October 5 - 11, 2008

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s October 5 - 11, 2008 “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 October 5 - 11, 2008 • Financial crisis: Stock markets move to sheer panic • Britain v Iceland: Fish now finance • Iran celebrates global meltdown • Israel to press Russia not to sell air defences to Iran • Jewish-Arab riots shock Israeli city • Russia withdraws from Georgian territory To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

5. See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it…it will be the same for… seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor. The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. Financial crisis: Stock markets move to sheer panic Daily Telegraph, October 10, 2008 London is a latter day TyreAncient Tyre was destroyed / waves covered it! "We can solve this crisis, and we will," declared George W Bush in the hastily-convened press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House. "The United States government is acting; we will continue to act to resolve this crisis and restore stability to our markets." Only problem was the US President didn't look like he believed it - after a week like this one, why would he? Neither, for that matter, did the markets, which tumbled to new lows on both sides of the Atlantic within minutes of the statement. It had been the same story every day this week. Each day finance ministers and heads of state from every corner of the Western world have emerged to assure voters that they will bring an end to the financial crisis. It has done nothing to prevent shares from plummeting, nor to reignite the frozen money markets, which underpin the entire world economy. There have been stock market crashes before, but never before has there been such a prolonged and comprehensive shutdown of the arteries of finance. EVENT The are a number of references in the Bible to total financial collapse at the time of the end. Money has become the god of the world. It has worshipped mammon and NOT God. It is not surprising then that this “god” will be shown for what it is. WORTHLESS. The verse below is talking of the final judgement of the world. In verses 5 / 6 (not quoted) it speaks of the inhabitants of the earth breaking God’s commands and laws. The previous chapter links to these final events and speaks of a latter day Tyre based in Tarshish. Tyre was the ancient capital of Phoenicia and the centre of trade. Tyre passes over to Tarshish (Britain). Ch 23:6. The capital of the UK is London and it too has become the centre of trade. The last verse of ch23 speaks of her wealth being lost! COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 24:1-3 NIV)

6. Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour. Britain v Iceland: Fish now finance BBConline, October 10, 2008 Having fought three rather pointless - though at times bitter - little wars over fishing limits, Britain and Iceland have now allowed a problem over British deposits in a failed Icelandic bank to become a crisis. Instead of two North Atlantic islands who are partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and who both charged into financial danger zones quietly sorting this out, prime ministers have swapped insults. Echoes of those cod wars are heard. The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has publicly declared Icelandic actions to be "effectively illegal" and "unacceptable" and the Icelandic Prime Minister, Gier Haarde, has expressed his annoyance that the UK used anti-terrorism legislation to seize assets in Britain of the one of the Icelandic banks. EVENT COMMENT Iceland’s financial system collapsed on Thursday. We may imagine that such a small country would have little impact on others. However this collapse has had instant ramifications for the UK. Icesave, an Icelandic bank with branches in London went bust this week. 300,000 UK investors were affected. The trouble was though that some UK government councils had invested in this bank to the tune of ¾ of a billion pounds! The Icelandic government then refused to bail out any investors. This then puts a strain on public services in certain UK towns and cities unless the UK government finds the lost money. Which is why Gordon Brown announced on Wednesday that Britain would be taking legal action against the Icelandic government! He then used anti terror laws to seize assets in the Icelandic bank. This is just the beginning. We know that a “time of trouble such as never was” is coming. With financial collapse we can see how tensions between nations would rise quickly creating the environment for the final judgement of the world. BIBLE QUOTE (Proverbs 19:4)

7. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Iran celebrates global meltdown BBConline, October 10, 2008 Amidst the financial wreckage around the world, one government is celebrating. Watching the global gnashing of teeth, the Islamic Republic of Iran is enjoying the ride. "We are very happy that America's economy is in jeopardy and they are paying the price for their misdeeds. God is punishing them." That is the verdict from Ayatollah Jannati, one of the most senior clerics in Iran. President Ahmadinejad has pronounced on the collapse of global capitalism, and announced that Iranians should stand ready to manage the world. EVENT It is true that Iran cares little for capitalism. It’s wealth in the main comes from oil. The president of Iran can therefore gloat at America’s financial upheaval. Iran’s stock market is actually up 20% so far this year! In Isaiah 13 we read of a war that takes place over Babylon. Nations from afar invade it and bring destruction. At that time “the day of the LORD is at hand” (verse 6), “the world will be punished for their evil” (verse 11), “the sun shall be darkened” (verse 10). It is clear this is a war that occurs at the time of the end when the world is judged. Babylon was situated in modern day Iraq and we have seen a war take place, with nations from afar invading it. Therefore the “day of the LORD is at hand”. The same chapter goes on to say that at the same time the Medes are stirred up against them. The Medes are an ancient people that lived in modern day Iran. The Bible is saying that the Iranians will be stirred up! Now note the verse below. Iranians do NOT regard silver and as for gold they do NOT delight in it. They do not care global capitalism is failing. They care nothing for it. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:17)

8. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. Israel to press Russia not to sell air defences to Iran Daily Telegraph, October 7, 2008 Ehud Olmert, on his final foreign trip as prime minister before a new coalition government is confirmed, flew to Moscow to urge Mr Medvedev not to sell weapons to "irresponsible elements". It is feared Israel will see the proposed sale of a sophisticated version of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system as a reason to expedite plans for an attack on Iran. "We will remind them again of matters that trouble us greatly," Mr Olmert said. As East-West relations have deteriorated in the aftermath of Russia's brief war with Georgia in August, fears have mounted that Moscow could choose to goad Washington by selling Iran a version of the S-300. Considered at least as sophisticated as the American Patriot, the S-300 can simultaneously track 100 different targets and is capable of shooting down aircraft over a range of over 90 miles and altitudes of up to 90,000 feet. The establishment of so powerful a system would make it much harder to bomb Iran's atomic installations, leading some security analysts to predict that Israel could launch a pre-emptive attack if Tehran acquired the missiles. EVENT Where does Ehud Olmert decide to make his final foreign trip before standing down as prime minster of Israel? To Russia! to meet the Russian president Mr Medvedev. If Russia were to supply these missiles to Iran it would “be a game-changer in military thinking for tackling Iran,” as one Pentagon official put it. What we can see here is how accurate the Bible is. In Ezekiel 38 we read that Persia (modern day Iran) is going to invade Israel with Russia. We also read that Russia will act as a “guard” to those nations that invade with it. A guard can be a prison guard or someone who protects. We see Russia protecting Iran - the invasion will also happen. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:7)

9. his hand (Ishmael’s) will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers. Jewish-Arab riots shock Israeli city BBConline, October 10, 2008 Israeli forces have quelled a third round of clashes between Jews and Arabs in the northern city of Acre, first ignited after an Israeli Arab man drove into a Jewish neighbourhood on Yom Kippur on Wednesday. No one has been killed or seriously injured but riot squads have used water cannon and tear gas to break up the violence, the worst in this mixed, northern coastal town in years. About 100 cars and 40 shops have been heavily damaged in the fighting, with at least three people injured and more than a dozen arrests. About 700 police have been brought into Acre to maintain calm while police in other parts of the country are also out in force, for fear clashes will spread ahead of the Jewish Sabbath. "We are planning ahead for the scenario of, God forbid, violence spreading to other places. I call on leaders, both in the Jewish community and Arab community, to act sensibly," the Israeli interior minister, Avi Dichter, said. The Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who is expected to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after winning the ruling Kadima party primary last month, also visited Acre and called for calm. EVENT The Jews are descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac. The Arabs are descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael. With Ishmael being the son of a slave woman (Genesis 16:1-16) and Isaac being the promised son who would inherit the promises to Abraham (Genesis 21:1-3), animosity between the two sons was almost inevitable. In fact an angel even prophesied to Hagar that Ishmael would “live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:11-12). This hostility as prophesied continues to this day. It will be ended when Christ returns. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Genesis 16:12)

10. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army Russia withdraws from Georgian territory Daily Telegraph, October 10, 2008 Russia has met a deadline to withdraw its troops from undisputed Georgian territory but remains in violation of a ceasefire deal that ended August's war in the Caucasus, France's foreign minister said. Russian soldiers pulled out of two buffer zones around the rebel enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that were occupied after Russia and Georgia signed a truce to end the five-day war. Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, confirmed that Russia had finally kept its word by withdrawing the last of its forces on Wednesday. But he warned that the Kremlin was still in violation of the terms of the deal, which called on Russia to return its forces to the positions they held before the conflict erupted. EVENT So we have seen Russia pull back out of Georgia. However it has not pulled back to where it was before the conflict started. Georgia's foreign minister, warned that Europe must keep up the pressure on Moscow, "It will be very dangerous and short-sighted to return to business-as-usual with Russia unless Russia commits to return its troops to their positions before the Russian invasion of Georgia," she said. In a sense Russia has come out of her land and has now turned back. It pushed forward and has now retreated. Could we see in a literal reading of the words in Ezekiel 38 God turning them back only then to being them forth? The “turning back” of Russia is undoubtedly the returning of the nation to anti west, totalitarian, authoritarian days but it is interesting we see a literal turning back (though on a very small scale) here as well. One day they WILL come forth…. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:4)

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.