Did Daniel See Modern Europe? Do you like to look at pictures?
You may think there are no pictures in the Bible, but actually, God uses pictures again and again. He often gave men and women dreams and visionsthat were meant to reveal hidden and future things.
Many of the Prophets described motion pictures of animals, unique creatures and other miscellaneous “video clips” that were supernatural previews of major events that would occur far into the future.
That is where we come in.
The ancient pictures were meant for us TODAY!
We are now living in the days toward which those "picture previews" pointed.
By knowing and understanding these pictures, it becomes possible for us to know exactly what time it is on God's Calendar and Clock, and what will be taking place in the very near future.
It is said that one picture is worth a thousand words.
The Bible contains many important pictures. God portrayed the future of many modern Kings and Kingdoms hundreds, even thousands of years BEFORE they even came into existence!
We should be VERY impressed!
One of the most often pictured subjects in the Bible is the continent of EUROPE.
Not only is EUROPE in close proximity to the nation of Israel, but Europe is also extremely significant in its influence on Israel from the days of Jesus Christ until the great and final Battle of Armageddon.
Europe is one of earth’s seven continents. Its history sprang largely from Greece in the centuries before Christ. It then swung toward Rome, the Roman Empire, and then the Holy Roman Empire. God depicted these changes hundreds of years before they came to pass. Even now, those pictures are amazingly relevant.
In world history, Europe is prominent. In Bible prophecy, Europe was legendary even before its time. Both Daniel and John saw great Europe before it was great.
Europe is the site where John’s beast of Revelation and the Antichrist will rise up.
We should keep our eyes on Europe, AND we should know and understand EUROPE'S ROLE in the plan of God for our immediate future!
So, what is the message in the pictures, and what is its significance to us right now?
Two powerful pictures are worth consideration here. Let us take a closer look.
- 1. A STATUE that will be totally destroyed when a STONE comes and strikes and crushes its IRON AND CLAY FEET.
2. A LEOPARD having Four Heads and the Wings of a Fowl.
Let’s analyze the clues.
PICTURE #1
The first picture is of Iron and Clay Feet. Those feet appeared on a great statue in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
The statue depicted successive world kingdoms: - GOLD Head: Babylonian Empire
- SILVER Chest: Medo-Persian Empire
- BRASS Thighs: Grecian Empire
- IRON Legs: Roman Empire
The Roman Empire collapsed around 300 A.D. and the next and last world empire before Jesus Christ returns was illustrated by Iron and Clay Feet.
Notice that Europe appears three times in Daniel’s statue.
First, Europe appears in the east as BRASS THIGHS of Greece. Alexander the Great catapulted Greece to its zenith with his epic conquests.
Second, Europe is seen as IRON LEGS of the Roman Empire under the mighty Caesars.
Thirdly, Europe appears as IRON AND CLAY FEET.
“ And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.” (Daniel 2:41-42)
The STONE struck and destroyed the Iron and Clay Feet.
What do the Iron and Clay Feet represent?
1. An empire with a dual nature: IRON AND CLAY (Politics and Religion; State and Church; Europe and Roman Catholic Church)
2. The politics of the defunct Roman Empire REVIVED by a symbiotic relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.
Why would we assume that the clay in this image symbolizes the Roman Catholic Church? There are several reasons.
Pope Leo III of the Roman Catholic Church crowned Charlemagne on Christmas Day, 800 AD in Rome, saying, “I crown you Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.” Thus the collapsed Roman Empire revived, but was renamed “the Holy Roman Empire.” With the anointing of the RCC, Charlemagne instantly carried the most powerful endorsement of the day. As a devout Roman Catholic, Charlemagne would always be at the beck and call of the Pope. Every subsequent emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was also a Roman Catholic. Charlemagne set about to consolidate Europe as never before. He would come to be known as “the Father of Europe.” The combined forces of Roman church and state would change Europe for all time. Roman pontiffs crowned almost all the kings of the Holy Roman Empire for a thousand years. The Cathedral of Kings in Frankfurt is today a monument to that notable tradition, and the Hall of Kaisers (Caesars) there displays the portraits of each emperor with his crown and “apple” – a golden ornament symbolizing his sovereignty as emperor.
Charlemagne ruled from Germany. Nevertheless, Rome exerted powerful influence on German politics. The German Kaisers derived their names from the Roman Caesars. For a while, Charlemagne was buried in the sarcophagus of Augustus Caesar. For all practical purposes, the Holy Roman Empire was built upon ancient Roman law.
Even in modern times, plenty of writers believe that Pope Pius XII was complicit with Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich. Today, Roman Catholicism can still be seen exercising its influence in high political places. Iron and Clay.
With the birth of the Holy Roman Empire, ANOTHER prophetic picture began to take shape.
Let's look at the SECOND major prophetic picture... PICTURE #2
The Four-Head Leopard
with Wings of a Fowl
NO OTHER COUNTRY in history has been more prominently identified with a leopard thanGERMANY.
In Medieval times, one of the most notable family names in the Westphalia region of Europe was variously spelled, "Leopard, Leppard, Lepart, and Lepard." In the United States, the largest percentage of families carrying variations of the name "Leopard" came originally from Germany.
That symbol of the leopard became most easily recognizable in 1943, during World War II, when the Panther tanks were introduced against Russia's T-34 tanks. The German Panther (panthers and leopards are the same species) replaced the earlier PANZER tanks. The Panthers were followed by the internationally respected Leopard tanks.
