by Tim LaHaye
"Me too, " Razor said. "I can still see Jesus and hear Him. I don't understand why He doesn't sound farther away than He does. He sounds the same to me. "
Priscilla said, "I think it's because we're hearing Him in our hearts instead of with our ears."
Razor shrugged. "Could be. Otherwise, how would everybody hear their own name?"
Everyone fell silent as the Lord spoke yet again.
"No one has seen God at any time. I, the only begotten Son, who came from the bosom of the Father, have declared Him. I am called the Son of the Highest, and today the Lord God will give Me the throne of My father David. "
Suddenly another voice cascaded from heaven, and Sebastian knew immediately it was God Himself. "Behold!" He said. "My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I have put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice. "
Then Jesus again: "The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth come through Me. Now, George, may the God of peace who brought Me up from the dead and made Me the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight. Amen. "
On the amen the whole of the remnant fell to its knees, praying and thanking God. Sebastian knew each had again heard his own name in the benediction Jesus had pronounced, yet that made it no less personal.
Rayford climbed atop the Hummer again, Abdullah right behind. They looked out on the vast enemy horde as thousands burst open at the words of Jesus and died before they hit the ground. And the battle at Armageddon had not yet commenced. Rayford heard Nicolae Carpathia trying to encourage and rally the troops.
He barked instructions to the generals and commanders. "This is our true enemy," he said. "Best Him, and victory is ours. Jerusalem will be no obstacle. "
How he managed to get so many millions of troops on the same page and pointed in the same direction was beyond Rayford, but somehow Nicolae had pulled it off. Somehow he had orchestrated a half-moon of an army covering hundreds of square miles, all facing Jesus in the sky.
Was he going to have them fire upon the King of kings? How would he determine how far away Jesus was? And if Carpathia's armies had been harmless against mere mortals, what did he expect to accomplish here?
Before a command could be given or a shot fired, Jesus spoke. And while it took only a matter of several minutes, the devastation was enormous.
"Test the spirits, whether they are of God," He said, "because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that I came in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that I came in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist. "
Rayford heard Carpathia raging, cursing.
And Jesus said, "A mighty king arose who ruled with great dominion, and did according to his will. But his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted.
"Now is the appointed time. The king of this world did according to his own will: he exalted and magnified himself above every god, spoke blasphemies against the God of gods, and prospered until now. But what has been determined shall be done. "
The great army was in pandemonium, tens of thousands at a time screaming in terror and pain and dying in the open air. Their blood poured from them in great waves, combining to make a river that quickly became a swamp.
"He regarded neither the true God nor any god," Jesus continued as the soldiers fell and the blood rose, "for he exalted himself above them all. But in their place he honored a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus he acted against the strongest fortresses and divided the land for gain.
"Though in the end the king of the South attacked him, and the king of the North came against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; he entered the countries, overwhelmed them, and passed through.
"And now he has also entered the Glorious Land, and many countries were overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon."
Rayford looked to Abdullah. "Did your geography study tell you where those were? I mean, I know Edom is where Petra is. "
"Moab is to the north of there, in Jordan, and Ammon is north of that."
Jesus continued: "He stretched out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt did not escape. He had power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians followed at his heels.
"But news from the east and the north troubled him; therefore he went out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. And he planted the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain... "
"He means Jerusalem, " Abdullah said.
"... yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him."
It seemed to Rayford that the entire Unity Army within his field of vision was dead or dying, and the blood continued to rise. Millions of birds flocked into the area and feasted on the remains.
Carpathia screeched in a frenzy, "I have not met my end. I shall take His beloved city and bring it and Him to ruin! Leon, get me out of here!"
FOURTEEN
"SMITTY, " RAYFORD SAID, "let's follow Carpathia and Fortunate. "
"Are you serious, Captain Steele?"
"They won't even notice."
"Something I do not understand, Captain. Why does Jesus not just capture them? He kills almost the entire army with the words from His mouth, and yet He allows them to run free. I know He is not going to kill them, but it seems He is playing a game with them. "
"I'm no theologian," Rayford said, "but as you know, God has His own timetable. All this has been prophesied, scripted. It's going to happen when it's supposed to happen. "
As Abdullah steered the Hummer toward the valley and Carpathia's bigger Humvee, for the first time since the appearance of Jesus, the sky began to turn. Dark, menacing clouds formed on the horizon and quickly rose, filling the heavens except where the Lord and His army hovered.
"You feel that?" Mac radioed. "Temperature musta dropped ten degrees in the last minute!"
"Something's brewing," Rayford said.
