Will Blair Become King?

By Mike Mickey

According to the BBC, Middle East Quartet envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he believes it is possible for a peace deal to be reached between the Israelis and Palestinians. He is even "cautiously optimistic" that this could occur before President Bush leaves office in January of 2009.

While none of us know with certainty how the final days of the Church Age will play out, we know via Scripture that a prince (or leader) of Roman descent is going to confirm (or make strong) a seven-year covenant of peace in the Middle East between Israel and her enemies "with many." (Daniel 9:26-27)

Armed with that information from God's Word, we can look at President Bush's recent visit to the Middle East and his insistence that Israel end its so-called "occupation" of Palestinian lands alongside Tony Blair's cautiously optimistic view that potential exists for significant progress to be made before President Bush leaves office in 2009 and surmise that we may be closer to seeing our Lord face-to-face than many realize or, unfortunately, even care to realize.

Interestingly, as former British PM Blair works on laying "the foundations for a Palestinian state", the EU Observer is reporting that Blair may be on the verge of a candidacy to become the very first European Union president - a position that he could begin filling in 2009.

The EU Observer reports that Blair will attend a conference of French president Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party UMP on Saturday (January 12, 2008) during which some suspect Sarkozy will aid Blair in laying the groundwork for Blair's candidacy to get underway as France prepares to assume the current system of rotating 6-month EU presidencies in the second half of 2008. That scenario, if accurate, may prove to be of tremendous benefit to Mr. Blair if Sarkozy is looking to be his corner man as the quest to become the first very first 'king' of the revived Roman empire of Bible prophecy kicks into high gear later this year.

Will President Bush and Tony Blair, both of whom seem hopeful that 'Palestine' will become a reality, potentially as early as next year, succeed in their efforts to make that a reality? If so, will making that happen lead to a seven-year covenant of peace and, subsequently, its confirmation taking place as a result of someone of Roman descent's overwhelming influence? Time will tell but the more emphasis we see being placed on Palestine coming into existence and the more we see of men in the revived Roman empire of Bible prophecy we today call the European Union grappling to seize the reins of the rising Beast government, the closer we are to our redemption.

Could 2008 be the year of our Lord's return for His Church? I don't know but, regardless of how 2008 shakes out, it's going to be great fun watching the drama unfold together.