Why is this potentially prophetic?

The Bible teaches that a military leader will rise up in Europe (Revelation 13:4).

Catholic prophecies foretell that just prior to the emergence of their “Great Monarch” (also called the Great King below) problems will begin to afflict Catholics in Europe, essentially because the Catholics there tend to be lax.

Several Catholic writers have referred to this as the “minor chastisement”.  Notice the writings of one of them:

At some time in the future, the corrupt faithless age we live in now will come to an end either through repentance (immediately followed by an age of peace)–or there will be a chastisement. This would be a Minor Chastisement preceding an Age of Peace. It is not the Tribulation of the Antichrist…

Civil war breaks out in France and Italy at almost the same time. This is the sign given by many prophets that the Chastisement has begun…

This will spread to general wars, and, famine and pestilence (the usual by-products of war)…

Some Moslems will cause great trouble for the Church and Europe in general…

The Great King will lead his forces to…victory…

The Great King will be crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the reigning Pope.

(Birch, DA. Trial, Tribulation & Triumph: Before During and After Antichrist. Queenship Publishing Company, Goleta (CA), 1996, pp. 553-555)

Furthermore, this chastisement, to a degree, seems to be forecasted by some Catholic writers to begin in France.

Notice the following Catholic private prophecy:

Jeanne le Royer (Sister of the Nativity). The storm began in France, and France shall be the first theatre of its ravages after having been its cradle. (Dupont Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p.59)

The fact that there were riots in Paris in 2005, might eventually be pointed to as “the first theatre of its ravages”.  (For some other possibly related Catholic prophecies that involve France or simply Paris itself, see the news item Taliban Threatens France.)

Here are some other Catholic prophecies that seem to touch on civil unrest throughout Europe and a new leader rising up in Europe:

Birch Tree Prophecy (Old German) “When the world becomes Godless: revolutions will break out against kings; fathers will be against sons and sons against fathers; dogma will be perverted; men will try to overthrow the Catholic Church…A terrible war will find the north fighting against the south. The south will be led by a Prince wearing a white coat with a cross on the front…” (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin. Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941. Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 143).

Monk Hilarion (d. 1476): The people of the Peninsula of Europe will suffer by unnecessary wars until the Holy Man comes (Culleton, p. 137).

Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (Born in the 17th century, in Germany). “The fifth period of the Church, which began circa 1520, will end with the arrival of the Holy Pope and of the powerful Monarch who is called “Help From God” because he will restore everything [in Christ]…The fifth period is one of affliction, humiliation, and poverty for the Church. Jesus Christ will purify His people…He will also afflict and weaken the Latin Church with many heresies (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p.38)

Werdin d’ Otrante (13th century): “The Great Monarch and the Great Pope will precede Antichrist…All the sects will vanish. The capital of the world will fall…The Great Monarch will come and restore peace and the Pope will share in the victory.” (Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, p. 33)

Brother Louis Rocco (19th century): “Terrible wars will rage all over Europe. God has long been patient with the corruption of morals; half of mankind He will destroy. Russia will witness many outrages. Great cities and small towns alike will be destroyed in a bloody revolution that will cause the death of half the population. In Istanbul (Constantinople) the Cross will replace the half-moon of Islamism, and Jerusalem will be the seat of a King. The southern Slavs will form a great Catholic Empire and drive out of Europe the Turks (Mohammedans), who will withdraw to North Africa and subsequently embrace the Catholic faith.” (Dupont, p.76)

Brother Louis Rocco (19th century): All over Europe there will rage terrible civil wars…The German sections of Austria will join Germany, so will also the commercial cities of Belgium and Switzerland. A Catholic descendant of a German imperial house will rule a united Germany with peace, prosperity and great power, for God will be with this sovereign (the Great Monarch?) (Culleton, p. 195).

John of the Cleft Rock (1340): The White Eagle (Great Monarch), by order of the Archangel Michael, will drive crescent from Europe where none but Christians will remain–he himself will rule from Constantinople. An era of peace and prosperity will begin for the world. There will no longer be Protestants {there were no “Protestants” then and author Connor of that book suggests that perhaps this word should have been translated as heretics} or schismatics…God will raise up a holy Pope (Connor, pp. 33-34)

Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (died 1658):…”Are we not to fear, during this period, that the Mohammedans will come again, working out their sinister schemes against the Latin Church? (Dupont, p.39).

