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UFO Disclosure, AI Robots & the Temple Mount | What Christians Need to Know | Mondo Gonzales
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- [00:09]
A
Welcome to Discerning Our Days. I'm Pastor Josh Schwartz along with Pastor Mark Henry. And we are so excited to have another episode this week. Now, Pastor Mark, we've got a lot that we're going to be talking about. Can you just give us a quick overview?
- [00:21]
B
Yeah, Josh, we're going to be covering UFOs. There's a big disclosure day coming up apparently with the government. And so we're going to be talking about that. We're going to talk about robots and how that's used in relationship to worship. Early cults are starting to use humanoid sort of robots. And I would suggest to you there's probably going to be some infusion of that by different groups, even among Christian circles. We're going to talk about the Temple Mount. We're going to be talking about the 70th week of Daniel. We've got a lot of great things to cover.
- [00:45]
A
Yes, we do. And our guest this week is Mondo Gonzales. Mondo is of Prophecy Watchers. Mondo has pastored for over 15 years and enjoys studying the Bible and all things eschatology. Mondo is also an avid stargazer and you can see his work on stargazing at the Psalm 19 Project on prophecywatchers.com Mondo, welcome to the program.
- [01:10]
C
It's always good to be here with you guys.
- [01:12]
A
Well, like you said, Mark, UFOs, UAPs, extraterrestrials, all kinds of other things happening that are inexplicable. We don't necessarily know what they are. We had another trench dropped another whole big disclosure of information from the US Government just days ago. So I want to play a clip for you, Mark and Mondo and then we'll just dive into this conversation about UFOs and UAPs.
- [01:40]
D
Tonight, newly released UFO files like this one in Kazakhstan. A mysterious object lighting up the night sky. Other videos showing pulsing balls of light flying erratically and seeming to defy laws of physics, some even appearing to fly in formations. Part of the Pentagon's release of more than 50 declassified videos and firsthand accounts following President Trump's directive to release government UFO files.
- [02:04]
C
Very bright particles or fragments or something.
- [02:07]
D
The files include audio of astronauts decades ago describing mysterious bright lights and particles.
- [02:13]
C
There's a whole bunch of big ones on my window that are just bright. Looks like the 4th of July outruns window.
- [02:19]
D
And this report from last year. In an encounter that lasted over an hour, a US intelligence officer reported oval shaped orange orbs coming within 10ft of a US helicopter splitting in two and speeding away, leaving Military and intelligence professionals speechless. Other videos may have an explanation here. A US F16 fighter jet shoots down an object over Michigan's Lake Huron in 2023, the same day the Pentagon said it shot down a possible Chinese spy balloon over that lake. Experts tell us no video released so far proves any extraterrestrial visit.
- [02:53]
A
All right, gentlemen, there is a lot there. We have been inundated with UFOs, UAPs, and all things extraterrestrial over the last really 50 years. And now this disclosure has come as of late now, whether it be secret meetings or briefings of clergy, whether that's official or unofficial, and then the data drops and everything from different government agencies. There's a lot of questions that are out there, especially within the church and evangelicalism as a whole. So, Mondo, first question for you and how we parse through this is how should believers approach this? And what can pastors do to prepare their flock for more disclosure?
- [03:36]
C
And, yeah, I think, as believers, that one of the first things that we need to do is not put our head in the sand and to recognize that this idea of disclosure has been coming for many years now. It really started in 2017. But I think as well, we stick close to the word. That, to me, it's too often where I think Christians, we can be a little bit lazy, where we just say, oh, it's all demons, and it's a little bit more nuanced than that. And so as we recognize many of the things that are being shared and which are going to be coming more and more as they give, they continue to release these drops is that these aren't just lights in the skies. These are physical craft as well that are being picked up by radar and other, you know, very technical equipment that is picking up physical things. So as Christians, what do we do? Well, as always, I don't think we should react at all. We should be very stable. We know the scripture. We know the word of God. We know exactly what God has said and what he hasn't said either. We talk often, often about, you know, Deuteronomy 29, 29, that God has secret things, they belong to him, and so he has not revealed everything to us. But at the end of the day, I think we should be aware of these issues. We should approach them scripturally as far as we can, but also use them as an opportunity to be evangelistic, because, listen, the world's talking about these things right now. What a great opportunity for us to share the gospel.
- [05:01]
A
No, that is a great point.
- [05:02]
C
Mark.
- [05:03]
A
What are Your thoughts?
