June 14 - 27, 2015

“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)

Weekly World Watch

Andy Walton’s

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What is a Weekly World Watch?

• 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.

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.

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.

• Increasing natural disasters: including earthquake, famine etc

The following six themes will appear repeatedly in WWW:

HEADLINE

EVENT

COMMENT

News Photo

The source of the headline and the date are included.

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.

What is in a Weekly World Watch?

BIBLEQUOTE

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 is straight from a news report that caught my eye because it looked significant from a Biblical perspective, usually that of prophecy.

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.

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.

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.

This Week’s Developments

To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper rightPRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE

• Vatican signs first treaty with "State of Palestine"

• Putin says Russia beefing up nuclear arsenal

• U.S. poised to put heavy weaponry in East Europe

• Israel threatens military intervention in Syria's civil war

• Greece announces shock referendum on Euro future

June 14 - 27, 2015

• Supreme Court makes gay marriage legal across US

The Vatican has signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" and called for a two-state solution, in a move that drew immediate anger from the Israeli government.Israel warned that its future diplomatic relations with the Vatican could be damaged by the treaty, which it said "damages the prospects for advancing a peace agreement".The treaty was agreed in principle last month and covers the activities of the Catholic church in Palestine. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, said at the signing that he hoped it could be a "stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to cause suffering for both parties".He called for the resumption of negotiations with the aim of a two-state solution. "This certainly requires courageous decisions, but it will also offer a major contribution to peace and stability in the region," he said.

Daily Telegraph, June 26, 2015

EVENT

COMMENT

The end will come like a flood: war will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one “seven”.In the middle of the “seven” he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’

BIBLEQUOTE

The Bible speaks of a latter day Roman ruler (Pope) making a treaty (covenant) with the enemies of the Jews. It marks the start of a final 7 year period of time (the time of trouble) that counts down to the crowning as king of Jesus in Jerusalem. The signing of this treaty (covenant) this week could well be the very one spoken on in Daniel 9:27.In a modern translation the verse reads like this “The ruler will make a treaty with many people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.” Who is the ruler? Well “his people” we are told in the previous verse are those who destroyed Jerusalem in AD70. The Romans! The ruler is a Roman ruler. The treaty is with “many” people. “Many” refers to enemies of Israel.

Vatican signs first treaty with "State of Palestine"

(Daniel 9:27)

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Putin says Russia beefing up nuclear arsenal

Nato accused Russia of "nuclear sabre-rattling" on Tuesday when Vladimir Putin promised to deploy at least 40 new inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this year. Russia possesses about 300 ICBMs, so this ambitious plan will see the replacement of 13 per cent of the country's entire arsenal in one year, representing an almost unprecedented rate of modernisation. The older weapons will be withdrawn and succeeded by new SS-27 missiles, each capable of delivering between four and six strategic nuclear warheads. If loaded to full capacity, these new ICBMs could deliver 240 nuclear warheads – more than Britain’s entire arsenal.Speaking at the opening of “Army 2015”, an exhibition of weapons outside Moscow, Mr Putin said: “This year the size of our nuclear forces will increase by over 40 new inter-continental ballistic missiles that will be able to overcome any, even the most technologically advanced, missile defence systems.”

Daily Telegraph, June 16, 2015

EVENT

COMMENT

and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

BIBLEQUOTE

(Daniel 12:1)

Russia is resurgent! The superpower status that was lost is being restored. Their role on the world stage which had diminished is reawakened. And one man is driving this. Vladimir Putin. He saw the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century being the break-up of the USSR. He want a multi polar world. In other words – not one super power but two. This is why, when Ukraine wanted to join Europe it was a step too far for Putin. Ukraine was once part of the USSR. There was no way he would allow a satellite state of what was once in Russia’s sway to head West. But as in a game of poker the stakes are continually being raised in the hope that your higher stake causes your opponent to blink and fold. Putin is raising the stakes with this announcement. We know that in this game the stakes are raised so high they finally

lead to world war 3 …

U.S. poised to put heavy weaponry in East Europe

In a significant move to deter possible Russian aggression in Europe, the Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, American and allied officials say. The proposal, if approved, would represent the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member nations in Eastern Europe that had once been part of the Soviet sphere of influence. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine have caused alarm and prompted new military planning in NATO capitals. It would be the most prominent of a series of moves the United States and NATO have taken to bolster forces in the region and send a clear message of resolve to allies and to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, that the United States would defend the alliance’s members closest to the Russian frontier.

Daily Telegraph, June 13, 2015

EVENT

COMMENT

Then at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the king of the north. The king of the north will storm out with chariots, charioteers, and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood. He will enter the glorious land of Israel, In the original the word translated as attack is the Hebrew word nagach – it means to push or to gore like an ox.

