““TT his is the word of the LORDcon-cerning Israel. The LORD, whostretches out the heavens, who

lays the foundation of the earth, and whoforms the spirit of man within him,declares: ‘I am going to make Jerusalem acup that sends all the surrounding peoplesreeling. Judah will be besieged as well asJerusalem. On that day, when all thenations of the earth are gathered againsther, I will make Jerusalem an immovablerock for all the nations. All who try to moveit will injure themselves’” (Zechariah 12:1-3, New International Version).

So begins a sobering end-timeprophecy about the city of Jerusalem.While the world hasn’t yet arrived atthe brink of that crisis, many is thenation that has attempted to repositionJerusalem (“to move it” in the languageof the oracle).

The nations of the world—a“Quartet” of the United Nations, theEuropean Union, Russia and the UnitedStates—are poised to attempt to reposi-tion Jerusalem yet again. It was to be partof Phase III of the “Roadmap for Peace,”drawn up by the Quartet, when theywould convene a conference that “leads to

a final, permanent status resolution onborders, Jerusalem, refugees and settle-ments” (U.S. Department of State,Bureau of Public Affairs document).

Abbas and Sharon:Showdown Over

JerusalemHow to resolve the opposing claims over the world’s most

controversial city, Jerusalem, was to be part of the internationalefforts to bring peace to the Middle East this year. The Sharon

administration yanked it out of the end of the “Roadmap for Peace”and is making it an issue now. Barely established in office,

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has to get helpfrom the Bush administration, or else Abbas’ ability to lead—and his

ability to make peace—will end before it begins.

by Cecil E. Maranville

Abbas and Sharon:Showdown Over Jerusalem

by Cecil E. Maranville. . . . . . . . . . 1

Restoration: Let Justice Run . . .

by Darris McNeely . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Thousand-Year-Old LessonsFrom the Crusades for Today

by Melvin Rhodes . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

60 Years After the War inEurope

by Darris McNeely . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

When the Gas Pumps inEurope Run Dry

by Paul Kieffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

A Downsized Lifestyle IsComing—Will You Makethe Adjustment?

by Graemme Marshall . . . . . . . . . . 12

This Is the Way... Seeing It With Your OwnEyes

by Robin Webber. . . . . . . . . . . . 16

June 2005 | Vol. 8, No. 5

(See“ JERUSALEM ,” page 3)

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U.S. President George W. Bushgestures toward Palestinian

President Mahmoud Abbas asthey hold a joint pressconference May 26

World News and Prophecyis published monthly by theUnited Church of God,an International Association,publisher of The Good News magazine, 555Technecenter Drive, Milford, OH 45150. © 2005United Church of God,an International Association.Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproductionin any form without written permission is prohibited.

The mission of World News and Prophecy(WNP) is toprovide United Church of God members and otherinterested persons with commentary and analysis ofselected world news topics in the light of Bible prophe-cy. Its purpose is to help readers discern the times andincrease their awareness and understanding of theanswers Christ gave to His disciples’ questions: “Tellus, when will these things be? And what will be the signof Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew24:3).

Managing editor: Darris McNeelySenior editors: Melvin Rhodes, Robin Webber

Contributing editor: John Ross SchroederCopy editors: Becky Bennett, Doug Johnson, Cecil

E. MaranvilleLayout/design: Mike Bennett, Peter W. Eddington

Scriptural references are from the New King JamesVersion (© 1988 Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers)unless otherwise noted.

The United Church of God provides World News andProphecy (WNP) as an educational service for interestedpersons. The purpose of WNP is to help readers discernthe times and increase their awareness and understandingof current events in the light of Bible prophecy. Althoughthe staff strives for truth and accuracy in its reporting,analysis and Bible commentary,WNP is not a doctrinalpublication. Articles do undergo both an editorial and areview process.

Unsolicited materials:Due to staffing limitations,unsolicited materials sent to World News andProphecywill not be critiqued or returned. By theirsubmission authors agree that submitted materialsbecome the property of the United Church of God,an International Association,to use as it sees fit.This agreement is controlled by California law.

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June 2005 Vol. 8, No. 5

The real story was not the U.S. senators who worked out a last-minute compro-mise on the federal judge nominees. Nor was it the ailing Supreme Court jus-tice who was wheeled in for his cancer treatment the same day. The real story is

the battle to shape America’s social and cultural agenda for years to come.President George W. Bush’s nominees to fill federal court positions have been held

up for months (years, in some cases). Democrats had threatened to filibuster Senatedebate in order to keep the Republican majority from approving the nominations.Instead a group of Republicans and Democrats got together and agreed to a compro-mise that allowed some of the judicial nominees to be approved.

Beyond the constitutional role of the Senate to give “advice and consent” on pres-idential nominations is a larger issue over who will set the beliefs and practices of soci-ety on issues of morality and social justice. Will the elected lawmakers at either thestate or federal level pass legislation that regulates societal behavior? Or will the courtsdecide by overruling—declaring unconstitutional—laws passed by legislatures?

This is not something new; it has been going on since 1803, when the SupremeCourt ruled that it was not bound by congressional acts it felt were unconstitutional.

In 1973 the most controversial decision of recent years concerned abortion. Roev. Wadeacknowledged the “right of personal privacy” for women in the matter of abor-tion. Abortion is an implied constitutional right, according to the decision, though whocould imagine that this was the intent of the framers of the constitution?

Other cases have made the divide deeper between the opposing sides. In 2003 theSupreme Court overturned a Texas law that prohibited private, consensual homosex-ual acts. Many felt the court abandoned its role as a neutral observer in the culture wars.These major Supreme Court decisions,along with many others made by federal courts,are determining the social behavior and framework of the nation.

The big battle will come later this year when President Bush will likely have thechance to nominate a new Supreme Court justice. The current chief justice, WilliamRehnquist, is battling cancer and is expected to step down when the court’s currentterm ends this summer. President Bush will no doubt nominate a judge who holds toa conservative interpretation of the constitution, while opponents will want to see ajustice with more of an activist bent. People on all sides understand that the most far-reaching decisions, and therefore the most powerful, are being made by judges. Thecrucial battles in the ongoing culture wars are being fought in the courts.

God said through the prophet Amos that His people had despised His law and notkept the commandments (2:4). Justice is turned “to wormwood” (symbolic of a bittertaste) and righteousness is buried in the earth (5:7). Men did not want to hear the hardwords of truth by those who carried the Word of God. Israel was full of those who bygreed did not fairly consider the poor. Sin and unrighteous conduct had dulled thewisdom of leaders to enact sound legislation based on God’s law. The end result wasinjustice. True justice could not be found in the places of justice—the “gate” (5:12) ofthe city where the elders typically assembled to hear and to resolve disputes.

Today we see the highest judges of the land cannot discern good from evil. Thenumber of unborn fetuses who have been legally murdered since the Roe v. Wadedecision is approaching 50 million.

Decisions that condone immoral behavior explicitly condemned by the Bible, andhasten its public acceptance, bring shame upon the nation.

We are a long way from a time of “justice [running] down like water, and right-eousness like a mighty stream” in our land (Amos 5:24). God speed the day when truejustice is restored. —Darris McNeely

2 World News and Prophecy

Let Justice Run . . .

The conference on Jerusalem was tohave begun sometime this year. Israelmay be preempting that discussion.

Israeli forces are scheduled to becompletely withdrawn from the GazaStrip by August. Pulling out of the WestBank would follow, which includesEast Jerusalem. However, citing securi-ty needs, Israel is in the process ofencircling East Jerusalem with a 25-foot-high concrete barrier, cutting it offfrom the rest of the West Bank (andseizing Palestinian territory on which tobuild the wall).

The Palestinians are furious, claimingthat by doing so, Israel is establishing ade facto border for Jerusalem even beforethe permanent status talks begin. PrimeMinister Ariel Sharon adamantly statedbefore an audience of New York’s Jewishcommunity just a day before Abbas metwith President George W. Bush that theSharon administration would not negoti-ate on Jerusalem.

Circumventing the “Roadmap”Abbas angrily points out that this

yanks one of the most crucial pointsneeding resolution off the table. And, headds, the action further breaks the“Roadmap” agreement by denying acontiguous Palestinian territory. TheGaza territory would be joined by apeace corridor with the West Bank ter-ritory, which is about 25 miles away atits closest point. But the West Bankwould be cut off from its principal city,Jerusalem.

East Jerusalem is mostly PalestinianArab. The emerging Palestinian state isset on making East Jerusalem its capi-tal. How could they have a capital inJerusalem, if it isn’t even within theirborders? In fact, Palestinian Authoritylaw states that the entirety of Jerusalemis its capital, a perspective that greatlyupsets the Israelis.

Israelis are uneasy about Palestinianrule over East Jerusalem, fearing thatthe Palestinian Authority might denythem access to two of their holiest sites,the Temple Mount and the WailingWall, both of which are in that area.

