The Apostle John describes in Revelation 13 a beast rising out of the sea “having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 13:1). He further says, “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed” (Rev. 13:3). The formation of the European Economic Community in 1957 was viewed with interest by many Christians who believed that this was the beginning of the revived Roman Empire (the deadly wound healed) which would be the seat of the beast. As years went on, more countries joined and progress was made toward a customs union and other forms of cooperation. It became known as the European Union (EU) and aimed to allow for the free movement of people, goods, services and capital. By 1999, there was a monetary union and a common currency was formed called the Euro, which began to be used in 2002. At present, the combined population consists of about 500 million persons and, taken as one, is probably the largest economic entity in the world in terms of G.D.P. (gross domestic production).
To the Christian observer, this all seems to indicate that Europe is getting ready for the conditions where one leader, “the Beast” described in Revelation 13, can take control, and it indicates we are very close to the events that will take place after the coming of the Lord for His church. It is interesting to note that the first Roman Empire consisted of all of present-day southern Europe, Turkey, Israel, parts of Egypt and the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It included many countries that are presently Islamic.
The Financial Condition
Recently, however, the EU has been under stress due to immense sovereign debt levels of some members, caused in part by the Credit Crisis of 2008. The recent recession has caused the weaker countries in the EU to have government deficits that are far greater than those allowed by the treaties they signed when they joined the EU. Running large deficits for years has forced weaker countries to borrow significant amounts, which they did, and much of this has been loaned by the stronger members of the EU.
It is probably true that some of those countries were dishonest about their financial condition when they joined the EU. Because they now share one currency, the weaker countries do not have a currency of their own to devalue, which is the normal solution to a weak economy with foreign debts. This condition is beginning to cause great stress as the leaders grapple with the problem of how to proceed. The population in the strong countries is voicing their unwillingness to lend more to weaker countries such as Greece and Spain. Yet the leaders realize that, having already loaned vast amounts, if they abandon these countries, they would suffer catastrophic losses in their banking system, possibly causing a crisis which could rival or be worse than that of 2008.
These are very stressful times in the financial world; the problems in Europe are extremely complex and will require great skill to solve, if, in fact, they can be solved democratically. There are no easy solutions. What a time for a strong leader to emerge! It truly seems that we are entering a period where the world needs extraordinary solutions to the many crises that exist.
Fragile Standard of Living
From a different standpoint, the developed world in this twenty-first century is very vulnerable to shocks that would plunge it into crisis. Technological advances have raised the standards of living to amazing levels. The converse of this is that countries are globally interdependent and problems such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes can drastically shut down economies. Consider the Internet which is vital today to most businesses that provide our daily living necessities. Can we imagine what would happen if there were a power outage that covered North America or Europe, that was more than temporary? It is apparent that something like this will occur during the tribulation (Rev. 6:8) and plunge the world into starvation and violence such as has never been seen.
In conclusion, we see Europe facing very complicated issues that will require a strong leader to impose the needed solutions. Second, the world is very dependent upon technology in everyday life, yet the foundations of this society are extremely fragile and vulnerable. There has never been a time when conditions in the world have been so set for what we understand will occur after the Lord returns to take His heavenly people home. May we say from the bottom of our hearts, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
D. Berry