“Their horses won’t have any more luck on this incline than the others did,” Rayford said.
“They’re gonna get rid of the horses, I think,” Mac said. “Nick himself is in the big Humvee, but they’ve also got the smaller Hummers, SUVs, and armored personnel carriers. Uh-oh, somethin’ else too. Grenade and missile launchers are comin’.”
“What do you mean, ‘uh-oh’? Why should those work any better here than bombs?”
“Good point. I’m just sayin’—”
Rayford came upon a Hummer carrying Sebastian, Weser, and Razor. It had little trouble managing the ascent, especially now that the Unity Army had abandoned the area. Rayford pulled up to the driver’s side and shut down his engine.
Sebastian lowered the window. “How exciting is this?” he said.
“You know you’re showing the enemy how to handle the terrain.”
“So it’ll be my fault if they crash through on top and kill everybody, and all the prophecies are proved wrong?”
“I’ll hold you responsible,” Rayford said. “Wanna have some fun? Follow me down and around. I’m going to settle in behind Carpathia’s mobile command center and tag along.”
Sebastian sighed. “I’m tempted,” he said. “Make it an order so I don’t have a choice.”
“What’s your best assessment of what you should be doing, George?”
Sebastian looked at Weser and Razor, then back at Rayford. “What I’m doing right now. I want to get all of my people back up there and inside so they have the best view of what’s next. I can’t abandon them now.”
“Then that’s what you ought to be doing.” Rayford slapped the hood of the Hummer. “Carry on.”
Abdullah was back on his dirt bike, noisily picking his way through tens of thousands of people. He supervised and advised elders as they directed undershepherds and group leaders in getting more than a million people to their places. The going was slow, but it was getting done.
Abdullah had scouted an area to the northeast and decided that was where Chaim and the elders should stand when everyone else was in place. At least 80 percent of the populace would be able to see Chaim from there. And in case he had any last words for the citizens, he had access to the public-address system. “But I expect all attention will be on the sky anyway,” he said.
Chaim could not hide his apprehension from Eleazar. “What is it?” the younger elder said.
“Lack of faith,” Chaim said.
“Surely not. Not you. The Lord has brought us too far, showed us too much. Can there be any doubt that He will appear and rescue us at the appointed time?”
“But what is that time, brother? Chang’s people tell me the Unity Army has cleared the western slope for a rolling armada with Carpathia himself in charge.”
“All the more reason to believe Messiah is coming soon. He will not fail us, will not break His promises. Antichrist cannot prevail, and the closer he comes, the sooner we shall be delivered.”
“I believe that, Eleazar.”
“Of course you do. So what troubles you?”
“Things have been left unsaid.”
“By you?” Elder Tiberius said with a twinkle. “I cannot imagine it.”
“I wanted to explain the imagery of the Glorious Appearing. Tsion and I both have spent so much time insisting on a literal approach to the Scriptures that I fear I have neglected some of the clearly symbolic references in the Glorious Appearing passages.”
“Perhaps there will still be time,” Eleazar said, “but why don’t we discuss it outside? The Lord may get here before you do!”
“But I must make notes.”
“Do you want to be in here scribbling when it happens? Bring pen and paper with you, Chaim, but come, please!”
For months Enoch had hidden his car a few blocks from the home where he lived in the cellar. He never turned on lights upstairs, and the basement windows were boarded over. The neighbors in Palos Hills never saw him out in the light of day because he would have been unable to hide the fact that he did not bear the mark of loyalty to the potentate. He sneaked in and out of the seemingly abandoned house in the wee hours of the morning.
But now here he sat in the high-fenced backyard, hearing neighbors quizzing each other, discussing the astronomical phenomena in panicky tones. What would they think of strangers invading, gathering in his yard? Would they take the time and trouble to check and see if he and his friends were renegades, fugitives, outlaws? Would there be time for the neighbors to put them to death?
Since the neighbors had to assume his place was uninhabited, nothing else would arouse suspicion in the dark. Why would they have to assume anything about him or his people? Ah, he thought, that’s naive. What would we all be doing here?
Mac had a clear view of the latest Unity Army maneuver, and he had to hand it to the leadership. Someone knew how to fix a problem. Whether it was Carpathia or one of his henchmen, the plan was working. The thousands from the front lines who had begun storming up the western slope found the going impossible and had already moved south, then west, then back northeast again, and had begun reinserting themselves into the ranks.
Meanwhile, the quarter-mile-long and fifty-foot-wide corridor had opened before Carpathia’s private unit—and also about fifty yards behind it. He and his people were transferring to rolling stock. A convoy of ten vehicles was maneuvered into position, trailed by two carriers of heavy armaments. If Mac had to guess, he would say Carpathia would lead the charge, the munitions right behind, and that the rest of the army—other than those on horseback—would bring up the rear.
From where Mac sat, it was obvious that under other circumstances Petra wouldn’t have had a chance. They were unarmed and outnumbered three or four to one by only a third of Carpathia’s total fighting force. Unity Army vehicles could easily traverse the terrain, and the front line of this new unit could be on the other side of the walls of Petra in less than half an hour.
