When Michael Called

I do not know how much longer this blog will be on-line for things are afoot and the time of completion is drawing near, but I have only few things left which I wish to expound upon via this electronic medium in the coming days and months, for I sense that I now stand on the precipice of my future, standing on the threshold of a doorway through which I must venture, never to return to the land of darkness.  However, I want you to know, even just with a minimal understanding, of one thing that has been a part of what led me to this place of walking with the Eternal God, and only by His hand could this ever have happened.  He is the one who chooses, He is eternally upon the throne, for He knows the end from the beginning, He knows all that is in our hearts before time itself.  Though I have been utterly unwilling to speak of this, even just touching upon it, in bygone days, I sense that, nearing the time of fulfilment of His word to me, I should reveal a little more for those whose hearts still waver a little that your confidence in the God you serve, the Ever Living, Ever Loving God, is never misplaced.  Bear in mind, though, that this is just a little, just one thing of many.  It may seem unbelievable to some but I have no reason to create such a fanciful story and the spirit within me does not allow me to divert from the truth, for it is the Spirit of truth and of prophecy, the Spirit of the Lord.

When I was only a sapling, one night I lay awake in bed, as I am wont to do having sufferend insomnia and depression most of my days, but one particular night was different.  I lay there, unflinching though terrified, as the radiant man walked to the foot of my bed and sat down, making the bed creak.  His face was as the brightness of day.  Leaning slightly forward, he looked intently at me and, smiling, he said aught, remaining silent as the still night.  Though he caused me no reason to fear, I was too afraid to draw the covers over my face, my visage perhaps contorted with dread and anxiety as I stared in disbelief, my heart pounding like never before.  Was it a ghost?  I did not believe in such apparitions but could not think of another explanation at that time for I was young and inexperienced, lacking in understanding and knowledge.  I was only nine.  After a minute or so, which at that time seemed more like ten, he arose and, walking to the other side of the room, vanished from before my eyes.

The day eventually came, though I suffered an almost sleepless night.  What if he came back?  Fear would grip me for the remainder of the dark hours.  Only due to extreme weariness did I finally succumb to a heavy, albeit brief, slumber.  Of course, my parents were not willing to believe me when confessing what I saw, come the daylight hours.  It must have been a dream, a nightmare... but, if so, I am yet to awaken.

No, that was no dream.  It took me forty years to finally understand who it was and, perhaps, why.  At a young age, I tried in vain to dismiss it as a dream or a visitation by the ghost of my maternal grandfather, for it happened in the land of Galicia in the northwest of Spain, where also is believed to be entombed the remains of one of the sons of thunder, Saint James.  I was in the house of my mother's childhood when this happened, though her father had been dead long before I was born.  I found out, many years hence, that he is buried in Newark, near New York in the USA, a long way from Galicia.  I have his name as my first given name and my natural father's name as my second given name, so I carry the memory of their names with me.  However, the face of the one I saw looked not a jot like the photographs of my grandfather, nor like any other relative, living or dead.  The man I saw was tall and he wore some kind of formal robe which was whiter than fresh, powdery snow on a mountain peak.  I could not describe the colouring of his skin or hair because he was completely illuminated, radiating light from within, his raiment all brilliant with the same light.  That he radiated like a lamp is something which I discovered, a mere fifteen years later, to be a real phenomenon.

Throughout my life there has been a series of people called Michael whose influence on the direction of my life has been profound.  It was only a few years ago that I got to wondering why that happened... it seemed so strange, too much of a coincidence, this stream of very influential Michaels, like a powerful river in time running through my life.  I recalled the hidden message in the names of the patriarchs leading up to Noah, and even beyond.  So, out of curiosity and, perhaps also, divine inspiration, I listed the surnames of the Michaels in chronological order and, looking up the meaning of each one on-line, taking the first proper explanation found for each name, I discovered a hidden message, a message so profound to me and so unbelievable that I sat there in shock and disbelief... again.  I felt faint, goosebumps exploded right across my entire being, my heart raced, a cold sweat broke out and I simply stared at my screen, pallid as a dead man.

The hidden message, formed by the surnames of a series of seven Michaels, five who played major roles in my life and two who played minor roles which could be ignored without loss of message meaning but whose presence only serves to reinforce the message's particularity, beginning with the first Michael who was a friend and neighbour of my parents when I was conceived, born and for a number of years thereafter, and ending with a Michael who is currently my friend and coworker and whose appearance in my life was that which caused me to wonder about this phenomenon, describes perfectly the location in which I currently live in terms of the geography, both natural and man-made artefacts, the location's name which is inherently of a geographical description befitting the area, and appears to touch upon my purpose.  The description is not generic; it is quite specific, unique in that no other location do I know of that could fit, and the message is prophetic in nature.  I cannot repeat it here for this is personal and not for the ears of the general public amongst which are far too many wicked but, of a surety, it came by the hand of the Ever Living God.  It is such that one may relate it to the most trusted of friend or family but, even then, I am very reluctant and keep it to myself, except that the last Michael has been given some limited understanding.  I merely tell you of its existence, not for my benefit but for yours, that you may believe in the Ever Living God and His Christ, that your faith may no longer falter or be swayed or diminished by what is coming upon this dark world.

Nobody else but God could have orchestrated such a thing for it requires someone outside of the limitations of causality, someone who transcends all time.  Of such there is only One.  By this did I know that the one who had visited me when I was nine years old was, most certainly, the great archangel, Michael, for if I place him within the message, his very appearance is itself a message for it provides a second witness to what the message means and, thus, why I am here.  Even within the surroundings of my location are names supporting the message, a river and a mount upon which I live, of which I dreamed almost a year before I found this place, not immediately realising it was that which I dreamed until I saw it from a new perspective, a road I had not driven before then.  Even my surname at birth is descriptive of where I am now, so what of my given names, surely they are inspired of the Lord for a purpose we are yet to see.  I had been here almost eleven years when the message was finally no longer obscured from my eyes.  Yet, there remains one part to be revealed, so the time is not yet but I believe that it is near.

Without the first Michael, without the direction his influence set upon my life, I would never have met the second and, thus, the third and so forth with the rest and, consequently, the last for I would never have come to live at this isolated place upon this mount.  Without the last Michael, I would never have discovered the message that began with the first.  Sitting down to write out a brief and abridged autobiography that listed the ways in which each Michael influnced my life, including the way that influence led to meeting the next in some indirect manner, I realised that not one of them ever knew another.  How much stronger a witness would I need for the hand of God?  My first and last girlfriends, decades in the past (for I have lived in solitude before the Lord for a great time now) were both red-heads by the name of Christine, which means of Christ.  Why?!  Between them was one by whose dear friends I came to be baptised in the Lord, and her name was Michele, the feminine form of Michael, though her surname is not part of the message for they are all men.  Perhaps it should be.  This is only barely scratching the surface, but I digress and will not speak much more on it.  There is no excuse for me to doubt... and yet, when times are tough, this evil flesh wants to do just that... doubt!  Oh, woe is me, that I should know the secrets of the eternal kingdom and yet harbour this evil in my flesh!  Who can save me from this body of death?  The Ever Living God, the Glorious One of Israel!  Who else?

