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The BBC posted the following:

Could the European Union fall apart?

6 December 2016

It has been a dreadful year for the European Union. It has just got a lot worse. Next year could transform a looming existential threat into a terminal reality. …

The Italian vote means, as here, a populist, anti-establishment surge has defenestrated a prime minister. …

Italy was the birthplace of the union, where the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957.

The UK leaving the orbit of the European Union is one thing. There’s no denying Brexit was a serious smack in the face for the EU. But however unexpected, in a sense the other members were long-braced for such a blow. …

By contrast, Italy is one of the inner planets.

So is the Netherlands. There, Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom is predicted to do well in the elections next year, perhaps with him becoming prime minister. He wants to take the Netherlands, another founder member, out of the European Union.

But France is the big one. Most expect the French presidential election to be a play-off between the National Front’s Marine Le Pen and Francois Fillon from the centre right. She has promised the French a referendum on the membership of the European Union. He wants an end to dreams of a federal Europe. …

If one or more of these elections does deliver a hammer blow, the fracture will spread slowly, incomplete yet utterly chaotic.

We’d have to take seriously the return of a Europe of disconnected nation states, without a single market, with borders, and ask what vestiges of cooperation and common policy would remain. …

The EU was constructed to contain German might, and Germany is now hard-wired to see its destiny as European and multi-national, with a heavy responsibility to find consensus. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38212049

While eventually there was the Treaty of Rome, and many see the EU as a way to contain Germany or for Germany to control Europe, that is not quite how the path towards a united Europe developed.

Although various ones believe that the idea of European unity is dying, it is not dead–even if somehow the entity called the “European Union” does not exist or is not called that.

Consider some history that led to the European Union.  It, in a real sense, started with Benelux. Here is a little history of Benelux:

A Benelux Parliament (originally referred to as an “Interparliamentary Consultative Council”) was created in 1955. This parliamentary assembly is composed of 21 members of the Dutch parliament, 21 members of the Belgian national and regional parliaments, and 7 members of the Luxembourg parliament.

In 1944, exiled representatives of the three countries signed the London Customs Convention, the treaty that established the Benelux Customs Union. Ratified in 1947, the treaty was in force from 1948 until it was superseded by the Benelux Economic Union. The treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union (Benelux Economische Unie/Union Économique Benelux) was signed on 3 February 1958 in The Hague and came into force on 1 November 1960 to promote the free movement of workers, capital, services, and goods in the region. Under the Treaty the Union implies the co-operation of economic, financial and social policies. (Benelux, Wikipedia, accessed 07/05/16)

Benelux then essentially morphed into the European Economic Community:

The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation which aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states. It was created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957. Upon the formation of the European Union (EU) in 1993, the EEC was incorporated and renamed as the European Community (EC). In 2009 the EC’s institutions were absorbed into the EU’s wider framework and the community ceased to exist.

The Community’s initial aim was to bring about economic integration, including a common market and customs union, among its six founding members: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. (European Economic Community, Wiipedia, accessed 07/05/16)

The European Economic Community ended up being the European Union.

The European Union is concerned about its security and economy. Since the election of Donald Trump it has agreed to move to support military expansion (see Europe moving towards its own army ‘Europe may soon produce its own Trumps’ and European Commission unveils some of its military plans).

But what about the idea of European geographic expansion?

Well, there is a scripture about that that I and others have sometimes pointed to.  Notice something from a book I wrote in 2009 titled 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect:

Millennia ago, Daniel wrote a prophecy that discussed a little horn that would mainly expand to the south and east:

8 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered (Daniel 8:9-12).

And while the above has had a past fulfillment, this prophecy seems to be dual (compare with Daniel 11:27-–39)—and seems to be for our time.

What is now the EU began as a small organization involving three small countries located in the northern and western regions of Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, called the Benelux nations)—they then helped form the European Economic Community. This European Economic Community expanded mainly south and east of the Benelux nations, into what had become the expanded European Union. Now, about 500 million people are under a new (though not completely united) government headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. (Thiel B. 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect. Nazarene Books, 2009)

In the old Radio Church of God, the late Dr. Hoeh taught that this little horn of Daniel 8 was the power that would become the final King of the North:

Turn in your Bible to verse 9: “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” …

The King of the North

The little horn in Daniel 8 is none other than the LAST KING of one of the four divisions of Alexander’s Empire. He is, in fact, the final “King of the North” described in Daniel 11. (Hoeh H. The 2300 Days. Plain Truth, August 1965)

Europe has mainly grown south and east since the formation of Benelux.

That does not mean that it will not have problems. The Bible tells of problems (Daniel 2:40-43).

A little while back, we put together a video titled: Chaotic ‘State of the European Union.’

The Bible is also clear that one day Europe will reorganize and arise and surprise people (Revelation 17:11-13; Revelation 13:1-8). Its coming leader (called ‘he’ below and the King of the North elsewhere in that chapter) will also one day destroy the USA and divide its lands for gain:

39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain. (Daniel 11:39)

For more about why that is referring to the USA, check out the article USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses. Despite real and potential problems, the final European King of the North Beast power will arise.

It is likely that turmoil in Europe will precisely be the reason that many will turn to a ‘strongman’–the Beast of Revelation.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016 at 8:00 am and is filed under Prophecy.

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