Brexit In Bible Prophecy

On Friday, June 24, 2016, the United Kingdom (UK), or Great Britain, entered a referendum (national vote) on whether or not the commonwealth should remain a part of the United States of Europe, more commonly called the European Union (EU), or exit that union and be in greater control of their economy, security and national borders.  The results of this vote left 52% of voters demanding that the UK leaves or exits the EU, while 48% of voters recommended that the government stays with the EU.  Since the “leave” votes outnumbered the “stay” votes by a 4% margin, then the decision is final—Britain will exit the EU in an orderly way over the next two years.

The 43-year membership of the UK in European Common Market has come to a screeching halt, from a start that was challenged and fragmented at best.  Looking into the future, Britain’s famous Prime Minister, the memorable Mrs. Margret Thatcher (the “Iron Lady”), held that a UK union with the rest of Europe would end in weakness to the British Empire and a failure to the EU:

Uniting Europe, she once said, was “a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a program whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damage done is in doubt.”… Thatcher seethed against plans for the ever-closer union — including a single currency and greater powers for the EU Commission and Parliament. “No, no, no,” she famously told the House of Commons in 1990.[1]

But what does this “Brexit” mean to students of Bible prophecy?  To see this in real-time mode requires a journey through Daniel’s prophecy of king Nebuchadnezzar’s forgotten dream:  One night the king had an impressive dream, one which left a most indelible impression upon his mind, but one also which he had forgotten, in that he could not recall any details from the dream.  In a nation filled with astrologers, soothsayers, star-gazers, and dream charmers, the king approached all the “wise men” of Babylon with his dilemma—the forgotten dream—and demanded of them, on pain of death, to provide not only the interpretation but also the details of the original dream!  Confused and bewildered, the wise men of Babylon retorted in a sort of demeaning sarcasm, “There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (Dan. 2: 10, 11).

Given that the profession of these astrologers, magicians, wise men and soothsayers was to reveal secrets to the king and commune “with the gods whose dwelling is not with the flesh,” they summarily exposed their craft as purely based on trickery, lies, and luck.  Had they in truth any audience with “the gods,” then they should have promptly consulted with them concerning the king’s matter but, sensing the difficulty of the challenge, they further insulted the king by stating, “it is a rare [uncommon] thing that the king is” demanding of us.  Enraged, and feeling deceived by their profession to him all these years, the king issued a death decree for all purported wise men, magicians, soothsayers, Chaldeans or Kabballah worshippers, to include all the Hebrew scholars that were captured from the king’s previous invasion of Jerusalem.  Among these captives were four principal youths: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

These Jewish “wise men” had had a long history of communing with the Omniscient I AM—the revealer of every secret thought and imaginations of mankind.  They petitioned the king for time to fast and pray to YHWH—the GOD “whose dwelling is not with the flesh.”  The king granted their request and, in a Carmel-like showdown, these men prayed to YHWH and asked for permission to the king’s forgotten dream.  Divine permission was granted to Daniel and, at the appointed time, he approached the King’s throne with both the dream and its interpretation.  The deceiving Chaldean “wise” men’s lives were spared, and the truth of the dream was unfolded to the king.  As soon as Daniel started to relay the details of the dream, the king confirmed that his representation was the exact replica of his dream, and so Daniel’s God was respected by Nebuchadnezzar.

The Spirit of Prophecy, through Daniel, declared of this dream that “there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” (Dan. 2: 28).  The king was made to know that his dream stretched from his days forward, all the way down to the “latter days” of this earth’s history, when it should reach its consummate fulfillment.  This dream concerned the major kingdoms of history which housed the often wayward and disobedient church of God, in both the Old and New Testament periods.  Specifically it details the rise of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome.  Of Rome it showed this kingdom in two separate intervals: the legs of iron, and the feet made of iron and clay.  The iron and clay kingdoms would be the last world governments before the consummation of the ages.  Specifically, this is what the dream presented:

“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.  And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”  (Dan. 2: 41-13).

