August 10 - 16, 2014

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s August 10 - 16, 2014 “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 August 10 - 16, 2014 • Gaza truce holding - 10,000 Israelis protest in Tel Aviv • Ukraine destroys part of Russian armoured column • NATO sees 'high probability' of Russian invasion • Ukraine conflict: Russian aid or Trojan Horse? • UK: Islamic State is "threat to civilisation" • Could tensions over Ukraine hit space? To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Gaza truce holding - 10,000 Israelis protest in Tel Aviv Daily Telegraph, August 15, 2014 EVENT A fragile ceasefire extension between Hamas and Israel entered its second day Friday as the two sides in the Gaza conflict ponder Egyptian-mediated efforts to secure a lasting peace. Egyptian mediators brokered the five-day extension to an existing truce to allow for further negotiations on a long-term ceasefire to fighting that has killed 1,962 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side since July 8. The calm held throughout Thursday, after a flurry of Hamas rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes the previous night, even if great uncertainty persists on both sides about the future. Around 10,000 Israelis poured into Rabin Square in Tel Aviv late Thursday, police said, calling on the government and the army to end Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all. The fighting may have paused but no one seriously believes it is over. As if to show they were undimmed and still ready to fight, Hamas launched several rockets just as the one truce deadline finished. Many in Israel are confused and angry over Israel’s governments handling of this. The protestors in Tel Aviv want Israel to once and for all stop Hamas’s capability of firing rockets at them. It is remarkable that these truce’s are being brokered in Egypt. Egypt was of course where Israel originally was taken out of - to be taken by God to the promised land – Israel. Thousands of years later they are back in Egypt trying to negotiate with Palestinians who are the exact equivalent of the ancient Philistines who were once also a massive thorn in Israel’s side. But Israel should NOT be going back to Egypt to try and sort this out. As Isaiah says below… seeking Egypt’s counsel will fail. It is seen as rebellion by God – Israel should be trusting and turning to Him… COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 30:1-2)

6. This is what the Lord of Hosts says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. But I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions. v12 explains that this period of peace and rest had lasted 70 years. Ukraine destroys part of Russian armoured column Daily Telegraph, August 15, 2014 EVENT Ukraine said its artillery destroyed part of a Russian armoured column that entered its territory overnight and said its forces came under shellfire from Russia on Friday in what appeared to be a major military escalation between the ex-Soviet states. Russia's government denied its forces had crossed into Ukraine. It called the Ukrainian report "some kind of fantasy" and accused Kiev of trying to sabotage aid deliveries to eastern areas torn by fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Western-backed government of Moscow's former satellite. Nato said there had been a Russian incursion into Ukraine, which is not a member of the Western mutual defence pact, but it avoiding calling it an invasion. Other European capitals accused the Kremlin of escalating a conflict that has revived Cold War-era animosities and chilled the region's struggling economies. COMMENT Just as the Israel / Palestinian contraction calmed for a few days the Ukrainian / Russian contraction started again in earnest. The Bible speaks of the world going into labour pains like a woman giving birth. The contractions occur as we lurch from crisis to crisis. If these reports today are true we are possibly seeing the first official shots of open conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Europe may soon be at war. Zechariah 1 speaks the world having 70 years of rest and peace. But at the end of this time period God decides to punish the heathen nations for what they had done to Israel 70 years before. The initial fulfilment was Israel being destroyed by the Babylonians but then after 70 years God punished Babylon. We have also seen a period of 70 years go by since the great persecution of the Jews in the second world war. That war came to an end in 1945. 70 years later God may be about to punish the nations – war is coming… BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 1:14-15 NLT)

7. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the destruction of all the metals at the return of Christ does NOT mean all those metals were united together. We are explicitly told they are divided not united. Russia v Europe is this division. • NATO sees 'high probability' of Russian invasion Reuters, August 11, 2014 NATO said on Monday there was a "high probability" that Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine, where the government said its troops have been closing in on Donetsk, the main city held by pro-Russian rebels. Kiev said it was in the "final stages" of recapturing Donetsk, by far the biggest city under the control of the pro-Russian rebels. The battle for the city could be a decisive turning point in a conflict which has caused the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. An industrial metropolis with a pre-war population of nearly 1 million, the main rebel-held redoubt rocked to the crash of shells and gunfire over the weekend and heavy guns boomed through the night into Monday from the outskirts of the city. Ukraine appears to be pressing ahead with its offensive, undeterred by the presence of 20,000 Russian troops massed on the nearby border for a potential ground invasion EVENT COMMENT So where does this major division between western Europe and eastern Europe (Russia) get mentioned in Bible prophecy? Surely we were expecting a Russian / Euro alliance against Israel? Well this is not what the Bible says will happen. Russia and Europe are symbolically the two separate legs of the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw. As legs remain divided – so do these two parts of Europe. Even if we look at the feet of the image we see division – between the iron (the military strength of Rome now residing in Russia) that does not mix with the clay (humanism now residing in Europe). They do not mix together – it is a divided kingdom. The two sides of this story are detailed out in the rest of Daniel. The little horn in Daniel 7 gives us the final picture of western Europe and the power controlling it there- the Pope. Daniel 8 gives us the final picture of the east (Russia) and the little horn power there which is Russian leader Gog. he BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 2:45)

