Ten Kings: The Netherlands
The Netherlands—possibly as part of a small group of related nations—will produce one of the 10 kings of the new Holy Roman Empire. It has worked extremely closely with Germany, to the point that it has handed over the command of its entire army to the German Army. This successful integration is held up as a pattern for other nations to follow in the quest to produce a united European military.
“With the subordination of the Dutch 13th Light Brigade, all brigades of the Dutch Field Army will be subordinated to the divisions of the German Army.” This official statement by the German military sounds like a declaration of victory in battle—but not a shot was fired. The Netherlands voluntarily submitted the last of its three Royal Netherlands Army combat brigades to German command on March 30.
Germany has been working toward this end for decades. The German-Netherlands Corps was established in 1995, and the two armies have held regular joint exercises and shared in procurement and development. In 2014, the Netherlands’ 11th Airmobile Brigade, which includes paratroopers, mountain infantry and special operations forces, was integrated into Germany’s Rapid Forces Division. The infantry operates in conjunction with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft of Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, which previously bombed Rotterdam and the entire country into submission in one week as it launched World War ii. (Rotterdam remains a strategic asset: It is Europe’s largest port and lies at the mouth of the Rhine, which Germany heavily depends upon.)
In 2016, the Netherlands 43rd Mechanized Brigade was integrated into Germany’s 1st Armored Division. This division also cooperates with Polish and British units, serves as a leading land division in nato’s rapid reaction force, and has been deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. With the 13th Light Brigade joining Germany’s 10th Armored Division, which has operated in Kosovo and Mali, all 9,000 of the Netherlands combat soldiers and officers take orders from German generals.
Under nato, Germany and the Netherlands are developing and practicing strategies for using B-61 nuclear bombs that the U.S. has deployed to Europe. (Belgium, Italy and Turkey are also part of this nato nuclear-sharing deterrence policy.) This shocking development has been promoted and accepted as a cost-saving measure, which may help induce other nations to do the same.
At the same time, children in the Netherlands learn the German language in school, to the point that about 70 percent of the population now speaks German. This is a key reason that units from the Netherlands have integrated into the larger German divisions even better than the long-standing French-German brigade.
The website of the German military states, “The excellent cooperation between the German and Dutch armed forces is regarded as a special example of a close common European security and defense policy.” This statement reveals Germany’s goal. This should be extremely disturbing to the world. If other nations want to be part of what Germany is building, this is the example. This was Germany’s plan all along.
The Netherlands is also an example of how parts of Europe are forming into nation-groups. Within larger groupings like the European Union or the eurozone, smaller groups exist and are forming. The Netherlands often cooperates with Belgium and Luxembourg, forming agreements like the Benelux Economic Union and working together on nuclear power plants, warships, naval agreements and other coordinated policies.
Mr. Armstrong wrote in the October 1962 Plain Truth about the Revelation 17 beast symbolizing the modern European superpower, led by a German strongman: “The beast, then, is the leader, or ruler, over all—and 10 other dictator-kings, or lesser rulers over 10 European nations or nation-groups (the ‘Benelux’ nations, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, for example, might constitute one of the 10), are to be associated in this union of European nations. The ‘one hour’ of their reign indicates, as in [Revelation 17:10], a very ‘short space’ of time.”
This empire will definitely be a close union of church and state once again. For that reason, Mr. Armstrong said in the 1950s that the Netherlands, where most people are not religious and only 1 in 5 is Catholic, would probably not be part of the new Holy Roman Empire. But in the September 1961 Plain Truth, he wrote that when God said, “Come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18:4), He was speaking to some nations of Israel, which would be part of this empire—which is heavily influenced by Catholicism, which is heavily influenced by Babylon. He then cited France, Belgium and the Netherlands as likely possibilities.
The Netherlands is a special example. Watch for other nations, both Israelite and Gentile, to follow it, give up sovereignty, and even give up their own armies to “receive power as kings one hour with the beast” (Revelation 17:12).
