1. December 6 - 12, 2009 “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) Weekly World Watch Andy Walton’s To skip the introductory slides and go straight to this weeks developments click here.

2. What is a Weekly World Watch? 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. 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.clicking here 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. Increasing natural disasters: including earthquake, famine etc The following six themes will appear repeatedly in WWW:

3. HEADLINE EVENT COMMENT News Photo The source of the headline and the date are included. 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. What is in a Weekly World Watch? 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 is straight from a news report that caught my eye because it looked significant from a Biblical perspective, usually that of prophecy. 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. 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. 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).

4. This Week’s Developments To print any of the event slides that follow, click the picture on the upper right Europe: Jerusalem should be joint capital Settlers stage Jerusalem protest If attacked, Iran wants Syria to hit back at Israel Britain uses food labels to put pressure on Israel Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Baghdad bombings December 6 - 12, 2009 Israel won't surrender Christian sites to Vatican

5. Europe: Jerusalem should be joint capital European Union foreign ministers urged Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday to make Jerusalem their shared capital, prompting a swift, angry reaction from Israel. For their part Tuesday, the Palestinians announced a boycott of products made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Palestinian Economics Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said the government has already confiscated $1 million worth of products, including foods, cosmetics and hardware, and that he hoped to remove all such goods from Palestinian store shelves next year. In Brussels, EU foreign ministers reiterated that the 27-member bloc would not recognize Israel's annexation of the eastern part of Jerusalem after it occupied it in the 1967 war. The ministers called for Israel to share Jerusalem as a capital with a future Palestinian state. Associated Press, December 8, 2009 EVENT COMMENT For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honoured me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you [Jerusalem] for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye BIBLE QUOTE (Zechariah 2:8) Within a week of Europe becoming a legal entity (the resurrected Roman Empire beast of Revelation 17) it makes an announcement that Jerusalem should be shared with the Palestinians as a capital of both states. Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967. It was exactly at this point in time that Jerusalem was restored to the Jews. They have total sovereign control over the entire city. Jesus said that the Jews would lose control of Jerusalem but would one day get it back again when the “time of the gentiles” was fulfilled. Therefore we see that in fact it is God that has given Jerusalem to the Jewish people. The nations of the world want it divided and half given to another race of people. It is exactly this issue that will bring all nations against Jerusalem to battle.

6. Settlers stage Jerusalem protest Thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters have staged a rally in Jerusalem in protest at a curb on settlement building in the West Bank. Demonstrators gathered outside the residence of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, days after he ordered a 10-month lull in permits for new settlement homes. The order followed US calls for a total freeze in settlement building. Israel said the move was aimed at helping restart peace talks, but Palestinians said it was insufficient. Jewish settlers have been angered by the moratorium, ordered by Mr Netanyahu's right-leaning government, ordinarily supportive of settlement activity in the West Bank. Nearly 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built on occupied territory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Settlement building in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law - although Israel disputes this. Protesters waved signs and banners carrying defiant slogans including "We will continue to build", and "Stop Iran's nukes, not our homes". BBConline, December 9, 2009 EVENT COMMENT Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'It will not take place, it will not happen” BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 7:6 NIV) Not only is pressure coming on Jerusalem but also the West Bank as well. In 1967, Israel captured Jerusalem and the West Bank. From that time on they had been given by God himself their city and the whole land he had promised them in Numbers 34. The current Prime Minister of Israel is trying to appease Barack Obama by stopping all settlement building. The Jews living on the West Bank are protesting at this as they believe (as we do) that it is THEIR land to build on given to them by God. We see the world trying to tear Israel apart. It is quite similar to the days when Isaiah was prophesying (see below). God did not allow the land to be torn in two.

7. If attacked, Iran wants Syria to hit back at Israel DEBKAfile's military sources report that this message Iran's defence minister Ahmad Vahidi brought to Damascus where he is attending a session of the high Iranian- Syrian defence committee which went into its second day Thursday, December 10. The Iranian visitor indicated that Tehran expects an Israeli attack within a month. According to Iranian intelligence, Jerusalem will take its green light from President Barack Obama's forced admission after Christmas that his policy of dialogue and stiffer sanctions have failed in the face of Tehran's rejection of the international proposal to send its enriched uranium for overseas processing. "The countdown for war is coming close to its end," said Vahidi to the joint defence committee. "And we must get our strategic partnership in shape ahead of time.“ Syria must commit itself to joint military action against Israel, because “stronger defence ties between Iran and Syria are elements of deterrence in confronting the Zionist regime's threats to the countries of the region.” Debkafile, December 10, 2009 EVENT COMMENT The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. BIBLE QUOTE We are careful when we quote Debkafile as it does not disclose it sources. It is basically a military intelligence website based in Jerusalem which does seem to know what is going on behind the scenes. This particular report is interesting and the meeting they refer to did happen. Note that Tehran expects an Israeli attack within a month. Barack Obama asked Israel to give diplomacy with Iran a chance until the end of 2009. Diplomacy has clearly failed so an attack is almost certainly being considered by Israel. We also see how Syria is being asked to back Iran and join in the conflict when it starts. There are unfulfilled scriptures about Syria’s capital Damascus. We read that one day it will cease to be a city. This will occur at the very end during the final conflict. (Isaiah 17:1)

