People don't spend much time thinking about Europe, we tend to be more interested in what's happening in our neighborhood, the price of housing, or the unemployment rate or what the local sports team is doing and I understand why this is so.

When we do think about Europe it may be to remember a long ago war or maybe a once in a lifetime visit. Europe is considered by many to be a museum of the past or a place where terrorist can easily board planes bound for the United States with explosives strapped to their bodies.

Yet, Europe moves relentlessly forward toward a centuries long destiny that will one day soon have a dramatic impact on your life. Stay with us as we look beyond today's headlines and consider Europe, a new super power on the rise.

I have long had an interest in Europe. In school we spent time studying the geography and the culture of Europe. I had an elementary teacher who made it all seem like an interesting and fascinating place. She had traveled to Europe many times. And one day she brought into class a selection of cheeses from different European countries. That's where I learned the enjoyment and the blessings of a red wax wrapped cheese from Holland called Gouda cheese. Years later I discovered things like Swiss chocolate and other imported items.

I told myself I had to see Europe for myself which I have been able to do a few times over the years. I've read a lot about Europe, I subscribe to publications that talk about Europe, this magazine The Economist that comes from Great Britain. I take a daily newspaper also published in Great Britain called the Financial Times. I've read a number of books over the years such as this one here by Norman Davies, a very thick book a very heavy book called Europe.

You know you should learn more about Europe as well.

Why? Because Bible prophecy describes Europe today and most importantly in the future.

Europe is going to play a major role in your life whether you realize it or not. A lot of people today down play the role of Europe in world affairs and you know that's kind of strange.

You see at the time that I was a kid, eating the European cheese, no one really feared or worried about Europe as a world power. Back then the big fear was Russia.

The Soviet Union, they had the bomb. They beat us into space with Sputnik. They had a leader, a big bald guy, named Nikita Khrushchev. He would pound his shoe on a desk and he would threaten to bury the United States. Back then our schools were outfitted as civil defense fortresses in the event of a nuclear attack from Europe, from the Soviet Union.

Well guess what? The Soviet Union came apart about 20 years ago. No longer are they threatening us. Now we worry about religious terrorist and attacks from other powers.

And Europe?

Well Europe has slowly built itself into a world power. Germany, its leading nation, rose from the ashes of World War II and today is one of the world's strongest economies. For sometime it has been the world's number one exporting nations surpassing even China with a population 16 times greater.

After World War II, Europe lay in ruins. Germany had twice tried to conquer Europe in a period of 30 years. France had been attacked by Germany three times in the lifetimes of some still living at that time in 1871, in 1914 and again in 1940. But by the 1960's these two ancient nations, Germany and France, who shared origins, went back to one of Europe's greatest monarchs, a man by the name of Charlemagne.

These two nations were determined that they would never again go to war. The former British war time leader, Sir Winston Churchill, spoke of a United States of Europe as the best way for Europe to move forward. Churchill himself had said at the end of the war that Germany would never rise again.

Yet when I was a kid in school, eating the cheese, I started hearing reports and commentary saying that Europe would be a world power and Germany would be the leader of the pack. I remember saying that in a high school history class one day. Everybody including the teacher turned around and looked at me like I was some kind of fool.

Where did I get that information? I got it from a radio program called The World Tomorrow. Its format was much like Beyond Today.

It made the Bible relevant to everyday life. Topics covered Christian living, doctrine and prophecy. It was the programs on prophecy that really tied together what was happening in the world at that time with what the Bible foretold for the future. Now not all the programs were about prophecy but those that were seemed to concentrate in three areas, the decline of the English speaking countries, the rise of a unified Europe and the Middle East as the main focus of Bible prophecy.

More that 40 years later these three main areas of prophetic focus not only remain true today but dominate international news and world affairs as never before.

Let's look at the rise of a unified Europe.

