November 23 - 29, 2008

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s November 23 - 29, 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 November 23 - 29, 2008 • Russia’s power play in S America falls flat • Russia test-fires ICBM from submarine • Mumbai terror attacks (event) • Mumbai terror attacks (comment) • Tehran is Convinced an attack is imminent • UN to mourn 60 years of Israel's existence To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

5. It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages [Israel] Russia’s power play in S America falls flat Daily Telegraph, November 27, 2008 A Russian attempt to challenge Washington's dominance in South America has fallen flat as a wave of Obamamania sweeps the world. Kremlin hawks had hoped its first naval exercises in the Western hemisphere since the Cuban Missile Crisis would symbolise Russia's role as a superpower. President Dmitry Medvedev will be in Venezuela on Thursday during the manoeuvres to the delight of the country's president Hugo Chavez. But instead of causing alarm, the exercises are prompting little more than irritation and even mirth in Washington. "Are they accompanied by tugboats this time," joked Sean McCormack, the State Department's spokesman, a reference to the propensity of Russia's rusting warships to break down. While American officials normally respond with derision to the Cold War antics of the Russian military, the United States is finding it much easier to take Moscow's geopolitical ambitions in its stride, analysts say. EVENT COMMENT Russia has been trying to develop close relations with countries in South America. If it can expand its influence into America’s back yard its global reach would be vastly increased. However this plan is not working. Mr Medvedev left Brazil on Wednesday after he was rebuffed. Brazil made it clear that there was little interest in bolstering ties with Russia at the expense of the US. Many other Latin American countries are taking a softer stance towards Washington in the hope relations will improve under president elect Barack Obama. The Bible makes clear that Russia is a king of the north. Russia we know will seek to dominate the Middle East / Israel. Their attention may now move in this direction…. BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:10-11)

6. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. Russia test-fires ICBM from submarine Jerusalem Post, November 28, 2008 The Russian navy said Friday that a new generation Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from a submerged submarine and hit its target - the second consecutive successful test of the troubled weapon. Russian officials have hailed the Bulava as a key future component of the nation's nuclear forces, but several failed test-launches over the past two years have cast doubt on the missile. The Bulava reportedly is designed to have a maximum range of about 10,000 kilometres and to carry six individually targeted nuclear warheads. Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said in a statement that a Bulava was launched on Friday from the nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoi beneath the White Sea surface and hit its test targets on the Kamchatka Peninsula, some 5,500 kilometres to the east. Also Friday, Russian news agencies quoted the head of the country's Strategic Rocket Forces as saying the planned US missile defence system in Europe and other perceived threats have prompted Moscow to work harder on missile development. EVENT Russia has 5,200 active nuclear missiles! America has 4,075. The UK has 200, France less than 350 and China 160-400. We know the immense destruction caused by just ONE nuclear weapon. Russia this week has tested a missile that can carry 6 nuclear warheads at a time - all with different targets. There is a distinct possibility that in the final conflagration these weapons will be used. The verse below in Zechariah 14 speaks of a plague that comes on those who attack Israel in the final war. It describes accurately the effects of a nuclear explosion. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 14:12)

7. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Mumbai terror attacks 1) Daily Telegraph & 2) Reuters November 28, 2008 1) The Islamic terrorists who brought carnage to Mumbai arrived unnoticed in a fleet of small boats before fanning out across the city and executing a series of co-ordinated attacks on Western targets. Early on Wednesday evening, and under cover of darkness, dozens of militants are believed to have approached the peninsula in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, in a large boat before lowering dinghies into the water, filled with guns, ammunition and explosives, in which they silently approached the shore. By 8.30pm local time (3pm GMT) the first of the terrorists were in place at Café Leopold, one of the most popular tourist venues in the city, where four of them took a table and calmly ate a meal without attracting attention from other customers. When they stood up at 9.30pm, they pulled out guns and began shooting customers at random, claiming the first of more than 100 lives. Telegraph editorial comment. One must assume that attacking where they did, the terrorists knew what they were doing. They were striking at a place that symbolises former British power and new Indian pride. It most vividly represents the link, made chiefly by trade, between India and the world. (see next slides comments on India) 2) A Brooklyn-based rabbi and his wife who were killed in the siege on a Jewish centre in Mumbai had gone to serve Jews living far from their roots, fearing only that he would not be able to help as many as possible. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka Holtzberg, were among the five hostages killed at the centre and more than 120 people dead in Mumbai after the attacks by Islamist militants on luxury hotels and other sites in India's financial capital. EVENT BIBLE QUOTE (Luke 21:26 NIV)

8. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. There is trouble coming on Britain as well. Mumbai terror attacks BBConline, November 21, 2008 It is hard to comprehend how such terror can devised and implemented. A suicide bomber might drive up and explode himself killing as many as possible. This terror attack in some ways was even more chilling. Some of the terrorists actually sat down in the restaurant in the hotel and had a meal for an hour and then, when they had finished, pulled out their machine guns and began killing all they could see. 195 people have been killed with hundreds wounded. Jesus said that just before he returned that men’s hearts would “fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21:26. The word “fear” in modern versions of the Bible is translated as “terror”. Men are surely looking at the things happening in the world and their hearts are failing them for terror. There is some speculation amongst analysts that this may be the start of a campaign by Muslim terrorists in the run up to the inauguration of Barack Obama. According to reports, British, American and Jewish people were singled out. The terrorists even asked those who they were attacking if any were of these nationalities. As well as international hotels they also attacked and killed Jews in a Jewish centre. There is an historic link between India and Britain. Tarshish mentioned in the Bible is Britain. There is mention of a navy from Tarshish that brought back apes and peacocks. These were found in India. The link between Britain and India continues to today. As a member of the Commonwealth and key country in the former British Empire, India is one of the “young lions” of Ezekiel 38:13. We therefore expect India to remain close to Britain. Ultimately India will not form part of the Gogian invasion. They will be on the side of Israel. The Muslim terror attacks in India make this more certain. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 48:7-8)

9. Behold, I will stir up the Medes 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 Tehran is Convinced an attack is imminent Debkafile, November 28, 2008 Iran's rulers have convinced themselves that the United States or/and Israel are bound to attack their nuclear installations and Revolutionary Guards bases in the interim period before Obama is sworn in as president on January 21. They strongly believe in a conspiracy between George W. Bush and his successor to bring this about and are reading omens of war in every move made by Washington. According to a senior Iranian source visiting Abu Dhabi to clue its rulers on the thinking in Tehran, the Iranians seized on the rumour that Obama intended asking Robert Gates to stay on as defence secretary - even before it was confirmed – as evidence that US leaders were making ready for armed conflict with Iran and were accordingly not changing horses in mid-preparation. Iran's strategists also take Hillary Clinton's nomination as secretary of state and the possible appointment of Marine General James Jones as Obama's national security adviser to prove that the future president has opted for military action. This team is seen in Tehran as more inclined to support a war option than the Bush White House. Iran believes Obama will fall flat on economy and resort to war EVENT Iran (ancient Medes) are being stirred up. They know time is running out. At the end of the day America and Israel will never allow Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran's nuclear chief announced on Wednesday that Iran now has more than 5,000 centrifuges operating at its uranium enrichment plant, flatly defying UN resolutions. UN nuclear watchdog reported last week that Tehran had stocked enough enriched uranium to make its first A-Bomb, while US analysts said that they expect the Iranians to be able to make three bombs by the end of 2009. War draws near. At some point conflict will occur between Iran and its foes. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:17)

10. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished UN to mourn 60 years of Israel's existence The Palestinian flag next to the UN flag. No flag of Israel! Photo from this weeks meeting. EyeontheUN, November 24, 2008 This Monday, November 24th, the UN will commemorate its annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People with a film depicting Jews as Nazi-equivalents and a public exhibit mourning the sixty years of Israel's existence. Monday's observance marks November 29, 1947 - the day that the UN voted to establish a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine - a decision accepted by the Jews and rejected by the Arabs. This year's observance is being held a week early due to scheduling conflicts. The President of the UN General Assembly has launched an unprecedented attack on a UN member state from the Assembly podium. Going beyond even existing UN resolutions, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua accused Israel of apartheid and called for "a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions" against it. Reminiscent of a classic antisemitic slur, Brockmann (himself a Roman Catholic priest and one-time official of the World Council of Churches) also claimed our Palestinian "brothers and sisters are being crucified" by Israel. His remarks were made on November 24, 2008 EVENT Every year on the 29th November the UN has an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. Its real agenda is to delegitimize the birth - and the perseverance - of the state of Israel. The UN is obsessed by Israel. Out of the 10 emergency special sessions ever called by the UN General Assembly, six have been about Israel. 18 resolutions have been made about the Israeli Palestinian conflict in the last 18 months all of which are one-sided or blatantly anti-Israel. It may be that the UN will provide a means of formalising the final attack against Israel, in which case “all nations” would be represented by the UN. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 14:2)

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.