“Is that not part of the makeup of the warrior?”
“Oh, you’re a warrior now.”
“I hope to be.”
“Have you consulted the elders?”
“Did I inform them? Yes. Were they happy? No. Will they pray about it? Yes. Do I care what they come back with? Only if it is a yes.”
________
Buck couldn’t believe it. “But I have to admire his spunk. I’ll never forget the night he and I first talked to the two witnesses at
the Wailing Wall. That was before I even knew Dr. Ben-Judah was a believer. I was pretty new at this stuff myself, but I recognized John 3 and the nighttime conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. It was moving.”
“I’d never forgive myself if I let him go and something happened to him,” Rayford said.
“He’s a tough guy. He stood up to Carpathia on international television, telling what he thought about Jesus being the Messiah.
And after his family was massacred, I know he’d rather have been carrying an Uzi than a Bible. He could be a valuable addition to this team. And the only one who can preach and teach. I’d vote for him.”
“I’m not taking any vote.”
“You just got one. Anybody voting against?”
“I might,” Rayford said.
“You’re more of a coward than he is.”
________
Mac got a kick out of the whole thing. He was all for Tsion learning to be a soldier and coming with them to Jerusalem. He sat under Tsion’s teaching in the private chamber every week for the next several months and learned more about the very last days than he thought there was to imagine. He saw the fire in the rabbi’s eyes and knew, Rayford’s misgivings aside, that Tsion was going.
Tsion began one evening’s lesson by reading Jude 1:14-15:
“‘Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”’
“Did you catch that, people? The word he repeats so many times? It sinks in, doesn’t it, when a prophet of God refers to the ungodly four times in one sentence? These enemies of ours are the enemies of God. They are out to steal and kill and destroy anything that is of God. But Jesus himself says in John 10:10 and 11, ‘I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.’ Oh, to be a shepherd called to give your life for your flock!
“Many of you have asked where I get the idea that one-third of God’s chosen people will turn to him before the end. Turn in your Bibles to Zechariah 13. That is the second-to-last book in your Old Testament. In verses 8 and 9 the prophet is talking about the Remnant of Israel: ‘“And it shall come to pass in all the land,” says the Lord, “that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say,
‘This is My people’; and each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”’
“Now as I have told you before, calling this final conflict the Battle of Armageddon is really a misnomer, as this is just the staging area of the world’s armies. The actual conflicts will take place here at Petra, or near here, as God has proved this city is impenetrable, and at Jerusalem. To be precise, this should be called the War of the Great Day of God the Almighty.”
Buck raised his hand. “I’ve been hearing you teach this stuff for years, and I still don’t think I have the sequence down. What’s going to happen when?”
Tsion chuckled. “Scholars have debated that since time immemorial. I found that the only way I could make sense of it was to have my Bible and all my books and commentaries open at
the same time and try to make a list of the various stages of the events.
“In my opinion, eight events will take place sometime after the sixth Bowl Judgment, the drying up of the Euphrates River. That event, by the way, makes it possible for the kings of the East to bring their armaments of war directly into the plain of Megiddo on dry land, saving them the time of shipping them all the way around the continents. There is no biblical corroboration for this next assertion, but in my humble opinion, this is a trap set by almighty God. He’s luring these rulers and their armies right to where he wants them.
“Regardless, once the Euphrates has dried up, we see the assembling of the allies of the Antichrist. Next, I believe, comes the destruction of Babylon. Isaiah 13:6-9 says, ‘Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames.
“‘Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.’”
“Wow,” Buck said. “I don’t know if I want to be there to see that.”
“You’re going to be in Jerusalem by then, Buck,” Rayford said.
“Me too,” Tsion said. “Following the destruction of Babylon comes the fall of Jerusalem. That will encourage the allied troops of Antichrist, and they will surge to join their compatriots here at what the Bible calls Bozrah. Immediately following that comes what I call the national regeneration of Israel.
“In Romans 11:25-27 the apostle Paul writes, ‘For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”’”
“Then comes the good stuff,” George said. “At least the way I read it.”
“Exactly,” Tsion said. “The Glorious Appearing. Jesus Christ appears on a white horse with ten thousand of his saintly army, and regardless of what Antichrist thinks is going to happen, his end is near.
“Want to hear a bizarre word picture? When John talks about this in his Revelation, he says in verses 19 and 20 of the fourteenth chapter: ‘So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.’
“Think of that! When Jesus and his holy army finally slay the world allies of Antichrist, the slaughter will be so great that the flow of blood in Israel’s central valley could be as high as a horse’s bridle. How high is that? Four feet or more.”
