Bible In The News

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.

Hello again: This is Paul Billington discussing the Bible in the News, in one more edition of our weekly analysis. Well, the war--if it really is over--has not achieved all that we had anticipated and hoped for--namely the tranquil situation described in Ezekiel 38:11. But the present inconclusive situation that we now see, cannot persist indefinitely. The results to look for have not changed, even if their achievement might seem to have been postponed--And the Scriptures upon which our expectations are based, have not changed either.

With the war in Lebanon at an uncertain stage, and with many of our Israeli friends now in the midst of battle--this is Paul Billington bringing you another edition of our weekly Bible in the News programme.

This is the Bible in the News brought to you this week by Paul Billington. While many of us are wondering how far the current Middle East War might spread Britain's Tony Blair pressed a few buttons in a speech given in Los Angeles this week. He connected to the Middle East crisis--to the Israeli-Palestinian issue and to the much wider issue of Islamic fundamentalism versus democracy. Mr Blair pressed a few sensitive buttons--and some of them were right, while others were decidedly off the mark and unworkable.

Today July 26th 2006: Israeli ground forces are at war in Lebanon; Haifa, Israel's third largest city is in a state of siege from Hezbollah rockets, as are most other northern Israeli cities as far south as Tiberias, as 120 Hezbollah rockets land--today; looking for a solution in Rome, an international peace conference fails to set guidelines for a cease fire in Lebanon and also fails to mention or condemn Hizbullah, Katyusha rocket fire on Israel or the abduction of the Israeli soldiers; and nine Israeli soldiers are killed in a Hezbollah ambush as Israel pushes deeper into Lebanon. This is David Billington with Bible in the News.

Welcome to the July 19th edition of Bible in the News, this is Dave Billington. King Saul tried again and again to kill David, he pursued him from one end of the land to the other. Saul knew that it was God's purpose for David to be the next king--David, a neighbour of his that was better than him. At one point King Saul was pursuing David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain, David was hurrying away for fear of Saul--he almost had him. Saul and his men were closing in for the kill. Then all of a sudden a messenger came to Saul and said: "Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land." So Saul left pursuing David and went against the Philistines. This is a wonderful example of the hand of God at work behind the scenes, moving events in a predetermined direction towards the establishment of the kingdom of David which was the Kingdom of God.

This is another edition of the Bible in the News with Paul Billington of the Bible Magazine. And of course, there is plenty of News for us to talk about--and the problem for us each week is in choosing which news story to focus on--because many of them in one way and another can be related to the Bible. This week for instance it had been my intention to comment on the visit of Pope Benedict to Spain, seeing this as part of the Vatican's overall strategy to coax Europe back to its Catholic roots.

This is the Bible in the News with Paul Billington once again--and it has been a week with many events in the news relating in one way and another to the Bible. It is incredible that less than one year since Israel itself expelled its citizens from Gush Katif in the Gaza strip, Hamas has come to power there and Kassam rockets are falling upon Ashkelon in Israel. What kind of "Disengagement" is that? Well it isn't is it? Israeli tanks are now engaged in racing around Gaza in the hope of persuading these Palestinians to let a kidnapped soldier return home. It doesn't take much wisdom to see that the policies of the former Sharon government, as well as that of the present Government under Ehud Olmert, is totally bankrupt. All the warnings that were given by Israel's right wing, as to what would follow Disengagement, have proved to be correct, and some!

Hello again: This is the Bible in the News brought to you by Paul Billington--and the news is centered again this week on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.