The continuing downward spiral of the European Economies has dominated the headlines over the past few weeks. All eyes are on Germany as the nation states of Europe are looking to the economic giant to shore up the economies of Europe.

As an example of the economic power of Germany, Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported on November 19^th, 2011,

“Germany’s trade surplus stands at €15.3 billion (the UK’s trade deficit is £3.9 billion); its government is about to introduce tax cuts worth €6 billion, and recently discovered – seemingly by accident – that this year’s tax intake would be €16.2 billion more than previously thought.”

The Noose Around Europe’s Neck

With such a strong economic standing, it is natural for the nations of Europe to look to Germany for assistance… but assistance comes with “strings attached.” People are beginning to realize the German strings tied to economic assistance, are being braided together to form a noose around the neck of Europe nations. Alarm bells are being sounded by politicians like Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party. Listen to a part of his speech in the EU Parliament from November 16, 2011.

Well here we are on the brink of financial and social disaster, and in the room today we have the four men that were supposed to be responsible. And yet we’ve listened to the dullest and most technocratic speeches I’ve ever heard. You are all in denial.  By any objective measure the Euro is a failure. Who is actually responsible, who is in charge out of you lot? Well of course the answer is none of you, because none of you have been elected, none of you actually have any democratic legitimacy for the roles you currently hold within this crisis. Into this vacuum, albeit reluctantly, has stepped Angela Merkel, and we are now living in a German dominated Europe, something the European project was actually supposed to stop, something that those who went before us actually paid a heavy price in blood to prevent. I don’t want to live in a German dominated Europe, nor do the citizens of Europe. But you guys have paid a role, because when Mr. Papandreou got up and used the word referendum, well Mr. Wren, you described it as a breach of confidence, and your friends here got together like a pack of hyenas, rounded on Papandreou, had him removed and replaced by a puppet government. What an absolutely disgusting spectacle that was. Not satisfied with that, you decided that Berlusconi  had to go. So he was removed and replaced by Mr. Monte, a former European Commissioner, a fellow architect of this Euro disaster, and a man who wasn’t even a member of the parliament. It is getting like an Agatha Christie novel, where we are trying to work out who is the next person who is going to be bumped off. The difference is we know who the villains are. You should all be held accountable for what you have done! You should all be fired!

Unfortunately, Farage is ridiculed much like Churchill was as he gave his warnings before the outbreak of the Second World War. As Farage has pointed out, the power of Germany is growing, and the democratic representation of nations in Europe is rapidly decreasing.  This power of Germany is really the key issue. Listen to Nigel Farage’s interview with Fox News on November 21, 2011:

“What is really scary, and what has happened since I was last on fox three weeks ago, warning about all of this, is we saw in Greece, the Prime Minister Papandreou, dared to use the word referendum, he said I’m going to put this package to the Greek people to see if they want to stay part of the Euro or not.  With that the bosses in Brussels rounded on him, had him removed, and replaced by somebody who would not be elected as prime minister, and was a puppet. Then it got even worse in Italy, they were unhappy with Mr. Berlusconi, they demanded that he went, and he went. What we now have in Italy, the entire cabinet, the people running that country, not one of them is an elected politician...

“… What has happened through the middle of all of this is Chancellor Merkel has now become the dominant figure. She is in a very difficult situation because the Germans are very unhappy signing a blank open check to Greece in perpetuity. She has now really rather taken charge of the whole of the European situation. So we now have a German dominated Europe, the very thing that we were told the European project would stop. The very thing that twice in the 20^th Century we fought and made huge sacrifices to stop, we now have a Germany dominated Europe. I don’t think that is a good thing for Europe

Taking Orders from Berlin… Again

These are not the hysterical ramblings of a Euroskeptic Politian.  These warnings are being splashed across headlines throughout the media. Canada’s National Post carried the astounding headline “Germany on brink of European dominance, again.” The article stated:

Having failed to contain the economic damage despite months of emergency meetings, crisis talks, rescue packages and ousted governments, EU “leaders” (so-called) are edging nervously towards the solution some have been saying was inevitable all along: economic integration that goes far beyond the flaccid arrangements adopted when 17 countries agreed to share the euro as a common currency.

