Pages

Monday, November 30, 2009

Restoration: Discerning This Time

A number of events have occurred in recent weeks that bear on topics we cover in World News and Prophecy. It reminds me that the pace of our time seems to be speeding toward a culmination of prophecy. We need to watch and understand.

On Oct. 2 the European Union took another step toward a larger role in world affairs when Ireland ratified the Lisbon Treaty. Poland followed a few days later, leaving only the Czech Republic as the lone holdout on approving a plan that will create a potentially larger role for Europe. Then on Nov. 3 Czech Republic President Václav Klaus finally signed it. The treaty, when implemented, will create the post of a European president and give the EU the ability to create a unified foreign policy.

Europe has a long way to travel in becoming a power to rival anything like what the United States has been in recent decades. But it is clearly on the ascent, and Bible prophecy shows us Europe will play a key role in the events leading to the end of this age.

The second item of news also connects to Europe's rise. The talk about the decline of the dollar as the world's reserve currency continues. Rising levels of American debt have created fear among lender nations that their investment in dollars will one day collapse. Reports say that China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and others have begun laying the groundwork for a currency arrangement that would supplant the dollar as the key currency in trading. Should this occur, and many experts say it is inevitable, it would make it extremely difficult to finance the U.S. debt. America would have to borrow euros or another currency to buy oil from OPEC nations.

The decline of the dollar is a critical national security issue. It would cripple the nation's economic foundation and limit its military capability around the world. Like Great Britain in its days of imperial decline, the far-flung navies and armies would have to retreat, leaving a power vacuum that others would rush to fill. The result would be something far different from the Pax Americana of recent years. I find that many are blissfully unaware of the consequences of the decline of the dollar on world financial markets.

The third issue is the growing menace of a nuclear Iran in the Middle East. Time is running out, as many believe it is only a matter of months before Iran has a nuclear weapon and the ability to deliver it, with Israel as the likely target. Diplomacy has not worked to end Iran's development program, and so the talk of economic sanctions or a military strike continues.

Israel is the most likely nation to intervene militarily to destroy Iranian facilities; and should this occur, an all-out war of retaliation would be launched. Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz would be disrupted and prices would skyrocket, creating another round of financial crisis. A nuclear arms race among other Middle Eastern countries would be ignited. A nuclear Iran would destabilize the entire region and have a worldwide impact.

These events remind us of Christ's warning to "discern this time" (Luke 12:56). Christ's insistence that His disciples watch and understand their time in history is rooted in a need to repent and believe in the gospel of the Kingdom of God lest we perish (Luke 13:5; Mark 1:14-15). Our world is changing before our eyes, and God is gracious to give us warning if we only have the eyes to see. It is time we turn to the Bible for the understanding that can convict us. It is time to awake and prepare our lives for what lies ahead.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

The Pilgrim Fathers

The English Reformers, while renouncing the doctrines of Romanism, had retained many of its forms. Thus though the authority and the creed of Rome were rejected, not a few of her customs and ceremonies were incorporated into the worship of the Church of England. It was claimed that these things were not matters of conscience; that though they were not commanded in Scripture, and hence were nonessential, yet not being forbidden, they were not intrinsically evil. Their observance tended to narrow the gulf which separated the reformed churches from Rome, and it was urged that they would promote the acceptance of the Protestant faith by Romanists.

To the conservative and compromising, these arguments seemed conclusive. But there was another class that did not so judge. The fact that these customs "tended to bridge over the chasm between Rome and the Reformation" (Martyn, volume 5, page 22), was in their view a conclusive argument against retaining them. They looked upon them as badges of the slavery from which they had been delivered and to which they had no disposition to return. They reasoned that God has in His word established the regulations governing His worship, and that men are not at liberty to add to these or to detract from them. The very beginning of the great apostasy was in seeking to supplement the authority of God by that of the church. Rome began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, and she ended by forbidding what He had explicitly enjoined.

Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which characterized the primitive church. They regarded many of the established customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry, and they could not in conscience unite in her worship. But the church, being supported by the civil authority, would permit no dissent from her forms. Attendance upon her service was required by law, and unauthorized assemblies for religious worship were prohibited, under penalty of imprisonment, exile, and death.

At the opening of the seventeenth century the monarch who had just ascended the throne of England declared his determination to make the Puritans "conform, or . . . harry them out of the land, or else worse."--George Bancroft, History of the United States of America, pt. 1, ch. 12, par. 6. Hunted, persecuted, and imprisoned, they could discern in the future no promise of better days, and many yielded to the conviction that for such as would serve God according to the dictates of their conscience, "England was ceasing forever to be a habitable place."--J. G. Palfrey, History of New England, ch. 3, par. 43. Some at last determined to seek refuge in Holland. Difficulties, losses, and imprisonment were encountered. Their purposes were thwarted, and they were betrayed into the hands of their enemies. But steadfast perseverance finally conquered, and they found shelter on the friendly shores of the Dutch Republic.

In their flight they had left their houses, their goods, and their means of livelihood. They were strangers in a strange land, among a people of different language and customs. They were forced to resort to new and untried occupations to earn their bread. Middle-aged men, who had spent their lives in tilling the soil, had now to learn mechanical trades. But they cheerfully accepted the situation and lost no time in idleness or repining. Though often pinched with poverty, they thanked God for the blessings which were still granted them and found their joy in unmolested spiritual communion. "They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits."--Bancroft, pt. 1, ch. 12, par. 15.

In the midst of exile and hardship their love and faith waxed strong. They trusted the Lord's promises, and He did not fail them in time of need. His angels were by their side, to encourage and support them. And when God's hand seemed pointing them across the sea, to a land where they might found for themselves a state, and leave to their children the precious heritage of religious liberty, they went forward, without shrinking, in the path of providence.

God had permitted trials to come upon His people to prepare them for the accomplishment of His gracious purpose toward them. The church had been brought low, that she might be exalted. God was about to display His power in her behalf, to give to the world another evidence that He will not forsake those who trust in Him. He had overruled events to cause the wrath of Satan and the plots of evil men to advance His glory and to bring His people to a place of security. Persecution and exile were opening the way to freedom.

When first constrained to separate from the English Church, the Puritans had joined themselves together by a solemn covenant, as the Lord's free people, "to walk together in all His ways made known or to be made known to them." --J. Brown, The Pilgrim Fathers, page 74. Here was the true spirit of reform, the vital principle of Protestantism. It was with this purpose that the Pilgrims departed from Holland to find a home in the New World. John Robinson, their pastor, who was providentially prevented from accompanying them, in his farewell address to the exiles said: "Brethren, we are now erelong to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth whether I shall live ever to see your faces more. But whether the Lord hath appointed it or not, I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than I have followed Christ. If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry; for I am very confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy word."--Martyn, vol. 5, p. 70.

"For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw; . . . and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. This is a misery much to be lamented; for though they were burning and shining lights in their time, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God, but were they now living, would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first received."--D. Neal, History of the Puritans, vol. 1, p. 269.

"Remember your church covenant, in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the Lord, made or to be made known unto you. Remember your promise and covenant with God and with one another, to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you from His written word; but withal, take heed, I beseech you, what you receive for truth, and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it; for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once."--Martyn, vol. 5, pp. 70, 71.

It was the desire for liberty of conscience that inspired the Pilgrims to brave the perils of the long journey across the sea, to endure the hardships and dangers of the wilderness, and with God's blessing to lay, on the shores of America, the foundation of a mighty nation. Yet honest and God-fearing as they were, the Pilgrims did not yet comprehend the great principle of religious liberty. The freedom which they sacrificed so much to secure for themselves, they were not equally ready to grant to others. "Very few, even of the foremost thinkers and moralists of the seventeenth century, had any just conception of that grand principle, the outgrowth of the New Testament, which acknowledges God as the sole judge of human faith."-- Ibid., vol. 5, p. 297. The doctrine that God has committed to the church the right to control the conscience, and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeply rooted of papal errors. While the Reformers rejected the creed of Rome, they were not entirely free from her spirit of intolerance. The dense darkness in which, through the long ages of her rule, popery had enveloped all Christendom, had not even yet been wholly dissipated. Said one of the leading ministers in the colony of Massachusetts Bay: "It was toleration that made the world antichristian; and the church never took harm by the punishment of heretics."-- Ibid., vol. 5, p. 335. The regulation was adopted by the colonists that only church members should have a voice in the civil government. A kind of state church was formed, all the people being required to contribute to the support of the clergy, and the magistrates being authorized to suppress heresy. Thus the secular power was in the hands of the church. It was not long before these measures led to the inevitable result --persecution.

Eleven years after the planting of the first colony, Roger Williams came to the New World. Like the early Pilgrims he came to enjoy religious freedom; but, unlike them, he saw --what so few in his time had yet seen--that this freedom was the inalienable right of all, whatever might be their creed. He was an earnest seeker for truth, with Robinson holding it impossible that all the light from God's word had yet been received. Williams "was the first person in modern Christendom to establish civil government on the doctrine of the liberty of conscience, the equality of opinions before the law."--Bancroft, pt. 1, ch. 15, par. 16. He declared it to be the duty of the magistrate to restrain crime, but never to control the conscience. "The public or the magistrates may decide," he said, "what is due from man to man; but when they attempt to prescribe a man's duties to God, they are out of place, and there can be no safety; for it is clear that if the magistrates has the power, he may decree one set of opinions or beliefs today and another tomorrow; as has been done in England by different kings and queens, and by different popes and councils in the Roman Church; so that belief would become a heap of confusion."--Martyn, vol. 5, p. 340.

