The Europe of the Bible Takes Shape
More than 70 years ago, Herbert W. Armstrong began giving a series of clear and dramatic forecasts of where world events would lead. Since Mr. Armstrong’s death, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has continued issuing those same warnings. Increasingly, those warnings are becoming reality. Germany dominates Europe, and the Continent is on its way to becoming a superpower, just as Mr. Armstrong said it would.
Other forecasts he made are also being fulfilled. The growing Russian-Chinese friendship fills the news. America’s decline is clearly visible. But Mr. Armstrong’s central warning was always Europe.
In July, the European Council of Foreign Relations (ecfr) published a paper titled “The Road Back to European Power.” In it, this unofficial but influential think tank aimed to “help kick-start the strategic phase of this discussion” of the “comprehensive stocktaking of Europe’s external relations.”
In just about every area of world affairs, the ecfr’s analysis resembles the European forecast by Mr. Armstrong—strikingly so.
America Divorced From Reality
Perhaps the most notable part of the document is what it says about the United States. “[T]he current picture is one of continental drift, as Americans and Europeans become decreasingly capable of or interested in working together effectively in an ever more contested world. … Congress [is] so tethered to a small clique of donors that it has become more divorced than ever from global realities.”
The think tank explains that Europe “depends” on America more than any other country for “hard security.” The history of the transatlantic partnership, it says, has led Europeans to believe in a security bargain where “the U.S. retains ultimate responsibility for peace and security in Europe, while Europeans contribute what they can and generally support the U.S. politically on major international security issues.” But according to the report, “The old bargain is quite simply no longer on offer.”
In a world that it can no longer dominate, America, as these analysts discuss, is an unreliable ally on which Europe cannot depend for security in the same way. At the same time, America is actively and deliberately encouraging Europe to develop a strong military independent of the U.S. armed forces.
The paper asserts that “too often in recent decades, Europeans have been content to tag along behind the U.S. in international affairs. A new, more realistic, transatlantic bargain will require a stronger European sense of Europe’s own interests and identity.”
This new bargain, the paper says, will need “a new division of labor whereby the EU plays as central a role in transatlantic security relations as nato, and in which Europe’s larger states—notably Germany—can leverage their geo-economic power to take on greater responsibility within the alliance.”
This recognition of America’s weakness and of the need for a stronger Europe recalls forecasts Herbert W. Armstrong made for years.
America has a “chronic weakness,” he wrote in the Plain Truth (May 1971). He said American leaders failed “to recognize who are our real friends, and who are our enemies,” and relied too heavily on its allies as “lovers.” Biblical prophecies show that this perverse “lover” relationship is going to end in bitter betrayal—Europe will turn completely against the U.S.
Anti-American outrage erupted within the European populace last year in the wake of the National Security Agency spying scandal. Mr. Flurry wrote this at the time: “Germany was prophesied to break away from America, and it is happening before our eyes,” he wrote. “But the animosity we see today is only the smallest beginning!” (October 2014). Studying the calculated reasoning of this think tank shows that the makings of a future transatlantic split go far beyond merely the emotion on Europe’s streets.
As America is delegating more power and responsibility to Europe, Europeans are making a radical departure from their American-reliant past. Soon, in fulfillment of biblical prophecy, that trend will be complete.
Europe and Russia: It’s Complicated
“Europe’s first priority must be to limit the damage caused by the crises on its eastern and southern borders,” the ecfr stated, calling for a policy of “tough love” toward Russia—a “dual strategy of sanctions and outreach.”
“[W]e should articulate that at the end of the day we want to have a functioning relationship with Russia—if not based on shared values then at least organized in ways that allow Europe not to undermine its own values” (ibid).
The approach the ecfr encourages is similar to the one Germany is already taking—“cooperative confrontation.” (You can read about this in our article “Germany and Russia Back to Business as Usual.”)
This approach aligns with two trends the Trumpet is watching for in European-Russian relations. On the one hand, fear of Russia is pushing nations like Poland and others in Central and Eastern Europe closer to Germany. Drawing too close to Russia would jeopardize Germany’s relations with these countries. But on the other hand, Germany and Russia have a lot of shared interests, which is why we have warned our readers to watch out for another Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
“Look at history,” Mr. Flurry wrote in October 2008. “Every time competition between Russia and Germany heats up, they form a deal with one another—just before going to war! …
“The relationship between Russia and Germany is very tense right now. Germany ignored Russia over Kosovo—but Russia will not be ignored anymore. The presence of a deal between these two nations is not a sign of peace. Like the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and so many others before it, it is a sign of exactly the opposite. Both of these nations are looking to secure their shared border—so they can pursue their imperialistic aims elsewhere! It is a precursor to war! That is the way they operate! And the U.S. has no clue.”
Dealing With the Middle East
Europe’s migrant crisis is getting worse by the week. Local authorities in Italy and Greece are overwhelmed by refugees fleeing the Middle East and North Africa. But this is only the most visible of a series of threats these regions pose for Europe. The Continent relies heavily on these areas for many of its resources. The Mediterranean and Red Sea are crucial for European trade. There is also the ever present danger of terrorism.
“Europeans will have to fortify their own national resilience against the likelihood of further extremism-motivated atrocities in European cities and against EU citizens in the region,” the ecfr writes. Europe’s “ill-conceived responses to past provocations have advanced the extremists’ agenda through European overreaction and Islamophobic policies at home ….” Millions of Europeans would agree that more attacks are coming—and would sharply disagree that Europe’s response so far has been an overreaction.
