For decades, Christians have speculated on whether or not the European Union is the final world empire outlined in the Bible. The Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation point to a revived Roman Empire that will appear in the end times (Daniel 7:23; Revelation 17:10). Since World War II, prophecy watchers have paid careful attention to the slow and steady unification of western Europe. The alliance now known as the EU has faced numerous growing pains along the way. These include squabbles over a single currency, trade rules, debt bailouts, Brexit, and hundreds of issues.
The latest infighting centers around the EU’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While some EU members have called for a complete embargo of Russian oil and natural gas, others have made it clear they will never agree to such restrictions. For example, Germany claims they can move forward with a ban on Russian oil by year end, but Hungary has unequivocally said, “No.” Without Russian supplies, Hungary runs out of energy. Germany does too. The only difference is its leaders continue to delude themselves into believing they can survive with zero Russian energy.
The EU put itself in a terrible position of weakness. Entering 2022, they were dependent on Russia for 30% of their oil and almost half of their natural gas. When the EU supported sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the international banking system cut off Russia’s foreign dollar and euro reserves. This meant if Russia continued to accept dollar and euro payments, they would be trading oil and gas in exchange for worthless currency they couldn’t spend.
So what did they do? Russia demanded payment in either rubles or hard currency such as gold. European leaders threatened to sue for breach of contract. They vowed never to accept such an arrangement and threatened any European energy company that dared to comply. That was last month. Today, dozens of European countries and companies are paying for Russian oil and gas with rubles. The latest is French energy group Engie, whose largest shareholder is the French government.
When it comes to foreign policy, the EU is divided. Each nation continues to operate its own foreign policy. They can’t agree and rarely speak in one voice. To me, this failure to agree is yet another reason to believe some form of the EU will become Daniel’s prophesied final empire. Why? Because this EU characteristic aligns with the empire Daniel describes.
For instance, the Bible says this final world empire will be a kingdom:
– Divided (Daniel 2:41)
– Made up of weak and strong nations (Daniel 2:42)
– Of nations trying to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other (Daniel 2:43)
– That fails to hold together or “gel,” just as iron and clay don’t stick together (Daniel 2:43)
– From among the ancient Roman Empire (Daniel 9:26-27)
A Global Empire
Right now, no empire rules the world, much less a global empire of ten nations or ten kings. This means the EU in its present form is not the global empire foreseen by Daniel. However, this doesn’t mean it won’t become that empire. Most likely, it’s an early stage of what will become the Antichrist’s global empire. Why? Again, the EU fits every one of the characteristics outlined above. The Antichrist’s empire will be:
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