European leaders propose reorganization: A prelude to Revelation 17:12-13?

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The President of the European Commission, Ursula vonder Leyen gave her annual State of the European Union address. Here are some excerpts (bolding in source):

September 13, 2023

Our Union today reflects the vision of those who dreamt of a better future after World War II.

A future in which a Union of nations, democracies and people would work together to share peace and prosperity.

They believed that Europe was the answer to the call of history.

When I speak to the new generation of young people, I see that same vision for a better future.

That same burning desire to build something better.

That same belief that in a world of uncertainty, Europe once again must answer the call of history. …

Together, we have shown that when Europe is bold, it gets things done.

And our work is far from over – so let’s stand together.

Let’s deliver today and prepare for tomorrow. …

Europe’s industry is showing every day that it is ready to power this transition.

Proving that modernisation and decarbonisation can go hand in hand.

In the last five years, the number of clean steel factories in the EU has grown from zero to 38.

We are now attracting more investment in clean hydrogen than the US and China combined. …

So far, we have concluded new free trade agreements with Chile, New Zealand and Kenya.

We should aim to complete deals with Australia, Mexico and Mercosur by the end of this year.

And soon thereafter with India and Indonesia.

Smart trade delivers good jobs and prosperity. …

Member States have used that investment to digitise their healthcare, justice system or transport network.

At the same time, Europe has led on managing the risks of the digital world.

The internet was born as an instrument for sharing knowledge, opening minds and connecting people.

But it has also given rise to serious challenges.

Disinformation, spread of harmful content, risks to the privacy of our data.

All of this led to a lack of trust and a breach of fundamental rights of people.

In response, Europe has become the global pioneer of citizen’s rights in the digital world.

The DSA and DMA are creating a safer digital space where fundamental rights are protected.

And they are ensuring fairness with clear responsibilities for big tech.

This is a historic achievement – and we should be proud of it.

The same should be true for artificial intelligence. …

We are now laying the foundations for a single governance system in Europe. …

These emerging economies – with their people and natural assets – are essential allies in building a cleaner, safer and more prosperous world.

Europe will always work with them to reform and improve the international system.

We want to lead efforts to make the rules-based order fairer and make distribution more equal.

This will also mean working with new and old partners to deepen our connections.

And Europe’s offer with Global Gateway is truly unique.

Global Gateway is more transparent, more sustainable, and more economically attractive.

Just last week I was in New Delhi to sign the most ambitious project of our generation.

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

It will be the most direct connection to date between India, the Arabian Gulf and Europe: With a rail link, that will make trade between India and Europe 40% faster.

With an electricity cable and a clean hydrogen pipeline – to foster clean energy trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

With a high-speed data cable, to link some of the most innovative digital ecosystems in the world, and create business opportunities all along the way.

These are state-of-the-art connections for the world of tomorrow.

Faster, shorter, cleaner.

And Global Gateway is making the real difference.

I have seen it in Latin America, South-East Asia and across Africa – from building a local hydrogen economy with Namibia and Kenya to a digital economy with the Philippines.

These are investments in our partners’ economy.

And they are investments in Europe’s prosperity and security in a fast-changing world. …

In a world where size and weight matters, it is clearly in Europe’s strategic and security interests to complete our Union.

But beyond the politics and geopolitics of it, we need to picture what is at stake.

We need to set out a vision for a successful enlargement.

A Union complete with over 500 million people living in a free, democratic and prosperous Union. …

We have started to build European Defence Union at 27.

And I believe we can finish it at 30+. …

And, yes, that means including through a European Convention and Treaty change if and where it is needed!

But we cannot – and we should not – wait for Treaty change to move ahead with enlargement. …

Once again – this is Europe’s moment to answer the call of history.

Long live Europe. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_23_4426

So, the EU President wants Europe to be bold, have better trade with Africa, Asia, and Latin America, more intrusive (which is what the DSA, the Digital Services Act does; for some of where that will lead watch: 666, the Censorship Industrial Complex, and AI ), stronger militarily, have more nations part of it, and reorganize.

Her comments related to 30+ are a reference to increasing the number of member nations of the European Union. While many falsely assert that the final European Beast power will only have have 10 or 11 currently existing nations, that is NOT what the Bible teaches in Revelation 17:12-13 (for details, check out the article: Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?).

