September 24 - 30, 2017

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s September 24 - 30, 2017 “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 September 24 - 30, 2017 • Israel is going to war in Syria to fight Iran • Israel ignoring UN demand to halt settlements • Kurd referendum sparks threats by Turkey and Iran • Germany sends shockwave through unsettled Europe • Iran defies Trump & tests missile that could hit Israel • US in one of the worst fire seasons we've ever seen To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

5. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. • Israel is going to war in Syria to fight Iran Foreign Policy, September 28, 2017 Israeli officials believe that Iran is winning its bid for dominance in the Middle East, and they are mobilizing to counter the regional realignment that threatens to follow. The focus of Israel’s military and diplomatic campaign is Syria. Israeli jets have struck Hezbollah and Syrian regime facilities and convoys dozens of times during Syria’s civil war, with the goal of preventing the transfer of weapons systems from Iran to Hezbollah. In an apparent broadening of the scope of this air campaign, on Sept. 7 Israeli jets struck a Syrian weapons facility near Masyaf responsible for the production of chemical weapons and the storing of surface-to-surface missiles. The strike came after a round of diplomacy in which Israeli officials concluded that their concerns regarding the developing situation in Syria were not being addressed with sufficient seriousness in either the United States or Russia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi to raise concerns with Moscow. EVENT There are a growing number of reports that say Israel is prepared to go to war against Iran in Syria. Israel’s prime minister has recently been to see Putin to try to persuade him to remove Iran from Syria. But the Israelis were disappointed with the response. Putin refused to rein in Iran. As long as nobody else addresses their concern in satisfactory way, Israel is determined to continue addressing it on its own. Iranian forces now maintain a presence close to or adjoining the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights. It is now just a matter of time before Israel is fully drawn into the Syrian conflict. The Bible says that Israel will be impacted at the very time Damascus ceases to be a city. The time of the inner ring war against Israel could be very close at hand. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 17:3-4)

6. On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left,but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place. • Israel ignoring UN demand to halt settlements Associated Press, September 25, 2017 Israel is not complying with a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a halt to all settlement activity and instead is continuing to expand settlements, making a two-state solution "increasingly unattainable," the U.N. envoy for the Mideast said Monday.
Nickolay Mladenov told the council that in the three months since June 20 Israel's settlement activity "continued at a high rate, a consistent pattern over the course of this year.” He said activity was concentrated primarily in east Jerusalem where plans were advanced for over 2,300 housing units in July, "30 percent more than for the whole of 2016.” Mladenov stressed that the United Nations considers settlement activities illegal under international law. Mladenov said Israeli officials continue to use "provocative rhetoric" in support of settlement expansion. He cited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on Aug. 28 saying: "There will be no more uprooting of settlements in the land of Israel We will deepen our roots, build, strengthen and settle." EVENT COMMENT The U.N. envoy said continuing settlement expansion is also "undermining Palestinian belief in the international peace efforts." In addition, he said, Israel's demolition of structures in the West Bank and east Jerusalem that has displaced hundreds of Palestinians "undermines the prospects for peace.” And so east Jerusalem is increasingly on the UN agenda. Netanyahu continues to build there and is strengthened by Donald Trump who is far more pro Israel than Obama was. We know that there is an initial conflict involving peoples that surround Israel and Jerusalem is at the centre of that war. However Israel overcomes and Jerusalem remains secure. This then leads to the outer ring of nations who invade Israel. BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 12:6 NIV)

7. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. • Kurd referendum sparks threats by Turkey and Iran CBN News, September 28, 2017 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took to the airways following Tuesday's non-binding referendum by Iraqi Kurds, who voted 9 to 1 in favour of establishing an independent state. Erdogan said the decision could herald "an ethnic and sectarian war" and warned of consequences that could range from economic sanctions to military responses, AFP reported. In a reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's endorsement of an independent Kurdistan, Erdogan said, "The world is not about Israel. You should know that the waving of Israeli flags there will not save you.” Netanyahu was the first world leader to support the Kurdish people's "legitimate efforts" for their own state. "If Israel does not consider its support for Kurdish independence, Turkey will not be able to take many steps we would have with Israel," the Islamist president warned. Iran, whose opposition to an independent Kurdistan is well documented, responded to the referendum by closing its airspace to Iraq's Kurdistan region, al-Monitor reported. EVENT The Kurds failed to get their own country when the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918. They have always been an identifiable people though in the area of north Iraq. When Saddam Hussein was in power he persecuted them mercilessly and the UN setup a protection zone for them. This week the Kurds have voted for their own independent state. However this area is hugely rich in oil. The Kurds also live in southern Turkey so an independent state would impact Turkey as well. Iran (who wants to dominate the region / Iraq) does not want a Kurdistan state either. Israel has come out and says it fully supports the Kurds ambition for a state. This is also causing new tension between Israel, Turkey and Iran. This referendum could bring new conflict to the region. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:5-6)

