Last week I had been watching documentaries about Europe’s past battles with Islam and came to the fuller awareness that what we see today with the rise of Islam is history repeating itself. In a recent report in the Covington Global Policy Watch on February 19: in 2019 they published statements made last year by Emmanuel Macron of France and Angela Merkel of Germany concerning the formation of a European Army. The statement read; “It was therefore surprising to hear French president Emmanuel Macron use the words in a radio interview in November 2018: “We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America, he said, “we will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army”. Even more surprising was hearing Angela Merkel a week later endorse the formulation in a speech to the European Parliament: “The times when we could rely on others is past,” she said, “we have to look at the vision of one day creating a real, true European army.” And a few weeks later, the German defence minister Ursula Von der Leyen went even further: “Europe’s army”, she declared, “is already taking shape”.
Today Europe is seeking to become a unified force in the world. Firstly; you have the global threat of Islam and a long history of wars between Islamic and European powers that go back for centuries. Biblically, I am persuaded that the beast empire “wounded by the sword and yet lived” is Islam, not Rome. (Revelation 13:14) In Revelation chapter 13 you have two beast empires.
The first Beast Empire comes up out of the sea. Geographically this would have to be the Mediterranean Sea which would become the sea at the centre of the future expansion of the Islamic empire. This beast empire with its horn (ruler or king) is the last global empire to arise in the earth. Prophetically the sea in the books of Luke and Revelation represents the tossing and turbulence within nations. (Luke 21: 25) (Revelation 17:1)
The Second Beast Empire comes up out of the earth and this I am inclined to think speaks of the resurrection of the first beast empire. Islam has a resurrection! Historically this has happened. Turkey is the forerunner of this Beast Empire that seemed to have received a mortal wound that has been healed. (Revelation 13:3) Daniel describes this as the terrifying fourth beast empire that was different from all of the other beast empires before it with its iron teeth and bronze claws-the beast empire that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. (Daniel 7:19) Ancient Rome crushed nations but also assimilated into their culture the culture and customs, the gods, the governance and military strategies from the previous empires. Rome could assimilate and did, but Islam has been never able do this because as Jeremiah writes “We applied healing to Babylon, but Babylon cannot be healed” (Jeremiah 51:9) No one can make peace with Islam!
These two beast empires of Revelation chapter 13 together form Islam today. There is no doubt since 9/11 that the western democracies are at war with Islam. It is a different kind of war being waged today. It is for the most part urban warfare involving innocent civilians. Indeed we are also told in revelation, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?” (Revelation 13:8) This beast empire has ‘a horn’ or ruler who defies God and wants to be deified. (Revelation 13:6) (Daniel 7:8; 11:36) (2 Thessalonians 2:4) It is one thing to fight an army face to face on the field of battle and this will ultimately come for Islam, (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 19:11-21) (Isaiah 34:1-15) but how do you fight an army using innocent civilians and especially women and children as human shields, fighting from within hospitals and schools and sending young suicide bombers into crowded places? Added to this what about the Islamic ‘Trojan Horse’ entrenched in Europe and in the western democracies? What about the deep terrorist sleeper cells waiting to do their dirty vicious and violent work when the final Mahdi of Islam calls for global Jihad?
Within the member nations of the European Union there is a growing awareness among the elite in Brussels that there is a need to raise a European Army to fight and protect the European people and European economic interests globally. In the past it was the combined armies of most of the European nations that stopped Islam from invading the whole of Europe. War after war was fought with Islam. The Roman Empire may well rise again but will it defeat Islam? Historically, Rome ultimately fell to the Turkish Ottoman Empire of Islam. Will Rome fall again to the Ottoman Turks? Can the elitists in the EU stop the Islamic refugee flood-tide that has been sweeping across Europe?
Secondly; you have Russia immerging as another Super Power wanting to have global dominance and economic power in Europe and the middle-east. Russia will not be satisfied with just another cold war in Europe. They may well want the lot!
Thirdly; you have America pulling away from European involvement. The EU Leaders are not happy with the sanctions America has placed on Iran by preventing the Iranian regime supplying oil to the nations of India, China, South Korea, Japan and Turkey. Korean officials have struggled with the US demand because Korea’s oil refineries are specifically setup to process crude oil from Iran. The time may well come when America will need to withdraw itself from its presence in other nations and no longer be ‘the global police force’ because of internal political conflict or to fight terrorist attacks on American soil. Possibly there will be a missile attack on some American cities? It most likely will come from an unexpected source. Kim in North Korea is still sending up missiles and rockets and most probably the regime is getting its missile technology from Iran. In reality it seems he is still “the little rocket man?” Can you imagine a little boy playing with nitro glycerine? Hopefully President trump realises this?
