Israel and the EU in Prophecy

Serious Issues Concerning Israel and the EU

Time is running out for Israel as the nations rage against her. And the European Union (EU) is certainly no exception. The EU is one of the prime commercial partners of Israel and has a trade-surplus with Israel in goods and services, link. So why should the EU hurt Israel? Occasionally, the EU even appears to support Israel on the world scene. But the truth is that, in reality, the EU usually opposes Israel:

“On many occasions I feel that both in the UN and the EU that there are biased positions against Israel” [Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Foreign Minister, 2017]

So what are the contentious issues between Israel and the EU? Consider the following EU actions against Israel:

EU Economic Sanctions Against Israel

The EU pursues economic sanctions on Israel because Israel does not agree to unilaterally withdraw behind the 1949 Armistice lines (which never were permanent legal borders anyway). The plan is to punish Israel economically. So, in November 2015, the EU decided to impose a label on goods originating from the so-called ‘Israeli-occupied territories’. Israel’s Economy Ministry estimates the impact will be about $50 million a year (but still only a small sum compared to the $30 billion of goods and services Israel exports to the EU each year, link.

The EU also requires any private Israeli entity that wants to receive funding from the EU to demonstrate that it has no links to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights. Any new agreements between Israel and the EU should include a provision stating that Jewish communities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights are not part of Israel (since the EU deems these areas as “occupied territories”), link, link. The effect is to limit finance for new Israeli settlements in these areas.

Some argue that EU sanctions against Israel make no sense whatsoever. Israel’s imports from the EU exceed its exports to the region by several billion euros, link. So why try to cripple Israel?

EU Political Bias against Israel

One strong gauge of Europe’s negative political attitude towards Israel is its voting record in the United Nations (UN). Europe’s voting at the UN is influenced by the EU and shows a longstanding anti-Israeli bias. Every year the UN General Assembly passes between 18 and 22 anti-Israeli resolutions, and generally speaking the Europeans support these resolutions, link. How many UN resolutions have been passed against Syria or North Korea?

Another example of EU political bias is seen in the frequent condemnations of Israel from Brussels. And sometimes these statements are hypercritical. For example, the EU has called for the investigation of Israel for war crimes, whilst the European court has removed Hamas from the list of terrorist organizations, link, link. So it is not surprising that 63% of the Israeli public feeling that the EU is a weak supporter of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, link.

EU anti-Semitism

There is Israeli concern that anti-Israeli attitudes are deeply-rooted in the EU. Israelis feel that large parts of the EU are anti-Semitic – some 50% of Israeli Jews see Europe as “the hostile anti-Semitic continent”, link. The most anti-Semitic capitals of Europe have been identified as Geneve, Brussels, Paris and London, link.

When it comes to European peoples, a 2015 survey found 12% of the UK population to be anti-Semitic, compared to France 17%, Italy 29%, Spain 29%, Poland 37% and Greece 67%. Jews across Europe are detecting increasing anti-Semitism, with shouts like “death to the Jews” from pro-Palestinian rallies in Belgium, France (Paris suburbs) and Germany, link.

EU wants to Divide Israel

Following the rise of knife and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem in 2015, the EU said that the heart of the matter was the Israeli occupation since 1967, link. The EU does not recognize Israel’s so-called ‘occupation’ of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and favours a Palestinian State embracing these areas. The problem here is that the EU ignores the legal borders of Israel, as defined in Article 80 of the 1945 UN Charter. According to Article 80, even the UN itself is barred from recognizing the “Palestinian Authority” as a new member state! Despite this, the EU insists on ignoring Article 80 in order to make land available for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem:

What we want to achieve is the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State living side by side, in peace and security, with the State of Israel and other neighbours. [European Commission, 2016]

But, besides ignoring the legal situation regarding Israel’s borders, is the EU also being naive? In a recent Stanley Greenberg poll of Palestinians, 62% said their real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state, link. In other words – eliminate the State of Israel! Also, the Bible has stern warnings to all who would divide the land of Israel (Joel 3.2).

EU Separates Jerusalem from Israel

The 1947 UN Resolution 181 called for Jerusalem to be an international city (‘corpus separatum’) – inferring a ‘separate city’ with special legal and political status due to its shared religious importance. The 1947 plan failed and today the international community generally prefers a two-state solution, with Jerusalem the capital of both Israel and Palestine. That said, the EU continues to support the internationalisation of Jerusalem in accordance with the 1947 UN Partition Plan and regards Jerusalem as having the status of corpus separatum, link.

