We have reached the end of “the good Germany.”

That’s not my analysis, it’s the conclusion of Christiane Hoffmann, deputy director of Der Spiegel, one of Europe’s most popular newsmagazines. She wrote:

The new global situation will also mean a departure from the good Germany. When principles collide with pragmatism, when values clash with interests, Berlin will be forced to make difficult decisions. But how far should we go? What means are we prepared to employ in order to defend Europe, to bring the Middle East closer to peace or to stabilize Africa?

She is not the only one saying this. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is also paving the way for Germany to more openly and aggressively pursue its own interest.

“If your focus is solely on values, you won’t find success in a world where others are relentlessly pursuing their interests,” he told Der Spiegel in an interview published January 8. “In a world full of meat-eaters, vegetarians have a tough time.”

The German foreign minister is implying that Germany is about to start eating meat!

Germany is on the brink of a transformation. But what is it transforming to?

First, we need to get a better picture of what Germany is transforming from. The assumption behind Hoffmann’s and Gabriel’s words is that in recent decades Germany has not put Germany first. That must be confronted to get an accurate picture of Germany’s future.

Germany may not have pushed its own interests openly and aggressively as other powers, but like everyone else, it has still put itself first.

The war in Yugoslavia is the best example. At the United Nations, some referred to the breakup of Yugoslavia as “Genscher’s war” because of the role German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher played in starting it. Germany’s role in this breakup is thoroughly documented in our free booklet Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.

But Germany was cautious and discreet about it. Once it got the United States on board, Germany was happy to let the Americans take the lead—and the spotlight.

In other circumstances, Germany may have been less ambitious than it could have been otherwise. Its guilt for World War i and especially World War ii and the Holocaust has held it back. But those memories are fading, crises are multiplying, and Germany’s postwar caution is ending. Germany is now less weighed down with cumbersome attempts to hide its power.

On May 9, 1945—just one day after World War ii ended in Europe—Herbert W. Armstrong gave a public lecture warning about this power in Europe going “underground.” There would be a “third round,” he told his audience. Soon he was warning that Germany would lead an economic union of nations in Europe.

In 1991, the second year of the Trumpet’s existence, editor in chief Gerald Flurry published an article titled “Biggest World News Happening in Germany”—reminding the world of the warnings Mr. Armstrong gave. We’ve continued these warnings through all these years. Others have increasingly begun to sound similar warnings.

“The question of Europe now is again the question of Germany, of what it wants, what it fears, what it will and won’t do,” George Friedman writes in his 2015 book Flashpoints. “This is the old question of Europe. It goes along with the oldest question in Europe: When will the next war start, and where will it be fought?”

Last year, Niklas Frank, son of a prominent Nazi official, caused a minor stir when he told bbc, “Don’t trust us”—us Germans, that is. We invited him to come visit us and to elaborate further. “As long as we are dominating Europe with our industry, everything is OK,” he told us. “But if they dare to take away our money, then it will become dangerous” (you can read a condensed version of the interview here).

Now, with German prosperity no longer protected by America, German leaders are themselves talking about “a departure from the good Germany.”

It must have seemed hard to believe Mr. Armstrong’s forecast only one day after Germany’s crushing defeat in World War ii that the nation would rise again. But that forecast becomes more and more believable by the month.

How did he know Germany would rise again only one day after the war ended? Because the Bible contains language that perfectly describes what is happening in Germany in 2018. It may sound outlandish to some—but the warning we’ve given so consistently is being fulfilled before your eyes!

Revelation 17:8 describes a beast—a major world power that “was, and is not.” It’s there, and then it’s gone. This beast vanishes, and then it “shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,” coming out of nowhere, you might say.

Here’s how Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explains this in his booklet Prophesy Again:

During World War ii, we saw the Hitler-Mussolini axis, but then it disappeared from the scene. It “was not”! And yet, God says, “it is”! The Axis powers lost the war, but as Mr. Armstrong preached time and again, they just went underground—into “the bottomless pit” (verse 8). They’re still there—they’re just underground. God says, after that happens, they are going to ascend right back up!

We’re not seeing the end of the good Germany. We’re seeing this power emerge more fully from the abyss. It was once hidden, and is now becoming clearer by the day. Mr. Flurry writes that “the first major step” of this power “ascending from the underground was what happened in the Balkans.” Now, that ascension must nearly be complete.

“When you understand Revelation 17:8 and what is happening in the Balkans, you have to say, That’s it! The beast is rising up right before our eyes!” Mr. Flurry writes. And now we see Germany’s foreign minister advising the world that this nation is about to eat meat again.

As Mr. Flurry writes: “The Bible really comes alive when we know specifically what is happening.”

But there’s much more to this story than the rise of Germany. Revelation 17 says that this power will ultimately be overcome by Jesus Christ Himself (verse 14).

This is the hope you can get only from the Bible. The power that is about to emerge into full view is soon going to disappear forever—to be replaced by the first truly good rule in the history of the world: that of Jesus Christ.

Others are now warning of the rise of Germany—and more and more will soon join them.

“Jesus Christ is going to return with the firstfruits, and He’s going to put that beast down so this world never, ever sees it again,” writes Mr. Flurry in Prophesy Again. “This is what we have to prophesy again” (emphasis added). That is a message that only we can give.

The beast power is emerging out of the bottomless pit. And we thank you for helping us get this hope out in the short time we have until it is in full view of the world.

For more critical background on what the Bible says about this power, read our free book Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.