Mahmoud Abbas, president of thePalestinian National Authority (PNA orPA), was invited to the White House inlate May where, in his words, he

demanded the strong political andfinancial support of the United Statesfor the Palestinian cause.

That seems an audacious if not arro-gant approach for the leader of a not-yetconstituted nation to take before theworld’s most powerful nation. But he hasto show himself strong to thePalestinians, and talking tough to theleader of the free world is as strong as youcan get.

Yet what could he give the UnitedStates in return for what he demandsfrom it?

Ostensibly, he could establish peacewith Israel, helping to diffuse Arabanger against the Jews. He could alsocontinue to promote a democratic gov-ernment within the PA, and the promo-tion of democracy in the Middle East isa top priority of the second Bush admin-istration.

Perhaps this is the reason that hiselection was heralded as a victory fordemocracy by the White House, in spiteof the fact that the election was far fromdemocratic by Western standards.

Palestine was to drop the haterhetoric

The Abbas administration haspassed the first-100-days mark. How isit doing for its part of the “Roadmap”

obligations? The beginning of Phase Iwas to be: “Palestinian leadershipissues unequivocal statement reiterat-ing Israel’s right to exist in peace andsecurity and calling for an immediateend to all acts of violence anywhere”(ibid.).

Abbas would have to change theway of thinking drummed into the con-sciousness of Palestinian youths fromtheir earliest years—that their highestand happiest purpose in life would be toslaughter Jews.

Yasser Arafat ordered the PA press andschools to promote propaganda that callsIsrael and everything it has built since1948 “illegal.” “The state of Israel . . . isconsistently portrayed [in PA historybooks] as ‘occupied Palestine’” (ModernArab History and ContemporaryProblems for Tenth Grade,part 2, p. 95,cited by Kenneth R. Timmerman,Preachers of Hate,2003, p. 157).

The Reader and Literary Texts forEighth Gradeof Palestinian schoolsrequires the memorization of a poemtitled, “Palestine.” It calls for a battle tothe death against Israel. “My brothers!The oppressors [Israelis] have over-stepped the boundary. Therefore jihadand sacrifice are a duty . . . are we to letthem steal its Arab nature? . . . Drawyour sword . . . let us gather for war

“ JERUSALEM,” (Continued from page 1)

June 2005 3

A Palestinian girl attempts to climb over a wall dividing an eastJerusalem suburb Dec.14, 2004 (Reuters/Mahfouz Abu Turk).

with red blood and blazing fire . . .Death shall call and the sword shall becrazed from much slaughter . . . OhPalestine, the youth will redeem yourland” (ibid., p. 158).

On goes the message throughout theschool years. It is small wonder that theyouths of Palestine are eager recruits forHamas and Islamic Jihad’s suicide mis-sions against Israeli soldiers and civil-ians. After 100 days in office,Abbas hasnot ordered any change in the textbooks.

Nor has Abbas done anything tochange the tenor of PATV. On the firstFriday after his government announcedit would control and vet all sermonsdelivered in the West Bank and Gaza, aPA-employed cleric, with Abbas in theaudience, celebrated InternationalWomen’s Day by encouraging mothersto send their children to their deaths onsuicide missions against Israel (JoelMowbray, “The Real Mahmoud Abbas,”April 4, 2005, www.townhall.com).

“Arafat in Western clothing”Mowbray calls Abbas “Yasser Arafat

in Western clothing.” Abbas is an edu-cator by profession, and he advocates amore genteel approach to overthrowingIsrael than did Arafat. First the PAshould establish a Palestinian state, andthen it should revert “to violence to wipeout all of Israel.” Mowbray says thatAbbas’ criticism of terror “is based onhis belief that slaughtering innocentcivilians is merely strategically unhelp-ful” (ibid.)

Abbas is an effective fund-raiser forthe PA cause. Nothing has been saidpublicly about the billions in interna-tional aid that Arafat siphoned off andsquirreled away in private bankaccounts.

But apart from past aid, Abbas hassecured promises of $12 million fromChina, $15 million from India and $100million from Japan (on top of $60 mil-lion given since the death of Arafat).Additionally, the EU gives 10 millioneuros per month(about $13 million U.S.dollars). The U.S. Congress recentlyapproved a $200-million aid package,and it is considering another $160 mil-lion in aid next year. Burned by the lar-ceny of Arafat’s crowd, Congress isattaching many restrictions on its grants.

Many are clamoring for reforms in

the PA, but making changes isn’t easy.In “The 100 Days of Abu Mazen [anoth-er name for Abbas],” Uri Avnery warnsthat the Palestinians are watching Abbastoo (Counterpunch,April 20, 2005).They are waiting to see if there is anybenefit to his trusting in Americanpromises to ensure a fair and even pur-suit of the “Roadmap.”

Abbas secured a ceasefire fromPalestinian militants against Israeli set-tlements in Gaza. Palestinians arewatching Abbas to see if his way works.Avnery points out that the hamulah(“extended family”) is important in allArab societies, especially so in thePalestinian. Abbas, he says, must movecautiously, building consent as he doesso, lest he lose the ability to govern.

PA preparing for warThere are voices of warning from

people who are watching Abbas fromoutside Palestine, people who doubt thathe wants to make a lasting peace withIsrael. Clearly, Joel Mowbray’s is onesuch voice. Caroline Glick’s is another.She is the senior Middle East fellow atthe Center for Security Policy inWashington, D.C., and the deputy man-aging editor of The Jerusalem Post.

She warns that both the UnitedStates and Israel are wrong to trustAbbas, noting that the PA is greatlyincreasing its capacity to make war byacquiring SA-7 Strella antiaircraft mis-siles from Russia. The Palestinians arereorganizing, not disbanding their “mil-itary-terrorist forces in a way that willprepare them for the next round of ter-ror war against Israel.”

Further, she notes that “Abbas’ offer[in mid-March] to the Palestinian terrorgroups outside the PA umbrella to movetheir headquarters from Damascus toGaza after Israel’s evacuation of the areashows that in his strategic thinking, theterritory, once empty of Israeli presence,will be transformed into a center for glob-al terror” (“The Palestine Problem,”April 4, 2005, emphasis added).

Equally chilling is KennethTimmerman’s warning that whenPalestine is a legitimately constitutedstate, it could sign a mutual defense pactwith Iran, each pledging to defend theother if either comes under threat ofattack. Obviously, Palestinians could do

nothing to help Iran, but imagine thescene of the Iranian navy anchored offPalestine’s seaport, and Iranian air forcejets landing at Palestine’s airport.

Has Washington thought through theconsequences of its present course ofsponsoring a Palestinian state and itsbacking of Mahmoud Abbas?

On her recent commendable goodwill tour of the Middle East, Mrs. Bushwas heckled by protestors in Jerusalem.She told them, “We’re reminded againof what we all want, what every one ofus prays for. What we all want is peace.”

Indeed, we do. But peace soughtthrough complex politics and entanglingalliances is an illusion of the genuinearticle. As the prophet Zechariahwarned, the consequences of “reposi-tioning” Jerusalem will be injurious toall parties.

In John 14:27, Jesus contrasted Hispeace with the peace that the worldgives. The United Church of God looksfor His peace that will only come whenthe Prince of Peace returns to Jerusalemand establishes an entirely differentform of government than any created bymen. Only that government, theKingdom of God, will be able to bringpeace to this weary city.

For additional insight into end-timeprophecy about this region, see ourbooklet The Middle East in BibleProphecy.And, for the biblical vision ofthe one government that can and thatwill bring peace, see our booklet TheGospel of the Kingdom.v

4 World News and Prophecy

What is happeningin the volatile MiddleEast, and where willit lead? For moreinformation, requestor download ourinformative bookletsThe Middle East inBible Prophecy, aswell as The Gospelof the Kingdom. They are free ofcharge.

Contact any of our offices listed on page15, or request or download them from

our Web site atwww.wnponline.org

Recommended Reading

June 2005 5

K ingdom of Heavenis a new movieabout the Crusades. So far as histor-ical movies go, it’s fairly accurate.

However, that in itself is a cause for concern.To most Westerners, the Crusades are

ancient history. For Americans, it’s ancienthistory about something that occurred thou-sands of miles away, totally irrelevant toanything going on today.

Not so in the Middle East, where theCrusades are remembered as a fairly recentevent and where the word crusade (Arabic:al-Salibiyyah) is highly emotive. Soon afterSept. 11, President Bush called for a “cru-sade” against Islamic fundamentalism. Hehas never used the word again!

The concern about the movie is that theMuslims end up looking better than the so-called Christians. “So-called” because theCrusader version of Christianity was not, toput it mildly, biblically based. When the Crusaderstook Jerusalem, they slaughtered all the Muslimsand Jews. By contrast, when the Islamic forcesrecaptured Jerusalem, they let the captives go.

