Herbert W Armstrong

   Well, greeting friends around the world. Now, I've been telling our radio audience and readers of the Plain Truth that a political union of 10 nations in Europe would rise, resurrecting the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages. I was predicting this even before World War II began; not many believed it then.

   Well, let me quote to you what I wrote in an article in the Plain Truth of July 1935, 4 years before World War II was started by Adolf Hitler. I'll just quote a little out of the center of that entire article that shows what the article was saying and what it was talking about.

   Listen, quote, "Out of the present Italy is to emerge a reincarnation of the once great and powerful Roman Empire by an alliance of 10 nations within its territory." That was four years before World War II began; biblical prophecy revealed that it would start as an economic movement that it would bring an era of unusual prosperity to Europe.

   It did start in March 1957 when six European countries, West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Rome creating what was called the EEC, that is the European Economic Community. It has been known, of course, as the European Common Market, and it came into being actual operation, that is, on January 1st, 1958.

   Immediately, it began to bring economic prosperity to those six countries and has provided economic competition for Britain, for the United States, and for other countries around the world. For years, European nations have wanted to unite in the sort of the United States of Europe. What they want is Political Union. But they've never been able to bring that about while President De Gaulle of France lived Germany would never have yielded to accept him as the political head of a union, including Germany, and the French would not accept the German.

   Long-range plans are already underway for a common currency in Europe. But other things are going to intervene in the meantime that I want to tell you about and I predict that there will be a common currency a great deal sooner in Europe.

   Now, how did I know as far back as 1927 even that this coming United States of Europe would spring up in our time? I knew because it's revealed in biblical prophecy. Now, it seems that almost no one understands biblical prophecy, but it's no wonder for almost no one understands what the gospel is that was brought from God and taught by Jesus Christ.

   You hear a gospel preached, oh, the Protestant section of what is known as Christianity have claimed to preach the gospel. We have evangelists who have preached Christ around the world, but is just preaching Christ the gospel, my friends? I'm talking about the gospel, the message that God sent by Jesus Christ and which he taught his disciples and which he commanded them to preach to the world.

   Very few realize that Jesus Christ came with a news announcement. The word gospel means good news, by the way, that's the meaning of the word. Well, it's plain enough in the New Testament. Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom of God. He said the Kingdom of God was going to rule all nations of the world. It was going to bring peace; it was going to bring happiness, universal prosperity and everything good to the whole world, everything that we need. But don't have now.

   He said the Kingdom of God is not only a coming world-ruling government but also a ruling family into which we may be born and nothing certainly has been more misunderstood than that. He gave many descriptions of the Kingdom of God and yet it was not proclaimed to the world for 18 and one-half centuries.

   It's been right there in the Bible all these years. I didn't write it; I just discovered it, but don't ask me why others didn't proclaim it, ask them. I can't give you the answer. I just know it was not proclaimed; it is being proclaimed now. And you're hearing it right now this very moment in your ears. There is a direct and a most vital connection between this true gospel that Jesus Christ preached and the uniting of the 10 nations of Europe that I have just mentioned. The gospel Jesus brought, the good news that he announced the news of the future for that kingdom is a world rule that has not even yet been set up. So this gospel, this news announcement was in itself prophecy.

   Did you ever wonder why approximately one-third of all of the entire Bible is taken up with prophecy? All prophecy is directly connected with the true gospel, but people haven't known what the gospel is, so they never could see the significance of prophecy.

   The prophecies of the book of Daniel are connected with the Kingdom of God. Now, not many people would understand that, not many would believe it because it hasn't been explained. In the second chapter of Daniel, the King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the very first world empire, 600 years before Christ, was caused by God to have a most significant dream. And God used the prophet Daniel to interpret that dream and to write it in this book. That is a part of the Bible today. In it, Nebuchadnezzar saw a frightfully large metallic image.

   Now, the head of that image was of gold, the breast and arms were of silver, the thighs of brass, the legs and the feet of iron, and the toes part of iron and part of miry clay. Now, all of those are symbols. This whole big metallic image was merely a symbol. And Daniel explained it that the head represented Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom.

   Now, let's just begin here in the second chapter of Daniel, beginning with verse 32 (Daniel 2:32-44). The image's head was fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet, part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, that is, supernaturally, not in human hands. And notice it says, thou sawest till it was a time element. He was watching until a certain event happened which smote the image on his feet that were of iron and clay and break them to pieces.

   Now, let's carry on, just get the thread of it. Here in verse 37, heaven, Daniel said, "Thou, O king, are the king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom and power and strength and glory." Nebuchadnezzar was a Gentile king. He didn't know God. He knew there were probably a lot of gods, but which one was the real God or the creator? He didn't know. He had his astrologers and his soothsayers and all that sort of thing. But they couldn't interpret this dream.

