The Day of the LORD’s Power is Coming!
Image: AI generated, based on Isaiah’s description of the seraphim:
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings… Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. Isaiah 6:2,6 (NIV)
by Ray Montgomery (July 27, 2026)
On September 11, 2001, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. It was a day that brought America to its knees and the world to a standstill. This day was not chosen at random. It was chosen for the anniversary of the Battle of Vienna in 1683, because September 11 that year was a day of defeat for Islam, a day that halted the expansion of Islam into Western Europe. In attacking on September 11, Islamists redeemed this day, turning it from being a day of defeat to a day of victory.
September 11, 2001, known to the world as 9/11, was chosen because Islam was announcing its arrival on the world stage, signaling its intent to reverse that defeat and take on the “West” again (represented by America), with its goal of world domination, bringing the world under Sharia law with everyone bowing their knees to the god of Islam, Allah.
If Islam chose to announce its intentions on the world stage in such spectacular fashion, it’s not a great leap of imagination to believe that God will similarly announce the “Day of His Power” as well. And “That Day” is coming!
When the current war in Iran began on February 28, I recognised this as a significant moment in time, a ‘kairos’ moment, a time of acceleration towards Armageddon, and the fulfillment of God’s purposes in the earth. Since then, the world has been at a standstill, with the Strait of Hormuz closed to shipping. Now the Houthi rebels have blockaded the Strait of Bab al-Mandab as well.
The escalating tensions in the region, with the stranglehold on the world’s shipping and energy supplies, plus settler violence in biblical Judea/Samaria (i.e. the West Bank) must be seen in spiritual terms. We are now well into Terry Bennett’s 7-year “spiritual crises” period.
For more info: See the article, What is Shemitah?
Warfare and tensions in the Middle East are a reflection of the Spiritual Warfare taking place in the Heavenly Realm!
The enemy knows that the “Day of the Lord’s Power” is coming, and he will lose multitudes of souls who will be swept into the Kingdom of God. He is resisting God’s purposes with every means at his disposal.
Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments… Psalm 110:3 (ESV, emphasis added)
But just as the enemy announced his worldwide intentions on 9/11, in like manner God will announce the “Day of His Power” to the world.
But how?
Earthquakes have announced past revivals, such as the twin Tierra del Fuego earthquakes (7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale) in 1949, which announced the revival in Argentina in the following decade,[1] and the 9.3 earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska on Good Friday in 1964, which heralded the Charismatic Movement (1967-73). Wars in Israel since 1948 that were existential threats to her survival have also heralded significant moves of God in the Church:
[1]https://mycharisma.com/spiritled-living/james-goll-shares-spiritual-secrets-to-prayers-that-get-results/
Graphic: Ray Montgomery
Reformation is Coming
Revivals wax and wane, come and go, merely keeping the Church on life support. What is coming is not revival, but reformation, which will keep increasing in power and intensity until the end of the age.
If you want to know where we are on God’s prophetic calendar, watch Israel!
The geographic focus in Israel will now be centered on the Temple Mount.
The following chart illustrates the narrowing of geographic focus taking place in Israel (whose founding in 1948 marks the beginning of the “final generation”), and how these events correlate to what has taken place in the Church in those respective periods:
Graphic: Ray Montgomery
On October 7, 2023, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Israel was savagely attacked: 1,200 Jews were brutally murdered, and 251 were kidnapped and taken to the tunnels of Gaza. Immediately, Israel was at war against Hamas.
This signaled that the Church had now entered into the Feast of Tabernacles period. This is a feast of harvest: Rick Joyner has announced that the final harvest begins this year. The enemy knows this, and he is resisting God’s purposes.
Currently, the enemy is entrenched on the Temple Mount, the place that once housed His Divine Presence, and where Israel’s first and second temples once stood. The Dome of the Rock is an abomination in the sight of God. Could the third temple co-exist on the Temple Mount alongside the Dome of the Rock as some have suggested? Scripture gives us the answer to that question:
“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. Isaiah 42:8 (NIV, emphasis added)
I believe the Dome of the Rock needs to be destroyed/removed for Israel to build its third temple.
The Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, was called the “Al-Aqsa Flood”. Al-Aqsa refers to the compound of Islamic religious buildings and mosques on the Temple Mount. It was Hamas’ intention to go all the way to Jerusalem and take the land for Allah. They were planning a second invasion last year during the truce, for it is still their intention to have the entire land of “Palestine” for Muslims – i.e. completely free of Jews!
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings… Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Isaiah 6:1-7 (NIV, emphasis added)
I believe that when we see these buildings destroyed, God will announce that the “Day of His Power” has arrived. When we see the Dome of the Rock on fire, it will herald the arrival of the seraphim, bringing us our own “baptism of fire” – for the Lord wants to get to the heart of the matter – both in Israel, and in our own lives, for the baptism of fire is a work of sanctification.
