Andy Walton ’s

Weekly World Watch

July 27 – August 2, 2014

“

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

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king of the • The UK and the US: Bible prophecy

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king of the south.

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• 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.

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.

HEADLINE

This is straight

from a news report

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

The source of the headline and the date are included.

News Photo

EVENT

This is

the reporter

’ reporter and editors.

s description

of the event. It is always a direct quotation from the news report and reflects the understanding of the

COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

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: ( [email protected]

). Please note that these are personal thoughts and the aim is purely to stimulate Bible study.

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

July 27 – August 2, 2014

• Israel poised to escalate Gaza offensive after kidnap • Gaza conflict: Israel calls up 16,000 more reservists • Be ready for ‘prolonged' Gaza war, Netanyahu says • NATO must respond to Russia: Cameron • Libya Islamic militias declare control of Benghazi • Ebola outbreak: We're heading towards a catastrophe

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

Israel poised to escalate Gaza offensive after kidnap

Daily Telegraph, August 1, 2014

EVENT COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

Israel was poised to dramatically escalate its military offensive in Gaza on Friday night after one of its soldiers was kidnapped in a shoot-out with militants, shattering a fragile ceasefire and once again dashing hopes of an imminent end to the bloody conflict.

Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, who spent part of his childhood in Britain, was reportedly seized after being attacked by militants – one of whom wore a suicide belt – who emerged from a tunnel in the southern Gazan town of Rafah.

Two other soldiers were killed in the incident, which Israel said happened before 9.30am local time, less than an hour-and-half after the start of a 72-hour ceasefire, brokered by the US and the UN in the hope of paving the way towards a lasting truce.

Overnight Hamas claimed it had no clear indication on the whereabouts of the abducted Israeli soldier, adding he may have been killed during an ambush. A statement by the group said it had no contact with militants who were in the area.

It took the combined efforts of America and the UN to persuade Israel and Hamas to put in place a 3 day humanitarian cease-fire. The 3 day cease fire came to an end within 3 hours. Hamas launched an attack on Israel killing two soldiers and abducting another. President Obama has called on Hamas to return the captured soldier, Lt Goldin, without delay and without conditions. Both Lt Goldin the ’s grandfathers were Holocaust survivors who participated in Israel's War of Independence in 1948.

Israel will not stop until he is rescued. The Bible speaks about conflict with Israel ’s immediate neighbours which must include the Palestinians. In Zechariah 12 we read of “nearby nations” sending their armies to besiege Jerusalem. We also read in v 6 that “neighbouring nations” will be burned up. Zechariah 12 is stage 1 of the final battle.

I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah out before thee…..They [Israel] will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left This chapter is about the first stage – Israel’s immediate neighbours war against Israel. Psalm 83 details those nations…

(Zechariah 12:2+6 NLT)

Gaza conflict: Israel calls up 16,000 more reservists

Daily Telegraph, July 31, 2014

EVENT

Israel mobilised 16,000 additional reservists on Thursday to bolster its forces waging military operations in the Gaza Strip that left more than 100 Palestinians dead in a day. The call-up came after Washington announced it had agreed to restock Israel's dwindling supplies of ammunition despite its sharp condemnation of an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza blamed on Israel's army. "The army has issued 16,000 additional mobilisation orders to allow troops on the ground to rest, which takes the total number of reservists to 86,000," an army spokeswoman said. Israel's security cabinet, which met for five hours Wednesday, unanimously decided to pursue attacks against Hamas "terrorist targets" and other operations to destroy a network of tunnels used by the Islamist movement between Gaza and Israel, public radio said.

COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

Israel appears determined this time to remove the threat of Hamas. Hamas came into being in 1987. It was not until 1994 that Hamas carried out its first suicide bombing against Israeli civilians in Israel. 20 years later the same group is still a thorn in the side of Israel. But the Bible makes clear that the thorn will be removed. But only after Israel suffers at their hand. Psalm 83 speaks of the Palestinians making a tumult and creating a confederacy to destroy Israel. Asaph who writes this prophecy asks for God to destroy these enemies of Israel like SISERA and JABIN. Jabin was king of the Canaanites and Sisera was his military commander. They are mentioned in Judges 4. Because of Israel ’s godlessness God handed Israel over to the Canaanites. They oppressed them ruthlessly for 20 years. But at the end of that time Israel cried to the Lord. God heard their cry. Sisera was killed with a tent peg through his head. Jabin was destroyed. After 20 years we may be nearing the time when Hamas is destroyed….

the Israelites again did evil in the Lord ’s sight. So the Lord turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth haggoyim. Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years . Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help. See also Psalm 83:9

(Judges 4:1-3)

Be ready for ‘prolonged' Gaza war, Netanyahu says

Associated Press, July 29, 2014

EVENT

Signaling an escalation of Israel's Gaza operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis Monday to be ready for a "prolonged" war, and the military warned Palestinians in three large neighborhoods to leave their homes and head immediately for Gaza City. In central Gaza City early Tuesday, at least two major explosions hit a media complex housing the offices of Hamas-run Al Aqsa television and radio. The blasts shook surrounding buildings and started a fire on the roof of the office block, one of Gaza's tallest. Israel says its troops will not leave Gaza until they have demolished scores of Hamas military tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border that militants use to infiltrate Israel and smuggle weapons. Hamas says it will not cease fire until it receives international guarantees Gaza's 7-year-old border blockade by Egypt and Israel will be lifted.

COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

This is already the longest war that Israel has fought since the opening war when Israel was established in 1948. But the prime minister of Israel has said this week to be ready for a prolonged war. So even this long war is not going to be over anytime soon.

