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Weekly World Watch. Andy Walton’s. June 9 - 22, 2019.
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Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s June 9 - 22, 2019 “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 June 9 - 22, 2019 • Western allies blame Iran over tanker attacks in Gulf • Trump orders military strike on Iran – then pulls back • Hormuz: the strait that may plunge US & Iran into war • Georgia & Russia trade blame as crisis brews • Israel prepares for an all out ‘multi-front’ war • Hezbollah armed, ready to strike Israel, if Iran-US tensions grow To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right PRESS SPACE BAR TO CONTINUE
Sheba, and Dedan, {Saudi Arabia] and the merchants of Tarshish, {Britain} with all the young lions {USA, Canada, Australia etc} 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? Western allies blame Iran over tanker attacks in Gulf The Times, June 14, 2019 Western allies rounded on Iran today after the United States released video that it said showed the crew of an Iranian vessel removing an unexploded mine from one of two oil tankers attacked at the entrance to the Gulf. Britain and Saudi Arabia released statements saying that they supported an assessment by Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, that Iran was responsible for the attacks. The United Arab Emirates described it as a “dangerous escalation”. The video showed a small patrol boat, identified by the US as an IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat alongside the Kokuka Courageous, a Japanese-owned tanker, yesterday afternoon. The video shows men manoeuvring the vessel alongside and apparently helping a man out of the water. EVENT Iran’s attack on the Japanese oil tanker last week was a brazen insult to President Trump. The Japanese PM visited Iran’s leader with a message that the US was seeking talks. On the very same day that the Japanese PM was in Iran an elite team of Iranian special forces attacked a Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf. The message to Trump was clear - we are not talking. Days later Iran shoots down a US drone. The response to these attacks is mainly coming from what the report above says are “Western allies.” But when you continue reading you find that the Western allies are the US, UK and Saudi Arabia. No mention of the EU. The US, UK and Saudi Arabia are all specifically linked together in Ezekiel 38 as an opposing force to Russia and Iran (and Turkey etc) who invade Israel. Is it not incredible to see how God told Ezekiel what to write down 2500 years ago about events beginning to happen …. right now in 2019. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:13)
Sheba, and Dedan, {Saudi Arabia] and the merchants of Tarshish, {Britain} with all the young lions {USA, Canada, Australia etc} 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? Don’t these questions sound like a vacillator? Trump orders military strike on Iran – then pulls back Debka, June 21, 2018 US aircraft and ships were abruptly turned back when already on their way on Thursday, June 20, to strike a “handful” of Iranian targets after the downing of a US drone. For this sudden change of orders to abort a punitive US operation against Iran, US President Donald Trump risks being labelled a vacillator, a stigma he often attaches to his Democratic rivals. His top advisers, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and CIA Director Gina Haspel, pushed hard for the president to retaliate militarily for the downing of the US Navy Triton over international Gulf waters. They were concerned not only by the urgency to shore up US deterrence in the face of mounting Iranian attacks on US interests and allies in the region, but the impact inaction would have on America’s standing in relation to China, Russia and North Korea. EVENT COMMENT President Trump makes a lot of noise. He literally trumpets and tweets and rants and raves. The word “trump” according to the dictionary is to “outrank or defeat someone or something, often in a highly public way.” Hence the “trump” card is the card that defeats all others. It can also mean to “declare as in a fanfare” Doesn’t President TRUMP act exactly according to these meanings?! The name “Donald” means “world ruler”! And so we have a world ruler who is with great noise and fanfare publicly trying to outrank or defeat his opponents. And yet despite all this (perhaps as with many verbal bullies) his bark is much worse than his bite. This week he called off attacks on Iran sending very mixed signals to the regime. In Ezekiel 38 it sounds like the ”young lion” is vacillating! BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:13)
Hormuz: the strait that may plunge US & Iran into war Telegraph, June 13, 2019 In its 40-year struggle with the United States, Iran has never been under any illusion about the strength of a foe it has imbued with supernatural powers. Knowing that it has neither the military nor the financial firepower to fend off “the Great Satan”, Iran’s Islamic regime has instead sought to compete on what strategists call “asymmetric” terms. This strategy has included arming militias willing to fight guerrilla wars again US allies, from Hamas in Gaza to the Houthis in Yemen, and working, partly covertly, on a programme Washington believed was designed to build a nuclear bomb. The Strait of Hormuz, separating the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean beyond, is potentially a vital part of this asymmetric arsenal. There is arguably no more strategic, nor more vulnerable, waterway in the world. Even the United States calls the Strait of Hormuz “the world’s most important chokepoint”. EVENT The Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf is just 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point. A fifth of the world’s oil is transported through it, roughly 19m barrels a day, more than through than any other chokepoint on earth. Much of that oil comes not just from Iran, but from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies. Should Iran block it, as it is threatening to do in retaliation for tightening US sanctions, the consequences for the Arab states on the gulf and for the global economy could be dire. Oil prices would soar. This exact strip of sea is mentioned in Isaiah 21. This chapter speaks of Elam besieging. Ancient Elam is in south east Iran bordering the Persian Gulf by the Strait of Hormuz. The word besiege means to “shut up or close” The first verse talks about the “burden of the desert of the sea.” On both sides of this sea is desert. The besiege is coming SOON! COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. (Isaiah 21:1-2
