French Push for Ten-Nation Defense Force

French Push for Ten-Nation Defense Force

French President Emmanuel Macron is the man some are now calling “Europe’s leading figure” (Deutsche Welle, March 16, 2018). From his growing seat of power, he has created a new “10-nation coalition of the willing” to spearhead the European defense initiative (Politico, May 2, 2018). “Frustrated by the big-tent, low-ambition start to the European Union’s so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in defense agreed last year at Germany’s insistence, the French leader is pressing ahead with a small core of like-minded nations outside EU and NATO institutional structures.” Germany plans, reluctantly, to participate in the start of this elite group of nations. “Drawing Berlin deeper into defense cooperation remains a French priority. Only Germany has the money to make major next-generation armaments projects feasible, and only the Franco-German engine can drive the EU forward,” however inconsistent it has been of late.
Bible prophecy predicts that a group of “ten kings” will come together in Europe at the end of the age (Revelation 17:12–14). These “kings” will give their power over to an entity the Bible calls “the beast.” Ultimately, this group will attempt to fight Christ at His return (v. 14). Although the current configuration of ten nations embarking on this French-led defense initiative is no doubt not the final group of “kings” mentioned in Revelation 17, it is sobering to see a smaller, more dedicated group of ten within the larger European Union moving forward together when the larger group seems more reluctant, creating a picture that powerfully evokes an image of the end-time scenario.
The EU remains in a state of flux, and its configuration appears to be changing. Students of Bible prophecy should continue watching not only the Middle East, but also Europe, as God—the one who “removes kings and raises up kings” (Daniel 2:21)—continues to bring His ancient plans to pass (Isaiah 46:8–11). To learn more about future prophetic events in Europe, watch our telecast entitled “The Beast of Revelation.”



Will the Dead Live Again?

In April, “Yale University announced it had successfully resurrected the brains of more than 100 slaughtered pigs and found that the cells were still healthy. The reanimated brains were kept alive for up to 36 hours and scientists said the process, which should also work in primates, offered a new way to study intact organs in the lab” (Telegraph, May 6, 2018). Although the pig brains were not truly “alive,” some believe this could be the first step toward keeping human brains alive after death—a goal that transhumanists have sought for many years (The Guardian, May 6, 2018).
However, Sean Carroll, a cosmologist and physicist from the California Institute of Technology, has also weighed in on the “life after death” debate. In his scientific view, for life after death to be possible, “consciousness would need to be entirely separated from our physical body”—which he claims is impossible (MSN, May 7, 2018). He concludes this, of course, because scientists have been unable to measure any structure in the human brain that contains the human consciousness.
Yet, the Bible provides unique answers that science has yet to discover, and insights that differ from what most professing Christians believe. A human being is unique because of a special spiritual component that God calls the “spirit in man” (Job 32:. This spirit, “installed” by God in every human being, is apparently separate from the human brain itself and is the key factor that makes human beings different from animals. For more details about this unique spiritual component, read our fascinating articles “Mystery of the Mind” and “Can We Transcend Our Humanity?”