- [05:03]
B
Yeah, you know, as I was kind of reflecting on that over the years and how UFOs have been used to, like, put fear into people. In fact, there's a movie coming out, Disclosure Day, June 12, and Steven Spielberg, you know, he presents this really terrifying sort of scenario, and then he says in the trailer, wouldn't it be wonderful if this was true? And it's like, no, it's terrifying. I mean, and I think that, you know, just the world and Satan obviously wants us to be afraid. So I think preparing people, number one, is you and I should never be afraid. Christians should never be afraid. Why? Because our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. He created everything. What does Colossians chapter one say? That Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Jesus, all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth. Visible and invisible. Thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities. All things have been created by him. So number one is this. Remember that Jesus has created everything that's in the universe from Satan down, and we have nothing to fear. Greater is he in you than he is in the world. Number two, he's created angels and he's created humans. And let's face it, there's the demons. They've rebelled against him. The consequences that are going to come upon them. We know where they're going to end up, in the lake of fire with Satan. And you and I should be comforted by the fact if you trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, you're going to be in heaven with Jesus Christ. And so again, I think just kind of in the stepping back, that we need not fear anything that takes place or anything that is revealed, that we shouldn't be shocked. And, you know, I heard Ken Ham years ago say, you know, God could have created beings in other places. Now we know that he created the earth first. On the fourth day, he created the sun and the moon and the stars and all of those things. So the Earth is a unique component of God's creation and what he's doing here. But, you know, he was talking about, like, on Mars, they could find, you know, some sort of cockroach, alien cockroach. And like, some Christians would be upset. Why should we be upset? God has done amazing things. I mean, even in the ocean, there's things that we haven't discovered in the bottom of the oceans. Today, God's done some amazing things. I think we just need to be comforted by God. And the truth is that the scriptures are going to Prevail. There's two other things that stand out to me. Number one is this is that God has given us in the scriptures everything pertaining to life and godliness. So if we needed to know something about lights moving in the space around us, or if we needed to know about UFO objects, he would have given it to us. Secondly is everything for every good work and this comes back to godliness and the gospel. But everything we need according to two Timothy has been granted to us in the scriptures. So I think we need not fear, be godly, look at what's happening around us. Give God glory, be confident. Our God is triumphant in all things.
- [07:55]
A
Amen. Now Mondo, you ended your first comment with the world is talking about this. Now. Could you give our listeners maybe a couple of quick pointers on how to get from UFOs to Jesus?
- [08:10]
C
Yeah, absolutely. I think the first thing is similar to what Mark just said, is that we know the gospel. Everything we need is about the gospel for sure. And so when the world is talking about these issues, we need to say, well again, if, if, with confidence. Look, if, if God, if something else is out there that doesn't disrupt the Christian faith, it doesn't violate it, it doesn't upend it. Because that's really what going back to the Brookings Institute and their report going back then in the 60s was. If this comes out that there's other life out there, it's going to upend religion. And we go, well, wait a minute, not when I read my Bible. The Bible is filled honestly with non human intelligences, Angels, cherubim, seraphim, there's many different beings out there and a lot of labels that the Bible uses, Old Testament and New Testament. So as we talk with people we could say, hey, number one, this doesn't disrupt Christianity. But secondly, God has created a lot of things. We don't have all the details on them. And but what we do know is this, that the majority of the Bible is geared towards one thing and that is the salvation story, the salvation of humanity on this planet. And Jesus came to be a human. He came to be a human forever. He was born as a human. He still is a human. He didn't just show up and then leave. He took on humanity. We know that in First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verse 5, that there's one mediator between God and man. The man, the human, Jesus Christ. And so for me, it would be able to let them know, hey, just because we have these other potentials out there, for us the most important thing is our own sinful condition, and that we can have salvation through Jesus Christ, who came to die for humans. He didn't die for some potential angel. We know that Hebrews chapter two says that exact thing. He came and died for humanity. So in my mind would be to take this opportunity to share about the wide latitude of the things that we don't know about what God might have in his universe. But secondly, to go back and say, but what do we know? And the scripture has shown itself 100% to be true through prophecy and archeology and other things about the gospel message and again, the plan of salvation for humans.
- [10:22]
A
Amen. Pastor Mark, what are your thoughts on that?
- [10:23]
B
Yeah, you know, the gospel is our message of first importance. First Corinthians 15.
- [10:27]
A
Right.
- [10:27]
B
And that's where we always got to get people to. And that's ultimately we want to leave them with. But, you know, as you think about God creating angels, in the book of Hebrews, it says they were created so that they would be for the protection, the care of God's people. And so I would suggest to you, as we get more information that unfolds about the UFOs, you're going to find some. We have some personal friends who have had UFO experiences, and they were comforting and they were. It was helpful. We've had others that was, you know, harmful and so forth. I would suggest to you there's a demonic component, there's an angelic component that could be good, it could be bad. Ultimately, it's going to come down to the message that they deliver. And again, just come back to that concept. We should not be afraid. Our God is in the heavens. Everything that's been created in the universe, he made it. He's not afraid of it. We shouldn't be afraid of it. We should follow him.
- [11:22]
A
Amen. Well, you're listening to Discerning Our Days. I'm Pastor Josh Schwartz along with Pastor Mark Henry. Our guest today is Mondo Gonzales from Prophecy Watchers. Now, Mondo, you recently gave a talk on the material reality of angels. And in there, you were very specific about the message that these entities were giving. Can you walk us through that a little bit and how important that is, as Pastor Mark just alluded to?
