Hello John and Doves,
Some of us are "Watchers" and some of us are
"Waiters" and some may be in between or flip flop between
the two.
There is a difference between "Watching and Waiting"
vs "just Waiting" for Jesus coming in the Rapture.
Most of my friends are in the 'just waiting' group.
Why? Because the Bible says "No man knows the day or
the hour." They are not looking for the signs He
gave us in Matthew 24 and elsewhere. They aren't
watching because they believe it's pointless - we can
'never know' so why 'watch'?
I believe 'no man knows the day or the hour' has
become an excuse to not study the Bible and search for
information on His return. And keeps many from watching
for Him. And I believe this stops many from reading
The Revelation. The only book with a blessing to
those who read and hear its words. It's become a
catch all for not studying the Word and not 'knowing' of
His return. An excuse to not Watch.
Yet, Jesus tells His Followers over and over to
"Watch" for Him. Watchers interpret the signs of the
times. Matthew 16:3
Jesus tells us to Watch. Watch means to "keep
vigil', to be awake, to keep guard, to be expectant, to be
alert for. It's an action word. Watchmen are on the
wall, at the gate - looking for something or
someone. For those 'watching' Christ's return won't
be a surprise.
I believe we can
know - maybe it will become clear as we get closer.
Others too see the difference between "Watching and
Waiting" and "just Waiting". Jesus said that the
Owner of the house may come in the evening or in the night
or when the sun rises.."He may come when you are not
looking for Him, and find you sleeping." What I say
to you, I say to all. Watch!" Mark 13:36,
37 Jesus' point: "Those who are watching will
catch the enemy trying to rob them."
The below link has an interesting example the
compares watching and waiting:
"A bunch of navy men were returning from a long
voyage in the seas, as the boat approached the shore the
men were all looking for their wives and girlfriends on
the shore...eager to see them again. As the men
looked over the crowd of women lined up the air of
excitement and expectancy grew. One man however was
all alone as all the other men found their wives and
girlfriends and they all embraced....his wife wasn't
there. Worried, he hurried home and found a light on
in his house. As he entered he was relived to see
his wife, she quickly turned and said, "Honey, I've been
waiting for you." His response showed his
disappointment however. The other men's wives and
girlfriends were watching for them. The difference
between waiting and watching was only too clear."
The Greek for 'watch' is : be on the
alert, be vigilant, give strict attention to, active.
"There are many Christians waiting for the return of
Jesus Christ - but not that many who are watching for the
return of Jesus Christ." I believe that Believers in
both groups will be Raptured, but Jesus said He wants to
come and find us watching for Him.
"The Bible teaches us that we are to be watching for
the return of Jesus, not just waiting for it....Those who
are watching for Jesus' return will be less likely to
cling to the treasures of this world than those merely
waiting for Christ's return." "Those who simply wait
for the future are not alert to the issues of the day,
those who are watching out for the future however are
alert to the needs now to be ready for tomorrow.
"Those who are watching will catch the enemy trying
to rob them."
In this letter I wrote mostly about Mondo Gonzales
recent video on the Sept 23/Joshua date for the
Rapture. And I compared what he said to Dr. Barry
Awe.
Dr. Barry Awe and Watching:
I was wondering what Dr. Barry Awe thought about
'Joshua' and his Sept Rapture dates. Here's his
video - as his title states - 'he's all in'. Dr. Awe
had a previous video on Rosh Hashanah, Sept 23, 24 as the
Rapture day. Dr. Awe knows many people don't watch
his videos or care for his looking at the Feasts of the
Lord as possible Rapture dates. But he doesn't speak
ill of them or chide and condemn them. Some people
are 'watchers' and some people are 'waiters'.
run time 1:00:46
Gary Stearman, J.R. Church and Watching:
Then I wondered what Prophecy Watchers thought of
Sept 23/ 'Joshua' - Gary Stearman has been looking at
Pentecost as a high Rapture watch date for years. So
he sees the significance of the Appointed Days of the Lord
in the prophetic timeline of Jesus. Gary doesn't
believe we should 'set' dates. Yet, he talks about
high watch times. And his dear friend J.R. Church
believed Feast of Trumpets would be the Rapture day - I
think as the years past, he pulled back a bit on being
adamant about that but he certainly wrote much about the
Feasts of the Lord. But I didn't know what Mondo
Gonzales thought.
