January 31 – February 6, 2010

“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

• Israel and Syria trade war threats

• US bolsters defences of Iran's Gulf neighbours

• Israel prepares to strike Iran from Gulf and N. Iraq

• Israel warns Syria it would lose future war

• Iran unveils new satellite on eve of revolution

January 31 – February 6, 2010

• Russia names NATO expansion as national threat

Israel and Syria trade war threats

Could a New Armed Conflict Be Looming in the Middle East?Long-time enemies Israel and Syria have indulged in some fiery exchanges of rhetoric in the last 24 hours, leading some in the Middle East to fear a new armed conflict may be looming. In Damascus Wednesday Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Mouallem fired the first salvo as he hosted his visiting Spanish counterpart Miguel Moratinos."Israel is indeed planting the seeds of war in the region, I would tell them to stop playing the role of thug in the Middle East," he said."Don't test, you Israelis, the determination of Syria. You know that war this time would move to your cities. Come to your senses and choose the road of peace," he added.The threatening language implied Syria would be willing and able to target Israeli population centres with long-range missiles in a conflict. It was the first time such a threat had been made.

ABC news, February 4, 2010

EVENT

COMMENT

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up… Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about:

BIBLEQUOTE

(Joel 3:9,11)

The question posed at the start of the news report above is “could a new armed conflict be looming in the Middle East?” The answer to that question is most definitely YES.All the talk of peace over the last few years has come to nothing at all. There is a stalemate between Israel and her surrounding enemies. I.e. The Palestinians, Hezbollah, Syria.In the remarkable latter day prophecy of Joel we read of a great sign that the end is

near. It is the sign of the nations preparing for war. We are told they will “wake up.”This word means to be “aroused” to be “stirred up” to “incite”. The “fiery rhetoric” and threats of destruction are part of this “waking up”. The nations will soon be assembled .

US bolsters defences of Iran's Gulf neighbours

President Barack Obama is rushing to bolster the defences of Iran's Arab neighbours amid fears of the growing possibility of a missile strike by Tehran. His administration was reported on Sunday to have increased patrols by its warships in the Gulf and to be rapidly escalating the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries in Gulf states that fear an attack from Iran.There is particular concern over the threat to oil installations. Iran has hinted of its capacity to disrupt the passage of tankers in the Gulf, a threat with the potential to disrupt the world oil market.News of the initiatives, which include an increase in the number of "special" naval patrol vessels off Iran's coast, comes as Washington and its western allies have virtually given up on President Barack Obama's efforts to persuade the Iranians to pursue meaningful negotiation over their nuclear programme.

Daily Telegraph, January 31, 2010

EVENT

COMMENT

Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

BIBLEQUOTE (Ezekiel 38:13)

In Ezekiel 38 there is a wonderful prophecy of the nations who do not invade Israel with Russia. These nations are described as Tarshish, young lions and Sheba and Dedan.We have long identified Britain as Tarshish. We have also identified the young lion (powerful offspring) of the old lion (the UK) as America, Canada, Australia etc.We have also identified Sheba and Dedan as countries within the Saudi Arabian peninsula. It is countries within the Saudi peninsula that the USA is busy arming.This week America announced that defences would be boosted in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, (which also hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters) and Qatar, home to a modernized U.S. air operations centre that has played a key role in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. How exciting to see everything develop as expected.

Israel prepares to strike Iran from Gulf and N. Iraq

Arab voices were fanning Middle East war fever Wednesday night, Feb. 3. Debkafile's military sources report that not only are Syrian leaders beating war drums - Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem said in Damascus: "Israelis, do not test the power of Syria since you know the war will move into your cities" - but Egyptian military sources have put out information purporting to outline Israel's preparations to strike Iran.They report that the Israeli Navy together with the US Fifth Fleet have for some weeks been charting Persian Gulf waters and Iranian shorelines in preparation for attacks by Israeli naval and special operations forces.IDF intelligence and special forces officers, they also say, have been marking out routes for their air and ground forces to drive into Iran and hit its nuclear installations.According to these Egyptian sources, Saudi Arabia has demanded clarifications from Washington about reported US-assisted Israeli preparations to strike Iran and asks why they were not brought to the notice of Riyadh and the Gulf Arab governments.The Saudis added that several Gulf intelligence and naval units had tracked Israeli movements and gathered documentary evidence.

Debkafile, February 3, 2010

EVENT

COMMENT

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds

BIBLEQUOTE

(Jeremiah 49:35,36)

Will Israel make a pre emptive strike on Iran to stop them getting nuclear weapons?It is not totally certain but there are passages in the Bible that indicate this might happen. The difficulty comes when tracking down references to modern Iran in the Bible. We normally search for Persia. However there are other names for Iran in the Bible. One of them is Elam. Elam was a nation that covered south western Iran.In Jeremiah 49 it speaks of Elam’s bow being broken and scattered to the four winds.Perhaps Israel brings this destruction. However Iran is still able to invade with Gog.

