The Boiling Pot in Europe
So often what appears to be the greatest blessing becomes the worst curse. The hopeful light becomes the blackest darkness imaginable. What looks like a wonderful peace is really the prelude to the worst war and slavery ever!
History reveals that our greatest hope has been in religion. But this has been a false hope that has led us into the most savage wars ever known.
That means that great deceit is deeply embedded in our religions. We must look beyond the surface if we are to see the deceit. The reality is rarely what it seems.
Deadly deceit usually comes in the guise of an “angel of light” (II Cor. 11:14). Last month, we alerted our readers to stunning developments in the European religious arena. It has accelerated even more in recent weeks.
It will impact your life.
Church Unity
Here is a quote from a May 12 Reuters report which illustrates my point (emphasis mine): “The push for unity between Anglicans and Catholics took another hesitant step forward Wednesday when a commission from both churches asked Christians to recognize the universal role of the pope.
“A document released by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission went further than earlier statements embraced by Anglican representatives in recognizing the pope’s ministry as ‘a gift to be received by all the churches.’
“The study, called ‘The Gift of Authority,’ also relates that the pope had a ‘specific ministry concerning the discernment of truth.’
“The 43-page document is not an authoritative declaration from either the Anglican or Catholic churches, but is meant as a study paper for both. It was released at Westminster Abbey, an Anglican church, but in a part of the building that pre-dated the split in 1534 between the Anglicans and Catholics.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, urged the world’s 70 million Anglicans to read the document.
“‘Christians need urgently to be able to speak with a common voice, confident of the authority of the gospel of peace,’ Carey said in a statement. ‘I commend the text to all Anglicans for the most serious consideration and debate.’
“Rev. Mark Santer, the Anglican bishop of Birmingham, said the study was a ‘recognition of the place that the pope has in the Christian family.’
“‘Even now, before we (Anglicans and Roman Catholics) are in full communion, the pope is a pastor of immense authority in the Christian world as a whole,’ Santer said….
“The Anglican Church split from Rome in 1534 over King Henry VIII’s decision to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
“Since 1966, the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches have been in official dialogue whose stated aim is eventual reunion.”
This agreement is on the most sensitive issue of all—government, or who has the authority. The Protestant daughters are returning to their mother church. It was all prophesied to happen (Isa. 47:1-8).
The study is called “The Gift of Authority.” It appears to be so righteous and so appealing. But prophecy says that this “gift” will be the worst gift the Protestants have ever received!
The Catholic Church created the “ratlines” for most of the Nazi war criminals of World War II to escape! This is well-documented in books and even in U.S. government documents. That evil action and many others during World War II clearly reveal that the Vatican was allied with Germany. Around 50 million people died in that war.
Today, the alliance continues. It was only 1991 when Germany and the Vatican recognized the breakaway republics of Croatia and Slovenia when virtually the whole world was against it. Most of the world caved in to Germany and the Vatican. That triggered the civil war in Yugoslavia. It also started the rise of the most destructive power this earth has ever known.
America and Britain, after being against Yugoslavia’s break-up in 1991, flip-flopped and meekly went along, in spite of the recent history of World War II!
Croatia and Slovenia were zealous allies of Hitler during World War II. Today, the president of Croatia has refused to admit any wrongdoing by his nation during the Nazi slaughters. And most Croatians are Catholic.
So that church continues the bloody path of the so-called Holy Roman Empire. No church has even come close to causing so much bloodshed!
In spite of all this evil history, the Protestant churches want to be ruled by the pope. And so they shall be, as they suffer at the hands of Germany and the Vatican one final time—the worst suffering ever on this earth. They will learn, by being helpless victims, what it means to be ruled by the Vatican! Then they shall see the truth of our warning as they spill their own blood.
It seems that men will accept almost any government but God’s!
David’s Throne
There is another ominous sign about this Anglican-Catholic study document: It was released from Westminster Abbey. That is where David’s throne is—where kings and queens of the once-great British Empire are crowned.
That is the throne on which Jesus Christ will sit when He returns! (For a detailed study, write for our free book The United Sates and Britain in Prophecy. Before Herbert W. Armstrong died, he distributed over 5 million copies of that book. It clearly traces that throne back to King David.)
In Luke 1:32-33, an angel told Mary that her Son, Jesus Christ, would be given that very throne: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
Jesus Christ will not return to a non-existent throne! So where is David’s throne? A child can prove where it is.
God will hold Britain and America accountable for the knowledge concerning that throne. We are the same people—brothers—and are without excuse.
The truth about David’s throne is the greatest hope there is in this world! It is our only hope. If we are true Christians, we must look to the throne that Christ will rule from very soon. A Christian is one who follows Christ.
“The gift of authority”—God’s authority—is given only to those who look to that throne! Britain has “the gift of authority” alreadybut they refuse to accept it. And the Anglican Church leads the rebellion!