There have happened to me numerous astonishing things throughout my life, even a visible mark of His ancient Name upon my right thigh, and the number of times His enemy, the enemy of life and truth, has attempted to take my life from the face of the earth and has been thwarted, if only just, by His hand, I cannot count.  I am here for a reason, as was prophesied over me shortly after the Spirit of God was upon me with power, as was spoken by the mouth of the Eternal One in eternity past, for we are His and have forever been upon His unfailing heart of eternal faith and love.  In truth, He was always with me, even from the day I was conceived.

So then, what is the meaning of the name, Michael?

It is a rhetorical question, and it declares, Who is like unto GOD?!  Yes indeed!  Who?  I know not one!

Fear not, you who are always faithful to the Ever Living God, our Heavenly Father, fear not you whose heart is set continually upon Yeshua our Salvation.  It is His good pleasure to see the salvation of our souls, even by the precious blood of His only begotten Son, who reigns with Him forever, may His name be forever praised, and to bring us into His house and with us even many wretches who have hated the wickedness of this world, to fill His house that it may be full, to fill it with us and all those in the lanes and roadways who are lame, blind, deaf, dumb, the beggars, the lepers, the hated and despised by this world of Satan's kingdom, despised for the sake of the Lord's name, for the sake of the truth, so that the wedding feast may be joyous and a great exultation in the heavenlies and upon the earth, so that all may fall before Him who is and was and forever will be, the great and eternal, Ever Living God, may the praise of His name never, for all eternity, depart from my lips, amen!

Things We Already Know

There are a ridiculous number of people claiming to have received visions from God.  Almost invariably, these are actually dreams but they like to call them "visions" for dramatic effect and to make themselves sound more important.  The vast majority of these so-called "visions" involve seeing or experiencing events which are already constantly on peoples' minds.

For example, dreaming of a massive earthquake hitting California is hardly a dream from God.  The reason is simple:  God does not inform us of things we already know or believe.  Dreams and visions from God are invariably TRUE REVELATIONS of some kind... but a dream about California being destroyed by a major earthquake is hardly eligible for the status of revelation.

Geologists have been speaking and writing about such an event for well over a century.  Cinematographers have made numerous films of such an event.  Millions of people speak about it on a daily basis and it is clear to anybody with a brain that the frequency of strong earthquakes has been on a dramatic rise over the past twenty years, informing us of where we are in accordance with the Lord's own words regarding the time of the end.  On top of it all, California is perhaps one of the most morally depraved places in the world, so much so that God's protection of it from the evil consequences of sin is by now all but completely withdrawn.  Where is the revelation in such a dream "vision"?  Is there something there, some obscure point being made that will reveal something new?  Is it any surprise, any at all, that having been bombarded by all of that information I have just mentioned week after week over many years that people are going to have dramatic dreams about a massive earthquake destroying California or any other somewhat seismically active place, for that matter?

The same principle applies to many things we hear about.  There are people calling rapture "visions" a vision from God but it is just a dream they have after spending endless days and even years reading about it, thinking about it, talking about it and so forth.  There are many such nonsensical claims being made, with people claiming that "God gave me a dream about this..." and "God game me a vision of the night about that..." and so forth.

There are simple rules of thumb you can use to protect yourself against this insanity because listening to these people or watching their worthless YouTube videos will eventually cause you nothing but great anxiety and perhaps even mislead you into taking foolish actions or missing important and genuine prophetic visions or dreams.

First, consider the main content being referred to.  This can usually be done without even watching the video or listening to the audio.  The title often says enough but sometimes you need to dig a little.  If it is claiming to confirm something already well known or widely believed then just ignore it.  Such a "vision" will reveal nothing, it has no revelational value.

Secondly, assuming there seems to be something of value, examine the content in the powerful light of the revealed word of the Lord.  Does it run counter to even the smallest point?  Remember, a single fly in the jar of perfume can make the entire thing stink.  If it stinks, flush it away.  Obviously there are claims made that can neither be confirmed nor denied by scripture but there are other tell-tale signs and, additionally, one should not concern oneself with non-scriptural prophetic claims.  It may be true or it may be false and there may be no way to tell up front before the time is passed, so it is perhaps not worth being concerned about.

Finally, having reached this point, examine the "prophet's" history if he or she has prior form.  Does this person make frequent prophetic claims?  If so, do any predictions of future events come true or are the predictions falsified?  To dodge this bullet, many have been careful not to put a timeline on their claims but claims of a generic nature are always eventually fulfilled and such "prophecies" reveal nothing new, anyway, so they fail the first test.  If seemingly true, be careful because the "devil is in the detail".  For example, in one instance a particular church group who make frequent claims of prophetic, God-given revelations (and who shall remain anonymous for the sake of the repentant amongst them) said that some bridge in a particular state of the USA was going to be destroyed.  About a month or two later, a bridge in some African location was damaged and a few people were killed and others injured.  The so-called "prophets" then claimed that this was fulfillment of their prophecy.  This is an obvious lie but the tricks can often be much more subtle so be very wary of the claims being made.  The signs of a false claim are here obvious (it happened in Africa and not in the USA, the bridge was damaged and not destroyed) but other points can be more subtle, such as the fact that such a generic event is going to happen, sooner or later, in one place or another.  Such events happen frequently enough to occur within a few months or even a few years but infrequently enough to seem isolated or unusual because of the very short term news cycles we are subjected to (typically four to eight weeks).

There are numerous other points of examination which I could go on to write about but by now I am sure that you get the essence of it and can work it out for yourself without much trouble.  As always, pray first and ask the Lord for guidance in your understanding.

In the end, true dreams or visions from God have very telling characteristics to the one who receives them and content that is not usually understood immediately and is not a subject of popular thought or ideas.  Such dreams and visions, when correctly understood, reveal something deep and previously unknown and are always concordant with holy writ.  Personally, I have had about twenty such dreams across a lifetime and I keep learning new things from a number of them even to this day... they are really quite astonishing and they have the nature of the true memory of an actual event because they never fade from memory like ordinary dreams.  They are almost always simple in structure and make a single key point, and are not cluttered with lots of meaningless and confusing things and sudden jumps from one scene to another in a seemingly random manner, as is often the case with dreams.  On one occasion I had two seemingly different dreams on the one night, waking up between them, only to later realise that, although the content of each dream was diverse, they were saying exactly the same thing in a manner just like the two dreams that Pharaoh had which were interpreted by Joseph.  This is like a "witness" dream, for there are two.  Finally, a dream from God is unmistakable because it has the quality of reality almost more than reality itself and there is a deep inner sense that it came from "above".  I have no desire to reveal the contents of the dreams the Lord has given me because most of them are of a personal nature, although a few are not and of those that are not personal I have made some references to in this blog, though sometimes some details are kept out for reasons I will not divulge here.