   God was revealing to that king through his prophet Daniel that God is the ruler of the whole universe and over the governments, even of this world, that is, He has the power to rule, the power to control. Though it's very seldom that God has intervened in this world for 6,000 years. Now, notice verse 39. After thee, said Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee and another third kingdom of brass which will bear rule over all the earth. He's talking about political governments bearing rule over the earth.

   Then he said, "The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things. And as iron that breaketh, all of these shall break in pieces and bruise was going to break in pieces, all of those that had been its predecessors." Now, coming down to the climax, verse 44. I'm just hitting the high spots here for you. You can read everything in between in your own Bible. Verse 44, "And in the days of these kings," now it's gotten down to the toes of the image, 10 toes. "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, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

   That's talk about the Kingdom of God. That is the very thing that Jesus preached as the gospel. That is talking then, my friends, about the gospel. And I don't think you hear that preached very often in any church anywhere. I know I was riding with a man who was quite a professing Christian one time in an automobile. And I explained some of this to him as we drove along up in the state of Oregon. And he says, "Well, he says, you certainly don't preach anything like that, do you?" And I said, "I certainly do." Well, he thought that was terrible. He just thought you must believe in Christ, just accept Christ, and that's all there is to it.

   Well, I want to tell you, my friends, there's a great deal more to the real gospel than that, although that's quite necessary. But so is the rest. Well, that was speaking of the Kingdom of God that God would set up a government. Now, it started with the government's clear back with Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean Empire 600 years before the birth of Christ. And it carries on to the second coming of Christ, that is going to happen in our time and our generation and approximately quite soon now.

   So, I want you to notice the connection. It is dealing with world governments and nations. And so was Christ's gospel, and it was dealing with nations from the ancient Chaldean empire that was often called Babylon on down into our day and clear up to the time of the second coming of Christ.

   Now, this same prophecy continues on in the seventh chapter of Daniel. In that chapter, Daniel had a prophetic dream. And in his dream, he saw four wild animals. The first was like a lion. The second was like a bear, and the third was like a leopard. But that animal had four heads, making five up to that time. And then the fourth animal, which had a head, making now seven heads. It was unlike any other animal, but it was stronger, more terrible than any of the previous four. It had all of the strength of every one of them combined; it had great iron teeth, and out of the fourth were 10 horns out of that fourth wild animal in the seventh chapter of Daniel in the Dream of Daniel.

   Now Daniel was given the interpretation, the lion represented Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean Empire, just like the head of gold on the image, the bear represented the Persian Empire, the leopard, the Greco-Macedonian Empire with four divisions that took place after the death of Alexander. So, it was given four heads representing those four divisions. And the fourth then was the Roman Empire.

   The horns on this image were other governments to arise out of the Roman Empire after its fall. Its fall actually happened in 476 A.D. And according to this prophecy of the seventh chapter of Daniel, the first three of those horns that represented governments after the fall of Rome, the first three were uprooted by a smaller horn representing a religious kingdom. It persecuted the saints, the people of God until the time of the Kingdom of God, which means right on down to our time now. And even ahead of us until the coming of Christ when it said the Saints would possess the government and rule, and that is a worldwide government all over the earth. Saints then were born to become kings, ruling under Christ, who was born to be the King of kings and is coming to organize a world-ruling government, and that, my friends, is the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

   Herbert W. Armstrong will return right after this message. "Men shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. They shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. When will man's dreams become reality? What would it take for the Arabs and Israelis to lay down their arms? What would it take for Russia and China to become allies? What would it take for all nations to forge their armaments into farm tools? The whole gospel of Jesus Christ is about a soon-coming world government that will bring world peace.

   For a full understanding of this message of hope, request your free copy of 'What do you mean... the Kingdom of God?' Read how mankind will learn to forge his swords into plowshares. Request, 'What do you mean... The Kingdom of God?What do you mean... the Kingdom of God?' Send your request to Herbert W. Armstrong, Post Office Box 111, Pasadena, California 91123. That's Herbert W. Armstrong, Post Office Box 111, Pasadena, California 91123.

   Now next, the same succession of Kingdoms or governments carried on into the 13th chapter of the book of Revelation. John, the Apostle who wrote the Book of Revelation, in a vision saw one wild animal. It was like a leopard, but it wasn't a leopard; it was like one, and it was a peculiar kind of a leopard because it had the feet of a bear. Now, the feet are the strongest part of a bear. It had the mouth of a lion, and the mouth is the strongest part of a lion. And the main body is the essential part of a leopard because it's cat-like and quick.