As ancient as the science of metallurgy dates, it has been a known fact by blacksmiths ironworkers, and forgers among others, that iron and clay are not miscible—capable of mixing in any ratio without separation of two phases.  The dream indicates that in the “latter days,” the mixing of “the seed of men” through the royal family, the United Nations, the European Economic Community, NATO, The Maastricht Treaty, and a nationalized religion, all for preservation of economic and political stability, would not prevail.

The prophecy declares that the toes kingdom would seek to form a union, but  it would be a weak one, as they will “mingle themselves with the seed of men” to strengthen this weak union; however, it will be to no avail, for “they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”

As it was in the days of Nimrod when the earth also experienced a union, the EU along with its partners will seek to form a New World Order in which they will enthrone a universal religion to become their inspiration for the hoped-for greater good of mankind; but this too shall be a dismal failure.  Like the ten toes of Daniel 2, so are the ten horns of Revelation: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings … These [kings] have one mind [they are united], and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” (Rev. 17: 12, 13).

Because the woman rides the beast (Rev. 17: 3), showing her absolute control over that political and economic entity, the kings’ giving their power unto the beast is tantamount to their giving authority to the religious mistress which rides or rules the beast—the nations of antitypical Assyria[i].  Furthermore, since a woman in prophecy, represents a religious system—a church (Jer. 6: 2), then the woman’s riding the beast shows that the last world government during the days when the Kingdom of God shall be established, will be an ecclesiastical one.  It will be similar in nature and character to the religio-political-economic system which prevailed during the dark days of the Roman Inquisition.  It is only such a governmental order which can force compliance to a worship decree on pain of death, while also leading the world’s economies.

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Rev. 13: 15-17).

This form of forced worship has as its precursor the Sharia law of Islam, to which every modern Christian shudders; yet this same type of forced worship will be engineered and supported by most Protestants in the end.  This forced worship has an economic compliance component in which the whole world—“all”—shall be engaged.  No one can escape it without painful suffering and death, but our God has equipped His saints for such as time as this.  He will have 144,000 invincible life-savers who will unflinchingly stand up to the beast’s decree, calling a people out of Babylon to worship the true and living God, YHWH.  And when the wicked will raise their weapon against them, it will fall as powerless as a straw!

“They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk everyone in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.” (Joel 2: 7, 8).

The “sword” here has reference to life-destroying weapons of all sorts.  Today, Christians are being beheaded, shot to death, and blown apart by bombs, etc.  This threat will still be present in our world, but when any of God’s future evangelists, the 144,000, take to the fray and fall on such weapons, they will not be hindered or injured. Girted in full gospel armor, they will press the battle to the gates, all the way to victory.

In her march to world dominance, the woman’s (Mystery Babylon) career extends across three spheres of governance:

1. She sits on many waters—meaning she rules the political governments of earth. In this prophecy we are told that “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” (Rev. 17: 15).

 

2. She sits on the seven heads (mountains)—meaning she rules all the religious governments of earth. In prophecy, “mountains” are often used to represent religious or church governments: “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon
mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Isa. 56: 7).

It would be without meaning for the woman to represent “Babylon” and the seven mountains also represent “Babylon,” which would be suggesting that she sits on or controls her own institutions!  No lesson is taught with such an interpretation, but when we realize that mountains are actual churches (heads), then we quickly see that the mother church (Mystery Babylon) will coral all religious institutions and governments under her ecumenical authority.  The formation of this system is now active, and the true results will be evident in coming years, if not months.

3. She sits on the scarlet-colored beast—meaning she rules both church governments and political governments in one sweep, thereby forming an ecclesiastical empire. Beasts, in Bible prophecy, represent nations, kingdoms, and empires inclusive of their respective leaders (Dan. 7: 17); hence, the woman’s sitting on the beast, which itself is outfitted with seven heads (all religions) and ten horns (all the political systems of antitypical Assyria), is clear evidence that at the point of its fulfillment, Babylon will have caused all nations and churches to have imbibed her intoxicating demonic cocktail, served up from the golden cup in her hand. Said the prophet, “all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Rev. 18: 3).

