Why do World News and Prophecy and its sister publication The Good News spend so much of their magazine space and journalistic time analyzing current events on the European continent and in the British Isles?

Noted Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips helps us explain: "Europe is not some marginal issue that belongs to a discredited and best forgotten past. It is the meta-issue, the one that underpins all other [political] issues. The British people know this. That is why 70 per cent want a referendum on the treaty. It's why no fewer than 40 per cent want to come out of the EU altogether" ("David Cameron and the Spectre of 'President' Blair," Oct. 5, 2009, emphasis added throughout).

About a month ago I journeyed by train and boat from London to Dublin on a church assignment. Boarding a bus from the Dublin docks to a city-center railway station, I noticed prominent posters urging a "yes" vote on just about every block. The advertising campaign has overwhelmed Irish voters. Millions of euros were poured into the "yes" campaign. Substantial concessions to EU law were also granted to the Irish government. Melanie Phillips' frank assessment was: "The Irish people have had their arms twisted to deliver the required 'yes' vote on the EU's constitutional Lisbon treaty" (ibid.).

What happens now?

Only the Czech Republic remained a potential obstacle to complete ratification. Czech President Václav Klaus, after staunch opposition to the Lisbon Treaty, finally signed on Nov. 3. Stated The Wall Street Journal last month: "The European Union's Lisbon Treaty, meant to streamline the bloc's decision making and increase its global clout, has been approved by 27 national parliaments...For it to come into effect, one more man needs to say yes: Czech President Václav Klaus, a committed euroskeptic who so far has refused to sign on" ("A Leader Delaying Lisbon Treaty?" Oct. 19, 2009).

But the leaders, diplomats and chief supporters of the European Union were frighteningly relentless in their dogged determination to push this treaty through to final completion. The Sunday Times stated: "In faraway Brussels furious diplomats were calling for his [Klaus's] impeachment and even his country's expulsion from the European Union because of his obstinate refusal to sign the Lisbon treaty...European leaders were told he was not available to take their calls" ("Germans Seek Ways to Oust Czech President Václav Klaus Over EU Treaty," Oct. 11, 2009).

President Klaus clearly stated, "I have always considered this treaty a step in the wrong direction." This remark was not well received in Paris, Berlin and Brussels. French and German diplomats were exploring ways to "impeach him or change the Czech constitution to take away his right of veto...Jiri Oberfalzer, a member of the Czech senate and Klaus's closest ally, said Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, had already threatened the Czechs with expulsion from the EU" (ibid.).

These alleged threats from the French and the Germans were probably little more than empty rhetoric, but it is frightening to contemplate what Brussels might do to EU member states if it gains the power to carry out these threats.

Klaus knew signing was inevitable after the Czech Constitutional Court turned down the last objection. "The Eurosceptic Mr Klaus had recently said he would no longer attempt to block the treaty, after receiving the promise of an opt-out from the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Mr. Klaus said the opt-out was needed to avoid property claims from ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II" ("EU Reform Treaty Passes Last Test," BBC News, Nov. 3, 2009).

Losing yet more national sovereignty

The big issue for Britain remains in the realm of the continual erosion of national sovereignty—the ability of a country to effectively govern itself relatively free of outside interference. Melanie Phillips pointed out the high stakes for the United Kingdom in her weekly Daily Mail column: "Frankly, unless the Lisbon treaty is stopped, there is little point in [Conservative Party leader David] Cameron or anyone else busting a gut to win the General Election, since Parliament will be reduced to the status of Westminster regional council in the empire of Euroland" (ibid.).

Mrs. Phillips further pointed out that "even without the constitution, the EU has already paralysed our ability to govern ourselves in myriad different ways" (ibid.).

This is not the only point of view on the Lisbon Treaty. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband sees it quite differently. He stated in a recent Times article: "Our role in Europe magnifies the power of our ideas, which strengthens our international clout in Washington, Beijing and Moscow...The Lisbon Treaty gives Europe the chance to be an effective force defending the gains of the last 60 years" ("Britain Is Still a Big Player. Europe Needs Us," Oct. 26, 2009).

At this juncture, former Prime Minister Tony Blair enters the picture in a paradoxical way. He has been considered a leading candidate for the European Union's first president, even though many in his own country basically oppose a European federation and potential world superpower. By comparison, the other candidates in continental Europe appear to most as little more than faceless bureaucrats.

Polls have consistently shown that the Conservative Party is likely to assume power in the next British general election in May (or perhaps even before). Its more vociferous spokesmen have promised their opposition to Tony Blair if he becomes the EU's president, as described in a major feature article in The Sunday Telegraph titled "Tony Blair Becoming EU President Would Mean 'Permanent Warfare,' Tories Warn" (Oct. 11, 2009).

Melanie Phillips summed up her view of the effects of this new treaty (or constitution) on national sovereignty: "If this constitution comes into effect, Britain and the other EU member states will no longer be self-governing nations. Foreign policy, defence, social, economic and welfare policies, immigration, internal security—every national interest will be subordinated to this new anti-democratic entity" (ibid.).

What God sees

God's political and geographic vision is many times sharper than our own. He understands and sees Europe as no human being or nation does. He has revealed His thoughts in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments.

The Hebrew prophet Daniel foretold future occurrences in Central Europe hundreds of years before the time of Christ. His prophecies were later complemented and fleshed out in the book of Revelation revealed to the apostle John near the end of the first century.

In summary, there were to be seven distinct resurrections of the original Roman Empire. A superpower consisting of 10 nations or groups of nations would be the seventh and final resurrection. The first six have already passed into history, and the final one may not be that long in coming. (Please see the accompanying sidebar, "A New Superpower to Emerge.")

At the very end time, all nations will be severely chastened by tragic events to come. But they will finally come to realize that God Almighty is the ultimate Ruler in the kingdoms of men. A number of times the prophet Ezekiel quoted God saying, "They shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 7:27; 25:17; 29:21, etc.).

This understanding will reach its zenith when Jesus Christ returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'" (Revelation 11:15). Jesus Christ Himself will then set up His ruling family on earth (Revelation 5:10; 20:4-6). WNP