“And how far is one thousand six hundred furlongs?”
“I am so glad you asked, George,” Tsion said, “because I happen to have studied it. It is about one hundred and eighty-four miles, the approximate distance from Armageddon to Edom.”
“But that’s only six events,” Buck said. “Are there really two more?”
“Yes. There is the end of the fighting in the Jehoshaphat Valley, which is basically the area from here to just south of Jerusalem, west of the Dead Sea. Because Petra is safe, all Antichrist’s armies can do is fight outside.
“Then, finally, comes Jesus’ victory ascent up the Mount of Olives. I want to be there for that.”
“You may be there,” Rayford said. “But whether you’ll still be alive is a different story.”
EIGHTEEN
Six Years, Eleven Months, into the Tribulation
WITH JUST WEEK
S to go to the culmination of the final events, Rayford had finally gotten used to the idea that Tsion was going to Jerusalem.
“That I’m acceding to this doesn’t imply that I support it, does it, Tsion?”
“I know you better than that. But I may also know you better than you know yourself. After all this talk, you would be disappointed if I pulled out now.”
“Disappointed? Relieved. I somehow feel I’m going to have to answer to God for what happens to you.”
“Trust me. I will let you off the hook.”
“Let me see those hands, old man.”
“I told you,” Tsion said, extending his hands. “I am not that old.”
“Older than I am, so ancient in my book,” Rayford said. “But those are impressive calluses. And George and Razor tell me you’re actually starting to hit targets with that Uzi.”
“I do not see how anyone can miss. It shoots so many bullets in so short a time, to me it is like using a garden hose. If you miss your mark, just swing it back and forth until you hit it.”
“What do you plan to do, seriously, Doctor? Stand somewhere and preach with a weapon hanging from your shoulder?”
“If I must. Rayford, we have known each other long enough that we should be free to be frank. I feel such a compulsion to plead with my fellow countrymen to give their lives to Messiah that I do not believe it would be physically possible for me not to. I
must get there, and I must preach. I do not want a disguise. I cannot imagine the GC even caring about me anymore.”
“Are you serious? The leader of the international Judah-ites—”
“That is their term for us, not ours, and certainly not mine.”
“But, Tsion, everybody knows you. If they thought my
daughter was a prime catch, imagine if they got hold of you.”
Tsion shook his head. “But if God has laid this so heavily on my heart, maybe he is telling me that I will be supernaturally protected.”
“Well, is he or isn’t he?”
“All I know is that I must go.”
“I’m sending Buck with you. I promised him duty in
Jerusalem. I can’t think of a role with more action than what you’re going to draw.”
“I would be honored to have him as my bodyguard. Is he the military man George is?”
“Who is? But George is otherwise engaged, you know.”
“Defending the perimeter here, yes, he told me. My question is, why don’t we ignore the perimeter if our borders are
impregnable?”
“Because people are seeking refuge here all the time, and they are not safe until they get inside.”
“And yet they are safe in the air. How do you figure that?”
“I’ve quit trying to figure out God, Tsion. I’m surprised you haven’t.”
“Oh, Rayford, you have just stepped into one of my traps. You know how I love to quote the Word of God.”
“Of course.”
“Your mention of figuring out God reminds me of one of my favorite passages. Ironically, it leads into a verse that justifies my going in spite of the danger.”
“I’m listening.”
“Romans 11:33-36: ‘Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.
Amen.’”
“Impressive.”
“But, my friend, that leads into the first verse of the twelfth chapter, which is my justification: ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.’”
“Just hope it’s a living sacrifice, Tsion.”
________
Chang had concluded that Carpathia believed the prophecy about the drying up of the Euphrates, because he had sanctioned sensitive devices in the river that recorded information that was fed into and evaluated by the GC mainframe computer. Chang, of course, was monitoring that from Petra. Nearly four weeks later, he knew when the event occurred before the GC did.
“It’s happened!” he shouted, standing at his computer.
Everyone nearby jumped and stared, and Naomi came running.
“There was water in the Euphrates a minute ago, and now it is as dry as a bone. You can bet tomorrow it will be on the news—
someone standing in the dry, cracking riverbed, showing that you can walk across without fear of mud or quicksand.”
“That is amazing,” Naomi said. “I mean, I knew it was coming, but isn’t it just like God to do it all at once? And isn’t that a fifteen-hundred-mile river?”
“It used to be.”
