Recommendation 666: Ten Kings Give Up Power

Recommendation 666: Ten Kings Give Up Power

In other articles, we have only considered the Book of Daniel when discussing the Antichrist’s rise to power. However, Revelation also talks about the beast with ten horns. It builds on Daniel, providing more detail.

And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)

Though the ten-nation Western European Union had existed since 1954, it gradually became dormant until 1984.(1) With the 1984 Rome Declaration, European leaders agreed to “reactivate” the WEU.(2)

In 1992, Western European Union leaders got together for a meeting where they defined the types of military activities they would be allowed to do as a group. As a result, they made a list of reasons that would permit them to deploy military missions together, called the Petersberg Tasks.

Quoting from the EEAS website, these were:

  • humanitarian and rescue tasks;
  • peacekeeping tasks;
  • tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. (3)

The European Union was not a military organization. As a result, they needed a way to do military operations together. At the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), EU leaders agreed to use the 10-nation Western European Union as its defense component:

4. In the "Declaration on the Role of the Western European Union and its Relations with the European Union and with the Atlantic Alliance" of 10 December 1991, WEU Member States set as their objective "to build up WEU in stages as the defence component of the European Union". They today reaffirm this aim as developed by the Treaty of Amsterdam. (4)

In 1999, EU leaders agreed to transfer the “Petersberg Tasks” from the Western European Union to the European Union. (5) The Treaty of Amsterdam allowed the EU to carry out these military tasks, in addition to the WEU. (6) Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the Cologne European Council that the decision-making structures began to be transferred over to the EU. Held in July 1999, this council meeting led to many important decisions, including:

  • High Representative Javier Solana appointed
  • Led to creation of Political and Security Committee
  • EU decides to take on military combat operations on its own (5)
military functions.jpg

Almost as soon as Solana was appointed, the Western European Union started transferring almost all its functions to the European Union. This is can be seen in the November 22, 1999 Luxembourg Declaration, which sought to:

Authorise the transmission of all WEU"s work and analyses, particularly those of the military Staff, to the High Representative for the CSFP and the other appropriate bodies of the Council of the European Union taking into account the relevant security arrangements (7)

Indeed, this is what they had wanted all along:

The Council declaration states that in the event of the EU fulfilling its responsibility in the area of the Petersberg tasks, ‘the WEU as an organisation would have completed its purpose’. (5)

Notice how similar that sounds to the Biblical language, especially in the NASB translation:

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. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13 NASB)

This basically means that the 10-nation alliance transferred their military functions to the European Union. Before this, the member countries of the 10- nation WEU could go on military operations by gathering their forces together and deploying a special mission. Since the EU was not a military organization, the EU left these functions to the WEU. (7, 8) Yet now the WEU was transferring these functions to the European Union. From now on, if they were going to do a joint military operation, they would do so as the European Union. (5, 7, 9, 10, 11)

joint military operations.jpg

EU Military Operations

The European Union was now going to be leading military operations. Therefore, they needed a new leadership structure to oversee these new military operations. As a result, the EU set up a new committee, called the Political and Security Committee, to oversee these new military operations. (12, 13) This basically entailed a transfer of authority from the WEU Permanent Council to the European Union, under its new Political & Security Committee. According to a research paper by Solana in 2016:

In other words, the EU took over the WEU functions. (14)
all joint operations through EU.jpg

The advisory assembly to the Western European Union, suggested that the EU’s new High Representative be able to chair the PSC meetings. In 2000, Recommendation 666 proposed that Javier Solana be made chairman of the Political and Security Committee:

RECOMMENDATION 666
on the consequences of including certain functions of WEU in the European Union - reply to the annual report of the Council
[…]
12. Support proposals for the WEU Secretary-General and CFSP High Representative to preside over the PSC and civilian crisis-management machinery and give him powers to convene the Council of the European Union in the event of an emergency; (15)
recommendation_666_s_0A5we.jpg

Because of this recommendation, the permanent Political and Security Committee was set up in early 2001. (12) Before this, there was an Interim PSC, that did the same things until the permanent committee was created. (16) The regulation creating the PSC reiterated that the EU High Representative should have the authority to chair its meetings in an emergency.