Mondo Gonzales and Waiting:
Well here is Mondo on Jan Markell's Youtube channel
with Ken Mikle. They are reporting from
Germany. This video was posted September 9,
2025. Please listen to this video for yourself and
see what your thoughts are...
Mondo said they wanted to talk about the question
they are being asked, "Is the Rapture happening on the
Feast of Trumpets?" Ken Mikle brought up (several
times) that 'no one can know the day or the hour'.
(I've covered this in many letters and I have given
reasons why I do believe we will 'know' or 'perceive'
somehow with our Watchmen watching, events going on in
Israel and the world - especially now with the U.N.
plotting and planning to divide God's land - and this
debate starts on Rosh Hashanah! Could that be any
more damning for them?? Watchmen are actively
watching the signs and reading the scriptures and looking
at God's appointed prophetic days given in the
Moedim.
Jesus gave us many examples of 'knowing' when the
Rapture will come: We must watch and be alert/awake.
Jesus gave us all kinds of signs to watch for.
Like how the people before the Great Flood were
mentally - 'they knew not' - The Greek word is 'egnosan' -
it means they did not perceive or understand; they did not
recognize; they were not aware. And the flood took
them.
Like when the Jews missed Jesus at His first coming
- He sternly chided them for not knowing the day of His
arrival - the coming of God. The Greek word is
'egnos' - if 'you had known'. It refers to a
comprehension of its meaning, a sense or perception, the
knowledge of something, insight into divine things.
A perception, awareness, and understanding or recognition
of. Because they did not 'know' these things were
hidden from them....
LIke with His coming at the Rapture - We are to
watch. Like they were suppose to be watching for His
first coming! The Greek word 'gregoreite' means "to
have been roused from sleep, to be awake, to give strict
attention, to take heed.
Like the parable of the good man of the house and
the thief: Jesus told us to not be like the man who
didn't know when the thief was coming. IF he had
known, "he would have watched and would not have suffered
his house to be broken in to." IF the goodman had
watched he would have known and caught the robber.
Also, like the ten virgins - 5 are called
'wise'. The Greek word is 'phronimos' - it means
having discerning wisdom, one who applies knowledge to
present circumstances and makes sound judgments. The
other 5 are called 'foolish'. The Greek word is
'moros' - it means stupid/blockhead/slow/heedless/lacking
in any good sense. They were spiritually dull.
Why were they stupid or spiritually dull? This
would infer that they totally missed something that should
have been obvious to them. The wise were watching
and waiting. The foolish were only waiting.
Mondo Gonzales is in partnership with Gary Stearman
on "Prophecy Watchers" (seems they have a 'bit of
difference' in many things - like this topic. Gary
is the 'watcher' and Mondo is the 'waiter' - maybe he'll
start his own organization called "Prophecy
Waiters") Sorry, I digress....
Gary recently interviewed Ken Johnson about his
findings in the Hebrew translation of Thessalonians.
Now IF the Hebrew translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:15 and
5:23 is the correct translation with "the Moed of His
Coming" - this would imply the Rapture is on an appointed
day - a Feast of the Lord - and not 'just any day'.
Which I think is correct - just my opinion.
Mondo said that 'no one knows the day or hour' is
not a Jewish idiom for Rosh Hashanah - because of the new
moon. I have heard that also, but that's not exactly
or completely what the idiom is about -
Years ago I read a book written by Avi Ben Mordechai
- titled "Signs in the Heavens".