It's happened literally under the radar. The 1960's saw great turmoil and change in both the United States and Great Britain. In the United States, Americans saw race riots, student demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, racism and poverty. In the United Kingdom a new government came to power in 1964 and started dramatically changing laws that had been in effect for centuries. Suddenly abortion, homosexuality and easy divorce were introduced while the death penalty was thrown out. Serious economic problems continued to plague the country.

While in the Middle East, the Arabs and the Israelis went to war for the third time in less than 20 years and the British pulled out of the region after losing an insurrection in the country of Aden.

Meanwhile Europe was starting to come together.

One reason for Germanys post war success has been the growing unity of the European community.

It has been said that in 1945 when the mists of battle cleared a corpse was found lying naked and despoiled in a corner of the field. It was the corpse of Europe. A new Europe has emerged. This Europe, the Western Europe of the European community claims to be more than a continent.

In 1951 Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg formed what was called the European coal and steel community. Six years later these three nations together with West Germany, France and Italy signed the treaty of Rome, pledging themselves to form what they call an ever closer union.

The former European community is now the 27 member European Union reflecting the fact that it is now more than simply a shared or common market. It is also increasingly a political union.

Just recently the Lisbon treaty has been signed by all 27 member countries giving Europe its own president, and its own foreign ministry and diplomatic service. The desire for an ever closer union may have taken more than five decades but Europe is now well on the way of super power status, rivaling the United States.

And yet not even leaders in America understand the potential threat from this rise of the European power. Most see it as a welcome event. It takes some of the burden of leadership from the United States. It is a sad reality that most of us don't pay much attention to world affairs but we ignore this at our own peril.

Why is that? Because one day America will not be the worlds leading nation. That day may be closer than we realize and when it all happens it will change your life and those of your children.

We did an earlier Beyond Today program on Europe. We called it Europe's Long Dream. You can go online to BeyondToday.tv and watch that program.

Today Europe's dream is getting a whole lot closer and a closer look. The near melt down of the American financial system has caused this. Other nations are losing confidence in the American model and are looking for something to replace it.

Will Europe's dream replace the American dream?

In his 2004 book called, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, the American author, Jeremy Rifkin wrote, “The new European dream is powerful because it dares to suggest a new history with an attention to quality of life, sustainability, and peace and harmony. In a sustainable civilization based on quality of life rather than unlimited individual accumulation of wealth, the very material basis of modern progress will be a thing of the past”.

Clearly the European dream has a different emphasis than the American dream. Europe is an idea whose time has clearly come. While the United States is in serious and some would say terminal decline, Europe is striding ahead with an increasing number of countries wanting to join the European Union and others wanting to sign on with trade agreements.

Understanding this subject can be difficult.

The book of Revelation is one part of the Bible that people want to understand but find challenging. Our booklet that we're offering on today's program The Book of Revelation Unveiled, was written to really unlock Revelation's meaning. It is a book you can understand. The message of Revelation is not a mystery. It was not meant to be hidden by God when He gave it through the Apostle John. This booklet, takes you through the book, chapter by chapter. It shows Revelation's divine authority, it shows the destruction of Satan's kingdom and it shows the good news and the hope of God's everlasting kingdom that will be brought to this earth. Go on line to BeyondToday.tv to read or to order your free copy of this free booklet, The Book of Revelation Unveiled. Or call toll free 1-888-886-8632 that's 1-888-886-8632 or go on line to BeyondToday.tv. You will find this a fascinating read to help you understand the book of Revelation.

Now let's come back. Where did this dream of a European unity begin? And why is it important to you?

Why is it that we at Beyond Today feel that you must understand this question. It's a long story with deep roots. Yet it connects to today's headlines. It gives us a glimpse at what lies ahead. Bible prophecy has a great deal to say about Europe.

It was in the court of Charles the Great that the ancient term of Europe was revived. Charles the Great, otherwise known as Charlemagne, crowned by the Pope on Christmas day in the year 800 ad. still inspires the dream of European unification. Charlemagne's kingdom united the French and the Germans, two nations with historic conflict. Their continuing wars helped inspire today's idea of European unity, a desire that the continent should never see another war. Using that criteria alone, the European Union has been very successful.

