Weekly World Watch: Trump's Response to Iran's Threats

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s May 5 - 11, 2019 “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) PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE To skip the introductory slides and go straight to this weeks developments click here.

2. What is a Weekly World Watch? 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. The following six themes will appear repeatedly in WWW: • 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. • Increasing natural disasters: including earthquake, famine etc 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.

3. BIBLE QUOTE What is in a Weekly World Watch? 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. 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. News Photo This is straight from a news report that caught my eye because it looked significant from a Biblical perspective, usually that of prophecy. HEADLINE The source of the headline and the date are included. 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. EVENT 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). Please note that these are personal thoughts and the aim is purely to stimulate Bible study. COMMENT 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)

4. This Week’s Developments May 5 - 11, 2019 • Trump sends more B-52s to Gulf to counter Iran  • US sends Patriot missile system to Middle East • The brewing conflict between America and Iran • Iran weighing attack on Saudi oil production facilities • Putin vows to strengthen Russia’s armed forces • One million species threatened with extinction To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.  Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. Isaiah 17 is the first of 10 burdens for the world that ALL have latter day fulfilment.  Trump sends more B-52s to Gulf to counter Iran  The Times, May 10, 2019 The Trump administration has put further pressure on Iran, announcing that B-52 bombers have arrived in the Gulf as the president told the Islamic Republic’s leaders: “Call me”. The US navy has distributed images of B-52H Stratofortress planes, the workhorses of the American bomber fleet for decades, landing in the al-Udeid air base in Qatar. It said that more had landed elsewhere in the region, without specifying where. The dispatch of the bombers was announced on Sunday in a statement that also confirmed an aircraft carrier fleet led by USS Abraham Lincoln was on its way to the Middle East to respond to specific but undetailed “threats” from Iran. The carrier passed through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea yesterday. President Trump said the administration was responding to warnings. “We have information that you don’t want to know about,” he told reporters. “They were very threatening and we have to have great security for this country and many other places.” EVENT COMMENT This week has seen a tremendous build up of US military force in the Middle East. All of it is pointed in one direction – Iran. Mike Pompeo, Mr Trump’s secretary of state, said: “The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against US interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive US response.” One Iranian military leader today rejected Mr Trump’s offer of talks. “No talks will be held with the Americans and the Americans will not dare take military action against us,” he said. Last week the US oil sanctions went fully into force. The Bible speaks of the Medes (Iranians) being stirred up and using missiles to attack modern day Iraq (ancient Babylon) where the US has 5200 troops…. BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:17-18)

6. 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. …; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;  Assur [Assyria] also is joined with them: When Pslam 83 was written the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365-1020BC) ruled over parts of northern and western Iran. US sends Patriot missile system to Middle East amid Iran tensions BBC, May 11, 2018 The US is sending a Patriot missile-defence system to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. A warship, USS Arlington, with amphibious vehicles and aircraft on board, will also join the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group in the Gulf. And US B-52 bombers have arrived at a base in Qatar, the Pentagon said. The US said the moves were a response to a possible threat to US forces in the region by Iran, without specifying. Iran dismissed the claim as nonsense. Tehran has described the deployments as "psychological warfare" aimed at intimidating the country. Iran has also suggested it may resume uranium enrichment nuclear activities. Iran's semi-official Isna news agency quoted a senior Iranian cleric, Yousef Tabatabai-Nejad, as saying that the US military fleet could be "destroyed with one missile". EVENT COMMENT This morning brings news of the US sending their Patriot missile system to the Middle East. This build-up might remind us of the build-up prior to the Gulf War’s in the 90’s. The Trump administration is tightening the noose on the Iranian regime. Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. Nov 2018 sanctions were reimposed on Iran. Dec 2018 the US pressured Iran on missile testing. April 2019 US designates Iran’s elite guards a terrorist group. May 2019 the US begins large build-up of forces. Iran in return has said all US troops in the region are terrorists. This week they have announced a partial withdrawal from the deal. Neither side is backing down. Could these events lead to conflict? Iran could easily decide to activate Hezbollah and Hamas to attack Israel if they felt an existential threat. Iran is mentioned in Psalm 83…. BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 83:7-8)

7. The brewing conflict between America and Iran The Economist, May 11, 2019 The drums of war are beating once again. An American aircraft-carrier strike group is steaming towards the Persian Gulf, joined by b-52 bombers, after unspecified threats from Iran. John Bolton, the national security adviser, says any attack on America or its allies “will be met with unrelenting force”. In Tehran, meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani says Iran will no longer abide by the terms of the deal signed with America and other world powers, whereby it agreed to strict limits on its nuclear programme in return for economic relief. Iran now looks poised to resume its slow but steady march towards the bomb—giving American hawks like Mr Bolton further grievances. Just four years ago America and Iran were on a different path. After Barack Obama offered to extend a hand if Iran’s leaders “unclenched their fist”, the two sides came together, leading to the nuclear deal. That promised to set back the Iranian nuclear programme by more than a decade, a prize in itself, and just possibly to break the cycle of threat and counter-threat that have dogged relations since the Iranian revolution 40 years ago. EVENT COMMENT Whatever happens in relation to the brewing conflict with Iran we know that Iran itself must survive to join forces with Russia in the conflict detailed in Ezekiel 38. The Ezekiel 38 conflict comes after an initial ”inner ring” war where Israel is attacked by “surrounding or nearby peoples”. This war is detailed in Zechariah 12 and Psalm 83. Isaiah 17 covers the “inner ring” war when Damascus is destroyed and Israel is greatly weakened but survives. The chapter concludes with a tsunami of nations pouring into the void left following the initial war. This is Ezekiel 38. Iran is the hand behind the first war AND joins in the second war – but will fall like Russia on the mountains of Israel. BIBLE QUOTE Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, …These verses come after the fall of Damascus and describe Ezekiel 38. (Isaiah 17:12-13)