On Tuesday this week the US confirmed it will place 250 tanks, artillery pieces and fighting vehicles in seven eastern European countries as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Ash Carter, the US defence secretary, said Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland will host equipment in order to reassure Nato countries alarmed by Russian action in Ukraine. General Yuri Yakubov, a senior official in the Russian defence ministry, condemned the "most aggressive step by the Pentagon and Nato" since the end of the Cold War. What we are witnessing here is the King of the North (Russia) being militarily provoked by the King of the South (America) as mentioned in Daniel 11:40. We fast approach the time when something snaps…

BIBLEQUOTE

(Daniel 11:40)

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Israel threatens military intervention in Syria's civil war

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has issued a veiled threat to intervene directly in Syria's civil war for the first time, after Syrian rebels surrounded a village occupied by the Druze minority close to the border. Monitors from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the village of Khadr was now surrounded by rebels, who had taken a hilltop immediately to the north. Druze leaders in Israel and the Golan Heights warned that they might storm the frontier to save their relatives, fearing a sectarian massacre. Mr Netanyahu said he had given "instructions to do what is necessary" to help Syria's Druze. Jerusalem also warned Syrian rebel groups operating in southern Syria not to attack and to stay away from Khadr.Local media reports said the government was considering establishing a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border for refugees - a move that would be an unprecedented step given decades in which the frontier has been a "frozen zone"..

Daily Telegraph, June 17, 2015

EVENT

COMMENT

The fortified towns of Israel[a] will also be destroyed, and the royal power of Damascus will end.All that remains of Syria will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,” declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “In that day Israel’s glory will grow dim its robust body will waste away.

BIBLEQUOTE

The Druze are a secretive, tightly-knit religious sect whose origins can be traced to Egypt a thousand years ago. They believe that God was incarnated on earth in the form of their leader, al-Hakim bi-Amrih Alla. The Druze do not have their own homeland. Thus, many of them migrated to the isolated mountains of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, while others settled throughout the Middle East. There are 420,000 in Syria, 130,000 in Israel. Druze citizens are prominent in the Israel Defense Forces and in politics. As of 2012, 61 of the senior commissioned officers in the IDF were Druze. Netanyahu has inferred this week that Israel will intervene in Syria to protect the Druze community who are under threat in the Syrian conflict. We know a time is coming when there will be conflict between Israel and Syria. It leaves Syria destroyed…

(Isaiah 17:3-4 NLT)

Greece announces shock referendum on Euro future

Greece's prime minister has announced a snap referendum in a last-ditch attempt to get the country's European creditors to back down over their demands and secure the country's precarious Eurozone future. Alexis Tsipras called the shock vote, to be held on on July 5, having spent Friday night holed up in an emergency meeting with his cabinet.The question to be put before voters is whether or not the country is willing to submit to the conditions being demanded by the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank. Speaking to Greek television in a dramatic address in the early hours of Saturday morning, Mr Tsipras said he would support a 'No' vote."[Our creditors'] proposals, which clearly violate the European rules and the basic rights to work, equality and dignity show that the purpose of some of the partners and institutions was not a viable agreement for all parties, but possibly the humiliation of an entire people," said the prime minister.

Daily Telegraph, June 27, 2015

EVENT

COMMENT

The beast [Holy Roman Empire] 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.

BIBLEQUOTE

(Revelation 17:8)

On Friday Greece rejected a €15bn rescue plan. Last night the prime minister of Greece announced a referendum and said he would support a no vote. Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said it was time for the people to decide the country's fate inside the single currency. On Tuesday Greece is supposed to make a loan repayment to the IMF of €1.6bn. Without a deal it does not have the money to make the payment. Capital controls in the form of deposit withdrawal limits could come as early as Monday, according to analysts at Credit Suisse. If Greece does leave the Euro the impacts will be enormous. It will mean a total redesign of Euroland. From the chaos will emerge a new superpower based on the original Holy Roman Empire….

Supreme Court makes gay marriage legal across US

The Supreme Court today ruled that gay marriage should be allowed across the entire United States, settling once and for all what had been one of America's most divisive social questions. The landmark ruling from America's high court means that all states, even in the deeply conservative South, must allow same-sex couples to marry.The decision was met with cheers and elation from gay rights activists gathered on the on the marble steps of the Supreme Court but despair from conservative groups.It represents an extraordinary turning point in US history just eleven years after Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay couples to wed.In that time Barack Obama became the first US president to back gay marriage and public opinion shifted rapidly in favour of allowing gays and lesbians to wed. Mr Obama described the ruling as "justice that arrives like a thunderbolt".

Daily Telegraph, June 26, 2015

EVENT

COMMENT

Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. Jesus said it would like Sodom when he returned! See Luke 17:29-30

BIBLEQUOTE

(Genesis 19:24)

The very first country in all history to allow same sex marriage with the Netherlands. This was on the 1st April 2001. Since then 18 countries have recognised same sex marriages. The latest was the whole of the United States yesterday. What these people forget is that marriage is not a man made institution. Mankind did not invent marriage. It was established by God at the beginning of human history when He "created the heavens and the earth”. As the Creator of marriage, God has the right to tell us which principles should govern our marital relationships. God created Eve for Adam and said she was a suitable helper for him. God said man would leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. Genesis 2:24. This is marriage. Obama is right on one point though. Justice will come like a thunderbolt as it did in the days of Sodom…

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Weekly World Watch

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