Bible In The News

Welcome to the first edition of Bible in the News for the year 2007. Well, during the last week there can be little doubt as to what the top story has been. The execution of Saddam Hussein has dominated the news, with pictures of the ex-leader of Iraq standing on the gallows with the hangman’s rope being placed upon his neck. Many have wondered whether it was necessary to display the graphic details of his last moments to the world quite like this, and so there has been some debate about it. Some see Saddam's death in terms of justice done. Others have taken it a step further, rejoicing in vengeance and seemingly taking pleasure in the death of the dictator. But then others again have sought to make political mileage out of the event and the pictures, in their campaign against the death penalty in the interests of what is called "human rights."

"Har HaBayit Be'Yadanu!" The Temple Mount is in our hands. These were the words of the Israeli commander Motta Gur as Israel took control of the Temple Mount in the 6-day war. Later Rabbi Shlomo Goren prayed at the western wall saying: "Blessed are thou Lord, who comforts Zion and builds Jerusalem." 1967 was an amazing time for the building of Jerusalem and returning to lands that had been liberated--it was like a Biblical Jubilee when God said in Leviticus 25:10 that "ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land... ye shall return every man unto his possession".

This IS The Bible in the News with Paul Billington-- and THIS week get out YOUR Bible and find the prophecy of Joel. While you are finding it I just want to mention a couple of news items. These are some headlines that we have gathered over the past few days:

This is the Bible in the News with Paul Billington talking with you this week about Iran, the Holocaust denial conference, and the response to it by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem. To many of us, denying the Nazi Holocaust of World War II is only possible if you are a crank--a madman--and obsessed by a hatred of reality as well as of the Jews. It is hard to understand the mind of someone who would blind themselves to all the accumulated evidence that there is. Yet that is what a conference in Iran was engaged in during the week. As we will know, President Ahmadinejad of Iran not only denies the fact that six million Jews perished in the Nazi Holocaust, but he wants to repeat the terrible crime by (in his words) wiping Israel off the map. Israel, incidentally, has about 6 million Jews there today--so he really does intend to match the exploits of Adolf Hitler!

Welcome once again to another edition of the Bible in the News. This is Paul Billington speaking with you from Ontario in Canada. Things are not looking all that good for Israel these days--or for the Middle East in general for that matter. Many see the approach of another war. It is inevitable they say. Different views are expressed in the media about the prospects for peace--the left wing secularist press seems to think that peace between Israel and the Palestinians is attainable while others think not. As expressed by the Jerusalem Post’s Caroline Glick:

This is The Bible in the News brought to you again this week by Paul Billington, speaking from Ontario, Canada! This week finds the pope visiting Turkey and trying to make peace with his Orthodox counterpart and with his Islamic critics. His visit is significant and is part of the Vatican’s policy to unite the whole of Europe under the dominant spiritual headship of Rome. Istanbul--formerly Constantinople--is the hub of early Christendom as it was organized by Constantine the Great and later ruled by Justinian and other Emperors. In those days it was a united Christian (or rather Catholic) Roman Empire, and it remained that way until the Great Schism of 1054. That is when Roman Catholics in the west split from Orthodox Christians in the east. That divided the Empire along religious lines.

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News brought to you this week by Paul Billington in Jerusalem, Israel. While instability to the north of Israel is increased by the assassination of a Lebanon government minister this week, and the situation in the south is becoming worse due to continuing violence in Gaza--despite these items being in the news, there is hope among a section of Israel's youth, and we saw them expressing that hope vigorously and with amazing enthusiasm on Monday night as they danced, sang and prayed in a procession around the ancient gates of the old temple area.

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News brought to you this week by Paul Billington in Jerusalem, Israel. This is a city of controversy; especially religious controversy. That fact cannot be avoided when you visit this ancient city.

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News with Paul Billington here to talk about it! This week we bring you a shorter version than is usual due to time constraints which are upon us for several reasons. One reason is the preparation that we are making to go to Israel this coming weekend. This means that next week, God willing, we will speak with you from Jerusalem.