Europe did not see conflict between nations from 1945 until the 1990's when the Balkans erupted into violence following the breakup of what was called Yugoslavia. Going back to Charlemagne we should understand that his empire was also a response to another threat from the Middle East, the same region that today contains threats to Europe and the west.

Today's tension has ancient roots.

In the year 732 ad. Arabs swept up out of the Middle East invaded Spain and rapidly moved north arriving just outside of Paris only 21 days after setting foot on the continent. Here at the Battle of Poitiers, they were defeated by Charlemagne's grandfather, a man named Charles Martel. The western Christendom of the Roman church was threatened. It's no wonder that Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope. The Pope saw the need for a strong secular leader to protect Europe.

Historian, John Bold, notes that the event was crucial in European history for the revived Western Empire would continue. In mid-evil times Holy as well as Roman and in theory dominate European politics until the days of Charles the V in the 16th century and then continue until 1806 when the Emperor Napoleon abolished it.

Clearly a regular theme has run down through European history, that of a dream for a united Europe.

In fact it goes even further for that. The desire has been a united Christian Europe in tandem with the Church of Rome. It was the Pope, remember, who crowned Charlemagne. It was a Pope who crowned Otto the 1st in 962 ad. Thereby formally establishing the Holy Roman Empire which lasted until 1806 and all of this fulfilled Bible prophecy.

In the biblical book of Revelation we read of two themes running through European history.

We see a relationship between church and state; we also see the constantly difficult relationship between religion and politics. A relationship described in the Bible as one called fornication. Now fornication is a sexual term. It is an uneasy relationship where each partner tries to get from the other, in contrast to marriage and sex within marriage where each is giving to the other. This term of immorality called fornication is a relationship of selfishness, the desire for self gain with little care for the welfare of the other party. It's what God uses to describe the tension between these entities.

In Revelation 17:1-2 the Apostle John saw a vision of how this uneasy relationship between church and state would play out in Europe's history, it reads:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

This is a church, one quite different from the one founded by Jesus Christ, one that sells itself for political power and financial gain. This is the church that model itself on the Roman Empire and after it's fall provided continuity and stability in many areas.

Revelation 17:10 shows and says that there would be seven kings, rulers who would lead major attempts to restore the Roman Empire down through history. The last one, who has not yet come, it says, will lead a final revival immediately before the second coming of Jesus Christ, a final revival of the Roman Empire still ahead.

A final resurrection began with the signing of the treaty of Rome in 1957 to establish the European economic community or the common market. The European Union as constituted at the moment cannot be the seventh and the final revival though it almost certainly will lead directly to it.

Your Bible is clear, that the final revival involves ten kings, today we would call them Presidents, Premiers or Prime Ministers who have received no kingdom as yet but they receive authority for one hour which indicates a very short time as kings with the beast in Revelation 17:12.

This Beast is the title scripture gives to leader of this end time alliance.

Together the rulers forming this alliance will make war with the Lamb, the returning Jesus Christ. This revived Roman Empire is quite different than from its predecessors.

Previous attempts at uniting Europe have been achieved by forced. The European Union in front of us now has achieved the present Union without firing a shot. There is nothing in scripture to suggest anything but an orderly transition to the ten kings at some point in the future. Revelation 17:13 says the ten leaders in this final union will be of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the Beast.

Now why do you need to understand this, why do I need to understand this?

Because your savior, Jesus Christ, tells us to understand the events of our times. World changing events are prophesied in the years ahead. A great time of world deception will occur. God in His mercy always sends warnings in advance such times and the wise will take heed. The headlines of today fit into a larger picture that you can understand from the Bible. Bible prophecy is given us to motivate us to change our life, our behavior to that of Godly righteousness. That is the purpose of prophecy.

