Weekly World Watch: June 3-9, 2018

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s June 3 - 9, 2018 “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 June 3 - 9, 2018 • Putin warns of World War III risk during TV show • Massive NATO exercise starts in Poland and the Baltics • Hezbollah threat: ‘The day of the great war is coming’ • NATO chief says alliance won’t aid Israel if Iran attacks • Over 250,000 in Israel’s biggest ever Gay Pride parade • Archbishop of Canterbury says EU is 'the greatest dream realised for human beings' for over 1,500 years To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. Putin warns of World War III risk during TV show Independent, June 9, 2018 Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of violating the nuclear balance and warned against a “Third World War” during a television call-in show. Responding to a worried viewer who asked if such a war would occur, Mr Putin called for negotiations in an attempt to return to the strategic parity the United States and Soviet Union had during the Cold War. Quoting Albert Einstein’s aphorism that “World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones”, he said the US exit from the Soviet-era anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002 had disrupted the balance. “The fear of mutually assured destruction has always restrained and forced military powers to respect each other,” he said. “The exit of the United States from the missile defence treaty was an attempt to ruin this parity, but our efforts in the development of new weapons will preserve this parity.” EVENT COMMENT There has never been so much talk of World War 3 in the press as in recent months and years. There are two key flash points that bring the superpowers against each other. One is eastern Europe. The other is Syria. There is yet another brewing with the US and China. Putin took opportunity on his annual phone in to warn about World War 3 and the impact it would have on civilisation. In his mind the delicate balance that has been in place for many decades is changing. The mantra of “Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD” is coming to an end. Smaller nuclear weapons are being designed that mean they could be used but not provoke a similar nuclear response. It is then more likely they will be used. The world is indeed on a precipice. The kings of the earth are being prepared for Armageddon. Only the return of Jesus can save the earth…. BIBLE QUOTE (Matthew 24:22-22 NLT)

6. “At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. Massive NATO exercise starts in Poland and the Baltics CNN, June 4, 2018 A massive US-led military exercise involving 18,000 soldiers from 19 nations, primarily NATO members, kicked off Sunday along the alliance's eastern border. Saber Strike 18 will take place until June 15 in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The multinational exercise, which is being held for the eighth time, "is the platform to validate our collective capability to rapidly respond to and reinforce allies in a time of crisis," said US Army Europe. It is "a clear demonstration of the commitment and solidarity of the alliance.” The exercise will be conducted amid heightened tensions with Moscow, which views any NATO military activities along its border negatively, maintaining that it increases "mutual distrust.” Poland recently revealed it is considering a proposal for a permanent deployment of US troops to the country -- a move Russia denounced as "gradual expansion of NATO" towards its borders. EVENT These NATO war games on Russia’s border really upset Russia and are one of the reasons Putin spoke about World War 3 at his phone in this week. Putin’s spokesman said, "When NATO infrastructure directly approaches our borders, this certainly does not contribute to security and stability on the continent in any way.” RT (formerly Russia Today) is an international media company funded by the Russian Government. This news organisation puts out the message the Russian government want us to think about. This week they had this headline…”Cannon fodder for nuclear war: What the US division deployed to Poland will become”. An alarming headline. We are moving ever closer to the time of trouble such as never was…. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 12:1 NLT)

7. Hezbollah’s Nasrallah threatens Israel: ‘The day of the great war is coming’ Times of Israel, June 8, 2018 The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group said Friday his men will not leave Syria even if the whole world tries to force them to do so, adding that only a request from the Syrian government would prompt such a move. Hassan Nasrallah said Israel had for years hoped for Syrian leader Bashar Assad to fall. Now that such a ambition seems unlikely, he said, Israel has set a new goal — to drive Iran and Hezbollah out of Syria. Nasrallah also threatened Israelis, saying, “The day of the great war is coming.” Nasrallah’s comments came during a televised speech he gave to hundreds of supporters. The close ally of Iran said Israeli claims that Iran is planning to resume uranium enrichment to wipe out six million Jews in Israel were lies. Iran and its allies don’t want to kill Jews, he claimed. “We do not want to destroy or kill or throw anyone into the sea,” he said. “Get on your planes and boats and go back to the countries you came from.” But “if you insist on the occupation, the day of the great war is coming, the day we will all pray in Jerusalem.” EVENT COMMENT The conflict in Syria will one day move into a new phase. A phase when Israel is drawn into the conflict proper. Israel will not tolerate under any circumstances an Iranian and Hezbollah presence near their border. A senior Israeli official told Israel News last week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone conversation that Jerusalem wants Iranian forces — including Hezbollah and other Shiite militias — entirely out of Syria, and not just the southwestern region closest to the Jewish state. Israel will win this initial inner ring war but at a price. Isaiah 17 says that northern Israel will be left looking like a grainfield. In that day Jacob’s [Israel’s] glory will grow dim its robust body will waste away. The whole land will look like a grainfield after the harvesters have gathered the grain. It will be desolate, like the fields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest. Only a few of its people will be left, BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 17:4-5 NLT

