Germany’s next national election is scheduled for next year, but the current political uproar could result in new elections at any moment. The man most likely to come out victorious is Friedrich Merz. “The chancellor question has been decided,” Markus Söder, leader of the Christian Social Union, announced on September 17. “Friedrich Merz is doing it. I am fine with it and expressly support it.”

Söder would have been the more popular candidate, but he failed to win the backing of the Christian Democratic Union (cdu) and Friedrich Merz. Now millions are resting their hope on Merz. The unpopularity of Germany’s governing coalition will increase his chance of becoming the next chancellor.

The Union parties have double the support of the current chancellor’s party, the Social Democrats. If elections were held next Sunday, the Union would be the clear winner and Merz would have to set up a new coalition. The two main things Merz wants to handle differently are immigration and the economy.

If Merz succeeds, it will end his long streak of political setbacks.

From 2000 to 2005, Merz was a contender to be the Union’s chancellor candidate. However, Angela Merkel won and he went into the business world. Among other things, he headed the supervisory board of the German branch of the American investment bank BlackRock.

Merz attempted a political comeback in 2018, competing with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer for leadership of the cdu, but he lost. In 2020, Merz decided to run again and lost to Armin Laschet on Jan. 16, 2021. Only after a devastating election defeat in 2021 did the cdu accept Merz as a leader—but he still wasn’t the certain chancellor candidate. This changed after Söder exited the race this week.

However, former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has supported Merz over the years. The two share common political views, a common Catholic faith and similar business success.

On Jan. 17, 2020, Guttenberg told the German Press Agency: “For me, there is only one politician in the Union left who I consider perfectly suitable for this task and who I would vote for: Friedrich Merz.”

On a popular talk show on September 10, Guttenberg was asked who he supports. Although polls favored Söder, Guttenberg again endorsed Merz. In the days following, Merz received the backing of a few critical party members, which pressured Söder to endorse him as well.

This plays a prominent role in Bible prophecy. (Request a free copy of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.)

In “Europe Is About to Be Hijacked,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

Europeans are facing great crises, including economic instability, terrorism and illegal immigration, rising threats from Asia. In times of crisis, people are less concerned about democratic norms. They need strong leadership. That has to come from Germany, which dominates and even domineers Europe today. It is the powerhouse.

In the end, 10 kings will give their military might to one man, and will form a superpower that will shock the world! We believe there will be one supreme king over 10 kings. (There is a slight possibility that there could be just 10 kings total and that the leadership would come out of Germany.) But whether this prophesied ruler will hold a position in Germany or not, he will rule Germany and the rest of this European conglomerate.

For many years, Mr. Flurry has pointed to Baron zu Guttenberg as the most likely man to fulfill the role of this overarching king. In this context, Mr. Flurry has highlighted a prophecy that reads: “And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries” (Daniel 11:21).

This prophecy is for the end time, right before Jesus Christ’s Second Coming (verse 35). This is the same time referred to in Matthew 24 and Revelation 17.

World events show we are nearing the fulfillment of these prophecies. Watch for a strongman to come to power by flatteries. Guttenberg’s actions could play a role.

Read “Is KT zu Guttenberg About to Come to Power?” to learn more about the Bible’s prophecies about this strongman and how they may point to a leader already on the scene.