We can look to Daniel for the best information on what was and what is to come.
Daniel 1:17 tells us Daniel has understanding in all visions and dreams.
Daniel 2:1 tells us that king Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed dreams that troubled his spirit, and caused his sleep to brake from him. Daniel is the only man in the kingdom that was able to interpret the kings dream.
Daniel 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan. 2:38 Talking to king Nebuchadnezzar he says, Thou art this head of gold.
This image of metals that king Neb dreamed of represents the empires of the world as I can show you.
In 586 B.C. the Babylonians (king Neb.) conquered Jerusalem.
In 539 B.C. Cyrus of the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon, (the breast and arms of silver).
In 331 B.C. Alexander the great of Greece conquered the Medes and Persians, (the belly and thighs of brass.) The final world empire came in 63 B.C. with Julius Caesar of Rome conquering the Greeks, (the legs of iron.)
What we are seeing today in the European Union is just a reassembled Roman Empire with the same goal. What about the feet of iron and clay mixed?
Dan 2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, (Rome) forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay. 42 the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
The part iron and part clay shows us that it is a remnant of the last empire but not in it's strongest form. The clay being the associate members making up the E.U. Those outside the original Roman Empire. 44 And in the days of these kings (the iron and clay kings) shall God set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed:
We move on to Daniel 7, here Daniel himself has a dream.
Daniel 7:3 Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
In Daniel's vision the four kingdoms appear as beasts rather than the metal image king Nebuchadnezzars dream.
Daniel 7:7 He describes the fourth beast of his dream, and it had ten horns.
Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn (#11) before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots:
Daniel goes on to explain Dan. 7:17 These four beasts are four kings.
Four world leaders as I showed you with king Neb's dream. Dan. 7:20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.
Dan. 7:23 Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, ........and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first and he shall subdue three kings.
We see that this eleventh horn has a lot of power and say so in these final days. At some point #11 kicks out three of the kings that are members right now. The true identity of the Antichrist will not be revealed until after the Rapture of the Church - 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8. But are there any hints out there as to his identity before he reveals himself to the world? 1Thessalonians 5:4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. and Dan. 12:10 declares, .....none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
If you consider that every end time prophecy is in place and that the only remaining events are the Rapture and the revealing of the Antichrist. The only possible conclusion then, is that he must be alive today!
If one studies everything God tells us about the Antichrist, and this eleventh horn, in His Word, and looks at the individual leader who conforms to the vivid picture painted in the Scriptures, one figure stands out dramatically. This individual meets all the requirements set forth in God's Word.
This person stands at the exact point where every prophecy about the Antichrist converges.
E.U
Antichrist continued