What's Behind the Rising European Superstate?
A commentary by Tom Robinson
Good News magazine staff writer
While the world focuses on the continuing violence in the Middle East,
prophetically significant events are transpiring in Europe. On Friday,
June 13, the Convention on the Future of Europe completed its work of
drafting a new constitution for the European Union—though some
final alterations may yet be made.
This latest in a series of integration treaties over the past half-century
is the farthest-reaching in that it is not just economic, but also brings
political union to EU member nations. As the sovereignty of individual
EU states continues to erode, the power of a developing superstate will
become increasingly more evident.
Even Europeans themselves are largely unaware of the changes fostered
by past integration treaties and what the current constitution, hammered
out by faceless bureaucratic elites, will actually mean. Indeed, even
the elites engaged in the process don't really understand.
The Bible tells us where all of this is leading—to a revival of
the Roman Empire referred to in Scripture as "the Beast" and "Babylon" (compare
Daniel 2; 7; Revelation 13; 17–18). This final empire will ultimately
act as the agent of national destruction against the modern descendants
of Israel—meaning not just the Jews but the rest of Israel, the majority of
Israel, now often referred to as the "lost 10 tribes."
These tribes were taken captive in ancient times by the Assyrian Empire
and later migrated to northwest Europe. Surprisingly, people of northwest
European heritage are largely Israelites—Britain and the United
States being the foremost among them (see our free booklet The
United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy for a more in-depth
explanation).
It perhaps seems odd, then, that Britain should be part of the European
Union. Yet it is—and British leaders have been gradually conceding
sovereignty to this foreign entity for 30 years now. The British themselves
are divided over whether or to what degree they want to be part of this
system, so it remains to be seen how deeply they will go and how long
they might stay.
Consider what happened to ancient Israel. It did not go immediately
from an independent nation to being destroyed by Assyria. Rather, in
the mid-740s B.C. Israel began to pay tribute to Assyria. Israel’s
king became a vassal of Assyria and Israel was thereby incorporated into
the Assyrian Empire. This arrangement continued intermittently for a
decade until Israel's king persisted in troubling the Jewish kingdom
of Judah, a more closely aligned Assyrian vassal at that time.
As punishment, Israel was invaded in 733 B.C. and the bulk of its population
was deported to Assyria. The Israelite king was killed and a new king
appointed. But another decade later he was caught conspiring with Egypt
against Assyria, prompting the Assyrians to invade and deport the remainder
of the population. Note that Israel was incorporated into the Assyrian
Empire well in advance of its ultimate destruction. It was only when
it tried to leave the "union" that it was crushed.
The same thing happened with the later destruction of the Jewish kingdom
of Judah at the hands of the Babylonian Empire. Judah was first incorporated
into Babylon as a vassal state. Only when it later rebelled was it completely
overthrown and its populace deported.
And still again, the same thing happened with the Jewish state of Judea.
When it was incorporated into the Roman Empire, it initially appeared
to have a great deal of autonomy. But as time went on the fact of Roman
rule became more and more evident. It was not until decades later, when
the Jews attempted to revolt against the Romans, that their state was
destroyed and the people were deported as slaves.
Viewed in that light, how interesting it was to see an editorial in
the London Daily Telegraph, dated March 3, titled, "While
we liberate Iraq, Europe is busy planning to enslave us." The piece
described how the new European constitution encroaches ever more on British
sovereignty and threatens to prevent Britain from later opting out. As
currently laid out, secession will be a complex process taking at least
two years—though there are still calls to make secession impossible
without EU majority approval.
Could the United States come under the EU umbrella? We should consider
that modern "Babylon," as described in Revelation 18, will
be a global trading bloc. In fact, there has been talk of integrating
NAFTA (the U.S.-led North American Free Trade Association) into outer
spheres of economic integration with the European Union.
Of course, it is hard to imagine America becoming a willing part of
the European Union in any subordinate sense, particularly given the vast
power of the United States and the current trans-Atlantic animosity.
However, we should consider that much of this animosity is due to the
European dislike for the current administration. Europeans loved the
former U.S. president, and if someone with his views were to reoccupy
the White House, things could change. Indeed, liberal politicians are
notorious for being willing to surrender national sovereignty to international
concerns.
Surprisingly, there has been serious talk recently of the modern state
of Israel being incorporated into the EU, just as Judea was part of the
original Roman Empire. The parallels are chilling.
In the end, Bible prophecy indicates that Britain, the United States
and the modern state of Israel will all be destroyed by the rising European
superpower. But before that, they—or at least their leaders—may
well be all too willing to become inextricably entangled with this long-foretold
enemy.
We need to keep our eyes on Europe. Its integration aims and achievements
may be far beyond what we have imagined. |
