Weekly World Watch - Sept. 22-28, 2019: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Global Tensions

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s Sept 22 - 28, 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 Sept 22 - 28, 2019 • Saudi Arabia says military response to Iran is possible • US to send Patriot missiles to bolster Saudi defences • Iran plans Gulf exercise with Russia and China • IDF mulls pre-emptive strike to ward off Iranian attacks • Donald Trump and Boris Johnson: A tale of two crises • Archaeologists claim copper slag-heaps prove existence of Edom To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.  A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, …. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media;… I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; Saudi Arabia says military response to Iran is possible BBC, September 26, 2019 Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs has said all options, including a military response, are open after attacks on two oil facilities, which it has blamed on Iran. While Saudi Arabia wanted to avoid war and escalation, Iran would be held accountable for the drone and missile strikes, Adel al-Jubeir told the BBC. A US assessment claiming Iran was behind the attacks was backed up by the UK, France and Germany this week. Iran has denied any involvement. The Iran-aligned rebel Houthi movement in Yemen, which is fighting a Saudi-led coalition in the country's civil war, has said it launched drones at the facilities. But Saudi officials say the range, scale and complexity of the attacks exceeded the capabilities of the Houthis. Speaking to the BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet at the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr Jubeir said: "Appeasement has not worked with Iran in the past, appeasement will not work with Iran in the future." EVENT Saudi Arabia is part of the king of the south power. Iran is part of the king of the north power. So we know that both nations are on opposite sides when it comes to the final conflict. But we also read of the conflict between these 2 nations in Isaiah 21 v 1-10. Verse 1 says there is a “desert by the sea”. We also read it is in the south. Verse 2 says there are 2 areas involved. Elam and Media. Elam is southwest Iran which borders the Persian Gulf. These two areas which make up Iran decide to attack and besiege. They attack the desert area in the south. This can only refer to modern Saudi Arabia. We currently have Iran besieging the sea in the south (Persian Gulf) and now attacking Saudi Arabia. Isaiah sees these events leading to a terrifying conclusion…see below. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 21:1-3)

6. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?  Pentagon to send radar, Patriot missiles to bolster Saudi defences Reuters, September 26, 2018 The Pentagon said on Thursday it plans to send four radar systems, a battery of Patriot missiles and about 200 support personnel to bolster Saudi Arabia’s defences after the largest-ever attack on the kingdom’s oil facilities this month. The Pentagon’s statement added details to the Pentagon’s announcement on Friday about U.S. plans to deploy more forces to Saudi Arabia after the Sept. 14 attack on the world’s biggest crude oil-processing facility, which Washington has blamed on Iran. Still, the deployment is more limited than U.S. officials previously told Reuters was under consideration by the Trump administration following the attack on Saudi Arabia. Reuters previously reported the Pentagon was considering keeping an aircraft carrier in the Gulf region indefinitely, as speculation mounts that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group will soon need to wind up its deployment. The Pentagon left open the possibility of further announcements in the days ahead. EVENT Washington has been sending a steady stream of military assets to the Kingdom over the past several months, as part of the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. With Bible in hand it is amazing to see America backing Saudi Arabia militarily in this way. 2500 years ago Ezekiel prophesied that Sheba and Dedan (Saudi Arabia) would be allied to Tarshish (Britain) and the young lions (US/ Canada etc). This alliance is unable to prevent Russia and Iran descending into Israel. Even now we can sense the reticence of the US to take on Iran. And so as we near the very end we can see the nations coming together exactly as God said they would…. It cannot be long now… COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:13)

7. Iran plans Gulf exercise with Russia and China The Times, September 23, 2019 Iran says that it is planning joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman with China and Russia as a growing alliance of anti-American powers seeks to take advantage of confusion about President Trump’s Middle East policies. President Rouhani of Iran, who will address the UN general assembly in New York this week, told America and the West to leave the Gulf. “Your presence has always been a calamity for this region and the farther you go from our region and our nations the more security would come,” he said at a military rally. He said that Iran wanted the region to take its security into its own hands. At the same time Iranian news agencies reported that China and Russia, who have emerged as key strategic partners, had been invited to join naval exercises just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Brigadier-General Ghadir Nezami, a senior official, said the drill had both military and political purposes. EVENT The United States is leading a naval patrol coalition in the same region in order to deter a repeat of the attacks on six tankers off Fujairah earlier this year.  The current members include the United Kingdom, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and the United States. These are precisely the nations mentioned as being allied in Ezekiel 38 verse 13!!! This means that this US led coalition could come into close quarters with the Iranian, Russian and Chinese drill that is mentioned in the report above. It is surely incredible to see how the nations are lining up as God said they would. We may ask why God decided to tell us this information in the first place. It is surely for 2 main reasons. To increase our faith by looking at the evidence that God has given us that he is in control. Secondly to help us to be ready as the coming of Christ is soon.. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?  (Ezekiel 38:13)

