Monday, October 30, 2017

Overview Part 3: The god of Fortresses


In the first article, we saw some pretty exciting evidence that the European Union is the revived Roman Empire predicted in the Bible. In the second article, we learned that Javier Solana is the top candidate for the Antichrist. In this article, we will examine the political desires and beliefs of Solana, and see that they are very much what we would expect of the Antichrist.

First, the Bible says that at the height of his authority, the Antichrist will have complete control over the entire world.

[...]authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. - Revelation 13:7b; NASB

Javier Solana is a long-time advocate of "world government."
In 2010, he said that the EU is “some kind of laboratory of what a world government system could be”
In a 2013 book, he stated: "We must deepen the debate surrounding global governance as a goal to which humanity must strive with all its might."
In 2017 opinion piece, Solana stated that the world should move toward a "global" and "universal democracy." 
Second, book of Daniel states that, among other things, the Antichrist has no religion besides himself and does whatever he wants:
“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. (Daniel 11:36-37 ESV)
Let's take this piece by piece:
"And the king shall do as he wills." Dan. 11:36a
" As time goes by I do whatever I want. I know what people think. I pursue my own agenda." - Javier Solana
"He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all."
Solana has no known religion, not even in name only. 

The Bible says the Antichrist honors a "god of fortresses" with "precious stones and costly gifts." 
"He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts." -Daniel 11:38; ESV 
Since the passage just got done telling us that the Antichrist has no god, many theologians see this "god of fortresses" as a metaphor for military strength. 

“In place of normal affection, he will place a perverted worship of military power, he'll worship power.” - Pastor and Theologian John MacArthur

“...he will worship only the power to make war and gain victory…” - John Walvoord, former President, Dallas Theological Seminary
More specifically, "fortresses" are better at defending than attacking, so his god is not just military power, but specifically military defense. He honors this god with "precious stones and costly gifts", which is essentially money. Therefore, the Antichrist will be very keen on defense spending. 



In 2017 opinion piece, Solana expressed dismay that the EU's new Defence Fund did not go far enough. He said that the current initiatives were not enough to create a "military-industrial complex" in Europe.

On 06/16/16, Solana presented a research paper to the European Parliament committee on defense on how to build an EU military union. It largely focused on military capability development. His research paper was based on many ideas he had proposed in a pamphlet back in February 2015. He was so passionate about building a military union for the EU that he went on tour, presenting his plan in many European capitals. He went to all this effort, without any official EU position. This is consistent with the Antichrist's obsession with defense spending.

Solana has stated he will devote the rest of his life to building an EU military union. When Solana presented this pamphlet, he stated “"I will put all of the energies that I have left to push forward this process." 


Revelation 13 describes two beasts. One is from the sea (the Antichrist) and the other is from the earth (False Prophet). The Antichrist starts off as a military leader (Daniel 11:36-45) who goes on to achieve world domination (Revelation 13). The False Prophet supports the Antichrist by forcing the whole world to worship the Antichrist. The false prophet also sets up a money system with the mark of the beast. So here, we see one of the beasts is a military power and the other is a monetary power. One guy controls the guns. The other guy controls the money.

Javier Solana is a strong advocate of a dual pillar system in the EU, with a military and a monetary pillar. In his 2015 pamphlet, he repeatedly emphasized that the EU should develop a military capacity, in addition to a monetary capacity. 
We brand this new framework the ‘European Defence Union’ (EDU). In much the same way as the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the proposed Energy Union are the end goals of full European integration in their respective fields, the EDU proclaims the finalité of EU integration in the area of defence. 

The pamphlet goes on, and repeatedly states that the EDU (military side) should be built just like the EMU (monetary side). He even proposed that the leadership of the new "defense group" be structured the same way as the "euro group," with it's own President.
Much like the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), defence ministers will elect among peers a permanent chairman to co-preside the Steering Board....
The Bible states that the Antichrist will be Israel's shepherd, but will betray and abandon her later:

“Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!" Zechariah 11:17

Javier Solana talks in two different ways about Israel. On the one hand, he speaks very highly of them:
"There is no country outside the European continent that has this type of relationship that Israel has with the European Union," "Israel, allow me to say, is member of the European Union without being a member of the institution."



Yet on the other hand, he speaks unkindly towards Israel, even supporting a deadline for a forced recognition of a state of Palestine.

Solana often speaks in a peaceful manner. He was even a former anti-NATO protester. Nevertheless, he was responsible for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 500 civilians. Solana violated military rules of engagement when dealing with Yugoslavia, by taking out the electric power and using dangerous cluster bombs. 

To summarize, there are five ways in which Javier Solana's political desires and beliefs are what we would expect of the Antichrist:
  1. Solana is a long-time advocate of "world government." (Revelation 13)
  2. Solana does whatever he wants & has no known religion (Daniel 11:36-37)
  3. Solana is very keen on defense spending and military hardware development (Daniel 11:38)
  4. Solana advocates a dual pillar system of EU governance that is very similar to Revelation 13 (military and monetary pillar)
  5. Solana is two-faced on Israel. (Zechariah 11:17)
  6. Speaks like a dove, acts like a hawk

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE?
  • Source documents and bibliography can be found here.