The Maastricht Treaty

Founded by the political will of policy makers and not by the will of the peoples in these nations, through a referendum, the European Union was established through collaboration with the foreign and financial ministers from member countries.  This method left open the possibility that if at any time these individual member countries should exercise the will of the people, by the ballot process, it could work to the unraveling of the EU.  Since this union is an experiment in which strong and weak economies of Europe joinder themselves through a central banking system and a common currency—the Euro, the strength of the EU is always in jeopardy of breaking apart through a national referendum from a member state; and such has been the case in the Brexit vote.

Records of that breathtaking agreement in Maastricht, towards a more perfect European Union, has been the headline news reports of many media outlets:

Ministers from the 12 countries in the European Community (EC) have taken another step towards political and economic union in Maastricht. The foreign and finance ministers of the EC member states have signed the Treaty on European Union and the Maastricht Final Act, agreed in the southern Dutch town last December after years of debate.

Officially the EC will now be known as the European Union (EU) and a definite timetable and framework for economic and monetary union has been laid down. The EU will take on new responsibilities for a common foreign and security policy and for home and judicial affairs – such as asylum, immigration, drugs and terrorism.

Many European governments regard the treaties as a compromise between those who want to move rapidly towards full union and those – especially Britain – who wants a looser arrangement.

‘Ambitious journey’

Founding father of the European project Max Konstamm said: “Judged by the European Community’s own slow historical development, what was agreed in Maastricht was a giant step towards a more united Europe.”

“But measured against the awesome challenges now facing the Community, both in Europe and the outside world, it may seem as but a further modest step on a much more ambitious journey,” he continued.[2]

In their own words, the desire for the EU is to create “a more united Europe,” but prophecy has forewarned that in as much as iron does not mingle with clay to form a strong bond, this union will be partly strong and partly broken (weak), and this we can all attest to.

In recent years, both Greece’s and Spain’s economies have placed a heavy financial strain on the economic system of Europe.  The pressures were such that there were talks at the highest levels to somehow exclude these countries from the EU, in an effort to shore up the strength of the Euro.

That the EU is a weak union is further seen from the thin popular support it earned in the early days of its formation: “The Maastricht Treaty had a rough ride in national referendums. Danes rejected it in June 1992 and only accepted it in a second vote in May 1993 after receiving an opt-out on monetary union like the UK. In France it squeaked home by just 50.4 to 49.7. There was also evidence of public discontent in other countries including Germany and the UK.”[3]

This forced union will only result in a partly strong and partly weak system, even while it is dubbed the greatest experiment of uniting Europe in a single market economy. “1 January 2002: Euro goes into circulation: Three hundred million Europeans wake this morning to a new year and an extraordinary new reality that constitutes the boldest experiment ever attempted to bind people together by the money they use.”[4]

Today the EU is the single largest economy in the world, with the Euro currency trading higher than the US dollar, thanks to the added strength of the British Sterling.  But with the Brexit vote to secede from the union, we are yet to see the full strength of the European Union, since Germany and France will be left to shoulder the economic strain of the other weaker member nations.

In recent years, a number of EU countries have taken a very hard line against the state of Israel, by yielding to the demands of the Palestinians for the establishment of a Palestinian State.  This they are doing without due consideration of the security concerns between Israel and her immediate neighbors.  Even Great Britain, the leading country for the Belfour Accords, and who granted the real estate of Palestine to the scattered Jews of Europe is slowly taking a harsh posture against the Jewish state it helped form, with the intent of gathering the Jewish diaspora back to the land of their ancestors.

