POSTED 01 JULY, 2003

The Changing Face of the European Union

by J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net

One of the most complex and confusing debates in regard to end-time Bible prophecy is the rise of the antimessiah/antichrist and his one-world government. How will this take place and what government entities and/or multi-national organizations will be involved? Is the rise of the beast and his regime something that is due to occur soon? Or will its rise be more protracted and gradual? These are questions that many are asking right now as the Twenty-First Century presses onward and globalization is on the increase.

Many prophecy teachers believe that the antimessiah will arise out of the old Roman Empire. They are following today’s European integration project very carefully and looking at various individuals who are proverbial “antichrist candidates.” They see that the European Union is evolving into a supra-national entity that will probably one day surpass the United States as a world power. We see that the European Union is already one the world’s largest financial markets,[1] especially with its coming expansion into Eastern Europe, and we are seeing the euro currency already taking some precedence over the U.S. dollar. Are these coincidences and just occurrences? Or are they indicators that we need to be paying attention?

As Americans, many of us exist in too much of an “American bubble.” Too many of us do not follow international affairs and are ignorant of what is going on in the world around us. This is especially true of American Christians, and to a lesser extent Messianics. Sadly, this ignorance of international affairs, especially as it pertains to the European Union, carries over into prophecy teachings so that people have a very inaccurate view of the European Union and how European integration is really progressing today—as opposed to what prophecy teachers, some of whom are highly sensationalistic, tell us.

In this article, we attempt to realistically examine today’s European integration project and what it means to us prophetically. We will discuss how the European Union has been an evolving entity since the end of World War II and how it is unknown how it will look in the future. We hope to give you a Biblically and politically sound perspective on Europe’s role to play in the Last Days and what we need to look for.

J.K. McKee (B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A., Asbury Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic apologist. He is a 2009 recipient of the Zondervan Biblical Languages Award for Greek. He is author of numerous books, dealing with a wide range of topics that are important for today’s Messianic Believers. He has also written many articles on theological issues, and is presently focusing his attention on Messianic commentaries of various books of the Bible.

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