In the book he wrote that
'no man knows the day or the hour but my Father only' was
a Jewish idiom used when a Jewish bridegroom was asked
when he would go get his bride for the wedding. Only
the grooms father knew and he would tell his son when he
could fetch his bride.
This article looks at this idiom "no man knows the
day or hour" - "from a rabbinical Hebraic perspective, it
states: "It is a figure of speech. Yeshua used
this figure of speech to say, "I am coming for my Bride on
such and such a day! Be watching! The phrase
'of that day and hour no man knows' refers to the
sanctification for setting apart of the new moon.
Without this sanctification, the Jews had no way of
determining Yahweh's appointed times or
moedim."
When Jesus said 'you do not know the day or the
hour' He "may have been referencing both Yom Teruah (Feast
of Trumpets) and the Yom Ha'Keseh (the day the moon is
coming out of hiding or new moon) Yom
Ha'Keseh: the Hidden Day, the Day of Hiding, The Day
of Concealment.
And this article states, "Concerning Rosh HaShanah
(the 'hidden day'), the Jews would typically say "Of that
day and hour no one knows." Fulfillment:
Concerning His return, Jesus said the exact same
thing." "While Gentiles read this to mean no one
knows when He will return, the Jewish mind would likely
see Jesus alluding to the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh
HaShanah, in making this statement." During
the month of Elul, Psalm 27 is read everyday up to Day of
Atonement. Psalms 27:5 "For in the day of
trouble, He will conceal me in His tabernacle. In
the secret place of His tent He will hid me..."
Understanding
Why No Man Can Know The Day Or The Hour Of The Rapture
& Return Of Jesus
Some believe this idiom points directly to Feast of
Trumpets. As J.R. Church has written about over the
years.
"The word translated 'knows' in Matthew 24:36 and
Mark 13:32 is the Greek word eido (G1492) and is in the
perfect tense. The perfect tense describes something
that was true or completed in the past, was still
presently true at the time it is spoken, but which would
not necessarily be true in the future. Therefore, it
can't be taken dogmatically that no one will ever know,
which would be in violation of numerous scriptures that
clearly state that the Bride of Yeshua will know and will
not be taken by surprise (Amos 3:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5,
Hebrews 10:25 and Revelation 3:3, etc.)
"More properly",
Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 "would read":
"Neither I nor the angels will make known or declare
that day, only my father in Heaven will reveal or
declare it."
"The 1930
Concordant Version of the Sacred
Scriptures...translating Matthew 24:36: "That
day and hour not yet anyone has perceived, not yet the
messengers (angels) of the heavens, not yet the Son,
but the Father only."
No one knows that
timing is "a fact currently concealed and not yet
released because it isn't the time to do so...This takes
all emphasis off of no one can know the timing and fully
agrees with the rest of scripture which says we will
know the day and hour!"
Ancient Jewish Wedding Ceremony: In this
excerpt from the book "Finding the Afikoman" by Christie
Eisner, the author wrote, "When would he (the bridegroom)
be back for her (the bride)? No one knew but his
father..The common saying was, "no man knows the day or
hour, only the father." This was the phrase, or
idiom, that Jewish people in Jesus' day would understand
to be talking about the time when the bridegroom would go
to kidnap his bride."
"Then, when the groom's father was satisficed that
all was in order, usually within a year, the friends of
the bridegroom would blow a shofar and proclaim in the
streets, "Behold the bridegroom cometh!" And the
bridegroom would go forth with a procession to the bride's
house, usually at midnight, and "abduct the bride."
That is the reason he was called, "the thief in the night"
because he came suddenly at an hour unknown to the
bride..."pdf-Ancient-Jewish-Wedding-Ceremony-2.pdf
Ken Mikle said this 'chatter' about Rosh Hashanah
has just exploded in the last two weeks. He talked
about all the calculations people have done. He said
they are calculating with the Rapture happening and
immediately being followed by the Tribulation. He
said, "And we know that's not what happens."