The fear is that this movie could stir up anti-Western passions throughout the Islamic world.

That’s happened anyway. Thanks to Newsweekmagazine, which ran a story in its May 9 issueclaiming that American forces desecrated the Koran,anti-American riots took place in a number of coun-tries, leaving more than a dozen people dead.

Although Newsweekretracted the story, theircolumnist Eleanor Clift pointed out on NPR’s DianeRehm Show(May 20) that this does not mean thestory is false. U.S. Secretary of State CondoleezzaRice apologized to Muslims on behalf of the UnitedStates and assured them that the American govern-ment has great respect for Islam and the Koran.

Interestingly, nobody in the mainstream mediarealized the full implications of these developments.The cold reality is that Islam in general and theKoran in particular cannot be criticized. This goes tothe very core of free speech issues upon which ourmodern Western civilization has been built.

Remember Theo van Gogh? Mr. Van Gogh, a

Dutch filmmaker, was ritually slaughtered on thestreets of Amsterdam last November for producinga 10-minute film called Submission. The film’s titlewas a play on words—Islam means “submission.”The short documentary exposed the cruel way inwhich many Muslim women are treated by theirhusbands, to whom they must be submissive. Aprominent Islamic female Dutch politician hadhelped with the making of the film. In a country thatprides itself on a long history of freedom of speech,she had to go into hiding.

A couple of days after the riots, my local news-paper carried an article by Ellen Goodman attack-ing “Intelligent Design.” The article was titled“Creationism, by Another Name,” and was nothingmore than an attack on the biblical account of cre-ation (Lansing State Journal,May 16, 2005).

No apology to Christians has been heard fromanybody in the Bush administration following thisarticle! None is expected. But then, Christians werenot out on the streets rioting. Why would they?Prominent intellectuals have been attacking theBible for two centuries.

These attacks may actually increase now that it’sclear that criticism of the Koran will not be tolerat-

Thousand-Year-Old LessonsFrom the Crusades for Today

Kingdom of Heaven is a movie about the Crusades, a clash of civilizations between Islam andChristianity that lasted two centuries. Could a similar clash of civilizations lie ahead?

by Melvin Rhodes

One concernabout the movieKingdom ofHeaven is that theMuslims end uplooking betterthan the so-calledChristians. Thefear is that thismovie could stirup anti-Westernpassions through-out the Islamicworld.

Kingdom of Heaven, a recent Hollywood epicabout the Crusades, is a reminder of thisbloody period. Could it happen again?

6 World News and Prophecy

ed. Christian fundamentalists are set to betargeted in a way that Islamic fundamen-talists cannot be! Many Europeans alreadysee President Bush as a more dangerous“religious fanatic” than Osama bin Laden.Appeasement didn’t end with pre-WorldWar II British Prime Minister NevilleChamberlain!

None of this should be surprising. Theincreasing secularization of the West wasa constant throughout the 20th century. Inthe ’60s “God is dead” was a popularexpression, meaning that religion hadbecome irrelevant. Two generations havesince grown up with little or no knowledgeof the Bible. Morality came under assaultin the same decade, with few now havingany qualms about committing adultery orfornication.

In the same decade many formercolonies got their independence fromEuropean powers. Those same Europeanpowers are filled with guilt about theircolonial past, though their record was, onbalance, often better than what has fol-lowed.

Put these two factors together—reli-gious ignorance and postcolonial guilt—and we can only expect the appeasementof Islam to continue! But as with NevilleChamberlain on the eve of World War II,there will come a point when even the lib-eral appeasers will not be able to deny thethreat facing Western civilization.

Will Israel reach 100?Religious ignorance and postcolonial

guilt affect European thinking on Israel.The only nation in the Middle East thatembraces Western values, including thedemocratic political system, Israel is seenby many as a latter-day colonial power,imposing an alien way of life on an areapreviously dominated by Muslims. Israel,somehow, is equated with European colo-nialism.

And the Crusaders. Just as the CatholicCrusaders went into the Holy Land andimposed their religion and way of life onthe area, so Israel is seen as doing thesame. The Jewish state is simply viewed asone more Crusader castle planted in theIslamic realm by a guilt-ridden post-WorldWar II Western world.

Many even feel that just as theCrusader Kingdom of Jerusalem lastedless than a century, so will Israel. EvenIsraelis are concerned about this.

An article by Benjamin Schwarz in theMay 2005 issue of The Atlantic Monthlyasked the question: “Will Israel Live to100?”The article highlights Israel’s demo-graphic dilemma, that its very low birthratecontrasts sharply with that of thePalestinians and neighboring Arab states.This threatens Israel’s future security.Demographic trends show that if the situ-ation doesn’t change, the country will notbe able to sustain itself long-term.

“Israel’s long-term prospects are bleak.The Zionist enterprise has never been ableto transcend the demographic realities thathave haunted it from its inception,” writesMr. Schwarz.

These demographic pressures are a pri-mary reason Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon is agreeing to Israeli withdrawalfrom the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,and why he is anxious for a peace agree-ment with the Palestinians. However, thismay make things worse, since thePalestinians demand the right to return totheir ancestral homelands within Israel’sborders. It is doubtful that many wouldactually return, but if they should, thisalone would result in a Palestinian major-ity in Israel, giving the Palestinians amajority in a future Israeli election.

Adding to pressure on Mr. Sharon isthe fact that the extremist organizationHamas is gaining support among the

Palestinians. This seems to be a trendacross the Middle East. Extremists inneighboring Egypt and Syria would likelywin any free election, making it problem-atic for the United States to push too muchfor democratic reform in the region.

Lessons from the CrusadesThere are remarkable similarities

between the time of the Crusades and now.During the 11th century, shortly after theend of the first millennium and the begin-ning of the second, there was a widespreadbelief in Europe that the end of the worldwas imminent. There was also a wide-spread peace movement, as there is now.

The Crusades followed centuries ofIslamic encroachment on Europe andEuropean interests. After Muhammad’sdeath in A.D. 632, his followers rapidlyconquered North Africa and the IberianPeninsula. Exactly a century after thedeath of the prophet, they reached the gatesof Paris, where they were defeated by theforces of Charles Martel, grandfather ofCharlemagne, crowned Holy Romanemperor by the pope.

In the east, they kept eating away at theterritory of the Byzantine Empire, the east-ern half of the Roman Empire. Eventually,it became impossible for Christians tomake the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and oth-er cities in the Holy Land.

After a long period of being pushed around by the forces ofIslam, the pope rallied Europeans to fight back. Could the

same happen again?

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With Islamic forces close to theByzantine capital, Constantinople, theByzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenusappealed to the West for help. His appealcame only four decades after a majorschism between East and West, separatingthe two branches of European Christianity.Pope Urban II likely saw an opportunityhere to heal the breach and restoreChristian unity by helping out in theMiddle East. In 1095 at the Council ofClermont in southern France, the popecalled for a Crusade to defend the HolyLand from Islam.

After a long period of being pushedaround by the forces of Islam, it was thepope who rallied Europeans to fight back.Could the same happen again?

A coming clash of civilizationsBible prophecy shows us that “at the

time of the end” there will be a clashbetween two powerful forces, the kings ofthe North and of the South. You can readabout this in Daniel 11, beginning at verse40.

Formerly, the kings of the North andSouth were the Seleucid and Ptolemaicdynasties that dominated the Middle Eastfrom after the time of Alexander the Greatuntil the Roman Empire conquered bothkingdoms. They greatly impacted theJewish people, who were often caught inthe middle as these two powers, one to thenorth of Jerusalem and one to the south,fought each other.

There is a major leap in the prophecyfrom the ancient world to modern times, aperiod during which there was no Jewishnation in the Holy Land. The Jewish nationof Israel was reestablished in 1948, just 57years ago. Only in these 57 years has itbeen possible for the last few verses of thischapter to be fulfilled. Again, two powers,one to the north of Jerusalem and the oth-er to the south, are going to play a majorrole in the world.

“At the time of the end the king of theSouth shall attack him” (Daniel 11:40).The King James translation uses theexpression “push at him.” It does not haveto be a direct attack. “And the king of theNorth shall come against him like a whirl-wind, with chariots, horsemen, and withmany ships; and he shall enter the coun-tries, overwhelm them, and pass through.”

Continuing, in verse 41: “He shall alsoenter the Glorious Land,” the Holy Land

given to the tribes of Israel thousands ofyears ago.

Many Muslims have long wanted tounite those who share the same faith. Arabpeoples,mostly Muslim,have wanted sim-ilar unity for their peoples,presently divid-ed into 22 different countries.

In the 1950s and ’60s hopes wereraised that revolutionary leader PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt would bringabout Arab unity, but the dream was neverrealized. Today, Islamic fundamentalistsshare the same zeal. Their following growsacross the Middle East, fueled by fears ofAmerican domination following the Iraqiinvasion of 2003, often considered anoth-er Crusade.

