Prophecies in Daniel 2 can help us make sense of the rapid changes in Europe. Here are some things to watch.
by John A. Jewell
When Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful king of
the great Babylonian empire, dreamed of an awesome image, he was seeing
world history unfold from his time to the time when Christ would return
to set up God's Kingdom on earth. (See accompanying article, "An
Outline of Future History.")
Today we are most interested in the feet
and 10 toes of the image, which God showed Daniel would exist at the
time when the Kingdom of God would be established. God identifies the
10 toes as 10 kings or authorities, partly strong and partly weak.
Rome, the fourth empire of Nebuchadnezzar's
vision, ruled the world from its European center. The successive manifestations
of that empire through history have also been centered in Europe. We
should be keenly aware of what is developing in Europe, as well as
other regions of the world such as the Middle East.
Since World War II, the nations of Europe
have moved slowly toward unity. From a grouping of six nations, it
has become the European Community, first of 12, now, 15.
A single currency
Now events in Europe appear to be moving
much faster. A further configuration of nations-an inner grouping-has
been in existence for more than a year. If you count Belgium, Holland
and Luxembourg as one power or authority-as the Benelux grouping-there
are nine authorities or groups in this inner configuration that are
now bound together within the single currency.
Greece was originally refused entry, as
it was felt her economy would not be able to stand with the others.
Recently, however, Greece has gotten her act together and has resubmitted
her application to join the single currency. This will be considered
in June with the anticipation that the European Union will admit Greece
to this inner grouping, effectively the 10th member by the end of this
year.
