[Darris McNeely] Well, it's finally official. On January 31st, the United Kingdom will exit officially the European Union, Brexit will be accomplished. The papers have already been signed. Nearly 4 years ago, in June of 2016, 51% of the people in the United Kingdom voted to leave the Union, and it has taken all this time to get it done, it's brought down two governments. And, finally, now it has happened, and it's just a matter of sorting out a few other details. Well, probably a lot of other details at this time. And then, we'll go from there.

Now, nobody can really predict exactly what will happen. There've been a lot of dire predictions for the world economy, for Great Britain, for the European Union. One thing is for certain, the European Union will be changed. Britain is the second-largest economy in that union. They'll no longer be officially a part of it, though they'll continue to trade with it. But the EU has other problems with nations like Hungary, and Poland, and even Italy. Italy is proposing to set up their own currency so that they can manage their particular financial problems on their own, and this would be separate from the Euro. The future of the EU is rather rocky. It will likely reconfigure itself in some other way going into the future.

At the heart of this Brexit issue and at the heart of even some of the ongoing problems with Europe is this issue called identity, a national identity, the heart of why the U.K. decided to come out as to maintain the integrity of their nationality and their own identity. In fact, this issue of nationalism is the driving issue at the moment on so many areas of the world, whether it's the United States, the Middle East, Latin America, or Europe, the idea of a sovereign nation maintaining its own identity apart from a larger multinational, supernational institution like the EU. And this is something we're, frankly, going to see more of. And the ramifications of it actually do tie into a very important statement that was made by Jesus Christ and is all of that prophecy.

In Matthew 24 where when Christ was asked what would be the signs of Your coming and of the end of the age, He made a statement that, in essence, we are watching and seeing right now in the headlines of the Brexit idea and other problems. Christ said, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." Nation will rise against nation. That's speaking about nations like the EU, or Poland, or a Latin American nation who has a singular identity based on their ethnicity, their language, their culture, the very things that are never really erased when it comes to joining something larger like the United Nations or the European Union. A German, a Pole, a Latin American, an Arab, an American, a Britain, they all still have certain identities. And history and the Bible shows that those endure. And, yes, they have been the cause of conflicts, and, yes, the EU was brought together to try to prevent that from erupting into large global war again, and it has succeeded in large measure in the last 70 years, but it is still there, always bubbling under the surface. And Christ's word tells us that it will be a problem that will lead to these signs that will come before His second coming.

And so, as we look at what is happening with Brexit, understand it within that context. We'll see what happens going forward from here. But it is something to note as we look at the words of Christ and this very important prophecy in Matthew 24.

That's "BT Daily." Join us next time.