Yesterday was a momentous day in world history. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the return of a strong, militaristic Germany. His speech in the Bundestag was greeted with a standing ovation—with support coming from all Germany’s political parties!

Politico called Scholz’s measures “nothing less than the most dramatic political shift in modern German history.”

Andreas Kluth, former editor in chief of Handelsblatt, wrote: “If you had any sense of history and found yourself near the German Bundestag in Berlin on Sunday, you could have heard the sound of an explosion.”

The whole Earth should be trembling at that explosion! Anyone who knows history should be deeply alarmed. But if you also know Bible prophecy—as every Trumpet reader should—you know this announcement is truly a calamitous explosion!

Last week I wrote to you that “Bible Prophecy Comes Alive in Ukraine!” This week was a spectacular escalation of that trend.

Chancellor Scholz called a special session of parliament to announce a massive increase to Germany’s military budget. Right now they spend €53 billion a year on their military—and that’s a record high. Scholz announced that Germany would create a new €100 billion fund (us$112 billion) this year to rapidly improve the army’s equipment. He also announced that by 2024, Germany will spend at least 2 percent of its economic output on its military. Right now, it spends only 1.4 percent. By the time you factor in the growth of Germany’s economy, this will double its military spending from here on out.

This will make Germany by far the biggest military spender in Europe. Once this is in place, Germany will be spending more on its military than Russia!

These are radical steps. And Bible prophecy warns exactly where they are leading!

For decades the Trumpet has warned you to watch for a major change in Germany. When Germany stopped cutting its military spending and starting boosting it each year, we said this was an alarming change. When German think tanks and generals spoke out, saying Germany needed to become more robust militarily, we told you why this was concerning.

What happened this past weekend, however, was not a slight boost to Germany’s military. It wasn’t just advice or recommendations. This is the real thing: German militarism is back! And Germany, and so much of the world, is cheering! That is truly remarkable.

Anyone who views this announcement through the lens of history and prophecy will have very much the opposite reaction.

Mr. Scholz told the Bundestag that Germany was “living through a watershed era.” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the nation, and Germany needs to be able to stand up to “warmongers like Putin,” said Scholz. “That requires strength of our own.”

More remarkable than Scholz’s words is the fact that everyone agreed with him. He leads the left-wing Social Democrats, a political party that has been skeptical of military spending. He governs in coalition with the even-further-left Green Party, yet they too are in agreement. His main opposition, the Christian Democrats, also supported the announcement.

In the debate that followed, “[o]ne speaker after another rose to find similarly clear and moving words,” wrote Kluth. “Let the world take note: Owing to Putin’s naked aggression, Germany has changed almost overnight.”

For decades Germans have shied away from talk about the need for strength in this world. No longer. Kluth characterized the tone of the parliament’s discussion this way: “The way to stop a bully like Putin is with strength—only then do talks make sense. That used to be an un-German martial notion. It could now become the new mainstream.”

The major boost in defense spending is important. But this change in rhetoric and attitude could be even bigger. For the first time since the end of World War ii, we could soon see an openly aggressive Germany. Germany has certainly been aggressive: Look how it led the world in breaking up Yugoslavia. But it has operated cautiously, in the shadows. Scholz’s speech marks the nation emerging from the shadows and becoming far more open.

And beyond this militaristic transformation in Germany, Russia’s attack on Ukraine looks like it is causing all of Europe to unite quickly!

Europe Unites

“Vladimir Putin just achieved the impossible,” wrote Politico: “genuine European unity.”

“From Sofia to Stockholm, Europe’s internal divisions over how to react to Putin’s aggression have melted away in recent days as the historic dimensions of the invasion—the greatest challenge to the West’s security architecture in decades—sank in,” it wrote.

AP News produced an article titled “By Invading Ukraine, Putin Loses Allies in Eastern Europe.” It shows how all the strongmen in the region that were once friendly to Putin are now turning their backs on him.

“The attack on Ukraine marks the end of an epoch,” wrote Spiegel, Europe’s largest newsmagazine. “The European order, which brought the Continent three decades of relative security and stability following the end of the Cold War, is in the process of collapsing. A new, more dangerous era is beginning.”

This is all happening within just a few days of Putin’s invasion. What would happen if it drags on? How would Europe respond if Putin begins flattening cities?

Bible Prophecy Comes Alive!

Herbert W. Armstrong spent years warning Germany would reemerge as a strong, military power, leading a united Europe. In 1956, he wrote, “The Germans are coming back from the destruction of World War ii in breathtaking manner. Germany is the economic and military heart of Europe. Probably Germany will lead and dominate the coming United States of Europe.”

Mr. Armstrong believed that Russia could play a major part in the creation of this new military power. “Now one of the great things that is urging Europe on, and perhaps the greatest thing that will cause them to hurry and get together on this, is their fear of what’s going on in the Kremlin and the Soviet Union,” he said in November 1982. “And [Soviet leader Yuri] Andropov is frightening them, and that is going to rush them. They are losing confidence in the United States as having a military umbrella over them to protect them, and they want their own military force to protect themselves. That’s the way they feel over there. Now that is a chief incentive to unite them and that is taking place.”

Mr. Armstrong was reading Bible prophecy and watching for it to be fulfilled. He saw the way the Bible said this European power would come about. Some of the names have changed, but this European power is emerging exactly the way he forecast.

Because of these same prophecies, every time Mr. Putin has taken a major step forward, I have told you to watch for Germany and Europe’s response.

