Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle Of The Ages (32 page)

Buck was weary but kept ministering, amazed at so many, steeped in their centuries-old religion, finally seeing that Jesus Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.

Tsion thundered, “How will we know when this is about to come to pass? It will be preceded by the destruction of Babylon. Yes, the destruction of Babylon!

Listen: `And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.’

“Awful! It will be horrible! The loving, merciful patience of God will have been pushed beyond the brink by that wicked city, and he will not hold back his anger. The plague of darkness has not been enough to satisfy his wrath. He will allow her to be attacked and plundered, destroyed in but one hour’s time. So great will be the power of the calamity that befalls it that its repercussions will be felt around the entire globe as all nations mourn the death of what had become the capital of the world.”

Knowing the time was short and what Buck had promised Kenny, Rayford radioed ahead to Petra and had Abdullah bring the boy to the helipad. He gave Kenny a quick ride, pretty much straight up and straight down, which Kenny loved.

Rayford was grateful the boy didn’t ask about the rag-tag platoons George and Razor were amassing below at the perimeter of the rock city. Compared to what Rayford had seen north of Jerusalem, it was plain that the few thousand Petra troops would not have a chance without supernatural intervention.

Rayford spent the next couple of hours with Kenny, then ventured out to check on George and his fighting band.

“Mac, come quick,” Otto said. “I’ve got a colleague on speakerphone, but she’s nearly speechless.”

When Mac arrived at Otto’s quarters, he heard the woman try to recount what had happened. “I don’t know how much time we have,” she said, out of breath, “but it’s time to go.”

“How do you know?” Mac said. “An angel,” she said.

“You’re sure?”

“Bright, white, shiny, big, very big. And it was a man, at least this one was. He was so bright that the darkness in this city is gone. It is as bright as noon here still.”

“What did he say?”

“He spoke so loud that everyone here had to hear it, and I will never forget one word of it. He said, `Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!

“`For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”’

“We’re on our way, ma’am. Get everybody to the palace airstrip, and if you hear from any more groups of believers, send them there too.”

“That’s not all, sir.”

“Excuse me?”

“I heard another voice from heaven. It said, `Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”’

“I hardly have enough people to encircle this place,” Sebastian said.

Rayford avoided George’s eyes. “I don’t know what to say. The way I read it, we aren’t expected to even hold our own.”

“I don’t want men and women to suffer, though, Captain. I’d rather we just line up above and pick a few off.”

“Look at it this way, George. This is where Jesus is supposed to come first. We could be among the first to witness the Glorious Appearing.”

“Tell that to a fighting force outnumbered a thousand to one. They may be in heaven before Jesus leaves there.”

Mac had no idea what to expect in New Babylon, so at the last minute he enlisted Lionel to also bring in a large jet. Between the two of them he figured he could evacuate up to two hundred people.

When they landed at the palace, he found it eerie. The place was no longer dark, but the wounded souls within the boundaries didn’t know what to make of it. They had been in pain and darkness for so long they were disoriented and still hadn’t found their bearings. Most still limped and staggered around.

But waiting for the planes of refuge were more than one hundred and fifty believers, cheering their arrival. They carried their belongings in sacks and boxes and were eager to get aboard, which made the whole process quick and easy. Mac and Lionel had their planes loaded and turned around and headed down the runways when two invading armies attacked.

Before Mac was even out of New Babylon airspace, black smoke billowed into the heavens. He circled the area for an hour, and Lionel followed, as their charges watched the utter destruction of the once great city. Within those sixty minutes every building was leveled, and Mac knew that every resident was slaughtered. When the mysterious armies who had invaded from the north and northwest pulled out, they left the entire metropolis aflame. By the time Mac turned toward Petra, the only thing left of New Babylon was ash and smoke.

Chang watched, confused, as
GCNN
reports came in of fighting within the ranks of the One World Unity Army. Carpathia’s forces apparently had to strike back at nations who became drunk with power and ambition when armed with resources that had been stored at Al Hillah. The majority of Nicolae’s allies banded together to crush the resistance, and by the time all were assembled at Armageddon, they had all been persuaded, by the demons or by Carpathia or by the realities of war, to join together against the people of God.

The sheer number of troops swelled well beyond the Valley of Megiddo and spilled north and south and east and west, past Jerusalem and down toward Edom. Some estimates included an almost unimaginable mounted army alone of more than two hundred thousand. Aerial views shot by
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aircraft could show only a million or so troops at a time, but dozens and dozens of separate such pictures were broadcast.

Chang sensed panic on the part of the people at Petra. Those who saw the news could not imagine standing against such an overwhelming force. Those who didn’t see the news heard it from others, and the word swept the camp. Many ran to the high places and could make out the clouds of dust and the dark masses of humanity, beasts, and weaponry slowly making their way across the desert.

Chaim took the occasion to call the people together, just before the evening manna was expected. “My dear people, brothers and sisters in Messiah. Be of good cheer. Fear not. I am hearing wonderful reports out of Jerusalem, where our brother Tsion preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ with great boldness and, I am happy to report, great results as well.

“I only ten minutes ago talked with a very exhausted and still very busy Cameron Williams. He tells me thousands are repenting of their sins and turning to Christ, acknowledging Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah. Praise the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth!”

The people seemed encouraged and cheered and wept and raised their hands.

“We are not ignorant,” Chaim continued, “of what is to come. New Babylon has fallen, utterly destroyed in one hour, fulfilling the prophecies. That leaves only two events on the prophetic calendar, my friends. The first is?”

And the people shouted, “The seventh Bowl Judgment!”

“And the second, oh, praise God?” “The Glorious Appearing!”

