Times of Tribulation: Christian End Times Thriller (The End Times Saga, #7)

by Cliff Ball

  As for Security Director Stephens, he drifted whichever way the political winds shifted. Now that things were turning against the government of North America, he’d decided to melt into the crowd. It was easy for him to do, since he very rarely went out into public dressed as the security director, so very few people knew who he was. It also helped that everyone was nearly covered head to toe to keep from being burned by the intense sunlight. Curious about how this would turn out, he decided to follow the crowd to wherever they were taking Administrator Davis.

  Along the way to wherever they were going with him, Wayne saw people dropping to the ground, probably from heat stroke or heat exhaustion. He was really thirsty and felt like he was getting overheated too, but he knew the angry mob wouldn’t give a rip about how he felt. After what seemed like ages to him, Wayne found out where they were taking him, which was the stadium where the guillotine was setup. The administrator was filled with dread.

  The men carrying Wayne set him down, roughly, onto the guillotine, and strapped him down tighter than anyone normally would be. Because of the heat, the blade of the guillotine actually looked red from the heat, or maybe it was blood from previous beheadings, Wayne really couldn’t tell. If he thought it would do him any good, he’d try talking them out of beheading him, but he knew it wouldn’t work.

  Even though Wayne’s heart was beating loudly in his ears, he heard some of the charges against him, some of which he thought was ridiculous. “Administrator Wayne lives luxuriously while the rest of us live poorly, he deserves to be beheaded.”

  “He’s failed us as head of North America, by letting the haters and malcontents continue their terroristic campaign of destruction across the planet. Off with his head!”

  “The Administrator indiscriminately beheads the citizens. Let’s behead him!”

  More shouts of “Off with his head!” continued in the mob and Wayne wished they would hurry up and behead him already. He didn’t have to wait long, because the lever for the blade released, chopped off his head, and he was dead before his head settled in the basket that captured severed heads. The next thing the crowd did was to unstrap the body from the guillotine, which they tore to pieces, leaving the remains to rot in the sun. Wayne Davis’ Monday definitely did not turn out the way he thought it would.

  Chapter 21

  Later that day, after Pete and the others figured out they couldn’t step outside because of the intense heat, even though they weren’t sunburned as the followers of the Patriarch were, they decided to see what night would bring since the Bible said only the beast’s kingdom would be covered in darkness. The transition from day to dark was instantaneous – there was no sunset, just darkness. For believers around the world, the inky, claustrophobic darkness didn’t affect them, they could see the stars and the moon with crystal clarity. The temperature had also dropped to a reasonable level, so everyone in Big Bend decided to step out to stargaze.

  “The night sky hasn’t looked like this in years, it’s beautiful,” remarked Janet as she held hands with Pete.

  “Yeah, it sure is. I can even see the remaining satellites in orbit passing over. They’ll be falling soon enough, and should make some interesting fireballs, if they happen to pass over us as they crash to Earth. You know, it doesn’t even smell all that bad out here like it did a few weeks ago before the sun’s light was increased,”

  “I noticed that too. Maybe the waters of our planet are starting to dry up, which would lead to the Euphrates drying up, which eventually leads to Armageddon, and Christ’s Second Coming. I hope the upcoming foundation shaking earthquakes, along with what I would guess was meteors falling at the same time, don’t kill us before we get to see Christ return with our very eyes,”

  “I hope we do too, but either way, we’ll be with Christ when he rules for a thousand years here on Earth, followed by eternity when He finally puts Satan down for good. I look forward to it.” Pointing towards some of the constellations, Pete was awed by what he saw, “Would you look at that, some of those constellations I would have to use a telescope to see, now they’re so clear, I don’t need one anymore. If we weren’t in an apocalyptic nightmare, where many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being hunted down, this would be romantic,”

  “It definitely would be romantic in any other time in history, but we had the unfortunate timing of being born in this era. Although, during any other time, I don’t think we would’ve accepted Christ as our Savior,”

  Pete nodded his head in agreement, his wife was most definitely right.

  “Do you want to pray for our siblings in Christ?” she asked.

  “Yes, let’s do.” Pete and Janet kneeled down and began praying for the protection of all believers remaining on Earth and that the Lord come quickly to defeat the Anti-Christ.

  While everyone at Big Bend knew what was would happen in the coming months, they weren’t able to see the Euphrates dry up, nor were they able to see the millions descending on Israel for the final battle. However, when the daylight suddenly turned to normal, believers around the world did hear a voice thunder as clear as day, “It is done!” Believers around the world who hadn’t come out of their hiding places before, came out to cheer and praise God that the Tribulation was finally coming to an end.

  Then came the foundation shaking earthquake that would flatten the mountains and smooth out the entire surface of the planet. The skyscrapers in hundreds of cities collapsed, similar to how the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City fell after the terrorist attacks. Cities were flatted and millions of the remaining inhabitants of Earth were killed as the surface of the planet changed forever. Anything of historical value was lost forever.

  Meteors falling to Earth like hail was the next even to happen. The meteors pulverized what remained of civilization, killing almost all of the remaining followers of the beast and false prophet, who cursed and blasphemed God for the continued misfortune. Most believers were somewhat safe, albeit badly shaken up from both the earthquakes and the meteors. The earthquake and meteors accomplished the complete and utter destruction of the Union of United Earth, the Babylon of the Bible.