Look at what God tells us in Revelation 16:12-16 it says this in speaking of an event in prophecy in the time of the end:

Revelation 16:12 - Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.
Revelation 16:13 - And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14 - For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Revelation 16:15 - "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame."
Revelation 16:16 - And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

It is Revelation 16:15, those are Christ's direct words. He is saying to us today, He's saying understand our world, understand our times, there is more going on than what is happening in your neighborhood and mine. There is a big story going on and it has spiritual dimensions. There is more happening in this world than meets the human eye.

God is in charge of His plan as it unfolds in the life of this world. He is bringing His Kingdom of righteousness to this world and you and I can have the advance understanding that will make dramatic changes for our daily lives.

You can get your life in alignment with the Kingdom of God today. This passage is saying you can live a successful, abundant life in the midst of a world moving toward a crisis point. The keys found in your Bible and the prophecies serve to enlighten and motivate us to reality.

A wise man once said, “Most lead quite lives of desperation.” That my friends is not what God intends. On Beyond Today we speak of prophecy but we don't speak of it as something to use as a scare tactic. No, not at all. When we speak of events transpiring in Europe or the Middle East it is to inform and it is to motivate you to see reality, to see the reality of this world and most of all to turn to God. This is the whole intent of Bible prophecy.

Europe is going to go through many more changes before its dream and its destiny appears plainly. Much will have to happen to the role of the United States in world affairs and all of that is another part of the story.

When you order The Book of Revelation Unveiled, we will also send you free one year subscription to the Good News magazine. This magazine the Good News contains important relevant articles on marriage, on family on what the Bible teaches about the most vital questions concerning your life, how to make sense of today's confusing world news and how to understand the Bible and the post modern society, and most important God's amazing plan for humanity and for you personally. So go on line to BeyondToday.tv to order your free subscription to the Good News magazine or call toll free to 1-888-886-8632 that's 1-888-886-8632, it'll make a world of difference to you, it'll help you understand your world and draw closer to God.

I'm joined now in this segment with our Beyond Today panel, Gary Petty and Steve Myers, both hosts on Beyond Today. Now gentlemen could there be a religious awakening that would cause people to see these things coming out of the ordinary?

(Gary Petty)
You know when you look at European history you'll see that there have been a number of times when religious awakenings and revivals have been driven some of the things that have happened in the history of man, the crusades to begin with where a major religious revival was a part of what drove that. The Reformation which changed the landscape of Europe tremendously was driven by religious revival which created of course the Protestant churches. So this is something that can and will happen again and it's happened over and over in their history.

(Steve Myers)
I think sometimes we feel that maybe in our modern society we are above religion but just go back a few years to 9-11. There was a massive turn to religion when those things began to happen. Yeah it didn't last long but suddenly religion became very important to many people where before it wasn't. And so I think in our modern times you can see how that could happen.

(Darris McNeely)
And Europe it often called a post Christian society they have a Christian culture but they are not practicing in their religion.

(Steve Myers)
You can see it in the Muslim world too; look at what has been going on in Iran in the last 30 years. There's been a massive change there and religion is a lot of what's driving that.

(Gary Petty)
But you know you said that Europe is considered by many to be in a post Christian state but when you look at their culture you cannot separate European Christianity from European culture, they are merged together and that is a foundation and they're never going to totally tear away from that. It's too much part of their history.

(Darris McNeely)
Who could lead or inspire such a system?

(Gary Petty)
It's going to take a charismatic leader. The differences between European countries and European cultures is tremendous. They have come to a lot of unity but they're still, I mean just the language barriers at times. It's going to take somebody who is a charismatic leader that can unite that religion and that culture together.

(Steve Myers)
Yeah, not only charismatic, the Bible even talks about people that can do miracles, do fantastic things people that are remarkable in that sense. That is going to grab people's attention and when you see different things happening that you can't explain, that's going to really get a hold of people.

(Darris McNeely)
Revelation 13 does talk about that, a figure of a beast rising up out of the sea there and other figures. What exactly are we seeing there briefly?