Attendance at the services of the established church was required under a penalty of fine or imprisonment. "Williams reprobated the law; the worst statute in the English code was that which did but enforce attendance upon the parish church. To compel men to unite with those of a different creed, he regarded as an open violation of their natural rights; to drag to public worship the irreligious and the unwilling, seemed only like requiring hypocrisy. . . . 'No one should be bound to worship, or,' he added, 'to maintain a worship, against his own consent.' 'What!' exclaimed his antagonists, amazed at his tenets, 'is not the laborer worthy of his hire?' 'Yes,' replied he, 'from them that hire him.'"-- Bancroft, pt. 1, ch. 15, par. 2.

Roger Williams was respected and beloved as a faithful minister, a man of rare gifts, of unbending integrity and true benevolence; yet his steadfast denial of the right of civil magistrates to authority over the church, and his demand for religious liberty, could not be tolerated. The application of this new doctrine, it was urged, would "subvert the fundamental state and government of the country."-- Ibid., pt. 1, ch. 15, par. 10. He was sentenced to banishment from the colonies, and, finally, to avoid arrest, he was forced to flee, amid the cold and storms of winter, into the unbroken forest.

"For fourteen weeks," he says, "I was sorely tossed in a bitter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean." But "the ravens fed me in the wilderness," and a hollow tree often served him for a shelter.--Martyn, vol. 5, pp. 349, 350. Thus he continued his painful flight through the snow and the trackless forest, until he found refuge with an Indian tribe whose confidence and affection he had won while endeavoring to teach them the truths of the gospel.

Making his way at last, after months of change and wandering, to the shores of Narragansett Bay, he there laid the foundation of the first state of modern times that in the fullest sense recognized the right of religious freedom. The fundamental principle of Roger Williams's colony was "that every man should have liberty to worship God according to the light of his own conscience."-- Ibid., vol. 5, p. 354. His little state, Rhode Island, became the asylum of the oppressed, and it increased and prospered until its foundation principles--civil and religious liberty--became the cornerstones of the American Republic.

In that grand old document which our forefathers set forth as their bill of rights--the Declaration of Independence--they declared: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." And the Constitution guarantees, in the most explicit terms, the inviolability of conscience: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States." "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

"The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle that man's relation with his God is above human legislation, and his rights of conscience inalienable. Reasoning was not necessary to establish this truth; we are conscious of it in our own bosoms. It is this consciousness which, in defiance of human laws, has sustained so many martyrs in tortures and flames. They felt that their duty to God was superior to human enactments, and that man could exercise no authority over their consciences. It is an inborn principle which nothing can eradicate."--Congressional documents (U.S.A.), serial No. 200, document No. 271.

As the tidings spread through the countries of Europe, of a land where every man might enjoy the fruit of his own labor and obey the convictions of his own conscience, thousands flocked to the shores of the New World. Colonies rapidly multiplied. "Massachusetts, by special law, offered free welcome and aid, at the public cost, to Christians of any nationality who might fly beyond the Atlantic 'to escape from wars or famine, or the oppression of their persecutors.' Thus the fugitive and the downtrodden were, by statute, made the guests of the commonwealth."--Martyn, vol. 5, p. 417. In twenty years from the first landing at Plymouth, as many thousand Pilgrims were settled in New England.

To secure the object which they sought, "they were content to earn a bare subsistence by a life of frugality and toil. They asked nothing from the soil but the reasonable returns of their own labor. No golden vision threw a deceitful halo around their path. . . . They were content with the slow but steady progress of their social polity. They patiently endured the privations of the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty with their tears, and with the sweat of their brow, till it took deep root in the land."

The Bible was held as the foundation of faith, the source of wisdom, and the charter of liberty. Its principles were diligently taught in the home, in the school, and in the church, and its fruits were manifest in thrift, intelligence, purity, and temperance. One might be for years a dweller in the Puritan settlement, "and not see a drunkard, or hear an oath, or meet a beggar."--Bancroft, pt. 1, ch. 19, par. 25. It was demonstrated that the principles of the Bible are the surest safeguards of national greatness. The feeble and isolated colonies grew to a confederation of powerful states, and the world marked with wonder the peace and prosperity of "a church without a pope, and a state without a king."

But continually increasing numbers were attracted to the shores of America, actuated by motives widely different from those of the first Pilgrims. Though the primitive faith and purity exerted a widespread and molding power, yet its influence became less and less as the numbers increased of those who sought only worldly advantage.

The regulation adopted by the early colonists, of permitting only members of the church to vote or to hold office in the civil government, led to most pernicious results. This measure had been accepted as a means of preserving the purity of the state, but it resulted in the corruption of the church. A profession of religion being the condition of suffrage and officeholding, many, actuated solely by motives of worldly policy, united with the church without a change of heart. Thus the churches came to consist, to a considerable extent, of unconverted persons; and even in the ministry were those who not only held errors of doctrine, but who were ignorant of the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. Thus again was demonstrated the evil results, so often witnessed in the history of the church from the days of Constantine to the present, of attempting to build up the church by the aid of the state, of appealing to the secular power in support of the gospel of Him who declared: "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36. The union of the church with the state, be the degree never so slight, while it may appear to bring the world nearer to the church, does in reality but bring the church nearer to the world.

The great principle so nobly advocated by Robinson and Roger Williams, that truth is progressive, that Christians should stand ready to accept all the light which may shine from God's holy word, was lost sight of by their descendants. The Protestant churches of America,--and those of Europe as well,--so highly favored in receiving the blessings of the Reformation, failed to press forward in the path of reform. Though a few faithful men arose, from time to time, to proclaim new truth and expose long-cherished error, the majority, like the Jews in Christ's day or the papists in the time of Luther, were content to believe as their fathers had believed and to live as they had lived. Therefore religion again degenerated into formalism; and errors and superstitions which would have been cast aside had the church continued to walk in the light of God's word, were retained and cherished. Thus the spirit inspired by the Reformation gradually died out, until there was almost as great need of reform in the Protestant churches as in the Roman Church in the time of Luther. There was the same worldliness and spiritual stupor, a similar reverence for the opinions of men, and substitution of human theories for the teachings of God's word.

The wide circulation of the Bible in the early part of the nineteenth century, and the great light thus shed upon the world, was not followed by a corresponding advance in knowledge of revealed truth, or in experimental religion. Satan could not, as in former ages, keep God's word from the people; it had been placed within the reach of all; but in order still to accomplish his object, he led many to value it but lightly. Men neglected to search the Scriptures, and thus they continued to accept false interpretations, and to cherish doctrines which had no foundation in the Bible.

Seeing the failure of his efforts to crush out the truth by persecution, Satan had again resorted to the plan of compromise which led to the great apostasy and the formation of the Church of Rome. He had induced Christians to ally themselves, not now with pagans, but with those who, by their devotion to the things of this world, had proved themselves to be as truly idolaters as were the worshipers of graven images. And the results of this union were no less pernicious now than in former ages; pride and extravagance were fostered under the guise of religion, and the churches became corrupted. Satan continued to pervert the doctrines of the Bible, and traditions that were to ruin millions were taking deep root. The church was upholding and defending these traditions, instead of contending for "the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Thus were degraded the principles for which the Reformers had done and suffered so much.

How Long Will the NATO Alliance Last?

The 50th anniversary of the NATO alliance in 1999 was a celebration of the successful defense of the free world. Just 10 years later there are signs of serious trouble within the alliance.

One month before being officially nominated as the Democratic Party candidate for president in 2008, then Senator Barack Obama visited Berlin, Germany, and gave a speech to a crowd of some 200,000 Germans at the Victory Column, located 1 mile west of the Brandenburg Gate.

At the time, some opinion polls indicated that a number of Germans would rather have Obama as their own chancellor instead of Angela Merkel.

Obama's speech in Berlin on July 24, 2008, was well received by the enthusiastic crowd. However, the next day some commentators wondered whether people had really understood the implications of what Obama had said. He mentioned the threat of terrorism and emphasized that "no one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone," and he praised "Europe's role in our [America's] security and our future."

The portion of the speech that really got news analysts' attention was Obama's reference to Afghanistan: "In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more—not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security...

"The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation."

With his speech in Berlin, Obama had served notice that as president he would expect Germans—and America's other NATO partners—to contribute their fair share of the resources needed for NATO's mission in Afghanistan.

An increasingly unpopular war

America's NATO allies in Europe are confronted by the challenge of meeting their obligations to the alliance's mission in Afghanistan in the face of growing public discontent over the war.

Germany is no exception. According to public opinion polls, two thirds of the German people doubt that a military victory can be achieved in Afghanistan. The same percentage of Germans oppose a continuation of their country's military presence in Afghanistan.