8. Iran weighing attack on Saudi oil production facilities The Times of Israel, May 11, 2019 EVENT Israel has warned the US that Iran is contemplating targeting Saudi oil production facilities, an Israeli TV report said Friday night, as tensions between Tehran and the Trump Administration soar. The unsourced Channel 13 report said the Iranians were “considering various aggressive acts” against American or American-allied targets. Tehran had looked at targeting American bases in the Gulf, but that had been deemed too drastic. The main target they were interested in was “Saudi oil production facilities,” the TV report said. Such a strike would also send world oil prices soaring and enable Iran to get more income from its oil sales, the report added. Channel 13 also quoted unnamed Arab intelligence sources saying there was a debate raging in the Iranian leadership about striking US and US-allied targets, with some in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pushing for attacks, including against Israeli targets, while others cautioned that it would be “suicidal” to get into serious military conflict with the US. This is a very interesting news report from Israel in the light of a small chapter in Isaiah. Isaiah 21 speaks of the “burden of the desert of the sea”. But which sea? We are told that the burden is like a whirlwind in the “south”. It comes from a terrible land. Which land? Verse 2 tells us – Elam and Media- both areas in modern Iran! Iran is the terrible land. Verse 2 also tells us that a treacherous deal was made. The sea therefore is next to a desert and next to Elam – there is only one sea this can be. The Persian Gulf that divides Saudi Arabia (part of the king of the south) from Iran (part of the king of the north). Iran might attack Saudi Arabia causing verse 3 to happen. COMMENT A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: Iran is to be treacherous and “go up” and “besiege” causing travail. BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 21:2-3 NIV)

9. Putin vows to strengthen Russia’s armed forces The Times, May 10, 2019 EVENT President Putin promised to strengthen Russia’s armed forces yesterday as he claimed at the annual Victory Day parade that foreign states were making heroes out of Nazi collaborators. Speaking on Red Square, he said that “every year we feel more sharply the moral power of that unparalleled victory” over Germany in the Second World War in 1945. During the parade, goose-stepping soldiers marched across the cobbles in front of the Kremlin, followed by columns of tanks and missile launchers. Mr Putin, 66, said that Russia would “do everything necessary to ensure the greatest combat effectiveness of our armed forces, and to ensure defence potential at the highest contemporary level”, as well as “reinforcing the prestige of military service”. He added that “a whole series of countries” were trying to distort the events of the war and make heroes of those who had, “forgetting honour and human dignity, attended to the Nazis”. COMMENT The Times newspaper went on to say “Under Putin’s rule, the Victory Day parade has become a tool for uniting Russians around a patriotic take on the Soviet past, including the role of Joseph Stalin, while emphasising modern military might and a perceived threat from the West.” In other words Putin has taken Russia back to what he believes was a glorious Soviet past. Putin wants respect from the West and believes this will come about if Russia has immense military might. The Bible speaks of a Russian ruler [Gog] that comes to power in the latter days. We read that God turns him back. This could be a reference to the ”turning back” that the Times newspapers refers to. A turning back to its Soviet past. A totalitarian, authoritarian, militaristic time. Putin has turned Russia back to these things. He is preparing his nation for war…. BIBLE QUOTE And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:  And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:  (Ezekiel 38:3-4)

10. One million species threatened with extinction CNN, May 7, 2018 EVENT One million of the planet's eight million species are threatened with extinction by humans, scientists warned Monday in what is described as the most comprehensive assessment of global nature loss ever. Their landmark report paints a bleak picture of a planet ravaged by an ever-growing human population, whose insatiable consumption is destroying the natural world. The global rate of species extinction "is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years," according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a UN committee, whose report was written by 145 experts from 50 countries. Shrinking habitat, exploitation of natural resources, climate change and pollution are the main drivers of species loss and are threatening more than 40% of amphibians, 33% of coral reefs and over a third of all marine mammals with extinction, the IPBES report said. COMMENT There are 5 key area’s contributing to species becoming extinct. Humans have altered 75% of all land since pre industrial times. A third of marine stocks are begin fished at unsustainable levels. Global warming has already impacted more the 50% of mammals and 25% of birds. Plastic pollution has increased 10 fold since the 1980’s. 300-400 million tons of waste is dumped into the oceans every year! There is very little of the planet which has not been impacted by humans. The world is in a very sad state as mankind exploits it. But we know mankind will bring the whole of creation to the point of extinction through conflict – for Jesus says “no flesh (man or animal) would survive the time of trouble coming if it was not for God cutting short the rule of man…  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. Flesh refers to any man or animal. Imagine how great the tribulation would be to end all life on earth! BIBLE QUOTE (Matthew 24:21-22 NIV)

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