My desire, in writing this post, is just to help any sensible soul navigate their way through all of the "end-of-days" rubbish we are being constantly hammered with.  Such madness causes anxiety and an increasing sense of hopelessness and such is contrary to what the Lord said we should have.  This applies as much to other "information" as it does to so-called prophetic "visions" and dreams.  I hope that what I have here written will be of some assistance to you.

God is the revealer of mysteries, not a chatterbox mindlessly echoing common gossip!

__________________________

Addendum 2017-11-25.

There is a plethora of YouTube rubbish that should be carefully and studiously avoided.  For example, if you see titles such as, "Something huge is happening and nobody is talking about it!!!", or "Watch this before it is taken down!!!!", or "This video has been banned in almost every country!!!!", and so forth... just ignore them completely.  They tell you nothing useful in the title because they have nothing useful to say.  They are invariably complete rubbish, stupid ideas built up around a foolish belief in the mind of a paranoid and ignorant person.  The things depicted are almost always very ordinary but just strung together in a jumbled fashion for dramatic effect and the titles make unjustifiable demands of your time without saying anything useful.  Finally, when you see long strings of exclamation marks at the end of the title or the excessive use of them or capitalisation of letters throughout the author's writings, they are yelling at you so just ignore it and never go back to that silly channel.  I have watched a few over the years and what I have said here has been true every time without fail, so now I do not bother at all.  You are paying for Internet access and that rubbish is just costing you and you're get nothing of value from it, and perhaps just receive another dose of increased anxiety.  Every time you click on a link to one of their videos they immediately have their "views" counter incremented even if you did not view the video beyond the first few seconds and that just encourages the midget-minded, attention-seeking idiots, doesn't it?  So, do not bother any more... do yourself and everyone else a favour and discourage this stupidity.  That the author claims to be a Christian or not is irrelevant... you would be well advised to ignore that channel for the sake of your own sanity and well-being.

The End of Australia

Today, in what must be the most abominable outcome any right-minded person could witness, the same-sex "marriage" plebiscite outcome was announced, the result being that support for the overthrow of God's law governing marriage came in at 61 percent.  This is a tragedy, an unmitigated disaster and marks the end of this nation.

A nation is a large society of people, being many smaller communities who, in general, work together and agree on many things and disagree peacefully (though with left-wing fanatics, peaceful disagreement has generally ceased to exist).  Each community is a small society and all generally are under one law, the law of the land.  The basic building block of any successful human society is the God-given structure of true marriage, that between one eligible man and one eligible woman.  This forms a mini-society, indeed, the smallest possible society that can exist, a social atom.  From this union there is growth, for only this type of union has the correct balance, strength and capability to bring into the world additional people.  Society, as a whole, is built on this union.  Additionally, the basis for the success of western society to date, despite its incredible falling away from Christian values over the past century (and more so in the past ten years than in the previous ninety years), is the Christian-based system of law.  It is this that brought "human rights" into existence as a political object.  It is this that formed the basis for every right and freedom that we currently enjoy, and it is this Christian foundation that has been the basis for the incredible advancements in social welfare, living standards, science and medicine leading to the high level of technological and social achievement we see today.

However, as a result of the decline of Christian-based law over recent decades, we have been witnessing an erosion of every other part of modern western society.  Same-sex "marriage" is the final straw in this accelerating collapse because, from here, there is no recovery.  Australia is now going to fall into the abyss.  Peace will quickly leave this land.  By this action, Australia will finally capitulate to becoming another vassal state under Satan's global government, the UN, and will completely cease as a sovereign state.  Although that has been happening gradually over the years, this final turn of events destroys the very fabric that brought this nation into being.  This means that Australia, as of this day, the 15th day of November, 2017, has ceased to exist.  Only the name shall continue as a fading echo of what once was a nation of peace-loving, God-fearing people, a nation that has vanished with the eroding winds of wickedness and lies buried in the sands of time, lost forever.

The destruction of true marriage, which is precisely the aim of the same-sex "marriage" lobby, exposes their total rejection of the most sacred of human covenants and, thus, the overthrow of all covenants of any true worth.  The wicked have rejected God's covenant wrought by the blood of Christ, so now they are given over to their wicked lusts in order to destroy themselves.  They are given over to a depraved mind and to strong delusion for, in not receiving a love of the truth, they love the lie and, by the lie, they will die.

The ultimate goal is to reduce every corporate body of resistance to Satan's totalitarian control via the UN to nought, causing every human being to be disconnected from every other human being, enabling total control over every individual on Earth so that the world can be readied to receive its final leader, the son of perdition.  This has been achieved through the gradual destruction of the freedoms we have enjoyed by the tools of financial collapse, an endless war on "terrorists" and the media-managed decay of moral standards, all engineered by the wicked at the helm of the global financial system and through their various marionettes, such as the UN and various governments.  So-called same-sex "marriage" now opens the way to an onslaught of freedom-destroying, faith-denying legislation and law whose final outcome will be the mass murder of Christians across the world.  Satan cannot make the true followers of Christ Yeshua bow to him so he intends to have them all killed so that, at long last, that wicked spirit will, via the vehicle of the son of perdition, convince himself, by the worship of all people, that he is god... but he is NOT god, and he will never actually achieve his goal.  He is not of God... he is of the devil.

Great storms will come upon this land and the wicked will scream, "climate change, climate change!", but the climate that has changed is the moral climate and, with that, now comes God's withdrawal of protection against the broadly destructive consequences of sin.  It is to be expected that, in addition to the social evils that will now appear as never before, great and very destructive storms, fires and other "natural" catastrophes will come, seemingly targeting the large urban centres and the most important farming and forest areas.  Although the righteous and wise will understand, the wicked, the walking dead, will NEVER, NOT EVER understand!

Time is short.  Three days are as a day, three weeks as a week, three months as a month.

More on a Prophet like unto Moses

Earlier this month, I published a post entitled, "A Prophet like unto Moses."  An issue I did not cover there may lead some to believe that I have not provided a sufficiently adequate coverage of the topic.  So, here I will attempt to fill that gap.

Regarding the questions raised by some priests and levites as to who John the Baptist was, it is believed by some that when they asked if he was "the prophet", that it was a reference to the prophecy of the coming of a prophet like unto Moses that would be raised up from amongst them. 