   And so, here was a wild animal. It was as quick and cat-like as a leopard, had all the strength of the feet of a bear, the mouth of a lion. And it had also seven heads and 10 horns, and it had crowns on its horns. Now, the crowns here were not on the heads as they were back in the seventh chapter of Daniel. So that makes a difference.

   Now it says that a dragon, which is interpreted in the 12th chapter to be the devil, Satan, the devil gave this beast its seat and its power and its great authority. So, it's representing human government here on the earth. And these are the governments now dominated by Satan. You see, God gave Nebuchadnezzar his seat and power. Nebuchadnezzar was given the opportunity to come under the rule of God, which would have given him very great prosperity. And that was given immediately after the two kingdoms of God, that is the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah, had been driven out into captivity and punishment for their rebellion and their disobedience of God and the government of God.

   So, Nebuchadnezzar had that opportunity to have all of the blessings that would come from God's rule. He turned it down. Now, these others that followed are simply those of Satan, the devil. This is pictured in the Bible as Satan's world and not God's world at all. God has dipped in and intervened at certain stages to some extent; he dipped in and intervened in the government of this world in the time of Noah, in the time of the flood. He did again with certain individual men like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and even Abraham's nephew, Lot. And then again in Moses and the children of Israel, it became a kingdom, God's kingdom, but they rebelled, they didn't obey God. And so, they were cast out.

   Then Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean Empire was given the opportunity. He recognized God; he acknowledged God, but he never surrendered to God, and he never followed or obeyed God. So, as I say, the rest of the governments from that time on are looked on in the Bible as Gentile world governments. And they are pictured as wild animals who had the characteristics of these human governments. They went out destroying, trampling, and gobbling up everything, and that is the way the governments of this world have done.

   So, this one beast of the 13th chapter of Revelation is one that had all of the strengths of Daniel's four beasts. It was the Roman Empire, but with crowns on its horns, it depicts a time of rule after the fall of the empire, after the deadly wound was healed. It is mentioned in the 13th chapter of Revelation, and the horns were to continue on another 1260 years. Now those horns are other lesser governments coming on after the fall of Rome in 476 A.D.

   Now remember because this is picturing through these symbols, the governments that have ruled this world for 2500 more years. Remember there were seven heads but only four wild animals. But Daniel's leopard had four heads. And this leopard was a symbol of the Greco-Macedonian Empire of Alexander, the Great.

   Well, after Alexander had conquered the Persian Empire and practically the whole world, he died in a drunken debauch. And after 10 years, his vast empire was split up into four divisions by his four top generals. The Roman Empire had absorbed all four of those later. So the animal that John saw in the 13th chapter of the Book of Revelation, over in the last book in the whole Bible, In the New Testament, was the Roman Empire, which dated from 31 B.C. to 476 A.D.

   Now it says it had a deadly wound. Well, that's when the Empire fell in 476 A.D. And after the fall of the Roman Empire, three successive smaller governments ruled: the Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths, but they were totally uprooted. Not a vestige of any of those people remains today.

   Now that left seven more to come, and remember that the crowns were on these horns, so that this is picturing something that was another government rising up after the Roman Empire and to symbolize the last seven of the horns. Now still to come out of that seventh head that is continuing after the fall of the Roman Empire.

   When you talk about horns and heads and things like that, it might seem a little bit confusing. But when you realize exactly what the identity is described to be and the governments, then all you have to know is just the basic elements of world history, and it becomes very plain and very simple.

   At the behest of the bishop of Rome, Justinian, who had been ruling the Empire in the East, remember there had been two capitals of the Roman Empire. One at Constantinople in the East and one at Rome in the West. Well, Justinian was brought, at the behest, as I said, of the Bishop of Rome, over to Rome from Constantinople, and there he resurrected the empire, which became known as the Holy Roman Empire on through the Middle Ages.

   Now, this re-established the empire, and this re-establishment occurred in the year of 554 A.D. Now remember, the prophecy of the 13th chapter of Revelation said it would continue 1260 years. So, these last seven eras of government symbolized by the last seven of the 10 horns out of the Roman Empire formed, as it were, the eighth kingdom, which was like a continuing part of the preceding seven heads which began with Nebuchadnezzar and then the Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian, the Roman, and so on.

   Now, this is pictured as the beast or the animal described in the 17th chapter of Revelation through the Middle Ages. It was called the Holy Roman Empire. It began now in 554 A.D. under Justinian, the second head of government. See these heads on these animals. The animals were government; the heads were the heads of state or the leaders, the heads of the government.

   Now this government, the Holy Roman Empire began in 554 under Justinian. The second head of government represented by this 17th chapter beast or wild animal was Charlemagne who ruled at 800 A.D., he was the French head of state. He was followed by the third head of state, the German dynasty of Otto the Great, and the fourth head of state was the Hapsburg Dynasty of Charles the Great, and the fifth head of state was Napoleon.