Though they do not speak of it specifically as a means of countering these threats, the report’s authors definitely advocate more-robust engagement in the Middle East. They suggest that Europe should increase its direct activity and its work with nations in the region. “We will deal with Cairo, Riyadh and Tehran, even if they do not share our values, and with Tel Aviv despite its violations of international norms, because it is in our interest to do so,” they write.
The authors recommend not taking a side in the growing Iranian-Saudi divide. However, they note that the Saudi-aligned Gulf Cooperation Council “direct and funded arms purchases from France, for instance, add up to around €14 billion (us$15.5 billion) so far in 2015, as the Gulf has become one of the world’s largest buyer of arms.”
The ecfr prefers a different direction. But this current reality provides a glimpse into Europe’s future. Biblical prophecy shows that the Iranian-Saudi split will define the region—and that Germany will align with the Arab states. (You can read more about this prophecy in the article on page 20 in this issue.)
Back in 1996, Mr. Flurry listed nations that he said would eventually ally with Europe: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Many of these nations today are in a Saudi-led Sunni alliance, and that alliance is steadily drawing closer to Europe. Mr. Flurry also wrote about a separate alliance that would include Iran, Iraq and Egypt. Today we see Iran and Iraq solidly opposed to the Saudi alliance. These alliances are not yet fully formed, but their outlines are more than visible—they are dominating Middle East headlines.
Invading Africa
“How can the EU do more to tackle conflict, instability, the rise of terrorist networks, and the effects of climate change, and create better economic prospects in the broader southern Mediterranean, Sahel and sub-Saharan African regions?” the ecfr asks. A major part of its answer? Greater and better coordinated military power.
The ecfr finds that leveraging aid “is a declining source of influence.” Meanwhile, “[t]he migrant crisis and instability in Mali and the Sahel also point to the limits of European powers’ efforts to build security in Africa by funding UN and African-led peacekeeping operations.”
It points to the direction Europe is going: “While many European governments are instinctively wary of sending their own troops to Africa, the convergence of humanitarian crises and terrorist threats on the continent is changing their calculations. After France led the way in intervening in Mali and the Sahel, the Netherlands, Estonia, Scandinavian countries, and even Germany have sent smaller numbers of troops to Africa in the last two years.”
The ecfr notes that Nigeria, Senegal and other nations want greater EU military cooperation, and that “Europeans still have greater security assets in Africa than China.”
This use of military force in the wider North African region to combat Islamic terrorism is something Mr. Flurry drew attention to back in 2013. Iran has “designs on being the strongest power throughout the region, and is extending its reach throughout North Africa,” he wrote. “But Iran isn’t the only one interested in Africa. Germany is making strong inroads as well. Both of these powers are racing to get as much control of North Africa as they can. They will inevitably clash with each other. …
“Right now, European leaders see the king of the south trying to dominate the fuel in the Middle East and Africa, and you can be sure they are going to react. That fuel is critical to those nations, so they will turn to that strongman for leadership …. Europe will once again choose the path of war in order to secure its resources” (April 2013).
Mr. Flurry wrote this before France sent 5,000 soldiers and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to fight radical Islam in Mali. Before the EU launched a military mission there, including the first-ever deployment of European Union military forces in the form of the Franco-German Brigade. And before France sent over a thousand soldiers to fight Islamists in the Central African Republic.
The Rise of China
The ecfr notes the dramatic rise of China in recent years, though it doesn’t say much about what Europe should do about it. The main recommendation is for Europe to “set a shorter list of priorities” when it comes to international laws and human rights. In doing so, it would be in a better position to compete with China, which takes little notice of human rights in its domestic policy and in international relations.
The ecfr authors noted how many European countries have gone out of their way to forge good relationships with China, writing, “Nothing symbolized the shift in international order better than China’s successful Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank proposal, which won the support of 56 nations—among them 14 European member states.”
The Trumpet has forecasted that the ties between Europe and China would strengthen. Mr. Flurry wrote in Isaiah’s End-Time Vision, “The trend of collusion between these two great economic blocs is worth watching. … With a German-led Europe (the king of the north) possessing great maritime power, North America will be surrounded on the east by Europe and the south by Latin America. The Bible contains many prophecies of that European power attacking America—and many other prophecies of America being besieged.
“That is where China and the giants of Asia enter the picture. When the Holy Roman Empire attacks North America, there will be no help or sympathy from Asia. In fact, considering that China has come to possess most of the world’s strategic sea gates (which, ironically, at one time were held by Britain and America), we believe there may be a brief alliance between the German-led Holy Roman Empire and certain Asian powers (Russia, China, Japan—the kings of the east). Should Europe, the resurrected Holy Roman Empire, find a way to take advantage—even for a moment—of key resources and strategic holdings of China, Russia and Japan, it would have more than enough power to besiege the Anglo-Saxon nations and enslave them.”
Now the trade between Europe and China is becoming more obvious and more voluminous. This trend also has the effect of cutting the United States out of the benefits.
An Accurate Forecasting Tool
A majority of people dismiss biblical prophecy as having any relevance to events in our modern world. Among those who do have a degree of respect for prophecy, their understanding is limited to a general sense that its descriptions of end-time events are taking place today.
The reality, though, is that the Bible’s prophecies are extraordinarily specific—not just about societal trends and conditions, but also about geopolitical events, interactions among nations, power shifts, the rise and fall of global empires.
More and more current events, and particularly events unfolding within Europe, are aligning exactly what the Trumpet and Plain Truth have been saying, what Herbert Armstrong and Gerald Flurry have been teaching from the Bible, for decades. That is only possible because of the forecasting tool that underpins our analysis: Bible prophecy. Though it is a source many are reluctant to accept, it is increasingly proving its accuracy as time goes on.
Learn what the Bible forecasts, and see for yourself whether it matches the current situation in Europe—in detail.