Joh 1:21 YLT  And they questioned him, `What then? Elijah art thou?' and he saith, `I am not.' --`The prophet art thou?' and he answered, `No.

In an earlier post, entitled, "Invalidity of All Current Two Witnesses" (posted in March of this year), I made comments to the effect that the second question, "The prophet art thou?", was a reiteration of the first question, "Elijah art thou?", but viewed from the spiritual perspective, meaning that they were asking John if he was the manifestation of the spirit of Elijah, to which he answered in the negative.  It is possible, however, that the second question was with regards to the subject matter of this post, asking if he was the prophet like Moses that was prophesied to come.  However, I do not believe that to be the case, though I have no strong evidence to support my view.  The reason is because, despite a lack of strong evidence for my own view, there is even less to suggest that the question posed was asking John whether he was the prophet like unto Moses.

First of all, it has been a long standing tradition amongst Jews to set a place at the table for Elijah in case he happens to turn up.  No such tradition exists, that I am aware of, in expectation of a prophet like Moses.  Perhaps Elijah was perceived by some as being the prophet like Moses, though I do not think it is a good fit.  They were quite different.  One was a leader, the other a loner.  One was from amongst the people he was sent to deliver, the other was sent to warn and turn people away from idolatry.  The picture of Moses much better fits Christ Yeshua's ministry, a leader who came to save the lost amongst his own people.  Of course, Christ will also save the lost amongst all people, the lost who are drawn by God, but the essence of the ministry is the same.  Moses was a messenger for the deliverer, Christ is the deliverer.

In the questions posed to John by the priests and levites, there is nothing at all to suggest that the reference to "the prophet" is to anything other than a reference to Elijah, the prophet they had only just been speaking of, making Elijah the immediate subject matter and any reference to Moses in that scripture far too vague for us to really believe.  However, if one takes the view that it was a reference to the prophet like unto Moses, then John's answer, "No", is still valid, for he would have known that it was a reference to the coming saviour and not to himself.

_____________________

Addendum (2017-07-21):

It could well be argued that what was meant by, "the Prophet", in the inquiry to John the Baptist when asked who he was, was not a reference to the belief in the coming of one in the spirit of Elijah but was, in fact, a reference to the prophet "like unto Moses" who was seen by some as merely a prophet and not the long awaited Messiah.  This is a reasonable understanding of what was meant by the priests and Levites whose messengers were sent to inquire of John the Baptist as to who he was.  It is a reasonable view since we know that, although they knew the scriptures in detail, most of them failed to actually understand the prophetic scriptures correctly, for they were caught up in the letter of the law and not the spirit of it, the Spirit of Truth.  If this were not so then they would have recognised the time of their visitation by the Lord.  No, indeed they did not.  They were more concerned with hand washing than with heart washing, more adroit at accusing others of perceived specks in their eyes than recognising the enormous tree in their own.  They truly could not see the forest for the tree!  Blind and deaf in spirit, dull of heart, they fussed over times and dates, rules and rituals, and went out of their way to make showy appearances in the public square, in expensive, long, flowing robes, making loud public prayers and speeches, indirectly boasting of their "wisdom and righteousness", and lording it over others to make all the "little people" feel even smaller.  They were of the "academia" of the day.

Do we see the same thing today?  My, how things never really change!  The (pseudo) "scientific" class are the new high priests.  They come out in public view to tell us all what we should think and believe and what we should not think and believe.  It was through such as them that the great delusion came for it could only come via the most pride-filled, self-deceived hearts.  Of course, there are those among them who are truthful and seek only to understand what is true, but the sciences of academia can never come to an understanding of the truth for truth has not its origin in nature but, rather, nature has its origin in Truth.  Nature is evidence, not origins.

 

A Prophet like unto Moses

It is sometimes claimed by various believers that the statement made by Moses to the Israelites, about a prophet like himself that was to come, is a reference to his own return as one of the two witnesses spoken of in the book of the Revelation to John, chapter 11.  Of course, saying “a prophet like Moses” is not the same as saying “Moses, himself” but it seems that many people wish to interpret it that way.  So, let's look at that scripture.

Deu 18:17-19 KJVR And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. (18) I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. (19) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

What is meant by “a prophet... like unto thee”?  Does it simply mean a prophet or does it mean a prophet that is of the calibre of Moses or does it go further and mean a prophet with the calibre and character of Moses?  Perhaps it means a prophet of Moses' calibre (extremely well versed in the law and knows God) and who is also a leader.

However, I believe that it is referring to a prophet who is not only a leader and of the calibre of Moses but who stands before God, Himself, and is a prophet who has seen God face to face.  I believe this because it was said of Moses that no other prophet (at that time) was or had been like Moses.  Since this is merely what I believe, this post could be interpreted as an opinion piece but I do provide some reasonable support for my conclusion.

Exo 33:11 KJVR And the LORD spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Num 12:7-8 KJVR  My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.  (8)  With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

Deu 34:10 KJVR And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,...

Moses had seen God face to face before his own death.  Elijah, who came much later, did not see God face to face even when God came to him as the small, still voice but Elijah did eventually see God when he was taken without dying.  From this it would be easy to believe that Moses and Elijah will be the two witnesses, and it is possible that they can be.  What this fails to take into account, h0wever, is that there is no precedent anywhere in scripture for a non-contemporaneous person, specifically a person of the past, coming into the present to do a work for the Lord.  It simply does not exist.  Not that it couldn't but that it doesn't, and if we are to understand the final book of the bible, the only way we can is by understanding parables and precedents.

So, to whom does the scripture refer when it speaks of a prophet like Moses coming to Israel?  God said that the prophet would speak everything that God commands him to speak and that whoever does not take seriously what that prophet says shall be held to account by God Himself.

There is only one prophet who perfectly fits the description and his name is the Lord Yeshua, the Christ.  Yeshua was a great prophet when he walked the Earth.  He clearly stated that he only said what the Father told him, only did what he saw the Father doing, and that the only way to the Father (who is God, of course) was through him (Yeshua) and that those who did not believe him would die in their sin, and that guarantees that God will hold them to account.  God clearly said, of Yeshua, “this is my beloved son.  Listen to Him!”

God would speak to no other prophet as He did with Moses, as if a man speaking to a man, until came Yeshua who is God's only begotten son, with whom He would speak directly.  All these facts perfectly fulfil the scripture of Deuteronomy 18:17–19.  I will not bother going into providing all the necessary scriptural references that describe the facts I have just stated (which you can verify for yourself) but I will provide some clearly stated verses found in the gospels which testify further to what I have here claimed.

Of what the Lord Yeshua did and said...

Joh 5:19 KJVR  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 

Joh 5:30 KJVR  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. 

Joh 8:38 KJVR  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 

Of what Yeshua and others declared him to be...

