Merkel Starts to Say Goodbye
Germany has been dominated by one story this week: the demise of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Just like we talked about last week, her party took a beating in state elections in the German state of Hesse on Sunday. And so on Monday, Ms. Merkel laid out her retirement plan.
Her party is due to vote on a new party leader in December. Previously it was assumed Ms. Merkel would continue to be that leader. But she announced she would not stand in the elections but would hand the reins to someone else.
She wants to remain chancellor until the next election, scheduled for 2021. After that, she plans to retire completely from politics.
There’s a good chance she won’t get her way. If an ally is voted party leader in December, she may have a shot at it. If it’s someone opposed to her, he or she may try and unseat her from the chancellery. And the Social Democrats, her coalition partners, could bring down her coalition any time.
Regardless of what happens in the immediate future, the Bible tells us what is coming next. It is full of prophecies of a strong leader rising in Europe. Daniel 8:23 calls him “a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences.”
The Bible also describes how he will come into power. Daniel 11:21 says the people shall not give this figure “the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”
Barnes’ Notes on the Old and New Testaments states, “[I]n other words, it should not be conferred on him by any law or act of the nation, or in any regular succession or claim.”
“This man doesn’t come to power the honorable way—by being voted into office,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in November 2002. “He takes it dishonorably! He will work behind the scenes and come to power by flatteries—not votes!”
In the Good News magazine of May 1953, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote, “[I]t is probable that none but a German can provide the dynamic, inspired leadership required to organize such a political military federation.”
Merkel’s resignation sets the stage for this perfectly. She’s now a lame-duck leader at a time of great uncertainty. Just look at some of the headlines that have come out this week:
- “Europe’s Coming Year of Reckoning”
- “As Merkel Eyes Exit, Nervous EU Wonders Who’ll Take the Stage”
- “Europe’s Empty Throne”
All Europe needs is a strong leader in Germany right now. Merkel can no longer be that leader. German politics have splintered, with extreme parties taking a substantial proportion of the vote. It cannot provide a strong leader. None of the leading candidates for Ms. Merkel’s replacement excite any enthusiasm among Germans.
There’s a leadership vacuum in Europe and traditional politics cannot fill it. The stage is set perfectly for the Daniel 11 strongman we’ve forecast for years. He may not arrive on the scene in December, but the conditions the Bible said would help lead to his arrival are here.
You can learn more about this strongman and what the Bible says about him in your free copy of A Strong German Leader Is Imminent. It will help you understand what the Bible forecasts for the immediate future in Europe and around the world. It will tell you who we think this strong leader may be. And it will explain the dramatic and hope filled conclusion of all these events.
