Finally Bruce hurried to the pulpit—not the large one on the platform, but a small lectern at floor level. He carried his Bible, two large books, and a sheaf of papers he had trouble controlling. He smiled sheepishly.
“Good morning,” he began. “I realize a word of explanation is in order. Usually we sing more, but we don’t have time for that today. Usually my tie is straighter, my shirt fully tucked in, my suit coat buttoned. That all seems a little less critical this morning. Usually we take up an offering. Be assured we still need it, but please find the baskets on your way out at noon, if I indeed let you out that early.
“I want to take the extra time this morning because I feel an urgency greater even than the last few weeks. I don’t want you to worry about me. I haven’t become a wild-eyed madman, a cultist, or anything other than what I have been since I realized I had missed the Rapture. I have read more, prayed more, and studied more this week than ever, and I am eager to tell you what God has told me.”
Bruce told his own story yet again, how he had lived a phony life for years, even as a member of the pastoral staff. When Jesus came back, Bruce had been left behind, without his wife and precious children. Judd had heard the story, but it still made him want to cry. People all over the church sobbed.
“I never want to stop telling what Christ has done for me,” Bruce said. “I will never again be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. The Bible says that the Cross offends. If you are offended, I am doing my job. If you are attracted to Christ, the Holy Spirit is working.
“We’ve already missed the Rapture, and now we live in what will soon become the most perilous period of history. Evangelists used to warn people that they could be struck by a car or die in a fire, and thus they should not put off coming to Christ. I’m telling you that should a car strike you or a fire consume you, it may be the most merciful way you can die. Be ready this time. Be ready. I will tell you how to get ready.”
Bruce announced that his sermon title was “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” and that he wanted to concentrate on the rider of the first horse—the white one.
Judd had never seen him so earnest, so inspired. As Bruce spoke he referred to his notes, to the books he’d brought, and to the Bible. He often wiped sweat from his brow. Judd noticed that most people were taking notes and that everyone was following along in the Bible.
Bruce explained that the book of Revelation spoke of what was to come after Christ had raptured his church. “Does anyone doubt we’re in the last days?” he thundered. “Millions disappear, and then what? Some believe the tribulation period has already begun and that it began with the Rapture. We feel the trials and tribulations from the disappearances of our loved ones, don’t we? But that is nothing compared to what is to come.
“During these seven years, God will pour out three consecutive sets of judgments—seven seals in a scroll, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. If the Rapture didn’t get your attention, the judgments will. And if the judgments don’t, you’re going to die apart from God. Horrible as these judgments are, I urge you to see them as final warnings from a loving God who is not willing that any should perish.”
Judd was struck to remember that he had heard old Pastor Billings preach on these same subjects. Judd had scoffed and quit listening. It all sounded too weird, too far-fetched, too unbelievable.
“I warn you,” Bruce rumbled on several minutes later, “this is not for the faint of heart. Revelation 6:1-2 says, ‘Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.’ ”
Bruce stepped back and began clearing off the lectern. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’m not finished.” People applauded. Bruce said, “Are you clapping because you want me to finish, or because you want me to go on all afternoon?”
The people clapped all the more, including the Young Tribulation Force. If the others were like Judd, they were drinking this in, and they wanted more and more. Clearly Bruce had been in tune with what God was showing him. He said over and over that this was not new truth, that the commentaries he cited were decades old, and that the doctrine of the end times was much, much older than that. But those who had said such teaching was not to be taken literally, well, they had been left behind. All of a sudden it was all right to take Scripture at its word! If nothing else convinced people, losing so many to the Rapture had finally reached them.
Bruce stood before the bare lectern now with only his Bible in his hand. “I want to tell you now what I believe the Bible is saying about the rider of the white horse, the first horseman of the Apocalypse. I will not give my opinion. I will not draw any conclusions. I will simply leave it to God to help you draw any parallels that need to be drawn. I will tell you this in advance: This millenniums-old account reads as fresh to me as tomorrow’s newspaper.”
Vicki couldn’t believe an hour had flown by since she’d last checked her watch. She was hungry, but she could sit there all day listening to Bruce. She knew where he was going with this imagery, but more amazing, she knew someone in the sanctuary right then who knew the rider of the white horse personally. Buck Williams had experienced the power of the Antichrist. Buck had convinced her that Nicolae Carpathia was the man, the enemy of God.
“Notice,” Bruce continued, “that it is the Lamb who opens the first seal and reveals that horseman. The Lamb is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins, was resurrected, and recently raptured his church.
“Who is this first horseman? Clearly he represents the Antichrist and his kingdom. His purpose is ‘conquering and to conquer.’ He has a bow in his hand, a symbol of warfare, and yet there is no mention of an arrow. How will he conquer? Other passages say he is a ‘willful king’ and that he will win through smooth talking. He will usher in a false peace, promising world unity. Will he be victorious? Yes! He has a crown.
“The rider of the white horse is the Antichrist, who comes as a deceiver promising peace and uniting the world. The Old Testament says he will sign a treaty with Israel. He will appear to be their friend and protector, but in the end he will be their conqueror and destroyer.”