   Now, these five heads of state were symbolized by the first five heads of the 17th chapter Beast of the Book of Revelation. Now, the time in which the Apostle John appears to have seen these events, of course, he was writing back in 90 A.D., he was on the Isle of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea, but he seemed to be seeing things in heaven representing things that would happen on the earth. And about the time of their happening as his vision saw it, was approximately the years along about 1934 to 1937.

   John wrote in verse eight, the 17th chapter of the Book of Revelation. Notice. Now the eighth verse of the 17th chapter of the Book of Revelation, the beast that thou saws was and is not. Now the time you have to figure the time that he's writing of this was around about 1934 to 1937 when this beast was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, which is a symbol of the condition of virtual non-existence. And yet there was life there that could come back in a resurrection and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of Life from the foundation of the world. When they behold the beast, which means a government, now, that was and is not and yet is.

   Now, let's just continue on these next verses, the ninth, and here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, which was a religious organization. And these are seven kings or heads of state as I've said, five are fallen. I gave you the five beginning with Justinian and ending with Napoleon. And one is, now that one is. That's how I know the date of this thing. The one that was at the time of this vision was Mussolini. Mussolini had gone down and conquered Ethiopia at that time, and he had added it to Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, and Libya and Italy. And he proclaimed it to be the Holy Roman Empire. He had made a concordat with the Vatican, and he said the Holy Roman Empire was re-established. Now, not many people knew about it. It didn't even make great big headlines in the newspapers, but it was published, and it did happen, and that was the sixth head that was and was not. And yet it was.

   Now notice from there, one is, and the other is yet to come. That is yet to come in our time. And you are seeing it beginning over in Europe right now, and it continues when he cometh, he must continue a short space. It won't last long once it comes into fruition as a kingdom, and the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, just as I explained a while ago, and is of the seven, going turn back to the ancient Chaldean Empire and goeth into perdition. And the 10 horns which thou saws are 10 kings which have received no kingdom as yet. That means there will be 10 kings over 10 nations in Europe and which have received no kingdom as yet, but will receive power as kings one hour with a beast.

   Now, that one hour is not an exact state of time, in all probability, it just means it's going to be very short-lived. These have one mind and shall give their power and strength to the beast, their military strength, my friends. That's exactly what it means. These shall make war with the lamb, and the lamb shall overcome them, that's speaking of Christ and the speaking of Christ in his second coming, for it says, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. So, it will end with the second coming of Christ. It's only going to last a short time.

   So, when that happens, my friends, you will know that time is about up. So, you see the time described as if looking forward from about the year of 1935 to the second coming of Christ, the 10 horns on the seventh head, there are yet to come, but now are beginning to rise through the common market in Europe. They picture the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. It was through the Middle Ages and of necessity will be a united church and state empire. That, my friends, is what is happening in the world today as has been prophesied for 1900 years in your Bible.

   Now, listen my friends, I want you to get to The United States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy. Listen, where can you find the United States and the British Commonwealth mentioned in Bible prophecy? You find even little small nations are mentioned. Ethiopia is mentioned. Countries like that. Libya is mentioned, small countries. Could the Bible prophecies overlook great countries like the United States and Britain, Russia is mentioned. Other nations in Europe are mentioned. I want to tell you that a staggering turn in world events is due to erupt in the very next few years, and it will involve violently the United States, Britain, and Western Europe and the Middle East. And it's about time we know what is going to happen. Prophecy has not been understood because the missing key to the understanding of prophecy has been this very thing of the identity of the United States and Britain in prophecy. You need to know where we are mentioned in prophecy before you can understand biblical prophecies. And another thing is the absolute ignorance of the fact that prophecy is connected with the very gospel of Jesus Christ. And that it's connected with the reality of things in the world, events that are happening today that are going to involve your life.

   Just ask for "The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy," and incidentally, while you're at it, if you're not already a subscriber for The Plain Truth, request your own free subscription to The Plain Truth. These booklets are free. There's no charge. All you do is send your request then to Herbert W. Armstrong, Post Office Box 111 in Pasadena, California. That's Herbert W. Armstrong, Post Office Box 111 in Pasadena, California. And tell us the call letters of the station to which you're listening. Appreciate it very much if you do that. That's all we ask.

   And so until next Sunday or tomorrow and daily on many of these stations, this is Herbert W. Armstrong saying goodbye, friends.

   You have heard the World Tomorrow with Herbert W. Armstrong, sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God. For literature offered on this program, send your requests along with the call letters of this station to Herbert W. Armstrong, Box 111, Pasadena, California, 91123. That's Herbert W. Armstrong, Post Office Box 111, Pasadena, California, 91123.