February 24 – March 9, 2019

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s February 24 – March 9, 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 February 24 – March 9, 2019 • Turkey: largest naval drill in its history • Turkey enrages Nato by seeking new Russian arms • Russian mercenaries back Libyan rebel leader • British troops deploy to Egypt • SISI: If Jews return to Egypt we will build synagogues • Gay and trans lessons for primary schools To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. The king of the north will storm out with chariots, charioteers, and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood.  He will enter the glorious land of Israel, and many nations will fall Turkey is part of the king of the north –see Ezekiel 38 Turkey conducts largest ever navy drill as tensions rise in Mediterranean Middle East Eye, February 27, 2019 Turkish armed forces began the largest naval exercise in the country's history on Wednesday, with 103 military vessels and thousands of soldiers conducting operations in three seas surrounding the country. The drill, dubbed “Blue Homeland”, will be held until Saturday, covering over 462,000 square kilometers in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean. Over recent months, tensions have been building in the waters to Turkey's west with its neighbours Greece and Cyprus, as the countries vie over subterranean energy resources, particularly natural gas. As part of the naval exercise, 13 frigates, 6 corvettes, 7 submarines, 7 minehunter vessels, and dozens of patrol and landing ships, along with military helicopters and drones, are conducting war games. EVENT COMMENT On Thursday, the government of Cyprus announced that ExxonMobil had made the world's third-biggest gas find in the last two years off the cost of Cyprus. Turkey, which doesn't recognize Cyprus as a state, claims parts of Cyprus's offshore exclusive economic zone and says it will carry out drilling of its own soon. We also see this week Turkey’s largest navy drill in the Eastern Med and also the Black Sea and Aegean Sea. Last November, Greece, Italy and Cyprus signed a $7bn deal with Israel to lay a pipeline and purchase Israeli natural gas, which will eventually reach wider European markets. As the Syrian war abates the nations around the eastern Med are looking to captilise on the new energy finds in the area and this is causing this tension. The Bible says that “spoil” will cause Gog to come down with a vast navy. The spoil could be gas/oil. Turkey will be part of the vast navy as they join with Russia to attack Israel. BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 11:40)

6. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. Togarmah and Gomer both covered the area of modern Turkey when Ezekiel wrote Erdogan enrages Nato by seeking new Russian arms The Times, March 8, 2018 President Erdogan has stoked a growing row with Nato by signaling that Turkey might purchase a second Russian missile defence system, accelerating the country’s pivot towards the east. He said he remained committed to his earlier decision to buy the Russian S-400 system, with delivery scheduled for July, despite repeated warnings from the US that such a move could lead to sanctions and the cancellation of Turkey’s order for 100 advanced US F-35 fighter jets. General Curtis Scaparrotti, head of US European Command, said this week that Nato security and US-Turkish relations would be severely compromised should Mr Erdogan go ahead with the $2.5 billion deal. For Nato, Turkey’s wavering comes at a bad time: the alliance has been sucked into Cold War-style stand-offs with Russia along its eastern flank, where Turkey has long acted as a counterweight. EVENT COMMENT Relations between Ankara and Washington have become positively toxic. The coup attempt, which Mr Erdogan has blamed on a Turkish cleric resident in Pennsylvania, has sent anti-US sentiment in Turkey soaring, with pro-government news channels repeatedly accusing the CIA of involvement in the failed uprising. In addition, US support for Kurdish militias in Syria, with air support missions often launched from Turkish bases, has infuriated a majority of Turks, regardless of their feelings about Mr Erdogan. And so Turkey has turned to Russia for support and has turned its back on the West. The Bible says that Turkey will be allied to Russia at the time of the end. We can see how this has happened over the last few years. BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:5-6 NIV)

7. Russian mercenaries back Libyan rebel leader Telegraph, March 3, 2019 Hundreds of mercenaries linked to Russian military intelligence have been backing the rebel commander of Libya's breakaway eastern half, The Telegraph has learned, as Moscow further expands its presence in Africa.  The murky private military company Wagner Group has been supporting Khalifa Haftar with 300 personnel in Benghazi and has supplied his Libyan National Army with artillery, tanks, drones and ammunition, a Whitehall source said.  A source close to the Libyan Russian Oil & Gas Joint Company started in Benghazi in April told The Telegraph that “lots of Wagner fighters went [to Libya], and there are rumours that military personnel also went there”.  The illegal contractors are “almost interchangeable with the GRU,” whose agents are accused of poisoning Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, the Whitehall source said. “They are trying to secure the deep-water ports of Tobruk and Derna for the Russian Fleet” and also “could control the flow of oil to southern Europe” if they take over Libya's energy industry, the source added. EVENT The Wagner group is linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been sanctioned by the US and is known as 'Putin's chef’. Wagner fighters are also believed to have helped dictator Omar Bashir brutally put down opposition protests in Sudan after white men in Russian-made military trucks were photographed near the demonstrations.  Moscow later admitted that Russian military instructors from both “private and state structures” were operating in Sudan.  A “Russian private military company” has been training forces in Sudan since at least December 2017, a video posted by a pro-Kremlin reporter at the time revealed. So Russia is operating in Libya and Sudan. Both nations are mentioned in Ezekiel 38 as being allied to Russia when it invades Israel. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians [Sudan] shall be at his steps. (Daniel 11:42-43)

