-24).

All 12 tribes of modern Israel—especially the United States and British-descended peoples—have succumbed to Satan's influence and are simply saturated with hedonism and SIN. In the very direct prophecy of Jeremiah 30, God calls this entire period of national tribulation "the time of JACOB'S (or Israel's) trouble"! Remember that this prophecy of Jeremiah was written long after ancient Israel's captivity—over 100 years later. So it must and it DOES refer to a yet future national punishment and captivity for our peoples—in the "latter days" as Jeremiah put it (v. 24).

But WHY?

Aren't we in the United States and Canada good, upstanding church-going people? And aren't the peoples of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the British-descended peoples of South Africa all good and decent people?

The ANSWER is that although many of us have had a "form of godliness," we have NOT acknowledged the real AUTHORITY of the God of Creation, the God of the Bible! We have steadfastly refused to keep God's commandments and His laws! Instead, we have allowed our religious leaders to invent various excuses as to how God's laws were "done away." Our horrifying crime rate, our continuing murder of millions of unborn children, our mounting drug use, pornography, and sexual sins and now even our open countenancing of perversion, are all a STENCH in the nostrils of a righteous God—a personal God who created and now RULES the earth and the entire universe!

We have left the true God out of our thinking—out of our daily lives!

God therefore says that our national allies—or "lovers" as some translations have it—will forsake us and we will be punished. "All your lovers have forgotten you; they do not seek you; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities, because your SINS have increased. Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your SINS have increased, I have done these things to you" (Jeremiah 30:14-15).

Modern Assyria—Part of a European Empire

Modern Assyria, or Germany, will not be alone as God's instrument in punishing the American and British-descended peoples. Many other nations will join in from time to time. But the main "tool" which God will use in this national chastisement is a revived Holy Roman Empire! As France's interior minister proclaimed, it will probably be a German-led empire—eventually composed of ten nations (Revelation 17:12).

This 17th chapter of Revelation describes seven successive "kings" (or dictators) in the revived Roman Empire (vv. 7-10). Many scholars have clearly identified the first five heads of the major revivals of the Roman Empire as: Justinian (554ad); Charlemagne (800ad); Otto the Great (962ad); Charles V (1530ad) and Napoleon (1804-1814). Many fail to remember that Benito Mussolini officially declared his empire the "Holy Roman Empire."

John then describes the coming Super-King or "Beast" receiving the power and allegiance of ten contemporaneous kings—living at the END of this age (vv. 12-13). After the brief sixth revival during the Hitler-Mussolini alliance, this ten-nation European union will be the seventh and final revival of the Holy Roman Empire. This is "final" because these kings will be so deceived and misled by the Beast and the coming great religious leader called the "False Prophet" that they will end up fighting Christ Himself at His Second Coming!

Almost Unbelievable!

"What unimaginable arrogance and stupidity," you might think. And yet the beauty, the wealth and the power of this religio-political system was so awesome in John's vision that he "wondered with great admiration" (vv. 3-6, KJV). The "Great Whore" of Revelation 17 will indeed have a type of beauty, artistry and appeal, which will simply overwhelm the senses of hundreds of millions of human beings at the end of this age! They will succumb to her blandishments—and the clever machinations and false miracles of the Great False Prophet who will lead this religious system (Revelation 13:11-14).

The Great "Harlot" of Revelation

Religious scholars have offered many theories regarding the Beast of Revelation 17. At various points in recent history, some have thought it was the Soviet Union, or the Arab League or the Communist Chinese, or any of a dozen others, but most seem to have forgotten that the "woman" RIDES the Beast (Revelation 17:3). This great religious system will begin to exercise more power and influence in years to come than most of us even begin to realize.

God calls this foul system "the Great Harlot" who sits on many waters. In verse 15, God Himself reveals: "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues." So this great false church sits on many nations, speaking different languages. And the Creator God names it, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (v. 5). Then John reveals: "I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (v. 6). So this is a great persecuting church which has shed the blood of the true saints of God! These true saints are described, incidentally, in Revelation 14:12: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

In his prescient and powerful book, The Principality and Power of Europe, author Adrian Hilton explains the mortal danger of what is now slowly, but surely, shaping up in Europe. On pages 17-18, Hilton warns: "And in John Paul II we have the most political Pope of modern times. It is in the movement towards federalism of the Common Market with the coming membership of eastern European countries, as well as in the turmoil in the Soviet Union, that the Pope may see the greatest possibility for an increase in Catholic political power since the fall of Napoleon, or since the Counter-Reformation."

Others recognize the weight of Hilton's above analysis; his book begins with a foreword by Lord Tonypandy, former Speaker of Britain's House of Commons. On page 36, we read of the present Pope speaking out against the "national and artificial borders" all over Europe. The Pope added: "Europeans should overcome the menacing international confrontations of states and alliances, and create a new united Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals."

Hilton then refers to one of Britain's leading newspapers, The Sunday Telegraph, which in 1991, summed up the Pope's plans for the evangelization of Europe: "He is calmly preparing to assume the mantle which he solemnly believes to be his Divine Right—that of new Holy Roman Emperor, reigning from the Urals to the Atlantic."

All of us should realize that when the Pope speaks of Europe returning to its "spiritual roots," he is talking about its Roman Catholic roots! This theme will continue to echo with increasing POWER in years to come. And Rome's constant promotion of the ecumenical movement—encouraging her wayward daughters to "come home"— will also resonate with increasing urgency throughout Europe and even here in North America.

It is time for all Bible-believing Christians to WAKE UP! A MASSIVE religious/political union is now in the making in Europe. Interestingly, the Bible indicates that Britain will NOT be part of this final Roman system. Even now, there are misgivings among the British leadership and among the population at large about the approach to a complete union with Europe.

After thoroughly describing this END-time system in Revelation 18, God's Word tells us what will happen before Christ returns: "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!" (v. 2). It tells us that "ALL" nations are drunk with the spiritual wine of false teachings emanating from this rotten system (v. 3). God's Word warns all true Christians: "Come OUT of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (v. 4).

But, chances are, you will NOT understand and you will NOT act unless you personally begin to STUDY the Bible genuinely and DO what it says! Then, if you truly SEEK God with all your being, you will NOT easily be misled in the months and years ahead. Then, you will "know"—and know that you know—the true God, His ways and His awesome PLAN for all humanity.

The years just ahead will be years of trial and test. The slow but certain deterioration of the American and British-descended peoples will not be pleasant to watch. It will bring many sorrows to those of us who have loved our nations and what they originally stood for. And the steady rise of power and prestige on continental Europe will swiftly begin to accelerate once the final political leader (the "Beast") and the Great False Prophet are in place. For then, "in the name of God," a terrible time of intense pressure and finally outright persecution and MARTYRDOM will begin for all those who oppose this demonic system.

Remember, most people in this soon-coming system will be deceived. They will not realize the meaning of what is happening. As God warns us, Satan will finally have to be restrained after Christ's return "so that he should DECEIVE the nations no more" (Revelation 20:3). In the years ahead, we as Christians should NOT hate the poor, misguided, deceived people who are part of this coming "Babylon."

Rather, we should know better. We have been WARNED. We must now HEED the warning we have been given—we must turn to the true God of the Bible and SEEK Him, and His understanding, as never before. Will you, personally, do this?