At the same time, Europeans dream ofuniting their continent, just as Pope UrbanII did almost 1,000 years ago. The samebook of Daniel that prophesied the futurekings of the North and South, mostly ful-filled in ancient times, also predicted thecoming of the Roman Empire. A finalrevival of that empire is still to take place,when “ten kings . . . receive authority for

one hour as kings with the beast”(Revelation 17:12). “One hour” is symbol-ic, meaning that their union will not lastlong. This union of nations will exist imme-diately prior to Christ’s return as they “willmake war with the Lamb” (verse 14). Onceagain, the Catholic Church is involved inthis drive toward European unity.

These two forces are set to clash again,just as they did in the 11th century. Thebuildup to this clash of civilizations is tak-ing place even now. As massive immigra-tion into the West from Islamic countriesleads to greater pressure on the West toaccommodate the Islamic religion, so theprospect of a backlash increases.Additionally, there is the economic threatfrom a region that controls most of theworld’s oil. Added to both is the constantthreat of Islamic terrorism.

Eventually, the European nations willhave to act or face extinction. Onceagain, it could be a pope who calls thevarious countries of Europe together todefend their interests against the forcesof Islam. v

8 World News and Prophecy

On May 9, more than 50 world leaders gath-ered in Moscow to celebrate the end ofWorld War II. Over 40 million people per-

ished in that conflict. It is fitting that Russia host-ed the event since it lost more people, 27 million,than any other nation. Sixty years later they stillreflect on what that conflict meant to the world.

Later this year there will be the commemora-tion of the end of the war in the Pacific theater andwe’ll see more ceremonies marking that event.Last year it was the 60th anniversary of D-Day thatbrought leaders to France to remember. Manyobservers feel this will be the last great commem-oration for the generation that fought in that glob-al conflict.

Recently I heard U.S. Senator Robert Dole,himself a veteran who was wounded in Italy dur-ing the last days of the war, commenting on radioabout how few Americans who fought then arestill alive. The “greatest generation” is rapidlyleaving us. Their story is truly one of heroic pro-portions.

Evil defeated—yet forgottenGood and evil were clearly defined in that war.

Nazi fascism was embodied in Benito Mussoliniof Italy, Emperor Hirohito of Japan and, worst ofall,Germany’s Adolf Hitler. Had this original “axisof evil” won, it is likely I would not be writing toyou in English. The entire history of the past 60years would be much different.

But they did not win. America came late to thatconflict, but made the decisive difference, turningthe tide along with the other Allied powers.America’s role in that conflict is not fully under-stood, nor, some would say, fully appreciated, by anew generation in Europe. This collective amnesiais part of the growing divide between Europe andthe United States and has some serious conse-quences.

One is that few Europeans today feel indebtedto America for the major role it played in savingthem from Nazism and returning freedom to their

soil. World War II is the one item of European his-tory about which Americans are likely to be wellversed. For the past 60 years it has been the themeof movies,books and personal stories of those wholived through it.

This is why Americans puzzle over theEuropean failure to support American interventionin Iraq. “We spent our blood to give you freedom;now why can’t you support the same for anothernation?” The past is forgotten, as if it didn’t hap-pen.

Europeans avidly consume American filmsand follow American politics. They are generallybetter informed about America than Americans areabout them, and can explain reasons for the vastgulf. The European view of America was largelyshaped before the recent Iraq war, but it seems theU.S. role in WWII has been forgotten.

Another consequence of this amnesia is thefailure to see potential for a sudden shift in gov-ernmental policy toward a reduction of personalliberties. People will vote for anti-immigration par-ties without thinking they are voting for ideas thatonce led to the ovens of Treblinka or Auschwitz.Sadly, some have even forgotten what these namesstand for.

Some observers speculate that an attack on amajor European nation on the scale of the Sept. 11,2001, attacks on America could quickly tip thescales of democracy toward a totalitarian form ofgovernment. Sixty years after the war one hears thestrains of Kipling’s poem, “Recessional,” with itshaunting refrain of “lest we forget, lest we forget!”

A war that shaped the centuryThe 20th century was one of mankind’s blood-

iest periods. World War II was really a continuationof World War I and represents the high-water markof a century of tragedy. It cast its defining shadowover the next 50 years, not only for nations, but forindividuals as well.

My father went to the war as a young man,newly married and with a newborn son, my older

Few Europeanstoday feel

indebted toAmerica for the

major role itplayed in saving

them fromNazism and

returningfreedom to their

soil.

60 Years After the War inEurope

Do you ever wonder what prevents evil from triumphing in the world? This year marks the 60thanniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and the Pacific. Looking at that war should make us

think about the deep currents of good and evil that flow in this world.

by Darris McNeely

June 2005 9

brother. Three of his brothers went off withhim. They were descended from a stock ofpeople who historically heeded their coun-try’s call to fight its battles.

My father left the small family farmnear a small Missouri town, not knowinganything of the horrors of war. He foughthis way from the beaches of France to theforests of Germany before returning home.

What he did and saw during that timewas locked deep within his mind and heart.But it altered his personality just enoughthat the woman he married could tell. Yearslater my mother would say, with a note ofmelancholy in her voice, that my fatherwas not the same man when he returnedfrom the war. The war cast a long shadowin our family.

How much have we learned?From the ashes of this global conflict

came the idea for the United Nations, aworld body dedicated to preventing anoth-er global catastrophe. The United Nationshas a spotty record. It hasn’t preventedmany wars and sometimes its own troopshave participated in acts of atrocity. Attimes it has given its stage to despots suchas Yasser Arafat whose legacy is terror andconflict rather than peace.

Senator Dole summed up much of thelegacy of the past 60 years in a piece herecently wrote for the Wall Street Journal.He said: “Admittedly, our victory was nottotal. No victory ever is. As the Cold Wardemonstrated, our way of life remainedimperiled, and millions of east Europeanswere trapped in tyranny.

“Today, many have still not fullyaccepted the state of Israel, and the MiddleEast remains troubled. Many governmentsare no more willing than before to grantfreedom to their people. The slaughtersorchestrated by Hitler and Stalin have giv-en way to mass murder in Bosnia,Rwandaand Darfur. Though many claim to havelearned from the unparalleled horrors ofthe 20th century, it is often not evident.Sadly, we know there will be more geno-cide” (May 6, 2005).

God is in controlSo let me go back to my question,

What keeps evil from triumphing in thisworld?The answer is that there must be aGod who controls the course of nations inthis world and keeps one nation, empire orideology from gaining total control over all

others. Should that ever happen, the worldcould be plunged into another dark age.

Notice what the prophet Daniel wasinspired to tell one of the world’s firstdespots, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It isa message that helps us understand thatGod controls the course of world events.

“Blessed be the name of God foreverand ever, for wisdom and might are His.And He changes the times and the seasons;He removes kings and raises up kings; Hegives wisdom to the wise and knowledgeto those who have understanding. Hereveals deep and secret things; He knowswhat is in the darkness, and light dwellswith Him” (Daniel 2:20-22).

Here is one of the little-known keys tounderstanding world history. You won’thear it taught in most classrooms or dis-cussed by newsmen and commentators.

Nebuchadnezzar ruled over a vastrealm and desired to bring his version of“the good life” to all others. History hasseen that when messianic rulers arise withthe ambition to extend their world visionover all others, the result is always war anddestruction.

You see, there has never been one polit-ical, religious or philosophical system onwhich all races and nations could agree.The world is too divided by language andethnic custom to see everyone cometogether under one banner of thought.

Jesus Christ’s window on thefuture

Christ said that our day, the biblical“time of the end,” would be one of nationsrising against other nations in constantconflict. Notice what Christ said to His dis-ciples in the Olivet Prophecy of Matthew24.

“And you will hear of wars and rumorsof wars. See that you are not troubled; forall these things must come to pass, but theend is not yet. For nation will rise againstnation, and kingdom against kingdom.And there will be famines,pestilences,andearthquakes in various places . . . All theseare the beginning of sorrows” (verses 6-8).

Here in this prophecy Christ gives agreat deal of warning about some prettybad world conditions. It reads like a lot ofour news headlines today—war, famine,pestilence and bad government causing alot of suffering.

Yet through this chapter runs a threadof promise from Christ that the Father is in

control of events. He says, “He whoendures to the end shall be saved”(Matthew 24:13). He indicates that Hisprotection will be on a small group of peo-ple who can discern the times and see thehand of God behind world events,and whoremain close to Him no matter what.

He also says that for the sake of thatsmall group called “the elect,” this time ofturmoil will be cut short and the humanrace will not be extinguished.

