In the summer of 1940, France was languishing under the dark rule of Nazism. Charles de Gaulle was the sole French leader who fought on. Fearless, intelligent, vain, combative, objective and patriotic, de Gaulle epitomized the past and future of France. After the war, he became the father of the Fifth French Republic, and the nation has largely followed his foreign-policy ideals.

One of his defining characteristics was his resentment toward the Anglosphere: Britain and the United States. During World War ii, one of de Gaulle’s aides noted, “The general must constantly be reminded that our main enemy is Germany. If he would follow his own inclination, it would be England.”

Britain and the U.S. saved France during World War ii, yet Bible prophecy foretells that soon France will betray them.

Undermining Influence

Immediately after returning to power in 1958, de Gaulle tried to resurrect a French empire at the expense of the West. In Vimy: The Battle and the Legend, historian Tim Cook writes, “The proud and arrogant de Gaulle refused to accept his nation’s misfortune and he ached to see France return as a great power, one that might unite the French-speaking world and act as a neutral nation in the Cold War between the West and Soviet Union.” De Gaulle tried to solve a world crisis in his own self-willed way and undercut the West’s security.

Cook continues:

After years of prickliness, de Gaulle shocked the world in February 1966 when he demanded that nato remove its forces from French soil. The Western allies were furious, having led France’s liberation only 20 years earlier and believing that collective defense against the Soviets was the only means to keeping the Red Army from marauding Europe.

This fateful decision forever pushed U.S. military power in Europe to be intertwined with Germany. As we will see later, this has had massive consequences.

Another way de Gaulle elevated French interests above America’s was through North America’s backdoor: Quebec. Canada’s Francophone population has always been loyal to Catholic-French interests rather than the British-Anglophone majority. A separatist movement had begun, and since 1963, the flq terrorist group had used extreme violence to push this cause. De Gaulle schemed to foment separatist and anti-monarchist sentiments, thereby destabilizing North America and humiliating the British Commonwealth.

In 1967, Canada was celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in France, the battle that came to symbolize all of Canada’s sacrifice on French soil. De Gaulle saw this as an opportunity to embarrass Britain; he objected to Queen Elizabeth ii or Prince Phillip attending the official ceremony, destroying 50 years of goodwill.

De Gaulle planned to use his visit to Canada in July 1967 to “strike a strong blow” in favor of Quebec. Instead of going to the capital Ottawa, De Gaulle landed in Quebec and traveled from Quebec City to Montreal, where he spoke from his hotel balcony to the adoring masses. Cook writes:

Arms raised, and urging Quebecers to embrace their destiny, de Gaulle said that France had confidence that French Canada could stand on its own. The crowd roared with delight. Swept onwards, de Gaulle finished his speech, shouting, “Vive Montreal! Vive le Quebec!” And then, with a dramatic pause, “Vive le Quebec … libre!” The crowd was stunned into silence, and then thundered its approval.

“Vive le Quebec libre” was the rally cry of the separatists and the flq. This emboldened the radicals who nearly destroyed the country when the flq started taking lives.

Gaullist France has been turning against the Josephite nations ever since. Each subsequent president has taken steps toward Europe and away from America. President Francois Mitterand signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, making France a major partner in the European Union. French President Emmanuel Macron is further cementing a close relationship with Europe today and rejecting America.

France’s True Identity

France has always been torn between two families. It shares ancestral ties with Britain and the U.S. and cultural ties with Germany and Europe. This has been a constant source of instability.

The key to understanding a nation’s future is to identify it in the Bible. Nations are simply families of the Bible grown large. The late Herbert W. Armstrong identified the major world powers in his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. The Bible foretells that the nations descended from the 12 tribes of Israel will play a pivotal role in this end time. The U.S. is the tribe of Manasseh, and the British Commonwealth is Ephraim. Genesis 48:19 says these two brothers would be a great superpower (America) and a great commonwealth of nations (Britain). History shows only these nations could have fulfilled these prophecies. Mr. Armstrong also identified another of the leading tribes: “The tribe of Reuben settled in the country that is France today. They had lost their national identity. But the French have the very characteristics of their ancestor, Reuben.”

Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob and lived in a divided household. Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel; each wife had a handmaid that gave Jacob surrogate children. The wives were striving for influence with Jacob, and the sons became embroiled in the struggle. Reuben, the eldest, played a central role in helping his mother, Leah, undermine Rachel and her sons (Genesis 30:14; 35:22). After Rachel died, Reuben defiled Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah. This terrible sin of sexual perversion cost Reuben the birthright, but it elevated his mother in the house of Jacob. Genesis 49:3-4 say: “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.”

These unstable formative years made Reuben unstable and at constant odds with Rachel’s son who received the birthright: Joseph. The sons of Joseph are Ephraim and Manasseh.

This bitter family rivalry between Reuben and Joseph continues to this day as France continues to undermine Britain and America. This rivalry is exacerbated by Reuben’s links to the Holy Roman Empire.

Charlemagne created the first manifestation of the Holy Roman Empire and, near his death in a.d. 814, split the kingdom between his sons. This laid the foundation for modern France and Germany. Thus the tribe of Reuben became institutionally married to Germany and the Roman Catholic Church. The Bible identifies the German people as the Assyrians, a warlike people prophesied to attack Israel, primarily Britain and America. The Catholic Church also has ambitions to undermine the Israelite nations.

By blood, Reuben is the progeny of Israel, but by institution the child of the Holy Roman Empire. Throughout history, Reuben has been caught in the middle, constantly switching sides, “unstable as water.” In the 100 Years’ War, the War of Spanish Succession and Napoleonic period, France was opposed to Britain. In World Wars i and ii, it was allied with Britain. France has been a great nation, with excellency of dignity and power (Genesis 49:3), but it could never excel as much as its brothers (verse 4). The trajectory started by de Gaulle after the Second World War fits within Reuben’s characteristics.

Prophecy shows that another seminal moment in the life of the patriarch Reuben will play out again in this end time.

Prophesied Betrayal

In Genesis 37, a 17-year old-Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, went looking for his brothers in the field, and they hatched a scheme to murder him. This shows the intensity of the hatred and division. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explained in “France Is Betraying America, and Fulfilling Bible Prophecy”:

Reuben, the firstborn, wouldn’t boldly stand up to his brothers. He tried to “rescue” Joseph in a weak, evasive way. It was a betrayal that ended up enslaving his younger brother!

Your Bible says Reuben’s modern descendants will again betray the latter-day descendants of Joseph—America and Britain!

The Bible prophesies of a European superpower led by Germany. France will meekly submit to and participate in this German-dominated “beast” of Revelation 13. In so doing, France will cruelly betray the allies it fought alongside in two world wars against Germany! Yes, Reuben’s descendants will play a treacherous role in “selling” their brother into captivity and slavery, just as their ancestor did more than 3,700 years ago!

We are seeing the beginning of that betrayal today!

The Bible says Germany will be the beating heart of the Holy Roman Empire, and France’s maneuvering since the end of World War ii has elevated Germany’s power in Europe and progressively pushed America out. De Gaulle’s decision to kick nato out in 1966 placed American nuclear weapons in the hands of Germany. Mr. Flurry has warned that these nuclear weapons could easily be used against America.

Reuben will repeat the history of its ancestor and will have a role in selling his brother Joseph into slavery (Ezekiel 5). As the last resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire rises in Europe, and America and Britain continue to slide into an existential crisis, France will commit one last betrayal.

The Trumpet is the only place you will find the biblical perspective. Watch Mr. Flurry’s latest Key of David program on this vital subject, and read his article “French Bombs, Europe’s Nuclear Umbrella and a Prophesied Betrayal.”