For the Anglican Church to release that study paper from Westminster Abbey is the ultimate insult to God! And if they are rejecting God’s authority, then whose authority are they accepting?
Britain should be teaching the world about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to sit on that throne! What a “gift of authority” that is. If only they understood. But they must understand that there is no power in the universe that could change this truth. It must be accepted by all humanity. It’s only a matter of when.
God has given “the gift of authority” to His true Church because they teach the truth about David’s throne. And God is going to punish this world until every person accepts the most inspiring truth ever given to man!
Britain’s monstrous sin will not go unpunished!
Watch Croatia
The world has been watching Kosovo. But what is happening in the breakaway republic of Croatia will be a thousand times worse!
Most of our leaders and members of the press refuse to face this critical issue. This was published in the prestigious New York Times, March 3 (emphasis mine): “Serbia and the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, are generally considered the pariahs in the Balkans, but according to an international report, the verdict on Croatia and its president, Franjo Tudjman, is equally harsh. ‘There has been no progress in improving respect for human rights, the rights of minorities and the rule of law’ in Croatia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in the recent report which has not been made public.”
Why hasn’t the report been made public by our leaders and nato? Because they have one harsh standard for the Serbs and no such standard for the Croatians. But that is not the scary part. The reason they don’t speak out is what should really frighten us!
If nato wanted to be fair, they would bomb Croatia as they did the Serbs.
“Beyond that summary, the report… is filled with damning details,” the article says, “about repression of the media by the Croatian government; about its lack of cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands; and, above all, about the government’s harsh treatment of ethnic Serbs. Only a small percentage of the approximately 300,000 ethnic Serbs forced to flee their homes here during the war have been allowed to return. Most fled when the Croatian army carried out its own ‘ethnic cleansing’ during military operations against Serbian-controlled areas in August 1995.
“‘It is harsh, but it is not an exaggeration,’ Andreas Stadler, the deputy Austrian ambassador here, said about the report, which was delivered in late January to the 54 member countries of the organization. The organization, which includes the United States, is charged with overseeing the development of democracy in former communist countries….
“The delicate diplomatic quandary was reflected in the visit here by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last August. In her meetings with Tudjman, Albright delivered a tough message about the need for Croatia to become more democratic, to comply with the Dayton accords, which ended the fighting in Bosnia, and to allow for the return of the Serbian refugees—all matters on which the Clinton administration and Tudjman have fundamentally different views.
“But after returning to Washington, Albright sent Tudjman a letter, which so pleased the Croatian leader that it was promptly leaked. A newspaper in the coastal town of Split described it as having the ‘taste of apology.’…
“Tudjman, who diplomats say is convinced he will be indicted by the tribunal, has declared that the tribunal has no jurisdiction over anything that happened during the operations carried out by the army when it regained control, in 1995, of territories in the hands of Serbian separatists.
“During those operations, Serbian civilians were killed, villages were burned to the ground and several hundred thousand Serbs were forced to flee. The government has given repeated assurances to the United States and the European Union that the refugees will be allowed to return. But it is unlikely that they will.
“‘We have resolved the Serbian question,’ Tudjman declared, referring to the 1995 military actions in a speech to his generals at the opening of a war college in December. Then he added, ‘There will never be 12 percent of Serbs’ in Croatia, as there was before the war.”
Many excuses are offered for not making the Croatians take back the 300,000 ethnic Serbs, while the Serbs are being forced by nato to take all the Albanians back into Kosovo.
Why such flagrant hypocrisy by the U.S. and nato? Almost everybody knows, but few have the courage to say so. We all know that Germany and the Vatican are strongly supporting the Catholic Croatians. So our leaders and even the press rarely give us the truth about this tragedy in Croatia. Mostly we hear about Kosovo.
American and British weakness is responsible for what is happening in Croatia! In fact, our weakness is mainly responsible for the whole Yugoslavia disaster. We caved in so weakly to Germany and the Vatican in the beginning.
We like to crow about our exploits in Kosovo and against the Serbs. But the real powers in Europe and the world know how weak we are. That is why Germany could so easily bully us around to their view in the beginning. Still, Germany could not control the war as much as they wanted. So now they are pushing hard for a European defense organization apart from the U.S.
The Kosovo crisis has helped thrust Germany into a leading military role in Europe. Now Germany is looked upon as just another military power. That is a great change in the world’s thinking. And that is a very grave mistake that will bring bloodshed to millions!
“‘Kosovo has been a watershed in so many ways,’ said Karl Kaiser, a German foreign policy expert. ‘For Germany, it has represented a coming of age. For Europe, it has brought a crushing realization of the asymmetry of military power between it and the United States, and the need to do something about that.’… The Germans have clearly moved from a peripheral role in Bosnia—where far fewer troops were deployed, and those only after a heated national debate—to a central one in Kosovo that was quickly approved last week by Parliament. The ghosts of Nazi horrors in the Balkans, so present at the time of the Bosnian discussions, have faded” (New York Times, June 15).
