[Steve Myers] You won’t hear it in the news, but perhaps you’ve sensed it. Some are pushing for globalism. Globalism is an idea that all people, from all cultures should be a part of a united global community rather than separated, nationalistic states as we have now.

Yet, we saw headlines contrary to one world government in 2016. Britain shocked the world, and perhaps even themselves, by voting to exit the European Union. Then, in 2017, France considered anti-globalist candidate Marine Le Pen, but then relented.

Some have described the mood of our time as a “civil war” of extremely different ideas of government.

What would have to happen for “one world” government to become reality? Here at the European Parliament in Brussels, some wonder if unity is just a dream. Like Napoleon’s ambition for a European Empire, will it fade once again? Could the EU collapse and come crashing down? Or could something else be on the horizon?

Bible prophecy reveals the answer. Did you know that Scripture tells us what lies ahead for the European Union and globalism?

You need to know how the aspirations of Napoleon, Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire were actually key developments in Bible prophecy and how the political, economic and perhaps most importantly, the religious issues will develop and affect you and your family.

Stay tuned to this special edition of Beyond Today as we examine the Beast and the False Prophet.

The Europa sculpture is a reminder that European unity has been a goal for over 1,500 years. Here the statue shows Europa being carried by a multitude of people that have come together. It’s reminiscent of the story of Zeus carrying her off in the mythological stories but here we see her proudly holding an "E," not only the sign for the Euro but a symbol of unity.

The truth is Europe will truly unite in the future. Like the diverse group carrying her here they’re all united, all joined, in carrying the one who represents their continent. The Bible predicts Europe will become an intimidating global power. But it won’t happen peacefully and it will come at considerable cost. This unity won’t be an entirely perfect mix, but Europe will unite to become a formidable world power.

Will it really happen? No doubt. The history of Europe even reflects this desire. A united empire happened here in the past and it will happen again. But even more important is the fact that Bible prophecy proclaims this will definitely occur.

In the book of Revelation chapter 13, we read about an end-time Beast. We also see the rise of a great false religious leader. What does it mean? The Beast and the false prophet are closely linked to Europe and the prophesied end-time revival of the Roman Empire.

This is a prophecy about your future. How will it come about and how will it affect the political scene we see today? It may even seem unlikely to you. But not when you remember that the roots of Europe are steeped in religion, and to religion it will return.

Today, we hear about the struggles that Europe faces, maybe more than anything. Stories of the challenges of the economy and immigration are on the front page.

Yet as a new Europe emerges, this beast representing a final empire, a last superpower will emerge and it will have widespread and dramatic consequences for the whole world.

It is imminent. There will be a revival of the Roman Empire and it will come about from here, from Europe.

What exactly was the Holy Roman Empire? What would a resurrected Empire look like and what would it mean for our world today? Don’t forget about the critical biblical connection.

In a moment, we’ll see how Europe’s history, even Napoleon himself, is a key link in understanding the connection to future fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

To really understand the significance we have to check out the past. By examining history and prophecy we can begin to recognize intimidating power. What does that kind of frightening control and influence look like? It happens when church and state are combined. As we look back we recognize how and when those two dominant elements of government and religion united in the past to have fearsome power. That then gives us a glimpse of the future, the not too distant future, of a powerful European revival and an indication of what it will mean for the entire world.

God tells us His prophetic Word is sure: “I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand’” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

There is no doubt that the God of the Bible is the ultimate authority in the affairs of mankind. Do you realize that God sanctions the rise and fall of human empires and nations? That means that no developments in international affairs escape Him. Your Bible clearly shows that God is supreme in ruling the affairs of men.

Imagine this for a moment. If the Holy Roman Empire was predicted in the Bible long before it existed, wouldn’t it point to a supreme being, a loving God? One who is capable of intervening in human affairs and impacting world history and your life as well? Shortly, we’ll see that the Holy Roman Empire, even Charlemagne and Napoleon, are a part of fulfilled prophecy and this gives undeniable evidence of God’s existence.