The Iranian regime is desperate to survive economically and may take severe and extreme measures against America to keep Iran’s flow of oil going to those nations that need it. Added to this the American sanctions have not gone down well with Russia and China. Of course the Saudis will be ecstatic at the possibility of upping the ante on their oil exports. Relations between the EU and the USA do not seem to be looking good. Added to this you have the continuing tensions between China and the USA. Will America isolate itself? Will America withdraw its forces from NATO? Time will tell as in all matters related to Biblical Eschatology.
While NATO is a present force in the European region it may well be eclipsed by a European Army in the character of the Ancient Roman Empire. The nations confederating today in Europe by and large are the same ones basically that made up the Western leg of the Ancient Roman Empire. For many years now Prophecy scholars have always seen the two legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue as the divided Ancient Roman Empire with a western and eastern leg to it. In 476 C.E. Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome. However, a thousand years after the Western leg of the Roman Empire had fallen the eastern leg of the Roman Empire Byzantium fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Turkish Ottoman Empire ruled as a major world empire from 1453 until 1922. With the end of WW1 in 2018 the Turkish Ottoman caliphate was all but finished, or was it?
Today you have the two legged beast empire of Islam with the Shiite and Sunni divide just like we see described by the two legs on Nebuchadnezzars statue in his dream in the time of the prophet Daniel. In the light of history and current events in the world today Daniels’ fourth beast empire he describes in the Book of Daniel, cannot be Rome but Islam. As I have already mentioned earlier in this article this fourth beast empire cannot assimilate with any other culture. Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome could assimilate and adopt much of the previous empires culture, military strategies and methods of governance and economic patterns but Islam cannot and never can assimilate. The many Jihads since the time of Mohammad prove this fact time and time again. Islam is not just a religion but an ideology, a political force, a socio-economic system and form of government, a militaristic power and religion is a component but not the whole of Islam.
Added to this, the religious aspect of Islam has some of its roots in Jewish and Christian theology even though overall it is anti-Christ, being against Jesus as God and against the Trinity and against “the people of the Book” (the Bible) namely Jews and Christians. Actually in many aspects of its theology Islam could be called a Christian cult and as with all ‘cults’ they deny the deity of the Lord Jesus and the Triunity within the Godhead. In fact Islam denies that the Lord Jesus even died on the cross. However, mixed in with its acceptance of certain parts of the Bible is the worship of Allah who is not the God of the Jews and the Christians but the Arabic moon-god of war that Mohammad Monotheised after he had conquered Mecca. The emblem of the crossed swords on Islamic flags and banners today clearly shows this to be true.
When the Islamic Antichrist arises he will be followed by a 200 million strong army that will sweep down through the Middle-East into Africa and invade Egypt and eventually into Israel. (Daniel 11:1-43) (Revelation 9:13-19) His army will also sweep into Europe hence a European army will be needed to fight Islam as we have seen in past history. How much of Europe will be taken over by the Islamic Antichrist remains to be seen. For past centuries Islam has always wanted Europe and especially the City of Rome. The future Antichrist will extend his kingdom throughout the whole Middle-east and into much of Europe. He will be both an Islamic as well as a European potentate; He will be both in the one man. What we see today with President Erdogan of Turkey as he seeks to maintain his dictatorial power, may well lead to the resurrection of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the second beast empire, the same empire that toppled the Ancient Roman Empire and threatened Europe and Christianity centuries ago and will prove to be a threat to ‘Rome’ once again.
Merkel and Macron are expressing what other EU leaders are considering and in the light of the gathering storm clouds of Islam gathering over Europe NATO may not be sufficient to stop the progress of Islamic expansionism into Europe. Turkey will of course no longer be a part of NATO once the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate is established. If there is a European army then ‘Rome’ will have to confront Islam once again. It will be a long and bloody war as history has shown in the past when Europe and Islam have collided in battle. This battle between Europe and Islam will be fought on European soil. The weaponry will be such that the Lord Jesus will need to come back to defeat antichrist and his forces, rapture and resurrect His elect saints, rescue Israel as a nation and to save the world from annihilating itself. (Matthew 24:21-22) The only future hope for man will be the return of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in great glory and with awesome power that will smash all earthly kingdoms raised up against God with the mighty boulder of the Messianic Millennial Kingdom. (Daniel 2:31-35; 39-45)