Vladimir Putin first assumed office in 2000. But he took a big step toward becoming an absolute dictator in the December 2003 elections. “Russian elections have recently moved President Vladimir Putin much closer to becoming a dictator,” I wrote at the time. “This strikes intense fear in Europe. The Europeans still remember how violent Russia was in World War ii, and Russia is a close neighbor with massive piles of nuclear weapons.”

Now Putin is threatening to use those nuclear weapons!

“The Russian election is triggering a fear that will hasten the uniting of the European Union,” I continued.

Then in 2008, Putin shocked the world by invading Georgia. In an article shortly afterward, I discussed Bible prophecies of that European empire, led by Germany, being made up of 10 kings. “Mr. Armstrong often taught that a political or economic crisis would spark these ‘ten kings’ to strongly unite very quickly. The fact that Russia has launched a war shows just how easily such a crisis could occur! Will the Georgia strike actually spark European unification? Will a crisis occur over Ukraine? That area is the breadbasket of Russia, and surely it is willing to wage war over that as well.”

“Watch Europe to see how it responds to these dramatic developments in Asia,” I wrote.

Then in 2013, Russia grabbed a chunk of Ukraine, invading Georgia and eastern parts of the country. “Europe’s dreadful fear of Vladimir Putin—its next-door neighbor—is going to help shape and form the Holy Roman Empire rather suddenly,” I wrote shortly afterward.

How could we know this would be the outcome of these events? Let’s look more specifically at prophecy.

‘Tidings Out of the East’

The main prophecy these events bring to mind is in Daniel 11. Verses 40-41 prophesy of a “king of the north”—a united Europe—that attacks the Middle East. (Read our free booklet The King of the South to learn more.) This power is going to dominate the Middle East and then the world!

The great powers of Asia, which are already coming together in many ways, will coalesce behind Russia and China. They know they are next on the hit list of the world’s new number one superpower, Europe, which likes to attack without warning. So Russia and China will gather their armies on the borders of Europe. This move will make Europe intensely nervous! And how will they respond?

“But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him” (verses 44-45).

This is where the rise of Europe and Russia is leading. It is building now even as I write!

“Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him [united Europe].” These alarming “tidings” come from the northeast. Look on any world map and see who is located northeast of Europe: Russia and China, which are uniting even today.

As I wrote back in 2004, “Europe’s becoming very nervous about the outcome of the Russian election gives us a flash of light into a terrifying Bible prophecy. It is building now—at this moment—to a spectacular fulfillment! All of these events in Russia and Europe are working out according to God’s master plan.” And in 2008, I wrote, “You can already see the fulfillment of this prophecy occurring in embryo today! Europe is deeply troubled by developments in Russia and China.”

Today, because of Russian aggression, Germany is dramatically changing course on its military, and all of Europe is shifting to wartime footing. But there are still more dramatic changes ahead!

A German Strongman

In 2014, I wrote: “A second major prophecy that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will bring about is the arrival of a strongman in Europe. A new leader is coming—a kind of Vladimir Putin. This is what Europe needs in order to bind together, to have the strength and unity of purpose needed to confront Russia.”

This man is certain to come on the scene very soon!

Daniel 8:23 tells us that “in the latter time,” we should expect “a king of fierce countenance” to arise in Europe. “And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people” (verse 24).

As I wrote in that same article, “Europe’s new fear of Russia is going to play a major role in hastening the fulfillment of that prophecy!”

In addition to that prophesied strongman, the Catholic Church will also play a major role in uniting all those disparate European nations.

So much of what God prophesied through Mr. Armstrong has already been fulfilled. Watch closely for the final fulfillment of these prophecies to emerge! “Ten kings” are going to arise. The 27 nations currently comprising the European Union are going to be pared down to 10. They are going to be led by a strong Putin-like dictator and unified by the Roman Catholic Church. At that point, they will present to the world a power even greater than that of Russia or the United States!

Consider the power the European Union already has today. Look particularly at the clout Germany has. The Germans already lead Europe and call the shots economically. Soon they will begin calling the shots militarily for nine other European kings.

The growing necessity to protect themselves is going to drive European leaders to pare down the number of nations in their union and empower a strongman. That man will then use the clout and power of Europe to take on Vladimir Putin and what the Bible calls “the kings of the east” (Revelation 16:12).

Putin is helping to create a power that is going to be greater than his own! And the clash between these two powers will cause more suffering than the world has ever known!

Most Americans are oblivious to these events. Yet those in America who are paying attention are cheering this dramatic shift in Germany! They are glad to see Germany finally standing up militarily.

But the same prophecies we have already seen fulfilled tell us that this European military power is going to turn against Britain, America and the Jewish state in the Middle East—in an act of unparalleled treachery! God Himself says He is raising this nation up to punish us!

These prophecies are dark and dire, but the Bible tells us that they all have a positive ending. Daniel 8:25 tells us that this European strongman will “stand up against the Prince of princes”—he will try to fight Christ Himself—“but he shall be broken without hand.” The Messiah will come and stop these disastrous wars and destroy that man. The 10-nation military superpower will be destroyed at the same time.

Daniel 2 contains another critical prophecy of this power. It concludes with the image being smashed by a stone from heaven and blowing away in the wind as dust—then the stone growing into a mountain that fills the Earth (verses 34-35). Daniel explains the meaning with this inspiring verse: “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” (verse 44). That will be the end of the Daniel 2 image and all the repressive human empires of this world. God is going to smash that image forever!

The rise of a German-led European power is a towering sign that Christ’s return is close. The time of evil, human empires invading their neighbors is nearly over. God’s rule is about to begin!