Prophecy in the Bible is an invaluable resource for understanding world events and more importantly, for preparing for them.

So, was the Holy Roman Empire prophesied in the Bible? Let’s begin in Daniel 2 by seeing the story of history as told in an emperor’s dream.

This is an exhibit in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. It’s known for its reconstructions of large structures. One of its most famous is the Ishtar gate.

This was an entry gate over the main thoroughfare into the inner city of Babylon - the ancient Mesopotamian city in what is today Iraq. It was constructed over 2500 years ago, 575 BCE, by order of King Nebuchadnezzar on the north side of the city. The connection to our story of world ruling empires begins here with a king’s dream.

That dream is recorded for us in Daniel chapter 2 and it represented future world ruling empires from Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian Empire until “the latter days’ when Jesus Christ will return to set up the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:28; Daniel 2:38; Daniel 2:44-45).

These same empires are pictured in Daniel 7 as “four great beasts:” a lion, a bear, a leopard and "a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible" (Daniel 7:3-7; Daniel 7:17). These four match the four parts of the image in Daniel 2, and represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman empires.

Not only are there wild beast pictured on these walls, dragons, bulls even lions, but in a different dream, a dream that Daniel himself had, he is told what those other wild beasts represent. If we consider what a beast is that’s wild, what is it like? It’s a dangerous animal. So Daniel describes the last one this way: "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns" Daniel 7:7.

This last beast is also described in Revelation 13: “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast” (Revelation 13;1; Revelation 13:3).

These are one in the same beast. Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 coincide. This beast is the empire that is exceedingly dreadful. The one with teeth of iron that devours, and breaks in pieces and tramples. The Roman Empire. But there’s more. There is more than one revival of this kingdom.

Notice Revelation 17:9. It says that the “seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. (Revelation 17:10) “There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.”

What is a mountain in biblical language? A mountain is a symbol for a nation or a kingdom (Isaiah 2:2-3).

The apostle John compares the Holy Roman Empire to a mountain range made up of seven mountains. These peaks represent revivals or resurrections of the Roman Empire with one more revival yet to come.

The valleys between the mountains show that these 7 versions of the Holy Roman Empire are successive. They follow one after another and do not exist at the same time.

That’s where Napoleon fits in. We’ll see in a moment how his distinction as one of the heads who ruled over one of the revivals of the Holy Roman Empire.

Napoleon Bonaparte is remembered as one of the most significant men in history. More books have been written about him than almost any other historical figure. History shows that his kingdom was the 5th revival of the Holy Roman Empire.

I’m standing where his revival of the Holy Roman Empire actually came to an end, where the battle of Waterloo took place.

As we step back to the beginning of his restoration of the Empire, Napoleon establishes the unity of Europe with Rome and Charlemagne as his inspiration.

He did something that the Bible predicted he would do. He entered into a concordant with the Roman Catholic Church. This agreement reestablished relations that had been broken at the time of the revolution. It reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France.

Believe it or not, this treaty even gave Napoleon the power to nominate bishops. So once again, the church of Rome was involved in the politics of Europe.

The prophecy of Revelation 17 was once again proving true. It predicted that “a woman [would be] sitting on a scarlet beast” (Revelation 17:3). In biblical language she represents a religion, or a church. This woman is “arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls” (Revelation 17:4).

So, verse 4 says she’s a wealthy and famous religion, known and honored by people around the globe. Just imagine the scene: this woman sitting, riding or guiding the beast. In other words, this religion involves itself in the affairs of kings and empires. It’s a power player in international affairs. This church, this woman, uses her influence over each revival of the Roman Empire including Napoleon’s.

History shows that he followed in Charlemagne's footsteps. Napoleon was crowned in the presence of the pope on Dec. 2, 1804, the coronation taking place in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He famously took the crown from the pope and placed it on his own head.