8. a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: Ukraine conflict: Russian aid or Trojan Horse? BBConline, August 14, 2014 Russia's dispatch of a huge convoy of lorries carrying humanitarian aid to east Ukraine has raised suspicions about its intentions, given its support for the rebels fighting the Ukrainian government there. It is believed the aid is meant primarily for the rebel-held city of Luhansk, home to 425,000 people before the conflict erupted in April, and now under government siege. Attempts to admit the aid with Ukrainian government consent, and under Red Cross supervision, appear in doubt after the lorries left the scheduled route and turned towards a section of the border under rebel control. The Russian lorries pulled up in a field near the Russian town of Donetsk (not to be confused with the Ukrainian city of the same name) in Rostov region on 14 August. They had travelled south from Voronezh, where they made their first stop after leaving the Moscow. EVENT COMMENT As one BBC reporter said when speaking about this enormous convoy of white lorries taking aid to Ukraine – “there is a theatrical air about this whole operation.” There is indeed a theatrical air. A Russia orthodox priest sprinkled all 280 white army trucks with “holy water”. It’s all staged, all false, all with underlining motives that have nothing to do with people without water and food and everything to do with Putin’s land grab of Ukraine. In Daniel 8 (which speaks about the latter day Antiochus Epiphanies who was the original king of the north) we read about Gog and what he does and what he is like. We are told he has a fierce countenance. He causes deceit to prosper. He considers himself superior. And interestingly the AV says “by peace he destroys many.” How do you destroy by peace? Surely by pretending there is peace but by really planning war. Is this not what the headline is saying? Peace / aid but really it is Putin’s Trojan Horse. BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 8:23-25)

9. The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. UK: Islamic State is "threat to civilisation" Daily Telegraph, August 15, 2014 Philip Hammond the UK Foreign Secretary described the Islamic State as a "threat to civilisation to the region and to us here in Europe" today as he confirmed that Britain was prepared to arm Kurdish fighters in Iraq. "The UK has said we will also consider favourably any requests for supplies of arms," the foreign secretary said. "We are already shipping ammunition and supplies from other East European countries into Erbil.” France, Britain, Germany and Italy today pledged to step up humanitarian aid to help refugees in Iraq, following an emergency meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels. France, Britain, Italy and Germany also pledged to step up humanitarian aid to help the refugees in Iraq, following an emergency meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels. EVENT COMMENT The world is beginning to wake up to the terror of this new group that almost overnight have setup a so-called Islamic State. The horror and savagery of this people is beyond comprehension. They are beheading children, crucifying adults and appear to be fearless in their goals. We have mentioned that the territory they now control is almost identical to the territory of the ancient Assyrians – who themselves were as vicious and brutal as these people. Why have they suddenly appeared and to what purpose? And does the Bible speak about these events? Assyria of course was used by God originally to bring punishment on the wicked northern kingdom of Israel. We know that judgements are coming on Israel in two stages. Stage 1 involves the surrounding nations which we are told include Assyria. Stage 2 involves an outer ring of nations that come against Israel i.e. Russia, Iran etc. ISIS therefore is part of stage one… he BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 14:24-25)

10. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. • Could tensions over Ukraine hit space? BBC online, August 14, 2014 In 2011, the Atlantis Shuttle flew its last mission. Nasa's space shuttle programme had come to an end. Now, to get to the International Space Station (ISS) - a long-serving symbol of unity in space - the Americans have to catch a lift from the Russians on their Soyuz spacecraft, at a cost of more than $60 million a seat. But as tensions grow over Ukraine, relations between the US and Russia are becoming ever more fraught. Earlier this year, a leaked memo revealed that Nasa was suspending some of its ties with Russia as part of America's ongoing sanctions, apart from work on the ISS. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin responded by suggesting the Americans send their astronauts into space using a trampoline. The hostility has left the US and Russia searching for new friends. America is turning towards home-grown commercial industry to bring space manufacturing back to US soil. Russia is turning to China. EVENT It’s not only here on earth that we are seeing the tensions building up. It is even affecting joint projects in space. The space station is one of the last projects that Russia and America are working together on. It has been a symbol of how they had to cooperate together to build and operate the station together. They have both been entirely dependent on each other. However events back on earth have put this project in jeopardy. America needs Russia to even get its astronauts into space following the ending of the NASA space shuttle programme. Russia needs America for technical knowledge and cash. We don’t know how much longer tensions need to rise before they finally give way to conflict but the longer it goes on the greater the final explosion. We know that there cannot be long left now – Christ is coming – soon… COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Luke 21:25-27)

11. Weekly World Watch YouTube Videos

12. Weekly World Watch The end of this week’s WWW will be e-mailed to you each week. If you think others may find the WWW helpful please direct them to the website www.weeklyworldwatch.co.uk They can register on the site PLEASE NOTE: The Weekly World Watch is written and sent by myself – it is my take on events and I accept that on occasions I will miss significant events and also misinterpret them as well. However I will endeavour to be faithful to the scriptures and hope that it will be of benefit to both of us. Please take a look at this excellent Christadelphian Prophecy website Just click the image To watch again, click here.