The latest is that Benjamin Netanyahu’s time to form a governing coalition is over, and he has failed despite some last-minute manoeuvres (ref. 1). So now, the mandate to form the next government of Israel will pass to Yair Lapid or Naftali Bennett. Thus, a unity government of some sort, a government without Netanyahu as the prime minister, might form. Lapid has said that he is ready to let Bennett go first in a rotation deal even though Bennett has fewer seats than him (ref. 2). So, this might be it.
Netanyahu, of course, cannot remain as prime minister because he continues to refuse to change the status quo of the Temple Mount. If Jews are unable to pray on the Temple Mount, it follows that a temple of God and an oblation to God would be out of the question.
Right now, Israel has physical control of the Temple Mount. It has been in the hands of Israel since the Six Day War of 1967, the war of Psalms 83.
By the way, in 1967, the IDF, led by the LORD of hosts, entered the old city of Jerusalem from the east, through the Lion’s gate, also known as Stephen’s gate.
In these last days, the only thing that is standing in the way of a temple of God is the lack of political will. Ayelet Shaked of Yamina has previously said that Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. As of now, Bennett, the leader of Yamina, is in a position to become the next prime minister.
Perhaps, the political stage is being set for Israel to receive the two witnesses.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Malachi 4:5-6
The two witnesses will be Elijah the Tishbite and John of Patmos. These two are men of Jewish lineage, and besides having the commission to preach the gospel to every nation and tongue (ref. Revelation 14:6), literally preach the gospel worldwide, they will prepare Israel before the tribulation (ref. Malachi 3:1) especially in regard to the temple and the oblation (ref. Malachi 3:1-4, Revelation 11:1-2).
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…
Malachi 3:1
In Revelation 11, Jesus Christ reveals that the two witnesses of the last days are his two witnesses, and it is he, Jesus Christ, who will give power unto them to prophesy 1260 days.
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Revelation 11:3
The two witnesses will speak the truth, and for the duration of their testimony they will be invincible.
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Revelation 11:5
These two will also have power to smite the earth as often as they will.
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
Revelation 11:6
From all this, it is clear that the two witnesses will be imbued with the Holy Spirit, or in other words, the Holy Ghost. God will literally be with the two witnesses.
The Holy Spirit will also be with the elect of Israel when they are persecuted (ref. Mark 13:9-13, Luke 21:12-15).
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to the councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsover shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
Mark 13:9-11
Malachi 3:1 explains that the Holy Spirit will come to Israel and into the temple of God around the time of the two witnesses.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1
At that time, the Holy Spirit will purify the sons of Levi, literally Jewish priests, that they may offer an offering to God as in the days of old.
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in the former years.
Malachi 3:3-4
This means the temple of God will be holy, at least until the abomination of desolation is put there.
You might think, Jesus Christ is God, so a daily sacrifice, Jewish priests – that can’t be right?
This is why I said earlier that it is not correct to proselytise Christianity to Jews for the purpose of converting them. I suppose there is nothing wrong and indeed everything right to preach righteousness and charity, etc., to pull the likes of them who have gone astray, for instance, towards the Kabbalah which is akin to Gnosticism, to pull those Jews back to the Tanakh and the Torah. But on the matter of Bible prophecy, one must be in sync with the will of God.
If you are telling the Jews that they can be raptured into safety while scripture actually explains that they must escape and endure until the end to be saved, then you are helping the adversary of God. Likewise, if you are telling the Jews that God the Father is going to cause the armies of the enemies of Israel to implode in the manner of Gog of Magog (ref. Ezekiel 38-39) while scripture explains that Israel must ready himself to fight back and resist the beast (ref. Nahum 2:1), then once again you are helping the adversary of God.
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
Nahum 2:1
The devil is more insidious and cunning than people realise.
The Bible does prophesy that in the last days darkness will cover the world (ref. Isaiah 60:2), and the treacherous dealers will deal treacherously (ref. Isaiah 24:16).
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealer have dealt very treacherously.
