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.

Hello again! This is Paul Billington looking at the News from a Bible perspective--and therefore somewhat selectively, choosing news items that demonstrate the Truth that lies behind the headlines.

Bringing you the Bible’s view of the news, after many weeks absence, this is Paul Billington back with you again to look at what is going on--and how it fits in with what the prophets have told us to expect.

The Israeli Knesset has approved the 2006 budget 158 days late, with a vote of 53-22 with 45 abstaining. Five of collation Labour party MKs left the plenum in rebellion over the budget--not a good sign for the government as many polititions are saying that the real battle will be the 2007 budget. Throw Olmert's controversial "convergence plan" into the mix and you have a very unstable government. This is David Billington with the weekly Bible in the News.

This week, the Pope visits Auschwitz and asks why God was silent during the Holocaust; Qassam rockets land in the south of Israel, in Strerot, with a direct hit on a house very close to the defense ministers; Katyusha rockets, shelling and gunfire on the northern border of Israel from Hizbullah; ten months after the expulsion from Gush Katif,111 families are not even living in temporary prefab structures; meanwhile, there are orders from the Israeli government to destroy 12 outpost communities in the West Bank. It's the May 31st edition of the Bible in the News. This week, we are going to discuss some of these questions with the editor of Israelireporter.com.

With you for the weekly Bible in the News program, is Dave Billington, as Paul continues his lecturing tour in Australia. I don't know if President Bush takes time out every week to listen to The Bible in the News, but if you don't Mr. President, it's certainly time you did -- in fact you would find this week particularly interesting having just visited with the PM of Israel, Ehud Olmert. You discussed with him is plan to expel many Jews from their homes in the west bank, or Judea and Samaria; he said, that unless the Palestinians negotiate to let him give them the land, he will force them to have it! (My paraphrase.)

Welcome friends, to the May 17th edition of Bible in the News with Dave Billington. This week the "International Aerospace Exhibition" is taking place in Berlin. You may be surprised to find out who the largest exhibitor is at this international show -- so big they had to especially construct a new 3,000 square meter pavilion, just for this exhibitor! It is not the European Union or even the United States. It's Russia. Yes, Russia is back in a big way. The Russian News and Information Agency reported this information under the heading: "Growing Russian Aerospace Industry to Display its Products in Berlin." Gone are the days of a starving population with Russia begging the west for aid, today Russia is flexing its muscles. The difference for Russia now, in comparison to the cold war era, is all the doors are open to the west and the lucrative markets in Europe. The International Herald Tribune Reports that Russia supplies a third of Germany's gas needs and a quarter of the EU's, sales totalling $25.7 billion, accounting for two-thirds of Gazprom -- the giant Russian state owned gas giant's -- revenue. The Baltic Sea pipelines continue to be constructed at top speed, due to be completed in 2010 bringing an additional 55 billion cubic meters a year of gas directly to Western European Markets. Despite Russia turning off the gas tap during the row with Ukraine last winter and making Europe feel vulnerable, Europe continues on courting Russia with a few grumbles along the way. Not only do we see a union developing but we see Russia posturing to dominate a united Europe.

This is Dave Billington with this week's Bible in the News. The ancient city of Hebron is a city that resounds with events of faith. Abraham the father of the faithful is buried there with Sarah his wife; Caleb, one of the faithful spies choose Hebron for his portion in the land of Canaan, the place where the giants were and the cities great and fenced; and Samson carried the gates of Gaza all night and around the time the sun arose this mighty man filled with the spirit of God placed the gates of Gaza on a hill before Hebron, no doubt with the promise to Abraham in mind, that his seed would possess the gate of his enemies.

This is Dave Billington with you for this week's Bible in the News. On Tuesday of this week Berlusconi resigned as Italian PM, clearing the way for Romano Prodi to become the next Prime Minister of Italy. What does this have to do with the Bible? Stay tuned to find out.

This is Dave Billington with you for this weeks Bible in the News. Ever heard of Nefesh B'nefesh? Well don't touch the dial, because they are an exciting organization that is making headlines!

This is Dave Billington with this weeks Bible in the News. This Monday a suicide bomber struck in Tel Aviv killing nine civilians, at the same time as Israel's new parliament was to be sworn in. After calls for the ceremony to be canceled it went ahead regardless of the carnage. This is an epitome of the plans of the new government in Israel, who has plans to withdraw from large swathes of the West Bank in Judea and Samaria, regardless of the ongoing attacks and bloodshed. Does this new government have God's blessing? We would say 'no'. As it says in the Proverbs 29:2: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." When will there be righteous government for the nation of Israel?

Welcome to our weekly Bible in the News programme brought to you again this week by Paul Billington in Canada.This week we want to step back from the turmoil of world events and the politics--and take a look at those who report the news to us--the media.Many of us will recognize the power of the media in today's world. We see it at election times, and also at times of crisis--such as with the Iraq war or when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at a crucial phase--as it is now. In these situations the media (both press and electronic) can bring enormous pressure and influence to bear. Journalists and announcers are sometimes referred to as being 'formers of public opinion'--they actually see their job as being to form public opinion--as telling us what to think. In this way they are seen to manipulate elections and even the policy of government. These are powerful people.