Weekly World Watch - August 5-11, 2018

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s August 5 - 11, 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 August 5 - 11, 2018 • Russia warns of horrible conflict if Georgia joins NATO • Russian PM warns America against economic war • Syria’s war entering its last and most dangerous phase • 180 rockets hit Israel, IAF hits scores of Gaza targets • Turkey shaken by financial fears as Trump rattles it • Weather extremes and food shortages grip Europe To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Russia warns of horrible conflict if Georgia joins NATO ABC, August 7, 2018 An attempt by NATO to incorporate the former Soviet republic of Georgia could trigger a new, "horrible" conflict, Russia's prime minister said Tuesday in a stern warning to the West marking 10 years since the Russia-Georgia war. Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Kommersant daily broadcast by Russian state television that NATO's plans to eventually offer membership to Georgia are "absolutely irresponsible" and a "threat to peace. "Medvedev was Russia's president during the August 2008 war, which erupted when Georgian troops tried unsuccessfully to regain control over the Moscow-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia and Russia sent troops that routed the Georgian military in five days of fighting. The Russian army was poised to advance on the Georgian capital, but Medvedev rolled it back, accepting a truce mediated by the European Union. EVENT COMMENT On Tuesday the European Union reiterated its "firm support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders”. Foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and a Cabinet member from Ukraine, visited Tbilisi Tuesday, urging Russia to withdraw its troops from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian PM Dimitry Medvedev then warned that NATO's attempt to embrace Georgia could have catastrophic consequences. Georgia is almost a land bridge between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Russia is north of the bridge and Turkey is south. When Russian tanks and army descend down to Israel they will come through Georgia. It is interesting therefore to see this tiny country in Russia’s crosshairs right now. A ”horrible conflict” IS coming… BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 12:1 NIV)

6. Then at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the king of the north. 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. Russian PM warns America against economic war The Times, August 11, 2018 President Putin convened a meeting of Russia’s security council yesterday to discuss new US sanctions, hours after his prime minister warned that any punitive measures against banks would be taken as a declaration of economic war. Washington said on Wednesday that it would impose sanctions on Russia over the Salisbury nerve agent attack in Britain in March, which it described as a “violation of international law”. The rouble slumped to a two-year low after the announcement. The Kremlin denies having any role in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former double agent, and his daughter, Yulia. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, said: “If they introduce something like a ban on banking operations or the use of any currency, we will treat it as a declaration of economic war. And we’ll have to respond to it accordingly — economically, politically or in any other way, if necessary. Our American friends should make no mistake about this.” EVENT COMMENT The first tranche of sanctions will go into force on August 22. These new sanctions will ban the export of sensitive national security technology and goods to Russia. If Russia does not comply with US demands to open up chemical weapons facilities a harsher set of sanctions could follow in November. All American bank loans to Russian business’s and all US exports to Russia may be banned, and diplomatic relations suspended. Despite president Trump making overtures to Putin it is clear that relations remain extremely tense and these warning show how things could quickly turn much worse. We know this will happen – the king of the north v king of the south is coming. BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 11:40 NLT)

7. Syria’s war could be entering its last and most dangerous phase Washington Post, August 10, 2018 As Syria’s war enters what could be its last and most dangerous stretch, the Syrian government and its allies will have to contend for the first time with the presence of foreign troops in the quest to bring the rest of the country back under President Bashar al-Assad’s control. The government’s recent defeat of rebels in the southwest of Syria has put Assad unassailably in control of a majority of the country, his hold on power now facing no discernible military or diplomatic threat. But at least a third of Syria remains outside government control, and those areas are occupied both by Turkish and American troops. Turkey has deployed soldiers in the northwest, in parts of the rebel-held province of Aleppo and in Idlib, which Assad has identified as the next target of an offensive. About 2,000 U.S. Special Operations forces hold sway in the northeast, in support of their Kurdish allies fighting against the Islamic State. EVENT COMMENT The Syrian war is reaching its final stages but analysts say that this could be the most dangerous phase of all. It could ignite a wider conflict and enflame the region. The reason for this is that the final area Assad wants to take back under his control has many different foreign fighters including a large US force. It will fall to Russia to steer Syria through the pitfalls ahead, as the only outside power to enjoy good relations with all the countries that have a stake in the Syrian war, including Israel and Iran. But Russia’s capacity to manage these competing concerns is limited and will be tested by the coming battles, said Riad Khawija, who heads the Dubai-based Inegma defence consultancy. We know that something will occur that will cause the total demise of Syria as a nation and the total destruction of Damascus. This is still to happen. It is coming! BIBLE QUOTE Damascus has become feeble, and all her people turn to flee. Fear, anguish, and pain have gripped her as they grip a woman in labour. That famous city, a city of joy, will be forsaken! Her young men will fall in the streets and die. Her soldiers will all be killed,” (Jeremiah 49:25-25 NLT)