For clarification:
· The Cross deals with the nature of sin (Romans 6:6)
· The shed blood of Jesus deals with individual acts of sin (1 John 1:9)
· The fire of God deals with the consequences of sin (Matthew 3:12)
The enemy has been entrenched on the Temple Mount for centuries, and the time has come for the Lord to rout the enemy once and for all, setting Israel free to build the third temple, while simultaneously setting us free from the consequences of sin that have held us in bondage all our lives.
A Personal Story
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NIV, emphasis added)
I have experienced the baptism of fire. I must confess that I struggled with an addiction. It took the Lord 18 months to deal with this, requiring small acts of obedience to His promptings that initially started out very easy to obey, but got progressively more difficult as time went on. But these acts of obedience were important, as they were also changing my behaviour. The final test was to “resist the devil”. I was driving at the time when a sudden demonic surge of temptation arose, and simultaneously I felt a righteous indignation arising within me. I pounded the steering wheel, shouting, “NO! NO! NO! I will NOT think on these things!” In my mind’s eye I glimpsed the devil pulling back, aghast, his mouth open in astonishment. I seized on that brief moment, and applied the filter of the mind from Philippians, adding, “I will think on things that are pure, things that are just…”, and I started praising and worshiping the Lord.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8 (KJV, emphasis added)
At that point I realized I had forgotten my wallet, and did a quick U-turn to go home to fetch it. The irony of doing a U-turn at that precise moment was not lost on me, for this is the definition of repentance – going in the other direction! The moment of intense compulsion had been overcome; I had passed the final test.
Two weeks later I received the baptism of fire. It was a burning sensation that began in my chest, spreading throughout my body, and lasting for several hours. Exhausted, I went to sleep. When I awoke, something had changed. I felt different. There was a peace I hadn’t experienced before. I looked up to heaven and said, “Lord, I don’t know what happened last night, but please don’t let it end.” But in my heart I knew that the Lord had set me free from this addiction.
I was a different person after this. Life became easy. I no longer struggled. It was glorious. Suddenly the scripture “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:11) began to make sense, for it had now become a reality in my life. My conscience became razor-sharp. My relationship with the Lord deepened. That was 17 years ago (2009), and I am still free from this addiction.
But that was only a measure of fire that dealt with one particular area the Lord wanted to focus on. What is coming will be far more comprehensive, as the Lord deals with all the consequences of sin in our lives, which include:
- Sins that others have perpetrated against us, leaving wounds in our spirit:
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts. Proverbs 18:8 (NIV, emphasis added)
The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? Proverbs 18:14 (KJV, emphasis added)
- Sins we have inherited from our forefathers:
Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
Lamentations 5:7 (NIV)
“Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. 2 Kings 5:27 (NIV)
- Personal persistent sin (which gives the enemy a legal foothold in our lives, such as it did in mine)
- Past trauma such as PTSD
The time has come for the Lord to get to the heart of the matter!
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and He will set us free from the consequences of sin by purging our bodies with fire.
“I [John] baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12 (NIV, emphasis added)
One day, I believe we will see the Lord remove the enemy from the heart of Israel, at the Temple Mount. I believe He will sovereignly remove the Dome of the Rock, like surgically removing a cancer, and when we see this, we will know that the Lord is about to set us free.
How will the Dome of the Rock be removed? It could be the result of an earthquake, an electrical fire, a missile, or any set of circumstances that the Lord orchestrates. But I believe that when we see this happen, it will be the Lord’s announcement that the “Day of His Power” has arrived, as reflected in the titles of Bobby Connor’s two recent Shepherd’s Rod books:
2025: Embracing the Awe of God! This is the Season of the Lion’s Roar!
2026: Embracing God’s Greater Glory: This is the Season of Beholding the Knowledge of God’s Glory
The baptism of fire is available to all who take the time to seek it, but this is only the first step, for there is a second component to consider. Once the fire has done its work in our lives, it will prepare us to be equipped with the Powers of the Ages to come, to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom with signs and wonders following, enabling us to bring in the final harvest.
But while the baptism of fire will transform our lives, who can be trusted to be equipped with this awesome Divine Power?
The Overcomers
Our example is Jesus. Luke 4 records Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, which He entered into “full of the Holy Spirit” (verse 1). He was tempted in three areas: the lust of the flesh (vv. 3-4), the lust of the eyes (vv. 5-8), and the pride of life (vv. 9-12), often summarized as: the world, the flesh, and the devil. When He had overcome in these three areas, He emerged victorious from the wilderness “in the power of the Holy Spirit” (v. 14). That word “power” comes from the Greek word dynamei, from which we get the word dynamite: literally His explosive, creative power – to perform miracles!Jesus was equipped with Power from on High after He became an overcomer!