The horrors of war are both arbitraryand complete. The great wars of the 20thcentury destroyed and altered the faith ofso many. The story of one 10-year-old girlperhaps says it best. One of the Germanbombing raids on London blew the roof offher parents’house. She struggled to under-stand where God was in all the destructionof her neighborhood: “I wondered why theGod that my mother prayed to had takenour neighbors’ lives, but left our pianountouched.”

Now that is indeed a lot to understand.God is the one who keeps evil from over-coming this world and bringing the humanexperience to a tragic close. God is the onewho is in control of events, and He is guid-ing this world to a time when His good andHis way triumph over all other ideas.

We have a booklet titled Are WeLiving in the Time of the End?You canbegin reading this booklet to understandour times and how God is guiding anddirecting world events to a conclusionthat will usher in a time of peace that willhave no end. v

The Bible describesthe time leading upto the return ofJesus Christ to thisearth as the time ofthe end. How canwe know when thattime is upon us? Isit here now? Formore information,request Are We Living in the Time ofthe End? as well as You CanUnderstand Bible Prophecy. They arefree of charge.

Contact any of our offices listed on page15, or request or download them from

our Web site atwww.wnponline.org

Recommended Reading

10 World News and Prophecy

When the Gas Pumps in EuropeRun Dry

Because of its dependence on imported energy, the EU is an economic giant standing on feet of clay.

by Paul Kieffer

It is unusual for a well-known European politi-cian to make the rounds soliciting better tradeconditions. It is even more unusual that two

influential Europeans visit the same region withina matter of weeks to express Europe’s interest in animportant commodity. That’s the way it was earli-er this year when German Chancellor GerhardSchroeder and EU Energy Commissioner AndrisPiebalgs both visited the oil-rich Persian Gulfregion.

In February Schroeder made a stop in Kuwaitduring his weeklong trip through seven PersianGulf countries. There he expressed his uneaseabout the high oil prices by stating, “We are very,very concerned.” He added, “We are interested inthe most reasonable oil price as possible.”Schroeder also had a solution for rising oil prices:Increase production.

At the beginning of April Piebalgs also visitedKuwait, voicing interest in good trading relationswith the Persian Gulf countries and other OPECmembers. Piebalgs met with Kuwaiti Minister ofEnergy Sheik Ahmed Fahad al Ahmed al Sabah,who is also the chairman of OPEC, to discuss sta-bilizing the price of oil.

Europe’s dependence on foreign energyThirty years after the oil shock resulting from

the Yom Kippur War, Europe is still dependent onforeign energy sources. It has been possible to slowthe consumption of oil through other sources ofenergy (especially natural gas) but not to reversethe ever-increasing demand. At the beginning ofthe 1970s it took 12 million barrels of oil to meetEurope’s daily needs. By 2001, European con-sumption had grown to 14.4 million barrels daily.

Europe’s energy demands increase 1 percent to2 percent a year, small in comparison to theincreased energy usage in the United States. Since1991, oil consumption in the United States hasincreased 17 percent compared to 7 percent for the“old” European countries. However, its smallerincrease in oil consumption does not change thefact that Europe is heavily dependent on foreignenergy sources.

Piebalgs emphasized the importance of energyin the daily lives of Europeans: “Energy affects

every aspect of our life—it gives us light, heating,and provides us with fuel allowing us to use trans-port and various appliances. Did you know that in2030 most—70%—of European Union’s energyneeds will have to be covered with imported ener-gy, if the current energy consumption trends inEurope are not reversed?”

The estimates of the European Commission forthe two most important energy sources are sober-ing. By the year 2030 the EU would have toincrease total oil imports from 75 percent to 90 per-cent. Currently OPEC countries supply half of theEU’s oil imports. The increase in oil consumptioncould be contained by using more natural gas, butthe EU is also dependent on foreign sources forgas. If present trends continue, the EU will have toincrease importation of natural gas from 40 percentto 70 percent of total consumption by 2030.

Europe is an example of how global develop-ments can affect an area that is lacking its ownenergy sources. Since the oil embargo of 1973,Europe has tried to improve energy conservation,but despite a measure of success, Europe is facedwith increased energy costs—because the demandfor energy worldwide is growing and the supply islimited. Speculation about an increase in the priceof oil to $100 per barrel by summer has ledCommissioner Piebalgs to consider an EU speedlimit of 55 miles per hour, which would representa drastic change for Europeans’driving habits.

Growing demand for oil worldwideWith a share of 40 percent, oil remains the

largest component in the world’s energy equation.Even though natural gas usage is expected toincrease (it is currently 20 percent of world energyconsumption), oil will retain its share.

The economic law of supply and demand can-not be avoided when it comes to the price of oil.The equation is quite simple: Worldwide demandis increasing and production is either stagnating ornot increasing fast enough.

The increase in demand is often attributed toChina’s growing consumption of oil. China’sannual consumption has grown each year for overa decade. However, energy consumption inAmerica and Europe is growing as well. There

Thirty years afterthe oil shock

resulting from theYom Kippur War,

Europe is stilldependent onforeign energy

sources.

June 2005 11

doesn’t seem to be any limit to America’sthirst for oil.

Despite being in third place on the listof oil producers with an estimated 7.5 mil-lion barrels pumped a day, America is theonly major oil producer dependent onimports. With its consumption of 20 mil-lion barrels a day, America is the unchal-lenged leader in oil usage, leading Chinaby more than a 3 to 1 margin. Even moreamazing is a UN analysis showing that theUnited States consumes about 25 percentof all fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) burnedworldwide.

During the first 90 years of its oil pro-duction,America needed no imports what-soever. Just a few years after World War IIAmerica needed to import oil to meet itsneeds, and imports now make up about 60percent of daily consumption. Some ofthat oil comes from America’s neighborslike Mexico, but 15 percent of the oil usedin the United States is imported from SaudiArabia.

Oil consumption in China has grownby 150 percent in the last 10 years, includ-ing last year’s increase of 14 percent. Twoyears ago, China replaced Japan as theworld’s second-largest consumer of oil.

Will tight oil market soon ease?Some observers believe that the recent

spike in oil prices is only temporary andwill be relieved by the end of the yearbecause of a “hard landing” in the boom-ing Chinese economy. True, a slowdownin China’s economic growth could helpease world oil markets. However, it is acomplete illusion to believe that this willpermanently solve the world oil crisis.

The energy crisis of the 1970s provesthe point. A worldwide economic slow-down and better fuel efficiency—even inthe United States—alleviated tight marketconditions. The result was that world oilconsumption in 1993 was only slightlymore than at the height of the crisis in1979.

Oil consumption grew at a fast pace inthe 1990s. The current high price for oilon world markets is all the more remark-able in view of the general economic slow-down in Western countries. How much oilwould be consumed if growth rates inindustrialized countries were to reach thelevel of the mid 1990s?

Regardless of what happens in theWest, demand for oil in Asia will continue

to rise. The potential for increased con-sumption appears to be sky-high. Just lookat China’s per capita consumption whencompared to the United States: EachAmerican consumes on average 24 barrelsof oil a year. A Chinese citizen,by contrast,uses only two barrels of oil annually.

However, China’s economic develop-ment is producing a Chinese “middleclass” that wants to own and drive cars.Consider this: China’s per capita oil con-sumption is about one third as high asMexico’s, and Mexico’s is 75 percent lessthan in the United States. If per capita con-sumption in China were to rise to the lev-el of Mexico’s,world oil production wouldhave to double to meet the increaseddemand!

And China isn’t the only Asian coun-try with a growing appetite for oil. Indiaand its more than 1 billion people are usingmore oil each year—11 percent more lastyear alone. The growth rate in Indian oilconsumption means that India will soonreplace Germany as the world’s fifth-largest oil consumer. Within seven years,daily oil consumption in India will reach 5million barrels; and by the year 2020 Indiawill be the third-largest consumer andimporter of oil, trailing only the UnitedStates and China.

Limited supplyThe situation in countries like China

and India is different from that of theUnited States or Western Europe. Years ofcontinued development lie ahead of Chinaand India for their people to have a stan-dard of living similar to that of the West.The only way that goal can be achieved isfor world oil production to increase.

There’s just one problem:Where is theadditional oil going to be produced?Experts point out that there has not been amajor new oil discovery in the last 30years. Oil production in countries that aremajor producers but also big consumers—America, China, Russia, the UnitedKingdom and even Mexico—has peakedor will peak soon.

England is a prime example of declin-ing oil production. The North Sea fields(British and Norwegian) produced about9 percent of the world’s oil in 1998. Withtheir North Sea fields the British were netexporters of oil for more than 20 years.With the decline in British North Sea pro-duction, the British are again among the

net importers of oil, and the economic via-bility of their North Sea oil fields is pre-dicted to be minimal in another 10 years.