- [11:48]
C
Absolutely. It's interesting. What we're seeing right now is you have kind of two streams within the disclosure movement. You have one with Dr. Steven Greer, who's kind of been, I would say call him the Godfather of Disclosure. But he has a very dangerous movement. He was a medical doctor and then turned in basically to a ufologist and his message is that the UFOs are friendly. They. We need to commune with them. He has something called the CE5, where you can go out and learn these protocols of meditating and calling them down. And that there's this other group which he would say are trying to. Basically military contractors who are trying to say that the aliens are bad so that. That they can get more money for defense against them. So you're like, whoa. And so what I would say is, at the end of the day, we recognize that the message, for example, that Stephen Greer is saying that these are our friends, only want to help us. They want to help us grow, they want to help us advance. That's completely false. That is straight out of the New Age movement. And so at the end of the day, what I often joke about, and I don't say joke, it has become serious now, is that if there was a ship that showed up and there it is, I'd go up and knock on the door and I would just say, I have a question. Okay, you come in peace. Do you acknowledge that Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, is Messiah and Lord, and salvation for humanity is found only through him, and that he came in the flesh, yes or no? And do you wear allegiance to him and that he is the Creator, as Mark was saying? And so it's interesting to me that what we're seeing is, again, that is not the message that we're seeing within the movement of ufology, is that some of them will see them as potentially nefarious, as enemies seeking harm to humanity. Others, again, like Stephen Greer, see them as our friends. And so at the end of the day, we got to go back to the Bible. Anything that would raise itself up against the knowledge of Christ and the knowledge of who he is and what he's accomplished as the supreme creator of all things in all of the universe. It's not only limited to earth. That's the key message that I find absolutely.
- [14:04]
A
And I think when it comes down to it, we've come to a conclusion here. The conclusion is this. We should not be shaken by these disclosures. We as followers of Jesus, should not be moved by these disclosures. Our faith should not change. Jesus is the Lord. Yahweh has created all things, and we praise God for that. Now, with all that, though, how should this, then, this understanding, bolster the reality of the deceptive character of the evil one? Mondo. And then, Mark, we'll get your thoughts.
- [14:37]
C
Yeah. To me, people always wonder. I wonder this too, for those of us that love to study eschatology is that I imagine the three of us, you know, go 500 years in the future and there we are in the millennial period when our glorified bodies and we're sitting, hanging around, hey, guys, what's happened? Where you been? You know, where has the Lord taken taking you lately? You know, where are you reigning? And then I would say, you know, Josh and Mark, it's interesting, all that. Remember that UFO stuff, whatever happened with that, weren't that. Was there any. How come nothing ever came to that? I don't believe we're going to be ever saying that in the millennial period. I think we're seeing that this, this, this disclosure idea as we, as you mentioned, Spielberg's new movie coming out as well as the Age of Disclosure film coming out last, last Thanksgiving. And of course, go back the past 30 years, 50 years with Hollywood. There is a message here. And that's the danger I think that is happening, is that a lot of it's going to get mixed up. And the more our culture moves away from the scripture, the more they're going to get sucked into that messaging. And that's what concerns me is what is happening. That there's a lack of discernment. You know, that is huge. The key thing that we need right now more than anything else is discernment. And sadly, most of the world does not have it because they're not scriptural thinking, they're not scripturally based.
- [15:59]
B
Yeah.
- [15:59]
A
Pastor Mark, what are your thoughts on deceptive, evil schemes of Satan?
- [16:04]
B
Yeah, we know that Satan is a liar. He's always going to be working to do that and he's always going to be trying to intimidate us in various ways. And as you look through the scriptures, every time there's an angelic appearing, you've got demons who have a message and they are attacking whatever God is saying is good. And then of course, the elect angels, the good angels, they're always honoring God. And I was thinking through the book of Acts Today, in chapter 12, for example, when Peter's in prison for preaching the gospel and angel shows up. Now think about it in this sense. If you grew up in a non Christian context and all of a sudden an angel shows up, what would you say? Well, I had an alien show up in my room. You know what I'm saying? And so I think, I think what's going to happen, and Mondo just mentioned it, with the New age movement, they're going to capitalize on that, to be influenced, to move away from simplicity. And purity of devotion to Christ, like it says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11. And secondly, you'll also notice that in all of the alien sort of movies now, there's a sexual component to that. And if you've been around demonic activity a lot, you'll know that there's a lot of sexual perversion and even demonic infusion in that sometimes. And so I wouldn't be surprised with the sexual perversion that we already have in the world. And then you add that in. I think the sexual perversion is going to be great. And God calls us to be a holy people in these last days, looking for the Lord Jesus Christ.
- [17:35]
C
Amen.
- [17:35]
A
And amen. And we have to recognize, friends, Satan doesn't change. His character doesn't change. He always has a deceptive nature, a nature that has a deep desire to pull worship away from God, pull superiority from the Lord Jesus Christ, and put it on him or put him on other objects so that God's not being worshiped. And here in these dark days, these last days, it is no surprise then that this is the exact same reality that he's using here with UFOs, UAPs, potential extraterrestrials, and whatever else is going to be disclosed in the days ahead.
- [18:12]
B
I think Romans chapter eight is an important verse too, Josh, because. And right in there. And if you're scared about the UFOs or Bigfoot or something, I want to encourage you to write in there, you know, whatever you're scared of. I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do not be shaken by these things.
- [18:38]
A
Amen. Mondo, I want to give you the last words on the ufo, uap, Alien disclosure.
