Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel had an interesting piece by Tom Saler last month. In a brief potted history of the nation of Greece, pioneer of democracy and Western philosophy, Saler mused:

Once upon a time, Greece was an economic, cultural and military powerhouse. In 332 b.c., the Macedonian general Alexander the Great founded Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile in Egypt. The city flourished as a commercial and cultural hub, spreading Greek influence throughout the region, despite the daunting presence of nearby Rome. Today, the glory that once was Greece has been mostly eclipsed by the glaring example of what can happen to a nation that lives beyond its means for too long.

The world teeters on the brink of the failure of its whole financial system. Nations both east and west fear the current economic and impending social collapse of Greece spreading its contagion to affect other national economies. At this important juncture in the changing global order, it’s fitting that we pause and ponder a warning from the past delivered to the ancient city of Athens.

During the first century a.d., the Apostle Paul proclaimed the true gospel to the superstitious inhabitants of Athens. The reaction of the learned men of Athens was an interesting one: “Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus [atop Mars Hill], saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?” (Acts 17:18-19).

In response, Paul pulled no punches. He just looked them squarely in the eye and declared to them the most basic of truths: “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions [objects of worship—Revised Standard Version], I found an altar with this inscription, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth … he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on … the earth … for in him we live, and move, and have our being …” (verses 22-26, 28).

In his final book, Mystery of the Ages, Herbert Armstrong demonstrated that little if anything has changed between the mindset extant in Athens in Paul’s day, and the attitude of today’s philosophers. In our day, Paul’s words would perhaps be best directed to that body of intelligentsia labeled “economists” for the grand failure of their great economic theories. Mr. Armstrong commented on the reality that most often it is the most “learned” among us, the so-called intelligentsia, who are the most ignorant of the truth:

And now what of the scholarly of our Western world today? One would think, the most highly educated ought to know who and what God is! Suppose you ask at random 100 university deans, “Do you believe in God?” Perhaps three or four would answer, “Oh, I believe in the existence of God—as a ‘first cause.’” But they cannot tell you who and what God is! They cannot tell you what God is like! God is not real to them. In other words, He is a mystery. Perhaps another six or eight of the hundred will admit they are agnostics—they do not know “for sure” whether God exists.

Approaching 2,000 years after Paul’s message to these intellectuals, Mr. Armstrong confronted political and business leaders in the Athens Rotary Club with the truth about the future of Europe:

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. It certainly is a great honor to be able to speak to the Rotary Club here in Athens, Greece. One of the most ancient cities in the world and the home of education, scholarship and culture—one of the oldest cultural cities in the world.I come to you as an unofficial ambassador for peace. Armies do not bring peace to a country. We have not learned the way to peace. Yesterday, I was having a meeting with some of the officials from your country and there was considerable discussion about the plans for the unification of Europe. And as one of your official said, “World peace depends upon European unification.”I want to tell you something more about the coming unification of Europe. We not only have language barriers between the nations, and nationalism, different aspirations and all that sort of thing, and differences which have to be overcome, but many of the political leaders feel that they do not want to be church-dominated. And yet they’re not going to be able to get together without the cohesiveness of church domination and the church bringing them all together. You see even the church is divided between east and west. I can tell you, however, that I fully believe that rift is going to be healed. And I fully believe that unification will be unexpectedly and suddenly achieved, and the whole world is going to be stunned and astounded when it is announced that there is, in the continent of Europe, a new political unification—a nation as great or greater than the Soviet Union or the United States of America.

Now, 26 years on from Herbert Armstrong’s visit to Athens and his declaration that the church would unite and the rift between east and west would be healed, we see those efforts well-advanced. As to European unity, Greece is now at the epicenter of a national crisis of crises, facing total financial meltdown and consequent social breakdown. This appears to even threaten the breakup of the EU, with Greece probably becoming the first in a domino-like collapse of the weaker eurozone economies.

This effect of the eurozone crisis would have been no real surprise to Herbert Armstrong. He knew full well that the EU must fracture into 10 dominant nations under one overarching supreme central government (Daniel 7:7, 20; Revelation 13:1; 17:3, 7, 12-13, 16). Don’t be fooled into thinking that the EU is about to collapse as a political entity. To the contrary, the meltdown of Greece and the pending reorganization of Europe in the wake of the euro crisis will not weaken but rather strengthen this northern power. As Mr. Armstrong declared, the EU will become “great or greater than the Soviet Union or the United States of America.”

Today, that same message which God inspired Mr. Armstrong to deliver to Athens continues to emanate from the Trumpet and the Key of David television program. “Paul talked to the philosophers of Athens about the unknown God.You don’t know God, he was telling them,” wrote editor in chief Gerald Flurry in his booklet Habakkuk. “Even Jesus Christ, at the end of His ministry, had only 120 faithful disciples (Acts 1:15). How many people really know God? Most Christians believe in a ‘trinity.’ They don’t understand the Father and Son, and the fact that God is opening His Family to mankind. The gospel is all about God building a family. How many people understand that gospel?”

It’s not the unifying European church, Germany’s political clout or EU bailout money that will save Greece. Forget the U.S. coming to the rescue—it’s already broke and its true debt far greater than that of Greece.

While that same spirit of error and ignorance that confronted the Apostle Paul still remains in Athens, there is no real hope for rescue from its present plight. Only by turning to the true God of the universe will not only Greece but all peoples of all nations finally come to enjoy true peace, happiness and prosperity. That’s the only valid answer to Greece’s and the world’s problems today. Are there any who yet remember the words that an aging apostle of God, Herbert Armstrong, let alone the first-century Apostle Paul, delivered to Athens? Are there any who truly believe those words? Whether the Greeks believe those words or not, they represent a reality that one day they will either have to choose to obey and reap the blessings or reject and reap the promised curse for disobedience to their Creator! (Isaiah 1:16-20).

Read our book Mystery of the Ages to understand more about who and what is the true God. Our booklet The Rising Beast will also give you clear prophetic insight into the economic, military and religious power which is today emerging to ultimately control not only Greece’s but all Europe’s short-term destiny.

More than that, these books together will show you how there is real hope in reading the signs of the times. For it is prophesied that this rising European power to emerge in the wake of today’s euro crisis will be quickly defeated and replaced by a great family empire ruled by the only supreme and unseen hand which can ever bring true peace and harmony and real economic security to this world.