I once had the privilege to speak with Todd Strandberg, owner of the popular Christian Website, Rapture Ready. After discussing the events recorded in my book, Todd asked the usual question about where I got my information. However, being in the military, Todd asked a bit different. He asked where I got my intelligence. I told him I was born smart.

I'm just kidding about my answer of course. And, my conversation with Todd was some time ago. Today, the things recorded in my book are available to almost everyone interested in world events and Bible prophecy. Even some secular Websites have begun talking about the Western European Union (WEU) and Recommendation 666. As a result, I'm seldom asked anymore about where I got my information. Now a more common question is how I knew where to look.

I knew where to look because of my understanding of Bible prophecy. And, I owe my understanding to many good prophecy teachers. Some of these teachers are well known, like Hal Lindsey and Tim Lahaye. Others not so well known, like Clarence Larkin and Charles Ryrie.

If you have read my book, however, you will notice that there is one individual who may have alerted me to things the most. This person is the late Dr. John F. Walvoord. I had the privilege to speak to Walvoord too. But, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Walvoord wasn't just another popular prophecy personality. Besides authoring many books on the subject, Walvoord served as President and Professor of Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. In other words, Walvoord was a respected Bible scholar -- like me. Just kidding again.

Before his death in December of 2002, Walvoord revised some of his earlier work. One such book was, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis, first published by Zondervan back in 1974. The copy I have -- pictured below -- was last revised in 1990. What makes this revision date significant is that it's after the collapse of the Soviet empire, which many believe -- including Walvoord -- set the stage for the rise of the 10-nation kingdom of the Antichrist.

Keeping in mind the post Cold War date, let's look at some of what Walvoord has to say. On page 121, at the beginning of his chapter titled, Changing Europe, under the heading, The New World Order, Walvoord begins by asking a question of which in 1990 he now knows the answer. Walvoord asks:

"As long as the U.S. and Russia have the balance of world power, how can a new order and a new world leader emerge? How can an empire like the old Roman Empire be formed with Europe divided by an Iron Curtain? How can the center of world power shift to ten nations, as indicated in Daniel 7:7 and 24, that does not include Russia or the United States?"

His answer, of course, follows. And, once again, he hits the nail squarely on the head. Walvoord believes the 10 nation confederacy of prophecy will rise as a result of the collapsed Soviet empire and Europe's need for securing new energy supplies. Walvoord states:

"The nations most terrified by a halt in the machinery will be the nations striving for a new world order, a new prosperity similar to that of the ancient Roman Empire. They have no capacity to survive without oil. They must form new alliances, achieve military power, and attempt to dictate peace for the Middle East" (pg 127).

With Walvoord's above statement in mind, take a look at today's news Read about it here. Here we find precisely the geo-political reality that Walvoord foresaw. What many don't understand is, the ultimate goal of Javier Solana's 1995 Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Peace, which could be the foretold covenant with many, is a region of free trade and stability by 2010 -- including, and most importantly, a secure energy infrastructure for Europe.

Now, let's return to the question about how I knew -- when I discovered the WEU back in 1991 -- where to look. One reason I knew was because of Walvoord. For example, in 1990 he says:

"The first movements toward the revival of the fourth empire are in today's headlines as the drama of international power and wealth again focuses on the Middle East. Ten strong nations can be expected to emerge in an alliance of political and economic power. That will be the beginning of the future revival of the Roman Empire. This will set the stage for the emergence of the new world dictator" (pg 155).

Walvoord even ventures a guess as to who some of these ten nations might be, Walvoord says:

"Though the predicted Ten-Nation Confederacy will probably include some nations in western Asia and northern Africa, most of the nations probably will come from Europe, including Italy, which was the capital country of the Roman Empire, and such important countries as Spain, France, Greece, and others" (pg 131).

Interestingly, the 10 nation military alliance that came together in 1995 where Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece -- four of which Walvoord specifically mentioned. 

How about the new Office of High Representative? Walvoord has something to say about the appearing of the coming world dictator as well. Under the heading, The Coming Dictator's First Move, Walvoord starts by saying:

"A new world dictator will first reveal himself in the role of a peacemaker in the Middle East" (pg 155).

As we all now know, a 10-nation alliance did appear in Europe. And, soon after a single new Office also appeared among these nations with a Mediterranean mandate. And, these events apparently appeared for the reasons that Walvoord foresaw. The powerful Soviet Union was no longer a threat and the emerging new European order was in need of secure borders and new supplies of energy. In fact, these are the events that I wrote my book about and what FulfilledProphecy has been reporting.

So, it was mainly because of Walvoord that I knew where to look. After completing my manuscript, I naturally wanted to tell him about the events -- the10-nation WEU, the first High Representative and Recommendation 666. To my surprise, not only was his phone listed under Dallas information, when I dialed the number he answered.

Stumbling through the list of events in my book, I waited for his response. But, what he said I didn't expect. Walvoord said, "They couldn't have."

I soon found Walvoord to be a warm and kind gentleman. Here was a renowned scholar who knew nothing about the person with whom he was speaking. Nevertheless, he was still willing to hear about my manuscript. And, he even ended up requesting a copy.

Wanting to make the best possible impression, I decided to go over my manuscript once again. When I felt it was ready, I phoned Walvoord for his address. This time things had changed. In a noticeably weaker voice, he told me that he had taken a fall and wouldn't be able to see my manuscript. The following year this gracious man of Bible prophecy passed away.

Recently I've read his book again -- the one mentioned above. And, again I marvel at how accurately were this man's observations. But, near the book's end, I noticed a summary of the prophecies that were at the time of his writing unfulfilled. The first event he listed was the rapture of the church. The second event was the revival of the Roman Empire; Ten-Nation Confederacy (pg 201). And, in the following chapter we find these words, "The rapture must occur before other end-time events" (pg 210).

Now, I understood his first words, "They couldn't have". You see, the events about which I had informed Walvoord, the 10-nation alliance and the first High Representative, where not, as he then saw it, supposed to happen until after the rapture.

But, these events were, in fact, supposed to happen.

That's how I knew.