The questions continue about whether the revived Roman Empire predicted to produce the Antichrist will be from Rome or from the Eastern leg–which refers to the Middle East. In fact, there seems a more stringent insistence by the day that the beast of Revelation 13 will be a Muslim.

Developments taking place within the economic structures of Europe provide much of the fodder for the champions of the Mideast Antichrist theory. These proponents point to what they see as the unraveling of the European Union as indicative that it is losing, not gaining, power. A couple of such developments they point to are the so-called Brexit —the exit of Great Britain from the Eu and the fact that Germany is reported to be printing money at a frenzied pace. It is printing deutsche mark notes, not euros. This is apparently because there is great fear that the eurozone sovereign debt crisis will end in a return to national currencies.

The following news item from several years ago frames this feared collapse:

[The]…British Foreign Office has issued warnings to embassies in the eurozone to prepare to handle the problems of its expatriates who may be unable to access local bank accounts and face rioting mobs. Perhaps this is only an example of highly developed countries planning for all eventualities but disaster planning always adds to fear as it shows that the previously unthinkable is now being contemplated: a break-up of the eurozone single currency. (“Germany Returning to Deutsche Mark?” SilverDoctors.com, 8/18/12)

European officials continue to express their concerns about the fiscal turmoil that threatens what was once the most powerfully growing economic entity on the planet.

Make no mistake: The European Union continues on its ascent and will soon be in position to be the superstructure from which Antichrist will launch his campaign to dominate the world and oppose everything of God. And this leads to the second question that I find predominant in the thinking of many today.

My ten-part series at the close of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, entitled “Scanning a Fearful Future,” deals with this question in depth. So, I suggest the inquisitive reader look into that series. Basically put, the question is: What is ahead in America’s future?

As of late, one of the primary news items that has made this question front and center involves U.S. government making strange preparations. For what? Well…that is the crux of the major expressions of concern I’m hearing. An article brought to my attention time after time by those who write involves the massive purchases of ammunition by government agencies that traditionally have had nothing to do with military or policing responsibilities. The questions are legitimate matters for investigation, I think.

One retired general of the U.S. Army wrote some years ago the following:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) confirms that it is purchasing 174 thousand rounds of hollow point bullets to be delivered to 41 locations in major cities across the U.S. No one has yet said what the purpose of these purchases is, though we are led to believe that they will be used only in an emergency to counteract and control civil unrest. Those against whom the hollow point bullets are to be used — those causing the civil unrest — must be American citizens; since the SSA has never been used overseas to help foreign countries maintain control of their citizens. (Maj. Gen. Jerry Curry, USA (Ret.), “Who Does the Government Intend to Shoot?” Daily Caller)

The general asks a legitimate question when he asks who would be the intended victims of these hollow-point bullets–ammunition, incidentally, that is outlawed by the Geneva Convention. These are outlawed on the field of battle because of their lethality. I know, I know–that seems like some sort of a schizophrenic rule. Isn’t the purpose of war to kill? But, the hollow point is so devastating that even the war makers of the world want it outlawed because of the damage it does to living tissue upon impact. We won’t debate the insanity of that matter here.

The retired general poses the question: “Potentially each hollow-nose bullet represents a dead American. If so, why would the U.S. government want the SSA to kill 174,000 of our citizens, even during a time of civil unrest?”

He goes on to offer some rather frightening thoughts. What if the hollow-point bullets were, rather than for civilians, for military personnel who might oppose the administration ruling the nation at the time of severe crisis? What if that ammo was used to give power, instead, to forces loyal to and under the auspices of Homeland Security?

Whether this sort of dark scenario cogitation is warranted as we watch things deteriorate in our nation, I suggest it is at the heart of the questions being raised by those who watch the slumping of our society and culture toward Sodom and Gomorrah-type comportment. The Lord of Heaven, I contend, still has His staying hand of control on matters in this nation, Europe, and around the planet. Else all would have long since imploded.

I believe He will take His hand off, according to 2 Thessalonians 2, when the Holy Spirit withdraws from acting on the consciences of humanity. The greatest crisis of human history will then unfold. Perhaps we are seeing the preparations, unknowingly, by governments even now for that stunning moment when Jesus steps out on the clouds of Glory and shouts to His bride, the church, “Come up here!”