  Pete Robertson and everyone in Big Bend were in awe when they could see Jesus leading the armies of Heaven, with those raptured before the Tribulation following behind Him as they descended to defeat the remaining forces of the Anti-Christ. With just a few words from Christ, the army of the beast were killed instantly, and the valley of Megiddo soaked with blood. Next, birds of prey descended as they were ordered and feasted on the remains of the army. Believers around the planet heard Christ tell Lucifer that he would be punished by being chained for a thousand years, followed by Karimi and Josten being told they would be thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternity to pay for their sins. The two were taken to the Lake of Fire and thrown in. Jesus was given the keys to the bottomless pit, Lucifer was chained, and then thrown in.

  Once that was accomplished, Jesus was greeted with songs of praise and worship, and He said, “Old Testament, Church Age, and Tribulation Saints, you will reign with me for the next thousand years here on Earth. Once the thousand years have been complete, all of you will sit in judgment of the dead at the Great White Throne Judgment. Until then, I will rule with a rod of iron, and then we will see who follows me because they have to or because they want to follow me.” He looked up to see that New Jerusalem was descending to Earth, and as it settled on the ground, He said, “Come, let’s begin the Millennial Reign.”

  Jesus settled on His throne and began judging the nations, along with those who survived the Tribulation. The Robertson’s met the Cohen’s, along with meeting all the other Tribulation believers, as each person went before Christ to receive their reward, or in the case of the unbelievers who survived, their punishment. Once Jesus finished, the living believers worshipped and praised Him, and then began living through the Millennial Period, having children, and trying to raise them to believe in Him so they wouldn’t be led astray by Satan when he w
as loosed a thousand years later.

  The Christians and Old Testament saints who were caught up with Him before the Tribulation were given people to rule over and abilities to do things that they would’ve never dreamed of before they went to Heaven. People like the Atwood, Delaney, Hall, and White families were in their glorified bodies and remained thirty-three years old forever as they ruled with Christ on Earth. They had been given their rewards while with Jesus during the seven years and now were able to utilize them. Once the thousand years ended, they would sit in judgment of sinners at the Great White Throne Judgment, while Lucifer was thrown in the Lake of Fire to suffer for eternity. Afterwards, God created a new Heaven and a new Earth to rid the universe of all sin, never again to be poisoned by Lucifer and his fallen angels.

  ~The end of The End Times Saga~

  Thank you, readers, for reading and following this series. While I’m not completely sure what I’m writing next, I’m sure it’ll be another series based on the end times. If you enjoyed this novel, please leave a review.

  Read more in The End Times Saga:

  Times of Turmoil- Book 1

  Times of Trouble – Book 2

  Times of Trial – Book 3

  Times of Rebellion – Book 4

  Jon Ryan – Short Story

  Xavier Doolittle – Short Story

  Times of Destruction – Book 5

  Times of Judgment – Book 6

  Times of Tribulation – Book 7

  Where to find Cliff online

  e-mail: cliffball@cliffball.net

  Website/Blog: Visit cliffball.net for more information about all of his novels, read short stories that are on the site, chapter excepts, reviews of his books, read the blog, and sign-up to get updates by e-mail about giveaways, sales, and future releases.

  Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/cliff.ball.author

  Twitter: @cliff_ball

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  About the Author

  Cliff Ball was born in Arizona, but has lived in Texas for most of his life, and currently resides outside of that massive sprawl known as the Metroplex. He became a born again Christian at the age of five, is a member of his local Baptist church, and is a staunch Conservative. Cliff has two Bachelors of Arts and a Technical Writing Certificate from the University of North Texas. Cliff felt the call to be a writer when he was ten years old and first became published in high school in the early ‘90′s through his Creative Writing class when he won third in a young adult Methodist magazine for a short story he wrote called “Role Reversal.”

  Cliff’s first novel was Out of Time, and since 2008, there have been ten novels and four short stories published. Cliff’s genres are usually speculative fiction in nature, as he has written science fiction/alternate history/time travel, political and end times thrillers, and even a western short story. His novels are clean reads and can be read by anyone.

  Cliff’s life verse is from Proverbs 3:5-6, King James Version: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

  About the Author

  Cliff Ball was born in Arizona, but has lived in Texas for most of his life, and currently resides outside of that massive sprawl known as the Metroplex. He became a born again Christian at the age of five, is a member of his local Baptist church, and is a staunch Conservative. Cliff has two Bachelors of Arts and a Technical Writing Certificate from the University of North Texas. Cliff felt the call to be a writer when he was ten years old and first became published in high school in the early ‘90′s through his Creative Writing class when he won third in a young adult Methodist magazine for a short story he wrote called “Role Reversal.”

  Cliff’s first novel was Out of Time, and since 2008, there have been ten novels and four short stories published. Cliff’s genres are usually speculative fiction in nature, as he has written science fiction/alternate history/time travel, political and end times thrillers, and even a western short story. His novels are clean reads and can be read by anyone.

  Cliff’s life verse is from Proverbs 3:5-6, King James Version: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”