But these views ignore Israel’s right as a state to declare her own capital, Knesset, 1950. Moreover, they ignore, or are not even aware, that Jerusalem is the future location of the King of Israel – Christ.

EU Leads a Future Invasion of Israel

This is a bold statement, even in the light of the foregoing discussion. Can it be justified? Well … yes! The current scenario is building to such an event.

The EU Army

In 2017 the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker outlined the EU future:

On the last point, the European Defence Fund seeks to generate over €5 billion per year after 2020 to develop and procure new military technologies. And it has been proposed that this ‘defense force’ would have “autonomous capacity for action”, link. All this without the consent of the people! This smacks of dictatorship.

French Confirmation:

We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America. We will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army. [Emmanuel Macron, French President, Nov 2018]

Biblical Confirmation: According to a common interpretation of Bible prophecy, a powerful dictator closely associated with the EU or its successor will lead international forces against Israel, and particularly against Jerusalem. This prophetic view sees the EU or its successor as A Revived Roman Empire and the kernel of the last world government (see also The EU in Prophecy). It sees a future Satanically inspired all-powerful political and secular leader as the coordinator of an “all nation” invasion of Israel at the end of this age. As the Bible says:

Who is able to make war with him? (Rev 13.4)

These dramatic charges against the EU are justified in the following discussion.

Israel and the EU: The Biblical Connection
Israel is the Key to Understanding the European Union

Why is the EU so opposed to Israel? Is it more than politics and economics?
Is there a spiritual reason?

The EU political and economic bias against Israel is clear. But why such bias? Is there a mysterious connection between Israel and the EU? Is there a hidden ‘spiritual war’?

The Bible claims there is a spiritual world operating largely unseen in parallel with the observed world. It says there is an on-going spiritual battle between good and evil, between truth and error. So does this spiritual world (as revealed in the biblical text) have anything to say about today’s governments, particularly the move to world government? In fact – it does!

It turns out that what we observe on the world political scene today is a visible manifestation of this battle, and politicians and governments can be seen as pawns in a very powerful spiritual conflict. Like pawns in chess, politicians and governments are being exploited by spiritual forces towards a spiritual goal. This applies particularly to the EU which, according to the Bible, appears to be spear-heading one side of this spiritual conflict. And it is not God’s side!

Key Empires in Prophecy

The key to understanding the real issues behind the EU and moves to a world government lies with the tiny nation of Israel. Surprised? Then let’s look at prophecy found in Daniel chapters 2 and 7. In a vision, the prophet Daniel saw four great empires (or governments) symbolized in a great statue, Fig.1. His vision occurred at the start of the first of these governments (the Babylonian Empire). It is important to realize that the vision was not concerned with most of the nations or empires of history, but only with those nations that would have a direct and serious impact upon the nation, Israel. Specifically, it concerns those empires that severely weakened or effectively destroyed Jewish rule from Jerusalem, starting from the time of Daniel c600 BC.

Historically, in chronological order, these four empires were the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman empires, link. How did they impact Israel?

Here’s the crucial point: As shown in Fig.1, the last of these ruling empires is the Roman Empire. We know this because Daniel chapter 2 verses 34,35 state quite clearly that all forms of secular world government cease when Christ returns:

“A stone (Christ) was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them (removing all remnants of the four empires)” (Dan 2.34)

But how can Christ strike the Roman Empire when it no longer exists? To answer this we note that Daniel’s vision makes it quite clear that the statue’s feet do not symbolize a separate empire – there are only four empires in the vision. In other words, the feet must be related to the historic Roman Empire, and since this is no longer visible, the feet must represent some form of ‘Revived Roman Empire’. The Appendices link this last form of the Roman Empire to the EU.

