August 30 – September 5, 2009

“If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because

of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.”

(Ezekiel 33:6, New International Version)

Weekly World Watch

Andy Walton’s

To skip the introductory slides and go straight to this weeks developments click here.

What is a Weekly World Watch?

• Israel: The continuing conflict in the Middle East and focus on Jerusalem.

• Europe: Its developing union, both political and religious.

• Russia: Its return to anti-Western ways as Bible prophecy’s “king of the north.”

• The UK and the US: Bible prophecy’s “king of the south.”

• Moral standards in decline and violence on the increase.

WWW presentations in PowerPoint can be ordered as audio/visual CDs by clicking here. Move your mouse to place the cursor on the blue link and click.

The idea is simple. It is to look at current events and compare them to events spoken of in the Bible. .

I hope to build up a picture of God’s hand working in the affairs of this world. God is bringing about a day when all nations will be gathered to Jerusalem to battle. At that time God will send His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, back to this earth. Jesus will then establish God’s kingdom on earth.

This kingdom will last for ever. This is our hope and the reason we watch.

• Increasing natural disasters: including earthquake, famine etc

The following six themes will appear repeatedly in WWW:

HEADLINE

EVENT

COMMENT

News Photo

The source of the headline and the date are included.

Each WWW looks at a few key developments that have happened during the past week. It is in no way meant to be exhaustive – just a look at those events I saw as significant from a Biblical point of view.

What is in a Weekly World Watch?

BIBLEQUOTE

This is normally one verse which backs up why the event that has occurred is interesting from a Biblical perspective. Please read in its context. Unless stated otherwise, all quotes are from the King James Version. (Book, chapter, and verse)

This is straight from a news report that caught my eye because it looked significant from a Biblical perspective, usually that of prophecy.

Every WWW event slide has the following format. To reveal each block of text just left click your mouse or press the space bar. You control when it appears.

This is the reporter’s description of the event. It is always a direct quotation from the news report and reflects the understanding of the reporter and editors.

This is my comment on why the event is interesting to a Bible student. The intention of the WWW is to offer brief Biblical perspectives without going into detail. If more detail is desired, please e-mail me: (andy@weeklyworldwatch.co.uk).

This Week’s Developments

To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

• Hezbollah deploys chemical weapons near border

• Israel to hold largest ever bio-attack drill

• US attacks Israel over West Bank settlements

• Abkhazia threatens Georgian ships

• Putin in Poland to mark start of World War II

August 30 – September 5, 2009

• “Massive” ancient wall uncovered in Jerusalem

Hezbollah deploys chemical weapons near border

Hezbollah fought a war with Israel in 2006. They are based in Lebanon and their main base is in the port city of Tyre. From the inception of Hezbollah to the present, the elimination of the State of Israel has been one of Hezbollah's primary goals. In Psalm 83:4 we read almost identical words - “let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance”. Who is speaking?Well there are a whole list of peoples – mainly Arab by descent. In verse 7 we read of the “inhabitants of Tyre”. In other words there will be some people who inhabit Tyre that want Israel to be eliminated. Hezbollah fit this exactly. Psalm 83 is being fulfilled today.

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported Thursday, September 3, that chemical weapons were stored in the hidden Hezbollah arms warehouse which blew up at Hirbet Salim near the Israeli border in mid-July. Of the 11 Hezbollah operatives killed in the blast, 3 died of chemical poisoning. Hezbollah denied any members had been killed or even that it maintains a weapons store in breach of UN resolutions. European intelligence sources reported on September 1, that Hezbollah had recently boosted its military capabilities with a supply of chemical shells and short-range missiles with chemical warheads and was about to receive biological weapons as well. One source said that the Lebanese terrorist group is now one of the most sophisticated and best trained military forces in the Middle East, describing them as "bad guys with good strategic vision."The source quoted an Arab official as predicting that Hezbollah is gearing up "for something big" and there is little doubt that Iran and Syria will be helping them to obtain biological and chemical weapons.

Debkafile Special Report, September 3, 2009

EVENT

COMMENT

They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent:

BIBLEQUOTE (Psalm 83:4)

Israel to hold largest ever bio-attack drill

Following on from the previous slide we can see why Israel would want to hold a drill to prepare against a biological or chemical attack.The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, died at the age of 111 last month. In a interview with Harry back in 2004 the BBC interviewer asked him this question……Do you think the world learnt anything from the 1st world war?Harry replied…….No – they never learn - they had 2 world wars – the 3 rd world war will be chemical – I don’t want to see it.Albert Einstein famously said “I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones”.Jesus tells us that a time of trouble is coming “such as was not since the beginning of the world, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.” There can only ever be one time of trouble such as never was and it has not happened yet. These terrible weapons will be used. However for the sake of elect the coming terrible days WILL be shortened….

Israel is to hold its largest ever drill against a biological attack. The drill is to take place this coming January. The threat scenario will include a biological attack on a major Israeli city and will include a wide range of security and emergency medical organizations including: IDF Home Front Command, Magen David Adom, Fire and Rescue Services, the Israel Police, the IDF Medical Corps and the IDF Spokesman's Office. Syria is believed to own biological missiles carrying a range of lethal diseases including ebola, anthrax, Q fever and smallpox.The IDF also plans to begin returning gas masks to the public starting in November. The masks were gathered back in 2006 and refurbished.

