Bible In The News

When we come to look at the prophecies relating to the time of the end we see that it is not an end of the world but rather this order of things, it is however a time of judgment. Welcome to antoher edition of the Bible in the News.

As the "Arab Spring" moves into a scorching summer, the temperature in the Middle East is climbing dangerously high. We have seen events in Syria lead to civil war and now Egypt is being torn apart by the struggle between the various factions who seek power and control of that country. As far as Egypt is concerned, it brings to mind the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 19, where God says (verse 2):

Massive demonstrations have swept the Islamic brotherhood from power in Egypt, Morsi was voted in by 13 million votes and ousted by 14 million demonstrators. In the end it was the country's powerful military which removed Morsi from office and dissolved parliament. Many are calling this a military coup and a return to the days of Mubarak, when the military essentially ruled Egypt. Welcome to Bible in the News.

The Sheba, Dedan and the Merchants of Tarshish with all the young lions thereof have been conducting exercises in area of Jordan, while Russia builds up its "many ships" in preparation for the time of the end.

Israel used to be totally dependent on importing fuel but the days of paying premium prices for gas seem to be soon over. With some of the largest natural gas discoveries in the world being found off the coast of Israel in recent years, the Israelis have so much gas, that they are set to become a major player in the region and have enough to fuel their own energy needs for at least 25 years. This is Matt Davies joining you for Bible in the News.

The Middle East remains the center of world attention as the war rages on in Syria and Turkey continues it’s decent into anarchy. Austrian Peace Keepers pull out of the Golan. Russia offers to move its troops in, and John Kerry says that Israel is dwelling confidently, securely and prosperously.

To the north of the land of Israel the unrest is exploding into a very dangerous situation and a very interesting one in the light of Bible prophecy. Over two years we have watched Syria progress from civil unrest, to civil war. Now the country is in disarray with basic necessities such as the health care system collapsing, 70,000 have lost their lives and millions have fled the country. Hezbollah has come out in support of the Assad regime, potentially bringing Lebanon into the crisis. The Assad regime seems to currently have the upper hand, but has reportedly resorted to chemical weapons use. Syria was supported by the USSR for decades and has been supported by Russia since then. Now Russia has said they will send advanced missiles to the Syrians, which are a threat to Israel. Israel has said that if the missiles are delivered they will have to deal with them using force if necessary. We considered Syria on the Bible in the News last week.

As the conflict in Syria heats up, we examine the role of the area in the light of the Bible Prophecy of a coming temporary peace and then full on conflict, which will lead to the manifestation of Christ to the nations of the world. This is the Bible in the News and I am Matt Davies joining you.

Hello, this is Paul Billington speaking with you this week from Jerusalem, Israel. This is a divided city and a divided nation - a divided people in fact. No, I do not mean Jews and Arabs - although that division exists as we all know - I mean the division between secular Israelis, the Haredi and the religious Zionists and others.

The Church of Scotland this week issued a report entitled: The inheritance of Abraham? A report on the 'promised land'. The left wing Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported this on the Ha'aretz online edition, under the headline, "Church of Scotland: Jews do not have a right to the land of Israel." The story lead in states, "A new church report challenging Jewish historic claims and criticizing Zionism has drawn anger and harsh condemnation from the local Jewish community."

According to the Bible we are NOT inherently good, quite the opposite. Look at the following passages: “For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth” (Gen 6:5) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9) “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom 7:18). We may not like the message but it is a solid consistent message, we are inherently evil. Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News.

Although 65 years ago, the creation of the state of Israel remains one of the greatest miracles of Bible Prophecy – and testifies not only to the existence of a creator, but of active role “ruling in the kingdom of men and giving it to whomsoever he wills” (Dan 4:17).

This week the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon made his way to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. This gives us a glimpse of the power of the Papacy in our days, just as we would expect from Bible prophecy. This is Matt Davies joining you again for another Bible in the News.

The federation of students at York University in Toronto, Canada passed a resolution this week endorsing the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. This is really a symbolic move and the university has no plans to proceed in the same direction. However, York is Canada's third largest university and a well known site of "Israel Apartheid Week", which has produced tension and intimidation of Jewish students on campus. The apartheid week took place in March this year.

“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth." Jeremiah 25:31.32.

The world erupted with another economic volcano of fear and dread this week as Cyprus stands on the brink of financial collapse that could drag Europe’s economy into another dive. The curtain is being drawn back on Russia's interest in the region.

On Wednesday, white smoke belched from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, to announce that a new pope had been elected to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. His appointment as the first Francis, the first Jesuit, the first American and the first non-European pontiff in more than 1250 years, seems to have delighted the media and the Catholic faithful. But we ask: is God delighted? And what does the Bible reveal about this industrial scale, global, religious, corporation?

Shabbat HaGadol - Coming up on Saturday the 23rd of March, will be, according to the Hebrew calendar, the 27th day of the month of Adar. This is the last Shabbat (or sabbath) before the Jews celebrate the Passover and is considered a special Shabbat, called "Shabbat Hagadol" (the Great Sabbath). Hello, this is Matt Davies joining you once again.

The National Post newspaper in Canada announces, "Scathing EU report calls for stepped-up sanctions on Israel over 'illegal annexation of East Jerusalem'". The EU position is bizarre just on the natural level. Calling for sanctions on Israel, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, while the terror organization Hamas rules the Gaza strip and lobs rockets at civilians in Israel seems unbalanced. The report calls Israel’s settlement campaign the single most significant threat to the two-state solution. Meanwhile the EU refuses to recognize that Hezbollah is a terror organization. Jerusalem is historically a Jewish city and the ancient capital of the Jewish people. East Jerusalem was taken by Israel in the 6-day war 46 years ago. Jordan attacked Israel on the frontline that ran through the city and Israel responded and ended up pushing the Jordanians back to the Jordan river. This means that Israel took the territory in a war of self-defence. Further, the border between the countries was never a recognized

With the recent resignation of Pope Benedict still a hot news story, it is a good time to examine the Bibles teaching concerning Peter - this is Matt Davies joining you for another Bible in the News.