The Spiritual War surrounding Israel

The four pagan empires in Daniel’s vision were pawns in a spiritual war. They were used by the God of Israel to judge Israel for her disobedience, eventually leading to the scattering of Israel amongst the nations (Deut 28.64). The war intensified with the coming of Yeshua (Jesus), and this is concisely summarized by the following text:

And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron (Rev 12.4-5)

Here, the ‘dragon’ is Satan, the ‘woman’ is the nation Israel, and the ‘Child’ is Jesus (His world rule taking place in the Millennium). Recall that King Herod tried to kill Jesus but His parents had been warned to escape to Egypt (Mat 2.13-18). This same Satanic anger against Israel continues today and up to the end of the age. Spiritual forces oppose the fundamental purpose of Israel in the world – to be God’s witness and bring hope and salvation through the Jewish Messiah – Yeshua (Jesus). And soon the nations will persecute Israel via several Middle East Wars:

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent (Rev 12.13-14)

Who will Lead this Final Assault against Israel?

Daniel 7.19-25 associates a powerful leader with the fourth (revived Roman) empire. He speaks pompous words against the God of Israel and makes war against ‘the saints’ (God’s people). Revelation chapter 13 expands on this prophecy and calls this leader ‘a beast’. This person (or political system) embodies the characteristics of the three previous pagan empires – the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Greek empires (Rev 13.2) – again implying that this despicable leader or system has strong links to the Roman Empire.

The Appendices outline how this persecuting leader or political system is strongly related to the EU. At the outset we note that the EU is already biased against Israel, is looking for an “all-powerful” leader, is forming an EU army independent of NATO, and does not have God in its Constitution, link.

APPENDICES

A Revived Roman Empire in Prophecy

As shown in the statue (Fig.1), the last of these governments is the Roman Empire! History shows this came and went. Or did it? The strong prophetic implication is that the Roman Empire exists in some form at the time of the return of Christ since it is Christ who destroys it (Dan 2.34). But wait a minute – didn’t tyrannical Roman rule over Israel end around 313 AD with the creation of the Byzantine form of the Roman Empire? Yes … and no. The point here is that Daniel’s prophecies strongly imply that a form of the ancient Roman Empire will emerge in its historical crushing and controlling form at the end of this age.

The book of Revelation fills in the prophetic picture by adding more detail to Daniel’s vision. It speaks about seven empires (or kings):

They are also seven kings: five dead, one living, the other not yet here — and when he does come his time will be brief (Rev 17.10)

These empires can be identified as the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman empires, with one to come. The “one living” was the Roman Empire. But what about the one to come?. Taken with Dan 2 and Dan 7, this suggests that the one to come must be a revived form of the historic Roman Empire. How else can Christ strike it and destroy it? Revelation 13 endorses this view and refers to the final empire as ‘the beast’, an empire born out of previous empires:

The beast I saw resembled a leopard (Greek Empire), but had feet like those of a bear (Medo-Persian Empire) and a mouth like that of a lion (Babylonian Empire) (Rev 13.2)

Revelation 13 goes on to describe a crushing world government with complete control over individuals (Rev 13.16-17). So let’s take a look at Europe today and see if the EU is a close fit with Bible prophecy. In particular we ask: “Is the EU the kernel of the final form of Daniel’s fourth and last empire?” In other words “Is the EU strongly connected to ancient Rome?” We also ask: “Will the EU head up an end-time invasion of Israel (as implied in Daniel’s vision of a ‘crushing Rome’)?”

Connecting the EU with a Revived Roman Empire

The Treaty Connection

Historically, the city of Rome was the center of the ancient Roman Empire (the fourth empire of Daniel’s vision). At its peak Rome was declared “caput Mundi i.e. the capital of the world, and that meant total rule over the people of Israel. Recall that the Jewish Temple and the rest of Jerusalem were reduced to rubble by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 AD.

Coming to modern times, the Treaty of Rome was signed in March 1957 and its purpose was to set up the European Economic Community (EEC). Recalling that day, an aide to the Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak recalled the mood after the signing of the treaty:

“Spaak turned to us and said ‘Do you think we have today been putting the first stone of a new Roman Empire, and this time without firing a shot?” [TIME June 13, 2005]

Even after the advent of the EU in 1993, the Treaty of Rome still remained one of the EU’s core documents, and so many see the Treaty of Rome as the seedling of the EU.

It is interesting that the seed of the EU was signed in Rome, the seat of historic Rome! But the exact location of the signing is even more intriguing. The location suggests the EU has sinister roots. It was signed in the Palazzo dei Conservatori (Palazzi di Campidoglio) on Capitoline Hill in Rome. Capitoline Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome and was the citadel of the earliest Romans, link. So this hill once housed the offices of the Roman Senator and of the Conservatori (his assistants). It also housed the Temple to Jupiter, link and every year the Roman Senate held their first meeting in the Temple. Jupiter was the protector, the ‘Conservator’ of Rome. Moreover, Jupiter was the Roman successor to the Zeus and the altar to Zeus in Pergamos is described as Satan’s Throne (Rev 2.13).

