Nov 22, 2004
Economic Possibilities
This year has been amazingly active in the political realm. We are about to end 2004 with major end-time related progression in Europe, Russia, and the all-important Middle East.
The economic picture has also been a hotbed of prophetic activity. I would like to draw you folks' attention to three very important areas on the economic front.
The first one is the economic rise of Europe. When the EU first started in the 1950s, it appeared doubtful that the organization would ever amount to anything. Over the years, as the EU added one member after another, it slowly evolved into a worthy rival of the US.
Lately, the EU really has begun to flex its economic muscle. This year it added 10 new members, and several more nations are eager to join the club. One the strangest indications of the EU’s growing economic clout occurred in the African nation of Togo. At a rally in the capital, Lome, at least 13 people died in a crush to welcome an improvement in relations with the European Union.
The EU is important to prophecy because it is the region where the Bible predicts the final world superpower will form. For centuries Bible scholars have been looking for a revival of the Roman Empire. I have several books on prophecy written during the 1800s that perfectly describe the Europe we see today.
"And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his head were ten diadems, and on his head were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him the power and his throne great authority" (Rev. 13:1-2).
"As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in the law; and they will be given into his hands for a time, times, and half a time" (Dan. 7:24-25).
China is the second economic concern. Just as the EU is in the process of becoming the powerhouse of Europe, China is rapidly becoming the financial wonder of Asia.
With over a billion people, China has a voracious need for raw materials. The booming Chinese economy is widely blamed for driving up the global price of oil, steel, and cement. Its requirement for oil is prompting fears of financial and diplomatic collisions around the globe as it seeks reliable supplies of petroleum.
It was just a few years ago that China was a net oil exporter. But as its economy expanded by an average of 9 percent per year, so has its demand for energy. This year it overtook Japan as the world's second-largest consumer of fossil fuel. It now ranks right behind the US.
China’s need for oil has caused it to turn its attention towards the Middle East, the region with the greatest reserves. Its second-biggest state oil firm has just signed a $70 billion deal for oilfield and natural gas development with Iran, which already supplies 13 percent of China's needs.
The Bible does not directly predict the rise of China as a global power. It does mention an alliance out of the Far East that will muster an army with 200 million soldiers. The ability to field such a vast army requires a nation with considerable economic strength.
"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them" (Rev. 9:13-16).
"And the sixth angel poured his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared" (Rev. 16:12).
The fall of the US dollar is third event that needs to be watched. Because America has a huge current account deficit of $166.2 billion in the latest quarter, the greenback has been sagging on world exchange markets.
The US dollar has been persistently weak against currencies like the euro, the yen and the British pound. Just this week the dollar dropped to a new record low against the euro. When the euro first came out, it traded roughly even with the dollar; now one euro will buy 1.30 dollars.
The dollar's slide is good for US manufacturers because it makes their goods less expensive in foreign markets. Because we are a nation that imports more than we export, the fall in the dollar makes foreign products more expensive for us.
The greatest danger of the declining dollar is the risk of an economic meltdown. Because the US has had trade deficits for many years, large amounts of treasury notes are held by foreign banks and citizens. The tally is said to have built up to around $2 trillion. If the world was to suddenly lose faith in the dollar, the resulting wave of selling could cripple our economy.
An economic implosion in the US could help explain why our nation does not seem have a major role in the end times. Once Uncle Sam is incapacitated, the ball can be passed to the EU and other nations. If our own excess does not doom the American economy, the rapture could easily be what triggers the dollar’s demise.
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
-- Todd
The Union
The most prominent prophetic signal on the geopolitical horizon of our time revolves around the “Roadmap for Peace.” Now that Yasser Arafat is gone, gone too–so goes the speculation--is the roadblock to putting the “Roadmap” back on track. Many news pundits--and, apparently, a number of governmental officials both in the United States and Europe--believe peace talks will now be possible between the Palestinian controlling authorities and the Israeli government.
The Bible prophecy involved, of course, is the foretelling in Daniel 9:27 that the world’s last and most vicious dictator, the Antichrist, will guarantee a seven-year covenant of peace between Israel and its enemies. This world leader, who will be heralded like none other in history, is called “the prince that shall come” in the prophecy. That reference is to the fact that he will be from the same people who would destroy the Jewish Temple and the city of Jerusalem, as prophesied by both Daniel the prophet and by Jesus Christ just before His crucifixion.
