King Blair and The Beast

by Michael G. Mickey

(1-13-08)

In one my most recent commentaries I speculated concerning rumors that Saturday's (1-12-08) speech by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the man who is presently laying the foundations for a Palestinian state to be born on Israel's covenant lands while acting as Middle East envoy to the Quartet, could set the stage for him to begin a campaign to be the first president of the revived Roman empire of Bible prophecy we today call the European Union. As seen in a Reuters report, it appears that is exactly what occurred in the opinion of many.

The following are some highlights from Blair's speech as presented in the Reuters report:

"Europe is not a question of left or right, but a question of the future or the past, of strength or weakness," said Blair, speaking in French.

"Terrorism, security, immigration, organized crime, energy, the environment, science, biotechnology and higher education. In all these areas, and others, we are much stronger and able to deliver what our citizens expect from us as individual nations if we are part of a strong and united Europe," Blair said.

Following Blair's speech, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose star is rising fast in the European Union, stopped short of actually endorsing Mr. Blair for the position but did refer to him as one of "Europe's greats." Sarkozy is quoted in the report as saying, "When we appoint this president of the European Union, I want us to set the bar high and not aim for the lowest common denominator."

Could the first ever EU president, whoever that turns out to be, be the prophesied son of perdition? No one knows but the timing of that powerful position potentially being filled - at a moment when the West's most influential leaders are pushing for the creation of a Palestinian state no less - is intriguing at the very least.

The Beast: Is it ready to be what prophecy tells us it will be?

Daniel 7:19: Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

When most of us think of the European Union, we find this description out of place. Most of us, in light of its attitude toward Iran's nuclear ambitions and Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, view the EU as pacifistic, passive, diplomatic and the like - anything but an earth-devouring monstrosity! But are we giving the EU too little credit? As I've pointed out before, the European Union is where NATO is headquartered. In fact NATO's HQ is located in Brussels, Belgium, one of two locations the EU Parliament regularly meets as well as where the majority of its foreign policy decisions are made via the office of Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

While I wholly anticipated Tony Blair's speech would be noteworthy, what I didn't expect to see was a vision of a European Union like the one envisioned in Daniel 7:19 to be conjured on the same day.

Nicolas Sarkozy, who has shockingly rattled France's saber at Iran concerning its nuclear ambitions, called for a militarization of the EU to occur.

Sarkozy said, in part, "Europe can't be an area of 450 million people and one of the richest in the world and rely for its protection on either chance or the United States." He added, "I am a friend of the United States but I insist that Europe give itself autonomous means to defend itself because if one is not capable of this, one is not capable of assuming one's independence."

This statement on the part of Sarkozy will undoubtedly create concerns in Washington as a united European Union military could mean the end of NATO, further isolating the United States in a world that largely disagrees with its foreign policies.

Conclusion

Day by day, week by week, we see foreshadowing of all that prophecy tells us is ultimately going to occur. We see issues of interest developing in the world around us near daily in fact! Sometimes issues we presently see coming into view, like REAL ID for example, seem to foreshadow developments that will reach their full potential deep inside the Tribulation Period to come, well after the Rapture of the Church has occurred. Because this is true, we should be reaching out to a lost and dying world with an unprecedented passion for the lost, pointing them toward the only One who can save them from a wrath that many of us believe is soon going to fall upon a wicked world that has forgotten its God.

For the Christian, what we're seeing unfold holds hope of a brighter day coming, potentially very soon. For the lost, however? The foreseeable future is anything but bright it appears from my perspective. Therefore, we need to find those who are lost however we can and ask them the most important question we possibly can in these final hours of the Church Age: Are you GOOD enough to get to heaven without Jesus Christ?