- [18:44]
C
Yeah, I think the most important thing is the. There's a shift coming. We see. Not only do we see it with the government as it relates to these releasing of documents, more and more coming. And we're told by congressmen and others that have been part of the UAP committee that they're going to get more sensational and more interesting that the kind of the boring ones are the ones that have been dropped already. And so as we see this as well as again this movie coming out in June, the idea is we need to be ready. We need to be ahead of the game first. Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to give a defense for our faith and the reason that we have. And so I think as we, I think we should embrace the whole idea of the conversation. That's what I'm saying is. And again to do it without fear because no doubt when you watch the movie in this latest trailer, as Mark alluded to, it's kind of weird. I mean it doesn't seem all wonderful and gives me warm feelings and to have Spielberg say isn't this going to be great? And he believes they are real. And I'm I guess waiting to see what the ultimate movie, what its agenda is and what its messaging is. But at the end of the day, we stay with scripture, but engage, engage the culture because I think as much as Satan wants to use things for evil, we know that God will use them for good.
- [20:06]
B
Mono. Let me ask you this. If as this stuff comes out, Christians are going to land in different places and trying to sort it out because again, the Bible doesn't specifically talk about UFOs. So how do we relate to one another as we speculate and draw information? Because isn't Satan trying in these last days to create a lot of conflict between us as followers of Jesus?
- [20:30]
C
Oh, I'm so glad you brought that up because the tagline on my email is John 13:35 that just that, that people will know that we're his disciples by our love for one another. And sadly, even as it relates to eschatology or other viewpoints, any other these other culture items, Christians are oftentimes mean. I mean you go onto social media and they're mean, they're arrogant, they're condescending, they name call each other and you're like wow. And so this is going to be one of those opportunities where you're going to have people who have a lot of conviction on their viewpoints about what UFOs or UAPs are, about what a great alien is or might not be, at the end of the day, I think we need to be loving, respectful and kind to our brothers and sisters who might see things differently. At the end of the day, the place where I am going to disfellowship for somebody is when they violate the gospel. But this is a Romans 14 issue where you have these secondary issues, these disputable matters or matters of opinion, which is the way that Paul writes it to me. At the end of the day he says why do you show contempt for your brother over these secondary issues or even tertiary third level issues? So I think we need to be characterized by love and respect and we can agree to disagree on the fine tuned things as it relates to these other issues that will do more for the world who's watching us. But we know the enemy would love to see us devour and bite and to tear each other up for sure.
- [21:56]
B
And that's one of the great signs of the last days, is that there would be tensions between brothers and sisters in Christ. You can read about it in 2 Timothy chapter 3. And may the grace of God keep us from that. Friends, I don't know if you've trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, but when all these things are unfolding, just remember this. It's Jesus who is mighty to save. Angels are not going to save us. The demons are not going to save us. Satan is not going to save us. The world is not going to save us. The government is not going to save us. Jesus is mighty to save. And that's why you and I need to put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. In him alone. He died on the cross. He paid for sins. He rose again the third day and 150 times roughly. In the Bible it says, when you believe in him, he gives you the gift of everlasting life. Believe in him today.
- [22:40]
A
Amen. And I think that it's so important to bring it back to the gospel, to bring it back to the reality here. God does exist. He does desire a deep, personal, intimate relationship with every single one of us. And we must trust in Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one can come for the Father but through Him. Mark, thank you so much for dealing with this topic together with me and to bring reality, clarity, and more importantly, a biblical foundation in the midst of it. I'm so thankful for that.
- [23:10]
E
It's been great to have you with us today. Our prayer is that you are finding these programs to not only be informative, but also helpful as you seek to make sense of what's happening in our world from a Biblical perspective. We're still in the early days of a media ministry that is solely dependent upon the faithful prayers and financial support of friends like you. Your help is needed to stay on over 700 radio stations, podcast platforms and various online and digital video sites to support our mission of helping people discern the days by examining what's happening through the lens of Scripture. Visit our website, markhenryministries.com Click the Donate button at the top of the page and make your gift securely online. Or if you prefer to send a check, Our address is P.O. box 190, Forest Lake, MN 55025 or you can call 612-208-9408. That's 612-208-9408. When you give today, be sure to ask for seven keys to godly discernment. It's a digital download that's filled with scripture references to help you understand what's going on in today's world. That's our gift to you as you give to the ministry today. We are just a couple of weekends away now from Father's Day and in case you don't have something special for the men in your life, here's a great gift idea. Pastor Mark Henry's book, the Man Code. We believe this is a book that every man should have. It's a great read about putting God first, leading with integrity, loving your family well, and living with purpose in a culture that constantly pushes men off course. That's the Man Code by Pastor Mark Henry, available on our website@markhenryministries.com
- [25:00]
A
welcome to the extra cut of Discerning Our Days. We're so glad you are joining us. This is a great time to have a deeper conversation with this week's guest. There's another topic that I think is going to be has been in the news a lot lately for the last number of years and now we're reaching very potentially a boiling point where this is going to become more and more normal. It's the idea of humanoid robots that's no longer an idea, it's a reality. They are here and they are advanced, way more advanced than the remote control robot toys that I had when I was a child. So what I want to do is just show this clip to to both of you and then dive into this conversation.