Mac called Chang. “You able to crack into Carpathia’s communications yet?”
“Almost. I can pick up everybody but him, but I’ve got a rapid decoder screaming through it, so it shouldn’t be long.”
“Patch it through to me as soon as you get it, hear?”
“You got it. Rayford wants the same.”
“Roger.”
Rayford waited at the base of the hill, facing the Unity Army about ten degrees south of the opening that had been left for Carpathia’s unit. Rayford was virtually ignored as the rest of the troops had quickly become aware of the VIP in their midst. All eyes were on Nicolae.
Rayford’s plan was to fall in with Carpathia as he swept past, hoping not to attract attention. That would have been sheer folly aside from what had already occurred. The Unity Army had finally seemed to concede that they had no power on the perimeter against the meager defense. Why they thought they had a prayer inside Petra itself, given their futile history against God’s people, was a mystery. Carpathia’s ego knew no bounds.
Enoch’s fears proved unfounded. His people were sly enough to appear silently in twos and threes, and they found their way to the backyard without drawing notice. The neighbors drifted to their own homes eventually anyway, and Enoch was left in the yard with more than forty of the hundred or so that had joined him at the mall that morning.
They gathered around his chair and sat in the grass, no one seeming to grow tired of gazing at the cross adorning the horizon. “Come, Lord Jesus,” several whispered, and others joined in. “Come, Lord. Come soon.”
“Everything that’s gonna happen is going to be over there, right, Pastor?” a young man said.
“Over there?”
“In the Holy Land. You said Jesus was going to fight for the Jews in Petra first, then save Jerusalem. How we gonna know when He’s come?”
“Well,” Enoch whispered, “the Bible says the whole world will know when He comes. Revelation 1:7 says, ‘Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierce
d Him.’”
“How’s He gonna ’complish that? Holy Land’s on the other side of the world.”
“Don’t you think they’re seeing what we’re seeing now?”
“I guess, but like when the moon is out, people over there see the other side of it, right?”
“They could be seeing the other side of this cross too. We have no idea how massive it is.”
“Or if there’s more than one,” someone said.
“How’s that?” Enoch said.
“God can do what He wants, right?”
“Right.”
“He could put ten crosses in the sky to make sure ever’body sees one.”
“But there’s only one Jesus.”
“Yeah, but He can show up anywhere He wants, all at the same time. Just like He was only one man but He died for everybody, He can appear to everybody too.”
“Now you’re talking,” Enoch said.
“Is He gonna kill a bunch of people here, like He is over there?”
“I’m afraid He is. If they’re working for the Antichrist, they’re in serious trouble.”
“Rayford, you should see this from where I’m sittin’,” Mac said.
“I kind of like where I am,” Rayford said.
“Yeah, but it’s pretty. The red-stone city is lit from the cross above, and I feel like I’m in one of those blimps that used to hover over the football stadiums at night. Everybody’s just about in place, ringing the top of Petra. In front, people are sitting so the ones standing behind them can see. Most of ’em’ll be able to see the Unity Army attacking and the Lord returning. I hope He gets here soon.”
“I imagine He’ll be right on time, don’t you?”
“I imagine. I can see Chaim and the elders makin’ their way to a spot where most everybody can see them. You gotta wonder if anybody is scared to death out there on the edge.”
“I would be, and I’ve lived through it all.”
“Me too, Ray. Guess it’s human nature to feel like you’re testin’ fate one time too many. Hey, looks like Chaim’s addressin’ ’em. I’m gonna see if Chang can patch us in—oh, he’s way ahead of us. Here it is. Talk at you later.”
“. . . and sisters in the Messiah,” Chaim was saying. “We gather here in this historic place, this holy city of refuge provided by the Lord God Himself. We stand on the precipice of all time with the shadow of history behind us and eternity itself before us, putting all our faith and trust in the rock-solid goodness and strength and majesty of our Savior.
“May the Lord appear as I speak. Oh, the glory of that moment! We stand gazing into the heavens where the promised sign of the Son of Man radiates before us, thundering through the ages the truth that His death on the cross cleanses us from all sin.
“Within the next few minutes, you may see the enemy of God advancing on this fortified city. I say to you with all the confidence the Father has put in my soul, fear not, for your salvation draweth nigh.
“Now many have asked what is to happen when Antichrist comes against God’s chosen people and the Son intervenes. The Bible says He will slay our enemy with a weapon that comes from His mouth. Revelation 1:16 calls it ‘a sharp two-edged sword.’ Revelation 2:16 quotes Him saying that He ‘will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.’ Revelation 19:15 says that ‘out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations.’ And Revelation 19:21 says the enemies ‘were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.’
“Now let me clarify. I do not believe the Son of God is going to sit on His horse in the clouds with a gigantic sword hanging from His mouth. He is not going to shake His head and slay the millions of Armageddon troops with it. This is clearly a symbolic reference, and if you are a student of the Bible, you know what is meant by a sharp, double-edged sword.
“Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God ‘is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’
“The weapon our Lord and Messiah will use to win the battle and slay the enemy? The Word of God itself! And while the reference to it as a sword may be symbolic, I hold that the description of the result of it is literal. The Word of God is sharp and powerful enough to slay the enemy, literally tearing them asunder.”
Anticipation surged through Rayford. He turned to look up at Petra when the cheering and applause drowned out Chaim, who was apparently finished. Emotion swept over Rayford as he took in the scene. Rimming the very top of the fortified city was the remnant of God, slowly turning from Chaim to face the sky and then the enemy below them.
From that distance they were mere specks, but there were so many that Rayford could tell they were raising their hands and clasping them together. He heard the strains of hymns from their collective voices, faint at first, then with growing volume. First they sang “I Sing the Mighty Power of God.” Moments later they sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
When they broke into the “Hallelujah Chorus,” Rayford wished he could stand and join in. And when the echoing truths washed down the mountainside—“For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth”—he thought he would shed his skin.
At that moment Chang apparently solved the encryption coding of the potentate’s audio transmission, and it came crackling through the earphone in Rayford’s left ear. So at the same time he was hearing the magnificent hallelujahs in one ear, he heard Antichrist in the other.
And Nicolae was not happy. “Let us roll! The fools are singing!” He cursed and cursed again. “They sing in the face of their own deaths!”
The caravan began rolling, the cross above it bouncing waves of light off the dust that ensued. “Take me to the highest and closest point,” Nicolae ordered, “with our munitions settling in behind where the angle is optimal. I shall stand on the roof of the vehicle so all can see me: my troops to be inspired, and the enemy so they know the author of their doom.”
At the mention of Carpathia’s intended destination, Rayford glanced again up the slope to where hundreds of thousands swayed and sang and looked down. The immense cross shone on the entire hillside, as if pointing the enemy to the spot where God Himself wanted them.
Rayford had to wonder if any in Petra had second thoughts, doubts. He was happy to say he had none. He had come too far. His own pride and laziness had cost him his wife and son at the Rapture. He’d felt responsible for the fact that his own daughter had shared his jaded view of people of faith and had followed his example, thumbing her nose at God.
And while he was grateful beyond expression for his own salvation and Chloe’s, seeing her and her husband martyred was merely the capstone of the tragedy that resulted from his having missed the truth in the first place. So many friends and loved ones had suffered over the past seven years. New friends, old friends, a new wife, spiritual mentors, dear compatriots had been injured, killed, tortured for their faith.
Yet God had proved faithful and true to His Word. Every prophecy had been fulfilled. While there had to be those who wondered why the Lord tarried even now and whether there was any sense or logic to allowing Antichrist to reach the very boundary of the city of refuge, Rayford found himself simply trusting. God had His plans, His ways, His strategy. Only when Rayford stopped questioning God had he finally come to grips with the confusing, sometimes maddening, ways of God—which the Scriptures said were “not our ways.”
Some things still didn’t make sense, and many would not become clear, he knew, until he saw Jesus face-to-face.
The evil motorcade thundered within yards of Rayford. He gunned his ATV engine and joined them, a couple of vehicles behind Carpathia’s and ahead of the rumbling armament carriers. A general tried to wave him off. Rayford smiled and waved back. The general reached for a weapon from an aide and aimed it out the window. Rayford winked at him, and the man opened fire.
The gene
ral blanched when the burp of bullets he’d fired at point-blank range seemed to go right through Rayford.
“No shooting!” Carpathia screamed. “Ignore any enemy outside the walls of the city!”
Abdullah studied his copy of the location charts and slowly picked his way through narrow pathways and crowds until he found the area where George Sebastian’s wife, Priscilla, should be with her daughter, Beth Ann, and Rayford’s grandson, Kenny Bruce. Once there, he had to ask several people, but finally he found them.
Priscilla had Beth Ann next to her, holding her hand, and her free arm held a lanky, incongruously sleeping Kenny, draped over her shoulder.
“Let me take him,” Abdullah said.
“Oh, would you, Mr. Smith? He’s getting so heavy.”
“Come here, big boy,” Abdullah said, taking him in his arms. He gently put Kenny’s head on his shoulder and began to rock him, but when Abdullah also tried to quietly join in the singing, the boy roused.
“Uncle Smitty,” he said.
“Hi, Kenny.”
“Jesus comin’,” the boy said.
“Yes, He is, buddy. He sure is.”
CHAPTER 11
At long last, there was nothing more Chang could do. It seemed likely that he and Zeke were in the same boat. Both might have to find a new trade or be out of work for the next thousand years of Christ’s rule on earth.
Chang knew where everyone was, had them all in place.
Abdullah was back in the fold.
Chaim and the elders were with the people, waiting and watching.
Hannah and Leah had shut down the empty infirmary and were outside, as were Lionel and Ming—the Co-op finally dark.
Mac was in the air, Rayford on the ground, and Sebastian, Otto, Razor, and Ree should be entering Petra at that very moment, joining their own people and urging the rest of the rebel soldiers to do the same.