8. Britain uses food labels to put pressure on Israel Britain has advised UK supermarkets on how to distinguish between foods from the settlements and Palestinian-manufactured goods in a move that will put pressure on Israel over its illegal West Bank settlements. The government's recommendation is not a legal requirement but does increase the prospects of a consumer boycott of products from those territories. Israeli officials and settler leaders have criticised the decision. Until now, food has been simply labelled "Produce of the West Bank", but the new, voluntary guidance issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), says labels could give more precise information, like "Israeli settlement produce" or "Palestinian produce", the Guardian reports. The British government and the EU have repeatedly said Israel's settlement project is an "obstacle to peace" in the Middle East. EU law already requires a distinction to be made between goods originating in Israel and those from the occupied territories, though pro-Palestinian campaigners say this is not always observed. Daily Telegraph, December 11, 2009 EVENT COMMENT Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head BIBLE QUOTE (Joel 3:4) It may seem a small matter but it shows how the pressure is constantly being put on Israel to alter and weaken its position in relation to the land. They hope by making this change that people will boycott “Israeli settlement produce”. A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. In almost every real historical case, settlers live on land which previously belonged to other long-established people. In this case the Jews are not colonizing the land – they are returning to land that was theirs and given to them by God. What have the Palestinians as a nation to do with God?

9. Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Baghdad bombings The orgy of terror continues in Iraq. It was back on the 1 st May 2003 that President Bush announced “Mission accomplished” in relation to the war in Iraq. Almost 7 years later it is clear the mission is NOT accomplished. 98% of the casualties (both coalition and Iraqi forces) have occurred since that speech! The Bible speaks of a latter day conflict in the land of Iraq. It tells us that nations from afar invade the land and bring great destruction. What is most interesting to us is that it tells us that this war happens shortly before the final judgement of the world. We see the war continue in Iraq – the final judgement is near. An Al-Qaeda group based in Iraq has claimed responsibility for five coordinated bombings that killed 127 people in Baghdad, US-based monitors said. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) issued a statement on a jihadist forum saying it carried out Tuesday's string of car and truck bombings at ministries and courthouses in the Iraqi capital that also wounded 450 people, SITE said. The Al-Qaeda statement, translated by the US monitoring group, threatened more attacks and said they were a "third-wave" after earlier deadly bombings on August 19 and October 25 that killed over 100 people. "The list of targets will not end, with permission from Allah, until the flag of monotheism is raised once against on the land of Baghdad and the sharia of Allah rules the land and the worshippers," it said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sacked Baghdad's security chief after the latest attacks, which police said were carried out by bombers backed by groups in Syria or Saudi Arabia. Daily Telegraph, December 9, 2009 EVENT COMMENT The burden of Babylon [modern Iraq], which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together.., They come from a far country… Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand BIBLE QUOTE (Isaiah 13:1,4,6)

10. Israel won't surrender Christian sites to Vatican A delegation headed by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon departed for the Vatican on Wednesday to let the Catholic Church know it will not receive ownership of dozens of Christian holy sites throughout Israel and the Palestinian-ruled territories. The Vatican has been demanding for decades that Israel surrender ownership of the holy sites, exempt the church of taxes on those properties, and waive its right to ever expropriate the land on which they sit. During that time, the Vatican has refused to pay taxes on the properties it does own in Israel. One of the main sites being demanded by the Vatican is the traditional location of Jesus' Last Supper on Mount Zion just outside the present-day walls of the Old City. Ayalon told reporters that Israel will not relinquish ownership of the room of the Last Supper or any of the other 28 holy sites under its direct sovereignty, but is willing to make some concessions on taxes and to waive its right to nationalize church property. Israel Today, December 10, 2009 EVENT COMMENT Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD BIBLE QUOTE (Jeremiah 31:37) The Vatican desperately wants not only land in Jerusalem but also sovereign control of land in Jerusalem. It is totally different to own a plot of land than to have sovereign control over it. You may own land but you come under the laws of the government and therefore you pay their taxes etc. If you have sovereign control you do not pay taxes, you make the rules. The main aim of the Vatican is to wrestle away Jerusalem (even part of it) from the Jews. If it can do this then it can continue with its false claim that Rome is the new Jerusalem. As long as the Jews have full sovereignty over Jerusalem this claim is weakened and is proved false. God has not cast off the Jews or Jerusalem.

11. E-MAIL ANDY Click here (Move the mouse until the cursor appears.) To watch again, click here. 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. Weekly World Watch The end of this week’s