Herman Van Rompuy May Fulfill Daniel 11:20, But Did PCG’s Gerald Flurry Predict It?

Herman Van Rompuy

Herman Van Rompuy has pledged to raise taxes. And since he is not the final King of the North, if Daniel 11:20 has a final fulfillment and he dies early, the following may apply to him:

There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle (Daniel 11:20).

Now yesterday, I received the following email:

Could you comment on the article written by Ron Fraser in the latest Trumpet Weekly concerning the EU President, where he quotes Gerald Flurry, who states that the newly elected President is mentioned in Daniel 11:20-21 as a “ raiser of taxes”, but will only be in office a short while and be superseded by a “vile person”?

My response was:

I have not seen the article you mentioned, but it is likely that Herman Van Rompuy will raise taxes as he has already indicated that he would. And as he is not the final Antichrist, he will be in office a short period of time. And while I often disagree with PCG’s interpretations, this certainly is a possible understanding. While I knew that Herman Van Rompuy planned on raising taxes in the EU (and that he could not be in office for too many years as we are getting near the end of the 6,000 years of human rule), I had not seen PCG’s article about this.

So because of the email, I did look at PCG’s Trumpet Weekly. And here is some of what it the article by PCG’s Ron Fraser states:

How Long Will the New EU President Last?

Consistent with the way of the Franco-German agenda for the European Union, Germany and its lackey, France, got their leader of choice appointed to the new position of EU president.As has been the case with this most undemocratic of institutions from its inception, the whole process leading to the appointment of the Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy to be the first permanent European Council president lacked transparency. It was anything but openly democratic. Negotiations were conducted in secret. The outcome was always going to be a Franco-German fait accompli…

Enter Herman Van Rompuy, raiser of taxes and ultimate EU fall guy. The Times reports (November 17, emphasis mine throughout): “The man tipped to be Europe’s firstpresident is already considering new EU taxes to fund the rising cost of Brussels and the welfare state…

Yet, Mr. Van Rompuy may be in for a short term in office. To those who understand end-time prophecy, there’s an intriguing verse in the book of Daniel. Our editor in chief has commented on this verse (June 2000): “Let’s turn to the Bible to see where all this is leading. Antiochus Epiphanes came to the Jerusalem temple in 167 b.c. From the spring of 167 b.c. to the autumn of 164 b.c. it was a terror-filled time for Palestine—3½ years of tribulation. “It was only a type, however, of the end-time Great Tribulation, also to last 3½ years, to be inflicted on America,Britain and Palestine. “‘Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries’ (Daniel 11:20-21).

The Companion Bible states that the historical portion ends with verse 20. Verse 21 ‘passes on to the time which is still (1912) future to us.’ And it is still future as we write in 2000.”

That was written over nine years ago. On Thursday evening, Nov. 19, 2009, a man was appointed to the chief presidential post in the European Union whose first promise, even prior to gaining that office, is to be a “raiser of taxes”!

Join the dots!

(Fraser R. How Long Will the New EU President Last? The Trumpet Weekly, November 21, 2009, pp. 1,10)

Now the article gives the impression that PCG’s Gerald Flurry predicted that a European leader would fulfill Daniel 11:20. But did he really?

While Herman Van Rompuy may fulfill Daniel 11:20 (and if there is to be a future fulfillment of Daniel 11:20, then he may be the one that does that), that is not quite what Gerald Flurry actually wrote in the above.

I tried to “Join the dots” as Ron Fraser advised and came to a different conclusion.

Gerald Flurry specifically wrote in June 2000 that Daniel 11:21 (the next verse) would be fulfilled in the future–he was not clear that he taught that Daniel 11:20 would be fulfilled in the future. If so, he would not have needed to put the comment from the Companion Bible about “the historical portion ends with verse 20”. Also, I went and read the original June 2000 article from Gerald Flurry (titled The European Union’s Fatal Flaw) and noticed that the section he was writing about was titled “A Vile Person”. Hence it was a coming leader to fulfill verse 21 and NOT verse 20 that Gerald Flurry was writing about.

Other than including a quote of Daniel 11:20-21, Gerald Flurry wrote nothing in the June 2000 article about one who would come and raise taxes–only that the vile person of Daniel 11:21 would rise up.

Furthermore, if we want to look at where the idea of a future fulfillment of Daniel 11:21 and the “vile person” comes from within the COGs, it was not from Gerald Flurry, it was from Herbert W. Armstrong!

On May 1, 1967 (thirty-three years before Gerald Flurry’s article), Herbert W. Armstrong stated (and the next month he printed it):

In Daniel 11::21, referring in original, typical fulfillment to Antiochus Epiphanes, there shall stand up a vile person…So once again before the second coming of Christ, a vile leader will stop the daily sacrifices being offered…This same prophecy spoken by Jesus is also reported by Luke…21:20-24 (Armstrong HW. Personal, Plain Truth magazine, June 1967).

Thus this idea of Daniel 11:21 is not a new (June 2000) idea. Now it certainly may be that Herman Van Rompuy is the final fulfillment of Daniel 11:20. But to credit this as a nine-year old prophecy from PCG’s self-appointed “prophet” Gerald Flurry does not seem to square with what Ronald Fraser wrote (perhaps Gerald Flurry wrote something elsewhere more specific, but it was not in the article by Ron Fraser).

However, it is true that Herman Van Rompuy is expected to raise taxes. I even told my family that a couple of days ago. Here is a news item yesterday that basically confirms it:

Within days of taking office in January, the former Belgian prime minister will put his weight behind controversial proposals already floated by the commission’s head, José Manuel Barroso, for a new “Euro tax”…

Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week’s special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech at a recent meeting of the Bilderberg group of top politicians, bankers and businessmen. (Herman Van Rompuy: Europe’s first president to push for ‘Euro tax’, November 22, 2009 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6622886/Herman-Van-Rompuy-Europes-first-president-to-push-for-Euro-tax.html

As I wrote within a few minutes of his appointment, I believe that while Herman Van Rompuy is not likely to be the one that is the final King of the North, he may help set the stage for that leader to rise up. And if he fulfills his comments about raising taxes, he certainly could be considered as a person who fulfills Daniel 11:20.

But I do not accept that Gerald Flurry predicted this in 2000 based upon the quote in the November 21, 2009 edition of The Trumpet Weekly. And the fact that anyone considers that portions of Daniel 11 may have dual fulfillment is also not necessarily proof of any specific prophetic gift.

However, prophetically important events are occurring and as I wrote before, I do believe that Herman Van Rompuy’s selection was an important prophetic development (see my eXaminer article EU President Herman Van Rompuy vs. Oprah Winfrey).

All need to watch world events as Jesus foretold (Luke 21:34-36), but all should be cautious about PCG’s claims.

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Some articles of possible interest may include:

Teachings Unique to the Philadelphia Church of God Simply calling oneself ‘Philadelphia’ does not make one so (see Revelation 3:7-9), nor does Gerald Flurry calling himself “that prophet” make it so. This article provides many quotes from this group which tries to look faithful.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?