Giving Military Sovereignty to the Antichrist

Revelation 17:17 NASB (highlighted portion)

12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”

15 And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” 

In Revelation 17:12-13, we learn that the ten kings give their power and authority to the beast. Nevertheless, the passage above seems to contain repetition. In verse 13 and verse 17 contain very similar, but not identical, language about the transfer of authority to the Antichrist. In addition, the Greek for "one purpose" (verse 13), and "common purpose" (verse 17) are the same. The ESV translation, which is also very literal, renders them both as "one mind." Verse 13 & 17 seem like the same event, but the repetition allows for the possibility that authority is transferred to the Antichrist in two phases.

Giving Military Sovereignty to the Antichrist

The final transfer of authority (verse 17), seems to have a few components:

• It is a full transfer of national sovereignty to the Antichrist, since it says they give their "kingdom" to the beast. This is in contrast to verses 12-13, where "kingdom" is not used, but "power and authority" is used instead. 
• The sovereignty transfer is in the military domain, since the transfer is in context of the violent destruction of an end time city code-named Babylon.
• The sovereignty transfer is based on hatred of a former political ally, the city of Babylon.
• It is a unanimous decision
• It is a voluntary decision 
• The language of the transfer, depending on translation, is either "common purpose" (NASB) or "one mind." (ESV)

Below, I will illustrate how the European Union is moving towards this full transfer of sovereignty, especially in the area of defense. When viewing the timeline below, keep the bold words above in mind, as they contain very significant themes.

1995 - Western European Union Becomes 10 Member States

The addition of Greece makes the Western European Union military alliance ten-member states. It remained at ten until its dissolution in light of the Treaty of Lisbon (see below). This alliance was a separate organization from the EU, but worked closely with it. The EU agreed to use the Western European Union as its “defence component."

1999 - Cologne European Council Achieves the Following Outcomes:

• High Representative Solana appointed.
• Led to creation of Political and Security Committee 
• EU decides to take on autonomous crisis management tasks
• Around this time, the WEU agreed to transfer its military capacities to the EU.
• Decision to set up EU Military Committee
• Decision to set up EU military staff

JUN. 2000 - Recommendation 666

In the overview, I describe how Revelation 17:12-13 (see above) may have been fulfilled. With Recommendation 666 (2000), the 10-nation Western European Union transferred their authority to the EU, under the leadership of Javier Solana. It proposes Solana preside over the new body (PSC) that determines the “political control and strategic direction” of military crisis management operations. The Western European Union had transferred their military capacities to the PSC. 

MAR 2010 - WEU Dissolves Into Common Security & Defence Policy

WEU dissolves itself, in light of the new Treaty of Lisbon, and the Common Security and Defence Policy. Mutual assistance pact in Treaty of Lisbon, similar to Article V of WEU Treaty, causes members to dissolve organization. Recall that the NASB translation of Revelation 17:17 says the ten have a "common purpose" and give their kingdom to the beast. The EU has several "common policies" (a "common purpose" as it were) from everything ranging from agriculture to defense. In defense, it is called the "common security and defence policy." 

JUN 2016 - Solana Advises EU Parliament on Building EU Military Union

Solana was asked by the European Parliament to draft a very large research paper for them, advising them on how to construct an EU military union. He then presented his findings to the European Parliament defense committee on 06/16/16. His report largely focused on how the EU could use PESCO mechanism in the Treaty to achieve a European Defence Union. (see below for more info on PESCO).

JUN. 2017 - European Defense Fund Launched (666)

The European Commission proposes a new European Defense Fund (see 666 connections here). This fund has two sections. One is a 7-year military research program. This finances new military research projects. The second section, the "capability window" is a special EU subsidy designed to encourage the joint purchase and acquisition of military equipment by multiple member states. It is meant to foster European defense integration from the bottom up. 

Nov. 13, 2017 - EU Defense Ministers Sign PESCO Notification

In a stunning show of unity, 23 European countries have notified the European Union of their intention to join what is akin to a "military eurozone." The agreement, called "Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)" involves a list of over 20 commitments each country intends to do to jointly develop military hardware and integrate their military forces. The intention is for the European Defence Fund to help finance PESCO projects.

DEC 15-16, 2017 - Formal Launch of PESCO

EU Leaders expected to formally launch PESCO.  This is an instrument by which various member states commit to more on military capacity development, as well as commit to more EU troop deployment. It would be a transfer of sovereignty in the area of defense. Furthermore, with PESCO, military decisions are made unanimously. In addition, participation in PESCO is completely voluntary, with no nation forced to participate. Finally, the EU wants to use PESCO to form its "common security & defence policy" (read: "common purpose") in defense. They state it is an opportunity for "like-minded" member states to do military projects together. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

1ST QUARTER, 2018 - European Defense Fund Signed into Law

JAN 2019 - First Projects of EU Defense Fund Begin

DATE UNSPECIFIED - EU Unanimously Activates Common Defense

From the Treaty of Lisbon, Article 42.2: 

2. The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. It shall in that case recommend to the Member States the adoption of such a decision in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

Implications If True

If this is true, then all of the former WEU countries will ultimately transfer their military sovereignty in the area of defense to the EU, under Javier Solana's leadership. This implies that he will come back to an EU position, wherein they can transfer their sovereignty to him. Furthermore, all former WEU countries includes the UK, which voted to leave the EU in it's 2016 Brexit vote. Nevertheless, against all odds, the UK is showing interesting having an extremely close defense relationship with the EU.