In view of current trends, formerBritish Secretary of Energy David Howellpredicts the demand for oil will reach 122million barrels daily by 2025. Current dai-ly consumption is estimated to be about 82million barrels,about 35 percent more thanthe 60 million barrels consumed daily in1980.

Why haven’t any major oil fields beenfound in recent years? Some expertsbelieve that they have all been found. Inaddition, some of the major fields current-ly utilized have already reached the mid-point of their economic viability. Once thathappens, oil production peaks and thendrops rapidly, simply because more andmore pressure is needed to pump theremaining oil to the surface.

One thing is sure: In the long term theprice of oil can go no place but up. Thequestion isn’t if but when.

“It’s every man for himself”Considering the tight conditions on

world oil markets and the expectation offuture supply problems, it is only prudentthat the European Union seek improvedtrade relations with the Persian Gulfregion. Doing nothing would be a fatalmistake, especially since other countriesare looking out for their own needs.

China’s leaders know how vulnerabletheir country’s economic development iswhen it comes to oil. “Since 2003 China’sforeign policy is geared to securing rawmaterials and energy worldwide . . . Ininternational circles concern is growingthat authoritarian China could use its mil-itary muscles to secure its energy needs”(Die Welt,March 14, 2005).

Military intervention as a means ofsecuring raw materials is nothing new.Many experts view the Japanese attack onPearl Harbor in December 1941 as aresponse to America’s prohibition onexporting scrap iron and other materials toImperial Japan for its war machine.

America also knows how to protect itseconomic interests. In his book A Centuryof War: Anglo-American Oil Politics andthe New World Order,American author F.William Engdahl takes his readers througha history of the oil industry’s influence onthe world economy.

(See“ GAS PUMPS,” page 15)

12 World News and Prophecy

A Downsized Lifestyle IsComing—Will You Make the

Adjustment? Our world is changing in ways we never considered. The dominance that affluent nations have enjoyed isabout to end. Will peoples of the rich world downsize their lifestyle? Will people who have rarely if ever

had to “tighten their belts” be able to make the painful change?

by Graemme Marshall

If you have beenpaying into a

retirement fund,do you expect to

get back yourdue? Whatchange in

lifestyle wouldhappen to you if

there were noretirement fund

available?

For most of their lives, working people havetrusted that upon retirement they would beable to receive a livable pension or social secu-

rity. Why? Because the government promised it!But many today now find that when retirement agecomes around, they can no longer afford to stopworking.

If you have been paying into a retirementfund, do you expect to get back your due? Whatchange in lifestyle would happen to you if therewere no retirement fund available? What socialsecurity could a government pay out if it isbankrupt?

Is government-funded retirementcertain?

U.S. President George W. Bush sounded anominous warning in a speech in South Carolinarecently. Reuters reported on April 18, 2005, thatPresident Bush painted a “dire picture of SocialSecurity’s future if nothing is done,”saying theproblems would start in three years when the firstbaby boomers retire.

He added, “By 2034 the annual shortfall willbe more than $300 billion and by the year 2041 theentire system will be bankrupt.”He urged youngerworkers to consider private retirement accounts.That’s too late for older workers. Bush also cited aproposal to further raise the retirement age, per-haps even to age 70.

Canada’s pension funds also are in jeopardy.Mercer Human Resource Consulting said ofCanadian health and corporate pension plans, “Thefinancial health of Canadian pension plans endedthe first quarter of 2005 as weak as at any point inthe last few years” (Canwest News Service).

They further explained that at the end of lastyear about 70 percent of pension funds wouldn’thave had enough money to fully cover their pen-sion promises if they were wound up, and that was

no improvement over the year before. Think ofthat,70 percentwouldn’t have had the money tofulfill their pension promises!

So, it’s fair to ask,what are the realistic chancesof your receiving your paid-for pension fund inyour lifetime? The source above offered somecomfort by saying that pension plan membersshould still receive the retirement benefits they’vebeen promised, as long as their employer doesn’tgo bankrupt.

Go bankrupt?Many companies have beendoing just that and turning their pension obliga-tions over to the government to fulfill. But what isthe chance of the government going bankrupt? Theanswer is actually very high.

Investigative journalist Michael Harris wrote,“People with money are always worried about it.So when two of the richest Americans in the worldstart selling their U.S. dollars, it should get at leastas much attention as the Super Bowl. WarrenBuffet and Bill Gates don’t like what they see onthe economic horizon. How could they? Theworld’s ‘richest’country, their country, is awash inunprecedented debt” (Ottawa Sun,Feb. 4, 2005).

He explains that if we add up all the debt in theUnited States, the number is four times that of thegross domestic product. To run a deficit like that,governments must borrow from others to servicethe indebtedness. Who do they tap? Certainly notthe citizens who have little savings. So they lookto foreign governments. In order for Americans tocontinue to live beyond their means (maintain theirlifestyle), their biggest creditors are now foreigngovernments.

This sounds like a biblical warning bell to usfrom something God said to His people aboutwithdrawing His blessings from them.Deuteronomy 28:44 describes a curse to comewhen the foreigner “will let you have his wealth atinterest, and will have no need of yours: he will be

June 2005 13

the head and you the tail” (Bible in BetterEnglish).

Michael Harris explains that the gianteconomies of Asia, including China,Japanand India, now hold $2.2 trillion ofAmerica’s debt in the form of U.S. dollars.He poses the question of what would hap-pen if America’s creditors decide to reducetheir lending. He answers by saying, “Ourcredit-driven consumer merry-go-roundwould lurch to a halt and the illusion ofprosperity would disappear.”

Up until now,people have believed thatno creditor would ever call in Uncle Sam’sIOU. But last year when China’s reservesgrew massively, the Chinese kept only 25percent of their reserves in U.S. dollars.What would happen if there was a majorretreat from U.S. dollars to other curren-cies like the euro?

If the U.S. dollar collapsed as theaccepted international currency, thelifestyle we have been accustomed to forthe past several decades would be drasti-cally altered.

Would you and your family, neighborsor friends be able to adjust? What would“belt-tightening” mean for us all? Are werapidly approaching a prophesied timewhen, for North America in particular, wemust now borrow to maintain “the goodlife”?

Applying Deuteronomy to the modernIsraelite nation of the United States indi-cates a dramatic shift from being able tobankroll much of the world to becoming anation bankrolled at the pleasure of othernations. If an international creditor everpulled the plug on America’s national bor-rowing, what sort of downsizing wouldhappen? Are you ready to tighten yourbelt? How much downsizing of yourlifestyle is around the corner?

North America in a shifting worldWe are on the verge of major power

shifts and economic changes. In recentdecades, Canada, for example, hasenjoyed some influence in the world. Butis this era over? Canada is now faced withthe critical challenge of repositioning her-self in a much different world.

With tighter U.S. border restrictions,Canada finds its productive role becomingincreasingly dependent, almost as a satel-lite of the United States. Canada has notmaintained its military, and its ability torespond to global challenges has dimin-

ished. And the United States has changed;it no longer needs Canadian airspace fordefense and its priorities have shifted to thewar against terrorism. Canada will beaffected by the emerging new global pow-ers of China, India and Europe.

The next several decades will see stun-ning shifts in world power and activity.The U.S. National Intelligence Council, ina recent report called “Mapping the GlobalFuture,” warns that “at no time since theformation of the Western alliance systemin 1949 have the shape and nature of inter-national arrangements been in such a stateof flux.” The chart below, “PercentageShare of World GDP,” is how it forecaststhe change.

The likely emergence of China andIndia and others as new major global play-ers will transform the geopolitical land-scape. The report explains that we couldsee change “with impacts potentially asdramatic as those in the previous two cen-turies. In the same way that commentatorsrefer to the 1900s as the American centu-ry, the 21st century may be seen as a timewhen Asia, led by China and India, comesinto its own.”

The report further adds that globaliza-tion in the 21st century is more likely tohave an Asian face than an American one,as China and India boost their investmentsand build their own multinationals andexpand their economic reach.

What will this mean for NorthAmerica?

For one thing, there certainly will be aredrawing of the world geopolitical map.The report continues, “How we mentallymap the world in 2020 will change radi-cally. The ‘arriviste’powers—China, Indiaand perhaps others such as Brazil and

Indonesia—have the potential to renderobsolete the old categories of East andWest, North and South, aligned and non-aligned, developed and developing.Traditional geographic groupings willincreasingly lose salience in internationalrelations.”

Energy needs will affect ourlifestyle

Note the projected figures in the side-bar “Number of Cars Owned” from theU.S. National Intelligence Council. WhileRussia, Japan and Germany are projectedto have modest gains, note the hugechanges expected for China and India.Consider what this will do through com-petition for fuel supplies. It is inevitablethat North American fuel prices will dra-matically increase. Michael Harris, quotedearlier, explained, “Asia’s huge andaggressively expanding economies arenow competing with the U.S. for energyresources.”