Great changes are occurring in Europe. And those changes will usher in the greatest crisis this world has ever known!
America’s broken will (also prophesied, in Leviticus 26:19) is allowing the real danger to rise in Europe. Croatia is only a tiny preview of how Europe is about to be ruled once again by the Holy Roman Empire.
As Jeremiah said, the “pot is boiling,” and it’s about to spill over on America and Britain!
The Seething Pot
The prophet Jeremiah saw a vision of precisely what is happening in Europe today. Notice the commission God gave to Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jer. 1:5). Jeremiah only went to Judah, in his lifetime, as a prophet with a warning message; and Judah is only one of 12 tribes of Israel. The other tribes had gone into captivity over 100 years before.
So why did God call him a prophet unto the nations? Because his message is for Israel today, primarily America, Britain and Palestine (or biblical Judah). It was preserved in a book for this end time (Jer. 30:1-9). Jeremiah will have written this book in vain if we don’t deliver his message today!
But how will that message be delivered? Jeremiah tells us. “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it” (vv. 11-12). The “rod of an almond tree” precedes the boiling pot. The Companion Bible describes it as “a watcher or an early waker, because it is the first of the trees to wake from its winter sleep and it is thus what the cock is to the birds.” It is also described as “a vigilant watchman.”
A watchman always precedes some great disaster to strike Israel. God raises up a watchman to warn His people of their terrifying punishment. The boiling pot—Babylon from the north (the European Union today)—is about to spill over, and God gives America, Britain and Judah a chance to repent before it occurs—and afterward.
First Jeremiah saw a watchman. This vigilant watchman comes on the scene when the pot is boiling—when these events are about to explode. It is to be the worst catastrophe ever on this earth! It starts with Israel. (For more information, write for our new expanded booklet on Jeremiah. It’s free.)
“And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething [or boiling] pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the northan evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah” (vv. 13-15). A huge, seething, boiling pot is about to spill over onto Israel. It is a picture of indescribable disaster and suffering—an expression of God’s extreme wrath because of our sins!
How many different horror pictures do we see about this subject in Bible prophecy? There must be more than a hundred. It is time for Israel to repent. This mega-disaster is almost upon us!
Here is the first indication that this prophecy is dated. The vigilant watchman comes on the scene when the pot is boiling and about to spill over. We see it boiling in Europe this very moment.
An end-time Elijah was prophesied to come and restore all things and preach the gospel to the world (Matt. 17:10-11; 24:14). He has come and gone. The pot was not boiling then.
Now we are entering a more serious time when a final warning message must be delivered—the emphasis is on the warning prophecy (Rev. 10:11; Amos 3:7-8). Events are about to boil over onto Israel.
This warning is about great national disasters to come upon nations! And it’s also about the nations used to punish Israel—those coming “out of the north.” This is the European king of the north that will soon clash with radical Islam (Dan. 11:40-41). Very shortly after that clash, he will attack biblical Israel.
Incredible though it may seem, there is yet another crisis that is greater.
Laodicean Era
There is a specific prophecy about God’s very elect warning the Laodicean era of God’s Church (Rev. 3:14-22).
That is made very clear, even in the first chapter of Jeremiah. “And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands” (v. 16). The end-time Laodiceans have forsaken God. Only God’s people could ever forsake Him! They knew God and then forsook Him.
Truth and prophecy are revealed by God. You will find God only where you find His revelation!
Our warning comes at a time when God’s people are forsaking Him. This specific warning comes after the end-time Elijah has come and gone (Mal. 3:1; 4:5-6; Matt. 17:10-11). He restored God’s government in God’s Church and then the majority of the people turned away.
Before each vision God asked Jeremiah: “What do you see?” (Jer. 1:11, 13). You can see the boiling pot and the nations of Israel degenerating spiritually. You can also see God’s own Church forsaking Him. God will leave His people without excuse.
Again, we see this prophecy dated. The watchman comes on the scene when God’s own people are forsaking Him.
God Speaks Out
“I will utter my judgments against them,” God says. How does He do that? Has anybody actually heard His thunderous voice? No. God speaks through the vigilant watchman. You have the responsibility to know where this watchman is.
God is upset first of all with His own Church which has “forsaken Him.” Secondly, He is angry with the nations of Israel because they have “burned incense to other gods.” That means they no longer even believe that the God of the Bible is the only true God (Deut. 4:35, 39).
Christ said in Matthew 4 that we should “live by every word of God.” And in that same chapter He quoted the book of Deuteronomy three times.
Today the U.S. has six military bases where witches can practice their religion.
