Weekly World Watch: Trump Orders Troops to Middle East

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s May 19 - 25, 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 May 19 - 25, 2019 • Trump orders 1,500 troops to Middle East • Arab nations begin ‘enhanced security patrols’ in Gulf • US accuses Assad of new chlorine attacks • May resigns, paving way for Brexit battle with EU • Risk of nuclear war now highest since WW2 • Wildfires sweep across Israel as heatwave grips region To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. “Look, I will stir up the Medes[Iran] against Babylon.[Iraq] They cannot be tempted by silver or bribed with gold.  The attacking armies will shoot down the young men with arrows. They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for children.” Please watch this video from Prophecy News Desk on this subject Trump orders 1,500 troops to Middle East The Times, May 23, 2019 President Trump is ordering more troops to the Middle East as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to rise. The U.S. will also send more Patriot missile batteries and other force protection systems, and will be designed for the long-haul confrontation with Iran, CBS News' David Martin reports, citing U.S. officials. President Trump confirmed that the number was "about 1,500 people" before departing to Japan. Congressional aides confirm to CBS News that Congress was previously notified the administration's plans to send troops to the Middle East.  EVENT COMMENT The stakes have been raised higher this week between Iran and the US with President Trump ordering more US troops into the Middle East citing Iran as the reason. Earlier in the week Trump issued a stern warning to Iran, suggesting it will be destroyed if a conflict breaks out between the two countries. "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran," he said in a tweet on Sunday. "Never threaten the United States again!” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted in response that such "genocidal taunts won't 'end Iran’”. On Friday the US director of the Joint Staff blamed Iran for the first time for the attack on the 4 oil tankers in the Gulf earlier this month. This week over 70 retired military leaders wrote an open letter to president Trump urging him to avoid war with Iran. The Bible says that the Medes [Iranians] will be “stirred up”. We are are told they cannot be tempted with silver and gold. In other words they are ideologically driven. We are also told they will use their bows [missiles] to shoot at young men. They have no compassion for young children or babies. BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:17-18 NLT)

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? Arab nations begin ‘enhanced security patrols’ in Persian Gulf with US Fifth Fleet RT, May 20, 2018 The US and its allies began enhanced maritime security patrols in the international waters of the Persian Gulf , amid Washington's tensions with Iran. The Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were “specifically increasing communication and coordination with each other in support of regional naval cooperation and maritime security operations in the Arabian Gulf,” Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said in a statement on Facebook. The navies and coast guards of the Arab states “are working in tight coordination with each other and the United States Navy,” it added. The GCC, which has its headquarters in Riyadh, unites Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Tensions have been high in the Persian Gulf recently as the US has deployed an aircraft carrier group and sent B-52 bombers on patrol there in a move to intimidate Iran. EVENT This is remarkable with Bible in hand. The Bible said in the prophecy of Ezekiel written 2500 years ago that Tarshish (Britain) and the young lions (US / Canada etc) would be allied to Sheba and Dedan. Ancient Sheba and Dedan covered the exact same territory as the Gulf nations mentioned in the report above. i.e. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The US is supporting and coordinating military patrols with these nations. On Friday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia. This is Ezekiel 38 playing out before us. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:13)

7. US accuses Assad of new chlorine attacks The Times, May 22, 2019 The Syrian regime may have begun using chlorine as a chemical weapon again after being stymied in an advance against rebels in the country’s northwest, the United States has said. Activists living in Syria’s last rebel pocket claimed a front along a hillside called Kabaineh in Lattakia province, near the border with Idlib, was hit by chlorine fired from artillery early on Sunday morning. The claim was also made by a news agency controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the jihadist group that dominates the area. There was no independent confirmation, although health workers said some victims were treated in hospital. It is thought there were five casualties, two of whom were seriously injured. The US state department said last night that it was taking the claims seriously. “Unfortunately, we continue to see signs that the Assad regime may be renewing its use of chemical weapons,” it said in a statement. “We are still gathering information on this incident, but we repeat our warning that if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately.” EVENT President Trump has acted twice in response to a “red line” over chemical weapons once set by president Obama. In April last year, the United States, along with France and Britain, bombed military sites in response to an alleged use of chlorine gas in the rebel-held town of Douma. The US State Department said it would respond “quickly and appropriately” if the latest allegation of a suspected chlorine attack by Bashar al-Assad’s forces was proven. The UK government said the same this week. The Bible says clearly that events in Syria have not reached their conclusion yet. There is worse to come for Syria – much, much worse. Damascus will come to a complete end…. COMMENT 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,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  “And I will set fire to the walls of Damascus (Jeremiah 49:24-27 NLT)

