February 14 - 20, 2010

1. Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s February 14 - 20, 2010 “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 February 14 - 20, 2010 • Are Lebanon and Israel headed for war? • Hezbollah warns Israel over future war • Hariri Meets Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican • Netanyahu meets with Putin in Moscow • IAEA fears Iran working now on nuclear warhead • Unearthing the splendour of Ur in Iraq To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right

5. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. . Are Lebanon and Israel headed for war? ABC News, February 15, 2010 Word on The Streets of Beirut is That The Drums are Beating for Battle To the casual observer, people on the streets of Beirut show no fear of war. But talk to many Lebanese today, and you'll soon find war is very much on their minds. All the people ABC News spoke to say conflict with Israel is looming. It's just a matter of when. Neither side wants to be guilty of starting the next war, but people in Lebanon say tension is now so high the smallest incident may provide the trigger. And the next round of hostilities, they warn, will be much broader and more terrible than the last war when Hezbollah battled the Israeli army in 2006. There are old scores to settle. Hezbollah wants to avenge the assassination of its military mastermind Imad Mugniyeh. Last Friday marked the second anniversary of his mysterious car bombing death in Damascus. Hezbollah also claims Israel still occupies a sliver of Lebanese territory in the south. It is ideologically opposed to Israel's very existence. EVENT Hardly a day goes by at the moment without some news report mentioning war between Israel and her surrounding neighbours being close at hand. Israel denies that she is seeking war. Lebanon, Syria and Iran say she is. It is possible that Iran wants to divert attention away from its own nuclear program by creating an incident (war) with Israel. Hezbollah today has somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 missiles, many more than in 2006, and many capable of hitting targets deep inside Israel. The Bible indicates that there will be conflict between Israel and Syria especially - before Gog invades. Though Israel defeats Syria, Israel herself is left very weakened. Gog and his armies may well invade shortly afterwards. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 17:3,4)

6. The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! Hezbollah warns Israel over future war Reuters, February 16, 2010 Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday the powerful Shi'ite guerrilla group would hit Israel's Ben Gurion airport if the Jewish state struck Beirut's international airport in any future war. "If you hit Rafik al-Hariri international airport in Beirut, we will hit Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv," Nasrallah said via a live video-link to thousands of cheering Shi'ite followers. "If you hit our ports, we will bomb your ports, and if you hit our oil refineries, we will bomb your oil refineries.“ Nasrallah's comments came amid recent increased anti-Israeli comments in the region including from Syrian, Iranian and Lebanese leaders. Syrian and Lebanese officials have accused Israel repeatedly in the past few weeks of pushing for a war in the region, against the backdrop of an Iranian nuclear program Israel views as a threat to its very survival. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking on a visit to Moscow, said on Tuesday "we are not planning any war" and accused Tehran of stoking fears as Western powers weigh additional sanctions against Iran to press for a stop to its atomic development. EVENT This news report appeared the day after the ABC news article on the previous slide. This time it is driven by comments from Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader. The verses in Isaiah 17 speak of Syria being destroyed. Damascus the capital of Syria is taken away from being a city. It becomes a ruinous heap. Israel has threatened to do this if Hezbollah attack its cities. We then read in verse 4 of that chapter that the glory of Jacob (Israel) will wax thin, his flesh will wax lean. We can see that Israel could be severely weakened in the coming war with Syria. Hezbollah have far more deadly missiles than before. Verse 12 then speaks of the nations rushing to Israel like waters! COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 17:1,12)

7. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Hariri Meets Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican Ya Libnan, February 20, 2010 Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican to discuss the situations in Lebanon and the Middle East. Hariri then also held a meeting with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, and Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See. Hariri arrived in Rome Friday afternoon accompanied by his wife Lara, his children ( Hussam, Lulwa and Abdul Aziz ), and his advisers . The delegation was joined by Lebanese Ambassador to the Vatican George Khoury. Prior to his departure to Rome Hariri said: “Meeting with the pope has great significance because Lebanon is the homeland of major Christian sects that we want to preserve.” “We want to safeguard them and we want them to remain deep-rooted in Lebanon so that Lebanon remains a global exemplar of coexistence,” he added. EVENT On Thursday this week the Lebanese prime minster flew to Rome to meet the Pope to discuss the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East. Following this meeting Mr Hariri made the following statement. "Israel can't claim to be interested in the peace process without doing anything tangible in this regard.". He said that while "Arabs want peace," Israel only seeks war with "Lebanon, Syria and Iran.” Interesting that the Pope is being involved in these discussions. The Pope is the little horn of Daniel 7 who eventually stands against Christ and the saints. We know the little horn is the Pope because the horn (ruler) comes out of the Roman beast. The Vatican is mother of all false Christian religions and therefore is anti God’s people – whether natural or spiritual Jews. Mr Hariri will have found a willing listener with Pope Benedict. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Daniel 7:8)

