The heads of the two largest European nations—which, ironically, fought each other during the previous World Wars—are calling for a Europe-wide army to protect the continent.
“We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia, and even the United States,” French president Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Europe 1 in early November, as reported by The Washington Times. German Chancellor Angela Merkel mirrored Macron’s call: “What is really important, if we look at the developments of the past year, is that we have to work on a vision of one day creating a real, true European army. Only a stronger Europe is going to defend Europe.”
Since 1949, the defense of Western Europe has largely been the task of the nations that comprise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Established at the end of World War II, the idea was for countries to rely on each other for mutual assistance, with the United States taking the leading role. At the beginning, and for the next forty years or so, the then-Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies were seen as the greatest existential threat to the NATO states.
That threat lessened greatly with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent dismantling of the Soviet empire. And while Russia remains a strong national power, its influence on Europe is today more related to its control of natural gas exports than to military might.
Yet for nearly thirty years, after the end of the so-called “Cold War” between East and West, NATO has remained at the heart of Europe’s defense strategy. That is until the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump on the scene. The American president wants the other members of NATO to contribute more money to the cost of defending their nations. This rankles politicians of many stripes in Europe, and both Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Macron appear to have had just about their fill of such demands.
“What is really important, if we look at the developments of the past year, is that we have to work on a vision of one day creating a real, true European army,” Mrs. Merkel said while addressing the European Parliament. “Europe must take our fate into our own hands if we want to protect our community,” she added.
The history of the past one hundred years or so does not speak well of the times when Europe decided to take their fate into their own hands. Indeed, both the German chancellor and the French president made their remarks about a European army during centennial celebrations marking the end of World War I. That “war to end all wars” did no such thing, as less than 25 years after the 1918 armistice, the Second World War erupted across Europe and into the Pacific nations as well. Millions died, and tens of millions suffered during the conflict.
Following World War II, generations suffered as half of Europe struggled under Soviet domination. Christians in the Warsaw Pact nations (named after a “treaty” imposed by the Soviet Union on its Eastern European satellite states to mimic the NATO alliance) were often subject to intense persecution or were allowed to operate only under the close supervision of the state. Interestingly, Christian faith in these nations flourished while under fire. While the numbers were not always huge, the commitment of Christian believers in these lands was often rock solid. When the opportunity came to toss aside the yoke of state control, it was often dedicated Christians who were at the forefront.
Meanwhile, Western Europe has undergone a continuing crisis of faith. Churches that once reverberated with the message of God’s Word and the prayers of believers are now empty of worship and open chiefly as museums and relics. Belief in the Bible as an authoritative source of guidelines for living has plummeted, creating a culture where for many there are no boundaries.
Ironically, many Europeans are uniting to lobby for nations to declare a weekly “day of rest” that would outlaw businesses opening one day per week and allow workers and their families to be assured of a time they can be together. The European Sunday Alliance says it is “a network of national Sunday Alliances, trade unions, civil society organizations, and religious communities committed to raise awareness of the unique value of synchronized free time for our European societies.”
The Bible says that at the time of the end, when the world’s affairs will wrap up as Jesus returns for His followers, a union of church and state that will not only compel worship, but it will also unleash great fury on the planet. In Daniel 7:7, we read of the metaphor used to describe this amalgamation: “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.”
The apostle John, whose vision of the Apocalypse concludes the New Testament, echoes this in Revelation 13:1: “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”
Whether or not Europe’s news reporters acknowledge it, the calls by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are forerunners of this ultimate uniting. Bible prophecy says this union will not deliver great things for people, but that it will ultimately herald the return of Christ and a millennium of peace and happiness.
You can learn more about the end-time “beast” power in this study with Pastor Doug, A Woman Rides A Beast. It’s a fascinating introduction to the prophecies of Revelation, which may well be fulfilled in your lifetime!