The Religious Connection

Charlemagne (c800 AD) envisaged a unified Christian Empire – a Holy Roman Empire, link. Other leaders had that vision after him and today the EU works very closely with the Vatican (Rev 17.3-9). We note that the strange ‘Europa and the bull’ symbol – a woman riding a beast (Rev 17.3) – is common throughout the EU. Some believe it symbolizes an ecclesiastical system riding (and by implication, controlling) a secular governmental system. And rather than believe the official explanation, some believe that the EU flag (12 golden stars on a blue background) actually reflects a Roman Catholic interpretation of Rev 12.1.

The Strong & the Weak: the ‘Iron & Clay’ Connection

Here the resemblance of the EU to Daniel’s fourth empire (Rome) is astounding. In one sense the EU is strong. Its constitution claims ‘absolute power’ over member states. In other words, EU law has supremacy over the law of member states, just like the devouring uncontrollable beast seen by Daniel (Dan 7.19). Like ancient Rome, this system seems ‘strong as iron’ (Dan 2.41), dominating member states. Just as ancient Rome granted full citizenship to provincials en masse to secure their loyalty, the 1992 EU Maastricht Treaty forced all citizens of member states to become citizens of the EU.

On the other hand, the EU has a fundamental weakness in that member states tend not to adhere to each other. Generally speaking they do not cooperate. The Bible implies exactly that when referring to Daniel’s fourth empire:

Just as the toes of the feet were part ceramic and part iron, it will end up a mixed bag of the breakable and unbreakable. That kingdom won’t bond, won’t hold together any more than iron and clay hold together (Dan 2.43)

The ‘Defiance of God’ Connection

Babylon originated as the city of Babel and quickly degenerated into idolatry. Babel is well known for its (unfinished) tower, Nimrod’s monument to the greatness of man rather than God. Today, the EU Parliament building in Strasbourg is modeled on this biblical structure, with a clear ‘unfinished’ appearance.

An old EU poster, known as ‘the construction site poster’, showed a painting of the partly constructed tower of Babel, with a crane in the background. It showed inverted stars above the tower (an inverted star is a witchcraft symbol) and the logo was ‘EUROPE: MANY TONGUES ONE VOICE’. This glorification of man and unification against God is precisely why God destroyed man’s efforts in Gen 11. A repeat performance is prophesied at the end of the age.

Also, the pagan Pergamon Altar now resides in restored form in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. In Roman times, Pergamum (Pergamon) was the center of the imperial pagan religion and Christ saw it as the place of Satan’s throne (Rev 2.13). So a pagan altar from Satan’s throne is now on show in the EU!

Finally, the EU Constitution omits the word ‘God’, and prophecy indicates that the EU will be led by one who exalts himself above God (Dan 11.37). This same despicable person disrupts life in Israel by removing Jewish sacrifices (Dan 11.31) and places his palace in the land of Israel:

He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him (Dan 11.45)

In this sense, end-time Israel will indeed be ruled by a successor to ancient Rome, albeit for a short time only (see below).

The Crushing World Government Connection

As discussed, a common prophetic interpretation of the feet and toes of ‘iron and clay’ in Dan 2.33,42 is that they symbolize the revived Roman Empire viz the EU and the heart of an all-powerful and crushing world government (Rev 13.4). Elsewhere this godless world system is described as a ‘ten-horned beast’ born out of the historical Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires (Dan 7.19,20, Rev 13.2). It is this ‘beast’ which persecutes Israel at the very end of this age (Dan 7.25) and is elsewhere described as ‘Jacob’s trouble’ (Jer 30.7). We note that the Club of Rome and the UN see the world divided into ten political-economic regions, link. See a map of these regions.

Thankfully, as already mentioned, this crushing world government will be short-lived (Rev 13.5, Rev 17.10) as the feet of iron and clay are struck and broken at the Second Coming of Christ (Dan 2.34). The EU and all remnants of godless world government will be removed forever (Dan 2.35, Dan 7.11,26, Rev 19.20).

This YouTube video explains much of what we have discussed and clearly shows the deep and sinister roots of a world government centered on the EU:

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