"Calculations are way off. You are predicting things
that the Bible says not to. It's just a lot of
misinformation, disinformation."
Wow! Where to even start with that! I know
some believe 'when the bombs come down, we go up'. I
recall Gary Stearman writing that the Rapture could be
years before the Tribulation period. I think it'
will probably be a short time before the Tribulation
Period starts - just a guess. I do not recall any
proof of what Mikle said about the time from Rapture to
Tribulation Period. He sounds like a 'fact
checker'. Everyone here knows how I feel about 'fact
checkers'. I needn't write more.
Mondo followed with 'no man knows the day or the
hour' is a Jewish idiom for the Feast of Trumpets and the
new moon. He said "this is not a Jewish
idiom". (This is a Jewish idiom for the time the
bridegroom comes for his bride.) He said "it simply
is just not true". And he brought up "88 Reasons
Why" (by Whisenant) for the Rapture in 1988. (Wow -
that was almost 40 years ago.) Mikle said that the
author had to repent for saying that.
"Everyone person that's ever predicted the time of the
Rapture has been wrong, obviously. Some have
repented and some just keep moving on and keep on
predicting."
One day, someone will be right! Maybe sooner
than they think. We've had a lot of 'passed' days
that looked really good. I fault no man for giving a heads
up (just be mindful of putting others down for their
dates!). Someone will be right. And there are
appointed Watchmen. I believe as we get closer to
the day - everything Jesus told us to heed will come to
mind.
Mondo said "I want the Rapture today. I don't
want to wait til Sept 23." He talked about 'date
suggesting' which is "basically date setting - the same
thing. 'They'll say they aren't predicting a day and
then they'll give you all their reasons why they believe
this.' He's seen people's faith hurt by this.
He mentioned a lady who just contacted him today who wrote
that she didn't know if she could make it after Sept 23.
"Now her hope is being built up to Sept 23 and when it
doesn't happen she's going to be totally
discouraged. This is the fruit of the date
setters." He said he's seen the 'fallout' from
failed dates and people's faith affected. Dates that pass
"hurt the cause of Christ". "It hurts
evangelism". He said he's been mocked for other's
date.
Maybe what Mondo is seeing is the 'waiters' vs the
'watchers'. We are all commanded to be active in our
watching - not just waiting for others to 'give us a heads
up'. Do your own due diligence. Jesus warned
us of false prophets. Be wise as serpents....
Mondo said, "Can I just encourage you, please
stop. Please stop the suggesting, please stop the
date setting or the insinuation. Be excited for
the Rapture. We're excited for the Rapture. We
can do it without setting dates."
Well, as I wrote above, I don't see any 'joy' or
excitement in their waiting for the Lord. Looks like
everyday, mundane - maybe today. Yawn. I would
rather go with the excited people on Youtube and
FiveDoves! Maybe Sept 23/24 will be our Blessed Hope
- maybe not. But I have joy in watching for His
return!
Mikle said "The Rapture is imminent. It can be
any moment. We don't want the damage. When we
get this hype and anticipation and it doesn't happen it
leaves people despondent and discouraged. We
are waiting for the blessed hope. Instead
of putting all of these calculations on the internet, get
the gospel out there."
Mondo said that evangelical churches aren't teaching
prophecy. 'Another side effect is, people wait for a
date, it passes then they have to wait another
year.' He also said a 'high watch time' is not
biblical. Jesus fulfilled the first feasts, but
there is no specific teaching to show that the Rapture has
to happen on the feast of Trumpets. Jesus fulfilled
the first three on the exact day. Then he pointed
out inconsistencies in what Jesus does in the Fall feasts.
Mondo said "We are hearing this all over the
world. It it hurting the cause of Christ." He
said, "Let me reiterate, be excited about the Rapture; be
100% about the Rapture. Just stop the date
suggesting. We don't' need to do that and we haven't
done that. We have seen how it hurts the cause of
Christ."