- [25:46]
F
South Korea saw the debut of its first robot monk at an ordination ceremony held at Seoul's Joga Temple on May 6. The humanoid robot was given the dharma name of Kabi, meaning mercy. The ceremony, known as Suga Shik, or the Five Precepts Ceremony, is an event where believers pledge their faith to Buddha and his teachings. The ceremony, held on May 6, was a special event organized in anticipation of the upcoming Buddha's birthday. Although the robot was ordained as a lay Buddhist practitioner, it was also granted honorary monk status for the ceremonial period leading up to Buddha's birthday on May 24. The 4 foot 3 humanoid robot model GI, created by Unintree Robotics, entered the initiation rite draped in typical Buddhist monk garments, also wearing a helmet resembling the shaved head of a monk. Prior to the ordination, Kabi also participated in a purification ceremony called Yeonbi including the traditional small incense burn on the arm typically done during the ceremony. The robot also received 108 prayer beads around its neck. The Five Precepts, which are the five rules a Buddhist follower must adhere to, were also modified to a robot version where kabi swore to protect life, refrain from damaging other robots and objects, obey and respect humans, no beguilement. And lastly, conserve energy by not overcharging. Reflecting the event, an official at the Jogae Order of Korean Buddhism mentioned that the event represents a new possibility for the coexistence of humans and advancing technology, fostering harmony between tradition and the future.
- [27:13]
A
You're watching Discerning Our Days. I'm Pastor Josh Schwartz along with Pastor Mark Henry, and our guest this week is Mondo Gonzales of Prophecy Watchers. Gentlemen, this is crazy to me. Worshiping robots. Not that we're worshiping them, but that they are now the worshipers. A Buddhist monk robot. Mondo, did you ever expect to see anything like this? And if you did, was it. Was it similar to this? Or what are your thoughts on even that whole video there?
- [27:43]
C
You know, it's actually quite shocking. I can't say that I ever thought about a robot monk. There's no doubt that when you look at Elon Musk's abilities, as we've seen over, you know, the past probably 20 years, he's talking about that his greatest invention is not going to be SpaceX or anything else, Starlink. It's going to be Optimus the robot. And he's going to be producing billions of them. And everybody's going to have their own household or their own assistant walking around. But at the end of the day, what do you see here? All robots and AI especially, it's programmed. And so the fact that they are personifying these robots again is something that is coming. It is, it is not going to go away. And we see this now with artificial intelligence as it relates to. A friend of mine was just showing me earlier that you go online and you can have a girlfriend now you can have a boyfriend. You just sign up and they'll send you texts, they'll send you phone messages, all these relational aspects that are coming with AI, which again, it's only going to get more and more advanced and more and more crazy, more and more perverted as we can imagine other things which are probably maybe not appropriate to talk about. But the interesting thing here is the religious component that imagine having, you know, you're. You have your monk, but you have your Christian here and there. It's been trained to worship whatever it's been trained to do. At the end of the day, these robots are, they, they will not at least presently or cannot go beyond their programming. But it's humanity is so eager now to create technology that is like us. And so we're going to program to be like us, which again includes worship. So no surprise. But it's going to get, depending how you phrase it, I would say it's going to get worse and worse and worse in my mind.
- [29:40]
A
Yeah, absolutely.
- [29:41]
B
Pastor Mark, you know, when I was, when I saw that video clip, I was sitting there thinking, okay, we've already seen AI sermons and pastors using that, and, you know, that's maybe good or bad in some different contexts, but. But pretty soon, if we're seeing this in cult groups or in this case, the Buddhists, how long is it before you can have an AI pastor? How long is it going to be before you have your robot pastor? Just think about it. You don't have to feed him, you don't have to house him, you can just stay at the church. You don't have to deal with his kids. There's some real potential there. As I was thinking about it, and what I'm. My observation is this, is that you think about how we are uniquely made in the image of God and we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and spiritual gifts are given to us and, you know, we're having the breakdown of the family and relationships. Mondo just mentioned that. I think this is just the next jump of the breakdown of society and all of the good intentions that God has for us. You know, when things break down, I always say, I always stop now and pray, like God, you had something so much better for us, like a real boyfriend, like a real girlfriend, like a real wife, like a real husband, like a real pastor. Like, you know, God has all these good things for us and we're traded in for technology.
- [31:02]
A
Yeah. And I think that's, that's the level that we're at here. Not only is it programmed technology, so it's not having its own will or volition, and it's not spirit led, but it is, it is electronic. It is a technological type of movement that there's no soul, there's nothing there, and yet we are willing to, or we at least are being conditioned to accept this as good.
- [31:30]
B
And you think about the commandment, right? Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul and mind. That's an emotional component that you can't get with an algorithm.
- [31:37]
A
Right, Mondo? Any other Thoughts on this robot monk and maybe even some of the commands that he that it took saying that it wouldn't overcharge to conserve energy.
- [31:53]
C
See that's exactly the key right there is someone obviously programmed it to follow these very specific, you would call them even eco friendly ideas which as we know for many it's a religion in and of itself. And so to see the commandments again within Buddhism, you're going to have very specific again commandments which are going to certainly differ from Christianity or even Islam or Judaism in those ways. But to me I think what Mark said is so appropriate that this thing is not made in the image of God. Neither is a cat or a dog, that in order to worship the Lord in the fullness of what we understand, it's those beings that have the ability who are made in his image. And that's the key difference here is this is such a substitute. It's so typical of Satan to provide a substitute or a quick fix or to get beyond, I think about having a robot wife or a servant or a robot boyfriend. And you can get them, you can program and you want them to tell you everything wonderful about you all the time. They'll never disagree with you, they'll just continue to puff you up and they're going to make you believe and you'll eventually be filled with pride. It's all about me. It's all about my needs. And yet we understand that marriage is hard. To becoming one is hard. It's good for me to have my wife tell me and point out my flaws because who else is going to do it? I'm not going to necessarily seek those out for myself. So at the end of the day, these are all counterfeits that Satan is going to offer which is going to ultimately betray humanity and go against the ultimate things of God's blessings for us.