Joh 1:45 KJVR Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Joh 5:46-47 KJVR For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. (47) But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Joh 6:14-15 KJVR Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. (15) When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Joh 7:40-41 KJVR Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. (41) Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

We see in the reference in John 6 and 7 that there may be contention as to whether or not Yeshua actually fulfilled the expectation that Elijah would come again.  However in John 6:15 we see that Yeshua was concerned that they would try to make Him a king and we know that Elijah was no king but to the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years, Moses was, in essence, their king, so the fact that it seemed that the people wanted to make Yeshua their leader speaks of Him being seen as the prophet like unto Moses.  In John 7:40–41 we see that there was contention amongst the people as to whether or not Yeshua was “the Prophet”, which many in our time take to be a reference to Elijah, but others of that time disagreed, as do many in our time, and said that Yeshua was the Christ.  So, those verses provide no direct support that Yeshua was the prophet like unto Moses but the other verses do provide that support since, like Moses, Yeshua had already seen God face to face, Yeshua was seen by the people as a leader or even a king, Philip declared that this was the prophet that Moses spoke of and last but foremost, Yeshua said, for himself, that he was the one that Moses wrote of.  Do we really need more evidence?  Some may but I am happy with that.

It seems that the prophet “like unto Moses” is not a reference to Moses coming back as one of the two witnesses, nor is it a reference to Elijah who came much later, but it is, in fact, a reference to the Christ who was (at that time) yet to come.

The Rubbish They Claim

Here is just another tiny example of how easily deceived we can be.

I have always been troubled that the following verses...

Mar 13:24b-25 KJV  the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,  (25)  And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

... are taken to be a reference to the sequence of solar and lunar eclipses in recent years.  Again, this is a case of taking verses out of context, as so many are happy to do if it fits in with their preconceptions.  Better to change the meaning of scripture than to admit to making an error, right?  I have a few choice words I would like to use to describe such self-deceived, deluded deceivers but, for the sake of the Lord's name, I will refrain from commenting further on such witless wonders.  Perchance some may wake up, smell the coffee and do an about-face.

Let us look at more of those scriptures in order to gain a better sense of the context of the quoted verses to see how, if at all, it fits with the claims being made.

Mar 13:24-26 KJV  But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,  (25)  And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.  (26)  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

Mat 24:29-30 KJV  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:  (30)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Well, waddaya know!  AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS, the sun shall be darkened and the moon will not give her light... AFTER the tribulation!  One final reminder, one final time to drive home the volley... AFTER the tribulation.

Has the great tribulation yet occurred?  You know the one... the time that will be worse than any other time in history and never to be repeated?  Weren't WW1 and WW2 MUCH worse than anything we are currently experiencing or have recently experienced since the times of those wars?  I can hear the crys of foul, foul ball!!  Those that claim that the great tribulation was one or both of the world wars and all of that commie nastiness.  The problem with that is, well, kind of obvious.  WE ARE STILL HERE and Christ Yeshua is not!  Did one third of the human population die?  Was all the green grass burned up along with one third of all the trees?  Have we seen the son of perdition, yet, make the claim to being God?  "Pope!", did I hear somebody say?  I do not recall even this demonic Pope demanding that I worship him nor seating himself in the new temple which, oh, that's right, it has not yet been built and, worse still, he came AFTER all those world wars and all the communist and NAZI atrocities of the twentieth century, LONG after!  Of course, the Pope could turn out to be the son of perdition BUT he has not done so just yet.  What of the wormwood-laden falling star, the mega-volcano that falls into the sea, the ocean turning to "blood", and so forth.  What about the 200,000,000 troop invasion of the middle east?  I could go on.... and on... and on.  Naturally, many will claim that all of the relevant scriptures regarding the tribulation are metaphorical and, perhaps we could read them as parabolic but does that mean that the tribulation is also a metaphor?  Tell that to the beheaded souls who suffered at the hands of the wicked ones we call ISIS, another Saudi Family and international banksters co-operative effort.

Are we to assume that the following scripture from the book of Joel refers to different events? 

Joe 2:31 KJV  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 

Let us look at more of that scripture... 

Joe 2:30-31 KJV  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.  (31)  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 

Seems there first have to be wonders in the heavens and blood, fire and pillars of smoke on the earth.  Wonders in the heavens?  There have been some interesting events but I rreally would not classify any of them up until now as "wonders".  As for the fire and blood and pillars of smoke, that sounds a lot like global volcanism gone mad, doesn't it?  We can see it all on the increase; more serious volcanic and seismic events are occuring right now, so there are some "pillars of smoke" but no blood rain yet (will probably be due to iron oxides dissolved in atmospheric moisture after expulsion from massive volcanic eruptions), and closer encounters with large asteroids, strange solar behaviour, and so forth are also on a dramatic rise... but what I read there in the scripture really does not yet seem to have come to pass.  So, in my view (and I emphasize, it is my view and you can take it or leave it, of course) the darkened sun and blood red moon described in the scripture of the book of Joel is the same as that referred to by the Lord.  Of course, He already knew all of those scriptures quite thoroughly.  God was, after all, their originator.

Just out of interest, have you ever seen the sun and moon through the darkness of the thick smoke of a major bushfire?  I have, several times, and it really does fit the description.  Can you imagine the same thing on a global scale when almost every volcano on earth loses its nut?  We do not need eclipses to fulfil this scripture, just lots and lots of thick smoke.  The dense clouds of massive eruptions generate their own weather so we can expect increasingly intense thunderstorms to accompany them along with lots of hail.  Of course, there could be eclipses involved and I am generally of the view that the recent series of lunar and solar eclipses, especially with the lunar eclipses falling on Jewish holy days in rapid succession, are likely to be a marker of some kind, as has happened in times past, but I am hard pressed to shoe-horn those events into the above scriptures.  It contradicts the scripture recorded of the Lord's very own mouth.  The great tribulation has not yet come and gone.  There will be other associated scriptures that we can discuss in relation to all of this but methinks this be quite enough for now.

It always pays to go back to basics, back to the scripture, read it whole, without prejudice, without preconception as much as one can manage, with eyes, ears and heart wide open and mouth tightly shut.  Read it, pay attention to each and every word no matter how insignificant it may seem, read it one word after another, line after line, no skipping, no shortcuts, no preconceived ideas, just the writ, the whole writ and nothing but the writ, so help you God (and I really do mean that).

Have a great day!

The Twelve Apostates

Did you ever stop to consider the fact that the twelve apostles were, in fact, twelve apostates, as viewed by the religious leaders of the day?

Of course, one of them was not, showing his true colours in the betrayal of God Himself.  Funny, innit?  It was the one who was NOT apostate who betrayed the Lord.

Just thought I would mention that in passing... just as a reminder that it is very dangerous to judge people on the basis of human standards.  Better not to judge people at all.  Judge only clear and obvious sin by avoiding it even unto death.