(Steve Myers)
It gets confusing because if you turn to the book of Revelation you're reading about beasts and animals rising up here and all these heads and sometimes we forget the symbolism behind those things and that's where we get to the practical, that's where you can look at what's happening over there right now and see the economic influence they have, to see that there can be personalities that will come to the fore that can take people and lead people. And of course in this case it's going to lead people down the wrong path.

(Gary Petty)
Well you know European history has always been a tension between the secular rulers and the religious rulers, there has always been that tension. When you look at Revelation 13 what you see are two rulers, one is secular, one is religious. They work together. The religious ruler appears to do miracles and gives support to the secular ruler. So Revelation 13 fits just into the whole history in Europe, there's nothing strange about that. The fact that that happens again, that there is a revival of the Roman Empire, that's been a dream ever since the fall of the Roman Empire.

(Darris McNeely)
And it's the only region in the world where what Revelation 13 describes historically occurred, can be traced through history as we showed on the program and could even remotely appear in the future.

(Steve Myers)
Well that's the interesting part because it's in their fabric. You spent a lot of time going through the history of Europe and here it's coming back to the fore all over again. It's there in the sense in that base nature that their going to come back all over again.

(Darris McNeely)
I wonder what events could happen to transform that continent into something completely different in what we see today and even as described.

(Gary Petty)
Lets just think what if Islamic fundamentals starting blowing up Catholic churches and Lutheran churches in Europe. It would motivate people to protect their culture as much as protect religion. Internal economic reasons could drive them to come together. The United States losing its economic power could cause them to be pulled toward this sort of this abyss that we are creating and in doing so, oil is a big factor.

(Darris McNeely)
Let's not forget oil being a key factor.

(Gary Petty)
Oil is a huge factor because central Europe doesn't have much oil and if they don't have oil, their civilization shuts down, there's no cars.

(Steve Myers)
Then you've got those threats from the Mid-East. The Mid-East, we know the Bible focuses on that area of the world.

(Darris McNeely)
Yeah and that's a whole other subject I alluded to in one of my comments in the program. We need to do another program on that just as one of those trends. This program and the World Tomorrow that I mentioned has been doing for decades in really helping to understand world events and Bible prophecy.

(Steve Myers)
Yeah any one of those things could be a trigger to send Europe right toward that destiny the Bible talks about.

(Darris McNeely)
What is currently on the scene is not the last scene of the play, if you will.

(Gary Petty)
No it has to evolve into something different to fit the model of Revelation but the pieces are there for that to happen.

We would like to send you a free copy of The Book of Revelation Unveiled. Now more than ever is the time for you to look into this last book of the Bible that sums up the plan of God. The book of Revelation shows God's triumph over evil and the coming of a better world. It shows you vital keys to God's blessing for today. The book of Revelation is written to be understood. It's time you read this book with a fresh view. So go on line to BeyondToday.tv to read or to order your free copy of this booklet, The Book of Revelation Unveiled or call, write down this toll free number 1-888-886-8632 that's 1-888-886-8632 or go on line to BeyondToday.tv. We will also send you a free one year subscription to the Good News magazine. This magazine contains important and relevant articles on marriage and family, what the Bible teaches about the most vital questions concerning your life and how to make sense of today's confusing news and today's world. The Good News magazine, a free subscription waiting for you BeyondToday.tv.

You might want to start paying more attention to what's going on in Europe. Europe is not just a museum of past glory and war. As I learned from studying prophecy it is more than fancy Dutch cheese, Swiss chocolate or imported fashions. Europe is an idea that has endured for centuries. It has a dream that will one day come to pass and awaken the world through events long foretold in Bible prophecy. You will want to be alert with your eyes wide open to understand what's happening and what it means for you. Europe is a power on the rise, keep watching this program for more understanding on this critical subject. When you're looking to understand your future, remember this program, that's Beyond Today. Thanks for watching.