Isaiah 24:16
There are many who are spreading confusion and helping the enemy without the faintest idea that they are doing it. These people who are spreading confusion are not necessarily lost (ref. Isaiah 61:6-7).
But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion…
Isaiah 61:6-7
But of course, there are some who are spreading confusion deliberately. Only God knows who is doing what.
In some churches, it is possible that angels are ministering to pastors and priests. At the end of his time in the wilderness and after being tempted by Satan, angels ministered unto the Son of man (ref. Matthew 4:11). So, ministering angels are a thing. Of course, in a church what an angel can do a demon can also do. And sometimes, God himself will send forth a lying spirit to cause delusion (ref. 1 Kings 22:22).
It is one thing to receive insight and information. It is quite another to have the power of God.
Now, I am going to say something that will challenge two thousand years of accepted Christian dogma.
You might tell yourself, wow, what arrogance! This person thinks he knows more than the theologians of Christendom. Wait, hear me out.
It is widely believed, by Protestants and Catholics alike, that the Holy Spirit indwells a Christian the moment he or she becomes a Christian. According to dogma, this has been so since the Pentecost.
On many occasions, Paul wrote to his fellow Christians about the Holy Spirit.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30
Prima facie, these writings suggest that the Holy Spirit is within every Christian, even today in 2021 AD.
This is not true.
What Paul was writing about was specific to the early church, to the apostolic age. At some point after that, the Holy Spirit left.
Granted, the Holy Spirit would have been among some of the learned men of the Council of Nicaea, otherwise the canon of the Bible would not have formed.
But even by then the presence of the Holy Spirit among the faithful was not as it had been during the early years.
We know from scripture that during the acts of the apostles, the Holy Spirit was among the leaders and also the congregants of the church.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 14:25-26
Indeed, it was the presence of the Holy Spirit during the early church that made possible its explosive growth.
By contrast, Christendom is now in decline. In many ways, the prophesied apostasy (ref. 2 Thessalonians 2:3) is complete.
It is noteworthy that during their ministry the apostles were able to do the miraculous. They had actual supernatural power (ref. Acts 3:6, Acts 8:6, Acts 10:44, etc.), and they were guided by that power (ref. Acts 6:8, Acts 8:29, Acts 10:10-20, etc.).
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 10:19
If the Holy Spirit indwells a Christian as a matter of principle, as is commonly thought, then a Christian today, the average congregant, should be able to do similar miracles! But this is not so.
Therefore, what was given to Israel, first to the apostles at Pentecost, and later to the congregation, was a “taste” or a preview of what is to come (ref. Hebrews 6:4-6).
For now, Christians can put on the new man and aspire to be righteous but are not yet actually holy. No one is born again as one of the sons of God until he is born again.
The Bible teaches, on the day of the LORD, Christians will be reaped by Jesus Christ (ref. Revelation 14:14-16), resurrected or translated into an immortal body, a body imbued with the Holy Spirit.
Separately, before that day, the remnant of Israel, Jews, will also receive the Holy Spirit (ref. Zechariah 12:10, Joel 2:28-29). At that point, Israel will be saved and “holy” (ref. Isaiah 4:3, Jeremiah 31:33).
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Only then will the Holy Spirit be within all the people of Christ.
To this point, during his ministry, John the baptist preached that it is Jesus Christ who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.
John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire
Luke 3:16
John himself was filled with the Holy Spirit (ref. Luke 1:15), as was his mother Elisabeth while she was pregnant (ref. Luke 1:41).
Despite having the Holy Spirit, John baptised people with water. He carried out a symbolic rite.
To be sure, when John baptised Jesus, the Holy Spirit did visibly descend like a dove upon Jesus, and a voice from heaven was heard.
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age…
Luke 3:22-23
But even so, before his baptism, Jesus Christ, the Son of man, was already filled with the Holy Spirit. For one thing, his mother Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit while she was pregnant (ref. Matthew 1:18). For another, when the Son of man was twelve, he was already able to converse with the learned doctors of the temple, and able to go about his Father’s business, knowing that God was his Father (ref. Luke 2:42-49).