When German troops were first sent to Afghanistan, the German government insisted that they be stationed in northern Afghanistan instead of the southern part of the country. Officials emphasized repeatedly that Germany's NATO troops were limited to the official NATO mission in Afghanistan, described as assisting "the Afghan Government in exercising and extending its authority and influence across the country, paving the way for reconstruction and effective governance" (quote from the NATO Web site).

By contrast, American troops in southern Afghanistan were also fighting terrorism by going after the Taliban.

In their early deployment to northern Afghanistan, German troops experienced only occasional direct resistance by Taliban fighters. In recent months, however, the number of German casualties has increased as the Taliban have begun to target German patrols. It seems as if the Taliban are now engaging America's NATO allies, like the Germans, in an attempt to influence public opinion back home.

If so, their tactic is working. Public outrage in Germany was intense during the first week of September after a German NATO commander called for American air support to recapture two hijacked fuel trucks.

The air strike reportedly killed as many as 70 civilians and prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to issue harsh criticism of the German commander: "What an error of judgment! More than 90 dead all because of a simple lorry that was, moreover, immobilised in a riverbed. Why didn't they send in ground troops to recover the fuel tank?" ("Rift Widens Between US and Germany Over Botched Afghanistan Air Strike," The Guardian, Sept. 7, 2009).

Aside from the backlash from incidents like this one, German participation in NATO missions outside the geographic boundaries of NATO member countries is a continual domestic challenge. Each military deployment requires the approval of the German parliament, the Bundestag, and approval has to be renewed at regular intervals.

Despite growing public opposition to the war in Afghanistan, it has not yet become a major political issue, largely because Germany's membership in the NATO alliance is supported by all major parties. However, an increase in German casualties will no doubt lead to greater public clamor for an end to Germany's involvement in Afghanistan. As the Vietnam War proved, public opinion can be a key factor in deciding whether to continue or curtail military deployment.

Other European countries involved in Afghanistan are also facing domestic pressure to withdraw. Just days after the botched air strike on the fuel trucks, Britain, France and Germany proposed a conference to discuss how the Afghan government could take on greater responsibility for its own security, thereby lessening the need for NATO troops in the country.

Who's the bad guy now?

When the NATO alliance was formed 60 years ago by the United States, Canada and European nations, it was clearly defensive in nature. NATO countries were obligated to support any member nation attacked by an aggressor. The potential aggressor was clearly the Soviet Union, and the alliance's purpose was to prevent westward expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence in Europe.

Of course, during the Cold War there was occasional friction among NATO members or between the United States and European NATO countries. However, the overriding goal of preserving Western Europe's freedom and economic system provided a common interest strong enough to override temporary differences of opinion.

The demise of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact alliance has changed all that. Europe is no longer threatened by an ideological "continental divide." Former Warsaw Pact countries have now joined the NATO alliance (and the European Union).

The defensive nature of the NATO alliance still exists on paper but not in practical application. Instead, the alliance has also assumed responsibility beyond its own borders in fulfilling United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Events of the last 10 years have shown that America and Europe—and even European nations among themselves—are not always unified in their assessment of strategic threats.

A prime example is former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's characterization of the "old" and "new" Europe during the crisis over Iraq and the Iraq war. Aside from some exceptions—most notably Britain—Western European nations ("old" Europe) were reluctant to support U.S. President George Bush's "coalition of the willing," in contrast to Eastern European nations ("new" Europe).

More recently, European NATO members disagree over how to deal with Russia. Dependent on natural gas deliveries from Russia, NATO members in Western Europe generally support a cautious, conciliatory approach. By contrast, Eastern European NATO members prefer a more confrontational style.

It was no surprise when Eastern European NATO members supported the Bush plan to install a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. In the summer of 2008 the United States signed a treaty with each country for the installation of a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 missile silos in Poland.

President Obama's decision in September to stop the implementation of the project upset Eastern European allies. Their disappointment was best expressed by former Polish President Lech Walesa in a television interview: "The Americans are always concerned only about their own interests and just take advantage of everyone else."

Walesa urged Poland to reassess its relationship with the United States. Analysts now expect Eastern Europeans to see the need for better cooperation with Brussels on security issues. President Obama may have contributed to "new" and "old" Europe becoming more closely aligned.

Who pays the bill?

During the 1999 NATO bombing campaign to force Serbian troops out of Kosovo, then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder voiced disappointment over America's reluctance to share spy satellite intelligence with its European allies. In his frustration Schroeder suggested that Europe should have its own spy satellites. He admitted, though, that America could do as it pleased since it was supplying over 90 percent of the equipment used for the Kosovo military intervention.

America's call for more equitable burden-sharing within the NATO alliance did not begin with Senator Obama's July 2008 speech in Berlin. With the Soviet threat gone, the unfulfilled desire to have Europe pay a larger share of its defense bill seems more futile now than at any time during the last 60 years when Europe enjoyed protection via America's nuclear shield.

Defense spending levels of NATO's main European members have declined in recent years, with a corresponding weakening of military capabilities. Germany, for example, today has 40 percent fewer soldiers and 50 percent fewer combat aircraft than it did at the end of the Cold War 20 years ago. Similar developments have taken place in key NATO nations like Spain and Italy.

The decay of European NATO military forces has reached the point that U.S. military officials are concerned that joint operations are becoming difficult and may well become impossible if the trend is not reversed.

Like the Kosovo intervention, the war in Afghanistan reflects unequal burden sharing, irritating even some European officials. In a speech last January, British Defense Secretary John Hutton had harsh criticism for European governments that fail to bear their fair share of the burden.

"Freeloading on the back of U.S. security is not an option if we wish to be equal partners in the transatlantic alliance," he warned in language less diplomatic than Obama's Berlin speech. "Anyone who wants to benefit from collective security must be prepared to share the ultimate price."

Hutton also appeared to question Germany's approach and that of other allies who believe that humanitarian and nation-building tasks are a fair substitute for combat duty. "It isn't good enough to always look to the U.S. for political, financial, and military cover. And this imbalance will not be addressed by parceling up NATO tasks—the 'hard' military ones for the U.S. and a few others (including Britain) and the 'soft' diplomatic ones for the majority of Europeans."

European NATO members would respond by saying that NATO's ISAF mission in Afghanistan is nation-building, not combat in support of Washington's "war on terror."

The beginning of the end?

American military commanders believe that the coming months will be crucial for the ultimate success or failure of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, which for them means a military victory over the resurgent Taliban. Likewise, the NATO mission in Afghanistan itself may well decide the future of the alliance itself.

If NATO cracks over Afghanistan, a short-sighted view would be that Europeans got tired of being pressured to do more fighting in America's war far from Europe and that America got tired of paying the lion's share of NATO's bills for European freeloaders. However, America did put up with the unequal burden-sharing within NATO during the Cold War because it was in America's own strategic interest to do so.

A realistic assessment would be that NATO is no longer a serious alliance with an overriding common strategic purpose as it was throughout the Cold War. Defending Western Europe against Soviet expansion served America's strategic purpose, and supporting America's efforts to do so was obviously in Europe's own best interests.

In the absence of a sustained response to an ongoing, common, immediate threat, NATO has become an alliance without a real purpose. Europe's strategic interests are no longer as closely aligned with those of the United States, as evidenced by the Iraq war, relations with Russia, and energy and environmental policies, to name just a few. History shows that the eventual demise of an alliance that has served its purpose can only be a question of time.

If Bible prophecy is our guide to understanding world events, the rift already evident within the NATO alliance can be viewed as a precursor to future events. Europe and the United States will eventually move in opposing strategic directions and become competitors instead of equal partners.

Out of Europe will arise a final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, whereas America's destiny—and her future relationship with Europe—will be determined by her unknown heritage linked to the biblical patriarch Abraham.

Thanksgiving: More than Turkey and Football!

Thanksgiving is about more than turkeys and football. It's a day dedicated to our Lord and Creator. As we approach the holiday this year, let's remember and acknowledge Him, and His role in our national blessings.

When I came to the United States a number of years ago, I was surprised and pleased to be invited into the home of some friends in late November. I knew little about Thanksgiving then, having just arrived from England, where we had no such national celebration.

What an enjoyable day it was! Lots of food, friends and football! I delighted in this very American national celebration, quite unlike anything I had ever done in my native land.

At first, it seemed to be a day just to stuff oneself, like the turkey on the table. But as time went by, I began to learn about the rich and meaningful history of Thanksgiving Day.

First observed in Plymouth Colony in 1621, Thanksgiving was a day for the pilgrims to thank God for having protected and provided for them in those perilous times. The day was later proclaimed by President George Washington, in the year 1789. Listen to these words of America's first president:

  • WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have… requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God…"
  • NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be...
What's striking about that first Thanksgiving proclamation is the nation's readiness to acknowledge the Creator, and to dedicate a day to Him. Even in 1863, over seventy years later, the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, was unabashed in his gratitude to Almighty God, as he set a date for the celebration. Here are some of Lincoln's words:

  • The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God… No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. .. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States… to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

The United States of 1863 was going through times of great crisis, just as we are now, in the year 2009. Yet now we hesitate even to mention God in public, much less to request His help in our national trials. It would today serve us well to remember Lincoln's words, and to make them our own.

