Appointed Times & Seasons Calendar References

Pt. 4 LION WITH EAGLE’S WINGS/WHITE HORSE: United Kingdom & United States

“The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it,” (Daniel 7:4). The Lion (United Kingdom) with Eagle’s Wings (United States) certainly illustrates the modern-day connection between these two prominent world powers. Correspondingly, in the book of Revelation, the White Horse and rider with bow of military power and crown of kingly pride (Revelation 6:2) also symbolize the position of dominance that these two partners have held for several centuries. However, prophecy predicts a day when the Eagle’s Wings (U.S.) will be torn off. Devastations and terror will strike at the heart of the American government and our military structures, in concert with catastrophes and social and economic collapse. America’s prominence and sovereignty will be lost forever to global influences.

America’s Jewish population is nearly equal to the land of Israel. America has long enjoyed divine protection against the evil powers in high places (Daniel 10:12-13; Ephesians 6:12), even though many nations have desired her demise. However, this is changing. The United States was once a nation built upon the principles of religious freedom and morality. Even among the nonreligious, there were standards of decency and a respect for the commandments of God. Nevertheless, decades ago, a blight of corruption began, which now permeates our society like cancer. Pornography is rampant, and adultery and homosexuality have been accepted as normal. Sexual immorality is flouted in prime time. Innocent children are sacrificed daily to the god of convenience at abortion clinics. Crime and drug use reigns. Misbehavior is unbridled, and nothing less than national catastrophe can halt the evil tide. God’s wise prophet warned long ago, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness,” (Isaiah 5:20). Sin and compromise now reach into our homes, churches and synagogues.

A large segment of our population has forgotten Adonai and neither fear nor reverence Him. “If you ever forget the LORD your God… I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God,” (Deuteronomy 8:19-20). The Israelites of old thought Elohim would protect them as His chosen nation in spite of their national rebellion; after all, they had experienced a miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery. History proves otherwise. Many Americans also believe God will protect this “Christian” nation, even in the midst of our own great national apostasy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our love for this homeland we call America cannot change the consequences of sin left unchecked these many decades.

When Almighty God pulls back His defense and allows enemies to bring America to her knees, revival and reformation will result. However, public opinion will swing towards extreme measures to turn the tide of sin, calling for governmental regulations and religious enactments. Rulers cannot force religious duty or days of observance on the masses through legislative laws; this would breed insincere worship. Rather, individual hearts must be changed by faith in Messiah. Jesus testified that His followers are not to fight for survival through political power: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), but is of the World to Come. Prophecy forewarns that Lucifer will give the government beast, an amalgamation of many nations, “power… and throne… and great authority,” (Revelation 13:2), which will use force to demand religious obligations (Revelation 13:15-17). We want no part of it.

America’s rise to power and eventual collapse has long been foretold, although her prestige and predictions have been concealed in the symbolism of prophecy down through the centuries. Once the American wings of freedom and flight are torn off, Daniel states the British Lion will then be lifted up to stand on “two feet like a man, and the heart of a man” will be given it. When an animal (or animal part) takes on human qualities, prophecy is urging us to “watch for a personality” who will rise to supremacy. Therefore, Daniel is introducing the False Prophet who, undoubtedly, will emerge from the British/American power base. With exalted zeal and satanic miracles, the prophet will assemble support for the Western European leader who will rise to world domination. The Antichrist is illustrated by the animal horn later in the vision, that also takes on human qualities—the “eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that [will speak] boastfully” (Daniel 7:8), which is representative of that European leader who will reign supreme.

In the eye-opening prophecies of Revelation (Revelation 13:11-18), John introduces a creature from the earth with two-horns (two countries). The governments seem to be peace-loving and kind, but the political creature begins to speak like a “dragon.” Once again, prophecy is warning that from this two-nation power base (United Kingdom/United States), the False Prophet will work miracles and set up an image of worship. He will demand that everyone receive the mark of the beast in order to buy or sell. In this way, Satan can control the masses and flush out all who oppose him.

On the heels of WWIII, nuclear holocaust and the loss of our most basic resources, one of the utmost dangers we will face each day will be acts of violence from fellow citizens and gangs, one against the other, clamoring for survival in a ruthless display of lawlessness. We will need to depend upon our Savior, moment by moment, in a new and very dangerous world. Some will survive, while others will not; therefore, we much trust that Jesus has not been taken by surprise, and will one day stamp out this rebellion with speed and a marvelous display of power.