And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast… And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him was astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
Luke 2:42-50
This suggests, at the completion of the rite of baptism, John did not cause the Holy Spirit to indwell the person he baptised. So, the rite of baptism is symbolic.
Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
John 12:30
Now, why is it wrong to think that the Holy Spirit is within you when he is not?
If you proclaim that the Holy Spirit indwells you when he does not, and you minister as if what you say is from God, then you are as it were swearing falsely by God. You have become like a false prophet. An actual false prophet is someone who speaks the message of an angel that is against God. This transgression, though different, is perhaps just as serious. In a way, it profanes the name of God.
… I see a flying roll… Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
Zechariah 5:2-4
If the Holy Spirit were truly within a person, on matters of doctrine and prophecy, he would be infallible and all the time.
I myself have made mistakes while analysing prophecy. The identity of Cush, for instance. I once thought, Sudan. Turns out, it is Ethiopia.
In my case, I know what I know because I have figured out the big picture. To see the big picture, you must have all of the pieces of the puzzle and every piece must fit into place. You cannot disregard the parts that are inconvenient or dangerous. The most important and secret part of the puzzle, believe it or not, is China.
I am able to figure out the big picture because I have been given clues, basically a key to unseal parts of Bible prophecy that have been sealed until the appointed time.
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Daniel 12:4
The clues have come in such as way that I know they are from God. What I am talking about are the names of persons.
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luke 1:13
You see, the scripture reads, the angel of the LORD said, “Thou shalt call his name…” Therefore, sometimes, there is spiritual meaning in names.
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
Proverbs 25:2
It helps also to read from the correct version of the Bible. Remember, the Word of God is the Holy Spirit (ref. 2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16).
By contrast, the two witnesses will speak by the power of the Holy Spirit, for they are actual prophets of God. I suppose, it is only when the Holy Spirit leaves them at the moment of their tribulation that the beast will be able to kill them.
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Revelation 11:7
Now, the way Joan of Arc responded when she was asked whether she was in a state of grace is very interesting: “If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.”
There are two things to be said about this. First, maybe, a person can be in a state of grace and not know. Second, Joan of Arc was a Christian in the 15th century, and she was willing to accept that maybe the Holy Spirit was not within her, which is precisely my point that the Holy Spirit does not necessarily indwell every Christian.
In the case of Joan of Arc, though, I think God was with her because she was able to answer the learned doctors of the church well despite being illiterate and despite the fact that the Bible was not at the time in the vernacular. Either the preaching at her church at Domrémy was superbly well done, or else she was truly a messenger of God.
She did, of course, succeed in her mission of lifting the siege at Orléans, and so she was instrumental in getting the Dauphin crowned at Reims. The whole dispute between England and France at the time was about who had the right to rule France. Thus, the matter was settled by God, the LORD of hosts (ref. Romans 13:1).
Joan of Arc was very sure of her mission. Some might even call it arrogance: “Take care what you do for in truth I am sent by God!”
Eventually though, Joan misstepped. Towards the end, she recanted. But then shortly after that, she changed her mind again, and so in the end she was burnt at the stake. Did she pass her tribulation? Maybe she did. Still, it is best to be steadfast in the faith.
Notice, just as it will be for the two witnesses, the Holy Spirit was not in her when her faith was tested. I think, it is supposed to be like that because it stands to reason that every individual Christian must pass the test of faith by himself or herself.
If the Holy Spirit were to indwell a person at that critical moment, it would not be a proper test of faith. This is yet another reason why the dogma that the Holy Spirit necessarily indwells a Christian and all the time cannot be correct.
The thing that is most striking about the case of Joan of Arc is that God chose a peasant, a nobody, to serve him, to separate the nation of France from England. This was a matter of geopolitical importance and eventually involved complex theological questions. Yet, she was a person of no renown.
References:
1. Steve Hendrix (5 May 2021), “Netanyahu fails to form a governing coalition by deadline, putting his continued rule into question”, washingtonpost.com
2. Gil Hoffman (31 March 2021), “Yair Lapid ready to let Naftali Bennett go first in rotation”, jpost.com