As an old French proverb I read somewhere says, "There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience."

Sleep well, my friends.

;-)

Goodbye, Great Eagle

On the 10th of February of this year, I saw something in the sky above my house that, originally, I was not going to mention but, now that I can see what is happening, I decided that it merited comment.  Normally I ignore things of this nature since too many people "see" things that, when I look at what they see, I see nothing special.  In most cases it is just that most people have led their lives ignoring their surroundings and only now that others are waking them up they begin to "see things" everywhere that they think are extraordinary but really are very ordinary.  On the very odd occasion there is something truly unusual but such things are very rare.  However, this is one of those rare occasions that I could not ignore.

Unfortunately, despite wishing I had photographs to document what I saw, I did not have any kind of camera with me at the time and had I gone to get one, by the time I had it ready, the event would have passed.  So, I have to just tell you what I saw and let you decide for yourself whether or not you believe me.  I documented it at the time so I have kept a good record (as is second nature due to my long engineering career).  Just bear in mind that I am usually inherently skeptical with regards to attributing any meaning to this kind of thing because, as mentioned, most people making claims such as these make mountains out of non-existent mole-hills (YouTube is brimming with such madness).  As an engineer with a very strongly scientific background, I tend to approach everything in a very logical and fact-driven manner.

Nevertheles, this was something distinctly unusual, rare, even difficult to believe despite seeing it with my own eyes.  Here is the account of what happened.

I stepped outside into my back yard, looked up into the sky and saw three startling and well-defined clouds, together in a tight-knit group but of substantial size, that slowly came from the west.  They virtually stopped overhead, above my house on the hill.  There were a few other faint clouds nearby but plenty of blue sky in between and all around.  Two of the group of three clouds were perfect images of eagle wings, left and right, perfectly placed relative to each other, with perfect symmetry and clearly depicted flight feathers, and in the space between the two wings was the clear image of the head of an eagle, both the head and the neck, but it was fading.  The image of the eagle was oriented such that it appeared as if it was in flight towards the north east.  Startled by what I saw, I watched as the head faded away within a few minutes.

After the head completely disappeared, the wings began to fade beginning at the shoulders and fading outwards, in perfect symmetry.  They remained right where the wings should be but simply faded away, looking as if they were being gradually erased from the parts nearest the body towards the outer extremities until they had completely vanished.

I have never before seen such a sight in the clouds.  One can sometimes make out the odd shaped face or animal or any such rough and approximate thing but generally they are poorly defined and at least some imagination, if not a lot, is needed.  Not this time, however.  I have never seen something so perfectly portrayed before in puffy white clouds and, for a moment, wondered if I would suddenly awaken.  How could swirling winds create something with such perfect mirror symmetry?

This could not be chance.  How can I ignore this and just write it off as "luck"?  I do not believe in luck.  Luck is for the ignorant and the godless.

An interpretation:  The great eagle is divided, left from right, and the head is caught in the middle, but no union exists any longer.  The new head will not last because the nation refuses to repent and there is no forgiveness, no coming together.  The nation has been judged.  In spite of the new head seeking to restore the nation to its former greatness, the factions within will continually derail all such efforts until anything the head says and does is ignored since, as a result of all the friction and widespread hatred for truth, all such efforts will achieve nothing.  The head will fade into irrelevance and become as if it was not.  Then, left and right will fade away, beginning at the centre and the parts closest to the head, finishing off with the far left and far right extremities with a great chasm between them, until nothing remains.  The seeds of war and destruction sown by prior government and godlessness will soon produce a great harvest and nothing the new head does can stop it.  Taking the nation will be a walk in the park for its enemies.  Without God, there is no more unity and there is no more strength.  The eagle will be overthrown just as it overthrew.  All that remains is wind.

God will not be mocked.  As the eagle has sown, so shall it reap.

You have been weighed in the balance and have been found wanting.  Goodbye, great eagle, for it would appear that your time has come.

_____________________

Addendum (2017-05-20):

An article published sometime in the past day demonstrates just how far gone this all is:

We are Watching a Slow-Motion Coup D'etat 

The great eagle is dead, the republic is long gone.  All that remains is the distant echo of its liberty bell, fading like a flower in the scorching sun or a morning mist in the desert.

Watch Jimmy!

This has been up a long time and we have all seen it over the years but I think it deserves more attention now than ever before...

Vision of the Presidents -- C. Alan Martin
http://www.ubm1.org/?page=presidents

As with all such things, take it with a pinch of caution.  Nevertheless, it may be worth careful consideration so perhaps we should watch for the departure of Jimmy Carter.  He may be the last of the living presidents that must depart before the coming great war according to what this dream seems to indicate.  How soon the war follows is unknown.  Perhaps his death marks the beginning of the great tribulation since current events are just a "warm-up".  Do not take what I am saying here as gospel truth but just bear it in mind as possible indication of where we are in prophecy.  Note that Carter served in presidency number 39, the same number as the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi.  Of all the Old Testament books it is widely agreed that Malachi was the last to be written so its place as number 39 is not really in question regardless of the order of the rest of the Old Testament books.  The number, 39, some associate with the "curse of the law of sin and death", but I find this association is weak and narrow.  Since the number, 40, represents a period of preparation (growth, cleansing or sanctification), not testing as some posit (the testing comes afterwards), such as 40 weeks preparing a new human life to enter into the world (birth is the first test), 40 days the three Israeli spies spied out the land of Canaan (the report they gave and how the people responded to the report was the test and many failed that one badly, showing lack of faith in what God had clearly told them), 40 years cleansing (another way of saying, sanctifying) the Israelites in the desert by removing the faithless before entering the promised land (crossing the Jordan was the first test, a phrase that is often used as a metaphor for passing through death, and other tests shortly followed to test the faith of the people), 40 days and nights that Yeshua fasted and prayed before the tempter came to tempt (i.e. test) Him three times (three temptations in order to be complete), so we can say that 39, falling just short of 40, indicates falling short of being ready for the test to come, an incomplete preparation or a lack of sanctification; a relentlessly persistent evil condition, one without remedy.  It is easy to see how this number is often associated with disease or cursing.  We can also view 39 as thrice 13, and 13 being representative of apostasy, rebellion, corruption, decay and all such notions (evil in general), then 39 is complete apostasy, rebellion, corruption, decay.

