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Andy Walton’s
Weekly World Watch
August 1 - 7, 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.
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.
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’s description of the event. It is always a direct
quotation from the news report and reflects the understanding of the
reporter and editors.
COMMENT
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]).
BIBLE
QUOTE
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
August 1 - 7, 2010
• Pakistan floods affect 14 million
• Russian heatwave kills 5,000, fires rage out of control
• Solar storm hitting Earth causes spectacular displays
• Lebanon, Israel clash near border; at least 4 dead
• The smell of smoke in the air all comes back to Iran
• Pope will cash in on 'paying pilgrims'
To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right
Pakistan floods affect 14 million
Daily Telegraph, August 6, 2010
EVENT
The worst floods in Pakistan's history have affected 14 million people, the
government's disaster management agency has said.
More than 12 million are affected in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, while
a further two million are affected in Sindh.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appealed for immediate international help to cope
with the disaster as authorities evacuated half a million people from risk areas in the
south. "I would ask international community to support and help Pakistan alleviate
sufferings of flood-affected people," Gilani said in a televised address to the nation.
"Pakistan has been hit by worst floods of its history," he said. "The loss of human lives
and infrastructure has been colossal and real assessment of damages can only be
done when water recedes." The nearly two-week-old disaster across the largely
impoverished country hard hit by Taliban-linked violence, washed away entire villages
and killed at least 1,600, according to UN estimates.
COMMENT God is in control of events happening here on earth. These are great signs and
wonders that are showing those who would see that the final judgements of God are
about to be poured out. If we doubt at all the hand of God in these floods consider
these words. Job 37:5 “God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth
he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth;
likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.” These great rains
show us his strength. Jesus says the world will be as it was in the days of Noah. We
know the world was flooded at that time and ended all life. We know that God will not
destroy the world in that way again but these floods are a warning we live in those days
BIBLE
QUOTE
He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they
swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. He brings the
clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love..
(Job 37:11-13 NIV)
Russian heatwave kills 5,000, fires rage out of
control
Daily Telegraph, August 6, 2010
EVENT
Russia's devastating summer heatwave has cost almost 5,000 lives, according to
officials who conceded yesterday that the state was struggling to gain control over the
worst wildfires in decades.
The ministry for emergencies issued an urgent call for volunteers to join fire brigades
to bolster the fight against the peat and forest fires raging out of control around
Moscow.
Temperatures in Russia have hit records for the time of year on at least six occasions
in recent weeks. Forecasters said there would be no respite from temperatures above
97F (36C) for at least another week.
Almost half a million acres are still burning and Nasa images have shown smoke from
the fires visible from space. The US space agency said the smoke has at times
reached six miles into the stratosphere.
COMMENT Jesus tells us to consider not only the days of Noah (which ended in the greatest flood
ever) but he also tells us to consider the days of Sodom. Read Luke 17:26-30.
The days of Sodom ended in great fiery destruction. The very first time in the Bible the
word “smoke” is used is in Gen 19:28 “And he [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and
Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the
country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” As we look at the largest nation on earth
we see thick smoke swirling around its capital. Many state buildings have shut due to
the fact they cannot switch off the smoke alarms! “Never has this country seen anything
like this, and we simply have no experience of working in such conditions," a Moscow
emergency official said Friday. The fire and smoke is a sign will live in days like Sodom
BIBLE
QUOTE
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible
day of the LORD come.
(Joel 2:30-31)
Solar storm hitting Earth causes spectacular displays
Daily Telegraph, August 4, 2010
EVENT
Headline:
The Sun is getting angry.
How can we protect ourselves?
A large solar storm has caused spectacular aurora displays across the
Northern Hemisphere after blasting out of the Sun three days ago.
On 1 August, almost the entire side of the Sun that faces the Earth erupted in a blaze
of activity known as a "coronal mass ejection". These storms throw up to 10 billion
tons of plasma - superheated gas - off the surface of the star and hurtling into space
at around a million miles an hour. It covered the 93 million mile journey from the Sun
to the Earth in just three and a half days.
It was the "first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time," according to Leon
Golub, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), who
warned of the event on Monday. While no damage seems to have been done by this
flare, Nasa astronomers have previously warned that a much larger solar storm could
cause havoc with electrical systems on Earth. In 1989, a smaller but still enormous
storm caused the power grids in Quebec to go down for nine hours.
COMMENT As if there is not enough in the way of signs on earth we also have signs in the literal
sun as well. As the headline above says “The sun is getting angry”…
It is worth repeating some of more words in the article above.. “On 1 August, almost the
entire side of the Sun that faces the Earth erupted in a blaze of activity”. Yet another
coincidence or another sign we are nearing the end? We make that answer now…
Can we have any excuse when Christ finally returns? Can we possibly say there were
not enough signs to warn us? We are told that Christ will come “as a thief in the night”
This does not mean quietly – it means unexpectedly. HOWEVER we also read that we
are not in darkness – we are in the light so his coming will NOT be unexpected to us!
