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Weekly World Watch. Andy Walton’s. September 30 – October 6, 2018.
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Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s September 30 – October 6, 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.
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.
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)
This Week’s Developments September 30 – October 6, 2018 • Russia could hit back hard after inept spies exposed • Temperature plummets as new Cold War breaks out • Tensions: US threatens to 'take out' Russian missiles • Russia completes delivery of S-300 missiles to Syria • IDF, Hamas one miscalculation away from Gaza war • Military games cement British-Omani relationship To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE
And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. Beware the wounded bear: Russia could hit back hard after inept spies exposed Daily Telegraph, October 6, 2018 By laying bare the amateurish mistakes of Russia's supposedly elite spies, Britain and its allies have exposed Vladimir Putin and his intelligence agencies to worldwide ridicule. However, the unprecedented exposé of a bungled espionage operation at a press conference in the Netherlands on Thursday also risks retaliation. In a co-ordinated response, Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and the US have pushed back against a series of hacking attempts by Russia. Over the course of 24 hours, the US charged seven officers from the GRU with hacking international agencies; British and Australian authorities accused the GRU of a devastating 2017 cyberattack on Ukraine, the email leaks that rocked the US 2016 election and other damaging hacks; and Dutch and British officials alleged that GRU agents tried and failed to hack into the world's chemical weapons watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. EVENT This week saw a coordinated effort by a number of countries to expose the spying tactics of Russia. These disclosures are meant to tell Putin to back off and also to belittle him by showing how inept they are. This is a naming and shaming exercise. However, as the headline says, “Beware the wounded bear.” Putin is ex KGB and fiercely proud and protective of the spying organisation now called the FSB. Russia wants respect. There is nothing that winds up Putin more than “imperial” nations mocking Russia’s weakness. The bear will definitely respond to this. The Bible says that Russia will be pushed (militarily provoked) at the time of the end. All this is part of the provoking that will one day cause Russia to descend with force into Israel. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 11:40)
You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me Temperature plummets as new Cold War breaks out The Times, October 5, 2018 Relations between Russia and Britain have been reduced to a new form of megaphone diplomacy, with each side showering the other with accusations and counter-accusations. So, was the attempted assassination in Salisbury of Sergei Skripal, the Russian military intelligence double agent, the launching point for this growing hostility? Or is there a more fundamental reason for the current total breakdown? Why, for example, does it seem that Britain, above all other European countries, has been picked on by the Kremlin for its malign activities? Britain is certainly a prime target for President Putin and his subversive agenda against the West, not least because Theresa May’s government has adopted a strong and outspoken position towards Russia. There is also history between Moscow and London going back decades, partly as a result of successful operations by MI6 and MI5 which disrupted the Kremlin’s espionage networks. EVENT COMMENT The temperature has indeed plummeted and a new Cold War has broken out. With the blatant poisoning of two Russians in the UK (using a highly dangerous chemical weapon) relations between Russia and Britain have rarely been as bad. The rhetoric between the two nations becomes ever more derogatory and inflammatory. Britain seeks revenge for the audacity of the Russian actions in a British city. The Bible speaks of Tarshish (Britain) as part of the opposing force to Russia when I invades Israel. Britain therefore is part of the “king of the south” in Daniel 11:40. We expect therefore to see antagonism between the two before conflict breaks out. BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:15-16)
Tensions rise as US threatens to 'take out' Russian missiles BBC, October 3, 2018 The threat from a senior US diplomat to "take out" Russian missiles that Washington believes are in breach of an important Cold War arms control treaty looks set to cause additional tensions with Moscow, just ahead of a meeting of Nato defence ministers that opens in Brussels on Wednesday. The US ambassador to Nato, Kay Bailey Hutchison, was speaking ahead of that meeting and brought up once again Washington's contention that Russia is in breach of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) agreement of 1987.This treaty banned a whole category of weapons: ground-launched medium-range missiles, capable of striking targets at distances between 500 and 5,500km (310-3,100 miles). Now, the Americans insist, despite Russian denials, that Moscow has a new medium-range missile in its inventory - the Novator 9M729 - known to Nato as the SSC-8.This would enable Russia to launch a nuclear strike at Nato countries at very short notice. EVENT NATO has evidence that Russia has started to deploy a new intermediate-range missile system. The U.S. warned that it could resort to strikes against the new class of Russian missile unless Moscow complies with its international commitments to arms reduction. Ambassador Hutchison said that the US might consider military action if Russia's development of the system continued. If Russia continues down the path to where they are capable of delivering, “at that point we would then be looking at a capability to take out a missile that could hit any of our countries in Europe and hit America in Alaska,” Hutchison said. The world is clearly becoming a very dangerous and unstable place. The nations are preparing for war – the time of trouble such as never was… is at hand. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12:!)