Council Decision of 22 January 2001 setting up the Political and Security Committee
After consulting the Presidency and without prejudice to Article 18 of the TEU, the Secretary-General/High Representative for the CFSP may chair the PSC, especially in the event of a crisis.
[...]
The following arrangements will be put in place to enable the PSC to ensure full "political control and strategic direction" of a military crisis-management operation:
[…]
(c) during the operation, the Council will be kept informed through PSC reports presented by the Secretary-General/High Representative in his capacity as Chairman of the PSC. (12)

The EU didn’t have the authority to deploy member countries troops into a crisis. However, EU member countries could now launch a mission under the EU banner, and no longer used the 10-nation WEU. Once these missions were launched, Javier Solana could chair the meetings which steered the military operation itself.

Javier Solana over the PSC image.jpg

The creation of the Political and Security Committee finally made the WEU Permanent Council unnecessary. As a result, the WEU Council held a luncheon on June 28, 2001, because it would no longer meet as the WEU Permanent Council. It would meet as the expanded PSC, because the 10 representatives on the WEU Permanent Council were the same ambassadors as those on the PSC. (17)

Ever since this transfer happened, the European Union has led many civilian and military operations outside of its borders. Many of them have been on the “softer,” side, such as military or police training operations. (18) Nevertheless, a few have been “harder” missions, where actual combat took place. The most notable of these is EUNAVFOR Atalanta, an anti-piracy mission off the coast of the Horn of Africa. (18, 19)

In the coming years, other WEU agencies transferred to the European Union. In 2002, the WEU Institute for Security Studies became the EU Institute for Security Studies. In the same year, the WEU Satellite Center became the EU Satellite Center. In 2004, the Western European Arms Group (WEAG) was dissolved. This paved the way for the European Defense Agency in 2005. (9) It was an arms procurement organization that fulfilled the role that the WEAG had before. (20)

Interpretation

These events fulfill what we have read in Revelation about the Antichrist’s consolidation of power. Another very literal translation, the New American Standard Bible, helps us understand this even further:

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. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 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. (Revelation 17:12-14; NASB)

These ten kings go on to wage war with the Lamb. Therefore, we have established that the ten kings are a military alliance. At the very least, their relationship has a military component to it. Yet this is what we see with the Western European Union, which was a military alliance.

Furthermore, the ten kings give their “power” [dunamis] and “authority” [exousia] to the Antichrist. Dunamis implies the raw power or brute force that enables someone to do something. (21) Exousia implies the authority to do that thing. (22) As my friend said after Church once, Satan has the power, but not the authority, to possess a believer.

With the Western European Union, they had the power and authority to launch joint military operations as a group. The WEU did not launch missions that were as intense as they could have been. Nevertheless, it is not their actual missions, but their “power” and “authority,” that matter from the standpoint of Scripture.

Once Javier Solana came onto the stage, they only had this power for a very short time, or “one hour” as it says in the text. Once Solana was appointed as EU High Representative, the Luxembourg Declaration announced the transfer of all their tasks to him. (7) Furthermore, in November of 2000, the Marseilles Declaration transferred the WEU’s military operations to the European Union. (9, 10)

The Western European Union transferred its “power” and “authority” to perform these high intensity military operations to the European Union. In doing so, they placed the operations under Javier Solana’s leadership. The Western European Union had the power to do military operations, in that its members had the soldiers and military hardware to deploy on missions. The WEU had the “authority” to do military operations, because the Petersberg Declaration gave them that authority. (3)

Yet all this was a very long time ago. But what’s Solana been up to recently? Click here to find out!

