Followers of Bible prophecy see the possibility of a major prophetic fulfillment in the making.

Is a global depression on the way that will open the opportunity for a prophesied Beast in Europe to acquire dictatorial powers and ignite World War III? Are we drifting toward that final economic, political, and military crisis of Bible prophecy that only Christ's second coming can stop?

Significantly, secular analysts are now using biblical imagery in their descriptions of the present crisis: an abyss, financial Armageddon, the Beast, and the end of the world as we know it.

The swift destruction of global wealth is already the greatest financial crisis of modern history. "Even the experts don't quite know what's going on" said President Obama's chief economic advisor Paul Volcker in a speech in New York City on Feb. 20, 2009.

Many economic experts agree with former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Volcker, who also said the global financial crisis may be "worse than the Great Depression." Speaking about the collapse of world trade and manufacturing outside the U.S. Volcker continued, "I don't remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast" (CNBC). Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance in Boston, remarked: "There's a little bit of panic out there" (Reuters).

Not yet appreciated in the United States, Europe's continental powers at the center of the EU are feeling a gigantic blast of cold air as the economic structure of Eastern Europe freezes up. Ominous financial deterioration and social instability has begun in Eastern Europe, the region that sparked both World War I and World War II.

On January 13th the parliament of Latvia was stormed and storefronts of the fashionable Riga smashed (BBC Video). The event marked the first violent European riots in protest over the collapse of a national economy. Now, only one month later, the bottom is dropping out of the hyper-leveraged banking structure of the entire region.

European dream turns to European nightmare

Only a year ago, Europeans regarded their eurozone economies and the European Union superior to the fumbling U.S. economy and presidency. The euro was king.

As the subprime crisis spread across the globe large European banks, with a Wall Street presence and outrageous profits from America's residential loans, were hit as hard as American banks, seizing up the flow of credit to Europe's great economies.

Today, Europe's banking structure is on life support, barely breathing from the consequences of investment in overextended U.S. and European residential real estate.

With their banks failing, European national economies are falling like a rock. Germany's GDP is declining at an annual rate of 8%—faster than any other nation of the 7 largest global economies and more than twice as fast as in the U.S. Commentators note that this can make people pour into the streets, as in Latvia, and make dramatic shifts to the far right in national elections.

Now consider the crushing blow that could shatter the delicate European financial system or bankrupt national balance sheets. In an intertwined relationship with most of Europe's banks, a financial black plague of defaults on toxic real estate and business loans in Eastern Europe (totaling $1.7 trillion) is spreading West by the day. Even this is only a fraction of the $5 trillion in risky toxic loans to developing nations, such as Turkey and Pakistan, rotting on their books.

What comes next could overwhelm the economic viability of Western Europe, threatening its total financial infrastructure, including the euro. Germany's leadership understands this precarious moment. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said recently at a private bank event in Frankfort, "There's a rumor going around that states cannot go bankrupt … This rumor is not true."

Germany at fork in the road

Germany has come to a foreboding fork in the road. It must choose. Either path may lead to chaos, a condition Germans deplore.

To support the euro, Germany could nationally guarantee new bonds or special drawing rights through the IMF to rescue failing banks and the weaker EU economies of Ireland, Spain, Greece, Italy and Austria whose national banks and budgets are bankrupt or out of control. Hyper inflation or even a bankrupt Germany could result if economies continue to deteriorate and the euro has to monetize the trillions of additional debt. 

Or Germany could refuse to bail out everyone in need—surrounding itself with bankrupt European states with failed banking systems.

Only God knows where this will lead. Great Depression 2.0? World War III? Armageddon? The return of Christ? For more on the prophetic significance of these events, read online or subscribe to our free monthly publication, World News and Prophecy.