Georgia & Russia trade blame as crisis brews Reuters, June 21, 2019 EVENT Georgia and Russia traded blame on Friday for an outbreak of unrest in Tbilisi sparked by the visit of a Russian lawmaker with the Kremlin announcing it would suspend passenger flights between the two countries to protect its citizens. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili had earlier blamed Moscow for the unrest, suggesting a “fifth column” loyal to Moscow had stirred up trouble, an allegation Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dismissed as a distortion of reality.Violence flared in the Georgian capital late on Thursday, where police used tear gas and rubber bullets to stop crowds furious about the visit of a Russian delegation from storming parliament. Hundreds of people, both protesters and police officers, were injured, some seriously, as demonstrators pushed against lines of riot police, threw bottles and stones, and grabbed shields, drawing a tough response. The ongoing, unresolved dispute between Georgia and Russia over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, goes back almost 30 years but particularly goes back to 2008 when diplomatic relations were broken off in the August war over South Ossetia. This week a senior Russian parliamentarian was allowed by a small faction in the Georgia government to occupy the speakers chair in the Georgia parliament. This sparked violence and now Putin has responded by banning all Russian flights to Georgia. Georgia is interesting because it is in the Caucasus region that is almost like a land bridge between Russia and the Middle East. In other words for Russia to descend into Israel with land troops it must come through Georgia. We watch this area with interest. COMMENT And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:3-4)
Israel prepares for an all out ‘multi-front’ war Israel News, June 20, 2019 EVENT The Israeli Air Force concluded a vast military exercise last night, designed to simulate an all-out war in multiple theaters of operation. In the course of the exercise, which began on Sunday, the Air Force tested its readiness for war, including against “state actors that maintain technologies much more advanced than what is usually dealt with in the region.” A source familiar with the details of the exercise, described it as “a highly efficient operational simulation that portrays the Air Force standards of lethality and professionalism, under the guidance of the new IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi.” Among others, the Israeli Air Force also simulated a scenario in which Israel was struck by thousands of incoming missiles, forcing it to adapt to extreme operational conditions in efforts to remain fully functional. In addition to the wide-array of Israel’s aerial vehicles, for the first time in the country’s history, the highly advanced F-35s also partook in an exercise, which was designed to simulate warfare during day and nighttime. A senior Israeli Air Force officer told TV7 that “the exercise sought to prepare Israel for the next cycle of war.” “while the air-force simulated a war in several theaters simultaneously, the main focus remained Israel’s northern frontier,” where the Islamic Republic of Iran maintains a vast array of military means for the declared purpose of annihilating the Jewish state. This sounds exactly like Israel preparing for the war of Psalm 83, Isaiah 17 and Zechariah 12. These prophecies tell us of people that surround Israel wanting to destroy Israel so they are no longer remembered. They speak of the north of Israel being weakened when Damascus is destroyed. They speak of Israel overcoming this initial war involving “surrounding / nearby peoples” but then afterwards Gog invades… 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. This is describing the inner ring war which involves surrounding peoples (means nearby) but Jerusalem survives – unlike Jerusalem in Zechariah 14. (Zechariah 12:6 NIV)
Hezbollah armed, ready to strike Israel, if Iran-US tensions grow CBN, June 21, 2018 EVENT With talk of possible U-S military action against Iran, there are questions about whether Israel might be dragged into any regional conflict because Hezbollah in Lebanon gets its money and marching orders from Iran. From the Israeli side of the border the Lebanese villages look peaceful and pastoral, but it’s hard to imagine a well-armed enemy is hidden and possibly waiting to strike where yellow Hezbollah flags flutter just across the border. “The fact that Hezbollah is involved in every aspect of life of the people in those towns on the other side of the border enables it to deploy such a huge and massive military infrastructure in south Lebanon,” said Res. Lt. Col. Sarit Zehavi, founder of the Alma Research and Education Center, an organization that seeks to understand the security challenges on Israel’s northern border. The IDF estimates Hezbollah has hidden well over 100,000 rockets in these towns and villages in southern Lebanon. COMMENT Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan are not mentioned at all in Ezekiel 38. And yet these nations surround Israel. So where are they when Russia, Iran and Turkey invade. What has happened to the “pricking briers” that surround Israel? The answer is that they have been dealt with in the initial inner ring war. They have been completely removed. This is possibly when the false cry of peace and safety comes - and then sudden destruction descends on Israel. Hezbollah have their main head quarters in Tyre (city in Lebanon). Psalm 83 speaks of the “inhabitants of Tyre” who want to destroy Israel. Hezbollah's own charter says this…One of its manifesto’s said "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated.” The Psalm 83 conflict could come VERY SOON! They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; BIBLE QUOTE (Psalm 83:4-7)
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