8. The IDF mulls pre-emptive strike to ward off planned Iranian attacks on the UAE and Israel Debkafile, September 27, 2019 EVENT “Israel’s proven capacity to simultaneously perform multiple missions is about to be challenged as never before,’ said Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Sept. 26, during a New Year’s toast at the IDF General Staff forum. The prime minister and defence minister went on to say: “Hitherto we have navigated affairs boldly and responsibly in several arenas, at times simultaneously, but not so far in a comprehensive confrontation.” Netanyahu has never referred to all-out war as a distinct possibility, only as an outcome to be averted by “bold and responsible” navigation on several fronts.The Trump administration’s decision not to go to war with Iran leaves the ayatollahs’ regime a free hand to try and smash the military-intelligence alliance binding Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. The dominant view in the IDF General Staff forum is that the Iranians will not pass up this opportunity. What Israel’s strategists are trying to decide at this moment therefore is whether the IDF should wait for the blows to fall on the Gulf emirate and Israel – in whatever order – or pursue pre-emptive action. In either case, total war appears to be unavoidable.   Tomorrow night (Sunday 29th September) marks the start of a New Year for Israel. As their new year begins it is with political turmoil in Israel and also growing concerns about Iran and its proxy armies and their intentions. Netanyahu is on the ropes politically and may relish an opportunity to take on Iran to divert attention from his weakened position following the elections. Iran is also emboldened at this time due to their successful strike on Saudi Arabia and the non response from the US. This week Iran warned that 'Israel will turn into dust in half a day’. The inner ring war is coming. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE I will encircle you [Jerusalem / Ariel] with towers and set up my siege works against you. Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of thedust your speech will whisper. But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. (Isaiah 29:3-5 NIV)

9. Donald Trump and Boris Johnson: A tale of two crises The Guardian, September 27, 2019 EVENT Since 2016, Britain and the United States have grappled with a shared fate, facing down the conjoined twins of populism: Brexit and Trump. The mechanisms are different of course, but the convergence of these two connected stories has been uncanny all the same. The 11 judges of the UK supreme court cancelled Boris Johnson’s unlawful suspension of parliament on the very day the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, put aside her previous misgivings and launched an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. The same day also saw Boris Johnson and Trump appear side by side at the UN in New York – Trump joking that a ruling by Britain’s highest court that the prime minister had acted illegally was “just another day in the office”. Smiling and joshing, they looked like partners in crime. COMMENT There is a political crisis not only in Israel with a stalemate following their second election in 6 months, but also a crisis in the UK and US. Democracy is being tested as never before and the stalemate is producing increasingly extreme rhetoric on all sides. The public are also polarising between hardline positions. There is talk by senior politicians in the UK that there could soon be rioting on the streets. Many are saying that the anger in parliament itself has not been seen to this extent before. Brexit of course is the root issue in Britain and it may still be that the UK crashes out without a deal. Either way trouble is coming on Britain as Isaiah 2 makes clear. In the US the impeachment inquiry of Trump is underway. The world is destabilising – fast… Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word?..... They spit venom like deadly snakes;    they are like cobras that refuse to listen….. Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions [AV says young lions! Britain and the US are lion powers] , O Lord! May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands. BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 58:1+4+6-7 NLT)

10. Archaeologists claim copper slag-heaps prove existence of Edom The Times, September 23, 2019 Over 2m Palestinian refugees live in tents in Jordan (ancient Edom) EVENT According to the Book of Genesis, Edom was the state that existed “before kings ruled the children of Israel”. Now, a remarkable piece of scientific detective work has found evidence that the Bible was right all along, in the face of historians who have dismissed as a myth the idea of a centralised state of Edom that resisted and fought the Israelites. Scientists and archaeologists have analysed slag-heaps left behind by the copper mines for which the area encompassing parts of what is now southern Jordan and Israel was always famed. They found signs that mines in different parts of the region made the same technological advances in smelting techniques at the same time in the 11th century BC, before the age of Solomon, making it likely that all the mines were being run by one central authority. That authority could only be the Edomite state, the combined team of Israeli, Jordanian and American archaeologists decided meaning that, just as the Bible claimed, there was a powerful nation standing in the way of the early Israelite kingdom. COMMENT For those who understand that the Bible is inspired by God himself there would never have been any reason to doubt that Edom existed. Every single archaeological find only ever backs up the accuracy of scripture. Edom was originally the name given to Esau – the older brother of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). The descendants of Esau become the Edomites and they despised Israel. In the time of Nebuchadnezzar the Edomites helped plunder Jerusalem and slaughter the Judaeans. In Psalm 83 the “tents of Edom” are the first on the list of tribes who want Israel destroyed. Jordan is modern day Edom. Jordan houses the Palestinian refugee camps in thousands of tents. Jordan has recently been vocal against Israel. The chill in relations has returned. 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.  For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;  BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 83:4-6)

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