It is noteworthy that during the presidency of Carter, the USA had already entered a rapid moral decline the likes of which were unimaginable prior to that time.  We have all heard stories about the 1960's.  That decade set up the conditions for the USA and the rest of the world, under American economic, political and media influence, to fall into apostasy.  I am hard-pressed to see the modern USA as anything other than a resurrected Babylon, but I would not call it so in isolation from other western nations.  We have all followed suit.  It is probably safe to say that the great falling away has its roots (or conception, if you prefer) in 1960's America and its birth in the 1970's.  Popular music is generally a good indicator of the direction society is taking and we see the rise of very dark and sinister music in the 1970's right alongside very plastic and shallow pop.  We also see it in the demographics of church attendance.  There was a peak in church attendance in the USA at the end of the 1950's and as we entered the 1960's a slow decline began but accelerated dramatically during the 1970's.  It slowed and leveled off somewhat during the 1980's to mid 1990's but was then followed by another sharp decline since that time, the most dramatic decline in US history.  This corresponds exactly with the dramatic rise in occultism and all of its associated ideas and beliefs, the rise in religious environmentalism, the rise in terrorism (no doubt funded by the international banksters) and the increasingly desperate attempts by the UN to assert itself as Satan's global government seeking carbon taxes as its revenue stream.

The name, Malachi, means "My messenger", and in Malachi, chapter 4, we have mention made of Elijah.  As stated in a previous post, I do not know if another Elijah is yet to come given that there was fulfillment with John the Baptist, but John's coming does not preclude it and conditions may merit the reappearance of the spirit of Elijah (to pave the way for the Lord and His kingdom) which, simply put, is a man who is utterly single-minded about God.  That is one of his primary characteristics... everything else, without exception, takes a back seat to the truth, a back seat to God.  The faith of such a man will see him through to the end, even unto death, as it did for John.  He will not doubt that the Lord will do as the Lord says He will.  No doubt at all will cross such a man's mind.  Obviously this is a primary characteristic of the two witnesses so there is no reason why they could not be both described as having the spirit of Elijah.  I am just thinking out loud here but you get the point, I am sure.  From Revelation chapters 8 to 11 we know that great cataclysms and war must come before the public ministry of the two witnesses can begin (one of numerous clear and unambiguous reasons why all current self-proclaimed two witnesses are false prophets), since the true two witnesses come as the second woe which is the sixth trumpet, and trumpets one to four speak of those aforementioned cataclysms, and trumpet five is the first woe and appears to be a great war.  To jumble up the order of events of the trumpets makes no sense and makes a mockery of the scripture.  It is clear that the angels sound their trumpets in numerical order.  All the fake prophets will be most deeply ashamed of what they have said and done when the true prophets arise.

I will avoid rambling on any further about these things in this post, since there is much more that could be discussed, but I will leave it as is and simply say...

... Watch Jimmy... since I suspect that he is not too long for this world, but I hope that during his remaining time he turns to the Lord, and the Lord who is merciful will have mercy on him.

_____________________

Addendum (2017-05-11):

How should we "interpret" the death of Jimmy Carter when it occurs, assuming it is of some significance?  Perhaps it marks the end of the incurable evil condition of the world.  At some point there will be no more people who can be saved since, like a deadly disease, the corruption spreads throughout all of humanity.  At some point, all the worshippers who are being counted (the temple being measured, the required stones ready) will be accounted for and there is no need for more time except for the final work of the two witnesses to conclude the testimony of the saints to the whole world that began almost 2000 years ago.  God times His actions precisely to ensure the required outcome at exactly the right moment but we have no idea just when that moment will be.  Perhaps the death of Jimmy Carter will be a sign that the moment is almost upon us.

So, how should we interpret the death of the 39th leader of the most powerful nation in the world given that the nation has fallen into the abyss of apostasy, wickedness and chaos?

Jimmy Carter was in office from January the 20th, 1977, to January the 20th, 1981.  So, the presidency of the 39th president of the USA began 40 years ago last January.  Well, isn't that interesting?!  Sounds to me like the next 3.5 to 4 years are ripe for judgement.

If I was a betting man and if I was to stake a wager on this (lots of "ifs" in there), I would bet that former President James Earl Carter Jr. will be deceased some time from late June until the end of July of this year.  This is no prophecy of any kind, just a guess based on some very big "ifs".  I do not like attempting to set dates but I am just letting you know some of my thoughts on this.  Again, I strongly emphasise, it is just a guess and carries no revelational significance.  Funnily, June 28th to July 4th sticks in my head because of certain past events I will not go into here.

Anyway, let's just... watch Jimmy.

_____________________

Addendum (2017-07-05):

Well, I guess that Jimmy is still with us... good thing I didn't place a bet on it after all!  In any case, something did happen just in the past 24 hours which took everybody a little by surprise.  Kim Jong-un's successful launch of an ICBM suddenly put my country on alert.  Of course, he'd be mad to waste a missile on Darwin.  It is not as if a country of just 23 million and a virtually non-existent military presence is going to pummel his land any time soon.  The only reason would be if there is an American base harbouring nuclear vessels or weapons somewhere in Darwin but, you can be sure, they would not be so stupid as to place such a thing within city limits.

Well. whatever happens, we all know horrifying things are on the way but we also know that our Lord and Saviour is with us.  That is where our trust should always be.  Keep well, my friends.

Update on the post, "Who or What are the Two Witnesses?"

Back in 2016, October the 1st to be precise, I published a post, entitled, "Who or What are the Two Witnesses?"  In that post I commented on the reason I believed, at that time, was the impetus for Yeshua saying, to the people around Him, the following:

Matthew 11:12-15 ASV  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. (13) For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. (14) And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come. (15) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

My comments were as follows:

"Some will argue that Yeshua made his statements with a conditional requirement, that being that it is so if you can accept it, and thus there must necessarily be a future occurrence of the actual original Elijah returning in order to ensure that the prophecy is fulfilled.  However, I strongly disagree with that reasoning because God does not do things in indefinite ways and because, I believe, it is not the purpose of the Lord's comment.  Why would the God of all glory and all creation seem uncertain about His own plans?  Are not the words of Christ directly from the Spirit of the Living God?  The Lord made that comment for a different reason, being that believing John the Baptiser was the Elijah to come was not essential to their faith and walk with God.  They could happily continue in their faith in God without having known or believed that John was the Elijah to come and there would come no harm to them, they would not be impoverished as a result."

"The reason for this is, I believe, that the appearing of Elijah was not for the sake of the believers but for the sake of the unbelievers, to bring testimony to them of the coming of the Messiah.  When Yeshua made that comment, He had just been speaking to John's disciples who were sent by John to ask Yeshua if He was the one they were waiting for.   As they departed, He turned to the multitudes and continued speaking, clearly also intending that John's disciples would hear this before they left. John's disciples already expected Him based on John's teachings about the coming Messiah and, in all likelihood, so did the multitudes that were listening, or they would not have been present."

