Incidentally, British national sovereignty isn't merely under future threat -- it has already been given away! If you doubt that, ask our farmers who it is who determines agricultural policy. If you doubt that British national sovereignty has already been eroded, ask the fisherman who calls the shots on our shorelines. If you doubt the fact that British national sovereignty has already been eroded, ask the lawyers why so many of our legal decisions can be questioned or overturned by European courts of law. The list could go on.

When a sovereign nation-state is under attack, its subjects have a duty to defend it, as has always been done in history when there is an outside threat. However, this time it is our own people who are leading us down this path, and in a very deceptive manner. It must be said here that our position has nothing whatsoever to do with nationalistic "jingoism" or "Little Englanderism", or any other earthly emotional reason. We may be patriotic -- wanting the very best for the land in which God has seen fit to place us -- but we have no desire to idolise a country. Neither do we seek to cling to tradition for tradition's sake. But when we know that ungodly political designs with spiritual consequences are being carried out by stealth, Christians have a duty to "expose the works of darkness" (Eph.5:11).

The second reason that we cannot keep silent about this political situation is that we believe the direction in which Europe is heading carries great foreboding in the light of what we know from biblical history and prophecy. In other words, the issue of "Europe" is not merely a political matter but a spiritual one; and therefore those ordained by God to be spiritual leaders have every right -- nay, a duty -- to publicise their unique analysis of the situation as it unfolds in world affairs.

"Europe" is a Spiritual Matter

If we want to understand the spiritual dimension of the problem of Europe, we need to look at the relationship between the European Union and the Bible story of the Tower of Babel. The illustration below, which originally appeared on a poster published by the Council of Europe, was taken from the famous painting by the 16th Century Flemish artist Breughel depicting the well-known Tower of Babel scene from the Book of Genesis (chap.11, verses 1-9). This poster was reprinted in the Autumn 1996 edition of International Currency Review, a journal of the world financial community, which perceptively noted that the European symbol of twelve stars above the tower are mysteriously inverted to resemble upside-down pentagrams -- a well-known occult symbol. Surely the use of this poster (a copy of which we have in our possession) reveals in no uncertain terms the aims and origins of the European superstate which is in the making.

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There is a powerful spiritual truth which lies behind the Bible story of the Tower of Babel, and which has a great bearing on our understanding of modern Europe. Noah's great-grandson, Nimrod, started a kingdom which was centred in a part of ancient Mesopotamia known as Shinar. Within this kingdom lay the city which came to be known as Babel. This Nimrod is referred to as being "a mighty one on the earth" and "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Gen.10:8-9). The phrase "before the Lord" carries the significance of being "in the face of the Lord", in the sense of setting himself up as something special in front of God -- as in our phrase "to fly in the face of...". When we learn that the name Nimrod comes from the Hebrew for "let us revolt or rebel", we have here an image of a tyrant setting himself up against God and building an earthly kingdom for that purpose. Thus, this Nimrod is a forerunner of the ultimate rebel, the "man of lawlessness" or "Antichrist" who is prophesied by the Apostle Paul as heading up the great revolt against God and His Church as the end of the world approaches (see 2 Thessalonians 2:2-12).

The Babel of Nimrod's kingdom was set up in direct defiance of God's earlier covenant with Noah, which stipulated that all his descendants, in the wake of the Flood, should "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen.9:1). Instead of obeying this, the entire peoples of that time had gathered themselves together in one place, "in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there" (Gen.11:2). With great arrogance, these people had said: "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth" (Gen.11:4). In other words, they were collectively setting up the first one-world, ecumenical, autonomous, political and religious superstate.