- [33:41]
A
Yeah, I think you're right there. And we've seen that narcissism or pride is a pitfall for humanity. And it is obviously on the rise with social media and this move away from meritocracy to just hey, everyone's a winner, everyone's amazing, everyone's this, everyone's that. And now we have these robots that are going to be programmed to tell us how great we are every day. And it's again, like you said there, it's a counterfeit mondo that's so important. Mark, any thoughts?
- [34:11]
B
Yeah, you know, as you think about the act of worship, communing with God, that's what Adam and Eve did in the garden and that's really what God is desiring us to do with him. And so, you know, as you move away from the interpersonal relationship breakdown, just remember this. God wants us to draw near to him. Draw near to God and he will What? Draw near to you? There's no substitute. And really the ultimate danger is with all of this computer technology is that it's faster and smarter than you. And it's really not smarter. It's got these algorithms and so forth. But it becomes God in and of itself and a replacement for God. Man, we need the Lord in these days.
- [34:56]
A
Amen. We do. Well talking about that. There is another aspect of current events and culture that is on the rise. And tensions seem to be rising again. As always, it's the most contended 40 acres in the world. It's the Temple Mount. And just a number of days ago, we had a lot of people, 13 people arrested for being on the Temple Mount with trying to make a sacrifice up there. So let's watch this clip and then let's dive into all things Temple Mount.
- [35:29]
G
Thirteen Jews were just arrested on the Temple Mount. They weren't arrested for causing a disturbance or for harassing Muslims. They were arrested because in an act of bold defiance of the secular status quo, they attempted to reinstate the state sacred Shavuot sacrifice and the courts where the Temple stood. This past Friday, 13 Jews snuck onto the Temple Mount and were subsequently arrested. Their crime, possession of bread. The bread wasn't stolen. It didn't have weapons or anything dangerous baked into it. It was just bread. Or was it? Let me give you a little more context. This weekend, the Jewish people celebrated the festival of Shavuot, or as you might know it, Pentecost. This is one of the three pilgrimage holidays so many people go up to Jerusalem when the Temple was still standing on the Temple Mount. Every year during this feast, bread was offered at the Temple, but the bread had to be made with freshly ground wheat. What these Jews were doing wasn't just bringing bread onto an ancient archaeological site to make a Reuben sandwich. They were attempting to revive an almost 3,500-year-old tradition. And that's why this bread was such a big deal. Now, we don't know exactly how these Jews managed to get onto the Temple Mount. Israel actually shut down the Temple Mount to all non Muslims on Shavuot.
- [36:51]
A
All right, gentlemen, lots going on there. Even a number of weeks before that took place, there were 21 Jewish people arrested because of taking a goat up on the Temple Mount to try and sacrifice it. So there is tension Rising on the Temple Mount. So, first and foremost, Mark, we've all been to the Temple Mount. We've all been there. We've seen it. We see how important it is. We knew that that's the place where Jesus walked and how amazing that is. And Jesus will come back and there will be a temple in the millennium that we'll talk about in a moment. But Mondo, can you walk us through currently the status quo and why the status quo is important, and then we can talk about how the status quo has been rumored to be changing for a long time?
- [37:35]
C
Yeah, to me, this is fascinating because I actually wrote about this in my book Mystery of the Red Heifer, because I was trying to describe again, the change. But what's happening right now, it really began December of 2022. In November of 2022, you had the latest government being established with Netanyahu as the leader. But it came into power in December of 22. And what you had there was the most religious government in the history of Israel, which was pretty fascinating. A lot of religious groups that came together, and that was only when Netanyahu could form his government. But what on day one, Itamar Ben Yvir, the National Security Minister, an Orthodox Jew, he went up on the Temple Mount and he deliberately said, from this point forward, the Temple Mount status quo is going to be challenged. Because he felt that the secular history was. Was not available or was not right. And that's what he's been doing. And so he's been going up there over and over and over again. And so that's what you see now is because he is responsible for security, he's the one responsible for the police that are there. And so many times they've been turning a blind eye based on his orders to allow Jews up on the Temple Mount, which is exactly what we're seeing.
- [38:54]
A
How is this different than say, five, 10, 15 years ago?