BIBLE
QUOTE
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Therefore let us not
sleep, as do others; but let us watch
(1 Thessalonians 5:2,5,6)
Lebanon, Israel clash near border; at least 4 dead
Associated Press, August 3, 2010
EVENT
Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire Tuesday in a fierce border battle that
killed a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist ¬ underlining how
easily tensions can re-ignite along the frontier where Israel and Hezbollah fought a
war four years ago. It was the worst fighting since 2006 in the area, where Israeli and
Lebanese soldiers patrol within shouting distance of each other, separated by the
U.N.-drawn Blue Line boundary.
The fighting flared into Israeli tank, helicopter and artillery strikes near this Lebanese
town, but ended after several hours and there was no sign that either side was
preparing to escalate.
Tuesday's violence stoked fears that have been brewing for months on both sides that
a new conflict could come soon. Tensions along the border have risen in recent
months. Israel claims Hezbollah has significantly expanded and improved its arsenal
of rockets since 2006, with help from its allies Syria and Iran.
COMMENT Tensions have been building month on month on the Israeli Lebanese border.
The battle this week was not between Hezbollah and Israel but between Lebanese
soldiers and Israel. The UN peace keepers in the area just looked on as it took place.
Israel has given a warning to Beirut that if the Lebanese army fail to punish the officer
who authorised the sniper attack, Israel will deem it an enemy force and feel free to
destroy its military positions along their border.
There are verses in the Bible that indicate that destruction is coming on Lebanon. The
same verses indicate that the fires coming on Lebanon may be like the opening of the
doors which lead to destruction and war on a greater scale.
BIBLE
QUOTE
Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is
fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is
come down. There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of
the roaring of young lions;
(Zechariah 11:1-3)
The smell of smoke in the air all comes back to Iran
Haartez, August 5, 2010
EVENT
Tensions are rising in various parts of the Middle East, and recent incidents are
feeding off each other.
The report Wednesday of a failed assassination attempt on Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fell on fertile media ground: One day after the deadly incident
on the Israel-Lebanon border and two days after rockets hit Eilat and Aqaba, it
seemed as if there weren't a drama-free moment anywhere in the region.
But there is a connection: Tensions are rising in various parts of the Middle East, and
each incident feeds off the others. For weeks, there has been a smell of smoke in the
air: the new sanctions on Iran, the smuggling of advanced weaponry from Syria and
Iran to Hezbollah, the probe into former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri's murder.
Something else was also reported from Iran yesterday: that it has acquired four
sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft missiles - or perhaps four batteries. The Russianmade missiles were reportedly obtained via Belarus.
is a smell of smoke in the air…. This article in Haaretz seems to sum up this
COMMENT There
weeks events and shows how they are perhaps connected.
In one week we have had Israel clashing with Lebanon for the first time since 2006.
The next day an assassination attempt on Iran’s president. At the very same time a
massive explosion (killing 5) occurred at Iran’s giant Pardis petrochemicals complex
near its Bushehr nuclear reactor. Reports say the plant was hit by 5 explosive devices.
Iran has also claimed it has received (from Russia) anti aircraft missiles.
As we know there is no smoke without fire. We may not be able to see the fire yet but
with all the smoke it is only a matter of time before the real conflagration begins…
BIBLE
QUOTE
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. As
smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked
perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let
them exceedingly rejoice.
(Psalm 68:1-4)
Pope will cash in on 'paying pilgrims'
Irish Independent, August 5, 2010
EVENT
“Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was the poorest of the
poor. Roman Catholicism, which claims to be His church, is
the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution on earth”
CATHOLICS in Britain are being asked to pay between £10 (€12) and
£25 (€30) to attend Masses and Pope Benedict XVI's other public
appearances during his four-day visit in September.
The donations, described as "pilgrim contributions" by the church, are needed to help
defray costs of up to £20m (€24m) and were disclosed as the 'Protest the Pope'
coalition announced its first public event to campaign against the visit, in Richmond
upon Thames, southwest London, next week.
The most expensive event, at £25 a head, will be the Mass in Birmingham on
September 19, which is expected to attract 70,000 people and will beatify the Anglican
convert Cardinal John Henry Newman.
COMMENT The Catholic Church has always made money using its false religion as a way to
hoodwink its congregation. In times past “indulgences” could be bought (and sold).
Indulgences were a way of getting forgiveness of certain sins and they cost money!
There were also other “scams” as well. One was called “Peter’s Pence” which was a
tithe paid to the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. It was formally discontinued in
England at the Reformation.
In September for the first time in history the Pope is coming to Britain on a state visit.
Interesting that he wants to raise money from this and charge people for attending his
mass. This visit marks the crescendo of Britain (latter day Tyre) singing like a harlot.
It will bring great judgements on this country as prophesied. To find out more about the
link between the present Queen and the Pope’s visit click here to download a talk.
BIBLE
QUOTE
For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every
one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:,, And upon all the ships of Tarshish,…, the
LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. (Isaiah 2:12-18)
The Pope is the ultimate idol - calling himself God on earth (The Holy Father)
The end of this week’s
Weekly World Watch
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