Will two-, three- and four-car NorthAmerican families be able to afford to runeven one of them in the future? World fore-casters cannot accurately say what thefuture will bring, nor predict the inevitablesurprises that will occur. But we do know,from revealed Bible prophecy, that theyears ahead will bring great challenges inmaintaining the so far pleasantly enjoyedNorth American lifestyle.

Will you be able to make the adjust-ments when they come? For further study,be sure to request our free booklet Are WeLiving in the Time of the End? It will helpprepare you for the times ahead. And tounderstand the Bible prophecies aboutAmerica, Britain, Canada, Australia andother English-speaking areas and whatthey mean for today, be sure to request TheUnited States and Britain in BibleProphecy.vPercentage Share of World GDP

(in terms of purchasing power parity)

Current 2050United States 27.2 down to 18.6China 16.2 up to 27.4India 6.1 up to 17.5Russia 3.4 3.1Brazil 3.4 4.3Japan 9.3 3.2Germany 5.6 2.3UK 4.0 2.0(Source: Goldman Sachs estimates)

Number of Cars Owned (thousands)

2005 2030 2050 U.S. 148,656 195,651 233,174China 19,251 273,760 514,041India 9,039 114,812 610,902Brazil 27,917 95,545 147,343(Source: Goldman Sachs BRICs Modelprojections)

14 World News and Prophecy

Coaxing the field to give up itsbones

Their spot of death has now becomethe place of search. The rhythm of the sea-sons brings the melt of snow and the thawof ground. Two thousand victims havebeen recovered, but it is believed 9,000 yetremain. The searchers come with shovels,spades, metal detectors and probes. Eachis used to coax the grassy field to give upits secrets—to give up its bones!

Murphy happened upon two weeks ofwork that uncovered the remains of 94men. There were pelvic bones, skulls, ribsand knee bones lying on plastic sheets.Though many bones are found, many sol-diers still go unnamed because the troopsoften considered it bad luck to carry thesmall plastic ID capsules. Thus, betweenthe scattering of bones and the lack of ID,only one in 100 can be identified.

Murphy shared one of the “identifiedfinds” of this year. The remains werealmost “Pompeian,” captured in freeze-frame. This man’s ID capsule was in place,revealing him to be Pavel Potilysen, a 36-year-old soldier from the village of Bateni.His skeletal fingers were found clutchinga pair of binoculars. His death seemed tohave been caused by the shrapnel of anexploded grenade that left him frozen indeath’s grip. Finding his name wasencouraging to searchers, for mostremains will not be identified.

In 1941 and 1942, Stalin put up a greatwall of men to try to stop Hitler in histracks. Modern historians are beginning toattribute Hitler’s defeat as much to thestaggering number of men Soviet gener-als were willing to sacrifice as to theshrewdness of their battle tactics.

Life-changing effectsYuri Smirnov, chairman of the Union

of Search Teams of Russia, bluntly states:“It turned out there are not dozens or hun-dreds of thousands of people missing, butmillions. It turns out that from Brest in theWest to Sakhalin, the country is coveredwith bones. And I decided I should taketime to look for these people.” It is oftenthe case that people have a good suspicionof where the skeletal remains lie, but noone has the time to sift, and time is what ittakes. Time to find men who were throwninto tank trenches, thrown into bomb

craters or blown to smithereens when theircorpses were used as barricades by theirown troops to thwart the advancingGerman tanks.

Murphy gives not only an account ofthe dead, but of how the living honor thosewho have fallen. The operation is accom-plished through many young volunteerswho may have had grandparents in thewar. Others are sent by parents who feelsuch an opportunity might have a life-changing effect on their wayward child.No matter where they are from or whythey came, they are faced with the rigorsof three-week stints of life in the forest andfield camps.

Murphy captures the essence of theexperience through the voice of YevgenyShtukaturov, a Moscow search club orga-nizer who explains, “When the young per-son excavates remains with his own hands,his thinking changes completely. Hebegins to grow interested in his history.”

They need to be buriedOne such young person is 14-year-old

Igor Lazarev. He hails from Saratov on theVolga River, which was the home of the32nd Rifle Division. Most of his friendscan’t understand why digging would beinteresting. He retorts: “I’m here to findsoldiers that died here. They died for us.They need to be buried.”

But perhaps the most telling commentcaptured by Murphy is in the voice of 40-year-old Vladimir Kharlov, who traveledall the way from the Urals. Kharlov shareshis keen insight: “You need to come hereto do it, if only once. You need to bring thisall through your nervous system, throughyour heart. You need to see it with yourown eyes when a grandmother, after 60years, gets the document that shows whathappened to her husband, how shereceives it with tears in her eyes. You needto see the people still waiting for news.”

Memorial Day is every day in thespring and summer fields of Mozhaysk.The noise and clatter of shovels and spadesspeaks well of a younger generation thatnot only wonders but does something toseek out “where have all the soldiers gone,long time passing.”

And yet these poor souls have not even“gone to graveyards one by one.” Theseyoung Russian volunteers desire to carryout a tradition as ancient as the biblicalpatriarchs of old, whose descendents

would gather them to their people(Genesis 25:7-10). When it was all saidand done, it was about gathering bones andplacing them in honor so as to allow futuregenerations to connect with the past.

There is something special aboutbones and their intimate connections. It’sbeen that way since creation, when Adamsaid of Eve, “this is now bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

Knowing family, caring for them in lifeand death, tells people about a person,about a family, about a nation. A restingplace is not only about a tombstone, but itis equally a touchstone to the future, foreach of us is a part of all that has gonebefore us. Honoring the dead gives usroots that anchor our existence in thetopsy-turvy world that swirls around usand seemingly demands of us to onlycare for ourselves.

Another Valley of Glory andValley of Death

Ultimately, it is only God above whocan answer what lies below in the mud ofMozhaysk and all the battlefields of earthand sea that speckle this globe. It is onlyGod who can answer the ballad’s earnestinquiry, “When will they ever learn?” It isonly God who can supply the names to thenameless and not only restore their identi-ty, but give them a new hope. The sameGod who knows the names of the unreach-able stars of heaven and calls them all byname (Psalm 147:4) is, once more, goingto reach into the bowels of the earth andrecover those who were lost and give thema name.

Did you realize your Bible speaks ofanother Valley of Glory and Valley ofDeath? Yes, another valley of bones!Ezekiel 37 is one of the great propheticchapters of Scripture. It is one of the ulti-mate joyous events of prophecy that eachheadline and article in World News andProphecypoints you toward.

No article in this publication is an endin itself, but guides your mind and heartbeyond the problems of today into thefuture God has planned, such as themoment God sets Ezekiel down in theSpirit into a valley full of bones (Ezekiel37:1). It is here in this valley of bones thatGod directs the prophet to utter thesewords: “O dry bones, hear the word of theLORD! . . . Surely I will cause breath toenter into you and you shall live. I will put

“ SEEING,” (Continued from page 16)

June 2005 15

sinews on you and bring flesh upon you,cover you with skin and put breath in you;and you shall live. Then you shall knowthat I am the LORD” (verses 4-6).

“Breathe on these slain”And then an incredible reaction

occurs. No probing, or hit-and-miss dis-coveries of human remains. No day-in andday-out coaxing of the earth to give up itsdead. While the recovery effort in Moz-haysk is commendable, it is but a glimmercompared to what God will perform.

Verses 7 and 8 vividly declare, “Therewas a noise, and suddenly a rattling; andthe bones came together, bone to bone.Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and theflesh came upon them, and the skin cov-ered them over; but there was no breath inthem.” And then verses 9 and 10 describethe awesome glory of God’s visitationupon these unearthed bones: “Prophesy,son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thussays the Lord GOD: “Come from the fourwinds, O breath, and breathe on theseslain, that they may live.”’ . . . And breathcame into them, and they lived, and stoodupon their feet.”

Yes, a deliverance of the fallen, thelost, the unidentified to a new life. He willintroduce them to a world in which“nation shall not lift up sword againstnation, neither shall they learn war any-more” (Isaiah 2:4). Yes, a day is comingwhen the question “When will they everlearn?” will be answered. For every effectthere is a cause. The same prophetdeclares the reason in Isaiah 11:9. “Theyshall not hurt nor destroy in all My holymountain, for the earth shall be full of theknowledge of the LORD,as the waters cov-er the sea.”

Until that day, something small andmeaningful is happening in the fields ofRussia.

