January 1 – 9, 2010

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s January 1 – 9, 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) 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 January 1 – 9, 2010 • Israelis to build 700 homes in East Jerusalem • Three Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza • Palestinians downplay Hillary Clinton push for peace • Israelis satisfied with security situation • Israel and Iran: The gathering storm • Portuguese MPs approve gay marriage To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

5. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Israelis to build 700 homes in East Jerusalem Daily Telegraph, December 28, 2009 Israel delivered a fresh snub to American peace plans on Monday by approving the construction of nearly 700 homes in mainly Arab East Jerusalem. It was the second decision to grant planning approval for expansion of Jewish homes in the city’s traditionally Arab district since a partial freeze on construction in the occupied West Bank was imposed last month. Israel has approved 900 homes in Gilo, a neighbourhood on the southern fringe of Jerusalem, and on Monday the housing ministry invited tenders to construct apartments in three existing Jewish suburbs of the contested city. The land was annexed by Israel after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. President Barack Obama had demanded a complete halt to Israeli expansion in Arab areas and on Monday his spokesman condemned the move and urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations now stalled for a year. "The United States opposes new Israeli construction in east Jerusalem," said Robert Gibbs. "Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations. Rather, both parties should return to negotiations without preconditions as soon as possible," Mr Gibbs said. EVENT Israel is remaining consistent on the fact that Jerusalem is their undivided capital. America appears just as consistent in trying to prevent Israel from seeing Jerusalem in this way. They want Israel to stop all new building in East Jerusalem. We begin 2010 with Jerusalem increasingly on the agenda. Israel is now possibly the only country on earth that does not want Jerusalem divided with the Palestinians. We get closer each day to the time when all nations will be gathered against it. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 12:3)

6. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. This is what Israel SHOULD do! Three Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza BBConline, January 8, 2010 Three people, including a 14-year-old-boy, have been killed in Israeli air strikes overnight in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say. The Israeli military said it was responding to mortar and rocket attacks on Thursday on Israel from Gaza. It said it attacked two tunnels on the border with Egypt, a tunnel to be used by militants for crossing into Israel and a weapons making site. The strikes hit targets Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah. The militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said an Israeli jet had also bombed a building in Gaza City. On Thursday, Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning residents to steer clear of the border after Palestinian militants fired mortar rounds into Israel. Gaza militants have fired more than 280 rockets or mortars at Israel since the end of a devastating offensive against the territory on January 18, according to the Israeli military. Palestinian groups and human right organisations say about 1,400 Palestinians died during the offensive. Thirteen Israelis also died in the fighting. EVENT This week there were airstrikes by Israel on Gaza. What the BBC report does not say is what led to this. Israel announced Wednesday that it successfully tested a new system called the Iron Dome, which intercepts short-range missiles of the type fired from Gaza and Lebanon. It is enormously expensive. Each missile fired to intercept an incoming mortar cost tens of thousands of dollars! The homemade Palestinian mortars cost practically nothing. The Iron Dome system should be operational next month. The Palestinians responded to this announcement by firing mortars at Israel. Israel responded with the airstrikes reported above. What we do know is that Israel’s military capability will fail. They will be brought to their knees and forced finally to accept God and the Lord Jesus when he returns. He is their only hope. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 44:6)

7. On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place. Palestinians downplay Hillary Clinton push for peace BBConline, January 9, 2010 Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has played down hopes of a resumption of peace talks with Israel. He said negotiations could not continue while Israeli settlement building continued in occupied territories. He was speaking after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged both sides to resume peace talks as soon as possible and without preconditions. She said other questions should be dealt with before the settlement issue. Israel has yet to respond to her move. The Israeli government has refused Palestinian demands for a complete halt to settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it occupied during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. But it has limited building work for 10 months in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem. Mr Erekat told the Associated Press news agency: "You cannot have discussions on borders while the territory you want to set up your state on is being eaten up by the settlements." EVENT Today Hilary Clinton has urged the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume peace talks as soon as possible and without preconditions. It seems as though the new year has brought about a renewed urgency to bring the two sides together. She called for a viable Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, the year Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. This is pretty much what the Palestinians want as it means half of Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank would be their state. But they want Israel to stop all building in these areas before they talk. Israel has temporarily stopped building on the West Bank but refuses to stop building in Jerusalem. Once more Jerusalem becomes the burdensome stone, the unsolvable problem, an immovable rock. Something will have to give or it will break. One thing we know – it won’t be Jerusalem! COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 12:6 NIV)

8. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure [betach]. NBthe camp thought itself secure but of course it was not! Israelis satisfied with security situation Israel National News, January 8, 2010 War and Peace Index shows majority of Jews living in Israel pleased with government's performance in terms of security, but disappointed with its handling of social matters. Fifty-three of Jews back decision to reject Hamas' demands in prisoner exchange deal. Arabs more optimistic than Jews on chances for progress in peace process. What will the security situation look like this year? Fifty-seven percent of Jews believe the situation will remain the same, 19% expect significant progress in the peace process, and only 13% anticipate another violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The Arab public is more optimistic about the peace process, with 35% expecting progress in the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The War and Peace Index is funded by the Evens Program in Mediation and Conflict Resolution at Tel Aviv University. The telephone surveys were conducted on January 2010 and included 525 respondents representing Israel's adult population. EVENT So here’s the amazing thing! We have Israel surrounded by many thousands of missiles. With peace seemingly so far away. With Iran almost nuclear and threatening to wipe Israel off the map. And yet two thirds of those living in Israel think the status quo will continue. Israelis are “satisfied with the security situation”! It is an overconfidence that is a delusion. Ezekiel 38:11 speaks exactly of this situation. The words “dwell safely” are used in relation to the Israel’s position when Russia invades. The word “safely” is “betach.” It can sometimes mean: without care or carelessly. Thus “betach” can mean having a false sense of security. We see this now. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Judges 8:11)

9. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease... but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee Israel and Iran: The gathering storm The Economist, January 7, 2010 Israel finds itself in a paradoxical state: more secure for now, but acutely anxious about the future; closer than ever to some Arab regimes because of a perceived common threat from Iran and its radical allies, yet more demonised by its Western friends. Israelis see a global campaign of “delegitimisation” akin to efforts to isolate white-ruled South Africa. Europe is regarded as increasingly hostile. There are doubts even about Israel’s great ally, America, after a spat over Jewish settlements in the West Bank. President Barack Obama may be clever, Israelis say, but he lacks the empathy with Israel shown by his predecessors. The few public signals seem contradictory. Mr Netanyahu has boosted the defence budget, and the army is planning to distribute gas masks to all citizens next month. Joint missile-defence exercises were held with America in October, and a simulated biological attack is to be rehearsed this month. Despite all this, Mr Barak seemed to recognise the difficulty of curbing Iran’s nuclear programme last month when he told a closed meeting with members of parliament that the Qom site “cannot be destroyed through a conventional attack”. EVENT This is a truly remarkable commentary on the situation for it is precisely the situation we expect at the time of the end. Israel thinking it is secure but surrounded by danger. Closer to some of the Arab regimes (eg Jordan, Saudi, Egypt) yet increasingly demonised around the world. Regarding Europe as hostile. Doubting their closest allies (eg America). It is this paradoxical situation that we have seen in the slides of this weeks WWW. Talk of peace and yet preparation for war. We do indeed live in the very last days. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Deuteronomy 28:65)

10. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders …. will inherit the kingdom of God. Portuguese MPs approve gay marriage grey areas – legalblue areas – legal and marriage as wellorange/red - illegal Daily Telegraph, January 8, 2010 Portugal's parliament on Friday approved plans to legalise gay marriage, less than three decades after revoking the country's ban on homosexuality. The bill passed with limited public controversy in what has traditionally been one of Europe's most socially conservative countries, though MPs failed to adopt proposals to allow same sex couples to adopt. After less than three hours' debate, Friday's parliamentary vote went mainly along party lines, with the Left-wing majority backing the measure proposed by Jose Socrates, the prime minister, and the Right-wing opposition voting against. If the bill is passed at the second vote, it will fall to President Anibal Cavaco Silva, a practising Roman Catholic and member of the main Right-wing party, to sign it into law. Then Portugal would join the list of European countries allowing homosexual marriage, which currently includes Belgium, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Norway. A number of other European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, permit same sex civil partnerships. EVENT The days of Sodom and Gomorrah were characterised by the sexual immorality that was rife there. Sodomy is the word for homosexual behaviour. It is just another sign of the godless world we live in. The more the world rejects God’s moral code (the Bible) the more anything and everything goes. The world’s morals are based on human rights which say “I can do whatever I like as long as it hurts no one else. Therefore sodomy is acceptable.” Few countries are left now that say this particular SIN is against the law. God calls everyone to recognise we are sinful, to repent, turn to him and live according to his rules. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (1 Corinthians 6:8 NIV)

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.