Thanksgiving is about more than turkeys and football. It's a day dedicated to our Lord and Creator. As we approach the holiday this year, let's remember and acknowledge Him, and His role in our national blessings.

Artificial Barriers

Have you ever regretted not trying something new because you worried about failure or looking bad? How many artificial barriers have you constructed in your life

Have you ever regretted not trying something new because you worried about failure or looking bad? If you have, think about this story.

The transcontinental railroad, laid across America in the 1860s, is one of the greatest engineering feats of history. Mountain passes were leveled, miles of tunnels drilled using only dynamite and picks, rivers bridged, and vast expanses of prairie graded for the iron horse.

There was one concern that almost derailed the project. It wasn't the heights of the Rockies, the raging rivers, or even the desert that caused this concern.

You see, in the 1850s some people claimed that the human body couldn't withstand the pressures of the fantastic speed of sixty miles an hour. The steam engine proved this theory to be an artificial barrier.

How many artificial barriers have you constructed in your life? The transcontinental railroad proved that many barriers simply disappear by having the courage to believe in your dream and putting forth the effort to lay the tracks one day at a time.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

An American Thanksgiving

Every year Americans gather on the fourth Thursday of November to give thanks for a land of plenty and a year of blessings. What if Americans truly gave thanks to God for their blessings? Could it make a difference for the future?

Last month my wife and I made a trip to Canada and spent a week with friends in Newfoundland. As we were leaving, Canada was about to celebrate its national day of Thanksgiving. Theirs falls a little more than a month before we celebrate ours in the United States. I felt like staying over another day just to celebrate with our friends, but home called me back.

I have always been in love with the American Thanksgiving. As the fall season comes to a close and a nation gathers for a celebratory meal with family and friends, the romantic within me is unleashed. For a day I can imagine a land and its people turning their faces to God—all in their own way acknowledging something larger, more expansive, than the narrow confines of daily life.

Sometime in my youth I saw an old Currier and Ives engraving of a New England farmhouse with smoke curling out of its chimney. Lights were on inside, and people were arriving in buggies all laden down with baskets of food. Was it a homecoming? Were children coming home to Grandma's house?

I would put myself into that picture and desire the same for my family. For a time in my youth we did go to Grandma's home on Thanksgiving and gather with our large family of cousins, aunts and uncles for a day of feasting. My wife and I have tried through the years to keep this tradition going in our growing family by gathering with our parents and bringing along the children and grandchildren. It gets harder as the years go by, but we make every effort to gather on this day.
History and hope

The origins of the day are well known. The first year in the new world for pilgrim settlers in New England was rough, and they gathered with Native Americans to have a meal and give thanks. Later, it became customary for nearly every U.S. president to call for an annual day of thanksgiving. The proclamations began with George Washington. But it was during Franklin Roosevelt's second term that the fourth Thursday in November was fixed as the national day of Thanksgiving.

Today Thanksgiving remains popular as a holiday of traditional foods, family gatherings and football. This marvelous day of collective family and national bonding hints of an underlying spirituality even though secularism is making inroads into the character of the people. Ironically, the popularity of the day is in part because it is a national rather than a religious day of Thanksgiving. This is not lost on many observers.

That the day is still so popular throughout the nation is a sign of hope. There is a remnant within the land who recognize there is something more to America than just being one large consumer for the world's goods. Materialism alone, some understand, does not satisfy the deepest human needs for meaning and purpose in life.

Reflecting on the year

It has been a tough year for the world's economy. In the United States, upwards of one third of the wealth has been wiped off the books. Housing prices have plummeted, the stock market has lost billions of dollars of value, and the retirement accounts of the aging baby boomers were turned upside down. And while the entire system did not collapse and the market did make some modest gains, there is a sense of unease about the future. Those who stop to consider have a sense that things will not be the same going forward, but they do not know just what to expect.

Like many of you, I look at my financial statements each month and see the erosion. It is as if I have put my money into bags with holes. It fell right through and has disappeared, never to be found again.

We are living a perfect example of God's words through the prophet Haggai: "You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6).

This Thanksgiving, like last, offers an opportunity to reflect that the good times may not last forever. The signs of the times tell us there are other nations and peoples who sense America has been weakened and are circling like predators desiring to seize the moment and wrestle her power, might and strength away for their own use.

Many say that great powers rise and fall and that America is declining along the natural way of nations. The time has come, they say, for America to exit the stage and give way for others on the ascent.

God's blessing

There is one thing wrong with this picture. The power and wealth America has held during its history is not something that was gained by its own exceptional abilities. The great national blessings celebrated each year at Thanksgiving were granted by God through a series of promises and blessings that stretch back in time to the biblical patriarch Abraham.

America's position in the world for more than 200 years is due more to the faithful promises of God than to anything done through its national experience. The wealth and power from God will not flow to others in the same way. It cannot be taken as the great nation stumbles.

The biblical details behind this key of understanding are told in our booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. It is worth reading, especially at this season of Thanksgiving. For those who want to open a window of revealed understanding, it offers another dimension to world history. Your love for God and for America will be magnified through this booklet.

America is exceptional because God made her so. It is wealthy beyond any other empire in history because God prepared this land in advance and gave it to the descendants of Abraham in fulfillment of His pledge.

Its liberty and freedom are rooted in a biblical ethic well understood by the founding fathers. Imbedded in a unique form of governance, it has spread this freedom to many places throughout the world. Where the American and British form of law and economics were planted, people prospered, more than under any previous system. When the day comes that this influence is removed from the world, a different form of power will arise. The results will not be the same.

How stands the land?

On this American Thanksgiving, what do we see as we look out across the broad land?

We see a people searching for a way forward during a time of growing doubt and uncertainty. In 10 years, will America still hold its present role as the guarantor of freedom for a growing global economy, or will other powers rise to eclipse this long-held role? Will Americans enjoy the world's highest standard of living, or will increasing national debt cripple the nation beyond recovery?

It is time we Americans consider our ways, bend our knees to the God of heaven and confess we need a new beginning and a new heart. It is time we take a fresh look at the Bible and seek a new national character forged in righteousness and humility. Before He completely removes His hand of blessing, it is time to seek God with our whole heart.

God will hear the prayer of one who is chastened and sincerely seeking Him. He can hear your prayer. He is closer than you think.

Use this year's Thanksgiving season to consider a new and better understanding of the God who has blessed this great land. Lift your hands and your heart in grateful thanks for what you have and ask this God to reveal Himself to you.

Bend But Don't Break

The next time you experience one of those difficult times that take you close to your breaking point, remember the bamboo: bend but don't break.

Did you know that bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on Earth? Believe it or not it has been documented that it can grow over 47 inches in a 24-hour period! That's almost four feet a day! Bamboo not only grows fast, but tall. It attains different heights depending on the species, the land and climate. The average is 25 to 65 feet tall, with a tallest recorded bamboo at 164 feet!

Another amazing fact about bamboo is that even in the strongest of winds, it has the ability to bounce back and return to its upright position. The word comes to mind? Resilient.

If you use this word to describe a person it means they have the ability to recover from a challenging situation. The disturbing winds of loss, stress, and depression can blow through the landscape of your life. Have you ever felt like you're at the breaking point? Have you ever felt like you just might snap? You probably felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and most likely endured difficult physical symptoms that threatened your wellbeing.

No doubt, life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy occasions and down moments. The next time you experience one of those difficult times that take you close to your breaking point, remember the bamboo: bend but don't break. How? Get help to cope. Go to God immediately in prayer, for he promises not to let the situation get the best of you (1 Corinthians 10:13).

God promises to give us hope to guide us through life's challenges - a hope for a better tomorrow, a better situation, a better attitude, a stronger outlook. Notice the wonderful promise He gives you in Romans 14:4 – "Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand."

Keep in mind, when the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point choose to be resilient. It's possible to have a tremendous spiritual growth spurt - if you rely on God. He will strengthen you like the bamboo tree, so you bend, but don't break!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Freedom

Our American day of Thanksgiving is coming up next week, and my thoughts are beginning to turn toward family gatherings, plenty of food and American football!

I was reading British historian Paul Johnson's excellent book A History of the American People, and his treatment of the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts put my mind to something more than the traditional Thanksgiving themes. The real reason we had a "first thanksgiving" on America's northeast shore had more to do with religious freedom than food, sports and family.

In 1620 freethinking English people sailed from the old world to the new seeking a place where they could worship God according to their conscience. Religious discrimination had built up in England, leaving these men and women no choice but to migrate. It is difficult today for us to imagine moving to another land, away from all that is familiar, to seek religious freedom. But that is what they did.

These men and women were "utopians"—they desired to create God's Kingdom on earth. They used all the biblical stories of the Exodus and pilgrims to describe their journey toward a just and equal society. They even used the term "a city set on a hill," taken from Christ's Sermon on the Mount, to describe what they hoped to build. It was all a great and noble effort.

A key event occurred when they reached the North American coast. They drew up an agreement called the Mayflower Compact, based upon the idea of a covenant between man and God. It was an agreement to build a society to provide "just and equal laws." This agreement represented a good faith effort among a group of sincere believers seeking a place where they could worship God in peace according to their conscience.