Here is a quote from the U.S. News and World Report, June 14: “For today’s heterogeneous U.S. Army, the practice is basically business as usual. ‘As far as we are concerned, they are a religious organization providing for the spiritual needs of our soldiers,’ says Lt. Col. Benjamin Santos, Fort Hood spokesman, explaining the Army’s decision to sanction the practice on bases.
“A Defense Department official says that it would be unconstitutional for the dod to ‘evaluate or judge the merits of specific faiths.’”
And yet we piously talk about how our Constitution is based on the Bible. No, today we are worshiping other gods. We don’t believe that the God of Moses and Jesus Christ is the only true God.
So through this Work you hear God utter His judgments. He is giving His final warning to His chosen people.
Ancient Israel heard a thunderous voice out of the fire on Mount Sinai. Those people are our forefathers.
Only Israel (that includes Britain and America) has known the true God. No other nation or nations on this earth have a history with the great God of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 1!
God will hold us accountable for that history whether we accept it or not!
The Holy Roman Empire
The boiling pot is comprised of “all the families of the kingdoms of the north.” “Families” and “kingdoms” are plural. The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible states that the word families “is much broader than the English word “family.” It is like a circle of relatives—or nations that make up the so-called Holy Roman Empire.
There is a tie to the past. The Holy Roman Empire has been resurrected six times. The next one will be the last.
These “kingdoms of the north” are also called the king of the north (Dan. 11:40-41). It is a religious empire. The religious leader even moves his headquarters to Jerusalem (v. 45). That means this church has a very strong belief about the importance of Jerusalem to their religion.
The king of the north is a church and state working together as one power. It is the same combination we see working in Croatia today!
Revelation 13 and 17 says there will be ten nations in that union. They will be guided by a great church.
There will also be a political head which is given great power over ten countries (Dan 8:23-25). One leading nation is the dominant power. Anciently, it was called Assyria (Isa. 10:5-7).
This empire enters into “Jerusalem” (Dan. 11:40-41). Jerusalem is a type of all Israel, since it was the capital of Israel anciently.
This union of ten nations will actually fight Christ at His return. They will quickly be destroyed.
It was the same political and religious power of past empires that recognized the breakaway republics of Croatia and Slovenia today! These two states have been a part of the Holy Roman Empire through the ages, beginning with Justinian in 514 a.d.
It is the history of this empire of nations which led to the beginning of the Yugoslavian civil war. These nations still have strong ties—so strong that they started a war. And they are getting much stronger.
What is happening with Croatia, Slovenia, Germany and the Vatican is a dangerous sign.
These powerful “families” are uniting once again to produce this superpower, the king of the north.
Kosovo is only a sideshow—a distraction from the boiling pot. The real truth of what is happening should leave the world thunderstruck. God will use this boiling pot to spill onto the sinning nations of Israel, unless they repent.
This is consistent with 75 to 100 prophecies that relate to the same end-time scenario.
An Iron Pillar
Jeremiah had a very difficult job. So does the vigilant watchman. “Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them” (Jer. 1:17). The vigilant watchman and his supporters today are told to “gird up your loins.” God wants us to act like men and women of valor. Israel’s impending doom makes our message extremely urgent!
God holds us accountable for what we know. If we get fearful and timid, God will “confound” us before the world. The Hebrew word for “confound” means to “break in pieces” (see Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon). If we run from our calling, God will crush us. That is how He dealt with Jonah. That is how He will deal with the Laodiceans.
We must accept the high honor of the great crusade God has given us or be put to shame. We have to face either the world or a wrathful God. Most of the members in God’s own Church have been too fearful of men to do His Work. This is a warning to God’s true Church today. It is inexcusable if we fail to do God’s Work. After all, God is behind us. So let’s get the job done!
“For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land” (v. 18). This is the incredible power behind God’s little remnant. God has made us like “a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls”— like an iron fortress. Without God, we would be quickly destroyed.
God’s message is against kings, princes, leaders of the world and priests—primarily Laodicean ministers. That is our battleground! “And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee” (v. 19). They will fight against God’s Work, but they shall not prevail! This is a prophecy and a promise from God for the end time. Nobody can close the doors God opens for His Work (Rev. 3:8). Nobody! Not even great armies.
We are destined to win this war because God is with us! But we shall win only after many intense battles. The beautiful outcome is so inspiring, it ought to make men dizzy with joy!
Look at Jeremiah’s example. He was persecuted and thrown in jail—even into a muddy dungeon. But he outlived their insults and savage treatment. He saw Judah destroyed and the people led into captivity.
He then took David’s throne and King Zedekiah’s daughter to Ireland to reestablish that throne there. He carried that symbol of the world’s only hope with him.
God saved Jeremiah from the evil of his time. Why? Because he did God’s Work. And God will protect those proclaim the hope of David’s throne as Jeremiah did.
How can we not deliver this only message of hope to a hopeless and dying world?
