Political Earthquake Shakes Germany
It’s been a huge week in German politics.
On February 5, Germany was hit by a political earthquake. A far-right party—the Alternative für Deutschland—played a role in electing a leader in the German state of Thuringia. Working with the far right has been a taboo in Germany since World War ii. On February 5, the taboo was broken.
There was swift backlash. The leader elected in Thuringia quit after a day in the job. Then on Monday, the earthquake claimed its biggest victim.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already announced she will not stand in another election—meaning she’ll be out of her job by the end of next year. On Monday, her chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, quit.
Germans are deeply worried about their future right now.
“Democracies don’t die overnight,” warned Spiegel Online. “They don’t flourish one day and then get uprooted by a coup d’etat the next. They decay gradually, until the ground is fertile for an authoritarian seizure of power.”
The media can clearly see Germany’s democracy is in decay. Spiegel Online warned that “what happened in Thuringia must be seen as a warning shot, a harbinger.”
There are other things for Germans to worry about, however. The migrant crisis has created tensions that still haven’t be resolved—and could break out with each new crisis in the Middle East. Germany’s manufacturing sector is suffering its largest decline in orders in a decade. Many fear the economy could easily tilt into recession. All of Europe has not yet solved the problems exposed by the 2008 financial crisis.
With this unprecedented political crisis, and all these potential dangers, where can Germans look for leadership? Currently, the country is being run by two lame-duck leaders. Under the current schedule, Germany’s main governing party won’t sort out its leadership problems until the summer, and Germans aren’t particularly enthusiastic about any of the candidates. The nation’s main left-wing party doesn’t have a leader—it has two: a man and a woman, neither of whom are particularly prominent.
I don’t think there’s any time in recent history where Germans have been more worried about their political situation. And at the same time, I can’t think of any time in recent German history where there has been a bigger leadership vacuum.
Anyone familiar with the Trumpet’s message will recognize the situation we’re in right now. One of the biggest predictions we’ve made—based on Bible prophecy—is the rise of a German strongman.
The Bible forecasts this strongman. And it has a lot of specifics about how he will come to power.
Daniel 11:21 tells us to watch for the arrival of “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.” You can study this word “flatteries” and see that it means he’ll come in in an unorthodox way.
With Germans desperate for a strong leader, and none on the horizon, circumstances are almost perfect for someone to come into power in an unorthodox way.
This strongman could come to power very fast, and he will change your world. You need to understand what the Bible says about him.
In our January Trumpet issue, we published an article titled “Is KT zu Guttenberg About to Come to Power?” This cover article, by editor in chief Gerald Flurry, will help you understand what is going on in Germany, why it is so significant, and where all these parallels with the 1930s are leading. It will show you what the Bible says will happen in Germany, and who we think will get the job.