Israel warns Syria it would lose future war

Israel's outspoken foreign minister harshly warned Syria Thursday against drawing the Jewish state into another war, saying the Syrian army would be defeated and its regime would collapse in a future conflict.Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also advised Syria to abandon its dreams of recovering the Israeli-held Golan Heights in a speech that ratcheted up simmering political tensions between the two long-time foes and sparked an urgent damage control campaign from the prime minister's office.Lieberman's exceptionally sharp words followed Syrian President Bashar Assad's accusation on Wednesday that Israel was the one avoiding peace, and the Syrian foreign minister's earlier threat that Israeli cities would be attacked in a future conflict.The Syrians "have crossed a red line that cannot be ignored," Lieberman said in a speech at Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv."Our message must be clear to Assad: 'In the next war, not only will you lose but you and your family will lose power,'" he added.

Associated Press, February 4, 2010

EVENT

COMMENT

Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.

BIBLEQUOTE (Jeremiah 49:24,27)

The talk of war this week has grown very loud indeed. Israel has threatened Syria with destruction and promised that the current family ruling Syria would be removed in the conflict.Following on from the previous slide about Iran we also read in the very same chapter (Jeremiah 49) that Damascus will wax feeble. Anguish and sorrows are coming on the capital city of Syria. A fire will be kindled in her the city and the palaces consumed!This is almost exactly what Israel has threatened to do this week.The gathering of the nations to Armageddon may come after this war with Syria.

Iran unveils new satellite on eve of revolution

Iran test-fired a new satellite rocket and unveiled a series of what it said were homegrown advances in its space program, a push that worries Western officials because of possible crossover applications in Iran's weapons program.In addition to the test-firing, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled on Wednesday three new telecommunications satellites and a new satellite-carrier engine, according to state media.The test comes as the Islamic Republic celebrates its 31st anniversary. Commemorations began this week and culminate Feb. 11, the day in 1979 that the shah's forces capitulated in the Iranian revolution. During last year's commemoration period, Iran launched its first domestically made and propelled satellite.Tehran maintains its space program, like its nuclear program, is aimed at peaceful purposes. Wednesday's rocket carried several living organisms—a rat, two turtles and worms—into space for experimentation.

The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2010

EVENT

COMMENT

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

Two missile tests took place this week. One by Iran reported above and the other by America. The Iranian test was successful. The American test failed.Iran has a morbid fascination of missiles. The state ran total coverage of the launch of this rocket playing stirring music. Click here to watch a short clip of this weeks launch.The Bible explains that Iran would have this fascination in what it calls “arrows”.Jeremiah 51 speaks of the Medes. The Medes dwelt in the land we now know as Iran.Notice in the verse below it speaks of making “BRIGHT arrows”. The word “bright” means “polished” or “shining”. Precisely how you would describe a missile if you saw it thousands of years ago. Their spirit is raised up.They bring destruction to Babylon/Iraq.

BIBLEQUOTE (Jeremiah 51:11)

Russia names NATO expansion as national threat

President Dmitry Medvedev approved Friday a new military doctrine identifying NATO expansion as a national threat and reaffirming Russia's right to use nuclear weapons if the country's existence is threatened.As Russia's conventional troops lack modern equipment and undergo a painful reform aimed at creating professional armed forces, Moscow relies on its nuclear arsenal as a last resort, the document, published on the Kremlin website, says.But the new guidelines do not follow through on the idea floated last year by the chief of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, of allowing the use of nuclear weapons in regional conflicts."Some clever people won over those who wanted to scare everybody with Russian nuclear weapons," said military analyst Alexander Golts.The doctrine says that one of the "main external threats of war" comes from NATO's expansion east to Russia's borders and pinpoints the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, missiles and states with nuclear weapons as a separate danger.

Reuters, February 5, 2010

EVENT

COMMENT

And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships;

BIBLEQUOTE (Daniel 11:40)

To add to the cacophony of war talk this week, Russia also decided to make an announcement! The president has reaffirmed Russia’s right to use nuclear weapons first. They have also said that NATO is a national threat. When Russia say NATO they do not mean Europe. They mean America. Without America NATO would fail. According to one Russian news agency the Kremlin's goal is nothing new. Russia wants America out of Europe so that Russia can dominate Europe. Once the Americans have withdrawn their commitment to protect Europe, the Germans will be forced to accept satellite status under Russia. We see a Russia resurgent.

Nations in green are members of NATO

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Weekly World Watch

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