United Europe a pipe dream

European dream ... German Chancellor Angela Merkel

“Germany is strong, Germany is the economic engine and Germany is the anchor of stability in Europe. I say that Germany is putting this strength and this power to use for the well-being of people, not just in Germany but also to help European unity and the global economy.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Merkel said past years had shown that Europe made a mistake by pressing ahead with a monetary union and the creation of the euro 13 years ago, without worrying about the need for closer political integration. She wants euro zone countries to agree to give up more sovereignty over their budgets, convinced that financial market jitters will ease if Europe sets out a road map towards a “fiscal union”.

But many of Germany’s partners, including large neighbour France, are reluctant to do that, setting leaders up for a potential showdown at an EU summit set for June 28-29.

European leaders are following in the step of their fore-fathers in the noble view of a united states of Europe or something close to that. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, the latest recipient of The Charlemagne Prize – a prestigious award for outstanding work on the unification of Europe – urged a move towards a political union in Europe. Some of the award’s illustrious recipients include Tony Blair (1999), US President Bill Clinton (2000), Pope John Paul II (2004) and Angela Merkel (2008).

This is a noble dream indeed but is it achievable? Yes, but in another place at another time and NEVER in this life. Europe will never be united and you can bet your last dime on it. In some places, one could be jailed for treason for making such a statement but I can say it because of my confidence in the Word of God.

Over 2,500 years ago, God appeared to a heathen king of Babylon who had besieged Israel and taken some of its people captive. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. Because he was an idolater, God gave him a dream in which he saw this huge image. Such a thing would command his attention and respect. The head was of gold and below was a body composed of inferior metals descending in value until they reached their basest form in the feet and toes mingled with miry clay. The whole was then dashed to pieces, and made like empty chaff. It was finally blown away where no place could be found for it, after which something durable and of heavenly worth occupied its place.

God was showing us that earthly kingdoms will pass away and the greatness and glory thereof, like a bubble, will break and vanish. Human wisdom never devised so brief a record that embraced so much. Human language never set forth in so few words such great volume of historical truth. The finger of God was here.

“And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others (Daniel 2:40).

This prophecy was discussed fully in my previous article – The Multi-Mineral Man. Suffice it to say the fourth kingdom is the Iron monarchy of Rome. The head of gold represented Babylon, the breast and arms of silver represented Medo-Persia and the belly and thighs of brass represented Greece. The legs of iron represented the Roman Empire. History says that at the opening of the Christian Era, this empire took in the whole of south of Europe, France, England, the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland, the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Greece, not to speak of its possessions in Asia and Africa.

The historian, Gibbon, says of it: “The Empire of the Romans filled the world, and when that empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies… to resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly.”

That is the last time a single person would rule Europe. Watch what happed to the Empire according to the Bible: “Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile (Daniel 2:41-42).”

Rome lost that iron vigour which it possessed to a degree during the first centuries of its existence. Luxury and degeneracy, the destroyer of nations as well as individuals, began to corrode and weaken its iron sinews, and prepared the way for its disintegration into ten kingdoms. After Rome there shall never be another universal Kingdom. Europe will never unite again this side of eternity.

The iron legs of the image terminate in feet and toes. The question therefore naturally arises; do the ten toes of the image represent the ten divisions of the Roman Empire? Yes! The ten nations which were most instrumental in breaking up the Roman Empire are as follows: Alemannians, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons and Lombards. Some kingdoms would be strong others weak (partly strong and partly fragile). Seven of them still exist today in Europe. For example, the Anglo-Saxons became the English, the Franks became the French, the Alemannians became the Germans, and the Lombards became the Italians.

“As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay (Daniel 2:43).” Time and again men have come on the stage of life and dreamed of rearing on these dominions one mighty kingdom. Charlemagne tried it. Charles V tried it. Louis XIV tried it. Napoleon tried it. But neither succeeded. A single verse of prophecy was stronger than all their hosts. “They will not adhere to one another,” says the Word of God. “This has not been,” replies the book of history.

The Little Corporal was not the last to try the experiment though. To avert future conflicts, benevolent rulers resorted to the expediency of intermarriage (they will mingle with the seed of men) to ensure peace and to unite these divided kingdoms into one. By the opening of the twentieth century it was asserted that every ranking hereditary ruler of Europe was related to the British royal family. World War I showed the futility of such attempts. Kaiser Wilhelm, Mussolini, and Hitler all tried it. The same text of scripture stood in their way.

The idea of a united Europe, noble as it is, will remain an illusion ever to be pursued, but never attained. I wish someone would carry this message to Angela Merkel and the rest of them and tell them twice that the Euro political unity will never happen. When God speaks, what mortal arm can defeat His word?

We conclude on a very high note! “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44).”

This indicates that when the kingdom of God is set up, there will exist a plurality of rulers (Presidents and Prime Ministers) in Europe. They will remain in a divided state until Christ comes. One of these days, Christ is coming!

Dear friends, if the previous four kingdoms did come and go as the Bible said, is it not the height of folly to doubt that the fifth one, that of Christ, will also come as He said?  Even so come Lord Jesus.