Bruce said he could prove that he himself was not the Antichrist—not that anyone suspected him—because he would never promise peace. “The Bible is clear that we will have a year and a half of peace following the pact with Israel. But in the long run, I predict the opposite of peace. The other three horsemen are coming, and they bring war, famine, plagues, and death. That is not a popular message, not a warm fuzzy you can cling to this week. Our only hope is in Christ, and even in him we will likely suffer.”
Bruce closed in prayer, and Vicki assumed everyone else felt as she did, that she could have stayed all day. She tried to get to Bruce, but he had already been intercepted in the aisle, near the Steeles. Vicki was behind him as people quizzed him.
“Are you saying Nicolae Carpathia is the Antichrist?” one said.
“Did you hear me say that?” Bruce said.
“No, but it was pretty clear. They’re already talking on the news about his plans and some sort of a deal with Israel.”
“Keep reading and studying,” Bruce said.
“But it can’t be Carpathia, can it? Does he strike you as a liar?”
“How does he strike you?” Bruce said.
“As a savior.”
“Almost like a messiah?” Bruce pressed.
“Yeah!”
“There is only one Savior, one Messiah.”
“I know, spiritually, but politically I mean. Don’t tell me Carpathia’s not what he seems to be.”
“I’ll tell you only what Scripture says,” Bruce said, “and I urge you to listen carefully to the news. We must be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.”
“That’s how I would have described Carpathia,” a woman said.
“Be ca
reful,” Bruce said, “about giving Christlike characteristics to anyone who doesn’t align himself with Christ.”
Vicki had been stopped by Bruce’s comment about being wise and gentle. She couldn’t wait to tell the rest of the Young Trib Force about that. Wise and gentle was what they had to be when they went back to school. So many people needed what the Young Trib Force had to offer, and yet so much danger awaited them too.
The four were strangely silent on the way home, and Vicki assumed that was because they had all been so moved by Bruce and his sermon. They ate as if they hadn’t eaten for hours—which was true. Just before Vicki finished, the phone rang. Ryan, who loved to answer it, announced it was for her.
“Guy named Deacon,” Ryan whispered. “Sounds old.”
SIX
Deacon and Bub
“THIS Bub guy,” Deacon said, “you know him well?”
“Never met him,” Vicki said. “I told you. He was a friend of my brother’s.”
“You sure you got his name right? Beryl Gaylor, right?”
“Right. Why?”
“Are you sitting down?”
“Just tell me.”
“He’s dead, Vicki. When did you say you talked to him last?”
Vicki could hardly speak. “The day of the Rapture,” she managed. “He was fine. What happened?”
“Here’s what I heard from my friend in the police department,” Deacon said. “Gaylor was missing for a few days, so they searched his and your brother’s apartment. They already knew Edward—that’s your brother’s name, right?”
“Right.”
“Had disappeared out of his car. There was no evidence Bub had disappeared, no pile of clothes, that kind of a thing. His answering machine had a message from a friend, asking him to come over and check the friend’s basement with him. This guy reported a gas leak the night before. The gas company repairman came out to check the lines in the basement, and then told Bub’s friend to find another place to stay for the night while he worked on it. When the guy called the gas company in the morning to see if he could move back in, he couldn’t get through—you know, with the vanishings and everything.
“So he was asking Gaylor to go with him to see if his house was OK. The police went to the guy’s house and found the gas truck in the driveway, the owner’s car and Bub’s car parked behind it. The house had blown.”
Vicki let out a huge sigh. “So all three of them were killed?”
“No. It looks like the gas company guy disappeared. Because the house didn’t blow until Bub and his friend got there. The cops figure the gas guy disappeared when everyone else did, before he could fix the leak. Those guys coming inside in the morning to check on him must have sparked something that ignited the gas.”
Vicki didn’t know what to say. “I hate this,” she said finally. “It’s like we have to talk to everyone right away because you never know what’s going to happen to them.”
“Had your brother tried to tell him?”
“Yes.”
“You never know, Vicki,” Deacon said. “Something may have gotten through to him, even after you talked to him.”
Vicki couldn’t imagine, but she could hope. She thanked Deacon and said she hoped to run into him again sometime. She moved to the couch in the living room and sat crying softly. In a few minutes, Judd came looking for her.
She told him what had happened. “You see why school is going to be such a waste of time?” she said.
He shook his head. “I know it seems that way, but more kids might listen to us there than anywhere else.”
“But will we be allowed to say anything? I wonder what everybody else makes of the disappearances and Carpathia and all that.”
“I wonder, who’ll be there and who won’t,” Judd said. “How many teachers and coaches and office people were raptured, and how many students?”
Late that afternoon, as Judd surfed the Internet, he realized how dramatically his life had changed in just a couple of weeks. He used to look for reasons to do anything but study or read. Now he had become a newshound, an information freak. He read his Bible, studied his notes from Bruce’s sermons and private messages. Now he was searching the Net for anything else he could find about what was going on.