Time and events, along with a measure of human nature, led to a society somewhat different than they envisioned. But what did spring from their efforts contributed to a great single nation based on individual rights and freedoms. It has endured through the generations and continues to provide a beacon of hope for many who seek a new start, a "new birth" as Abraham Lincoln said, in life.

So this Thanksgiving I turn to a higher theme of religious freedom. It is easy for us to forget this God-given blessing if all we focus upon is our material abundance.

History turns on the actions of individuals. This season, as those of us in the United States look out on a land of great material wealth, let us not forget we enjoy these blessings in part because a group of pilgrims set sail for a new world, looking for a place to worship God.

Let us give thanks for the God-given freedom we've been given.

40 Years of Sesame Street

Sesame Street has done a lot in its 40 years to strengthen important life skills in younger generations.

So Sesame Street is officially over the hill now, eh, Mr. Evans?

Yes, it's hard to believe that it came out when I was only eight.

What?

Uhh…nothing,

No, really—what is it?

It's just, uh…you were really eight once?

Believe it or not. Now this was before your time, but Sesame Street used to do some parodies of The Beatles' songs—"Letter B," "Hey Food," "With a Little Yelp From My Friends," that sort of thing.

Hey, neat! You know, I remember the Spin Doctors making an appearance.

The who?

Naw, don't remember seeing them.

Well, it's no surprise that the show has changed a little with the times. What is surprising is that today, more than 40 years after it started, it's still going strong.

Yeah, 40 years! That's like…what, they'd just finished setting up Stonehenge then, right?

Er…well, anyway! Sesame Street was a pretty revolutionary concept for its time, wasn't it?

It certainly was. It was one of the first shows to focus exclusively on captivating children—teaching them everything from reading and counting to dealing with emotions.

Hmm…that almost reminds me of a passage from the Bible.

Proverbs 22:6?

Exactly. "Train up a child in the way he should go…"

"…and when he is old he will not depart from it."

So that's it, then! When I have a kid, I'll just plunk ‘em down in front of the TV set and turn on Sesame Street. Man, and they say parenting's difficult!

Well…well, no, there's a bit more to it than that. The Bible also stresses the importance of actively teaching God's commandments to our children, "speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

Oh…yeah, that's kind of a big deal, too, isn't it?

One of the biggest!

Excellent point. Still, Sesame Street has done a lot in its 40 years to strengthen important life skills in younger generations. So a very happy birthday to the show and congratulations to all the dedicate folks who have kept it going!

This is the Way... Peeking Into Eternity

All of us, at one time or another, have been asked the tantalizing question, "Do you want to take a peek?" We reply, "A peek at what?"

Well, here it comes again: "Do you want to take a peek?" I'm talking about something not too many people have dared to consider. I mean peeking into eternity.

It is not easy for the human mind to understand such a concept. Whenever I dare to consider eternity and what it must be like, that proverbial rubber band in my mind tends to snap with an exploding bang after just a few moments of pondering the mentally impossible. Perhaps you, too, have experienced the effect that painfully informs us we are still trapped in the world of time and space.

Well, join the crowd. The simple answer to our human frustration is that God intended for us to measure eternity not with our gray matter, but with our hearts.

Begin with the end in mind

Why speak of this subject in a magazine devoted to prophecy? Prophecy was not intended to solely be a mechanical exercise of putting scriptural equations together, but rather it is designed to prepare us for an existence beyond human comprehension.

The prophet Isaiah introduces us to the concept of eternity in association with God. His writing proclaims, "For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place'" (Isaiah 57:15). Thus, when we consider the God who reveals prophecy, we begin with this end in mind.

While other scriptures may help us define eternity, it is only here that God discloses that which He considers home. The prophet Isaiah offers us deeper understanding regarding God and eternity. The Hebrew word denotes "duration or continuity." How do we measure something that is continuous?

The method of measurement is beyond anything caught in the world of time and space. It requires entering the stream of eternity that knows no spring and fills no ocean. Indeed, there is something beyond, and God asks us to take the time to think about it.

More beyond

In doing so, we share in the same dilemma as the Spanish Empire at the cusp of the Age of Discovery. They were equally perplexed by the reality that there was a whole new world before them. They created a story in stone as a reminder of this very fact.

In Valladolid, Spain, where Christopher Columbus died in 1506, there stands a monument commemorating the great discoverer. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the memorial is a statue of a lion destroying one of the Latin words that had been a part of Spain's motto for centuries.

Before Columbus made his historic voyages, the Spaniards thought they had reached the outer limits of earth. Thus their motto was "Ne Plus Ultra," which means "no more beyond." The word being torn away by the lion is "ne" or "no," making it read "Plus Ultra," for Columbus had proved that there was "more beyond."

There is a famous saying regarding the great explorer: "He couldn't tell anyone where he was going. He didn't know where he was when he got there, and he couldn't tell anyone else how to get there when he got back. And he did all of this on borrowed money."

Serious students of Scripture can derive amazing parallels and powerful lessons concerning eternity from both the dramatic inscription on the monument and that humorous saying.

Most importantly, for persons of faith, there is an even greater reality embedded in our minds and hearts than any earthly monument can depict. It is the reality of another lion, "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," none other than Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:5), forever tearing away and demolishing the word no to fill Christian lives with hope.

The book of Revelation additionally defines this Lion of Judah as "the First and the Last" and the One who holds the keys of the grave and death (Revelation 1:17-18). The powerful ramifications of a seamless world between life and death through Him and by Him are startling.

When have we arrived?

But how do we know when we have arrived at the eternal realm where Christ waits (John 14:2)? He said to "follow Me," but how far? When, where and how do we plant the flag? We don't want to make the same mistake as Columbus, who upon landing on shore called the indigenous population something they were not. After all, India was still half a globe away.

Unlike Columbus, God is able to offer us a description of what our destination is like. After all, He inhabits eternity! Christ came out of eternity into our finite world of time and space and has returned in fullness to that realm.

Crossing the threshold of eternity

We will know we have crossed the threshold of eternity when we discover a totally new environment never beheld by those whose origin is dust. Revelation 21:1 describes this as a "new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away."

This same verse says there is "no more sea." So often we focus on a new heaven and new earth, but why "no more sea"? Could this be alluding to the absence of the fear of eternity as well as speaking of a body of water?

Consider for a moment that in antiquity the oceans and seas were considered hostile forces. Sailors hugged the coast in their travels and rarely ventured into open waters. Seas were considered naturally fearsome and likewise created social gulfs between humans.

The prophesied eternal environment is totally opposite from anything cultivated by human nature. It will be sent from heaven by God, and there will be no apprehensive barriers between God and man or with any other citizen of this timeless society.

We will know we have crossed the threshold of eternity when we discover new emotions as described in Revelation 21:4-5. Here, God our Father gives us a completely different list of noes, not to discourage us or hem us in, but to encourage us and allow us to expand. The list is a rolodex of wonderment spilling out no after no—no more tears, no death, no sorrow and no pain.

The study of eternity continues in Revelation 22:3-5, which expands the list of noes to include no more curses and no more night (darkness).

What makes the difference?

Let's ask ourselves what makes the astounding difference between the world of time and space and that of eternity? How do we know we have arrived?

The key is discovered in Revelation 21:22. One more "no" is mentioned. There is no more temple! Verse 22 proclaims, "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."

This is the same revelation first hinted at in Ezekiel 48:35, which speaks of the eternal city of God. The book of Ezekiel ends with this resounding statement of cause and effect: "THE LORD IS THERE."

Revelation ends where God began in Genesis. God is again in place among His special creation. It has always been God's desire to be in the midst of His creation, walking and talking among His servants. His desire has always been for us to experience His love in one continual uninterrupted existence that never ends.

Do you know a little bit better where you are headed? Can you describe where you have been in Scripture, and can you show others the way? Can we come to appreciate how God through Jesus Christ has torn down every negative "no" to show us that there is much more beyond our world of limitations? Rather than "no more beyond" sculpted in stone, we can come to recognize that the end of what we presently know is but the beginning of what God has to share.

Is eternity coming a little easier to your mind? I hope so. I purposefully avoided overwhelming you with intricate numerical figures or theories to dazzle your mind. It is better to enlarge your heart, if but for a moment. When it is all said and done, it is not the size of the universe that counts, but the size of our surrendered heart that glorifies God.

Leave some things to God

I wish I could tell you more, but God hasn't chosen to tell us everything. The wisdom of Scripture is to simply leave some things for God. Allow Him to surprise us.

Perhaps the message of Isaiah 30:21 ("This is the way, walk in it") in regards to the subject of eternity is best summed up by something I recently heard: "We don't have all the answers, because we don't even know all the questions. If you think you do, just wait until the next time a child offers one up. But this we do know—God has all the answers!"

Peace, Peace—But There Is No Peace

Keep your eyes on the Middle East. Bible prophecy indicates it will be the center of strife and troubles, leading up to the coming of the Prince of Peace. Only He will be really successful in bringing true peace.

Among all the recent news about the world economy and congressional elections in the United States, it's easy to miss one that seems to be a perennial: the search for peace in the Middle East.