8. 180 rockets hit Israel, IAF hits scores of Gaza targets Israel National News, August 9, 2018 EVENT Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than 180 rockets and mortars into southern Israel and the Israeli military has launched 150 airstrikes, as weeks of on-off violence came to a head. Three Palestinians were killed, including a pregnant woman, a toddler and a Hamas fighter. Several Israelis were wounded, along with a 30-year-old Thai woman living in Israel. The Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza named two of the dead as Enas Khammash, 23, who was pregnant, and her 18-month-old daughter, Bayan. It said 12 others were injured. The Israeli army said it had targeted “strategic military sites” including Hamas weapons manufacturing and training locations. Late on Thursday, Palestinian officials said that Hamas and Israel had reached an agreement to end the violence. The bloodshed was the third severe flare-up in the past two months, during which the two sides have traded their most intense attacks since the 2014 war. There have been warnings of a possible fourth conflict in 10 years. Another week and more conflict between Israel and Hamas based in Gaza. This week saw more rockets then ever fired by Hamas. These rockets cause little actual damage but the fear it creates for those living in southern Israel is enormous. Sirens blare through the night and some do hit targets. Israel responded with 150 airstrikes. But the government this week decided to hold off on entering Gaza with troops to create an additional buffer zone. Israel is hoping beyond hope that Hamas will eventually back down. But we know this will not happen. The Bible says there is to be an initial inner ring war with surrounding peoples. The war is still to come. It precedes the invasion of Russia. Zechariah 12 details the inner ring war. Zechariah 14 covers the wider war. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves. (Zechariah 12:2-3 NLT)

9. Turkey shaken by financial fears as Trump rattles it ABC News, August 11, 2018 EVENT A financial shockwave ripped through Turkey on Friday, when its currency nosedived on concerns about its economic policies and a dispute with the U.S., which President Donald Trump stoked further with a promise to double tariffs on the NATO ally. The lira tumbled 14 percent in one day, to 6.51 per dollar, a massive move for a currency that will make the Turkish poorer and further erode international investors' confidence in the country. The currency's drop — 41 percent so far this year — is a gauge of fear over a country coming to terms with years of high debt, international concern over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's push to amass power, and a souring in relations with allies like the U.S. The diplomatic dispute with the U.S. was one of the triggers that turned market jitters into a full-blown route this week. COMMENT Turkey is mired in one of the worst currency routs in emerging-market history, with few signs of how it will end. Why is this happening? It is happening because Trump is not happy with Turkey and is putting enormous pressure on a fragile economy. He is trying to bring Turkey to heal. Trump does not like how Turkey is doing military deals with Russia or how Turkey has become so authoritarian. This week Trump increased import tariffs to 50% for Turkish steel. The US is Turkey’s biggest market for steel. In response Erdogan phoned Putin to discuss economic ties. This suggests Turkey might gravitate further away from its NATO allies toward cooperation with Russia, whose relations with the West are at their lowest since the Cold War. This is exactly what the Bible said would happen. Turkey will be allied with Russia at the time of the end. BIBLE QUOTE Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah [Turkey] of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. (Ezekiel 38:5-6)

10. Weather extremes and food shortages grip Europe Irish Times, August 11, 2018 EVENT When German astronaut Alexander Gerst looks down on his homeland, and central Europe, he doesn’t like what he sees. "A shocking sight,” he tweeted from the International Space Station (ISS) this week. “Everything dried and brown that should be green... I’ve never seen it like this before. "The pictures he took of the Rhine, Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf speak volumes about the extraordinary heatwave and drought that has gripped large swathes of the European continent in effect since May. Portugal, he said, looked like “a mixture of dust, sand and smoke”, as firefighters battle wildfires in the Algarve amid temperatures of 48 degrees, not far off those of California’s notorious Death Valley. In France, where temperatures tipped 40 degrees this week, meteorologists are talking about one of the three hottest summers on record. Four nuclear plants have been powered down due to the extreme weather. Across Europe, farmers are at their wits’ end with crops that have struggled to grow since the last substantial rain in May – or have simply withered in the fields. Rye crop yields are down about 46 per cent while wheat is down 47 per cent in Germany. Rapeseed and barley are down 26 and 28 per cent on last year respectively, and this after a bad 2017, when heavy rain made it impossible to plant before the frost. The heat isn’t on in all of Europe this summer: from Iberia through southern Italy to the Balkans and Turkey there has been twice the average rainfall from May to July, accompanied by thunderstorms and flash flooding. Hailstorms ravaged parts of the Bordeaux and Cognac wine regions in May, destroying thousands of hectares of vines. The physical world is in travail weighed down under the burden of sin. We need Christ! COMMENT A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembered no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.  BIBLE QUOTE (John 16:21)

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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.