The Bible says that all of the prophetic kings, or kingdoms, are inspired by the woman. This church, this woman, has her influence on each of the revived versions of the empire. When you study history you’ll find that there’s a match, a match describing the Holy Roman Empire. It was true for Napoleon as well. Let’s go inside.

Inside the Rotunda at Waterloo we see this amazing panoramic painting that depicts the epic battle that took place on the fields around this rotunda. You can see Napoleon on his white horse surrounded by his staff and so many of the others that were important players in this battle.

How was Napoleon able to get to this point? How was he able to revive the Roman Empire?  A substantial part of the reason Napoleon was his relationship with the Roman Catholic church.

Napoleon made his vision of the political/spiritual relationship between France and the Papacy clear in his writings to the Pope. He wrote, “Your Holiness is sovereign in Rome, his relations with me are the same as those of your predecessors with Charlemagne. You are sovereign in Rome, but I am its emperor.” In another letter, he exhorted the Pope saying, “I am Charlemagne, the sword of the Church and their emperor. And I should be treated as such.”

There is little doubt that the relationship between Napoleon and the Catholic Church was an important aspect of his rule. He recognized the temper of the French people and he understood the strength of their religious devotion. So, he removed any religious motivation for other countries to attack him. By doing so, we find the woman of Revelation 17 riding this version of the Holy Roman Empire.

Napoleon won the support of the wealthy, the nobility, those that were spiritual, as well as the poorer classes who believed their salvation was tied to the Catholic priests. But it wasn’t to last.

Even though he was the 5th revival of the prophesied versions of the Roman Empire and even though French influence extended over Western Europe and even though it ruled over 70 million subjects, it still was to end as predicted by Bible prophecy. The book of Revelation forecasts 7 resurrections of the Roman Empire. There were still two more to follow.

Yet, why would Napoleon make so many obvious and fatal errors in judgment both militarily and politically? The answer to this question: it’s simply greed for power and still more power.

That greed led to the beginning of the end with his earlier campaign in Russia. Napoleon invaded with them with about 600,000 men. Overestimating the ability of his army, logistics, the summer heat and the winter’s cold brought about a monumental defeat leaving less than 1/6th of his army remaining.

Then, within 3 years, he faced his decisive challenge depicted here on the fields around this rotunda. This painting was commissioned for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a beautiful painting by Louis Dumoulin depicting the charge by Marshal Ney and the resistance of the English infantry around the Duke of Wellington. You can clearly see the gory details of the battle. The mud, the horses, the casualties, and the dead.

Looking down on the battlefield it looks like ordinary farmland. Two days before the Battle of Waterloo, the French army had won a strategic victory by routing but not obliterating the Prussian army just 15 miles from here.

These rolling farmlands were soggy after a very rainy night so Napoleon commanded his army to delay the main attacks for several hours in an attempt to allow the waterlogged ground to dry out.

The feverish combat that began at about 1:00 p.m. featured massed French infantry and cavalry attacks that nearly broke through the Anglo-Allied line. But the Prussians arrived around 7:30 in the evening to tip the scales of the battle away from the French. And Napoleon, he was decisively then defeated.

Hard to imagine that over 250,000 men from at least seven nations were involved in the battle. More than 11,000 were left dead and 33,000 wounded. The sad history of what mankind does to itself and his misguided attempts at government.

The Duke of Wellington was the military genius who had thwarted Napoleon’s plans for world conquest. Acknowledging how close Napoleon came to victory, he famously described the Battle of Waterloo as “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.”

It was right here that Bible prophecy would take a giant step forward with the ultimate defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte on June 18, 1815.

The battle ended the centuries-old Anglo-French wars for control over Europe. It also marked the end of the First French Empire’s dominating power over the continent.

With his French army defeated here at Waterloo, Emperor Napoleon abdicated and was sent into his final exile on the island of St. Helena where he died a few years later.