Judged by the Obama administration to be the key to peace and democracy for the entire region, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians commenced shortly after the inauguration of the new president. Mr. Obama named George Mitchell, a veteran diplomat who successfully mediated peace talks in Northern Ireland, as his envoy for the Middle East.

But the Mideast is proving even more challenging than Ireland. Months of shuttle diplomacy have produced little fruit. The Palestinians, led by Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, demanded an immediate and complete halt to Israeli settlement construction, while Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reluctantly agreed to a partial settlement freeze. Mr. Netanyahu's calls for Mr. Abbas to enter into immediate face-to-face negotiations went unheeded, and Mr. Abbas recently announced his intention not run again as Palestinian leader in the elections slated for January.

Both sides are jaded and cynical. Israelis are generally unimpressed by promises of diplomatic relations with the entire Arab world at the cost of relinquishing most or all of the territory gained in the 1967 war. They ask, "If they want peace, why do they continually attack and alienate us?" The Palestinians, meanwhile, are divided between the nationalist Fatah movement which rules the West Bank, and the Iranian-supported Hamas fundamentalists in the Gaza Strip. Many Palestinians ask wearily, "If the Israelis want peace, why won't they return our land?"

In the meantime the prestige of the US, which seemed to be recovering after the president's Cairo speech, suffered a new dip as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to back away from the administration's insistence on a complete settlement freeze as a precondition for talks, infuriating the Palestinians. Mr. Abbas has insisted on an end to settlement building and expansion before he will enter into negotiations.
On the other side, many Israelis regard Mr. Obama with suspicion and distrust for his apparent pro-Arab tilt in US policy. The mix doesn't make for a lot of hope.

'If all this sounds wearily familiar, of course it is. The twentieth century brought multiple attempts to negotiate peace between the Arabs and Israel, most of them failed. And even as far back as the seventh and six centuries BC a prophet of God coined the famous saying "Peace, peace, when there is no peace," prophesying of the same part of the world. Jeremiah's words apply even today.

Let's keep our eyes on the Middle East. Bible prophecy indicates it will be the center of strife and troubles, leading up to the coming of the Prince of Peace. Only He will be really successful in bringing true peace.

Monday, November 16, 2009

The-Beast-The-Dragon-and-The-Woman - Part II


II. THE DRAGON AND THE WOMAN


At this point, we are prepared to ask another question concerning this appropriation of power on the part of the beast. Where did she receive the authority to rule over the world for 1,260 years and to persecute so many millions of people for their faith? The answer is found in Revelation 13:2, “And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Notice that the power comes from the dragon. But who is the dragon? Revelation 12:7-9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

The dragon, of course, is Satan himself. But when did Satan deceive the whole world? When he was cast out of heaven, there were only two people on the earth, and they represented the entire world. By deceiving Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan led all the world astray and came into temporary possession of the earth. The great controversy between good and evil, which had started in heaven, was now transferred to this planet.

A Prediction of Enmity

After the fall of man, God pronounced a curse upon each participant in that original transgression. In Genesis 3:15, we read of the curse that was placed upon the devil or the dragon. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Here is a prophecy of the age long struggle that would exist between the dragon and the woman, and between the seed of the dragon and the seed of the woman.

But whom is the woman referred to in this prophecy? A woman, in Bible prophecy, always represents the church. In Jeremiah 6:2 we read, “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.” Who is Zion? Isaiah 51:16, “And say unto Zion, Thou art my people.” So the great controversy has been going on ever since Eden. There have been two sides from then until now. The dragon and his followers are arraigned against God and His followers. Truth versus error, and Satan versus the church.

Two Sides

Satan and God have been contending for the control of every living human being. Even in the children of Adam the two sides were represented. Cain was on the dragon’s side and wanted to substitute his own way instead of the way God had commanded him. Abel belonged to God’s side and was so righteous that Cain finally killed him. Do you remember how God told each one of them to bring a lamb, but Cain substituted fruit or vegetables for that which God had commanded as a sacrifice? This, you will discover, will always be the mark of the dragon. He tries to substitute, or make a counterfeit, for the exact truth of God.

Through the descendants of Cain the earth was so corrupted that God finally had to destroy it with the flood. But after the deluge the two sides appeared once again. The dragon’s followers concentrated in Babel and tried to defy God by building a great tower that was to reach up to heaven. The plan failed, of course, and that site of the tower of Babel later became Babylon, which in 606 B.C. began to rule as the first world empire.

During those early years of confusion, God called Abraham out of Babylon and sent him over into Canaan. Abraham had grown up right there in Mesopotamia, near the place where the great tower of Babel was attempted, and where the empire of Babylon developed. God’s plan has always involved a call of separation from the confusion of falsehood.

The Dragon and Sun Worship

Briefly, let us study the history of the dragon’s side. The city of Babylon was the first capital of the dragon on this earth. A pagan system of religion developed there in the form of sun worship. It was a blasphemous idolatry, filled with immoralities, licentious ceremonies and degrading rites. But soon the dragon’s followers quarreled among themselves, and Medo-Persia came into power. But it was still the dragon’s headquarters. Baal worship continued to predominate as it did in the previous kingdom. Then Greece took over, and she also subscribed to the same pagan sun worship. Finally, Rome began to rule the world. But there was no change in the religion. Mithraism, or sun worship, was the universal religion of the pagan Roman Empire. From Babylon to Rome, the dragon held control through heathen sun worship.

But during the Roman rule, a great thing happened! It was time for the seed of the woman to appear. Remember, the prophecy spoke of enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the dragon. The seed of the woman appeared in the days of the Roman Empire. Let’s read about it in Revelation 12:1, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” Do not forget that a woman in prophecy represents a church. A pure woman stands for the true church, but a fallen woman symbolizes a false religious system.

The Seed of the Woman

This woman in white, described in Revelation twelve, represents the true church, the apostolic church, with its pure doctrines. The twelve stars on her head are the twelve apostles. “And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns … and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Revelation 12:25. Now, who was this man-child? There has been only one man-child who was destined to rule all nations and who was finally caught up to God’s throne. It is none other than Jesus Christ. But who tried to kill Jesus as soon as He was born? You answer, “Herod, the Roman king.” And so it was. Herod tried to put all the boy babies to death in Judea in an attempt to destroy Christ.

The Roman Empire, then, is symbolized in Bible prophecy by the same red dragon as is the devil himself. Because Satan worked so closely through that nation to destroy Jesus, pagan Rome is represented by the same symbol in prophecy as the devil. But Herod did not succeed in his attempt to destroy the man-child. Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt and escaped the terrible decree. The masterstroke of Satan to destroy Jesus on the cross was foiled on that Sunday morning when the Crucified One broke the bonds of death in the resurrection. Forty days later, He was caught up to heaven in perfect fulfillment of the words of the prophecy.

When the dragon saw that he was not able to destroy Christ, he turned his wrath against the early church. According to Revelation 12:13, “When the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.” At this time, there was only a small number of Christians in all the world, and Satan felt that he could completely obliterate them by persecution. Thousands and thousands of Christians were martyred under the terrible persecutions of the cruel Roman emperors. But the gospel continued to grow and spread. The blood of the martyrs seemed to become the seed of the church. When one died a hundred more sprang up to take his place. Paul preached his gospel right up to the very gates of Rome. The old dragon became worried. It was now time for the seed of the dragon to appear.

The Seed of the Dragon

For centuries, Satan had tried to destroy God’s people through the violent opposition of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Through violence and persecution, he had failed to stamp out the truth. So what he could not do through force, the dragon would now attempt by strategy and deception. He would organize his own counterfeit religious system. He would bring in pagan doctrines and philosophy from the old empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome and combine them with Christian teaching. Thus, he attempted to destroy millions through deception.

In what form did the seed of the dragon appear? It was brought forth as the beast of Revelation 13. It is very significant that the beast is actually made up of parts of the lion, the leopard, the bear and the nondescript animal of Daniel 7. God’s illustrative depiction of the papacy reveals that she was made up of parts from all those old pagan kingdoms. In particular did she draw her strength from the pagan Roman nation. According to Revelation 13:2, the dragon gave the beast his power and seat and great authority. We have learned that the dragon actually symbolizes the pagan Roman Empire, as well as the devil himself.

Did the pagan Roman Empire actually bestow any authority upon the papacy? The fact is that in 330 A.D., Constantine, the Roman emperor, turned the whole city of Rome over to the Pope as the seat of his authority. History uses almost the words of the prophecy in describing it. I shall quote from one Catholic source and one history book on this point: “When the Roman Empire became Christian, and the peace of the Church was guaranteed, the Emperor left Rome to the Pope, to be the seat of the authority of the Vicar of Christ, who should reign there independent of all human authority, to the consummation of ages, to the end of time.” Papal Rights and Privileges, pp. 13, 14.

“The removal of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 A.D., left the western church practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the west, and was soon forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head.” The Rise of the Medieval Church, p. 168. How clearly these statements show that the papacy received her seat and power from pagan Rome! But where did Rome get it? From Greece. And where did Greece get her power? From Medo-Persia. And where did Medo-Persia get hers? From Babylon. And where did Babylon get it? From the dragon. So we begin to understand why God has given such fearful warnings against the beast power. The dragon is actually behind it all.

