homeabout uspastor ray bentleyray's articlesprophecy watch articlesmr. europe





This week I watched a news report about the latest Mid East peace process attempt. It was described in some media outlets in somewhat doubtful tones: “Hoping to breathe life into moribund peace efforts, the United States will gather Israeli and Palestinian leaders...”1 Cameras were going off, and interviews being done.  All the important players’ names were flashed across the screen and discussed—except one key figure that I just knew had to be present, but for some reason is never mentioned in the American press.

The Jerusalem Post described it this way:
“United States President George W. Bush may have sent his Secretary of State to the Middle East to try and kick start the dead land-for-peace process, but the European Union is still trying to muscle in on the act.  High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, Javier Solana, said Friday the time had come to see ‘action’ and not just words in the Middle East... Solana describes himself as "a friend of Israel." However, his policy recommendations have without fail betrayed his prejudice towards the ‘Palestinian’ side.” 2


I find Solana an intriguing character on the political scene for all the reasons I’ve outlined before in previous articles (which you can read HERE), and because he is so overlooked in most news coverage.  Somehow, “Mr. Europe” as he is called by much of the foreign press, manages to stay out of the limelight in U.S. news coverage.

Here’s why I find Solana and his involvement so relevant:

The prophet Daniel predicted the revived Roman Empire in the last days. The focus of Europe as well as the whole world from 2007-2010 will be upon the Middle East peace plan. There will be much energy and world pressure put into this, and a plan will emerge that will be ultimately agreed upon by all parties.
Daniel wrote: “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate."

For many years, even before Israel became a nation in 1948, Bible scholars have interpreted Daniel’s prophecies to mean the revival of some form of the Roman Empire, shortly before the return of Christ to this earth.  This revived Roman Empire will have a leading role in working out a seven-year peace plan with the nations of the Middle East, including Israel.   And, a new “Caesar” will head this empire, which we believe will be the antichrist.

Today, for the first time in 2,000 years we are seeing the Roman Empire being raised through the European Union.  Daniel saw ten toes of this large image representing the Roman Empire, so prophecy students have always looked for a ten-nation alliance to emerge.  On January 1, 1995, Greece became the tenth nation of a military alliance know as the Western European Union (WEU).

In December of 1998, at their Vienna Summit, the EU’s head created the Office of “High Representative For Common Foreign And Security Policy.” The funny thing is that out of over 1,150 documents that were generated by the summit, the document that created the post of High Representative was number 666.

On June 5, 2000, the ten WEU nations adopted their Assembly Recommendation 666. The importance of this document was to recommend giving the “High Representative” emergency powers – in case of military emergency. The man appointed as “High Representative” is Javier Solana.

There is no question that Mr. Solana is in the middle of much of the negotiating that goes on around the world, and particularly the Middle East. If you just type his name into Google, you’ll see how busy this man is! Here are two references you can look up:

“After meeting with [Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon] yesterday, the European Union's foreign-policy point man, Javier Solana, told reporters that he hoped to convene a high-level meeting in Europe ...between Mr. Ban and top diplomats from America, Europe, and Russia, hoping to revive the steering group known as the quartet, which oversees the so-called ‘road map’ for ending the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.”3

“UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana ... agreed that three issues, including that of the Middle East at large, should be dealt with ‘rapidly.’” 4

Now, the EU is masterminding the European Neighborhood Policy, or ENP for short. This is a financial package complete with action plans for all participating nations. It is a seven-year deal which began January 1, 2007.

“Take heed, watch;” the Bible tells us,  “for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning - lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:33-37).

These updates are to keep you informed, and to give you some opportunities to do your own research.  Read the Scriptures, look at the news.   You might even review some of the earlier articles posted on this website under Prophecy Watch to see how things are shaping up. I just updated “Iran and Russia’s Deadly Game” with the latest headline – you can read it HERE.

 Your daily walk with Jesus, the issues you are struggling with and the circumstances in which you live are of vital importance.  But the Lord also reminded us repeatedly, to watch and pray about world events. The Scriptures urge us not to be ignorant about the times in which we live.

So, I say to you:  Watch!

Sincerely,
Pastor Ray


1.  http://www.theeagle.com/stories/011607/world_20070116024.php
2.  http://www.jnewswire.com/article/1558
3. http://www.nysun.com/article/46325?page_no=1
4. Kuwait News Agency
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=940562




Prophecy watch: (http://www.maranathachapel.org/about/ray/articles/prophecy_watch_articles.html)

Here http://www.maranathachapel.org/about/ray/articles/iran_and_russias_deadly_game.html