Chaim concluded, “We serve the great God of Abra-ham, Isaac, and Jacob, the deliverer of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We lived through the fires of the Antichrist, and we have been delivered from the snare of the fowler. Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you. For the enemy whom you see today, you shall soon see no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

DARKNESS
HAD
fallen in Jerusalem, yet still the Temple Mount teemed with people. Buck thought Tsion appeared weak and tired, so he broke away and went to their stash to bring him some foodstuffs. But their bags were gone. He ran back to where Tsion held forth, but now he himself felt dizzy with hunger.

“I need something with which to feed the rabbi!” he called out.

“I am fine!” Tsion said and continued preaching.

“Someone, please. A morsel. Bread, fruit.”

“Five loaves and two fishes?” someone suggested, and everyone laughed.

An elderly man tossed an apple to Buck. Others passed him a round of bread, crusty and warm. Someone donated a block of cheese. Someone else a couple of oranges.

“Help me persuade this stubborn teacher to take a break!” Buck said, and many urged Tsion to at least sit. And so he did.

Talking now, teaching rather than preaching, Tsion took questions and nibbled between answers. The crowd only grew. “I had no idea how hungry I was,” Tsion said. He looked at Buck. “I am grateful, my friend.” Someone passed him a container of water, and he drank deeply.

Suddenly someone held up both hands to shush the crowd, and everyone fell silent. The rumble of a moving army was clear. Buck felt the vibration throughout his body.

“We need to get the rabbi to shelter,” someone said. “We can meet over there.”

Tsion appeared to start to protest, but the audience was leaving en masse, so he and Buck followed. They were led into a massive stone structure that could easily have accommodated a thousand people. About half that many crowded near the front.

“What are we to do when the enemy arrives?” someone asked. “We are more outnumbered than Gideon.”

“We can do only what we can do,” Tsion said. “If you have an inkling what I am trying to do here today, it is to usher as many of my fellow Jews into the kingdom of Messiah as possible before it is too late. Because of that I feel a compulsion to keep as many candidates alive as I can. If you agree with my mission, go out into the city proper and invite anyone who wants to, to come and join us. The enemy will begin to conquer Jerusalem and plunge people into captivity, but I believe their main objective is the Old City. What better meat to his pride than for Carpathia to think he can invade this holy place and set up his headquarters here?

“If we are attacked before you can return, take what you have learned here and tell everyone you know. They need not come back here to pray the prayer of faith and become a member of Messiah’s kingdom.”

Someone shouted, “Better yet to have them come back already decided and carrying a weapon!”

“Well,” Tsion said. “Yes.”

As was so often true when spending the night at Rayford’s, Kenny was nearly impossible to get to sleep unless he began by lying atop his grandfather. Rayford lay gingerly on the small cot designated for the boy and reached for him. Kenny climbed aboard and laid his cheek just under Rayford’s chin.

Rayford fought fatigue, not wanting to fall asleep with Kenny asking questions, singing, praying.

“Mommy’s in heaven,” Kenny said.

“That’s right. And we miss her, don’t we?”

“I do.”

“I do too.”

“Gonna see her real soon.”

“Very, very soon, Kenny.” Rayford knew Buck had been showing him the calendar.

“Tomorrow?”

“Maybe. Or the next day. Not too many days.”

“Where’s heaven, Grandpa?”

“With God.”

“And God is with Mommy?”

“Yes.”

“And Jesus?”

“And Jesus.”

“I want them to come here.”

“Soon.”

Rayford had arranged with Priscilla Sebastian that she would come by for Kenny before dawn, when Rayford was expected to join the troops on the perimeter.

Kenny soon stopped talking and moving, and his breathing became regular and deep. Rayford prayed for him and waited a few more minutes before delicately sliding out from under him.

A few minutes later Rayford lay on his own cot across the room and studied the boy. How thrilled Irene would have been with her grandson. Had Kenny grown up during any other period of history, he would be starting school within the year. Rayford wondered what form education would take in the millennial kingdom.

He also wondered how it worked. Would he and Buck and Kenny grow old while Irene and Raymie and Chloe remained the age they were when they went to heaven? And what about Amanda? He feared that reunion with his wife might be awkward, but would those situations matter when everyone was in the presence of Jesus?

Rayford had been so busy for so long that he had not allowed himself the luxury of daydreaming about it. What would it be like to see the Glorious Appearing and then to actually be with Christ? Rayford was more emotional than he had been as a younger man, and often the mere thought of the change Christ had made in him made him choke up.

To imagine the sinless Son of God caring enough about him to die for his sins … Rayford could still hardly fathom it. And to have the opportunity to thank him, to worship him, face-to-face. For a thousand years. And then for eternity. He hadn’t even begun trying to imagine what heaven would be like.

In the wee hours of the morning in Jerusalem, Buck and Tsion found themselves taken in by an elderly father named Shivte and his two sons in their forties. They were all thick, beefy men, and soft-spoken.

As soon as Shivte’s wife opened the door to her husband’s coded knock, she blanched and nearly fainted. “Praise God! Praise God!” she said. “You are Tsion Ben-Judah! And you!” she added, looking first at her husband and then at her sons. “You have the mark of God on you! Can you finally see mine?”

They smiled and nodded, embracing her one by one.

“I cannot tell you how much we appreciate this,” Tsion said. “Our belongings have disappeared, and we made no provisions for lodging.”

Shivte’s wife told him, “We made no provisions for lodging either. But we have blankets and some food.”

“The Lord will reward you,” Tsion said.

“He already has,” she said. “To see you with my men when they came through the door, that is enough for me. I am humbled to offer hospitality to God’s servants.”

“Tell me how you came to Messiah, ma’am,” Tsion said.