Or, to put it another way: Europe’s weaker economies (which is all of them) can start taking orders from Berlin.

German officials want to impose a system of economic surveillance on members of the currency bloc, who would be forced to surrender autonomous control of their domestic budgets to a regional authority.

Berlin aims to outline proposals for fiscal integration before a European Union summit on Dec. 9, increasingly seen by investors as the last chance to avert a collapse of the currency.

Once an unthinkable encroachment on sovereignty, the plan for a more centralized fiscal regime has now won the begrudging support of France, a country with a nationalist bent generally hostile to such an intrusion.

Germany becomes the default banker because it’s the one with the biggest and most powerful economy.

The Borrower is Servant to the Lender

What Hitler’s Germany failed to do militarily, modern Germany has managed to do economically.  As has been discussed in several recent Bible in the News programs, the picture painted by the book of Revelation is being played out in front of our eyes. The finger of God has indicated a course to be pursued by the nations of Europe, and they are being compelled by events currently happening, to do what only a few years ago would have been thought impossible. We read in Revelation 17:12-13:

“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”

The “power and strength” when analyzed in a concordance refer to military power, power of government, and power of wealth. These will be ceded to the “beast system” to ensure the collective prosperity and power. This is exactly what the nations are doing today. The only way out of the crisis, according to Germany, is to surrender power over budgets and finances. They are not willing to financially support irresponsible nations. Therefore the support comes at a cost of responsibility for finances being shifted to Germany. The Proverbs 22:7 clearly states:

The rich ruleth over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.

While protests erupt all over the world against the financial institutions, the “ten horns” or “kings” are willing to give up their power and strength to Germany in order to remain part of the beast system, and to “receive power with the beast” even if it is only for a symbolic “hour”. 

Ironically, many western nations have a day of remembrance, called Memorial Day or Remembrance Day where they reflect on the sacrifice made by veterans to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today. Sixty years ago men and women were willing to give their lives to prevent being brought under Germany’s hegemony, or imperial dominance. Today, for the sake of saving financial face the sacrifice of the previous generation is being tossed aside because nations are succumbing to national greed.

What is different from the 1930’s is that Germany’s economy was in a state of collapse. She tried to overtake Europe at a time of her desperation, the collapse of her currency and the Weimar republic. She was under the constraints of France and Britain, and making reparations for her crimes during the First World War. Today, she is the strongest economy in Europe, and she is imposing the constraints on the rest of the European Union.

The True Puppet Master

Biblically speaking, we expect German dominance as the “beast that was, and is not” described in Revelation 17:8 rises again from the abyss to eventually go into perdition or destruction. This beast was dominated by Germany when it existed in the form of the Holy Roman Empire, it will be dominated once gain by Germany… However, behind the scenes currently, the true rider of this beast is the Vatican.  She is the woman of Revelation 17:3-5:

I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Nebuchadnezzar’s image of Daniel chapter 2 had a Babylonian “head of Gold” – and the final form which the Kingdom of Men appears under, before it is crushed by the little stone, is ridden by a woman with “Babylon the Great” written on her forehead.

Out of this crisis we can expect to see the Vatican moving to a more prominent role where she is in control of the beast. As the rider of the beast she is in control. She is described in verse 18 as:

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

This is evidenced by the behavior of the kings of the earth who seek relationships with her in Revelation 18:3:

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

How long Britain can stomach the growing dominance of Germany remains to be seen. Having fought two world wars she will only be able to go along with the European Confederation for so long, and then she will have to answer the Bible directive to “come out of her” if she is to be involved in the protest against Europe’s future criminal activities in alliance with, or under the direction of Russia in Ezekiel 38.

We wait to see how the angelic hand will move the nations bringing about the Divine will as we continue to observe the Bible in the News. This has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.