Europe in Prophecy.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus forewarned His disciples that certain events would occur just before His return to this earth at the end of the age (Matthew 24:3-13). About 70 years later, the Apostle John recorded a vision of a woman riding a beast, picturing a future church-influenced governmental system that would arise in the last days and influence not only Europe but the world (Revelation 17). While John was undoubtedly familiar with the legend from Greek mythology about the Phoenician princess, Europa, who was deceived and abducted by Zeus who was disguised as a bull, John was actually describing a future prophetic event that would indicate the return of Jesus Christ was near.

Nineteen centuries after John recorded this vision, the creators of the European Union adopted the image of a woman riding a beast as a symbolic representation of their effort to unite the nations of Europe. To commemorate this effort, sculptures of a woman (Europa—for whom Europe is named) riding a beast have been placed near EU buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Beginning in May of 2013, the image of Europa will begin to appear on euro banknotes—replacing innocuous pictures of windows and doors that were designed not to offend national sensibilities. Announcing the coming change, Mario Draghi, chief of the European Central Bank, stated, “Is there any better figure than Europa to serve as the new face of the euro?” (euobserver.com, November 9, 2012).

As the ancient prophecies in the book of Revelation come alive today in Europe, we need to remember Jesus’ warning that His return would be near!