If the Euro collapses, which I certainly hope does not happen, what will this mean for the long-held view that the present European Union is that which the prophets spoke of? Will some simply claim that this was all foretold? When we look at the relevant texts that speak of the last days empire, we see that Scripture simply does not allow for this. There is no room for a revived, revived Roman Empire. Those who have held to the Roman Eschatological Paradigm will either acknowledge the error of the Euro-centric view, or they will be forced to harden their position, ultimately committing violence to the relevant biblical passages.

Consider the following: Whether it be Daniel 2, Daniel 7 or Revelation 17, each passage points to the same final empire. In Daniel 2, it is out of the legs of iron that the final antichristic empire of mixed clay and iron feet directly emerges. In Daniel 7, it is out of the fourth beast that the ten horn antichristic confederacy directly emerges. In Revelation 17, the eighth and final antichristic kingdom is simply a revival of the seventh. Many students of prophecy today, including some of my critics, hold to the following interpretation of Revelation 17:

Sixth head: Roman Empire

Seventh head: Revived Roman Empire

Eighth head: Global Empire.

The glaring problem with this of course is that it clashes with both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. If Revelation 17 speaks of a Roman Empire, Revived Roman Empire, Global Antichristic Empire, then where in the dream of the metallic statue or the vision of the fourth beast would two distinct empires fit after the legs of iron or the fourth beast? There is simply no room.

This is one more reason to understand both the legs of iron in Daniel 2 and the fourth beast of Daniel 7 to represent the historical Islamic Caliphate. In such a view, Revelation 17 is understood in a way that makes complete sense and does not require a forcing of one’s view (eisegesis) into the text. Instead, we see that the sixth head represents the Roman Empire, the seventh head represents the Islamic Caliphate and the eighth head represents the revived Islamic Caliphate of the Antichrist. Why is Rome never included in either Daniel 2 or 7 you may ask? The answer is simply because these passages are both Babylon centric in their context. Daniel 2 was a dream given specifically to Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon, centered in modern day Iraq. The specific subject of the vision were those kingdoms that would come after his. The fourth empire, (the legs of iron) is said to conquer all three of the other empires in the dream. History testifies to the fact that while the Islamic Caliphate did in fact conquer all of the land holdings of Babylon, Medo-Persia and the Alexandrian Greek Empires, the Roman Empire did not. In its fifteen hundred year life, the Roman Empire only reached the ruined city of Babylon for a few brief months, before withdrawing west of the Euphrates. In my new book, Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case For an Islamic Antichrist, I thoroughly document the impossibility of the Roman-centered view on these matters.

So, as the collapse of the Euro monetary unity appears to loom over all of us, how will such an global earthquake affect the popular, but equally collapsing Euro-centered perspective on the end times? It appears as though we may find out very soon. According to comments made today by the New York Times economic columnist Paul Krugman, it could happen in months…

Here’s how Krugman puts it:

Some of us have been talking it over, and here’s what we think the end game looks like:

1. Greek euro exit, very possibly next month.

2. Huge withdrawals from Spanish and Italian banks, as depositors try to move their money to Germany.

3a. Maybe, just possibly, de facto controls, with banks forbidden to transfer deposits out of country and limits on cash withdrawals.

3b. Alternatively, or maybe in tandem, huge draws on ECB credit to keep the banks from collapsing.

4a. Germany has a choice. Accept huge indirect public claims on Italy and Spain, plus a drastic revision of strategy — basically, to give Spain in particular any hope you need both guarantees on its debt to hold borrowing costs down and a higher eurozone inflation target to make relative price adjustment possible; or:

4b. End of the euro.

And we’re talking about months, not years, for this to play out.