January 1 - 4, 2014

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s January 1 - 4, 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 January 1 - 4, 2014 • U.S. faces many challenges as influence wanes • Analysis: Israel, Palestinians face hard choices • 14 killed in latest bomb attack to strike Russian city • Egypt: 11 deaths at Muslim Brotherhood protests • Syria's chemical weapons removal delayed • 2013 was hottest year on record in Australia To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. One translation says “Make their weapons useless in their hands” U.S. faces many challenges as influence on world stage wanes Washington Times, January 2, 2014 The U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, Syria’s raging civil war and missed deadlines to disarm, a potential breakthrough nuclear deal with Iran, Chinese military muscle-flexing in Asia, a rapidly evolving and amorphous al Qaeda terrorist threat, a global backlash against American spying activities — Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s first full year as the top U.S. diplomat promises to be busy in a foreign policy landscape increasingly resistant to American dominance. But analysts predict that the Obama administration is likely to hold firm to its pursuit of neutrality on the world stage by seeking diplomacy over confrontation and steering away from expensive, conventional U.S. military engagement as a strategy for containing the world’s troublemakers. Any number of single, unpredictable events could shake the international order in ways unseen. EVENT The article went on to say that there is a global rebalancing going on. “China, Iran, the Saudis, the Turks, the Brazilians are all asserting themselves in their own regions and they are not listening to the U.S.” said Gordon Adams, a professor of U.S. foreign policy. Even America’s allies are now much more distant because of the U.S. spying revealed by Edward Snowden. Middle East allies such as Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia are all angry with America over its new Iran stance. We know in Scripture that America is a “young lion”. An offspring of Britain the “old lion”. We know from Ezekiel 38 that America appears to stand on the sidelines when Russia invades the Middle East. In Psalm 58 we read of “young lions” having their great teeth broken. It is no surprise therefore to seeing this young lion weakened… COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 58:6-7)

6. Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion [Jerusalem] for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. “Ariel” is a name for Jerusalem. “Sharon” means a plain or a field. Analysis: Israel, Palestinians face hard choices Associated Press, January 1, 2014 As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry returns to the region Thursday, the American message to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders is clear: It's time to start making hard decisions. Kerry is bringing his own ideas for the outlines of a peace deal, and early indications are that the plan will include hard-to-swallow choices for both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely have to recognize Israel's pre-1967 war frontier as the starting point for border talks with the Palestinians, an ideological reversal that would put him on a collision course with his hardline base. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fears he'll be pressured to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, a step he believes would abrogate the rights of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. A senior State Department official said Kerry would not impose ideas or seek final answers on this trip. EVENT he So with America’s influence and power weakening it is strange to see how they are using all their effort to push the Palestinians and Israelis into a peace agreement. America gave just 9 months to reach an agreement. There are only 4 months left. Any final agreement will hinge on Israel pulling out of the West Bank and giving up half of Jerusalem. These are Palestinian red lines and America (and the rest of the world) agree with this in principle. Israel is fighting a battle that cannot be won on her own. Only the intervention of Jesus will save Israel from total destruction. The last time Israel withdrew from land was under the leadership of Ariel Sharon. He actually agreed to divide the land. Hours later he went into a coma. That was 8 years ago. He is still in a coma but now very near death. There are those who believe his death will signal coming tribulation on Israel. A bit like the death of Methuselah before the flood came…. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Micah 3:12)

7. 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. 14 killed in latest bomb attack to strike Russian city Daily Telegraph, December 30, 2013 EVENT A second bomb exploded in the Russian city of Volgograd on Monday morning, killing at least 14 people and raising fears of a wave of terrorist bombings. A male suicide bomber detonated a device on a packed trolleybus carrying people to work during rush hour, injuring a further 28, authorities said. Russia's top investigative body said that the kind of explosive used suggested the attack and Sunday's strike on Volgograd station could have been jointly planned. “At ten minutes past eight this morning an explosion occurred on trolleybus 15A in the Dzerzhinsky region of Volgograd," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement. "The trolleybus was completely destroyed.“ He said the bomb used was packed with "identical" shrapnel to that in the rail station, indicating they may have been made in the same place. On Sunday at least 17 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a suicide bombing on the city’s main railway station. The following day another bomb exploded killing 14 people. Back in October a female suicide bomber killed at least six people in a similar bus attack in a southern Russian city. These series of attacks are grimly reminiscent of the build up to terrorist “spectaculars” in the mid 2000s, including the Beslan School siege, in which more than 300 people died. Vladimir Putin has vowed to pursue terrorists to their “total annihilation”. We live in terrible times – terrorism is the norm. As one Whitehouse spokesman said a few years ago “we live in the age of terror.” Jesus said that just before he returned mankind would have their hearts failing them for fear. The word “fear” according to Strong’s can mean “terror”. We do indeed live in the age of terror as Jesus said. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Luke 21:26-27)