Counterfeits In Pagan Dress

Let us consider for a moment how pagan doctrines were able to find a place in this counterfeit religious system that Satan introduced. Because a mark of the dragon power is to counterfeit and substitute, we will be able to see in this religio-political system the operation of Satan at his infernal best. Just as was the case with Cain, substitutes were fashioned to meet the commandments of God. Many relics of sun worship actually came to be accorded Christian status. A whole set of counterfeit doctrines was added so that the papacy could gain prestige with the pagan peoples of that age. Pagan idols were left at the door, but idols of Peter, Mary and the saints took their place.

As an example of the way in which pagan concepts came into the church, consider the example of Christmas. Do you know where the observance of Christmas originated? Christmas, as a festival, existed long before Jesus was born into this world. December 25 was actually celebrated hundreds of years before Christ was born. The pagans worshiped the sun, and they noticed that in December, the days were becoming shorter and shorter and the sun was getting farther away from them. Fearing that the sun would leave them altogether, they prayed and offered sacrifices. Then on December 25, for the first time, they could tell that the sun was coming back closer; the days were beginning to lengthen out again. So these people said, “The sun is reborn to us.” They called December 25 the birthday of the sun or sun god. It became a great religious festival with them.

Only the pagans celebrated the day until the counterfeit papal system was taking form. At that time, the day was adopted by the papacy and called the birth of the SON, instead of the birthday of the SUN. Dr. Gilbert Murray, M.A., D. Litt., LL.D., F.B.A., professor of Greek at Oxford University, has written this: “Mithraism had so much acceptance, that it was able to impose on the Christian world its own Sunday in place of the Sabbath; its Sun’s birthday, 25th of December, as the birthday of Jesus.” History of Christianity in the Light of Modern Knowledge, Chapter III; cited in Religion and Philosophy, pp. 73, 74. New York: 1929.

Actually, we do not know the date of Christ’s birth. As you can readily see, the adoption of December 25 was based purely upon the heathen observance of the festival of sun worship. Please take note how easily a pagan institution can slip into Christian churches and can even be passed along in Protestantism.

And what about Easter? It is a well-known Christian observance in our modem churches. Yet, it was also celebrated by pagans long before the resurrection of Christ. All Christian groups recognize that Easter Sunday is often as much as five weeks apart from one year to the next. Few know that it is all governed by the heavenly bodies. Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox.

The pagans of long ago noticed that everything seemed to take on new life in the early spring, as soon as the sun crossed the equinox. So they designated a day in the spring to honor the goddess of reproduction. That day was dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess of reproduction, because of the new life and growth in nature. The very word Easter has been transliterated from the name of the goddess Ishtar, whose worship was memorialized by the adoption of Easter.

Many times Christian laymen have asked just what the bunny rabbit and Easter egg have to do with the resurrection of Christ. Of course, they have nothing to do with it. Those pagans chose the rabbit as a symbol of Ishtar’s day because it was the most prolific reproducer. The egg was also chosen because it was a symbol of fertility. Among the heathen, the day was associated with the most licentious practices.

During the time the papacy was developing, Ishtar’s day was adopted by the Church and called Easter. Even the symbols, the bunny rabbits and eggs, are retained as reminders of its pagan origin. These examples have been presented merely to show how easily the devil was able to impose pagan ideas upon that church. As the papacy developed, it was open to the reception of unbiblical customs that marked it clearly as the real counterfeit power described by God in Revelation 13.

The question comes to our minds at this point: Are we really following the Bible in all our doctrines? If tradition and heathen custom have crept so easily into the church, what about other doctrines? The things mentioned so far have not been opposed to the direct commandments of God. We do not have any commandments concerning the observing of Christ’s resurrection or His birth. We can think of His resurrection and birth at any time and on any day of the year. In the next chapter we shall discover, though, that other pagan doctrines were introduced which strike at the very heart of true Bible religion. We are not so concerned, except for those things which contravene a plain command of God.

The growing power of the papacy continued its program by counterfeiting some of the most vital truths contained in God’s Word. May our eyes be opened to recognize these counterfeits and to remain loyal to the exact truth in its original form.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

World 2.0

Information abounds and is transmitted, shared and absorbed instantly by a variety of means. Nothing is secret and information cannot be controlled. All this puts a greater responsibility on you and I, to make sure our words and communication are responsible, true and gracious.

World 2.0 is upon us. 2.0 is a metaphor for the technological world of social media and smart phones that it seems everyone has. This was brought home to me by two events a few months ago.

I was watching news coverage the day pop star Michael Jackson died. I was struck by something as the cameras panned across the crown of people gathered outside the Los Angeles hospital where he died. The camera was on the Fox News reporter but I noticed that every bystander you could see in the picture was on a cell phone texting and talking–most seemed to be texting. Everyone was reporting the event. Everyone!

The other event was the mass street demonstration in Tehran, Iran following the recent elections of their President. The people protesting in Iran have employed the Web 2.0 tools of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to upload videos, pictures and descriptions of the protests. Cell phones and computers are the keys to this information flow. Major cable news sources then use this material on television.

That is the reality of our socially connected wired world today. Anyone with a smartphone and connection can transmit text, pictures and voice instantly from the palm of their hand. Information is instantly posted on Twitter, Facebook and other online media.

Information abounds and is transmitted, shared and absorbed instantly by a variety of means. Nothing is secret and information cannot be controlled.

Nations continue to crack down on the internet within their borders. It doesn't work. Technology is moving too fast and the means to disseminate information is easy, accessible and inexpensive.

Technology is a force multiplier in today's geopolitics. No country, no organization, can expect to compete and grow without pro-actively harnessing the social power of Web 2.0. To fail in this is to fall behind and risk permanent underclass status.

It is far better to learn key lessons about human freedom, dignity and love than to try and censor, control and ignore. History shows the persistent march of human freedom. No government can stop the arrival of the day when God grants spiritual freedom to all humanity.

All this puts a greater responsibility on you and I, to make sure our words and communication are responsible, true, and gracious. We should let God's Spirit motivate us to sound and encouraging communication that builds relationships. The words of Colossians 4:6 sum it all up. "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one."

When Walls Come Down

We can tear down the physical walls, but until we allow God to tear down the walls in our hearts, we will not have peace.

November 9, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the day when the East German government finally allowed its citizens to cross the Berlin Wall into West Germany. Crowds from East Germany poured over the wall, at long last able to see the other half of their still-divided country. In the following weeks, Germans on both sides began to smash away at the concrete edifice that had divided them for almost 30 years.

On this date Germany will commemorate this event with a "Festival of Freedom," during which one thousand 8-foot-tall foam dominoes will be set up along the wall's former location and then toppled. The festival will celebrate the day that paved the way for the reunification of a divided Germany.

But is it united?

A 2004 Forsa Institute poll showed that one in five Germans want the wall to be rebuilt. Even though it has been 20 years since they became one, there remain sharp cultural differences and even resentment between East and West.

Meanwhile, countries like Yemen, Cyprus and Korea continue to experience extreme division between opposing factions. Tensions in the Middle East remain unresolved as Palestinian and Israeli cities live under the constant threat of missile fire and gunfights.

We can tear down physical walls; we can topple corrupt governments; we can even enforce rules that produce the ideal environment for cultivating peace—but how much closer are we to achieving it? Our world is one where the tensions between two closely related tribes can lead to genocide of over 800,000 people, as we witnessed in Rwanda; where a war between two quarreling sides can bring about rape, pillaging and hundreds of thousands of deaths, as demonstrated in Darfur; where feelings of racial superiority can lead to the slaughter of some 17 million men, women and children in an international Holocaust.

Peace? No, we do not have peace. For six thousand years of recorded human history, man has striven for some kind of peace—and for six thousand years, it has eluded him. There is something fundamentally wrong in our world that, despite our most well-intentioned efforts, continues to render useless every step we take toward peace.

We will not have peace until we come to accept what our failed attempts prove: that we are incapable of overcoming our own human nature.

But there is One who can. We read in the Bible, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:13-14, NLT).

We can tear down the physical walls, but until we allow God to tear down the walls in our hearts, we will not have peace.

Christ tells us, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). If we as a people will turn to God, we will find peace—for ourselves, and for the world.

Hope for Fort Hood

Is there any hope, either for the dead or for the sickness that leads to this type of tragedy?

The details are still sparse on why Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan gunned down over 40 men and women—most of them fellow soldiers—just yesterday at Fort Hood, Texas. Thirteen men and women have had their lives cruelly and abruptly snuffed out by the actions of one man. We are grateful that the quick response of emergency medical and police teams prevented things from being much worse, but that thought brings little solace to the families directly robbed of fathers, husbands, sons, mothers, wives and daughters.

Our minds are instantly flooded with so many questions after such a tragic situation. After the answers are delivered on the specific details of the incident, we eventually migrate to the larger questions like how do we comfort the grieving? What hope can they – and all of us – grasp on to? Why do these things keep happening?