Power and Fire in the Upper Room
Acts 2 tells us what happened to the disciples in the upper room:
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:2-4 (NIV, emphasis added)
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Luke 3:16 (NIV, emphasis added)
The disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit – AND fire. In other words, they got both experiences at the same time. But it was the baptism of fire that transformed them from timid, fearful disciples who had just lost their Master, into fearless apostles who spoke boldly and spread the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom – with signs and wonders following:
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. Acts 14:3 (NIV, emphasis added)
All throughout the book of Acts we see the disciples “speaking boldly” and with “confidence”. But while theirs was a Feast of Pentecost experience, they had the advantage of being baptized both in the Holy Spirit and fire at the same time. The Charismatic Movement (1967-73), by contrast, was characterized only by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Believers did not experience the baptism of fire as the disciples did, and as a result, sin hasn’t been dealt with in our lives the way it was for the disciples.
The Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) involved the offering of two loaves of bread baked with leaven (Leviticus 23:17). Leaven in Scripture is a type of sin, false doctrine and hypocrisy.
In 1973 Israel went to war on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For the Church, this signaled the end of the Charismatic Movement and the beginning of a new day. The purpose of the Day of Atonement in the Church since then has been to remove the “leaven” from our lives – to prepare us for the Feast of Tabernacles and the Day of His Power!
Not only is the baptism of fire a sanctifying work that purges our lives from the consequences of sin, but as in the examples of Moses and Isaiah, it can also:
- commission us with our calling (e.g. Moses in Exodus 3; Isaiah in Isaiah 6)
- and equip us (with the Powers of the Ages to come to fulfill that calling)
It is the overcomers who have faithfully responded to His dealings in their lives during the Day of Atonement (1973-2023) who can be trusted and equipped with the Powers of the Ages to come. It is the overcomers who will speak boldly the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom – with signs and wonders following – who will bring in this final harvest.
Are you an overcomer? Have you faithfully responded to His dealings in your life?
Summary
Terry Bennett’s three spiritual crises are summarised below. I heard him preach this message at Shekinah Worship Center in Lancaster, CA in 2009, and he was adamant that, “The Lord would NOT show me past 2028”. Why? Because back then there was no reason for us to know what would come afterwards. However, with the passage of time we can see that he was accurate, and now that we are nearing the end of this third crises period, I believe the appearance of Asteroid Apophis defines the next two shemitah cycles:
*See Times of Israel Article: Asteroid Apophis and its End Time Message
The time is short. We are now well into the 7-year “Spiritual Crises” phase (2022-28).
Warfare and tensions in the Middle East and settler violence against Arabs in biblical Judea/Samaria are reflections of the spiritual warfare taking place in the heavenly realm. Israel must gain control of the Temple Mount and build the third temple, but to do so, the enemy must be routed from the heart of Israel. The Temple Mount must be cleansed by fire, to sanctify it from centuries of spiritual defilement. When we see this happening, know that the seraphim are on their way – to sanctify our hearts from deep-seated sin so we can be transformed by the power of God as never before.
Moses’ “baptism of fire” experience occurred at the burning bush, where he was commissioned and equipped with the Power of the Ages to come, so he could fulfill his mission (Exodus 3).
Isaiah was commissioned to speak the word of God, but first his lips needed to be cleansed with hot coals of fire by the seraphim, so that the pure word of the Lord would go forth without his own thoughts tainting them (Isaiah 6).
The disciples were baptised in fire. They too were equipped with the Powers of the Ages to come, so they could preach the Gospel of the Kingdom – with signs and wonders following!
- The final harvest begins this year (Rick Joyner)
- The Gospel of the Kingdom must now be preached (Sadhu Selvaraj)
- This is the Season of the Lion’s Roar: Embracing the Awe of God!; Embracing God’s Greater Glory: This is the Season of Beholding the Knowledge of God’s Glory (Bobby Connor)
- The overcomers have made themselves ready
- The Dome of the Rock must be removed/destroyed
- The seraphim are coming to purge our lives with the baptism of fire
- The Day of His Power is coming, which precedes the Day of the Lord and final judgment
Right now, the stalemate in the Middle East is a sign that we are in a period of waiting, a period that echoes the disciples waiting in the upper room. It is a time of heart preparation. For just as the world came to a standstill following Islam’s announcement to the world on 9/11, the world is now at a standstill, as we wait for the roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to announce the “Day of His Power”.
Use this time wisely to seek the Lord and wait on Him. Be obedient to issues He brings to your attention. Know that when we see the Temple Mount burning, the seraphim are coming to purge our bodies with fire and set us free.
For this day is the “Day of His Power”, the day for the overcomers to arise, a day that leads to the “Day of the Lord” and His final judgment on the world.
The following poem on the Baptism of Fire should become the prayer from our hearts during this transitional period of waiting.
Image: AI Generated
The Baptism of Fire
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