Mac’s and Abdullah’s reconnaissance flights over the area showed that weaponry had been taken from the armories in Al Hillah until they had to be empty. Within days, great columns of soldiers, tanks, trucks, and armaments began rolling west from as far away as Japan and China and India.
“And here,” Chang told Naomi, “is the break Tsion has been looking for, whether he knew it or not. Look at this.” He printed out a directive from Suhail Akbar himself, instructing Global Community Peacekeepers and Morale Monitors to cease and desist with all current assignments and consider themselves redeployed to the GC One World Unity Army. “Your superiors have been similarly assigned, and you will report to them in the staging area in twenty-four hours or face AWOL charges.”
“What happens to the streets?” Naomi said.
“I can’t imagine, love. The inmates will be running the asylum.
But that means people without Carpathia’s mark can come out from hiding.”
“If they dare. There’s still a bounty on their heads. The loyalists will kill them and stack their bodies, waiting for the end of the war to cash in.”
“Won’t they be disappointed.”
________
“I must go as soon as possible,” Tsion told Rayford. “What is the fastest way Cameron and I can get to Jerusalem?”
“Helicopter, I suppose, if I can find you a pilot.”
“What are you doing right now?”
“Uh, well—I guess nothing. Anything else?”
Tsion laughed. “I cannot wait. I have packed foodstuffs and a change of clothes, and if Cameron has done as I requested, he will have done the same. Who would know if a chopper is available?”
“Meet me at the helipad in half an hour.”
________
Priscilla Sebastian made a valiant effort to distract Kenny Bruce as Buck tried to extract himself from the boy’s embrace.
“I’ll be back soon,” Buck said. “Got to go with Uncle Tsion.”
Kenny said nothing. He just hung on.
“Grandpa’s going to come see you after he drops us off, okay?
You’re going to stay with him while I’m gone.”
Kenny lightened his grip and pulled back to look at Buck.
“Grandpa?”
“That’s right.”
“Plane ride?”
“I bet so.”
“When?”
“Soon. Soon as he gets back.”
“I wanna go.”
“Not enough room. Now you be a good boy and play with Beth Ann, and Grandpa will be here soon. Okay?”
“’Kay.”
________
Mac was working with Otto Weser and George on planning the evacuation from New Babylon, as soon as the word came that believers were to move out. No one, not even Tsion, seemed to know how that would be supernaturally announced or even whether anyone outside New Babylon would hear it.
“I know of a few other cells there,” Otto said. “I have left instructions with one of the leaders to call me once she gets the word. I don’t know what else we can do. I’ll tell them to meet us at the palace airstri
p and hope we have a plane big enough to get them all out of there.”
“All we can do is all we can do,” Mac said.
Naomi interrupted their meeting. “Want to say good-bye to Tsion? Everyone is turning out for the farewell.”
“He’s going already?”
She told Mac why.
“Tsion never lets any grass grow on an idea, does he?”
He and George and Otto followed Naomi to a clearing near the helipad, where it seemed hundreds of thousands had shown up.
“Word travels quick round here, doesn’t it, Otto?”
“Mr. McCullum, many of these people are weeping. He’s only going to Jerusalem, isn’t he? That can’t be more’n a hundred miles, can it? And surely he’s coming back.”
“That’s what they’re cryin’ about, Otto. Most folks wonder if he will be back.”
Rayford waited on firing up the chopper so Tsion could be heard. The rabbi pulled a white cloth from his pocket and waved it vigorously at the people as Buck boarded behind him. “These people are going to want your neck when you come back without him, Rayford,” Buck said.
“Which, of course, I plan to do in an hour or less.”
“I’d just better not come back without him,” Buck said.
“People! People!” Tsion shouted. “I am overwhelmed at your kindness. Pray for me, won’t you, that I will be privileged to usher many more into the kingdom. We are just days away now from the battle, and you know what that means. Be waiting and watching.
Be ready for the Glorious Appearing! If I am not back before then, we will be reunited soon thereafter.
“You will be in my thoughts and prayers, and I know I go with yours. Thank you again! You are in good hands with Chaim
‘Micah’ Rosenzweig, and so I bid you farewell!”
He continued waving as he boarded. Rayford noticed the rabbi’s tears as he buckled himself in.
________
“Something’s on your mind,” Naomi said, as she and Chang walked hand in hand. He had just finished transmitting to Rayford’s helicopter a schematic of Jerusalem with various potential put-down spots.
Chang shrugged. “Sometimes I’m glad I’m here and safe and can sleep—unlike at the palace—but other times I feel I’m taking the easy way out. Everyone else is gearing up for the battle.”