Names like Columbine, Red Lake, the Amish West Nickel Mines, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois, are so ingrained in our national consciousness they all begin to blur together. I wish that we could call this an isolated incident—but of late, mass murders and serial killings have become topics we've just become used to hearing about. Just while I was editing this commentary my wife called with the news that another mass shooting is unfolding in Orlando, Florida. I don't even want to go to the news and see how this one turns out, but I know I have to.

We live in a world where massacres no longer surprise as they once did. One where unsuspecting lives can be ended in a matter of seconds by anyone with a cause and a gun. One where these same murderers can feel perfectly justified in and even enjoy their sprees of death.

This is our world. Scientists can hastily scramble to develop a vaccine for the flu, but the mass murder mentality is different – it is seemingly undetectable until someone just explodes in this manner. And we wonder when the next one will occur.

Is there any hope, either for the dead or for the sickness that leads to this type of tragedy?

Yes. The Bible speaks of a time, not too far away, when it is promised that "the dead will hear the voice of God; and those who hear will live" (John 5:25). Those who were cut down in these violent shootings; every victim of murder; everyone who has ever died—these will all be given life again with a chance to live in another world, the Kingdom of God. With each passing day, this time draws ever nearer.

There is hope, not just for those who died at Fort Hood; not just for the victims of Columbine and Virginia Tech and the countless other school shootings, but for every single human being in this world. The hope that lies in the coming Kingdom of God is not only a promise of a resurrection of all mankind, but a way of life that will lead to healing of all the sicknesses that lead to death.

This hope—these promises—are sure, and they are coming quickly.

In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of these senseless tragedies.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Europe and the Church, Part 13: And One Is Yet to Come

The book of Revelation shows there is to be one more revival of the Roman Empire immediately prior to Christ's return. Is the European Union the prophesied revival?

My wife and I have often passed through Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport traveling to or from Ghana. Sometimes, we have broken up the return journey to Michigan with a short stop in England to visit family. There is a direct flight from Amsterdam to my hometown airport in the United Kingdom. When we have taken that option, we go through "Passport Control" in England. We are simply "In Transit" through the Netherlands.

So I was trying to understand why this time we had to go through immigration in Amsterdam when we were not actually visiting the Netherlands. We were, instead, heading to Cologne, Germany, for a three-day visit to the United Church of God office there. We were planning on touring Aachen and Trier for the purpose of further researching the history of Europe and the church.

I assumed that the "Passport Control" requirement had something to do with the Schengen Treaty, which was signed in 1985 by five member countries of what was then the 10-member European Community. I was not sure how many countries are now members, so I asked the official checking our passports.

"Twenty-six," was his answer.

"Twenty-six?" I asked with some incredulity. As there are 27 countries in the European Union, that meant only one was not a signatory. That one would be the United Kingdom, which I knew for a fact was not in the agreement. But I was also fairly sure that Ireland wasn't a member either.

His response to that was that only Iceland and the United Kingdom were not in the "Union." Clearly, the passport official himself was not clear on the difference between the European Union and the Schengen Treaty! The United Kingdom is in the Union but not in the Schengen Treaty; Iceland is not yet a member of the EU but is a Schengen signatory. There are actually 25 members of Schengen, not all of whom are members of the EU.

Confusion about the EU

It was not surprising that an official at the airport did not understand. Few Europeans understand a great deal about the European Union, which has been slowly evolving since the Treaty of Rome was signed by the original six members in 1957. Those signatories pledged themselves to form "an ever closer union," which is exactly what has been happening since.

When you ask average citizens of the European Union what they think of the organization, often they will say it's too bureaucratic or too expensive. But most will agree that it has been successful in bringing the nations of Europe together, giving most of the continent over 60 years of unparalleled peace.

Whereas most people still identify themselves as British, French or German, they are also aware that they are now part of something much bigger, a group of nations that has achieved unprecedented prosperity. Indeed, following the financial upheavals of the last year, Europe today is the richest region of the world. Both BusinessWeek and The Wall Street Journal highlighted this new reality in September.

In fact, the United States now leads Europe in only one category—its military power. In every other respect, the EU is more powerful.

As Washington Post bureau chief T.R. Reid put it in his 2004 book The United States of Europe: "The new United States of Europe—to use Winston Churchill's phrase—has more people, more wealth, and more trade than the United States of America. The New Europe cannot match American military strength (and doesn't want to, for that matter). But it has more votes in every international organization than the United States, and it gives away far more money in development aid. The result is global economic and political clout that makes the European Union exactly what its leaders want it to be: a second superpower that can stand on equal footing with the United States" (p. 1).

Is it time for Europe to wake up?

Five years later, a cover on the British magazine The Economist showed a sleeping Europa (the female symbol of Europe), about to be awakened by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with words that accurately sum up Europe's condition: "Eight wasted years. Two useless treaties. Three No votes. Ignored by China and America. But still the world's biggest economy. Will somebody please...Wake Europe Up!" (Oct. 10, 2009).

Tony Blair has been seen as a leading candidate to be the EU's first executive president, a position to be created now that all 27 member countries have signed the Lisbon Treaty. The treaty provides for a new, streamlined Europe, with its own president and foreign minister. It will also create a diplomatic service for the Union, giving it much greater clout around the world.

"The European project has spent too many of its first 50 years looking inwards: building the single market, sorting out institutions, arguing about money, endlessly negotiating treaties. In the next 50 years it should look outwards more. At present Europe is a weak actor on a stage dominated by America and China; India and Brazil are in the wings. Can this change?" ("Wake Up Europe!" The Economist, Oct. 10, 2009).

Perhaps a more important question is, Does the world want to see Europe rise again?

The final resurrection of the Roman Empire

Earlier articles in this series have shown the various revivals of the Roman Empire through the centuries and the church-state connection that has factored in all of them.

"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains [seven powerful empires] on which the woman [the false religious system centered in Rome] sits. There are also seven kings [seven revivals of the ancient Roman Empire]. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time" (Revelation 17:9-10).

Justinian, Charlemagne, Otto the Great, Charles V, Napoleon and Hitler are the key leaders of the first six revivals of the Roman Empire. "And the other has not yet come." Verses 12-14 help us understand that the final revival is immediately before the second coming of the Messiah: "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings."

The EU is not the final resurrection of the Roman Empire, but it will likely lead to it.

The European Union currently has 27 members. More are likely to join. The growth of the EU is one of its greatest success stories. It's an idea whose time has come. Its biggest problem is managing its potential growth as more nations try to join.

But the Bible clearly shows that the final prophesied Beast power is a union of "ten kings" (or leaders). This could mean that 10 of the present member nations will form a full military and political union, led by a supreme leader referred to in the Scriptures as "the beast."

It could also mean that Europe's political boundaries will be redrawn, creating 10 regions that will then choose their own leaders who, in turn, will choose the supreme leader over them all. A proposal along these lines was suggested a few years ago as an attempt to dampen ethnic and linguistic loyalties that have stalled the European project.

Another possibility is a repeat of the 1930s when democracies failed to solve the Great Depression and people turned to dictatorships.

There is a sense of urgency in this pivotal chapter of the book of Revelation, suggesting that the final European revival will come about as a matter of urgent necessity.

Daniel 11:40 prophesies a coming clash of civilizations between a revived "king of the North" and "king of the South," the latter likely an Islamic power, a successor to the ancient Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. The "king of the North" was based north of Jerusalem in the third and second centuries B.C., and was finally taken over by Rome. Its future revival would be fulfilled by a revived Roman Empire whose tentacles reach into the Middle East.

Decline of the United States

It could also be that the urgent need for a fully united Europe comes about as a consequence of something bad befalling the United States, such as an economic collapse or a major terrorist attack.

It is clear that economic power, and thus political clout, is passing from the United States to Europe, China and other parts of the world. At the time of writing, one euro is worth about $1.50 and there is increasing speculation on the dollar's future as the world's reserve currency.

Robert Fisk wrote in The Independent of a plan by the Russians, Chinese and Mideast oil-producing countries to replace the dollar as the unit for pricing oil. The world is increasingly realizing that the United States is less than serious about living within its means, thereby slowly eroding the value of its currency.

"In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning—along with China, Russia, Japan and France—to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council" ("The Demise of the Dollar," Oct. 6, 2009).

Mr. Fisk added: "The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. 'One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations,' he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings...of the IMF and World Bank" (ibid.).

History meets prophecy

On our visit to Germany, we toured both Aachen, Charlemagne's ancient capital, and Trier, the oldest German settlement and former capital of the Northern Roman Empire. The first Catholic emperor of Rome, Constantine, lived there for a time, during which part of the cathedral was built. After Rome withdrew from the area in 400, a "Dark Age" descended upon it, which lasted until Charlemagne four centuries later. Meanwhile, the church kept the idea of Europe alive.

Europe was the major continent of the world for centuries during the colonial era until the end of World War II. Once again, it is set to revive, perhaps as a direct result of the current international financial crisis, which is leading to major changes across the globe.

Historically, economic power has always led to political and military power. As Europe is now the richest region of the world and the world's greatest trading power, it will not be long until this is translated into greater political and military power.

A final revival of the Roman Empire is all set to take place in the not too distant future.