Bible In The News

This weeks Bible in the News focuses in on the origins of Christmas. In these origins lies a dark and mysterious secret which exposes modern Christianity as a religious system which has fallen away from the true Gospel revealed in the Bible. This is Matt Davies joining you for a special Christmas edition of the Bible in the News.

This week, the BBC ran a feature entitled “Arab Spring: 10 unpredicted outcomes”, by its Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly. However, as Bible students are aware, some of these, “unpredicted outcomes” are not as “unpredicted” as Connolly imagines.

While the Western world is turning away from God and religion, it is surprising to read a headline on Israel's left wing Ha'aretz news site saying: "Once bastions of secularism, Israel's kibbutzim find God". While the Western world has began to have the "Atheist Church", why would Israel's bastions of secularism rediscover God?

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News. In an article this week the Mclean's magazine had an article titled "Israel’s best friend: Stephen Harper"

"What was concluded in Geneva last night is not a historic agreement, it's a historic mistake. It's not made the world a safer place. Like the agreement with North Korea in 2005, this agreement has made the world a much more dangerous place. I know that many share the concern of Israel, especially in the region and there is a reason for this. For years the international community has demanded that Iran cease all uranium enrichment. Now, for the first time, the international community has formally consented that Iran continue its enrichment of uranium. This is in direct contravention of UN security resolutions. Iran is taking only cosmetic steps which it could reverse easily within a few weeks, and in return, sanctions that took years to put in place are going to be eased. Iran is going to receive billions of dollars worth of sanctions release. So the pressures on Iran are being lifted and eased, and with this pressure this first step could very well be the last step. Without continued pressure, what incentive

Over the past couple of weeks the rifts in the Arab world have become very clear. Traditionally the Arab states have remained united against Israel, but the threat of a nuclear Iran has divided the Arabs, with some finding themselves on the same side as Israel. This division follows Biblical prophetical lines.

“...I will turn thee (the Russian Gog) back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army... Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them...” Ezekiel 38:4,5. It is now fifteen years since The Bible Magazine published an article entitled “Hungry Russia: A Bear Robbed of her Whelps...” At that time (1998) Russia had lost its Soviet empire, and few expected a speedy recovery, but now the BBC runs a headline on its web-site declaring: “Russia in the Middle East: Return of the Bear!”

A combination of circumstances prevents us from producing our usual Bible in the News this week, so we apologize for the missing audio version and for the shortened print version now before you. However, the Bible is always in the news as prophecy is fulfilling before our eyes. This week an amazing headline appeared on the Israeli Arutz Sheva news site. It read: “US Removing navy from Mid-East As Russia Enters.” So as the United States backs away from its involvement in any military activity, Russia is moving in its most powerful warships. Prophecies such as Daniel 11:40-43 come readily to mind.

This week we take a look at interesting events happening in the Mediterranean area, as we see further signs of the prophetic jigsaw puzzle being put into place. This is Matt Davies joining you for Bible in the News.

Thousands of Jews from Israel and all over the world converge on Hebron this weekend for a significant and festive Sabbath honouring the Jewish reading of the Torah portion called Chayei Sarah, which is Genesis 23:1 - 25:18. Even as Jews gathered to Hebron, the city of Abraham to celebrate, seven left wing demonstrators were arrested for causing a disturbance protesting the Jewish presence in the ancient city. The city of Hebron is often in the news. Today it is a divided city of conflict and a difficult place for Jews to live; a place where there is a great danger of Arab terrorism and where they are harassed by left wing provocateurs.

According to new reports this week if you go to Israel today you will see an increase in baby strollers and cranes, which was already a common sight to say the least! The Jewish birth rate is surging, as is the number of new homes in the so called west bank.

Symptoms of the weakening of Western influence are being seen all around the globe. The government shutdown in America is tarnishing America’s reputation as a credible world power. Alarm bells are being sounded about withdrawal of aid from Egypt. Other forces are happily stepping into the vacuum. Bible Prophecy is hitting the headlines.

Where ever we look in the world we see Bible Prophecy fulfilling. In Europe, Russia, the West, Iran, Israel... This week we'll briefly take a look at some of the events happening all over the globe. First, Europe and Russia.

This week Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with Foreign States (i.e. Foreign minister), has called for a "Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction." Welcome to another edition of Bible in the News.

Suddenly Mr. Putin has eclipsed Mr. Obama as the world leader driving the agenda in the Syria crisis. He has vocally criticized as America’s militarism and reasserted Russian interests in a region where it had been marginalized since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The civil war in Syria has continued to escalate with the Assad regime resorting to chemical weapons use. The chemical sarin is reportedly been used and resulting in the horrific deaths of almost 1500 men, women and children - no doubt many if not most of them civilians. The United States has flip-flopped on a possible military response, along with Britain and France, to send a strong message that chemical weapons are not internationally acceptable in conflict. Commentators have said the tepid response from the United States sends a message of weakness to the renegade states in the world. It has sent a message to Israel that if chemical weapons were used against the Jewish state, the security guarantees the United States has made, may not be worth the paper they are written on.

A series of anti-Israel advertisements in Vancouver, sponsored by the "Palestine Awareness Coalition" is causing controversy in the city, with Jewish groups demanding that they be taken down. The public transit ads have four maps, showing supposed Palestinian borders disappearing into the State of Israel. The maps show what has happened within the state of Israel to some degree — of course they leave out the important fact that Arabs make up over 20% of Israel's population and would be able to vote and so on. However, the ads leave out the wider context of the region. When this context is taken into the picture it changes the situation considerably.

The beginning of the Arab Spring, in December 2010, was a development warmly welcomed by western media and politicians. It was hoped that it would bring about the establishment of “liberal” democracy in the Arab World.

The United States issued a global terror alert this past week following the discovery of a plot to attack American diplomatic missions in the Middle East.

"The parties have agreed to remain engaged in sustained, continuous and substantive negotiations on the core issues, and they will meet within the next two weeks either in Israel or the Palestinian territories in order to begin the process of formal negotiation. The parties have agreed here today that all the final status issues, all the core issues and all other issues are all on the table for negotiation. They are on the table with one simple goal: a view to ending the conflict, ending the claims. Our objective will be to achieve a final-status agreement over the course of the next nine months"