The people who did exactly that in 70 A.D. were the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Based upon prophecies in Daniel chapters 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12, most prophecy students conclude that the ancient Roman Empire will revive, that is, come back into prominence, when the time of Christ’s return in the Second Advent nears.
We consider another major prophetic signal that continues to develop at a fantastic pace: the rapidly evolving European Union (EU). Most prophetic students who view Daniel 9: 27 as yet future, and as literal, are convinced that the EU is the reviving Roman Empire, which will soon produce the “prince that shall come,” the Antichrist.
So, it is with considerable fascination that we received the report of the EU’s involvement in the other prophetic issue of current interest, the renewed hope that the "Roadmap to Peace" is now back on track. Could it be, we must ask, that this is the formula for the peace covenant the Antichrist will eventually guarantee between Israel and its blood-avowed enemies?
The recent news that piques the interest of prophecy watchers in regard to these two developments is encapsulated in the following brief excerpt. The EU leaders are bending over backwards –and every other way—to gain influence over the potential for restarting the "Roadmap for Peace" that would be a new initiative made more in the EU’s own image.
EU parliament president Joseph Borrell… paid tribute to the leader identified with "the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination, through exile and after his return."
Borrell praised Arafat's "courageous step of seeking peace with Israel" and hoped his legacy will be a "durable peace."
"The best tribute to President Arafat's memory will be to intensify our efforts to establish a peaceful and viable State of Palestine as foreseen by the Roadmap."
The EU's foreign Policy chief Javier Solana also expressed his "great sadness" at Arafat's death, and pledged to push ahead with the Roadmap for peace.
EU Politics News, http://www.eupolitix.com
U.S. President George W. Bush calls Arafat what he indeed strove to be –a terrorist. Remember, Arafat was reputed to be the mastermind behind the murder of the Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics, as well as other infamous atrocities perpetrated by the Black September terrorist organization.
EU officials at the highest levels treat the dead PLO leader like a hero of first order. But he was a man who let his people writhe in the depths of squalor while he lived in palaces for much of his last two decades in power. The EU leadership is determined to eclipse the US in every category, and to become the number one global power, according to British journalist Alan Franklin. Speaking on a Southwest Radio Church broadcast aired November 15, 2004, Franklin said:
I often speak about the revived Roman Empire, the last empire on earth before our Lord returns. I show pictures of the new Tower of Babel they built in Strausberg, …together with their motif --the woman on the beast. [That is] a very strange satanic symbol on statues, and paintings here in Europe.
Now, they’ve actually got it on the Seal of the European Union, and all of their official documents are sealed with a Great Seal of a woman riding a bull. And, they now have declared that they are the revived Roman Empire. Now, previously, it’s only been those of us who’ve been interested in prophecy who said this. But, now, they themselves describe themselves as the new Roman Empire.”
Upon prompting by the program’s interviewer, Franklin revealed even more fascinating things about the emerging geopolitical behemoth:
If you go to Brussels, Belgium now –go to the European Commission building—you’ll see a large pop art tent outside. Now, inside, events of the future, as they would like to see –the European Union would like to see it—are projected in artworks. They say that the 21st century will be the European Century, as the European Union pushes its borders deep into Eurasia, North Africa, the Middle East, etc. This is a quote…"[The EU] comes to dominate world affairs through its vast legal and moral reach."
Now, perhaps that should read "immoral," because they’ve got some pretty immoral exhibits there, including stars of pornography, and so on. This is what they see as the future of Europe, and things we should look to inspire us.
They say they are going to move the United Nations headquarters to Gibraltar. I know many Americans will say, well, "Good riddance." But, then they say they are going to do this as the European Union defends the international order against the American onslaught.
The whole exhibition is called "The Roman Empire Returns."
This is interesting. It says, "The EU will be renamed 'The Union,' after it reaches 50 nations." There’s a lot of anti-American stuff [in this material they present]. They say they are going to break the overwhelming monopoly of the dollar by the year 2010, as China and India switch their reserves, to punish America. And, they cast the United States as the villain of modern times. It says [About the U.S.]: "The lonely superpower can bribe, bully, or impose its will almost anywhere in the world. But, when its back is turned, its policy is weakened."
So, my advice is: Don’t turn your back on Europe. See what they’re doing. There’s a treacherous bunch of people –very anti-American—running the European Union.
“The Union,” as Franklin says the EU intends to eventually be called , looks very possibly to be the same group found in this troubling portion of prophetic Scripture: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:12-13).
--Terry