Influential European leaders are proposing changes to manage a larger European Union. Some just put out a report titled Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century.

The Guardian put out the following report about it:

UK could become an ‘EU lite’ member of bloc, suggests Franco-German report

19 September 2023

A vision of a future EU with four types of membership – including an “EU lite” for countries such as the UK – has been tabled by a group of academics commissioned by France and Germany to consider future reforms.

The proposal comes as the UK’s opposition leader, Keir Starmer, told France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, that he wanted to build an “even stronger” relationship between the two countries …

With the Ukraine war accelerating the appetite for enlargement, the EU leadership has acknowledged the urgent need to start thinking about the shape of the bloc, which could increase from 27 members to as many as 36 countries.

A report presented by France and Germany on Tuesday called on EU institutions to pass a raft of reforms to be ready by 2030 to accept new members …

The report does not represent the official German or French positions, but will feed into debates at an upcoming summits of 46 European countries and an informal gathering of the 27 EU leaders on successive days in October in Granada in Spain.

“It is clear the enlargement of the EU is in all our interests,” said Germany’s Europe minister, Anna Lührmann, who presented the report in Brussels with her French counterpart.

“We must therefore start now to do everything possible to ensure that the EU is ready for this enlargement.” …

One suggestion is to offer different grades of membership, including an inner circle of countries with “deep integration in areas like the Eurozone and Schengen area”.

The next concentric circle would consist of the current EU, with a third circle of “associate members” who participate in the single market, which could include the likes of Norway, which is in the European Economic Area with access to the trading bloc.

The fourth circle could be a space for countries such as the UK and would involve “political cooperation without having to be bound to EU law”.

The 46 European leaders meeting in Spain next month are already part of the fledgling European Political Community, which includes the UK and other non-EU members such as Iceland, Serbia, Kosovo, Georgia and Moldova.

Other reforms mooted include a change from unanimous to qualified majority voting on key areas such as taxation, finances and foreign affairs in favour of a qualified majority, they said. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/uk-could-become-an-eu-lite-member-of-bloc-suggests-franco-german-report

Here is some of the Executive Summary of the actual Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century report:

The European Union (EU) faces a critical juncture marked by geopolitical shifts, transnational crises, and internal complexities. For geopolitical reasons, EU enlargement is high on the political agenda, but the EU is not ready yet to welcome new members, neither institutionally nor policy wise. Against this backdrop, a ‘working group on EU institutional reforms’ was convened by the French and German governments. In September 2023, after several months of deliberation, ‘The Group of Twelve’ submitted the results of its work with this report.

Recognising the complexity of aligning diverse Member States’ visions for the EU, the report recommends a flexible EU reform and enlargement process. It highlights the need for immediate action to improve the EU’s functionality, proposing a list of initial steps before the next European elections. More substantial reforms – including preparations for treaty revisions – should be implemented during the new legislative term (2024 to 2029).

The report’s recommendations are aimed at achieving three goals: increasing the EU’s capacity to act, getting the EU enlargement ready, and strengthening the rule of law and the EU’s democratic legitimacy. The report is structured into three main sections, dealing with the rule of law, institutional reforms, and the process to reform, deepen and enlarge the EU. 09/18/23 https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/blob/2617206/4d0e0010ffcd8c0079e21329bbbb3332/230919-rfaa-deu-fra-bericht-data.pdf

Yes, the EU wants to expand. What will be the next step?

The Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU proposal is for a multi-pronged reorganization to allow it to expand.

Could this be a prelude to the reorganization that the Bible says will come to Europe in Revelation 17:12-13? Here is what those scriptures prophesy:

12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)

These ten kings have no kingdom, but are to attain one. Thus, this is a type of reorganization in verse 12. Since they give their power to the Beast in verse 13, this is a second reorganization. The “beast” is not shown to have much power prior to Revelation 17:12-13. This turnover power to him results in a dictatorship–likely similar to the one led by Adolf Hitler (see also European Unity to be like Hitler?).

Notice that Revelation 17:12-13 does NOT say that ten existing nations will give their power to the Beast, but that ten kings who had not had a kingdom will get power and transfer it. This means that a political/structural shift is expected to happen in Europe.