8. I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian— brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, province against province. The Egyptians will lose heart and I will confuse their plans…. There is nothing Egypt can do. All are helpless. This is precisely what is happening NOW. Egypt: 11 deaths at Muslim Brotherhood protests BBConline, January 3, 2014 Eleven people have died in clashes between police and Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators across Egypt, the health ministry says. The Muslim Brotherhood put the death toll at 17. Dozens of people, including police, have been wounded. The deaths were reported in the capital Cairo and the cities of Alexandria, Fayoum and Ismailia. Authorities have recently intensified a crackdown on the movement, which has been declared a terrorist group. In Friday's violence, police fought with demonstrators, some throwing stones and fireworks and setting police vehicles on fire, in several districts in the capital. Authorities said 122 protesters had been arrested. The health ministry said 52 people had been wounded in the clashes, with several people reported injured by birdshot in Alexandria. The latest clashes come a day after two people were killed in violence at an Islamist demonstration in the northern coastal city. Supporters of the Brotherhood's ousted President Morsi have held frequent protests since July. EVENT COMMENT A revolution in Egypt back in 2011 removed President Mubarak from power. Mr Morsi then became Egypt’s first democratically elected president in 2012. In July 2013 following another revolution Mr Morsi was removed from power and the Muslim brotherhood has now been declared an illegal organisation. It is incredible how the words of Isaiah 19 are being fulfilled before our eyes. This chapter is not taken out of context. Isaiah 19 is part of a section which describes 10 tribulations or burdens on 10 different nations. These tribulations had ancient fulfilments but they are being played out in great detail NOW. The first burden is in Isaiah 13 and the last is in chapter 23. Ch 24 concludes with worldwide judgement. BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 19:2-3 NLT)

9. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; Syria's chemical weapons removal delayed Guardian, January 2, 2014 The dangerous and difficult task of moving Syria's chemical weapons stockpile from government military bases to the Mediterranean port of Latakia has not yet begun, suggesting a serious delay in the multinational disarmament plan that could threaten a UN-backed timetable. According to sources involved in the disarmament effort, the roughly 500 tonnes of highly toxic chemicals which Bashar al-Assad's regime had stockpiled for the manufacture of Sarin and VX nerve agents are still in 12 bases around the country, three days after they were due to arrive in Latakia for loading on to Danish and Norwegian ships. Those freighters – the Ark Futura and the Taiko – have returned to the Cypriot port of Limassol since it became clear how far the schedule laid down by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had slipped. EVENT The situation in Syria is no way near to being resolved. Despite the agreement between Russia and the West to remove Syria’s chemical weapons the terror continues. The agreement itself has just hit its first problem. Two large ships turned up to take away 500 tonnes of chemical weapons - but then had to turn around and head back to Cyprus as nothing had been made ready. On top of this from December 15th 517 people have been killed in the northern province of Aleppo. They were killed as barrels packed with explosives were dropped from Syrian aircraft. Isaiah 17 is one to the 10 tribulations that affect the world. It concerns Syria just as Isaiah 19 concerns Egypt. Events in Syria are still to reach their climax – Damascus is still to be destroyed and cease to be a city. Israel is yet to be drawn into a conflict with Syria which will see her weakened. 2014 may well be the year we see this happen…. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 17:1-3 ESV)

10. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 2013 was hottest year on record in Australia ABC News, January 3, 2014 EVENT Australia has just sweltered through its hottest year on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Average temperatures were 1.20 degrees Celsius above the long-term average of 21.8C, breaking the previous record set in 2005 by 0.17C, the bureau said in its Annual Climate Statement. All states and territories recorded above average temperatures in 2013, with Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia all breaking annual average temperature records. And every month of 2013 had national average temperatures at least 0.5C above normal, according to the statement. The country recorded its hottest day on January 7 - a month which also saw the hottest week and hottest month since records began in 1910. A new record was set for the number of consecutive days the national average temperature exceeded 39C – seven days between January 2 and 8, 2013, almost doubling the previous record of four consecutive days in 1973. The highest temperature recorded during 2013 was 49.6C at Moomba in South Australia. 2013 saw some amazing signs and wonders in the heaven above and the earth beneath. From quick-striking monster typhoons to slow-onset drought, natural disasters impacted the lives of millions of people around the world in 2013. Typhoon Haiyan tore through the central Philippines November 8, killing nearly 6,000 people. It was the strongest storm ever to have hit land. Just 3 weeks before the same place was hit by an earthquake that killed 222 people. In February an earthquake caused a tsunami in the Solomon islands. In the heavens we saw a meteor over Russia that exploded with 30 times more force than the Hiroshima bomb. It shone brighter than the sun! Just 16 hours later a second asteroid approached close to earth. What will we see in 2014?! COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Acts 2:19-20)

11. 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.