“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast (anti-christ) rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”
Revelation 13:1
Almost without exception, the vast majority of Biblical scholars for hundreds of years now have agreed this prophecy of John in the Book of Revelation points to a future, final “world empire” that will be comprised of ten “horns” (countries) whose “crowns” (leaders) have thrown their total support behind the “beast” (the anti-christ). This is THE final global empire Jesus Christ will totally defeat at Armageddon upon His Return! I know that is a lot to be said in a couple of sentences but there are many other prophecies going back hundreds of years before John had this vision that built on this agreed upon notion that in the Last Days a global Empire of 10 nations will arise, led by the “beast” or, as we will refer to him, the anti-christ.
“But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what SHALL BE IN THE LATTER DAYS (capitals mine). The dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;”
Daniel 2:28
God told us long before it would happen, what WILL happen! Approximately 600 years before John wrote the Book of Revelation in approximately 95 AD, Daniel wrote the Book of Daniel. Interestingly, both were instructed to write down what they saw in their dreams. Both, in different visions, saw what God showed them with regards to the Last Global Empire to be led by the anti-christ which will have dominion over the world just prior to Christ’s Return at Armageddon.
If you recall, Daniel was a very bright, young Jewish boy of 13 when he was taken captive and forced to walk nearly 1,000 miles from Israel to Babylon. For 3 years he was trained in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler at the time of the Babylonian Empire. He was trusted by the king of Babylon and when the king had a very disturbing dream, he asked ALL of his advisers to tell him the meaning of the dream, even though he refused to tell them what it was all about. When they said they couldn’t tell him unless he first told them the dream, he ordered they all be killed (Daniel 2)! However, Daniel pleaded with him to allow him to interpret the dream first and after praying, God showed Daniel the dream and interpreted it for him. What did Daniel tell Nebuchadnezzar about his dream?
“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet PART OF IRON (capitals mine) and PART OF CLAY (capitals mine).”
Daniel 2:31-33
Imagine for a moment you are king Nebuchadnezzar and a young man just told you the dream you had BUT which you had not described to anyone. You had seen an image made up of different materials. But what did that mean? Daniel again answered his question!
“This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given unto thine hand, and hath made thee ruler OVER THEM ALL (global empire – capitals mine). Thou art this head of gold. And AFTER THEE (capitals mine) shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes (remember – ten), part of the potters clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the (ten) toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, SO THE KINGDOM SHALL BE (capitals mine) partly strong and partly broken.”
Daniel 2:36-42
In my view, this is one of the most incredible prophecies in the entire Bible! Prior to the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar there had been two other historical, world empires, the Egyptian and the Assyrian. But they were already in the past! What Nebuchadnezzar dreamt, and what Daniel interpreted, was about his kingdom and the kingdoms that would follow. Daniel even told him that his empire, selected by God Himself, was the “head of gold”. After him however, would come a weaker empire. History has shown the Babylonian Empire (gold head) which lasted from 604 B.C. to 539 B.C. ended with their replacement by the far weaker Medo-Persian Empire (chest and arms – notice TWO arms equals the TWO countries of Medo & Persian – of silver) who reigned until 331 B.C. They were overthrown by the Grecian Empire (referred to as belly and thighs of bronze) which reigned until 146 B.C. when the Romans came to power. Technically, unlike the others, the Roman Empire was NEVER defeated. Rather, it basically disintegrated from the inside and eventually was replaced by the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne, who is often referred to as the Father of Europe because he was the first emperor since the end of the Roman Empire to unite Western Europe. Interestingly, Charlemagne was crowned the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Leo III on December 25, 800. Contrary to what some believe, the Holy Roman Emperor was NOT the Pope but was the ruler of the Franks aka Germany! While the Holy Roman Empire was a Christian religious “empire” closely aligned with the Vatican, the people of Europe while still in their own individual countries still followed it, even at times ceding power and authority to it. As Daniel said above “…the kingdom shall be divided (separate); but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron.” While still separate countries, combined they still had the GREAT COMBINED power of the Holy Roman Empire!
“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour (a short time) with the beast (anti-christ). These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
Revelation 17:12-13
The last Empire Daniel spoke of, which would be the FINAL global empire, is the one described as the feet mixed with iron and clay. This is notable because the Roman Empire was made solely with iron and appears to have later morphed into a new empire made up of ten toes (countries) mixed with iron AND clay. Clay has a religious connotation and this points to the secular alliance between the church and state. Basically, between the Books of Daniel (Old Testament) and Revelation (New Testament) we are clearly told there is YET to be a world empire comprised of the remnants of the Roman Empire made up of ten countries (toes) and they will be the LAST EMPIRE before Jesus’s Return as told to us by God through both Daniel and John.