Now, as a reason for Christ saying, "And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come", what I wrote is not a sufficient and complete answer, and it occurred to me why that was.  As I wrote at that time, "the reason for this is, I believe"... that the appearing of Elijah was not for the sake of the believers but for the sake of the unbelievers.  However, it was only what I could conclude at that time but, with time and with the continued work of the Spirit of God, things keep coming together like a grand jigsaw puzzle.  Although believers did not really have a need to believe that John the Baptist was the Elijah to come, if he was then Yeshua would have wanted to make that plain to them and not leave it in doubt.  Also, there was insufficient support for the comment I made about John's disciples overhearing what Yeshua said as they were leaving.  It never sat quite right with me.  Just one of those things, I guess, that kept niggling away in the depths of my mind... until this morning.

Now I have a clear, concise and definitive reason on why Yeshua made that conditional statement, and it ties in with the post, entitled, "Invalidity of All Current 'Two Witnesses'", published on the 6th of March, earlier this year.

Until John died, then the prophecies concerning the role of the Elijah that was to come were either not completely fulfilled or there was still time to invalidate the fulfillment by an action contrary to the prophecy.  Without complete and inalterable fulfillment, who could declare that John was the Elijah that was to come in a legally irrefutable manner?  If he had not yet completed his role, nobody could definitely say that he was the expected Elijah, whether in the spirit or in the flesh, because to do so would be to say that he had fulfilled all the prophecies concerning his appearance (binding John's acts to the prophecy) but, until he was dead, it could not be stated as fact.  Alternatively, if he had completed fulfillment of the prophecy but then acted in a way to discredit that fulfillment before his death, we would end up with legally refutable claims that he was the Elijah to come.  At the time that Yeshua made his conditional statement about accepting John the Baptist as the Elijah that was to come, John was in prison but was still alive, for his disciples had, at that moment, come to ask Yeshua, on John's behalf, if He was the expected one (the Messiah).

Mat 11:3 ASV  and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?

So, Yeshua avoided making a false claim by keeping it open until John's death, after which Yeshua said plainly to His own disciples that John was, indeed, the expected Elijah.  This was now legally factual to the world.  The reason Yeshua had made the comment prior to John's death, saying that John was the coming Elijah, was because Yeshua already knew that it was true, as mentioned in the post, "Invalidity of All Current 'Two Witnesses'".  However, the incompleteness of the fulfillment of prophecy ensured that He could not make a legally incontrovertible statement for, although spiritually it was fact, physically it was not yet complete and, thus, not legally factual.  Once John was dead, the prophecies concerning him became legally established and incontrovertible fact.  Like Yeshua said on the cross just the moment before His own death, "It is finished." 

Since John did not do anything just prior to his own death that would have been contrary to the character of Elijah and which could have invalidated the prophecy with regards to himself, the prophecy of the return of Elijah appears to have been fulfilled, taking Yeshua's word for it.  However, we do not know enough about John's activities to comment on his fulfillment of the prophecy found in the book of Malachi, chapter 4, regarding turning the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers.  Was that fulfilled by John or is it only necessary that a final Elijah-like prophet at the end fills that role once in order that the prophecy given by Malachi be true?  There is much written on this but what does it actually mean?  I find that most explanations are too vague, fuzzy or wishy-washy to be of any value.  My understanding of scripture is that it is clear, concise, logical and solidly factual.

Luk 1:13-17 ASV  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.  (14)  And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.  (15)  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.  (16)  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God.  (17)  And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.

In this scripture, found in the book of Luke, we see confirmation that John did come in the power and spirit of Elijah, thus strongly supporting our method of understanding so that we know that it is consistent with the scripture, but we also see a comment related to Malachi's prophecy regarding turning the hearts of the fathers to the children.  However, instead of speaking about turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, it speaks of turning the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just, seemingly equating the hearts of the children with the disobedient and the fathers with the just.  Although it could be a currently fulfilled prophecy, it does also sound rather like the expected situation going into the millennial reign of Christ on earth, which can only begin upon the exit of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 and the return of Christ.  The chasm between parents and children in the current age is the worst that the world has ever seen, so the prophecy of Malachi does seem to apply more strongly to the current day or the near future than it does to any time before now.  This view assumes that it is talking about parents and their immediate children.  The support for this view is that it speaks of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, meaning that the fathers spoken of must be alive in the same era as the children, so it could not be referring to something like ancient, wise patriarchs and modern, rebellious people.

Since John the Baptist was a spiritual fulfillment of Elijah, his coming (and going) does not prevent another "Elijah" from coming, to pave the way for the Lord, as stated by Malachi.  The great and terrible day of the Lord has not come, not quite yet, and although the prophecy of Malachi may appear to have been fulfilled ("Elijah" came before the great and terrible day regardless of how long ago he came), turning the hearts of the fathers and the children back to one another is something possibly incomplete, as would also appear to be "the restoration of all things", a major part of the coming Elijah's role as stated by Yeshua.  The "things" would likely be the correct understanding of scripture, righteousness and justice, the nature of evil, right, wrong and free will, the process of salvation and its essential requirement, the proper interpretation of parables, the truth about God and Christ, etc., a restoration which, it would appear, the two witnesses will accomplish, thus completing the great commission of bringing the gospel to the whole world as a testimony in order that the end can come.  That the coming Elijah restores all things lends credence to the idea that, if he is yet to come again, he may be one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.  The two witnesses will be bringing the gospel of Christ to the world as a testimony and in the process will inevitably restore a correct understanding of many things therein.

Mat 17:11-13 ASV  And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things:  (12)  but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.  (13)  Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Furthermore, this scripture, when viewed in the light of the aforementioned understanding of the legal requirements for the declaration of prophetic fulfillment, makes sense of the fact that Yeshua said that Elijah shall restore all things (the word translated as "shall" directly implies a future tense by what would probably have been the imperfect tense in the Aramaic or Hebrew language prior to its Greek translation) in spite of the fact that John was already, at that moment, dead, which is itself the reason Yeshua made it unequivocally clear that John the Baptist was the Elijah that was to come, for it was now legal fact.  Perhaps we can now state even more confidently that we should still expect one more "spirit of Elijah" prophet.  Whether or not he will be one of the two witnesses of Revelation, chapter 11, remains to be seen, though at this point it seems quite possible, even likely.  The events on the "mount of the transfiguration" would lend further support, though not solid proof, that he will be.  Will the Lord reveal that to us sometime soon?  We (including you) should ask Him about it.  Give it a shot.  God is wonderfully good and generous and the only reason He withholds information from His servants is because the moment for the revelation is not yet come.

So, should we expect the return of the spirit of Elijah?  I suspect so, though I would not state it as a legally binding requirement for the fulfillment of the prophecies of the last days or, at least, not without a deeper revelation on this issue.  We do not know enough at this time about the activities of John the Baptist other than the very little given to us in the scripture and possibly some fragments of historical accounts.  I guess that we will have to pray, wait and see.