8. NATO chief says alliance won’t aid Israel if Iran attacks Times of Israel, June 2, 2018 EVENT NATO’s secretary-general said Saturday that the alliance wouldn’t come to Israel’s defense in case of attack by Iran. Jens Stoltenberg told the magazine Der Spiegel that Israel is a partner, but not a member and that NATO’s “security guarantee” doesn’t apply to the Jewish state. Stoltenberg said NATO isn’t involved in Mideast peace efforts or in conflicts in the region. NATO’s treaty requires the alliance to militarily defend members nations, of which there are 28, but not partner ones. Still, partner states regularly contribute to NATO operations such as those in Afghanistan and naval missions off Somalia and in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel has been a partner of NATO since 1994. From 2010 to 2016, its attempts to open an official mission at the organization’s headquarters in Brussels were stymied by Turkey. He spoke at a time of rising Israel-Iran tensions. Israel has been waging a campaign to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent presence in Syria and Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also led opposition the Iran nuclear deal, calling for it to be scrapped or fixed. COMMENT The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between three of the five official nuclear-weapon states with the power to veto at the United Nations Security Council (United States, France and the United Kingdom) and 26 other North American and European countries. Its member states agree to mutual defence if one of NATO’s members is attacked by any external party. Israel is not in NATO but for some reason the head of NATO felt it needed to point out that they would not help Israel if Iran attacked it. NATO is made up of mostly EU nations and therefore are generally anti Israel. Israel will be left isolated by the world when conflict begins. BIBLE QUOTE There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. Your life will constantly hang in the balance. You will live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive. (Deuteronomy 28:65-66 NLT)

9. Over 250,000 revelers flood Tel Aviv for Israel’s biggest ever Gay Pride parade Times of Israel, June 8, 2018 EVENT The Tel Aviv Municipality said over 250,000 people celebrated at the city’s 20th Gay Pride Parade, an event that draws people from around the world to party at the Israeli beach city that has built an image of an oasis of tolerance for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. The turnout was the biggest ever in the parade’s history. Tel Aviv’s annual parade stands in sharp contrast to most other cities in the region. Across the rest of the Middle East, gay and lesbian relationships are mostly taboo. Cafes, stores, and lamp posts were decked with rainbow flags across Tel Aviv, with tens of thousands of tourists visiting Israel specifically for the event. “With all these flags, I already feel at home,” said Jimmy Chan, 39, who arrived from China two days ago. “Seeing this parade in such a religious country makes you feel more connected as a community.” COMMENT It is shocking to see Sodom and Gomorrah on display in such open numbers in the land of Israel. We truly are living in the very days Jesus told us would happen - just before he returned. Jesus says that when he returns it would be like two previous times on earth. Firstly “as it was in the days of Noah”. We know then the world was full of violence and corruption. Also there was a population explosion. Secondly Jesus says it would be like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. We know then that immorality and homosexuality was rife. In both cases the final destruction caught the people living then unawares. When judgement struck it was on a normal day. There was no warning. It will be the same at Christ’s return. The world has no idea what is coming.. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. BIBLE QUOTE (Luke 17:38-30 NKJV)

10. Archbishop of Canterbury says EU is 'the greatest dream realised for human beings’ for over 1,500 years Daily Telegraph, June 5, 2018 EVENT The European Union is “the greatest dream realised for human beings” for the past 1,500 years, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. The Archbishop said the EU ranked as the greatest achievement “since the fall of the western Roman Empire” in the fifth century. A former Brexit minister said he was "astounded" by the remarks, adding that they showed that the Anglican church was "out of touch" with how people think. In an address in Serbia last Sunday, Archbishop Welby said: "The EU has been the greatest dream realised for human beings since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. "It has brought peace, prosperity, compassion for the poor and weak, purpose for the aspirational and hope for all its people. He said: “Europe is not in danger of falling. And there is no sense in which I suggest that Brexit or other crises currently around will derail the European Union or bring about the downfall of Europe.” COMMENT The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. He said this week that the EU is the greatest achievement and greatest fulfilled dream of mankind in the last 1500 years. He clearly has no concept of Daniel 2, or Daniel 7 or Revelation 17. These passages tell us about a latter day empire that exists at the time of the end based on the ancient Roman Empire. It is headed up by the false religion of Rome. The Bible depicts the false religion as a woman and the latter day empire as a beast the woman rides. On the woman's head is written “BABYLON”. Babylon began at the time of Nimrod and was then called Babel. It was the first kingdom of men and was setup in direct opposition to God and the Truth. The EU is modelled on ancient Babel. It is godless. “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, BIBLE QUOTE (Revelation 17:1-3 NKJV)

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