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EUROPE
It would be impossible to understand bible prophecy without recognizing its prophetic passages.

Daniel was a prophet. He is cited prominently by bible scholars because of, among other things, the passage in his book in Chapter 2 when he approached Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
Daniel described to the king, from his dream, four successive empires which would rule over Israel in the days to come which are confirmed, in hinsight, by history for accuracy. Daniel’s credentials as a prophet are intact.

First Kingdom:
Head of gold—Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon.

Second Kingdom:
another kingdom inferior to thee—Medo Persian empire which conquered Babylon in 539 BC and remained in power approximately 200 years.

Third Kingdom:
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth—this, historically, is the Greek empire under Philip of Macedon, and his son, Alexander the Great.

Fourth Kingdom:
Historians tell us that Rome was the successor to the Greek Empire, and note that the strength of the Roman empire was often referenced by expressions like: Rome’s iron rule, Rome’s iron fist, Rome’s iron legions. (v. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.)

Fifth Kingdom: Daniel 2:44
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, (the Fifth Kingdom) which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Next, Daniel had a dream.

Daniel’s Dream
Much of what happened in Daniel’s dream had already happened, but not all:
1. Historically, three of the four kingdoms have already come and gone.
2. The fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire has made an appearance in history.

Verses 24-27 of Daniel 7 refer to what “shall be”, implying things that have not yet happened. Further implied is the reemergence, in some form, of the Roman Empire before the second coming of Christ.

The Rebirth of the Roman Empire
As a European “empire” occupying the same geographic territory as the previous Roman Empire:
• 1930—Aristide Briand, France, attempted to enlist 26 nations in what he eventually called the “European Union”.
• 1946—Winston Churchill: “We must build a United States of Europe.”
• 1951—Treaty of Paris, signed by Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, later, West Germany, France, and Italy.
• 1957—Treaty of Rome, same signatories as the Treaty of Paris, creating the “European Economic Community” known as the Common Market.
• 1973—The UK, Ireland and Denmark join the EEC.
• 1974—Greece joins the EEC.
• 1986—Spain and Portugal join the EEC.
• 1987—the “Single European Act” was implemented.
• 1989—Germany was reunified and East Germany was rolled into the EEC.
• 1993—the economic borders among the EEC member nations removed.
• 1995—Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EEC
• 2002—the monetary Euro is born.
• 2004-2007—smaller nations join the EEC “Eurozone”: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia.
• 2016—in the “brexit”, the UK withdraws from the European Union.

Europe is more unified today than at any time since the days of the ancient Roman Empire, including occupying the same geographic territory.

However, “While the EU has great economic clout, the cultures and languages of its countries are so diverse that it cannot hold together, any more than iron and clay unless its unity is enforced by an extremely powerful leader.” The Book of Signs, Dr. David Jeremiah, p. 26
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