“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’” (Daniel 7:5). The Bear with three ribs (tusks/horns) in its mouth symbolizes the Old Soviet Bear, today’s Russia. Its counterpart in Revelation (6:3-4), the fiery Red Horse with the rider, depicts the ability of the Russians to “take peace from the [whole] earth.” How? With “a large sword,” the Bible says. In our modern world, there should be little doubt this represents weapons of mass destruction.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in December, 1991, left the Russian Federation with the bulk of the massive Soviet weapons of mass destruction complex. This legacy has allowed Russia to retain its great power status even as its economy has collapsed, but the burden of supporting its large military apparatus has strained the Russian political and economic system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to restore confidence in Russia by rebuilding its military power and restoring pride to its demoralized army. Russia conducts regular nuclear exercises each year. In recent times, President Putin has personally overseen these maneuvers. He appears eager to demonstrate the Russian Bear has not gone to sleep and is quite capable of handling any threats to the nation. Parts of the military demonstrations have involved launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, including some from Russian nuclear submarines. Russia has also simulated an enemy missile attack and tested Moscow’s missile defense system against such a strike. Involved in the exercises was Russia’s Tu-160 strategic bombers and the test-firing of cruise missiles over the northern Atlantic.

Most experts agree Russia is preparing for a potential all-out war with another nuclear power. This has some American experts concerned. The United States and Russia’s relationship since September 11, 2001, could be described as a period of cooperation, with Russia supporting the American war on terrorism and the U.S. and Russia’s forming a nuclear arms reduction deal. However, the United States has recently expanded its military presence in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, instead of withdrawing, as expected, by the Russians. Washington has also been moving elements of its strategic missile defense system closer to Russia’s western borders as the U.S. military abandons traditional bases in “old Europe” in favor of friendlier eastern nations.

The Russian democracy and its domestic policy appear to be growing more authoritarian under Putin, but the U.S. is willing to work peacefully with Russia for now. The two nations have pledged to continue pushing ahead together. However, some believe the “honeymoon” between these two countries is over. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian storage facilities were massively overloaded, the security forces were over-stretched, and accounting of warheads’ movements and locations all but disappeared. We have yet to learn how much of this nuclear material has reached rogue states and what devastation may be unleashed across the globe in the few years that remain of human history.

As noted earlier, in the book of Revelation, John writes of the Red Horse Rider with a “great sword” who slays and takes away world peace. In the book of Daniel, the prophet subtly hints at a massive attack by the angry Bear. Daniel 7:8 describes it as “uproot[ing]” three of the ten horns of the Western European Union in the violence of World War III.

A broader Middle East war and a Russian attack on Western Europe will come on the heels of the bombing of Iran’s nuclear research facilities and reactors, which Russia has spent years building. Moscow is promised future revenues in the billions by building additional reactors and providing nuclear fuel to Iran in the decades ahead. Angered by the attack on Iran, prophecy indicates Russia will attack and devour much human flesh. In its mouth is three ribs, or horn-like bones (Daniel 7:5), symbolizing the destruction of three European nations. However, retaliation against Russia is certain. Amid the ashes of this great nuclear holocaust between the nations, the little horn Antichrist will emerge.

Similarly, Revelation 13:1-3 describes Daniel’s political-military creatures (Lion, Bear and Leopard, also sporting seven heads and ten horns) merged into one New World Order, which represents all Gentile nations. However, John also predicts “one of the heads (Western European Union) will seem to have a fatal injury, but the mortal wound will be healed.” The world community, astonished by what has just happened, will come together in support of the integrated planet and the newly inaugurated political-religious leader. The dead will rise, and the whole world will wonder in amazement. Atheists and agnostics will be converted in a day, as they are exposed to supernatural signs and the paranormal.

Unification of the globe will seem destined to fail in the midst of nuclear holocaust, but the New World Order will revive and live on with even greater collective power than it might have enjoyed before the massive loss of human life and unexplainable series of mystical-religious events.

“I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule,” (Daniel 7:6). The Leopard with four heads could be identified as China and several Eastern Asian countries, the Asian big cats. The four separate heads of the Asian animal indicate that it remains united for protection, but divided politically, and is not controlled by one centralized body.

There is no indication the symbolic Leopard in Daniel lashes out to conquer militarily; neither does its Revelation counterpart—the Black Horss (Revelation 6:5-6), which stands in contrast to the White, Red and Pale Horses that cause war, death and destruction. However, that is not to say we won’t see conflict in or from China and this region of the world. But as far as prophecy is concerned, the focus is primarily on their Asian grain supplies.