Napoleon's attempt at reviving the Roman Empire was short lived compared to some of the other revivals in history. The saga of the Holy Roman Empire would be put on hold for about a century before another attempt, a 6th revival, would be forced on the world by Mussolini in Italy who formed an alliance with Nazi Germany.

I’m here in Brussels at the headquarters of European Commission, Now of course it’s here that they have the commission that is concerned with economics and financial affairs. Of course when you think of something like that you can’t help but think of money.

Now it’s interesting to note that on the version of the two Euro coin, is a representation of Europa riding the beast. Of course, that’s a Greek story from mythology, but when you think of it from a biblical perspective, Europe riding the beast or Europa riding the bull, it gives us insight into Europe’s past and what lies ahead politically and religiously for Europe in the future.

Do you recognize a resemblance to Revelation 17, the revivals of government and religion working together, like that pictured on this coin of a woman riding the beast? You can also see it and comparing this with history we’re reminded that we haven’t reached the end of the story yet. There is still one more revival to come.

These prophecies of the revivals of the Empire are so important for us all because they show the unique relationship between the church and state, the government and the Roman church.

This relationship was prophesied in the biblical book of Revelation. The Empire was described as a “beast” in Revelation 13 and Daniel 7. But Revelation describes the church as “the image of the beast” (Revelation 13:15). The beast is the political power like the bull and the woman, or Europa, is that false church riding the beast.

The relationship between church and state is described by the Bible as the opposite, the antithesis, of marriage. In marriage, two people give themselves to each other. But Scripture says this church represented by a woman “with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Revelation 17:2).

You see, scripture says the relationship is one of “fornication” (Revelation 17:2). That’s a selfish relationship, with each trying to get from the other. It characterizes the illicit relationship between the Roman church and secular Europe and its leaders down through history, each seeking its own advantage over the other.

Did you also notice that “the inhabitants of the earth [have been] made drunk with the wine of her fornication?” Now that’s saying that the people have been deceived by this false religious system that’s had the backing of secular authorities for most of its existence. So, between the emperors and the popes, the people have been kept under control.

Through time this state-sponsored church evolved and grew in power and became known as the Roman Catholic Church. At times the bishop of Rome, the pope, has had great political power as well as religious authority. Because of this long intimate association between church and state the empire was called the Holy Roman Empire.

It’s also interesting to note that the Roman Church adopted a framework similar to the governmental structure of the old Roman Empire. That is why the Bible and many historians have remarked that the Roman Catholic Church is a mirror image of the Roman Empire.

Scripture says in Revelation 13:11, this church has "two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon." The future implication is that there will be a powerful religious authority claiming to represent Christ but in reality he’s a tool of Satan. This church leader "deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs." He uses them to gain worldwide allegiance (Revelation 13:13-14).

Together with the False Prophet, the political Beast will rule over an impending evil worldwide governmental system that ensnares everything from commercial to cultural and to the spiritual. So watch out for false religious leaders and that world ruling government to come. The false church will be involved in the coming together of this powerful European Union just as it has been down through the ages.

Revelation 17 predicts another revival, the last resurrection of the Roman Empire. 10 leaders will come together in a final union and give power to a single world ruler, who ultimately will even force people to worship him. His government will bring terror on the world to the point that it “will make war with the Lamb” (Revelation 17:4). That’s Christ at His return. Fighting Jesus at His second coming.

The good news is you don’t have to be at risk. Even though this empire and its false religious system will soon be upon us, you don’t have to worry about the future if you will turn and fully trust in God. He tells us in Revelation 18:4, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”

So now’s the time to be spiritually ready and be sure to make every effort to draw closer to God. Then you can look forward to the time when mankind’s government will be brought to an end and Jesus Christ will return and establish God’s Kingdom of love and peace.

Finally, it will come to pass that "the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15). May God speed that day.

For Beyond Today I’m Steve Myers. Thanks for watching.

 

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