8. 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. • Germany sends shockwave through unsettled Europe National Post, September 29, 2017 The most disturbing European event since Brexit is this week’s federal election in Germany. The results were a shock to Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had been expected to win her fourth term with ease, extending into the future her already 12 years as leader of the country. Her coalition was delivering results that should have made voters happy, even grateful — high employment, booming exports, a growth rate better than the U.S., Japan or Canada — and clear leadership in the EU, the result of Merkel’s calm, wise talent for manoeuvre. Polls duly showed her in a double-digit lead. But her votes fell calamitously and to stay in power she was left to assemble a (likely) hard-to-manage new coalition. On Tuesday, in a speech at the Sorbonne, French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU must change. It is, he says, too weak, too slow, too inefficient. In the post-Brexit period, he’s campaigning for a “profound transformation.” EVENT Angela Merkel is still in power but greatly weakened. Very much like Theresa May in the UK. The hard right in Germany have seen large increases in seats and this raises deep concerns about the future. The new French president has called for profound transformation of the EU. He wants the EU to have a finance minister and a parliament. It says it should have an agency to deal with the refugee crisis. He wants a military component, which has often been mentioned in theorizing about the EU. In his mind it should be a “rapid reaction force” to work with national forces. We know with Bible in hand that a new Holy Roman Empire will emerge from the abyss. We believe these elections move the EU closer to division but to then come together in a new block. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Revelation 17:8)

9. Iran defies Trump and tests new missile that could hit Israel Daily Telegraph, September 23, 2017 EVENT Iran said on Saturday that it had successfully tested a new medium-range missile in defiance of warnings from Washington that it was ready to ditch a landmark nuclear deal over the issue. State television carried footage of the launch of the Khoramshahr missile, which was first displayed at a high-profile military parade in Tehran on Friday. It also carried in-flight video from the nose cone. The broadcaster did not say when the test had been conducted, although officials had said on Friday that it would be tested "soon". Previous Iranian missile launches have triggered US sanctions and accusations that they violate the spirit of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers. President Donald Trump has threatened to bin the agreement over the issue, saying that Iran's missile programme could give it the technical knowhow for a delivery system for a nuclear warhead when a sunset clause in the deal expires in 2025. COMMENT As well as North Korea testing new missiles, Iran has also decided to start testing missiles that can hit Israel. President Trump is due to report to Congress on October 15 on whether he believes Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal and whether it remains in US interests to stick by it. If he decides that it is not, that could open the way for US lawmakers to reimpose sanctions, leading to the potential collapse of the agreement. Trump said on Wednesday he had made his decision but was not yet ready to reveal it. The Bible speaks of Iran in the last days. It says they will be obsessed by missiles and actually fire them. We also know that Iran joins forces with Russia and invades Israel in the last days. The tests last week show Iran’s true intentions. BIBLE QUOTE Behold, I will stir up the Medes [Iranians] against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. (Isaiah 13:17-18)

10. Nearly 2 million acres of land are burning across the US in one of the worst fire seasons we've ever seen Business Insider, September 23, 2017 EVENT It's been a year of extreme weather. Hurricanes have devastated Texas and the Caribbean, and monsoon floods have displaced millions and killed more than 1,000 people in South Asia. Meanwhile, one of the worst US wildfire seasons in years has ignited blazes across the west. Almost 2 million acres of land — an area nearly the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined — are currently aflame, according to the September 14 daily report by the National Interagency Fire Centre. There are more than 100 active wildfires and at least 41 uncontained large blazes, battled by more than 25,000 responders, the National Guard, and half a battalion of active-duty soldiers. "This one in particular has been a longer season. It really hasn't stopped since the fall of 2016," Chris Wilcox of the National Interagency Fire Centre recently told NPR's Linda Wertheimer on Weekend Edition. "We had a long fire season in the Southern states — Georgia, Florida, et cetera — and now it's continued to progress and move and migrate its way westward as the seasons have changed through the year." We really are seeing some amazing signs in the heavens above and the earth beneath over the last few weeks. We have reported on the hurricanes, storms and floods. But while this has been happening there have also been terrible fires raging across America as well. A few weeks ago hundreds of people fled their homes in Los Angeles to escape a fire described as the biggest in the city's history. We read in Acts 2 that before the day of the Lord comes there will be fire and vapour of smoke. We see these things happening. We are also told that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Let us do so now. COMMENT And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. BIBLE QUOTE (Acts 2:19-21)

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.