"Now you're understatin' the obvious. I'm heading for cover, Ray. "
"Keep in touch."
"Don't worry."
Rayford and Abdullah rolled up their windows. "Do you not want me to lose Leon?" Abdullah said, nodding far across the killing grounds to where the Humvee was picking up speed, apparently trying to find a path through the massacre toward Jerusalem.
"Just try to keep an eye on him," Rayford said. "He's going to have a rough time heading that way. Hey, hit the heat. "
Abdullah stopped just the other side of a ravine that separated the high country from the valley where thousands of bodies lay. Although they were dead and their blood had ceased flowing, it seemed to ooze from their bodies and quickly filled the lower areas.
Frost appeared on the windshield. "That's the first time I've seen that in this part of the world, " Abdullah said. "In America, yes, but not here. " He turned on the wipers, but they merely spread the ice crystals and blocked the view.
Rayford played with the controls until he got the heater and defogger blasting, quickly clearing the window. But even with the heater on full, he was chilled. And the sky turned darker. Strangely, there were still no shadows on the ground. The light of Christ continued to permeate, except for the blackness of the sky that ringed Him and His mounted followers.
Suddenly a voice came from the sky, loud and authoritative, but it was not Jesus'. "It is done!"
Lightning burst from the clouds and explosions of thunder followed. And then came hail—if you could call it that. These were not mere ice ch
ips—not even golf-ball or softball size. The first chunk Rayford saw looked the size of a dining-room table, half a foot thick. It landed about twenty feet below the Hummer and embedded itself a couple of feet into the ground. The concussion sounded like a bomb.
The few remaining Unity Army soldiers behaved like madmen, tearing their hair, some shooting themselves, others begging comrades to shoot them. Another chunk of ice hit a grenade launcher and flattened it. Soon hundred-pound blocks of ice began pelting the entire area, smashing bodies, destroying trucks and cars and Jeeps.
The royal Humvee, with Leon driving erratically, narrowly escaped three chunks, one of which caught a running aide squarely atop the head and crushed him to the ground. The gigantic hailstones were soon dropping steadily, and there was no escape. It was as if God were burying the bloody battlefield in a thick layer of ice.
"You getting this hail in Jerusalem?" Rayford radioed Mac.
"Nope. No hail. Looks like it's threatening rain or snow, but so far we're just freezin' our tails off."
Survivors remained only in scattered spots, but instead of trying to find cover or protecting their heads or even falling to their knees and begging for mercy, they lifted their faces to the sky, shouting, apparently railing against God, flashing obscene gestures at Jesus and His army. Soon they were crushed under the monstrous hailstones.
The temperature returned to normal as quickly as it had dropped, and the clouds rolled away and disappeared. The whole of creation seemed bright as day again, and while the sun still had not been seen since before Jesus came, the desert was soon toasty again. Rayford turned off the heat and opened the windows, and he and Abdullah lit out after Leon and Nicolae.
The ice quickly began to melt, and the water mixed with the torrent of blood. "Stop here, " Rayford said, as they watched the blood-and-water mixture rise higher than the tires on the potentate's Humvee. The vehicle was soon bogged down in a reddish brown mud. Ray-ford heard Carpathia shrieking at Leon to get them out of the mess and on toward Jerusalem. But they quickly found all avenues of escape blocked by the rising muck. When it reached the middle of the door of their vehicle, Carpathia ordered Leon out to push while he climbed into the driver's seat.
"But, Excellency, I will drown!"
"You will do no such thing. Do you want your king to get out?"
"No, my lord, of course not. But I-I, ah—"
Leon pushed open the door and the liquid invaded the vehicle. "Hurry, man!" Nicolae shouted. "Shut the door!"
Leon stepped gingerly into the drink, which reached his waist and made his robe balloon out. He had wisely left his fez in the Humvee. "It's freezing!" he squealed. "My legs are going numb!"
"Of course it is freezing! It has ice in it! Now start pushing!"
"It stinks!"
"Push!"
It took Leon a moment to make his way behind the vehicle, and the footing beneath the surface was clearly uneven. Once he nearly plunged all the way under and had to grab the fender to stay upright. His robe was a mess, his hands and face pale, his hair mussed. Rayford could see he was shivering to his core.
When he got behind the Humvee, Carpathia apparently floored the accelerator, for all he accomplished was to kick up a rooster tail of liquid and steam that covered Leon. The Humvee didn't move.
"Try to rock it!" Leon shouted.
"That is what you are there for! Grab under the bumper and lift!"
"Lift a Humvee!?"
"Rock it!"