End Notes:

  1. "History of WEU." Western European Union. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://weu.int/History.htm#2. WEU from 1955 to 1984: the Saar, arms control, the UK and the EC six
  2. "History of WEU." Western European Union. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://weu.int/History.htm#3. Reactivation of WEU: from the Rome Declaration to the Hague Platform (1984-1989)
  3. "Shaping of a Common Security and Defence Policy - EEAS - European External Action Service - Petersberg Tasks." EEAS - European External Action Service. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/common-security-and-defence-policy-csdp/5388/shaping-of-a-common-security-and-defence-policy-_en#The+Petersberg+Tasks.
  4. "Treaty of Amsterdam." EUR-Lex Access to European Union Law. November 10, 1997. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:11997D/AFI/DCL/03.
  5. "Shaping of a Common Security and Defence Policy - Cologne European Council." European External Action Service. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_km/5388/Shaping%20of%20a%20Common%20Security%20and%20Defence%20Policy#The+Cologne+European+Council.
  6. "Shaping of a Common Security and Defence Policy - EEAS - European External Action Service - Treaty of Amsterdam." EEAS - European External Action Service. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/common-security-and-defence-policy-csdp/5388/shaping-of-a-common-security-and-defence-policy-_en#The+Treaty+of+Amsterdam.
  7. "Luxembourg Declaration." Western European Union. November 23, 1999. Accessed October 22, 2018. http://www.weu.int/documents/991122luxen.pdf.
  8. "History of WEU." Western European Union. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://www.weu.int/History.htm.
  9. "Shaping of a Common Security and Defence Policy - EEAS - European External Action Service - Western European Union." EEAS - European External Action Service. Accessed October 22, 2018. https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/common-security-and-defence-policy-csdp/5388/shaping-of-a-common-security-and-defence-policy-_en#The Western European Union.
  10. "Marseilles Declaration." Western European Union. November 13, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://www.weu.int/documents/001113en.pdf.
  11. "Statement of the Presidency of the Permanent Council of the WEU on Behalf of the High Contracting Parties to the Modified Brussels Treaty – Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom." Western European Union. March 31, 2010. Accessed October 22, 2018. http://weu.int/Declaration_E.pdf.
  12. "Council Decision of 22 January 2001 Setting up the Political and Security Committee." EUR-Lex Access to European Union Law. January 30, 2001. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32001D0078.
  13. "Political and Security Committee (PSC)." EUR-Lex Access to European Union Law. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:r00005.
  14. SOLANA, Javier, Angel SAZ-CARRANZA, Maria GARCÍA CASAS, and Jose Francisco ESTÉBANEZ GÓMEZ. On the Way towards a European Defence Union - A White Book as a First Step. European Parliament Think Tank. April 18, 2016. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EXPO_STU(2016)535011.
  15. "Recommendation 666 - on the Consequences of including Certain Functions of WEU in the European Union - Reply to the Annual Report of the Council." Archive Today. January 11, 2002. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://archive.is/DOdKR.
  16. "2000/143/CFSP: Council Decision of 14 February 2000 Setting up the Interim Political and Security Committee." EUR-Lex Access to European Union Law. February 22, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32000D0143.
  17. Van Eeleken, Willem. "From Words to Deeds: The Continuing Debate on European Security." Centre for European Policy Studies. March 1, 2006. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://www.ceps.eu/publications/words-deeds-continuing-debate-european-security. p. 27
  18. "The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission." EEAS - European External Action Service. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/common-security-and-defence-policy-csdp/431/common-security-and-defence-policy-csdp_en.
  19. "Missions - EUNAVFOR Somalia." EUNAVFOR Somalia - European Union External Action. Accessed October 24, 2018. http://eunavfor.eu/mission/.
  20. "About Us - Mission." European Defence Agency. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://www.eda.europa.eu/Aboutus/Missionandfunctions.
  21. "Strong's Greek: 1411. δύναμις (dunamis) -- (miraculous) Power, Might, Strength." Bible Hub. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://biblehub.com/greek/1411.htm.
  22. "Strong's Greek: 1849. ἐξουσία (exousia) -- Power to Act, Authority." Bible Hub. Accessed October 24, 2018. https://biblehub.com/greek/1849.htm.
  23. "Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Photo credits:

  1. EUNAVFOR Atalanta Pirate Ship Explosion - https://eunavfor.eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/20110409_ATALANTA_dhown_upotus1.jpg
  2. EU Military Boat - http://opiniaoenoticia.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ue-fronteira-flickr.jpg
  3. Javier Solana feature photo: https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/javier_solana-en-7fb3e9f5-34ed-44bd-99ad-7b66b6e72536.html