Designed in the 1950s, the German Leopard tanks eventually became the standard of all European forces, as well as the main battle tank of over a dozen countries worldwide. The successor, Leopard 2, is a far superior tank and is now also used by NATO forces.
Although the leopard is in use in the insignias of MANY small nations worldwide, in thousands of hours of Bible research, I have never found ANY other modern nation that is more accurately or dramatically associated with the leopard.
Moreover...The LEOPARD had WINGS of a FOWL!
Amazingly, the symbol of France is a FOWL—the Rooster!
Therefore, the European motherland can be seen as a Four-Headed (4 Reichs) Leopard with Wings of a Fowl (Rooster) – GERMANY and FRANCE, both being powerfully manipulated from Rome.
In 800 AD, Charlemagne was a strong Germanic leader. From there, he conducted empire over Europe. One of his leading accomplishments was the unification of France.
Historians say that the Holy Roman Empire was the incubator for both modern Germany and modern France. The Franco-German alliance is the heart of the European Union to this day.
From Germany, Charlemagne birthed the empire. The prophecy said that the leopard had great dominion. Eventually, (from the 16th Century forward), the empire was called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
Newsweek magazine, April 9, 1984 said, “Since the time of Charlemagne, the area that is now Germany has been the pivot of European history. In the past 120 years, the Germans have dominated Europe; intellectually and militarily.”
“Reich” is the German word for kingdom. In all the history of the Holy Roman Empire, its parliament was known as the Reichstag. “Reich” meaning “empire” and “–stag” meaning “assembly.” The modern nation of Germany is evolved from Charlemagne’s Reichstag. As far back as 919 AD, the Reichstag elected the first King of the Germans, and in 1871 became the parliament of the German Empire.
FOUR REICHS (4 heads)
Germany becomes the embodiment of the four-headed leopard. Germany has indeed had four heads – four Reichs, or kingdoms.
1. The First Reich. 800 to 1806 - This was the time of the Holy Roman Empire beginning with Charlemagne (picture). Most of its emperors were actually crowned by a pope.
2. The Second Reich. 1870 to 1919 - Began under the diplomatic statesmanship of Otto Von Bismarck, “The IRON Chancellor.” From the unification of Germany following the Franco-Prussian War to the German defeat in the First World War. Bismarck attempted to stop Catholic political control of Germany, but failed.
3. The Third Reich. 1933-1945 - Adolph Hitler’s Germany followed a brief interim called the Weimar Republic. Nazi Germany was defeated in WWII and divided into East and West Germany.
Journalists of that era called it a “deadly wound.”
More than four decades later, that deadly wound was healed when Ronald Reagan successfully challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall (thereby re-uniting Germany) in 1989. It is the deadly wound that was healed in the prophecy of Revelation 13:3.
4. The Fourth Reich. 1951 to present – Germany (LEOPARD) and France (FOWL - Rooster) sponsored the European Coal and Steel Community, which evolved into the present day European Union. The Euro is now the common currency, and Germany is still the dominating nation in the EU.
The ancient prophecy is fulfilled: great dominion was given to the leopard.
The world will soon be dominated by the Fourth Reich: the European Union (or its successor).
Its population is larger than the United States.’ Its currency, although recently under great duress because of the collapsing economies of Greece, Italy and others, will nevertheless survive - either as the EURO, or as a newly-constructed currency that will lead the world into The Mark of the Beast.
The oil producers of the world have debated switching from dollars to Euros. American politicians are beginning to realize what is happening. Rockwell Schnabel, former U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. wrote a book entitled, “The Next Superpower.” In it, he stated that an “…EU bent on establishing itself as an alternative geopolitical “pole” to the U.S. could undermine stability around the globe.”
Not coincidentally, on June 3rd, 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton received the 50th Annual International Charlemagne Prize, which is given to the person who does the most to further the cause of European unity. [WHY should the President of the United States have been championing the cause of EUROPEAN Unity??] World leaders know that the future of the globe lies in European politics.
Europe is likely to fulfill many other Bible prophecies before the Second Coming, including the introduction of the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast. The Bible prophesies that the center of world power will swing back to Europe.
The Iron and Clay Feet of Nebuchadnezzar’s Statue
The European Union is the IRON.
The EU FLAG (photo) was designed with the 12 stars of the Virgin Mary as depicted by the Roman Catholic Church.
This indicates the symbiotic relationship between the Vatican and the EU. Iron and Clay. 
This photo of the Virgin Mary (left) was taken in the Brussels Cathedral very near the EU Headquarters. You can plainly see how the IMAGE OF THE SECOND BEAST (Twelve Stars of the Virgin) is imposed upon the FLAG of the FIRST BEAST of Revelation 13. The Vatican (the CLAY) below.
SEE ALSO:THE IMAGE TO THE BEAST
In the end, however, the prophecy says that a stone (representing Jesus Christ) will smite the iron and clay feet. The entire statue will be destroyed – Roman, Greek, Persian and Babylonian. In modern terms, that represents both the European Union and much of the Middle East, including Iran and Iraq. In fact, all the kingdoms of man will yield to the King of kings and Lord of lords in that.
SYMBOLS of the PROPHETIC PICTURE
Golden Head – Babylonian Empire
Silver Chest – Medo-Persian Empire
Brass Thighs – Greek Empire
Iron Legs – Roman Empire
Iron and Clay Feet – Holy Roman Empire
Stone – Jesus Christ and His Kingdom
Here is ONE MORE INTERESTING FACT:
The IRON also corresponds to the FIRST BEAST of Revelation 13.
The CLAY also corresponds to the SECOND BEAST of Revelation 13.
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