Welcome once again to the Bible in the News. This is Paul Billington with this week's edition. Associated press and the Jerusalem Post report that Israeli troops, backed up by tanks and helicopter gunships mounted a military operation in northern Gaza on Wednesday. Analysts were reported as saying that Hamas had learned a great deal from the war in Lebanon and were trying to emulate Hizbollah’s tactics. They had also acquired advanced Russian-made weaponry, including antitank missiles which could--according to Shaom Harari--"break the strategic balance" in the region.

This is 'The Bible in the News' brought to you again this week by Paul Billington here in Ontario Canada--and like many others in the northern hemisphere, we watch the gradual approach of winter, knowing that keeping warm over the next few months will cost us--we will have to pay the price for the energy we require. And for those living in Europe, that price could be very high. Not that it is just this year--but the winter of 2007-8 as well, followed by that of 2008--9 and so on. The time may well come when the price of keeping warm--the price of energy--could be freedom. As we pointed out on this programme last week, Russia's Vladimir Putin is expanding his control, not only over the former empire of the Soviet Union, but over Western Europe as well--and this he is doing through Germany.

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News--a weekly look at the News with the Bible in hand. This week we turn the spotlight on to Russia, especially in light of the visit there by Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert, who meets with Vladimir Putin. They will discuss Israel’s concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, as well as the shipment of Russian armaments to Syria who is re-supplying the Hizbollah terrorists in Lebanon. They will also doubtless talk about the deteriorating situation in Gaza, and the build-up of arms among Palestinians there.

This is The Bible in the News, brought to you this week by Paul Billington. The nuclear test by North Korea reported during the past week is yet another warning to the world of impending judgement upon the present evil generation that knows not God, and that obeys not the gospel of the Kingdom and name of Jesus Christ.

This is Dave Billington with you for this weeks Bible in the News. Hebrew was once a language considered holy and not for every day use, but today it is the living national language of the modern state of Israel. Jews returning home from the four corners of the earth speaking diverse languages, are able to learn the language of the bible, the language of their nation, a language that binds them together.

This is The Bible in the News with Paul Billington. This last week we have heard the pope tell Muslim diplomats and ambassadors that he was misunderstood over his remarks made in Germany two weeks ago, and while not offering a personal apology (as had been demanded), he actually re-enforced his earlier position by saying that religion cannot be spread through violence. Saying that he "esteems" Islam, he called for a "sincere and respectful" dialogue.

Hello--and welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News. This is Paul Billington once again, as we look at the news over the past week, we see that the purpose of God as he has revealed it through the Scriptures of the Prophets, continues to work itself out in the events that are taking place. There can be no doubt that the main news story during the past week has been about the Pope upsetting Muslims by his remarks in Germany. We commented on this in our programme last week. Well, the debate has continued as to just what the Pope was trying to achieve. The debate was summed up in a headline that appeared in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: POLITICAL ERROR OR CALCULATED MOVE.

Welcome to the Bible in the News. So what is in the news, and how does it connect with the Bible? During the past week two significant speeches have been in the news. One was given by the pope who has been touring his native Bavaria in Germany. The other speech was given by Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was visiting Israel and the Middle East.

Welcome once again to another edition of our weekly 'Bible in the News' programme. As reports of growing anti-Semitism are heard from Britain, from Australia, Canada and other countries it becomes obvious that one reason for it all is the pressure of Islamic groups, and the willingness of media-men to submit to it. But hiding behind the cloak of Islamic fanaticism, there are other parties who are quite happy with the trend, and who are even willing to encourage it--and among these are the Christian left-wing groups who have a disproportionate influence over both the print and electronic media. There is no doubt that the world today is faced with an unreasonable prejudice against not only the Jewish people, but also against the Israeli State and its Zionism.

Welcome to some more news that shows us how the Bible's road-map of prophecy is on track, and moving in the direction that was foretold. While the Middle East continues to simmer, and Israel looks at its bruises, and the Arabs assess the Iranian threat to themselves--the rest of the world also has to ponder the Islamic threat. A survey held by Britain's Daily Telegraph last week revealed that 53 percent of Britons believe that Islam now poses a threat to western democracy. And if that is true for Britain, we can be sure that the rest of Europe is feeling the same sort of thing in varying degrees.

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News with Paul Billington speaking with you from Canada. As we speak with you this week, the world is watching to see if the Lebanon cease-fire will hold, whether the United Nations can do what it has been asked to do, whether the Olmert Government of Israel can survive--and basically, where do things go from here.