May 31 – June 6, 2009

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s May 31 – June 6, 2009 “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) 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). 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 31 – June 6, 2009 • Barack Obama’s speech • Israel papers: new era in US ties • Israel prepares for war • Welcome to our reality • Putin shames top oligarch • UK government is shaken, not just stirred To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

5. The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands…so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands Barack Obama’s speech (edited!) Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo, June 4, 2009 I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world. As the holy Koran tells us: “Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.” Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. And Israel must also live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society. Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel’s security, neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians could, can see their children grow up without fear, when the holy land of the three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be, when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together. EVENT What would God make of this speech? Is the Koran holy? NO. Should Israel acknowledge a nation called Palestine on Israel’s land? NO. Should Israel stop building on land given to them by God? NO. Is the holy land the land of 3 great faiths? NO. Should Jerusalem be the home of ALL the children of Abraham (Ishmael as well)? NO. The answers to these questions are… only the Bible is holy. The land has been given to Israel and though God (due to their unbelief) removed them from time to time it is still THEIR land. They should therefore build on it. The Holy Land was given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – NOT Ishmael and Esau. Jerusalem is a city for ONE faith not three. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezra 9:1,2)

6. therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness. Israel papers: new era in US ties BBConline, June 5, 2009 Commentators in Israeli papers interpreted US President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world as marking a clear shift in ties between the US and Israel, and possibly the end of a special relationship. One writer called on the Israeli government to adapt to the new winds blowing from Washington or face a storm, while several said the US president had given the government notice that it would now have to honour commitments made towards reaching peace with the Palestinians. At least one interpreted this as meaning that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would have to reshape his cabinet. Ha’retz commentary on the speech said “The moment of political reckoning that he [Binyamin Netanyahu] so feared is now rapidly approaching… Netanyahu will have to decide over the coming weeks who he would rather pick a fight with: the powerful US administration or his own coalition and members of his party… If he aligns himself with the coalition, he will keep his job but risk isolating Israel.” EVENT Almost every Israeli newspaper has commented on the change in relationship between Israel and America under this new president. His words are smooth and relaxed. What he says can sound plausible even to those who believe. Yet we must not be taken in. Israel can see how soon they must make a choice. A time of “reckoning” is now “rapidly approaching”. They will have to “decide” to do what America wants and allow a Palestinian state or isolate themselves from the world. We watch and wait. Under this sort of pressure Israel may well concede to the demands of the world. Whatever happens Israel will be isolated, friendless and at war with many nations before too long. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 16:37 NIV)

7. Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD Israel prepares for war Israel National News, May 31, 2009 The largest emergency drill ever to take place in Israel, dubbed ‘Turning Point 3’, began Sunday morning after months of planning. Representatives from 70 nations are participating as observers in the drill, which simulates a war with Hamas, Hizbullah, and Syria that also leads Arabs within Israel to riot and commit terrorist attacks. Turning Point 3 involves the IDF, police, emergency medical services, government offices, and all of the nation’s civilians. Some Arab countries, nervously watching Israel prepare for the exercise, have claimed that the exercise is just a front for an Israeli attack. The drills intended to prepare the Jewish State for the worst possible scenario, beginning with a war that ignites in Gaza after a three-month escalation, bringing Israeli civilians in the Negev under rocket bombardment. The fighting then spreads to Israel’s northern border, where Hizbullah opens a second front and initiates rocket fire reaching all parts of the country. The war next engulfs Syria, and at the same time authorities must deal with uprisings among the local Arab population, including terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. EVENT At the very end God pours out his judgements FIRST on Israel. He THEN punishes those nations who attacked Israel. This is the pattern throughout history. Ezekiel 21 speaks of Israel being wicked and profane. It speaks of God judging his people. This judgement occurred originally when the King of Babylon was sent against Jerusalem. But many aspects are to be repeated at the end. One aspect mentioned in this chapter is how the nation KNEW that trouble was coming. The “tidings” all around the nation proved trouble and war was at hand. The same applies now – “it cometh”! COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 21:7)

8. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life Welcome to our reality Jerusalem Post, June 1, 2009 Say you live in any one of these cities: Oslo, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, London, Stockholm or Washington, and at 11 a.m. today the war siren goes off. You've been told it's just a drill - your city isn't being attacked by ballistic missiles or long-range rockets. Your country neither plans to attack anyone, nor is there intelligence indicating it is the target of imminent attack. Still, the wailing siren - a curiously anachronistic instrument for the 21st century - is upsetting. You do as you're told and seek out a nearby bomb shelter, or enter the reinforced-concrete room common in homes built since the 1990s. At work, there is some gallows humour as colleagues file into the bomb shelter. At school, your children will head into the shelters with their teachers. Of course, if you do live in any of the above-mentioned capitals, this scenario is beyond far-fetched. There are no shelters. No safe rooms. No gas masks. No one is threatening to wipe Sweden, Germany or Scotland - or any of the others - off the map. There are no Sajil II ballistic missiles aimed your way. Your country didn't absorb 5,000 rocket hits in the course of a single summer. It doesn't share a border with a country that deploys Scud D missiles. And the notion that missiles laden with WMDs could explode over your head is simply beyond imagination. WE ISRAELIS live in a very different reality. That truth was brought home in remarks Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made at Sunday's cabinet meeting regarding Turning Point 3 - the week-long nationwide emergency drill. The exercise is "routine," something the country does annually, he said, adding that it "reflects the special way in which we lead our lives - which, upon reflection, is not all that routine." EVENT BIBLE QUOTE (Deuteronomy 28:65,66)

9. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Putin shames top oligarch Debkafile, May 26, 2009 Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, publicly criticised his most faithful oligarch on Thursday in an attempt to deflect growing social discontent on to the country’s unpopular super-rich. Mr Putin, who is a master at dispensing ritual humiliation, likened Oleg Deripaska to a cockroach and forced him to accompany him on a tour of Pikalevo, a factory town that has witnessed the most serious social unrest Russia has seen since the start of the global economic crisis. Last week Pikalevo’s residents vented their anger over job losses and unpaid wages at one of the oligarch’s local factories by blocking a major road and causing a 250-mile traffic jam. The unprecedented protest reportedly worried the Kremlin, which has long been afraid that Russia’s imploding economy could cause serious political unrest. Anxious to ensure that the Pikalevo problem remained an isolated one, Mr Putin sought to cast himself as the town’s saviour – and Mr Deripaska as its villain. EVENT COMMENT Russia’s industrial production has ground to a near halt in the financial crisis. After 10 years of uninterrupted growth, it faces the prospect that its economy will shrink by up to eight per cent this year. This is putting huge pressure on the government as people begin to vent their anger. Putin is resorting to throwing his weight around. He is showing he is still in charge and can tell business oligarchs what to do. We read of a man called “Gog” in Ezekiel 38. Gog means “mountain” according to Strong’s. He will appear to be like a mountain, in other words he will become a very big problem and be proud. Putin is both these things. But God will remove this mountain! BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 40:4 & Mark 11:23)

10. Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. UK government is shaken, not just stirred CNBC, June 3, 2009 The burgeoning British scandal over the misuse of government expense accounts is claiming its first major victims and setting the stage for a major shake-up in the country's leadership. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears resigned her cabinet post on Wednesday, a day after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith confirmed she too would be leaving the cabinet. Several other Labour members of parliament implicated in the expense scandal also said they planned to step down at the next general election, which is due by mid-June 2010, according to Reuters. The resignations come on the eve of the European parliament elections as Prime Minister Brown's Labour Party receives the brunt of the country's outrage in the expenses dispute. “People aren’t actually very interested in European issues,” Butler told CNBC Tuesday. Instead, he said that the expense scandal would “cloud the whole issue” of the upcoming European elections. EVENT COMMENT The UK government is in meltdown according to almost all of the UK national press. It has been a week of resignations with senior politicians standing down. Some because of the corruption allegations swirling around them and some because they want a new leader. As the headline above says the “UK government is SHAKEN”. In Luke 21 Jesus says that the “powers of heaven shall be shaken”. The “powers of heaven” symbolise the political rulers of the world. How do we know this? Well compare Isaiah 1:2 with Isaiah 1:10. Verse 2 says “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth”. Verse 10 says “Hear…. ye rulers…. give ear…. ye people.” The heavens = political rulers. Jesus says they will be “shaken”. Shaken means agitated, disturbed, overthrown, cast down. This is precisely what is happening in the UK government NOW BIBLE QUOTE (Luke 21:26)

11. Weekly World Watch The end of this week’s WWW will be e-mailed to you each week. Please forward the e-mail addresses of others who may be interested. I will include them in the list of recipients. Comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome. E-MAIL ANDY Click here (Move the mouse until the cursor appears.) To watch again, click here.