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World Events seen Today have been Expected for over a Century
Bible Prophecy is not mere Sensationalism
October 20, 2012 - Audio, 10.50 MIN
(Links at bottom of page to download free viewers.)
Bible Prophecy is used in a sensationalist manner by many, which may have a certain simple instant gratification and wonder to begin with, but is quickly forgotten. For example, after the famous incident on September 11, when the twin towers fell, there was an obscure paragraph purportedly written by Nostradamus, which made the rounds. With language that could in fact be describing many wars, it was claimed he predicted the fall of the twin towers. This kind of sensationalism which is often carried by the media, has the long term effect of discrediting the word of God and the study of Bible prophecy. Most wouldn't even take it seriously anymore.
In any study of Bible prophecy we have to be careful not to take a momentous current event and try and shoehorn it into prophecy as some do. Some of the great current events that are fulfilling Bible prophecy and which we have considered on Bible in the News, are:
1. The coming together of a European Empire and the loss of sovereignty to European nation states.
2. The signs that Britain will be forced to separate from the European Union and is now strengthening ties with the traditional commonwealth.
3. The developing division in the Arab world and America and her allies continued engagement in the Persian Gulf.
4. The religious revival in Israel and the growth and survival of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The fact is that we have been watching for these events for many years. Long before I was born Bible students were watching current events and looking for these things.
This week Andrew Lilico wrote a piece in the UK Telegraph on October 17 entitled: "If the euro survives, how will Britain fit into the new federal state?". Dr Andrew Lilico is a Director and Principal of Europe Economics. Andrew argues that the EU as it currently exists is a thing of the past. He wrote:
"...One possibility is that the EU disintegrates, with the collapse of the euro. But let’s assume the euro survives. In that case, the plan is for there to be an EU Federation of Nation States, built from the eurozone and countries intending to join shortly.
"This is to have a common treasury, common foreign policy, police force, army, currency, legal identity – all the explicit paraphernalia of a state. It will be a confederate state, rather than a centralised state, like the UK or France. But it will be explicitly a state. This is no dreamy long-term goal. The plan is to have a new treaty on this ready (or perhaps even ratified) by 2014.
"Such an EU Federation brings an end to the EU as we have known it..."
This is the direction that the EU is headed and the situation is now becoming quite clear. A European Empire is forming. Britain is beginning to look for trading partners and allies elsewhere out of necessity. As we look at these events are we making something of this and trying to fit these things into Bible prophecy. Absolutely not.
 For many years throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties, the late Graham Pearce, a student of Bible prophecy produced the "Milestones to the Kingdom" booklet once a year. Before and after the second world war he studied and wrote about Bible prophecy. Even when events seemed to be headed in the opposite direction he stuck to the same lines.
Here is what Graham Pearce wrote in Milestones in 1984:
"Events at the coming of Christ are portrayed in Daniel's prophecies and in the Revelation. Nebuchadnezzar's Image in Daniel 2 belongs to the latter days - "there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days" (v. 28). This Image is yet to be erected and to be smitten on the feet by the Stone Power (v. 34). The metal parts assembled as one Image indicate Europe, USSR and the Middle East (excluding Israel, Egypt, Sheba and Dedan) are to be bound together into a vast confederacy. The iron-clay feet and toes (representing Europe in its final socialist - 'christian' phase) on which the Image stands, have yet to be formed. The European-led confederacy represented by the Image is defeated at Armageddon at the hands of the Stone power, with the result that the Image disintegrates; the metal parts are "broken to pieces together" (v.35). The ten toes are given special mention; they are kings or kingdoms at this time when the God of heaven sets up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed (v.44). By following through from Daniel to the Revelation we deduce that the ten toe kingdoms make the final opposition to Christ; they are the ten horns that make war with the Lamb.
"There are several symbolic beasts in the Revelation describing the Roman power in various phases through history. The final beast is in Revelation 17. It is the scarlet coloured beast on which the harlot rides, with its ten horns that make war with the Lamb. It is eventually cast into the lake of fire along with the false prophet (Revelation 19). The ten horns of the Roman beast originated in the 5th century when various barbarian tribes invaded the Western Empire and then settled as part of the Empire. This is the beast of the sea of Revelation 13, with further details revealed in Rev. 8:7-11. We conclude that the ten-horned beast of chapter 17 is a modified form of the beast of the sea of chapter 13, and this directs our attention today to the countries of Western Europe. So we look for a unification of Western Europe to form this final beast on which the harlot rides.
"Back in history for a moment, the ten-horned beast of the sea (France and the western Mediterranean countries) and the beast of the earth (Germany and central Europe) existed through many centuries. But with the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, these systems were broken up, producing "iron" fragments and the "miry clay" of the people's power, socialism. Western and middle Europe broke up into various nation states, with frequent wars and rivalries. Germany and France fought three wars: 1871, 1914, 1939. One could discern no ten-horned beast in this period. But after the second world war the situation changed. The period 1948 to 1957 was an exciting time, prophetically speaking, as we saw the beginnings of this ten-horned beast in the establishment of the Western Union and the Common Market. Then for a decade or more there was stagnation. Nationalism prevailed with bitter disagreements as each country defended its own economic interests. Now in 1984 we have been seeing a fresh activity in the development of the beast. This is of real interest to us as we watch for fulfilling prophecy and the approach of the day of the Lord.
"There may be speculation as to which nations make up the final ten toes; but it is too early to be definite. The existence of approximately this number of separate nations is all that matters for the moment."
 The following is a short snippet from Milestones 1981, page 16, under the heading, "When the Curtain Rises on a New Scene".
"Whether by 'absorption' or dramatic take-over, when East and West Europe are bound together, the curtain will rise on a new scene. The building of the great Image of Nebuchadnezzar will be in progress; the Fourth Beast of Daniel will be re-created with its little horn of the Papacy speaking great things and preparing to challenge Christ and the saints; America will be separated; Britain will be isolated on the edge of a hostile continent. Events may move slowly or quickly, we do not know. But we shall have no excuse that the Master's coming has caught us as a thief in the night."
In Milestones 1977 under the heading, "A Possible Religious Revival", Graham writes: "One effect of Begin's premiership may be the turning of the nation from its socialist-atheistic attitude back to a greater interest in the Jewish religion and the reading of the scriptures." He then quotes the Jewish Observer: "The government that has now been formed can give spiritual regeneration in Eretz Israel. The strengthening of ties between the nation and its country, the nation and its roots, is a golden opportunity. There is an opportunity for a kind of spiritual flowering that can lead both Jews here and Jews throughout the world again to look to Israel and its redemption". Graham then comments: "Here perhaps is one of those moves by which the nation starts on the long road back to faith in the Promises and the God of Israel. Preliminary developments of this sort may be expected prior to the positive work of Elijah."
Today a curtain is rising on a new scene in Europe, the Image is being built, Britain is being isolated. A religious revival is well in progress in Israel. This is not mere sensationalism, or shoe horning events. Bible students have been watching these trends for over a century and now we see these things coming together. Join us again next week God willing, for the Bible in the News. This has been David Billington with you on www.bibleinthenews.com.
Bible in the News provides a weekly analysis of world politics and events
in the light of Bible prophecy — the Bible in the News!
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