Now, notice something in Annex 1 of the Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century report:

It is obvious that the EU needs an institutional overhaul to maintain its capacity to act. This is especially important with the perspective of future enlargements. To identify potential ways for reforms, we bring together German and French experts at one table.

The “institutional overhaul” is a reorganization. But even if that one is implemented, that will not be the final one.

When nations and empires lack the capacity to act quickly and boldly enough, they are inclined to change and support a dictator–and that is precisely what Revelation 17:12-13 says will happen.

While the Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century report does not call for a dictator, it calls for institutional reforms to make governance more effective. A dictatorial man will arise in Europe promising to do that, and yes, power will be given to him.

Revelation 17:13 is clearly talking about a dictator–one the Bible calls the beast.

The old Worldwide Church of God published the following decades ago (bolding mine) regarding prophecies including Revelation 17:12-13:

The prophecy of Daniel 11 … This is an important “end-time” prophecy. Following the chronological progression of the chapter, it becomes apparent that the phrase “king of the north” had at first referred to Syria under the Seleucid dynasty, and later, in the New Testament times, to the Emperor of the Roman Empire. … Thus, in its final end-time application, the “king of the north” is the prophesied strong man who will lead a coming union … the seventh and final revival of the ancient Roman Empire prophesied by Daniel and in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 17:12-13).

Finally feeling the chilling embrace of Moscow, the German people may yet call for the Bavarian strongman — the one they feared in good times — to rescue them from their impending doom. (Hogberg G. WHERE Is WEST GERMANY Headed? Plain Truth, December 1980).

A Bavarian strongman would be someone from Bavaria, which is in southern Germany (the southern border of Bavaria runs to the northern border of Austria). The strongman that Gene Hogberg had in mind back in 1980 (Franz Joseph Strauss) died. Yet, let me add that there is another Bavarian strongman who I have kept my eye on who may one day rise up. His name is Karl-Theodor zu-Guttenberg (see Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?). A reader sent me a link a while back to a presentation that Herr Guttenberg gave in May of 2016 where he called for more passionate leaders in Europe. One such leader will arise.

As far as Moscow goes, the Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century report refers to the Russia-Ukranian war as a reason to speed up the process of EU enlargement–that is consistent with what the old Worldwide Church of God speculated.

When the time comes for the final Beast leader to arise, he will most likely be at least partially German, as all the leaders of the old Holy Roman Empire were as well.

Some COGs (LCG and PCG come to mind) are of the view that scripture teaches that the Beast will only rule 10 or 11 currently existing nations–but that is wrong (see also in the article: Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?). Furthermore, the EU, itself, wants to have at least 30 nations as part of it.

Once many in Europe become more frustrated with civil unrest, economic, and immigration matters, more will be willing to support a strong leader.

The Bible shows that a militaristic totalitarian leader called the Beast will arise and become militarily successful (Revelation 13:1-4). Europeans will be comfortable, for a time, with such a militarily, successful leader.

Democracy will again be eliminated in the coming reorganized Europe. A strong man will be in power.

The Bible warns of a lack of natural unity in Europe:

41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. (Daniel 2:41-43)

It will take a strong leader to make Europe’s coming, temporary unity stronger.

The European Union wants this.

Furthermore, the Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century report recognizes some of the issues that the EU is facing and is correct that it will need to reorganize, but because it ignores the word of God, the authors of the report do not understand how things in Europe will turn out.

But you can, if you will believe the “sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV).

UPDATE 09/27/23: We just uploaded the following related video:

14:47

Europe to Expand and Reorganize?

In September 2023, European Commission President Ursula vonder Leyen gave her annual State of the European Union. It was a motivational speech to push Europeans to support bold moves for expansion, trade, and international influence. She also mentioned Europe’s Global Gateway project as well as her involvement in getting the G20 to go for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). Several days after her speech, a report titled ‘ Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century’ put out be Europeans from Germany and France called for an overhaul of the European Union so that it could manage expanding to over 30 nations. Will Europe reorganize? What does the Bible teach in Revelation 17:12-13? Will this involve more than 10 or 11 currently existing nations? Will this end up being a dictatorship? Could any of this have to do with the coming ‘King of the North’ of Daniel 11? Could a Bavarian ‘strongman’ possibly be involved in the future? Could the year 2030 be relevant? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie discuss these matters and more.