“And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he (anti-christ) shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”
Daniel 7:24
Apparently, once the ten nation group is assembled, another “king” will arise AFTER them. He will be different from them and he will basically “subdue” three of the ten to ensure he gets his way so all ALL of them then will follow his plans.
How do we get from Biblical prophecies of 2,000+ years ago to the formation TODAY of a coming global empire? Shortly after World War II, many of the countries of Europe, who in the previous 30 years had suffered through TWO major World Wars on their continent, decided they needed to finally “come together” in a way that opened dialogue in order to avoid yet another World War. As a result, not only did they form the European Common Market (now called the European Union) but they also joined the then recently formed United Nations AND, in an effort to hinder the former Soviet Union from grabbing more of Eastern Europe, created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) along with the U.S. It is strikingly eerie how so much of this occurred in 1948. You may want to read my past post on how 1948 (the year by the way, the Nation of Israel was reborn, also as prophesied) Did 1948 Start the Last Days as Prophesied in the Bible? appears to have started the global growth and power of Europe. Coincidence? Or, fulfillment of Biblical prophesy?
While NATO began with 12 countries as members (France, Great Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, along with the U.S. and Canada) it has since ballooned into 29 country members. The European Union/Communities began with 6 countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany) and is now comprised of 28 countries. HOWEVER…
If you have been watching the news lately, President Trump has requested all NATO countries to pay the 2% of their GDP towards their mutual defense as they originally agreed to. Only Poland and the U.S. had been doing this. The U.S. has been paying over half of the NATO defense budget to protect Europe! If they fail to do this, President Trump has threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO. Also, Great Britain recently took a vote to pull out of the European Union in an effort to regain their individual sovereignty. This is commonly referred to as Brexit. At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel together have proposed a “NEW” European Union. With the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon on November 3, 2009, the treaties originally signed forming the European Union were amended to ensure the agreed constitutionality of their agreements. Incredibly, it was the two countries of France and Germany which also created the rule of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire. Also amazingly, as of November 8, 2018 TEN countries (toes) agree with Macron and Merkel’s proposal! Those countries are Finland, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, France, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal. The accurate prophecies of the Holy Bible NEVER cease to amaze me!
Think about this for a moment. As of 2018, the population of the European Union today is 512.6 million people compared to America’s population of 326.8 million. The population of the ten countries that have agreed to be part of the NEW European Union is 313.0 million, almost exactly the size of the U.S. While the 2018 GDP of the U.S. was $20.4 trillion, the combined economies of the ten European countries was $14.0 trillion which would make them second in size to the U.S., tied with China. When you take these numbers together and consider the global turmoil which could arise through an economic meltdown, a world war between the U.S. and either China or Russia OR the Rapture of Believers, I believe you can easily see how a new European Union could become THE super global superpower. As a matter of mutual defense, Macron even went as far to say they needed a “real’, combined European army to fight the global aggression of Russia, China, and yes, even the U.S.!
Speaking of Macron, while I AM NOT stating he is the anti-christ, it is amazing the prophecies regarding the final world empire is exactly what he espouses today. Also, if you search the Bible for the name “Immanuel”, it comes up only three times with Scriptures in Isaiah and Matthew referring to Immanuel as “God with us.”. I am sure it is purely coincidental Macron’s first name is “Emmanuel” and the anti-christ will become known when he enters the 3rd rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and proclaims he is God and must be worshipped as God. Again, I am not saying Macron is the anti-christ but it is just one more thing we should all be watching. No matter what, the Bible is VERY clear the final, global empire led by the anti-christ WILL arise out of the former Roman Empire and Europe fits that Biblical description exactly!
If you follow this blog you know I truly love the Word of God and believe in my heart God has given us these prophecies in order that we are aware of what to be looking for as the Last Days arrive. Again, it is not to scare us but to be make us all aware of what He has said will happen in these days. If you understand what the Bible says, it seems impossible to ignore it as you witness the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy right before your very eyes. All of this is to comfort us, not to cause anxiety, but to better understand His Word is Truth and it is happening today! If you agree, please help me to spread His Word to help others as we are all told to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” Pass this along to as many as you can by forwarding your email, Sharing/Liking it on Facebook and/or LinkedIn, or simply telling others about the Great Prophetic Word of God.
May God Bless you!