The good news and the bigger story isthat it is but a harbinger, both in deed andname, of how God will reveal His unfath-omable glory. It is the words of VladimirKharlov that capture the essence of God’swords in Isaiah 30:21, “This is the way,walk in it.” Kharlov points the way by urg-ing: “You need to come here to do it, if onlyonce. You need to bring this all throughyour nervous system, through your heart.You need to see it with your own eyes . . .”God speed the day when He says to all thebones, “Live!”v

How to Contact UsAFRICA (except as listed below): United Church ofGod, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027,U.S.A. E-mail: info@ucg.orgAUSTRALIA: United Church of God–Australia, GPOBox 535, Brisbane, Qld. 4001, Australia. Phone: 0755202-111 Fax: 0755 202-122BAHAMAS: United Church of God, P.O. Box N8873,Nassau, Bahamas. Phone: (242) 324-3169 Fax: (242)364-5566BRITISH ISLES: P.O. Box 705,Watford, Herts. WD196FZ England. Phone: 020 8386 8467 Fax: 020 8386 1999CANADA: United Church of God–Canada, P.O. Box144, Station D, Etobicoke, ON M9A 4X1, Canada.Phone: (905) 876-9966, (800) 338-7779 Fax: (905)876-0569 E-mail: info@ucg.caEAST AFRICA (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda): UnitedChurch of God, Kenya, P.O. Box 75261, Nairobi00200 Kenya. E-mail: kenya@ucg.orgFIJI: United Church of God, P.O. Box 11081, LaucalaBeach Estate, SuvaFRENCH-SPEAKING AREAS: Église de DieuUnie–France, 127 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris, FranceGERMANY:Vereinte Kirche Gottes, Postfach 30 15 09,D-53195 Bonn, Germany. Phone: 0228 - 9454636 Fax:0228 - 9454637 E-mail: info@gutenachrichten.orgITALY: La Buona Notizia, Chiesa di Dio Unita, CasellaPostale 187, 24121 Bergamo Centro, Italy. Phone/Fax:(+39) 035-4523573 E-mail: info@labuonanotizia.orgMALAWI: P.O. Box 32257, Chichiri, Blantyre 3,Malawi. E-mail: malawi@ucg.orgMAURITIUS: P.O. Box 53, Quatre Bornes. E-mail:mauritius@ucg.orgThe NETHERLANDS: United Church of God Holland,P.O. Box 93, 2800 AB Gouda, The NetherlandsNEW ZEALAND: United Church of God, P.O. Box 22,Auckland, 1015, New Zealand. Phone: 0508-463-763NIGERIA: United Church of God–West Africa, P.O.Box 1715,Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Phone: 234-1-7918009 E-mail: nigeria@ucg.orgPHILIPPINES: United Church of God, P.O. Box81840, DCCPO, 8000 Davao City, Philippines. Phone:(+63) 82 241-0150 Cell/Text: (+63) 0918-904-4444SCANDINAVIA: Guds Enade Kyrka, P.O. Box 705,Wat-ford, Herts. WD19 6FZ England E-mail: sverige@ucg.orgSOUTH AFRICA (and Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho,Swaziland only): United Church of God, Southern Africa,P.O. Box 2209, Beacon Bay, East London 5205.Phone/Fax: 043 748-1694 E-mail: rsa@ucg.orgSPANISH-SPEAKING AREAS: Iglesia de DiosUnida, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027,U.S.A. Phone: (513) 576-9796TONGA: United Church of God–Tonga, P.O. Box 127,Nuku’alofa, TongaUNITED STATES:World News and Prophecy,P.O.Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027. Phone (513)576-9796. E-mail info@ucg.orgZAMBIA: United Church of God, P.O. Box 23076, Kitwe,Zambia. Phone: (02) 226076. E-mail: zambia@ucg.orgZIMBABWE: United Church of God, Zimbabwe, P.O.Box 928, Causeway, Harare. Cell Phone: 011716273E-mail: zimbabwe@ucg.org

Internet access on your computer:Along with www.wnponline.org,the United Church ofGod’s home page www.ucg.orggives you access to TheGood News, booklets and links to our international Websites:www.ucg.ca(Canada),www.ucg.org.au(Australia),www.labuonanotizia.org(Italy),www.goodnews.org.uk(British Isles),www.ucg.org.ph(Philippines),www.ucgeastafrica.org(Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda)and www.ucgrsa.org (Southern Africa ).

Engdahl sees America’s interventionin Iraq as part of a struggle over oilreserves: “Today, much of the world isconvinced the Bush Administration didnot wage war against Iraq and SaddamHussein because of threat from weaponsof mass destruction, nor from terror dan-gers. Still a puzzle, however, is whyWashington would risk so much in termsof relations with its allies and the entireworld, to occupy Iraq . . . It is increasing-ly clear that the US occupation of Iraq isabout control of global oil resources . . .The Iraq war is but the first in a major bat-tle over global energy resources” (“Iraqand the Problem of Peak Oil,”CurrentConcerns,2004, No. 1).

The problem of tight supply could beaddressed if all oil-consuming nationswere willing to agree on a common stan-dard of living for the people of the world.There is just one catch: The world’s ener-gy resources are insufficient to provideeveryone with a Western standard of liv-ing. So the world’s richer countries wouldhave to be willing to lower their standardof living in order to raise the standard inpoorer countries. Human history teachesus that no such agreement will be made.

The fact that disagreements overmaterial possessions can lead to war is nonew revelation. Nearly 2,000 years agothe apostle James wrote: “What causesfights and quarrels among you? Don’tthey come from your desires that battlewithin you? You want something but don’tget it. You kill and covet, but you cannothave what you want. You quarrel andfight” (James 4:1-2, NIV).

As long as oil remains the primaryenergy source for the world economy, ten-sions will increase in the world oil marketand among oil consuming nations. LikeChina and the United States, the EuropeanUnion has no other option but to pursueforeign policy and promote trade relationsto secure a stable supply of oil.

Which region of the world will be ofgreatest interest to these world leaders?Can it be any other than the region havingthe most proven reserves and the highestproduction capacity? Half the world’sremaining oil supply can be found in fivePersian Gulf countries: United ArabEmirates, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and SaudiArabia. Will the European Union succeedin defending its interests in the region? v

“ GAS PUMPS,” (Continued from page 11)

16 World News and Prophecy

As a teenager growing up in the 1960s I remember sit-ting around the campfire singing the folk ballad“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”As the campfire

glimmered,sparkled and glowed,we would ultimately sing thepainful fourth stanza with its melodic woe: “Where have all thesoldiers gone? Long time passing. Where have all the soldiersgone? Long time ago. Where have all the soldiers gone? Goneto graveyards every one. When will they ever learn? When willthey e-v-e-r learn?”

Perhaps some of you are already humming,but the purposeof my writing is to move beyond yesteryear’s summer in thewoods, and touch upon an awesome future that is being givena preview in another set of forests and fields on the other sideof the globe.

Americans are even now planning to fire up their barbe-cues and warm their tummies on hamburgers and hot dogs dur-ing the coming summer months. Yet there is another kind ofwarmth and glow emanating from the hearts and minds of anumber of Russian folk far away from the great military spec-tacles found in Red Square commemorating the 60th anniver-sary of the Allied victory over the Nazi regime. This sneakpreview with prophetic implications is found in the still andquiet of a long abandoned farm field. This pastoral setting isgiven color, light and meaning by Los Angeles Times staffwriter Kim Murphy in an article titled, “A Somber Realizationin Battlefields of Bones,” which appeared May 7, 2005.

The Valley of DeathThe dateline is Mozhaysk, a Slavic word that is hard to

pronounce for the English tongue. But it is here, in what issimultaneously called the Valley of Glory and the Valley of

Death, that the annual thaw of spring brings forth an earnestsearch for the bones of 9,000 men who still lie buried in along-abandoned collective farm field that is slowly beingencroached upon by the surrounding forests.

Over 60 years ago, it was here that the Soviet Union’s 32ndRifle Division, with its defensive back to Moscow, moved for-ward during the great counteroffensive of Soviet troops againstthe German foe.

What first appeared as a triumphant break through the ene-my’s ranks, slowly became a noose around the Red Army asthey had moved too far ahead of any support system. InFebruary of 1942, the Germans slowly tightened the noosearound the stranded division,and 14,000 soldiers were trappedby their foe. They were starved, frozen and ultimately slaugh-tered. Only 3,000 would get away.

The battle at the Valley of Glory and the Valley of Death,Mozhaysk, is credited in part with slowing down the Germanarmy enough to save Moscow. It is but one battlefield on whatwas that awesome and dreadful wall of despair called “TheEastern Front.” Reporter Murphy reminds us that nearly 26million Russians died in World War II. That’s nearly 60 timesthe number of American deaths in the same war.

The chilling news is—some historians believe the deathtoll was even higher. The Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg)is famous, as is the Battle for Stalingrad (Volgograd); but it ishere in a field of sod that we connect with the grim reality thatno one truly knows how many actually died or where they fell.Unlike Allied military cemeteries with their neat rows of cross-es and stars of David, it is believed many a Red Army casual-ty was buried in mud on the very spot that he fell.

Seeing It With Your Own Eyes

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(See “ SEEING,” page 14)

by Robin Webber