Whether it is this war or not one thing is certain. For Psalm 83 and Zechariah 12 to be fulfilled it requires far more nations and people to be involved. At the moment it purely involves Palestinians in Gaza. But Zechariah 12 speaks of neighbouring nations / heathen people. In Psalm 83 we have areas of Lebanon involved, parts of Syria, people living in Jordan and even people of Amalek who once lived within the actual borders of the current borders of Israel. So could this conflict escalate to involve many other people? Yes... The Bible says it will happen. However Israel WINS this war. It is greatly weakened in the process but victorious. But it is just part 1 of the final conflict … Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; ..For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; …; and they shall know that I am the LORD. And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them , that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. Zidon is stronghold of Hezbollah

(Ezekiel 28:21-24)

NATO must respond to Russia: Cameron

Associated Press, August 1, 2014

EVENT

NATO must rethink its long-term relationship with Russia and strengthen the alliance's ability to respond quickly to any threat, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday. NATO needs to sustain a "robust" defensive presence in eastern Europe, Cameron wrote in a letter to the alliance's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and the 27 other NATO country leaders. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization also needs to beef up its response force of rapidly deployable land, sea, air and special operations troops, he said. With six weeks to go before Britain hosts the NATO summit in Newport, south Wales, Cameron said he wanted to use the meeting to agree a tougher policy towards Moscow, which would send a message that NATO member states would not be intimidated. ” In 2014, the world is more unpredictable than ever and we meet at another pivotal moment in the history of the alliance," Cameron wrote

COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

We are seeing the preparations of the king of the north (Russia) to come down into the Middle East. We are also seeing the king of the south (US / UK) pushing at Russia over Ukraine. The UK prime minster this week warned of complacency in regards to Russia. He said we should be rearming and preparing for further conflicts with Russia. So what of the Russian conflict of Ezekiel 38? This is stage 2 and comes hot on the heels of the conclusion of stage 1. Stage 2 is detailed in Zechariah 14 and the nations are detailed in Ezekiel 38. Notice how in Zechariah 14 there is no mention of “nearby nations ”. Notice in v2 they come to take a “spoil”. Notice (unlike Zechariah 12) that Jerusalem is captured and becomes a ruin. Zechariah 14 is the outer ring of nations that descend into vacuum left by the stage 1 conflict. Click here to watch a video on this Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city .

This stage 2 war is about SPOIL – see Ezekiel 38.12. Jerusalem is left a ruin in this war. In Zechariah 12:6 Jerusalem survives.

(Zechariah 14:1-2)

Libya Islamic militias declare control of Benghazi

Associated Press, July 31, 2014

EVENT

Islamic hard-line militias, including the group accused by the United States in a 2012 attack that killed the ambassador and three other Americans, claimed control of Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, after overrunning army barracks and seizing heavy weapons. The sweep in the eastern city is part of a new backlash by hard-liners against their rivals ahead of the sitting of a new parliament. In the capital Tripoli, escalating battles Thursday between militias prompted multiple foreign governments to scramble to get out their citizens as thousands of Libyans fled across the border into Tunisia. The weeks-long surge of violence renewed fears that Libya, which has been in chaos since the 2011 civil war that ousted Colonel Gadhafi, is plunging deeper into civil strife. With a crippled central government and weak army and police, the country's numerous rival militias have held sway in Libya for the past three years.

COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

The death toll in Libya ’s capital Tripoli is rocketing since the violence intensified the past month. 214 people have been killed with more than 981 people wounded.

Once more we have hard-line Islamic militants taking over areas of a country that was recently bombed by the West. It is a very similar picture in Iraq. The newly formed Islamic State is also militant Muslim and is taking over parts of the land that the West bombed back in 2003. Libya of course is one of the nations that joins with Russia to invade Israel. Would we imagine Libya to be under the control of radical Islamic militants at the time this happens? The answer would surely be yes. Russia will gather to it nations totally opposed to Israel. Nations like Iran, Turkey, North Sudan. Libya will be part of the second stage of the conflict over Israel. They will attack from all sides… 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: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them ; all of them with shield and helmet:

(Ezekiel 38:4-5)

Ebola outbreak: We're heading towards a catastrophe

Daily Telegraph, August 1, 2014

EVENT

The health chief leading the fight against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has warned it was spiralling out of control towards a response to the disease had been “catastrophic” epidemic that could engulf the region. Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organisation, said the “woefully inadequate” and it was “moving faster than our efforts to control it countries, ”. Her warnings - the starkest to date - were delivered to the leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia as they held a crisis summit to discuss how to curb the crisis, which has now claimed at least 729 lives.

“If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socio-economic disruption and a high risk of spread to other ” Dr Chan said, according to a transcript seen by the Reuters news agency of her remarks to the summit in the Guinean capital, Conakry.

COMMENT BIBLE QUOTE

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, said there was now fear and panic across the country, adding: “There are dead bodies all over the place and they now know that it ’s real. They know that it’s deadly and they are now beginning to respond.” Ebola disease was first identified in 1976 and until 2013, fewer than 500 people a year have been infected. This year has seen the largest outbreak and its on-going. As of July 2014 more than 1320 cases have occurred. Efforts are on-going to develop a vaccine; however, none currently exists. Jesus describes the time before he would return. He said earthquakes, in divers places.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and ” A pestilence include plague. We are seeing the people rising up against people and nation against nation. We also see increasing plague… what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you..And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences , and earthquakes, in divers places.

(Matthew 24:3-7)

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PLEASE NOTE: The Weekly World Watch is written and sent by myself scriptures and hope that it will be of benefit to both of us.

– it is my take on events and I accept that on occasions I will miss significant events and also misinterpret them as well. However I will endeavour to be faithful to the Please take a look at this excellent Christadelphian Prophecy website Just click the image To watch again, click here.