8. To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Netanyahu meets with Putin in Moscow Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, February 16, 2010 Transcript of Putin’s welcome to Netanyahu. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, dear colleagues, we are glad to welcome you to Moscow. Israel is our long-term partner in the Middle East. We say again and again that there are over one million Russian citizens living in your country. Israel is almost a Russian-speaking country. We are very glad to see you. We maintain ongoing contacts with you on the issues of a Middle East settlement. Our economic relations are also going well. In 2008, we reached a turnover of almost 2 billion. Unfortunately, it dropped off a bit in 2009. But the prospects are good. We need to diversify our relations in the field of high-tech and also in agriculture. Transcript of Netanyahu’s reply to Putin. Thank you very much Mr. Prime Minister. I must say that we view Russia as a special friend of Israel. Russia is a world power in every sense. Israel is a world power in technology, and cooperation between us can yield excellent results for both of us. And I welcome your intention and desire to place that on a tangible footing, with regard to both traditional technology and agricultural technology and biotechnology. EVENT While the Lebanese prime minister met the Pope (little horn of Daniel 7), the Israeli prime minister met Putin (little horn of Daniel 8)! What is remarkable about this transcript is that we get an insight into how Russia views Israel. Russia almost sees Israel as a satellite nation! Why? Because 1 million people living in Israel are Russian. Russia is also focused on “economic relations”. Netanyahu speaks of Russia as a world power and Israel being a world power in technology etc. We can see the interest Russia has in Israel and how it lusts after the spoil there. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Ezekiel 38:12) This is what Gog thinks

9. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. IAEA fears Iran working now on nuclear warhead Reuters, February 18, 2010 The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it fears Iran may be working now to develop a nuclear-armed missile, as Washington warned Tehran of "consequences" for ignoring international demands to stop its atomic program. In unusually blunt language, an International Atomic Energy Agency report for the first time suggested Iran was actively pursuing nuclear weapons capability, throwing independent weight behind similar Western suspicions. The IAEA seemed to be cautiously going public with concerns arising from a classified agency analysis leaked in part last year which concluded that Iran has already honed explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon. The report also confirmed Iran had produced its first small batch of uranium enriched to a higher purity -- 20 percent. Both developments will intensify pressure on Iran to prove it is not covertly bent on "weaponizing" enrichment by allowing unfettered access for IAEA inspectors and investigators, something it rejects in protest at U.N. sanctions. EVENT Egyptian born Mr ElBaradei was the Director General of the IAEA from 1997 to November 2009 when he stepped down. It is interesting that now Mr ElBaradei is no longer with the IAEA, we are receiving a more sober assessment of what the Iranians are really up to. Its new report on Iran unequivocally accuses of Iran of carrying out work to build a nuclear bomb. Mr ElBaradei was desperate to avoid a conflict between the West and Iran but now (he is gone) the way is being prepared for conflict to occur. The verse below makes clear that it is God himself who puts rulers in power and removes them as he will. His plan is working out and coming to a conclusion. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Romans 13:1)

10. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. The land was ISRAEL Unearthing the splendour of Ur in Iraq Daily Telegraph, February 19, 2010 With the country ravaged by war and strife since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Baghdad's struggling government has had greater priorities than funding large-scale digs at Ur - the birth place of Abraham and one of the cradles of civilisation - where only small teams have been working since 2005. "When the (large-scale) excavations restart, tons of antiquities will see the light of day, filling entire museum wings," enthused Dhaif Moussin, who is in charge of protecting a site that has been prone to looting. To date, hardly 20 per cent of the site has been excavated, mainly by American and British archaeologists. "Some archaeologists estimate it will take more than 30 years to dig out the entire city," said Moussin, surveying the site. Ur lies near a US air base just outside the southern city of Nasiriyah, a major battle ground of the American invasion. "It is certain that much more material remains to be discovered," said Steve Tinney, professor of Assyriology at the University of Pennsylvania which, together with the British Museum, sponsored Woolley's excavations between 1922 and 1934. EVENT Ur of the Chaldees, as it is mentioned in the Bible, was one of the great urban centres of the Sumerian civilisation of southern Iraq and remained an important city until its conquest by Alexander the Great a few centuries before Christ. It existed at the time of Babel and formed part of that kingdom ruled by Nimrod. Abraham himself lived there. He lived therefore in the godless kingdom of men, with an idol worshipping father surrounded by great riches and knowledge. God told Abraham to leave this place of false worship / kingdom of men / & his family to go to a new land. It was there in Israel that God would begin a new nation with him – the kingdom of God. COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE (Genesis 15:6,7)

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.