- [39:00]
C
What you have is it goes back to 1967 when, when the Jews took over in the Six Day War, they finally got control of the Temple Mount. And fascinatingly, at that time, Moshe Dayon, who was the general basically who did it, he was very secular and he's like, well, we're going to. We control the Temple Mount, but I don't have any. I don't. He's. He was an atheist by his own words. I don't care about any history here. So he gave, he gave basically sovereignty, a rulership over the Temple Mount back to the Jordanian walk for the waqf. And so no doubt Israel would Maintain sovereignty over all of it. But the religious day to day instruction would be by this Jordanian group. And so. And that coincided with the rabbis because the rabbis were okay with that. And that's surprising. Well, why is that? Because they didn't want any Jews going up on the Temple Mount because they were afraid that they would basically defile where the Holy of holies was. So they've had these rules that these rabbinic injunctions that Jews were not allowed to go up there. And so it all worked fine. But what you saw really over the last 10 years was many of the rabbis began to defy that order because they're like, look, it's not fair that we don't get to pray up there. It's not fair that it's only Muslims that are up there, that we are basically prohibited. And so they began to go up on the Temple Mount. And so now what you've been watching over the past few years is the increase of Jewish people. It's going like this. It's going straight up as it relates because many of the rabbis and the factions, there's different factions of rabbis are promoting and encouraging their own people to go up on the Temple Mount in order to challenge that status quo which now they have a friend in Itamar Ben Gavir. And so it's going to continue to, to go, to grow. Over the past couple weeks, they've talked about a synagogue up there first. Ultimately they definitely want a temple, but they realize if we do it incrementally, which is what has been happening and it's been working. They weren't, they were they originally they were not allowed to pray or be up there at all. Now they're praying, now they're singing, now they're doing, bringing bread. Now they're talking about a synagogue. So we're definitely seeing a trajectory change 100%.
- [41:16]
A
Pastor Mark, what are your thoughts?
- [41:18]
B
Yeah, you know, having been to the Temple Mount my first time, I thought, you know, all the Jewish people would, you know, would be ready to go up there and take the Temple Mount and build the temple and so forth. And when I got there, I was pretty shocked, Josh. I mean, you get there and you weren't supposed to have Bibles up there. You weren't supposed to give any sermons. You weren't supposed to, supposed to pray. And I was kind of like blown away at the Jordanian control, the Islamic control over that area, and how like the Jews were kind of like content with that. And then as Mondo just mentioned, the transition that's occurring, it's very visible. It's very plain that there's the push and the movement. And the last time I was in Israel, I was talking to a secular Jew about that, and I said, how come you're not more like zealous to take the Temple Mount? And this Jewish person just said to me, like, you're excited about that, Mark, because you see this in the Bible and so forth, and that's part of your convictions. Because of the Bible, I don't accept the Bible. And what you're ultimately saying is you want my kids to go and die for that. And it really took me back. You know, we get excited about some of these things, thinking about, oh, the temple is going to be built and this is going to happen, and this is going to happen. But they view it for. From a secular standpoint, but there isn't a God. We've been abandoned long ago. It's only by luck that we're here now in the land and we have control of this thing and we don't want any more of our kids to die. And, you know, I just shared the gospel with that lady, a super nice lady. But there is definitely a spiritual revival taking place, at least in the Jewish people that I'm talking to, moving away from secularism to a certain extent that, like, we haven't seen. In fact, I was talking to a Jewish friend the other day who works in a Jewish ministry, and he's saying there's more young Jewish people responding to the gospel today, the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in him as the Messiah, than at any time in history. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I'm being told.
- [43:11]
A
Well, praise God for that. Now, Mondo Mark, eschatologically, according to the Scriptures, we know that there's going to be a Third Temple and then there will be a Fourth Temple. A question that I often get regarding the Third Temple is should Christians, should followers of Jesus support the building of a third Temple and. Or fund the building of a Third Temple? Mondo, what are your thoughts there?
- [43:36]
C
You know, I appreciate that because it's such a great question. Because again, going back to my book, I was like, this is a question that people are asking. And so I sent an email out to, I don't know, 15 or so prophets, prophecy, teachers, and asked them that exact question because I thought, who cares exactly what I believe? Let's see what everybody's talking about. And you had differences of opinion. Honestly, you had some Christians who are saying, yeah, I'm Very pro temple. I'm all about the red heifers. I'm going to provide money to see them supported. I would love to see the temple because they see it as being part of prophetic and they want to be a part of that movement. At least that prophetic movement is how they see it where others Christians. And my attitude is I know that that temple is not going to bring them salvation. I know that temple is going to be an aspect of deception. And so at the end of the day, if I'm going to spend my money, I'm going to spend my money on getting the gospel to the Jewish person. The Jew and Gentile needs Jesus as their savior. There's no discrimination there. And so. But what I also recognized too was my brother and sister in Christ, who they believe it. I'm not going to condemn them for that. I'm going to have a disagreement and that's okay. I'm going to see it my way and they're going to see it their way. But each person, I think, has to make that decision as they seek the Lord on it. And I think, as Romans 14 says, each person is going to have their own conviction in their own mind.
- [45:08]
A
Pastor Mark, what are your thoughts?
- [45:09]
B
Yeah, I really appreciate what Mano just said because. Because boy Christians today, when they get an idea, they take it out on everybody else. We've got to walk in love and truth and grace and mercy and compassion in some of these areas. And this is one of them. But what I would suggest, as you read through the New Testament, no one in the New Testament is saying fund Jewish things that are in the future. What are they doing? They're funding the gospel. They're advancing the gospel. First Timothy, chapter six talks about how we're supposed to be rich in good works and investing in the advancement of the gospel. Or in Philippians, chapter four, how our giving is a fragrant aroma that's well pleasing to God. Now, one thing you do see is that In Acts, chapter 10, Cornelius, who was an unbeliever at the time, Roman leader and so forth, occupier in Israel, he's caring for Jewish people. And so that is seen as an act of goodness. And so we want to care for Jewish people. I would suggest putting our eggs in that basket and then advancing the gospel with them is really what Jesus would have us do at this time in this dispensation.