The so-called Tower of Babel (Gen.11:1-9), the ultimate monument to human ambition, pride and rebellion against God, was probably the first recorded instance of what later came to be known as "ziggurats" -- huge pyramid-like structures with seven levels, of which the highest ("whose top is in the heavens") was reserved for the "gods" to come down and have sexual intercourse with a chosen woman of the city, in the magical belief that this would result in increased fertility of the land. This was the climax of human "civilisation" at the time: a clear portrayal of man striving against his Maker. And yet it is this image which the Council of Europe chose for their poster to symbolise what is being achieved through the European Union. That should be of great concern to all Christians.

The result of this Babel episode in human history was a judgement from God which was to have a momentous effect on all later civilisations. For the Lord brought into being the supernatural division of languages which would then spread across the world (Gen.11:7-8). The purpose behind that was to prevent the nations from embarking on any similar future enterprise in defiance of God. The setting-up of a "kingdom" on earth in crass counterfeit of the spiritual kingdom of Christ has been the aim of Satan and his fallen angels from the commencement of human history. The Bible clearly shows that history is building up to the time when this will be achieved (Rev.20:7-9). After a brief period of worldwide rebellion against God and His Law, a global political and religious system will indeed be set up under the dominion of the despotic figure we have already referred to as the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:2-12). Furthermore, as the Church of England minister and writer, John Stott, states in his excellent commentary on Paul's Letters to the Thessalonians (IVP, 1991, p.167), "Antichrist's revolt...will even infiltrate and engulf the nominal church". Many discerning Christians looking at the complete lack of biblical orthodoxy and morality in the mainline denominations today may well wonder if the preparation for that engulfment is already under way.

Superstates are an Infringement of Divine Law

What we can learn from the episode at Babel is that national divisions and language barriers in the world have been set in place by God in order to hinder the progress of Satan's one-world kingdom until the time is historically right for it to occur, i.e. when the world has finally "filled up the cup of its iniquity" and irreversibly rendered itself liable to judgement. Separate sovereign nation-states have been ordained by Him not only to look after the general welfare of the people but also to uphold the rule of law in order to prevent anarchy in a fallen world (Rom.13:1-7). And this Divine function on earth operates alongside the division of languages and separate nation-states to ensure the necessary prevention of an antichristian global unity. The establishment of a small number of federal superstates across the world would provide the perfect preparation for the final antichristian one-world government predicted in the Bible. The concept of a trans-national superstate is, therefore, an infringement of Divine Law and a modern exhibition of the same rebellious pagan spirit which built the Tower of Babel.

The fact that the Council of Europe chose Babel as a symbol of the European Union must reveal their true aim. For this reason, Christians have a duty to do all they can lawfully do to ensure that people are aware of these developments and to maintain the status quo of separate national sovereign states for as long as God permits.

Christian pastors are often asked by their congregations how they should use their vote in an election. My advice would always be to choose a candidate who most closely conforms to the Law of God as revealed in the Bible on a range of issues, such as law and order, morality, homosexuality, marriage & the family, freedom of worship, attitude to the helpless and oppressed, medical ethics, genetics, and who also clearly opposes abortion as a means of contraception. Now we can add to that list the subject of "Europe". For it is our firm belief that all of the established political parties -- however much they may deny that now -- will ultimately lead the sovereign nation-state of Great Britain into subservience to a liberal-socialist European superstate governed by "politically-correct" antichristian bureaucrats and bankers in Brussels and Berlin. The Labour and Liberal-Democrat Parties will plainly do so; the Conservative Party would only do so because it has been hijacked by people who no longer hold to true conservative values (of which Edward Heath was the forerunner).

However, although it is prophesied in the Bible that after a period of increasing apostasy in the visible church a violently antichristian world government will indeed rise to power (along with a parallel confederation of world religions), there are two reasons why this should not unduly depress Christians. First, we can do a great deal today towards educating people about these things and doing everything lawfully possible to prolong the sovereignty of disparate nation states and stem the tide of antichristian amorality. Second, even when the antichristian world-powers have eventually come to their fullness, we must remember that they will be very short-lived because the Lord Jesus Christ will quickly return and "will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8).