"Is There a Demosthenes Left in Europe?"

by Darris McNeely

Submitted December 13, 2004

A couple of recent articles on Europe and a coming clash with Islam are a must read. In light of the Daniel reference to the King of the South "pushing" at the King of the North this article gives insight into why this prophetic sequence could be triggered.

Victor Davis Hanson writes in the National Review Online of the shock wave created by the recent killing of a Dutch film maker on the streets of Amsterdam by a Muslim national. Note this idea that a strong leader, a "Demosthenes", may be the catalyst to bring Europe together to face the growing Islamic threat. here is the money paragraph:

The real question is whether there is any Demosthenes left in Europe, who will soberly but firmly demand assimilation and integration of all immigrants, an end to mosque radicalism, even-handedness in the Middle East, no more subsidies to terrorists like Hamas, a toughness rather than opportunist profiteering with the likes of Assad and the Iranian theocracy - and make it clear that states that aid and abet terrorists in Europe due so to their great peril.

Another article appeared recently in The Daily Telegraph which questions Europe's commitment to democracy. Here is a quote that sums the thought:

It may sound apocalyptic, but I do believe that the democratic experiment in continental Europe, begun just over 200 years or so ago, is coming to a close.

The European Union is creating what it hopes will be a benign oligarchy. Real political power will reside once again within elite circles (as it does already in France) which will conduct their business in the corridors rather than in the assemblies.

These two articles show how Europe could change into the power described in Revelation 17 as a dominating global power.

On another part of the prophetic picture, today's Wall Street Journal carried an article by Mark Helprin warning of the rising power of China. Within 20 years it is likely China will challenge the United States in virtually every major area of importance for a global power. It is possible. Connect this with the reference to an army of two hundred million from beyond the Euphrates River mentioned in Revelation 9:16 . No doubt part of this great movement will come from this area of the globe.