I would suggest that Mondo and Mikle study the
Moedim. The story of salvation is there. These
are the Lord's appointed days. We are told these are
prophetic. Just try to hold back the HOPE for the
Moedim.
(end notes with comments)
As for the Fall Feasts, it doesn't look like they
have put much thought into how Jesus will fulfill
them. Seems pretty straightforward to me - there
aren't too many Big prophesied things left for Jesus to do
in His Story of Salvation - as told in the Heavens.
He died/was crucified, He was in the tomb, He
rose/resurrected, He ascended, He sent His spirit, He came
in the Rapture, He came at the Second Coming, He judged us
all, He went to the Temple in Jerusalem to be
worshipped. Not that hard to figure out how
these match up with the Moedim.
Ex for the Fall Feasts that seem so vague to
Mondo: Jesus' Second Coming on Trumpets; He open the
books of Judgement on Yom Kippur; we worship Jesus in the
Temple in Jerusalem during HIs millennial reign.
Just one possibility.
As for Mondo saying 'high watch time' is not
biblical and slamming people for that. I wonder if
Gary Stearman is going to watch this video. A week
or so ago I watched one of his recent interviews of Ken
Johnson and Gary mentioned a high watch time. Wow.
People have been waiting since Christ died for His
return. Yep - a lot of disappointment. A lot
believed it would happen in their lifetime. But the
signs just weren't there...like they are now. We,
this generation, have more going on pointing to the start
of the Tribulation Period, preceded by the Rapture than
any generation. We, of all generations, need to be
actively watching! Not just waiting for the
Rapture. When we see those things, we are to lift up
our heads as our redemption draws nigh!
Personally, I would
rather be watching for the Lord's return with Dr. Awe
than with Mondo Gonzales. Dr. Awe is excited,
joyful and happy to be watching expectantly for the
Lord's return. He joyfully waits for his days to
come...and go ...and he doesn't stop looking. He
is always encouraging us and keeps us watching.
His studies are based on the Bible and much can be
learned in each of his videos about the Lord's
Word. I think we can call him a "Watchman" or
a "Watcher" - he's studying the Bible and watching.
Like here on
Fivedoves - many days have come and gone. But
Doves keep encouraging one another - we keep Watching -
we're not just waiting.
Mondo and Ken Mikle
are about as joyless and boring as Christians can get -
they are 'waiting' for the Lord's return 'on any
day'. They say they are 'excited' but I'm not
seeing it. I wouldn't call them "Watchmen" - 'it
comes when it comes'. They aren't 'watching' -
they are simply waiting. The "Waiters".
Nothing exciting about waiting.
I've watched the
video a couple of times, plus replaying sections, and it
gets more irritating each time. I can see chiding
people once and then moving on - but the two of them
said the same things that 'bothered' them over and over
and over; you could tell they were holding back with
what they really wanted to say! What they did say
borders on not a 'Christian correction' but
'bullying'. And like I wrote, their 'waiting' for
the Lord is not joyful or exciting. Jesus wants us
bursting at the seams anticipating His return for
us! 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord! Hosanna!
I wonder what Gary
Stearman would say about their conversation. Gary
is a "Watcher". And it was on Jan Markel's
channel. Hmmm.
That's how I see it.
Just my thoughts.
The Rapture will be
an absolutely HUGE event - the most joyful shout, the
most awaited trumpet blast! Mixed in with Our
Hallelujahs! Praise be to the Lord! Glory to
God!
Whose heart will not
burst for joy in the Lord?
Anyway, take a
listen if you have time.
And I appreciate the
possible dates for the Rapture. I am watching with
you!
We, the body of
Christ - made up of Watchers and Waiters - are close~
Keep looking up!!
Maranatha!
Pray for the peace
of Jerusalem!
Chance