8. Tearful May resigns, paving way for Brexit confrontation with EU Reuters, May 24, 2019 EVENT Fighting back tears, Theresa May said on Friday she would quit, setting up a contest that will bring a new British prime minister to power who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union.  May’s departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the EU and a potentially unpredictable snap parliamentary election.  Her voice cracking with emotion, May, who endured crises and humiliation in her failed effort to find a compromise Brexit deal that parliament could ratify, said she would resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7 with a leadership contest beginning the following week. COMMENT Theresa May had voted herself to remain in the EU but ended up as the “Brexit” prime minister when she took over from David Cameron. She worked closely with the EU and got a deal with them which in effect kept the UK very close to the EU. But many in her own party would not accept this and she was not able to get it through despite a number of attempts. So what happens next? Boris Johnson is currently favourite to win and he kicked off his campaign in explosive style declaring he would take Britain out of the EU on the 31st October with or without a deal. He may need to gamble on a general election to do this as the Conservative’s don’t have a majority which he needs if he is to get this through. Christadelphians have long believed with Bible in hand that Britain would leave the EU as they are a separate power in Ezekiel 38. We also know that the revived Holy Roman Empire (coming soon!) will NOT include the UK. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. The UK is not part of the resurrected beast - the new Holy Roman Empire  BIBLE QUOTE (Revelation 17:8)

9. Risk of nuclear war now highest since WW2 Reuters, May 21, 2019 EVENT The risk of nuclear weapons being used is at its highest since World War Two, a senior U.N. security expert said on Tuesday, calling it an “urgent” issue that the world should take more seriously. Renata Dwan, director of the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), said all states with nuclear weapons have nuclear modernization programs underway and the arms control landscape is changing, partly due to strategic competition between China and the United States. Traditional arms control arrangements are also being eroded by the emergence of new types of war, with increasing prevalence of armed groups and private sector forces and new technologies that blurred the line between offense and defence, she told reporters in Geneva. “I think that it’s genuinely a call to recognize – and this has been somewhat missing in the media coverage of the issues – that the risks of nuclear war are particularly high now, and the risks of the use of nuclear weapons, for some of the factors I pointed out, are higher now than at any time since World War Two.” The US and Russia have both pulled out of key Cold War-era weapons treaties in recent months. In February, the Trump administration said it would suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF), citing alleged Russian violations of the 32-year-long agreement. Days later, Russian president Vladimir Putin said he was also suspending the treaty and accused the US of testing and using weapons in “direct violation” of the 1987 pact. The Bible says that a time of trouble such as never was is coming on this earth. Nuclear weapons may well form part of that time. There are descriptions of what sounds like nuclear war in Zechariah 14…. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them;  (Zechariah 14:12)

10. Wildfires sweep across Israel as heatwave grips region Reuters, May 23, 2018 EVENT Wildfires raged in Israel on Thursday amid a major heatwave, with police ordering the evacuation of several communities in the country's centre and south. Firefighters battled brushfires along the Gaza boundary, as well as near the country's main international airport and outside Jerusalem. A major Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway was also closed to traffic because of the fire. Israel and the region are gripped by a major heatwave, with temperatures around the country reaching 100 F (38 C) and higher. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry and Public Security Ministry to seek firefighting aircraft from abroad to help battle the blazes, a spokesman for the premier's office said. An Israeli police official told Hebrew media that a fire had almost completely destroyed the village of Mevo Modi'im — a community founded by the late songwriting Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach COMMENT Wildfires raged across Israel on Friday for the second day in a row, as officials warned the public to stay away from parks and forests and an initial investigation indicated an electrical short sparked some of the blazes on Thursday. Gripped by unseasonably scorching weather, a spate of fires across the country on Thursday devastated towns and forests, forcing thousands out of their homes. The Bible speaks of a time of fire coming to the world. The first judgement of the entire world was by water (the flood). The second judgement of the entire world will be by fire. The fire that is coming could be through volcano, earthquake, weapons of war, high temperatures, drought etc or all of the above. If the fire is as all encompassing as the flood we need to ensure we are onboard the “ark” NOW before it is too late…. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,  BIBLE QUOTE (2 Peter 3:10-11)

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