Finally they coordinated Leon's lifting and pushing and Carpathia's alternated gunning the engine and letting up, and the big thing began to sway. When it finally started to move, Leon lost his balance and pitched forward, going completely under. He came up sputtering and trying to wipe his face.
Nicolae pulled the Humvee to slightly higher ground and Leon rushed to get in the passenger side. But when he opened the door, Carpathia was already there.
"I am not driving, Leon! How would that look?"
Leon trudged around in front of the car and yanked open the door. Just before climbing in he pulled his sodden robe over his head and left it in the rising river of blood. He clambered aboard in his underwear, assuring Nicolae that he had other clothes in the back.
"Well, put them on immediately!"
The Humvee rocked and bounced as Leon found dry clothes and dressed in the car. Apparently deciding his ornate cap would not work with the new outfit, he tossed it out the window as he slowly pulled away, looking for yet higher ground. The blood had already risen more than four feet.
When the skies cleared and the temperature rose, Mac rubbed his bare arms and emerged from what had been meager cover under sparse trees not far from the Temple Mount. Though not in the uniform of the Unity Army, he must not have looked like a rebel either, as he was virtually ignored. Many of the normal nonfighting citizenry were milling about among the thousands of soldiers, who spent much of their time sitting around. Some platoons were moved here and there, seemingly on the whim of a general or a commander, but all fighting had ceased. The Global Community forces had occupied all of Jerusalem except the Temple Mount, and they had that surrounded. Occasionally a general with a bullhorn tried to persuade the tiny band of rebels inside to surrender and avoid inevitable bloodshed.
Mac was amused that the general assumed the rebels had no access to outside information. But having talked with them, he knew they had radios and even some televisions. They would know what had happened at Petra and Bozrah, and soon they would probably even know the outcome of the battle at Armageddon.
It seemed weird to Mac that soldiers could sit around smoking and playing cards, only occasionally glancing into the sky to see what Jesus was up to. Maybe this was all part of the hardening of hearts, but Mac thought that he, in the same situation, would recognize that his end was near. Theirs was clearly a supernatural foe who had not even been slowed by the most powerful army in history. The war was as good as over.
And yet Nicolae Carpathia, the great deceiver, despite winning not even a skirmish since the appearing of Christ, had somehow convinced his troops that Jerusalem was the key. If they could take the Holy City, he would be returned to his rightful throne, the Son of God would be defeated, and all would again be right with the world.
The only thing that argument had going for it was the current situation in Jerusalem. The idea of the rebels holding anything when they were surrounded and outnumbered a thousand to one was laughable and pathetic. Except, as Mac knew, they were on the right side.
Rayford had assumed he was way past being shocked by now. What could he see that would be more surreal than the last several hours? Yet as Abdullah kept a careful but watchful distance from Carpathia's Humvee, all Ray-ford could do was stare at the result of the last so-called battle. Of course, there had not been a battle at all. The Unity Army had rattled its sabers, loaded its weapons, and made a lot of noise. And Jesus had killed them all, with mere words.
Of course those words were the words of God, and the effect was overpowering. Mile after mile after mile, Abdullah drove next to a river of blood several miles wide and now some five feet deep. Carpathia's whole-world fighting force of several million troops had been reduced to perhaps a million. That was still huge, of course, and from a human standpoint the rebels could never match it. But the devastation to the Unity Army in a short period should have made plain to Carpathia that his days were numbered.
Rather, to hear him talking earnestly to Leon in the car and to the remaining troops by radio, what had happened served as mere motivation. "Our goal remains, " Carpathia said, "and our task is clear. Take the Father's city, wipe out His chosen people, and kill His Son. This has been our design from the beginning. We have drawn Him out, and we will soon have Him where we want Him. Remain loyal, remain true, remain vigilant, and you will be rewarded. "
Jesus, meanwhile, had turned to the remnant and addressed them directly as Rayford and Abdullah listened.
"You are of God, little children, and have overcom
e Antichrist, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. He is of the world. Therefore he speaks as of the world, and the world hears him. You are of God. He who knows God hears Me; he who is not of God does not hear Me. By this you know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
"Beloved, love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward you, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that you might live through Him. In this is love, not that you loved God, but that He loved you and sent Me to be the propitiation for your sins.
"Rayford, if God so loved you, you also ought to love one another. "
Rayford was always pierced when he heard his name, as he knew Abdullah and all the others had to be. Then Jesus moved from the personal exhortation to clearly explain what had just happened.
"And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
"Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, 'It is done!' And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
"An angel came out of the temple of heaven, crying to Me with a loud voice, 'Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. ' So I thrust in My sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
"Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. '