Have you noticed lately, even this past week, how our world is changing so quickly? Its political and economic balance is shifting right in front of our eyes. You must have seen how the new tariffs which the U.S. has imposed on the countries of the world brought this planet to be shaken? And have you seen how so many countries reacted with one voice? Italy, Spain, France, Poland, China, Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Cambodia, Germany, Australia even the Fiji Islands, reacted to this imposition of U.S. tariffs. In all, some 182 countries around the world, and that is almost all of them, were involved. It seems that now, this move is creating a void in world leadership, as these tariffs provoked confusion, anger, and threats of countermeasures.
China, the second world economic power after the U.S. spoke of retaliating with 34% tariffs on all U.S. goods. That is not good news; with this news, the stock markets became volatile. Europe is also preparing to strike back and so are other countries. Are we witnessing uncertainty in this new world war of economic trade?
Our observations here are not to weigh out the good or the bad concerning the tariffs but rather to observe a switch that is occurring in this world concerning leadership and who is united with who. Note as well that along with the tariffs, the U.S. also stopped much of its charity to the world, and this will also have a great impact on the people of this planet. Since President John F. Kennedy established the USAID agency in 1961, this became a household name in many countries and every year, it would help millions of people around the world. In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $10 billion on global health aid, however, very much of this has ended.
So, the world is experiencing a major change, and the tariffs are one in a series of actions taken by the U.S. which triggered much movement around, with some having strong connections to Bible prophecies. One thing that we can clearly see is that for weeks, these actions have led toward a greater unification of Europe. On March 1st, in response to the US tariff threats, Europe’s foreign policy minister, Kaja Kallas said, “Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.” They are trying to fill a void of leadership.
Then on March the 19th, the 27 countries of Europe’s leaders met with the theme: “Securing our Future”. They aim to build up a strong military that will protect them from Russia, for they have lost trust in the U.S. In their own words, they want to transform Europe into a military superpower.
So, here are Russia and Europe at odds with each other, just like the prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel tell us they will be in the end times. In his prophecies of the end times, Daniel sees the last world empire, the Roman Empire, rising from the same place it collapsed, that is Europe. And since the end of the Second World War we have seen Europe coming together and today, with these last events, it is forced to be even more united.
Let us remember these prophecies which have not yet taken place, and which involve the whole of Europe. The prophet Daniel in chapter two and seven, sees a federation of states joining into one empire. Both he and John in Revelation 13 see the rise of a political ruler of this empire, who makes a covenant with Israel. This will trigger the start of the tribulation. Daniel sees him as the wilful king of fierce countenance (Dan. 11:36, 8:23). Paul calls him the man of sin (2Thess. 2), John calls him the Antichrist (1John 2:18) and both John and Daniel see him and his empire rise out of the sea, (Daniel 7 and Rev. 13). The known sea at the time was the Mediterranean Sea, which is on the shores of Europe. Is this what the tariffs will succeed in precipitating?
But there is another phenomenon that has been in the making for a while. Europe has been siding more and more with Israel. Even those European parties of the right wing who were, just a few years ago, antisemitic, such as those in Germany and in France, are today showing more positive connection to Israel. One of their leaders, Jordan Bordella, even went to Israel to speak against antisemitism, something that surprised many in Europe and in Israel.
This change comes because of the radical Islamists in Europe. Their virulent and threatening demands are contributing to Europe’s wanting to gather together to fight terrorism and radical Islamists; so even parties that were antisemitic, are now siding with Israel. We always maintained that the rise of Islam may be one of the triggers of the rise of the antichrist and it looks like it may go to this direction.
But where are the Americas in all of this? Many Bible scholars have seen the Americas as part of Europe, since it was originally built mainly by Europeans, but these last events show us that the U.S. is taking a step back from the leadership it has had had since WW2.
So far, we cannot be sure and make any definite conclusions, but we can see how our world is changing in the direction of what the prophets predicted; the next years, or months or even weeks promise to be very revealing. Again, while we cannot affirm much for now, one thing we see is that changes seem to occur at fast pace and with greater intensity, as Yeshua said in His prophecies of the end; “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars…But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
While always growing in intensity and power, in the prophetic context, birth pangs cannot last for a long time. For now, one thing we can do in view of these rapid changes is to study, pray, speak out and keep our eyes open for His soon coming.
In the New