Israel National News, August 30, 2009

EVENT

COMMENT

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

BIBLEQUOTE

(Matthew 24:21,22)

Harry Patch – last British survivor of World War I

US attacks Israel over West Bank settlements

It is amazing to see a headline like the one in the Financial Times this week. Who would have thought that America would become so hostile to Israel. However, we can see it is part of God’s plan. Israel needs to be isolated, friendless and brought so low that their only option is to turn to God himself and his Son - Jesus when he returns.Israel will one day realise that it is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. If Israel did this - even if all nations surrounded her - she would overcome!Here’s what is happening. Netanyahu knows he will eventually have to announce a freeze in settlement expansion. So he announced on Friday the exact opposite – to build hundreds of new homes in the West Bank. According to the media he will shortly announce that he will postpone any further new homes and enter negotiations with the Palestinians. In other words the announcement this week is a sop to the hardliners who want settlements to grow. We are getting very close to the crunch over this issue.

The Obama administration attacked Israel on Friday for giving the green light to the building of hundreds of new homes in the occupied West Bank even as the two sides negotiate a freeze on settlement construction.Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, is set to approve the new homes in the coming days, a move that appears aimed at softening opposition within his rightwing Likud party to a temporary settlement freeze. An official close to Mr Netanyahu who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue said the PM would consider freezing building “for a few months” only after giving the green light to the construction of the new units for Jewish settlers.

The Financial Times, September 4, 2009

EVENT

COMMENT

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them

BIBLEQUOTE

(Psalm 118:8-10)

Abkhazia threatens Georgian ships as possibility of Black Sea naval skirmish rises

A potentially dangerous new flash point between Russia and Georgia is emerging: naval skirmishing in the Black Sea. Sergey Bagapsh, president of the Russian-backed statelet of Abkhazia, warned on Wednesday his tiny navy would "destroy" any Georgian vessels straying into Abkhaz territorial waters.His dramatic threat followed Georgia's recent seizure of several cargo vessels on their way to and from Abkhazia. In an interview with Russian news agency Interfax, Mr Bagapsh described the seizures as "piracy," requiring what he called an "adequate response."Georgia contends it's well within its rights to seize such vessels. It does not recognize Abkhazia's independence (only Russia and Nicaragua do) and insists it should retain control of sea traffic in the area.

Daily Telegraph, September 2, 2009

EVENT

COMMENT

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed [angry, bitter] in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field

BIBLEQUOTE

(2 Samuel 17:8)

Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in 1999, but Georgia continues to regard it as a breakaway region. It is situated in the north-western corner of Georgia with the Black Sea to the south-west and Russia to the north-east.Abkhazia's battle for independence from Georgia since the collapse of the USSR has reduced the economy to ruins. The only things to thrive are the atmosphere of instability and Russo-Georgian rivalry for influence.In April 2009, a week before Nato exercises in Georgia, Russia consolidated its position in Abkhazia by signing a five-year agreement to take formal control of its frontiers with Georgia proper, as well as those of South Ossetia. Russia is behind the growing friction in the region – the bear does not want to be robbed of her whelps….

Putin in Poland to mark start of World War II

The poignancy of yesterday's commemoration in Poland of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War is matched only by the continuing rawness of the wounds left by that conflict. No country suffered more grievously: with almost a fifth of its population killed, Poland had the highest proportion of losses of any nation. While Germany has apologised repeatedly for its unprovoked attack, there has never been a similar display of contrition from Russia, Hitler's partner in the Non-Aggression Treaty that sealed Poland's fate.The Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, spoke bluntly at yesterday's ceremonies, saying that his country had received a "stab in the back" when Soviet forces occupied eastern Poland just two weeks after the German Blitzkrieg. He also recalled the massacre of 20,000 Polish officers at Katyn, an atrocity for which Moscow finally accepted responsibility in 1990. For his part, Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, conceded that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was "morally unacceptable“. The nearest he came to an apology was to urge Poland to "rise above the problems of the past".

Daily Telegraph Editorial, September 1, 2009

EVENT

COMMENT

He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.

BIBLEQUOTE

(Daniel 8:25 NIV)

Britain marked the 70th anniversary of its declaration of war on Nazi Germany. On Sept. 3, 1939, two days after German forces attacked Poland, starting World War II in Europe, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain acknowledged in a famous radio address that his "long struggle to win peace has failed.“Putin went to Poland and it was hoped he would say sorry for Russia’s invasion of Poland back then. It came as no surprise that he did not apologise. Putin after all is the man who said that the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20 th century was the break up of the USSR. He is a proud man who considers himself superior.

“Massive” ancient wall uncovered in Jerusalem

An archaeological dig in Jerusalem has turned up a 3,700-year-old wall that is the largest and oldest of its kind found in the region, experts say.Standing 8 meters (26 feet) high, the wall of huge cut stones is a marvel to archaeologists. "To build straight walls up 8 meters ... I don't know how to do it today without mechanical equipment," said the excavation's director, Ronny Reich. "I don't think that any engineer today without electrical power [could] do it.“ The discovered section is 24 meters (79 feet) long. "However, it is thought the fortification is much longer because it continues west beyond the part that was exposed," the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a news release.It was found inside the City of David, an archaeological excavation site outside the Old City of East Jerusalem on a slope of the Silwan Valley.The wall is believed to have been built by the Canaanites, an ancient pagan people who the Bible says inhabited Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East before the advent of monotheism

CNN, September 4, 2009

EVENT

COMMENT

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

BIBLEQUOTE

(Luke 1:32,33)

Abraham would have lived around this time - 3700 years ago. At this time Jerusalem was known as Salem (Peace). Melchizadek was king of Salem and he met Abraham.There is a possibility that Abraham walked passed these very stones!But Salem was trodden down by the Jebusites and was called Jebus until David captured it in 1000BC. Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trodden down again UNTIL the times of the gentiles were fulfilled. For 1897 years Jerusalem was controlled by the gentiles and then in 1967 Jerusalem was restored to Israel’s control. We wait for the “son of David” to return and restore it to the capital of the entire earth.

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Weekly World Watch

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