8. British troops deploy to Egypt UK Defence Journal, March 6, 2019 EVENT A contingent of British Army personnel, based mainly in Cyprus, have deployed to the northern deserts of Egypt to train with the Egyptian counterparts for four weeks. Exercise AHMOSE (named after the Pharaoh and founder of the eighteenth dynasty) will see members of 2 Royal Anglian, ‘The Poachers’, deployed alongside members of both the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and 4 Rifles. All three battalions bring regional expertise to this training exercise. Currently the Regional Standby Battalion and based at Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, east Cyprus, ‘The Poachers’ have been exercising around the eastern Mediterranean for two years, and before that fought in Afghanistan in addition to a previous posting in Cyprus. Permanently stationed at the other end of the Mediterranean perched on the Atlantic and dominating the straits, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment have trained annually in north Africa as part of the British Military Advisory Training Teams in Morocco, forging close ties with the Kingdom since 2000. COMMENT Russia is influencing events in Libya and Sudan. Britain is doing so in Egypt. British and Egyptian troops have begun a month-long military exercise called ‘AHMOSE’ as the two countries strengthen their counter terrorism cooperation. Some 165 British military personnel are expected to be involved following a ceremony on Tuesday at Mohamed Naguib base in Alexandria. A British government statement said it sought to enhance defence cooperation with Egypt and and improve the “sharing of expertise in warfare scenarios”. So why would we expect Egypt to be allied to Britain rather than Russia? The answer is that when Russia invades Israel it continues down into Egypt. Egypt therefore is not on Russia’s side. It makes sense then for it to be allied to the UK. BIBLE QUOTE He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. (Daniel 11:41-42)

9. SISI: If Jews return to Egypt we will build synagogues Jerusalem Post, February 25, 2019 EVENT If Jews are interested in establishing a Jewish community in Egypt, the government will build synagogues and other communal institutions, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told a US delegation during a two-hour meeting last week. The delegation was made up of the Anwar Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Commission that advocated the granting of the US Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to the slain Egyptian president who made peace with Israel. Its members traveled to Egypt to invite Sisi to the ceremony in the fall, when the medal will be given to Sadat’s wife, Jehan. Sisi’s comments came a couple of weeks after the United Arab Emirates officially recognized its small Jewish community, in a move seen as an effort to present itself to the West as a country that is tolerant of other religions. COMMENT The state of war between Israel and Egypt which dated back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and was followed by the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty a year after the Camp David Accords, mediated by US president Jimmy Carter. Full diplomatic relations were established in January,1980.  As a Muslim nation we might have thought Egypt would be fighting against Israel in the final conflict. But the Bible says otherwise. Egypt is allied to Israel- hence Russia invading both Israel AND Egypt in Daniel 11. This is why this article is interesting as the Egyptian government says it will build synagogues for Jews who want to live in Egypt. The UAE (part of the ancient area od Sheba and Dedan) is also recognising the Jewish community there. All nations are lining up as God said they would… BIBLE QUOTE But Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish will ask, ‘Do you really think the armies you have gathered can rob them of silver and gold? Do you think you can drive away their livestock and seize their goods and carry off plunder?’ (Ezekiel 38:13)

10. Gay and trans lessons for primary schools The Times, February 24, 2018 EVENT Compulsory lessons to teach children from the age of five about gay and trans relationships will be outlined in guidance to head teachers to be published tomorrow. The controversial new statutory guidance will also spell out for the first time the end of parents’ right to opt their children out of sex and relationships education classes in secondary school. The change will guarantee all children receive at least a term of lessons by the time they are 16. The new classes will be introduced nationally in 2020 following a six-month consultation by the Department for Education. Primary school pupils will learn about same-sex and trans families as well as staying safe online and developing “healthy, respectful relationships”. Secondary school pupils will receive classes on relationships and sex, including education about the “catastrophic” damage caused by female genital mutilation (FGM), the risks of sexting, online grooming, domestic violence and forced marriage. COMMENT Recent research by Dr Lisa Littman who teaches behavioural and social sciences at Brown University, says transgender identity, like fashion, has become a trend. According to Littman, droves of adolescents, with no prior history of gender confusion, are suddenly announcing they’re transgender after “immersing themselves in niche websites,” or “after similar announcements from friends.” Littman describes viral gender confusion as a “social and peer contagion.” It is a shocking situation. When mankind moves wholesale into humanistic, godless thinking the result is a complete collapse of all order. God made us male and female and it is impossible to change our genetic coding in this regard. Sodom and Gomorrah has arrived at the time of the end. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, …..They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. BIBLE QUOTE (Romans 1:28-30 NLT)

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. To watch again please click the green arrow To watch again, click here.