Steven Collins
June 7, 2008
Many Christians are familiar with the prophecies of the book of Revelation about a “beast” power which will arise during the latter days of our age (Revelation 13-17 contain many references about the “beast”). Some of these prophetic references refer to a political leader while others describe the end-time alliance headed by this final human world leader. Many Christians expect this “beast” alliance/leader to arise within Europe due to it being the region where the old Roman Empire was located.
Many also see in the book of Revelation’s prophecies a prediction that the Roman Empire would have a series of “revivals” via the Holy Roman Empire’s incarnations and some see Hitler’s brief “third reich” as one such revival of the old Roman Empire. There is no question that Hitler’s ally, Mussolini, saw his Fascist alliance with Hitler as an effort to revive the old Roman Empire’s glory days. Such an interpretation is consistent with the prophecy about a series of world empires in Daniel 2 in which the Roman Empire, pictured as the legs of iron which form the longest stretch of the great image’s body, lasted the longest on the world stage. Since the final world kingdom, the feet and toes of the image (Daniel 2:41-44), include the “iron” of the Roman Empire, it is logical that the final kingdom of our age pictured in this prophetic image must include the region of the old Roman Empire. Since the Roman Empire was in Europe, many draw the conclusion that the final world empire must be located in Europe, hence the concerns among many Christians that a United Europe (EU) is a direct precursor to the final “revival” of the Roman Empire. Let’s examine this possibility and the belief that the “beast” leader will have to be a European.
Let’s look at this possibility within the context of related prophecies about the ten tribes of Israel in the latter days. As readers of my books and blogs know, there is a massive body of evidence that the so-called ‘lost” ten tribes of Israel are not lost at all, but are located today in European nations and nations populated by those European nations. The ten tribes of Israel never returned to the ancient Holy Land as the Jews of the tribe of Judah did. Indeed, the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel mostly stayed in Asia, forming new empires called Scythia and Parthia, whose constituent tribes included such groups as the Saca (or Saka), Jats, Kermans/ Germanii and Gauthei. When Scythia and Parthia fell, these same tribes migrated en masse into Europe via the Caucasus Mountains, and this resulted in them being called “Caucasians.” Their Scythian/Parthian names persisted as these tribes migrated into Europe with names such as the Saxons, Jutes, Germans and Goths. Many other nations and tribes accompanied them in this mass migration out of Asia into Europe. The British, Scandinavian, German, French, Irish and other nations in Northern and Western Europe are also Israelite in origin. This means that nations settled by these Israelite European nations (such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) are also Israelite, even though they are not located in Europe.
Why is this important? Because of the prophecy in Daniel 2:41-44 that there will be a final world alliance of nations composed of both “iron” and “clay” which will form just prior to the time of Divine intervention in earth’s geopolitics. The “iron” represents the nations and peoples of the old Roman Empire, but the “clay” represents the modern descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6 specifically identifies the symbol of “potter’s clay” as representing the “house of Israel.” This is a term for all of the ten tribes of Israel (after the ancient kingdom of David and Solomon was divided into a northern and a southern kingdom, the northern kingdom was called “the house of Israel” which had ten tribes and the “house of Judah” which had two tribes plus the priestly tribe of Levi). Daniel 2:41 specifically mentions the term “potter’s clay” as forming part of the feet and final ten toes of the world kingdom prophesied for the latter days. Applying the Bible’s own symbolism consistently, it clearly shows that the final world kingdom being discussed in Daniel 2:41-44 is an alliance of the “iron” and the “clay” nations: the modern nations and peoples of the Roman Empire with the modern nations and peoples of the Israelite nations. This has been exactly fulfilled in NATO, an alliance of these very prophesied nations and peoples. Daniel 2:43 prophesies that these nations “will not cleave” together, so we should not expect a Hitlerian autocracy, but rather an alliance of squabbling nations with different national interests. This exactly describes the reality of the NATO (and the western) alliance.
However, once we realize that North America was colonized by people from Europe, it means that North America is included in this final “iron and clay” alliance. Indeed, the USA has been the dominant leader of this North-American-European alliance since World War II, so the USA is currently the leading nation of the final alliance prophesied in Daniel 2:41-44. However, the USA’s economic, political and military power has waned since the end of the Cold War, so its position as the leader of this alliance is not guaranteed. What we can deduce from biblical prophecy is that the “beast” leader will emerge from the NATO nations as the “iron and clay” alliance of Daniel 2:41-44 is the final world empire prophesied in Daniel 2 for the end of our age, just as the “beast” alliance is also described as a final world power at the end of our age (Revelation 13:1-7) with a global world economic system binding on all nations (Revelation 13:16-18). They have to be the same entity. Revelation 18 calls the “beast’s global economic system “Babylon the Great” so it has to include the economic system of ancient Babylon (which invented the banking system which now is the beating heart of western, global capitalism). Also, Daniel 2’s succession of prophesied global powers identifies the very first power as Babylon (Daniel 2:32 and 38 identify the head of the great image as the Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar). The “iron and clay” empire of the feet and toes of this image in Daniel 2 will perpetuate the economic system of Babylon, as does the final economic system of the Beast’s “Babylon the Great” economic system.
The result of this analysis is that while the “beast” leader may be a European, he is just as likely to be an American political leader. We do not know yet which will be the case, and we will have to wait and see who ultimately fulfills this prophecy. There will also be a religious leader who forms a team with the Beast’s political leader. This religious leader is called “the false prophet” in Revelation 16:13, 19:20 and 20:10, and this religious leader will be able to do miracles (Rev. 19:20). This phony religious leader will deceive the masses with miracles and the beast’s political leader will head the political/economic aspect of this final global alliance. It is possible that the political leader will emerge from the USA and the religious leader from Europe or vice versa. Both leaders could emerge from either Europe or North America, but it is more likely that one will be a European and the other will be from North America in order to make the leadership of this global entity more acceptable on both sides of the Atlantic. I urge Christians to remain flexible in watching how prophecies about the beast power are fulfilled in the future rather than have pre-conceived dogmas which may prove to be erroneous.
Current world events have the European nations already under the aegis of the European Union (EU). There is growing evidence that the global political/economic elites wish to unite Canada, Mexico and the USA in a new North American Union (the NAU). Just as the EU has a currency called the Euro, the NAU would have a new currency called the “Amero.” Readers may do a websearch for the terms “North American Union” or “Amero” and come up with numerous stories about both these subjects. CNN’s Lou Dobbs program follows this developing story and I’ve also seen it discussed on the Glenn Beck program on CNN Headline News. Remember that the “legs” of the great image of Daniel 2 were divided into two branches coming off the torso of the image. This was fulfilled by the formation of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, which were two separate geographic entities. Now remember that the feet and ten toes are also depicted as being separate entities in the final world kingdom. This could be fulfilled by two separate, but allied entities under the same global leadership: the EU and the NAU. A global financial crisis could easily be engineered and timed to create an NAU in the future at a time chosen by the global elites.
Fasten your seatbelts! Biblical prophecies are being fulfilled right before our eyes, further confirming the Divine authorship of the Bible. Those who wish more information about the Babylonian origins of the modern economic system called global capitalism are urged to read my article entitled “What Kind of Captivity?” available for free at the Articles link of this website.