In Revelation 6, the rider of the Black Horse is holding a pair of scales in his hands to measure and ration food. Black is the color of mourning. The balances used for weighing food symbolize scarcity and famine. “Bread by weight” implies shortages (Leviticus 26:26; Ezekiel 4:16-17). The measure was about a quart and the penny about sixteen cents. One dollar in that age would likely calculate to five dollars today; therefore, wheat and grains will soar to unprecedented prices during the final days.

Jesus predicted famine due to a lack of rain during the last days (Matthew 24:7), which scientists will attribute to global warming. Widespread drought will reduce the already vulnerable supplies of food and water in Asia and around the globe. China recently warned of a bleak long-term outlook for grain reserved (Agence France Presse, March 6, 2005). China has enough reserves to cover its immediate needs, but the long-term prospects do not look bright, even with favorable weather conditions. China faces a situation where it must meet a growing population of 1.3 billion on only about seven percent of the world’s arable land, which is increasingly being lost to expanding cities and environmental degradation. China’s grain output for 2004 hit 469.5 million tons, up 9.0 percent over the previous year, and for the first time in five years, it has not fallen. But with shrinking acreages, falling water tables, and a growing population, some experts have concluded that China could be a net food importer in coming years.

In spite of prophecy’s focus on food, China’s military—the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—can, by no means, be ignored; it is the world’s largest armed force with a total strength of 2.5 million men and women serving in four arms—ground forces, air force, navy, and strategic missile force. The ground forces alone total some 2 million troops and support personnel, or 80% of the PLA’s total manpower. This force also deploys over 8,000 tanks, 4,000 armored vehicles, and 25,000 artillery guns and multiple rocket launchers (MRLs). In time of crisis, this force can be reinforced by a large reserve-militia force numbering more than 1.5 million personnel and the one-million-man People’s Armed Police (PAP).

China’s military buildup in recent years has caused renewed concerns as the Asian giant arms itself to deter any moves toward separation by Taiwan or American involvement in the cross-strait conflict. Compounding these concerns is the prospective European plan to lift a 15-year embargo on arms deliveries to China that experts fear could exacerbate the military imbalance in Asia and speed up Chinese capability to manufacture more powerful weapons systems.

China’s National People’s Congress announced on March 4, 2007, that it would increase the country’s military budget 17.8 percent in 2007 to a total of $45 billion. This represents the biggest single annual increase in China’s military spending ever recorded. The China’s People’s Liberation Army is the largest purchaser of foreign military weapons and technology on the back of China’s growing economy. China already has 500 to 550 short range ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan, and cruise missiles could be deployed against the island. Should China stay on her present course, her military would eventually pose a threat to world peace equal to or greater than does the former Soviet Union.

In 2003, China overtook Japan as the world’s second largest oil consumer behind America, and helped send global oil prices skyrocketing. Prophecy warns that the world’s powerful nations will clash during the end-times. At the core of these battles will be oil security, delivery routes and preferred access to remaining oil reserves. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran sit on nearly half of the world’s easily accessible oil. China has been steadily courting Tehran by supplying weapons with the aim of becoming the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. A potential disruption of this supply will indeed spark trouble between the nations.

History attests to the fact that war can erupt between nations at anytime as a devastating surprise. Prophecy does not disclose how soon and with whom the Asian nations may become embroiled in local or international warfare. However, we know with certainty China and the other Eastern Asian countries will be found at Armageddon’s battle, when that day arrives. Until then, the Asian Leopard will continue to play a strategic role in food supplies and world affairs and will remain a military threat not only in their region, but to the United States, Europe and other countries.

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“I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast-terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns,” (Daniel 7:7). As we will show, the beast represents Western Europe, while the ten horns represent the most powerful of the European countries.

The European Union (EU) is comprised of 27 member states as of mid-2007; however, there are ten prominent countries aligned in a “common European defense identity” as noted on their website, called the Western European Union (WEU—see page 58). These top ten are the official voting “member” states of WEU, in part, because they are also members of NATO and the European Union. Therefore, the terrifying and very powerful political beast of end-time prophecy (Daniel 7:7) represents the EU, while the ten-horns represent ten specific nations, the Western European Union (WEU), the military coalition of Western Europe. This is not to be confused with NATO, which is the European alliance with America and Canada.

Students of prophecy know much more is happening than what first meets the eye. The formation of the Western European Union (WEU), which began in 1948 (the year of Israel’s birth as a nation) with the Brussels Treaty, is in fact, another piece of the end-time puzzle. Even secular observers have tapped into the ominous undertones that the European Union is a step toward fulfillment of prophecies about the ten-horned beast in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13.

“While I was thinking about the [ten] horns… three of the first [ten] horns were uprooted,” Daniel 7:8. Prophecy forewarns that at least three of the ten countries in the WEU will be attacked by the Russian Federation, for the Bear “had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth”; it was told to “get up and eat your fill of [human] flesh,” Daniel wrote (7:5).