He heard a ping and saw the mail icon appear at the lower right side of his screen. Judd clicked on it and found a message from Bruce. “Judd, I will tell you and perhaps Vicki things I would not feel comfortable sharing with Lionel and Ryan. It isn’t that I don’t trust them, but these would be highly confidential matters, potentially dangerous if spread around. The younger boys might not know how to keep secrets or understand how important that is.
“Two members of the Tribulation Force, Captain Steele and Buck Williams (whom you know), run in some very interesting circles and may be able to shed light on international matters that others wouldn’t be exposed to. I won’t be able to tell you everything, but when I do, I’ll count on your confidence—you know what that means: total secrecy. OK?”
Judd felt special that Bruce would trust him like that. When he answered, he would assure Bruce he could be trusted. Meanwhile, Bruce told him the story of Buck Williams having met Israel’s Chaim Rosenzweig, the botanist who had created a formula that allowed desert sands to bloom like a greenhouse. The result had made Israel one of the richest nations in the world. Buck Williams had interviewed him and become his friend after Rosenzweig had been named Global Weekly’s Man of the Year. Rosenzweig had introduced Buck to Nicolae Carpathia.
“I’ve been most encouraged by your attitude, your intelligence, and your curiosity, Judd,” Bruce wrote. “You might be interested in the text of an interview with Dr. Rosenzweig. You will find it at the following Web site.”
Judd quickly clicked on it. Bruce was right. Judd found it fascinating.
Wallace Theodore of ABC TV’s Nightline had interviewed Rosenzweig, and the text had been stored on the site. Judd found the following most intriguing and looked forward to when he might talk with Buck Williams personally about it.
WT: Dr. Rosenzweig, what can you tell us about Nicolae Carpathia?
CR: I found him most impressive. So bright, so engaging, so articulate, so humble—
WT: Excuse, me, sir. Humble?
CR: Probably as humble as any leader I have ever met. Never have I seen a man like this.
When he was invited to speak at the United Nations not a month ago, he almost declined, he felt so unworthy. But you heard the speech. I would have nominated him for Prime Minister of Israel, if he were eligible!
Mr. Theodore, he has ideas upon ideas! He speaks so many languages that he hardly ever needs an interpreter, even for some of the remotest tribes.
WT: How can Carpathia give away your formula?
NC: I was more than happy to offer it. Botswana will soon be one of the most fertile countries in all of Africa, if not the world.
WT: Having the formula made Israel a wealthy nation. Russia attacked you for the formula alone.
CR: It’s not about money, Mr. Theodore. I need none. Israel needs none.
WT: Then what could Carpathia offer that is worthy of trade?
CR: What has Israel prayed for since the beginning of time as the chosen people of God? Shalom. Peace. ‘Pray for the peace of Israel.’
WT: Many say God supernaturally protected you against the Russian attack. With God on your side, do you need to barter with Nicolae Carpathia for protection?
CR: We pray, we seek God, but in the meantime we believe he helps those who help themselves.
WT: And you’re helping yourselves by . . . ?
CR: The formula is tied to Carpathia’s disarmament policy. Once the world is disarmed, Israel should not have to worry about her borders. Any nation threatening Israel will suffer immediate extinction, using the weaponry available to the UN, 10 percent from each donating country. Imagine the firepower.
WT: But Carpathia doesn’t believe in war.
CR: He also knows that the best way t
o keep the peace is to have the weapons to enforce it.
WT: And how long does this agreement between Israel and Carpathia last?
CR: Mr. Carpathia suggested that full rights to the formula would return to us after only seven years.
Judd froze. So there it was, the seven-year agreement between Israel and the Antichrist. Judd called Bruce at the church office. “Does this say what I think it says?”
“It sure does,” Bruce said. “How many will recognize it for what it is, I can’t say. But here’s another tidbit for you, and please tell no one other than Vicki, and swear her to secrecy as well: Buck Williams has been invited to Israel for the signing of the treaty.”
Judd shook his head. “Can you get him to tell us about it when he gets back?”
“No promises. He may have to lie low and not be seen with believers for a while. But if he can and we find a way to make it happen, I’ll do my best.”
On Monday a week later, Vicki awoke at the crack of dawn. Her schoolbooks had burned with her trailer, she barely remembered her class schedule, and she dreaded the thought of going back. She would miss Clarice Washington, Lionel’s older sister, with whom she had sat on the school bus. Clarice had been raptured, and Vicki would not ride the bus anyway; she would ride with Judd. He would drop Lionel and Ryan off at Global Community Junior High on the way. What a joke.
She knew the first day back to high school would be chaotic when she saw what was happening at the junior high.
SEVEN
Back to School
JUDD felt queasy when he joined the heavy traffic wending its way to the junior high school. Lionel had fallen strangely silent since the four kids got into the car, but Ryan had kept up a steady stream of chatter. The only thing Vicki had said was that she wondered if anyone would recognize her. Judd did not recall noticing her in the past, but there was a vast difference between the hard-looking, black-lipped, and black-eyelidded girl he had met and this preppy version that sat beside him now.
Nicolae High Page 4