“When everything has been ruined by war; when Catholics are hard pressed by traitorous co-religionists and heretics; when the Church and her servants are denied their rights, the monarchies have been abolished and their rulers murdered…then the hand of Almighty God will work a marvelous change, something apparently impossible according to human understanding. There will rise a valiant monarch anointed by God. He will be a Catholic, a descendant of Louis IX, (yet) a descendant of an ancient imperial German family, born in exile. He will rule supreme in temporal matters. The Pope will rule supreme in spiritual matters at the same time. Persecution will cease and justice shall reign. Religion seems to be oppressed, but by the changes of entire kingdoms it will be made more firm.

“He will root out false doctrines and destroy the rule of the Moslemism. His dominion will extend from the East to the West. All nations will adore God their Lord according to Catholic teaching. There will be many wise and just men. The people will love justice, and peace will reign over the whole earth, for divine power will bind Satan for many years until the coming of the Son of Perdition.

“The reign of the Great Ruler may be compared with that of Caesar Augustus, who became Emperor after his victory over his enemies, thereby giving peace to the world–also with the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great, who was sent by God, after severe persecutions, to deliver both the Church and State. By his victories on water and land he brought the Roman empire under subjection, which he then ruled in peace…

“The Great Monarch will have the special help of God and be unconquerable.

“The Fifth Epoch of time dates from the reign of Charles V until the reign of the Great Monarch.

“The Sixth Epoch from the Great Monarch until Antichrist. This Sixth Epoch of the Church–’the time of consolation’–begins with the Holy Pope and the Powerful Emperor, and terminates with the reign of Antichrist. This will be an age of solace, wherein God will console His church after the many mortifications and afflictions she had endured in the Fifth period, for all nations will be brought to the unity of the true Catholic Faith.” (Connor, pp.35-36)

Hence, many Catholics are awaiting a time when some type of trouble starts in France and elsewhere in Europe–and when their Great Monarch (who we in the Living Church of God would identify with the King of the North and Beast of Revelation 13), will rise up and restore order.

While I do not believe that these Catholic prophecies are inspired by God, the fact is that if there is much civil unrest in Europe, I do believe that the Europeans will rise up and turn to one or more military leaders to deal with it.

And the Bible shows that a military leader (sometimes called the King of the North) will be rising up soon to fulfill the role of the prophesied Beast.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus? Will the final “Anti-Christ” be Jewish, insist on Saturday, be opposed to the trinity, and bring in the millennium? Catholic writings indicate this, but what does the Bible show?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?

Poland is reckoned to be a small not terribly important nation, that is more often than not a victim of more powerful nations, and when Russia and Germany are neighbours, it is not difficult to see why that may be the case. But for a long time, it was Poland that was the powerful nation. Whilst Germany was an incoherent collection of duchies, principalities, small kingdoms, city states and citizen run cantons, Russia was a collection of weak and backward tsardoms, prey to the tyrannical Golden Horde and it’s heirs, whilst in the middle was a very large, powerful and wealthy Polish empire, made up of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It had an odd constitution, and by odd I mean interesting, the Polish aristocracy, the landowners all had a say in the Polish parliament, they elected their king from among their own number, who was elected for life and all votes had to be unanimous, a bit better than our modern-day ‘demonocracies’, Poland has since it’s baptism, always been a fiercely Christian nation, and their God has delivered them on more than one occasion.

The Poles have also been God’s instrument on earth on a few occasions, namely against the Turk and the Bolshevik, the following videos are very good, The first one describes the real life ‘Battle of the Pelannor Field‘ not outside Minas Tirith, but Vienna, and with the Poles as the heroic Rohirim storming into battle, coming from the north to the rescue of their Christian brothers. This battle was decisive, it ended the Turkish dream of dominion over all of Europe, it exposed the perfidity of the loathsome Louis XIV who used this to make gains in the west, and it proved the beginning of the Hapsburg liberation of Hungary.

The second video, is a summary of the Polish war and defeat of the demonic Bolshevik armies that were swarming over the corpse of the murdered Russian Empire, murdering, plundering and destroying all the way. The Poles like the Finns later on took on the Trotskyite mercenaries and fought a valiant fight, protecting Europe, which, by the way, stood by as this happened.

So Poland is not just a small European country like Slovenia or Estonia, it is one of the mighty nations of Christendom, and one we owe much to.

I defy anyone to watch these videos and not feel something stir in their hearts, to see Christian men fight valiantly in the cause of right, to see Christian kings lead their men, not as the modern ‘demonocratic’ politician does, by lies and deceit, but from the front, in a righteous war, against the forces of darkness, not for money, but for survival and glory. How it stirs the soul to see an enemy openly declaring war, instead of the modern lurking parasites in our modern governments, media and high finance who undermine us from within. How refreshing to see a man worth following!

Veni, vidi, Deus vicit