“France: The Sickest Man of Europe”

This is the title of an October 25 article published by Politico, which quotes former Prime Minister Michel Barnier as saying, “France is on the brink of a financial crisis.” The European Union’s second-largest economy is now €3.5 trillion in debt and is being crushed under the weight of an “unsustainable pension system.” Two leaders now contending for the French presidency plan to spend billions of euros to lower the retirement age. Adding fuel to the economic fire, France has recently battled destructive nationwide protests of hundreds of thousands of people.

France’s current prime minister has already proposed €43 billion worth of cuts in his 2027 budget. This leaves little room for additional savings. As one anonymous government minister despairingly commented, “We have a knife to our throats, and we can feel the drops of blood on our jugular.” Sadly, French leaders seem to lack the fortitude to make hard choices, and many in the nation are questioning the ability of their democratic government to solve their problems. This has pushed voters toward more extreme candidates. France has little remaining fiscal credibility among its international peers, especially those in Europe.

Similar situations are playing out among other Israelite-descended nations of the West. In a dual prophecy to the southern Kingdom of Judah and the end-time Israelitish peoples, God promised He would make their leaders “a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse” (Jeremiah 25:18). We appear to be watching that happening today. These powerful nations that once led, colonized, and even fed the world are prophesied to lose the pride of their power (Leviticus 26:19) and their vaunted reputations—because they have rejected God. To learn more, read “Decline of the West—Why?”