In spite of Russia’s catastrophic attacks, the injured European political beast will become a formidable people-eating, bone-crushing military machine. Its symbolic fangs chew and devour its victims and trample underfoot anyone or anything in its way. There is nothing quite as ferocious as a creature that has been attacked; it will fight back with relentless fury. Russia will maim the ten-horned European political Beast, but will not defeat it. Old Europe will rise from World War III and nuclear disaster to rule Planet Earth. In the wake of pandemonium and demonic miracles, signs and wonders, Rome will regain her long lost supremacy and religious fervor. In turn, prophecy says the saints will be crushed underfoot by the European Monster, as in the blood-thirsty days of the Crusades.

In the book of Revelation (Revelation 6:7-8), the multi-faced being, the Living Creature, introduces the rider of the Pale horse, which is called “Death”, and the grave follows close behind. This horse with rider represents a “fourth of the earth” politically and militarily, and this too represents the Western European Union. The Pale horse will, under God’s mighty hand, eventually punish Israel for her apostasy. The rider will kill with “sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth,” which carries prophetic meaning in the Scriptures; these are the same four divine punishments YHVH sent against Israel in ancient times to halt the worship of false gods and to save the faithful few in the midst of national apostasy. Ezekiel predicts judgment in the last days: “I [God] send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beasts, and the pestilence [plague], to cut off from it man and beast. Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth... and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem,” (Ezekiel 14:21-22, KJV).

Racial tensions are on the rise, and hatred against Jews will increase dramatically in Europe and around the globe during the final days of human history. In response to great nuclear holocaust, nature’s unrelenting wrath and worldwide economic collapse, Western Europe and many other nations will enact religious laws in an attempt to turn the tide of evil and to invoke blessings from above. Diversity of worship, once considered the right of every human being will, in time, be suppressed by the resolve of the nations. Prejudices will mount against those who keep the Sabbath (Hebrew: “Shabbat”), in opposition to Catholicism and mainstream Protestantism, and they will be numbered among the lawbreakers who will be blamed for the world’s plight. In time, it will be determined that all who oppose the religious leader must be exterminated in order to save the planet; thus, the prediction is given: “The dragon [Lucifer] was enraged… and went off to make war against… those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus [Revelation’s warnings],” (Revelation 12:17). Martyrdom will reign, according to the prophetic testimony of Jesus (Revelation 6:9-11; 20:4). The peoples of Western Europe will be foremost in killing a great number of the innocent.

Nevertheless, Jehovah will use the trials of the appointed time for His divine purposes. The fire of persecution exposes imposters who follow Jesus in name but not in deed. They will be quick to follow Antichrist and his idolatrous worship and accept the world-wide financial mark.

The fiery ordeal of the last days also exposes the genuine followers who are, by patient endurance, purified, made spotless and refined by the flame of persecution. Shaddai is committed to an abiding and eternal relationship with every individual who will by faith stand firm in obedience: “When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shall be obedient unto His voice (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) He will not forsake thee,” (Deuteronomy 4:30-31, KJV).

The Brussels Treaty of 1948

Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration

and Collective Self-Defense

The Brussels Treaty was signed on March 17, 1948, by [1] Belgium, [2] France, [3] Luxembourg, the [4] Netherlands and the [5] United Kingdom. The Brussels Treaty Organization, as it was then called, provided for collective self-defense and economic, social and cultural collaboration between its signatories. On 23 October, 1954, the Brussels Treaty was modified to include the Federal Republic of [6] Germany and [7] Italy, thus creating Western European Union (WEU). The aims stated in the preamble were:

? “to afford assistance to each other in resisting any policy of aggression”

? “to promote unity and to encourage the progressive integration of Europe”

Its two most important provisions are contained in Articles V and VIII.3: “If any of the High Contracting Parties should be the object of an armed attack in Europe, the other High Contracting Parties will, in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, afford the Party so attacked all military and other aid and assistance in their power.” (Article V)

“At the request of any of the High Contracting Parties, the Council shall be immediately convened in order to permit them to consult with regard to any situation which may constitute a threat to peace, in whatever area this threat should arise, or a danger to economic stability.” (Article VIII.3)

In November, 1988, a Protocol of Accession was signed by the WEU Member States with [8] Portugal and [9] Spain. The ratification process was completed in March, 1990. [10] Greece followed a similar process in 1992 and 1995, thus bringing the total WEU membership to ten.

For more details about the Brussels Treaty and the WEU, visit www.weu.int