- [46:19]
A
Absolutely. I think it's important here to recognize there's liberty, like Mondo has said. And I keep coming back to Galatians Chapter five. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you're not consumed by one another. We need to be progressing the gospel, proclaiming the gospel, and we know that these things are going to come to pass. There will be a third temple and there will be a fourth temple. Pastor Mark, can you walk us through the reality of the millennial temple, what that's going to look like and why it's important?
- [46:53]
B
Yeah. So, you know, when you read the Book of Ezekiel, often we talk about, you know, the Gog Magog war. But when you get to chapter 40, it starts to describe the temple and the building of the temple during the millennial kingdom. And then as you get into, like, chapter 43, it talks about sacrifices. And so, you know, if you take a literal interpretation to the Book of Ezekiel, there is going to be a millennial kingdom. God's going to keep his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are going to possess the land. It says that they did not possess the land. They died waiting and anticipating that. So they're going to be resurrected, they're going to be in the land, and there's going to be the real rebuilding of this temple and with the sacrificial system in place. Now, Mondo, I want to throw this to you because you and I are often, you know, people push back and like, oh, you futurists, you dispensationalists, you believe that there's going to be these future sacrifices. Everyone knows Hebrews chapter 10. Jesus died once for all. One sacrifice for all sin. Why in the world would there be these sacrifices in the millennial kingdom?
- [47:51]
C
Yeah, I think that it's interesting. I actually take it as pretty straightforward. Why would there be sacrifices during the millennial kingdom? Well, for the same reason why there were sacrifices in the Old Testament. I mean, it's identical. The reason. And we know Hebrews 10:4, that by the blood of bulls and goats, no sin can be taken away. That's always been the case. And so you go, well, why did God have them do sacrifices in the Old Testament? He did those in order to entrench into the mind of the Jewish person the idea that a sacrifice was meant as a substitute. It was meant to identify that sinner with a pure lamb or other, or goat or a bull or whatever, and that there was an exchange that took place, that the death of that animal was in place as a substitute for my sins. And so this is why in Leviticus 17, you have the idea that the atonement is in the blood. And so that's Very, very important. So all those sacrifices, those millions upon millions of sacrifices God was getting in their brain. Look, I want you to understand that there's coming a day in the future going to Isaiah 53, that this Messiah, this servant, would be sacrificed and he would give his soul as an atonement, as an offering for somebody else. And so when you come to the millennial period, all those sacrifices that are there, some of them are very different, but all of them are represented, you know, the burn, offering, etcetera, in those passages. But those are going to be why they're going to be training the people to see once again that sin is real. There is going to be sin in the millennium, millennial period. It'll be internal. There'll be glorified saints there, but there'll be those in their natural bodies, Satan and all of the minions will be bound. And so there's not going to be any external temptation. The temptation is going to be resulted from what's inside the unredeemed human person. Okay? But they're going to need to be reminded of what Jesus did. Now, granted, Jesus is going to be right there. Now, why is that the case? Because that's what God said. At the end of the day, we can get into the mindset of why God does a lot of things. But the sacrifice in the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus, and the sacrifices of the millennium are going to be pointing backwards to what Jesus did on behalf of humanity.
- [50:10]
A
I think that's so important because people so often get caught up as though those sacrifices in the millennium have to be atoning for some point. No, there's no atonement there. Jesus is the perfect atoning sacrifice, once for all. But they are like a reminder, they're symbolic to point us back to the reality of what Jesus did. Just like communion points us to the reality, to the remembrance of what Jesus has done for us here and now in the church age. Pastor Mark, what are your thoughts?
- [50:38]
B
You know, I would just conclude with this one thought, and that is there are sacrifices in the Old Testament so that when Jesus shows up 4,000 years later, that John the Baptist could point to him and say, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And there's going to be sacrifices in the millennial kingdom. Why? Because there's going to be people with real flesh and blood, both Jew and gentile, who are saved, who enter into the millennial kingdom, who are going to have children for a thousand going to have children, and those children are going to go to the Temple Mount area, those Jewish children, they're going to make these sacrifices and they're going to be pointing back to behold the Lamb of God, Jesus that took away all of our sins. And I don't know where you're at in your spiritual journey, but what I know is this, that if you haven't trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you need to. Jesus alone is the substitute so that you and I do not face the penalty and the wrath of God. All of that falls upon Jesus and his righteousness is given to us. You know, people often say I'm not perfect. Mark, you're right. You and I are not perfect. But what does it take to get to heaven? Perfection. The perfected righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to me. Imputed to you when you trust in him as Lord, God and Savior. So if you haven't trusted him, do it right now. Call upon his name, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
- [51:53]
A
Amen. Well, you've been listening to Watching Discerning Our Days. I'm Pastor Josh Schwartz along with Pastor Mark Henry. Our guest this week has been Mondo Gonzalez of Prophecy Watchers. Mondo, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your expertise. Thank you for your level headedness, your conservative, faithful, foundational theology and pointing people continually back to the scriptures, back to the gospel. We're so thankful to have had the opportunity to have this conversation, friends. If you'd like to stay in touch with Mondo Gonzalez or anyone at the Prophecy Watchers team, you can find them@procywatchers.com now till next week, friends. Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 24:4, see that no one leads you astray.