A new opinion poll published Monday shows that a majority of people in Germany, France and Britain – three countries that are critical votes in the battle over the Palestinian bid for statehood – all want their leaders to vote in favor of a UN resolution to support recognition of a Palestinian state when it’s discussed in New York…Ricken Patel, Executive Director of Avaaz, said in a statement: “The overwhelming majority of the British public have spoken – now David Cameron must listen.”

“The Prime Minister has a clear choice: stand with the British public, and 126 other nations to support a Palestinian state and a new path to peace, or side with the US government which continues to push a failed status quo,” Patel added.[5]

More recently, the Vatican has also weighed its influence in favor of Palestinian statehood, while an increasing number of EU countries, including Sweden, have signed on to this initiative.  “RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians celebrated Europe Day on May 7 in Ramallah, along with the Office of the European Union Representative-West Bank, Gaza Strip. Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah inaugurated the celebrations that included projects funded by the EU in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Through this event, Palestinians seek to bolster their relations with the EU. Days after the event, on May 13, the Vatican recognized the state of Palestine, as the Vatican and the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed a draft agreement on the relations with the Holy See. The draft stipulates the organization of the Vatican’s activities in the regions that fall under the control of the PA. The draft also represents an official recognition of Palestine by the Vatican.”[6]

The Brexit vote has caused its own share of economic redistribution, as global markets and economies grappled with an EU without the UK’s membership: “Worldwide markets hemorrhaged more than $2 trillion in paper wealth on Friday, according to data from S&P Global, the worst on record…On Sunday, noted economist Nouriel Roubini said the UK’s departure from Europe may lead to the break-up of the entire 28-trading bloc. His comments echoed those of billionaire investor George Soros, who wrote that dissolution of the EU was ‘practically irreversible.’”[7]

Prophecy does not forecast a “dissolution” of the EU, but it definitely predicts a weakening thereof, since the strength of the US economy will be the leading voice in all policy-driven matters, forcing the no-buy and  no-sell “mark of the beast” decree to all earth’s inhabitants, as previously mentioned in Rev. 13: 15-17.  Only a nation with the strongest global economy and the largest military might to enforce its policies is here recognized, and as the US is the only remaining superpower in the world, it goes to show that the prophecy is on schedule and will be fulfilled to the very letter.

The Real Good News in It All

Coming back to Nebuchadnezzar’s forgotten dream, we will discover that it actually ended on a high note—the establishment of God’s kingdom “in the latter days.” While Daniel described the complete image, as he looked on he saw a shocking sight—a stone was cut out from a mountain, and smote the image on its feet—the iron and clay kingdoms—and the entire system crumbled and passed away, while the stone remained and grew to become a “great mountain” filling the entire earth with its grandeur.

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a 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. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” (Dan. 2: 44, 45).

Though the more sure word of prophecy has declared that this dream is “certain” and “sure,” there are many theologians and scholars within the SDA church that are completely ignorant of this fact and have taught for more than a century that the stone was cut from “the sky,” from “nowhere,” “from God,” and some even suggest that “Daniel did not say.”  The student of Scripture will, however, note that there are two mountains mentioned in Daniel 2: the one from which the stone was cut, and the other to which the stone grew and became.

The first mountain represents the church of the Laodiceans—ready to be spewed out of our Saviour’s mouth for her lukewarmness in not having Him in her midst, and the other is the purified church, freed from sin and sinners which will enter upon her final conflict, “fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terribly as an army with banners.”[8]  The people who will comprise this purified church will be the sealed ones, beginning with the 144,000 first-fruits saints (Rev. 14: 4, 5), and extending to the great innumerable multitude of second-fruits saints (Rev. 7: 9).

