December 13 - 19, 2009

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s December 13 - 19, 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) 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). 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 December 13 - 19, 2009 • British ties with Israel in crisis • Iran to target Netanyahu if nuclear sites attacked • Iran troops 'seize Iraq oil well' • Syria, Iran sign defence cooperation deal • Russian church & state gaining ground in Holy Land • Climate deal agreed amid Copenhagen chaos To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

5. You [Tyre] sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland. "See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done”. British ties with Israel in crisis Daily Telegraph, December 16, 2009 Britain's relations with Israel have been plunged into crisis after the Jewish state angrily denounced an attempt in London to arrest its former foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. The Israeli foreign ministry summoned Tom Phillips, the British ambassador to Tel Aviv, to protest at her treatment and give warning that diplomatic ties had been badly damaged. Mrs Livni cancelled a trip to London over the weekend shortly before a court in Westminster granted a warrant for her arrest over alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli government during its offensive in Gaza a year ago. The warrant is thought to have been issued after an application by pro-Palestinian lawyers but was later rescinded when it emerged that Mrs Livni, who is now leader of the Israeli opposition, had cancelled her trip to Britain. The Foreign Office was forced to issue an apologetic statement that insisted Israeli officials were still welcome in the United Kingdom. Refusing to be mollified, Israel said Britain faced being marginalised in the peace process unless it took immediate steps to strip courts of their powers to arrest Israeli dignitaries. EVENT Britain was once pro Jewish and supported the establishment of a Jewish state. How things have changed. Britain is a latter day Tyre. Tyre was an ancient maritime city in Phoenicia that traded with many nations and setup colonies around the then known world. It was a gentile city that was pro Israel to begin with but then gloated over Israel’s demise and tried to profit from it. This was the reason for God bringing judgement on Tyre. It was destroyed but the Bible says (Isaiah 23) it would “pass over” to Tarshish. In a sense Tyre did pass over to Britain. Britain became a great maritime power. It setup colonies around the world. It WAS pro Israel but now turns against her. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Joel 3:6-7 NIV)

6. Their [the Medes] 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. Iran to target Netanyahu if nuclear sites attacked Jerusalem Post, December 17, 2009 The Kuwaiti newspaper al-Sayissa reported Wednesday that Iran has urgently summoned either Syrian Vice President Farouk Sharaa or Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah. They are apparently being called to the Iranian capital to receive orders to be carried out in the event of Iranian nuclear sites being targeted in war, Israel Radio reported. The newspaper quoted a Gulf state diplomat as saying that Nasrallah will travel to Teheran in the coming days in order to receive his marching-orders. Iranian opposition organizations in Paris told the newspaper that the Iranian intelligence apparatus has established a bank of targets including political leaders and others, who would be targeted if the Iranian sites are attacked. According to the report, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is among those who would be targeted for assassination, as well as Defence Minister Ehud Barak and others from the UK, France, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. EVENT It appears that war preparations between Israel and Iran are gathering pace. Some of what we read may be designed to scare each other into not attacking, but the more the threats escalate the more likely conflict becomes. The Jerusalem Post also reported this week that Iran had test fired an advanced missile as 'deterrent' against foreign attack. It said "Iran flexed its muscles on Wednesday and test-fired its most advanced ballistic missile, capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe.” The test was successful. Isaiah 13 speaks of the Medes (Iran) using their “bows” to dash the “young men to pieces”. They have no pity. Modern Medes may well use their “bows” for this purpose. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:18)

7. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Ancient Babylon was never destroyed as when God overthrew Sodom – it points to a latter day fulfilment still to happen! Iran troops 'seize Iraq oil well' Bloomberg, December 18, 2009 Iranian forces yesterday entered Iraqi territory at dawn and occupied a well in the East Maysan oil field, Border Guard General Zafer Nazmi said. The Iranian forces positioned tanks around well number 4, which is in the al-Fakah region, 450 kilometres (280 miles) south of Baghdad. The two neighbours have disputed the border of southeast Iraq for decades. “They positioned tanks around it and dug trenches,” General Nazmi said by phone from Basra. “They are still there, they raised the flag.” East Maysan in southern Iraq is an old oil field that is no longer in production, according to Nazmi. Iraq is the third- largest oil producer in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iranian politics have influenced crude markets at other times this year as the country’s insistence on developing atomic power stokes concern in the U.S. and other nations that it may be trying to make nuclear weapons. EVENT According to several reports, Iranian forces crossed into Iraq and seized an oil well just over the two countries' disputed border. Iraq's government confirmed this on Friday. Baghdad protested and as one report said it provided “a dramatic display of the sometimes tenuous relations between the wary allies.” It is worth considering the following point. We know for certain that Iran will attack Israel because Ezekiel 38 makes that clear. When you look on a map you will see that for Iran to attack Israel they must go straight through Iraq. There is no mention of Iraq (Babylon) attacking Israel. We could therefore presume that either Iraq is part of Persia when it invades, or Iraq is destroyed by Iran as it passes through to Israel. It seems from Isaiah 13 that the latter option is most likely. Babylon will be overthrown as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Great destruction is possibly coming on Iraq. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:19)

8. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty. "In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. Syria, Iran sign defence cooperation deal Ynet News, December 12, 2009 Syrian Defence Minister Ali Muhammad Habib and his Iranian counterpart, Ahmad Vahidi, have signed a military cooperation agreement, Iranian media reported Friday. The two countries agreed to appoint a joint committee to oversee the agreement's implementation. The deal was signed towards the end of the Iranian minister's visit to Syria. The two officials expressed their willingness to strengthen the military ties between the countries and noted that the cooperation would help expand the diplomatic, security and economic relations between Damascus and Tehran. They vowed to join forces against the regional threat posed by "the Zionist regime", referring to Israel. EVENT There is another nation not mentioned in Ezekiel 38 that you might expect should be. That is Syria. The hatred between Syria and Israel is ancient and continues today. The current leader of Syria backs Hezbollah in Lebanon who wants the destruction of Israel. The BBC reports on its country profile of Syria – “Syria is one of Israel's staunchest enemies and supports a number of militant groups that carry out attacks against Israel. Their current relationship founders on the continued occupation by Israel of the Golan Heights - Syrian land taken in the 1967 war.” So why is Syria not mentioned in Ezekiel 38? It is similar to the question about Iraq on the previous slide. Does Syria become friends with Israel? Unlikely. Is Syria destroyed as a force before they have chance to attack? Possibly. If Iran does attack Israel, Israel has said it will immediately attack Syria. The agreement signed above makes this more likely. Damascus will possibly fall in a dramatic way early in the coming conflict. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 17:3-4)

9. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. Russian church & state gaining ground in Holy Land The Economist, December 17, 2009 These days, Western powers are less concerned by holy sites in Jerusalem, but at least one state is watching the new Russian interest in the Holy Land with a mix of curiosity, fear and a dash of diplomatic opportunism: Israel Israel has urged Russia not to fulfil a longstanding contract to supply Iran with S-300 air-defence systems which would make it harder for anyone to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. Kremlin officials have said, from time to time, that the deal’s execution has been “frozen”but this failed to squelch rumours that Russia had made, or was about to make, a secret delivery. When Sergei Alexandrovich took his wife to Jerusalem in 1888 he already headed a body that became known as the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Its aims: to “strengthen Orthodoxy in the Holy Land, to help Russian visitors…and to publish news on the Holy Land [in Russia].” A revived IOPS, which never ceased to exist, is now led by Sergei Stepashin, a former Russian prime minister and security-police general: not as glamorous as a grand duke, but still at the top of the national tree. Mr Stepashin is frank about the geopolitical stakes: “A Russian flag in the centre of Jerusalem, in such close proximity to the Holy Sepulchre, is priceless.” EVENT This is a short extract from a much longer article about Russia’s interest in Israel and especially Jerusalem. We reported last week how the Vatican would like sovereign control over parts of Jerusalem. In fact it is the case that Russia would like the same. They would like to raise the Russian flag in the centre of Jerusalem. There are religious reasons for this. The orthodox Church is competing with Rome for dominance of Jerusalem. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 11:45)

10. Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Climate deal agreed amid Copenhagen chaos Daily Telegraph, December 19, 2009 A deal has been reached at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen despite opposition from developing nations amid chaotic final negotiations. After another all-night session of wrangling among negotiators and officials, an accord was finally gavelled through to wide applause in the main conference hall of the talks in Copenhagen. However, campaigners dismissed it as a failure as many countries rejected proposals put forward by US President Barack Obama. Details of an earlier "meaningful" deal agreed between the US and China, India, Brazil and South Africa emerged late on Friday, including references to keeping temperature rises to no more than 2C and provisions for finance to help poor countries fight global warming. But that plan has no long-term global targets for emissions cuts or a timetable to turn the agreement into a legally-binding treaty – leading environmental campaigners and aid agencies to brand it toothless and a failure. EVENT The fact is that mankind is gradually destroying the planet. Man’s greed and total disregard for this beautiful earth has increased its sickness. There is a direct link between mankind’s spiritual sickness, his own physical sickness AND the earth’s sickness. Genesis 3 makes this clear. When man sinned he was cursed (he began to die) AND the earth was cursed as well (thorns and thistles). No conference, no deal, no human living can reverse either the sickness of man or the sickness of the earth. In fact as man becomes ever more immoral and godless the earth itself groans all the more. The final judgment of man will culminate in the greatest shaking of the earth in all time. Only Christ returning can save us AND the earth. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Genesis 3:17-19)

11. Weekly World Watch The end of this week’s WWW will be e-mailed to you each week. Please forward the e-mail addresses of others who may be interested. I will include them in the list of recipients. Comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome. E-MAIL ANDY Click here (Move the mouse until the cursor appears.) To watch again, click here.