Russia completes delivery of S-300 missiles to Syria Jerusalem Post, October 3, 2018 EVENT The Russian Defense Ministry published video Tuesday night of the delivery of the S-300 missile system to Syria. Aired by Rossiya 23 TV channel it showed the launcher, radar and command and control vehicle of the advanced air-to-surface missile system launcher being unloaded from a military transport plane. “We have completed the delivery of S-300 systems. It included 49 pieces of equipment, including radars, control vehicles and four launchers,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted by Russia’s TASS News Agency. The unloading from an Antonov An-124 Russian strategic airlift jet took place at night at the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. Shoigu said Russia successfully delivered the S-300s to Syria on Tuesday as a response to the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane over Syria last month. The incident has led to one of the lowest points in the relationship between Jerusalem and Moscow in years. COMMENT Russia has made good on its promise to equip Syria with advanced missile defence systems and tracking systems. This will seriously hamper Israel’s ability to strike at will at Iranian positions in Syria. In fact since the downing of the Russian spy plane (which Russia blames Israel for) Israel hasn’t fired a single missile into Syria. The relationship between Israel and Russia has suddenly made a huge turn for the worse. Debkafile also report that the new systems in Syria are also being integrated in Russia’s own C3 command, control and communications system against nuclear attack. In other words Russia is integrating Syria into the very systems that protect its own cities. The Bible says Damascus will be completely destroyed and Syria ends as a nation. AFTER this Russia descends into the void that is left. Surely we can see how this will happen. BIBLE QUOTE Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor. How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy? Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, declares the Lord of hosts. (Jeremiah 49:24-27)
IDF, Hamas one miscalculation away from Gaza war Jerusalem Post, October 4, 2018 EVENT As the fall arrives, the probability of a fourth Gaza war between Israel and Hamas is on the rise. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot decided on Thursday to reinforce troops along the tense security fence, citing the military’s policy of preventing infiltrations from the blockaded coastal enclave into southern Israel. The reinforcements include snipers, as well as infantry and armored forces. The IDF has also deployed the Iron Dome missile defense system over concerns of mortar and rocket fire from the blockaded coastal enclave. The decision was made ahead of the 29th week of violent Friday protests, out of concern over a possible escalation. The protests, which began March 30 and aim to force Israel to lift its blockade, have claimed the lives of nearly 200 Palestinians. An interesting article in “The National Interest” had this headline – “When Will the Next War Erupt in the Middle East?” It went on to say “The signs are ominous—especially in Israel and its neighbours, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Violence, both actual and rhetorical, has been escalating on all three fronts. Gaza could become the immediate flash point as the Palestinians’ ‘March of Return’, which began on 30 March, intensifies and Israeli retaliation becomes increasingly lethal.” The Bible is clear when read carefully. Zechariah 12 is NOT the same conflict as Zechariah 14. Zechariah 12 is focused on the initial inner ring war between Israel and her ”nearby neighbours”. And Israel overcomes. Jerusalem remains secure. This is fast approaching. Zechariah 14 deals with Russia and the other nations that invade after. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE 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. (Zechariah 12:6 NIV)
Military games cement British-Omani relationship The National, October 5, 2018 EVENT The UK has lauded its relationship with Oman, as the two countries begin the region’s biggest military training exercise in more than a decade. Royal Navy ships, Royal Air Force planes and British Army troops are descending on the Omani desert in preparation for Operation Saif Sareea 3, the largest exercise of its type in the region for 17 years, and Britain’s largest for more than 15 years. The last iteration of the exercise took place in 2001, and featured 11,000 Omani troops. Speaking on his arrival in Oman, UK Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt described Oman as a “lynchpin” of the region, noting the country’s expertise on “Yemen, Syria and wider Gulf issues”, and that it would be an opportunity to discuss those issues. Relations between the two countries run deep since Oman's independence in 1970. The Omani military is the only importer of the Challenger 2 tank – Britain main battle tank. COMMENT Wikipedia states “The relations between the United Kingdom and Oman are strong and strategic. The UK and Oman have close military ties.” It goes on to list them. This week Britain’s flagship warship HMS Albion has arrived in Oman ready to lead the UK’s biggest war games in more than 15 years with 4000 troops. It establishes Britain’s presence in the Persian Gulf amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East with Iran. So why is this interesting? Well the Bible links certain nations together that are the opposing force to Russia, Iran and Turkey. These nations are Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish and the young lions of Tarshish. Tarshish is Britain. Sheba and Dedan covers Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states – Oman is one of them. God told us to look for this alliance at the time of the end . Everything is coming together as prophesied. 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? BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:13)
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