As we are now living “in the days of these kings,” it should be with joy that we read the rest of the promise: “the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” (Dan. 2: 44).  The preposition “in” indicates position, time and location.  This kingdom will be established contemporaneous with the existing “toe” kingdoms of our day, for in order for it to destroy them it has to first be in existence.  The timing of this kingdom is for “the days of these kings”—the latter days.  And the location is on earth.  Proof that this stone kingdom is on earth is replete through the Scriptures, and the internal evidence from this prophecy also teaches the same:  “and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Dan. 2: 35).  The solid truth that the stone grew and “filled the whole earth,” in the “latter days,”—during the reign of our present world governments, is clear evidence that the kingdom here forecasted is pre-millennial.  The added fact too, that the stone kingdom expanded, comprehends the addition of new converts to its membership, an event made possible only during probationary time—the time when sinners can be saved.

Those who hold that “the stone” is Christ at His Second Coming will have the impossible task of finding Scriptural support for His feet touching the earth at that time, Christ’s setting up a kingdom on earth at His Second Coming (rather than taking the saints up to Heaven for their 1000-year vacation), and His being “cut”, or “separated” from His Father at the time of His Second advent.  I say such teachers will have “the impossible task,” because each premise is a violation of cardinal Bible truth.  The only truth which brings harmony with “Moses and all the prophets,” (Luke 24: 27), is the truth of this pre-millennial kingdom of glory.

How grateful we ought to be that light has come at the evening time of this earth’s history and has illuminated our understanding to show that, the object of Daniel’s prophecy is to present Heaven’s hiding place for the saints during the worst time of trouble and turmoil this world will have ever experienced.  This pre-millennial kingdom is a temporary holding place for the saved, as was the ark in Noah’s days, so that all who can be saved will be saved during the last clarion call of the everlasting gospel, which will either save or condemn men.

At this time, the consummate fulfillment of the Lord’s model prayer for His disciples prayer will be realized, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 5: 10).  In the language of the ISV the same verse reads, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Being the God who cannot lie, we must “believe his prophet” (2 Chron. 20: 20).   For such a “certain” and “sure” revelation, that “in the days of these kings” “the God of Heaven,” YHWH, shall set up His kingdom on earth, as verily as it is in heaven, is to be the hope of the latter-day church.  In this way also shall be fulfilled the hallmark teaching of Y’shuah, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24: 14).  There are many churches and Christian organizations today preaching parts of “the gospel,” but almost none are teaching “the gospel of the kingdom” here forecasted in Daniel.

When we see the Brexit vote thus tearing Great Britain from the EU, we can rest assured that the days of the kingdom are nearer than when we first believed.  Friend, all things are now ready:  the nations are ready for their Middle-East war, the economies of the world are ready for a global market with a single mechanism for commerce and trade, the churches are now ready for an ecumenical utopia in the midst of the worst apostasy in Christian history—to include gay marriages and women pastors, and most of all YHWH is ready for the sealing of the 144,000 evangelists who will rescue those that are left to perish in Babylon.  What a glorious moment we are privileged to witness!  May we heed the Saviour’s command to “watch” unto the coming of our King: “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13: 35-37).

–Written by Garrick Augustus, June 29, 2016

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List of References

[1] http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/25/europe/uk-european-union-divorce/

[2]http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/7/newsid_2536000/2536459.stm

[3]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3583801.stm

[4]http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/25/a-timeline-of-britains-eu-membership-in-guardian-reporting

[5]http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/leading-eu-countries-support-palestinian-statehood-bid-in-un-poll-says-1.384015

[6]http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/palestinian-authority-relations-european-union-recognition.html#ixzz4D8BCHMfL

[7]http://finance.yahoo.com/news/official-brexits-black-friday-selloff-144323019.html

[8] E.G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 725

[i] Antitypical Assyria is a term used in prophecy to identify the Western Christianized nations of our world—the nations through whom the Holy Scriptures have been preserved and communicated in these latter days of earth’s history. For a comprehensive treatment of Assyria, please see my presentations—Jonah’s Message to Assyria, as well as V.T. Houteff’s book, War News Forecast (AKA Tract #14).