Brandon looks at Micah, noticing his face. It’s as bright as Emma’s. “What’s going on?”
“We just heard a man. A Jewish man who has explained everything about what has happened.” She grabs him by the shoulders, looking at her dear friend. “He’s not crazy, Brandon, and neither am I.”
“Neither am I,” Micah says.
“Tell Rick and come,” she says, running to the next apartment.
When Emma opens the door to her apartment, there are just a few minutes left before Elliott is due to arrive. Matt is wearing a T-shirt with jeans and is looking out over the devastated city. When he turns to look at her, Emma can see that his mood is dark. “Something amazing has happened!” she says. He doesn’t ask what, but stands looking at her, unable to feign interest. “We heard a Jewish man speak today, and he told us about Jesus and about how he called his followers to…”
Matt cuts her off. “Not this again, Emma. I’m not up for it today.”
She steps toward him. “Please Matt! This man knows what happened. I invited him to come here so that he can tell everyone in the building…”
“You what?!” He raises his hands in the air as he tries to stay calm. “Why would you invite someone here to talk to the entire building?”
Her voice gets softer. “Because he’s right.”
His words come out heated and stressed: “You don’t know that! You only believe that!”
“You know me, Matt! I don’t fall for things. This guy is not making things up just to help people feel better. When he talks, he’s actually speaking the very word of God about Jesus.”
Matt snickers. “A Jewish guy is speaking about Jesus and telling people exactly what happened in this world?” She nods. “That’s great, Emma! You’re wasting my time and everybody else’s.”
“It’s not a waste of time,” says Micah. Emma turns to look at him. He steps next to her and holds her hand. “It’s not a waste of time,” he says again.
Matt glares at him, shaking his head. They are interrupted as Rick and Brandon step inside the apartment. Brandon can sense that they have intruded on a strained moment and he looks at Emma.
She smiles and waves them to the couch. “Come on, sit!”
As the other residents gather, Matt avoids eye contact with Emma. He is so disgusted that he can’t even look at her. His anger simmers just beneath the surface as the apartment fills up. The last to arrive is Elliott, and Emma runs to him, grabbing his hand and leading him into the middle of everyone. “This is Elliott.” She pauses, looking at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t know your last name.”
“Hirsch,” he says, smiling.
“Micah and I heard Elliott this morning, and I just had to bring him back here so that all of you could hear the same words that we did.” She turns to him. “Please.”
As he speaks, Emma feels her heart swelling again. Looking at these familiar faces from within her apartment building, she realizes that she loves each and every one of these people. She can’t imagine what the next few years hold in store for planet Earth, but she does know that she wants all of these individuals to be rescued by Christ.
The Kleins are angry that a Jewish man would dare speak of Jesus, but Elliott implores them to stay. “I’m Jewish! I stood at a Jewish funeral wearing my yarmulke when graves burst open. Jesus came to me in my apartment and told me that he was my Messiah. Either I’m nuts or I’m telling the truth.” Mrs. Klein sets her hand on her husband’s arm, pleading with her eyes for him to stay and listen.
Piya is visibly moved as Elliott speaks and tears begin to roll down her face. Even old man Gruebber’s eyes fill as he grips his cane. Brandon listens intently, but Rick is annoyed and stays quiet to be polite to his longtime friends. The Kramers and their son Brody look upset and cross but listen without saying a word. Matt stares at the floor, embarrassed that Emma has done this.
“When is Christ coming again?” Piya asks.
Elliott shrugs. “There are many things that have to happen first. We know that a man whom the apostle John identified as the Antichrist will rise to world power. He’ll confirm a peace covenant that’s put in place with Israel.”
“What do you mean, he’ll confirm a peace covenant?” Mr. Kramer asks. “It’s already in place.”
“Israel’s enemies have been striving since 1948 to annihilate her. The bombs that are flying toward Israel today tell you that the current peace agreement that President Banes crafted between Israel and the Palestinians means nothing. The Antichrist will somehow strengthen the covenant.”
“So this…this world leader confirms the agreement,” Piya’s husband says. “So what?”
Elliott nods. “The confirmation of that peace treaty will begin the earth’s final seven years, but even then, no one knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return, yet we’re told to be ready.”
“How do you know this?” Mr. Gruebber asks, clutching his wife’s hand.
“It’s all right here,” Elliott says, lifting the Bible. “Wars will rage. Nations will all come against Israel. According to the book of Daniel, the world leader will confirm the peace agreement with Israel and all will seem well at first. But that will begin seven years of tribulation. Halfway through that time he will break the agreement, and even greater troubles will come.”
“Who is the world leader?” Brandon asks, his eyes dark and tired.
Elliott shakes his head. “We don’t know yet, but we’ll know who he is as soon as that peace agreement is confirmed.”
“When?” Mr. Klein asks.
“I don’t know,” Elliott says. “We just have to keep our eyes and ears open.” He looks at the small group and smiles. “We haven’t been left alone. If you accept Jesus as Lord of your life, you will never be alone. His is an everlasting love.”
Emma smiles for the first time since the disappearances as Piya and her family, the Kleins, the Kramers and Mr. and Mrs. Gruebber eagerly claim Christ as their Lord. The single mom and her two children pray aloud as Matt moves away from the group, catching Rick’s eye before he slips away from Brandon and into the bedroom.
Less than an hour later, everyone is leaving to go back to their own apartment. Emma hugs the people one by one as they leave, and Elliott urges them to read the Bible and meet together so they can learn what’s happening. Mr. and Mrs. Klein hold Elliott like a long-lost brother and smile at him through tears.
“Pray for my parents and brother,” Elliott says to them. “That they might also know what you do.”
The Kramers thank Emma and Elliott as they leave, and Emma’s face clouds over with thoughts of Rick and Matt. She had wanted everyone to come to know Christ. Before the single mom leaves, Emma gives her a hug. She pulls back and says, “I’m so sorry! I never learned your name.”
“Lydia.”
Emma smiles. “That was my mom’s name. I wish I’d known that was yours a long time ago.” She looks at her children. “And what are your names?”
“I’m Benton,” says her son, who looks about nine. Pointing to his little sister, he adds, “That’s Cam.”
Emma pulls both toward her and hugs them. “I’m so glad to know you.” She reaches for Lydia and pulls Micah into the hug as well.
After they leave, Emma shuts the door. She looks up and sees Matt in the middle of the living room looking at her. There’s nothing left between them. “It’s time for me to go,” she says.
“I agree.” He walks past her without making eye contact. “Get what you need, and come back later for what’s left,” he says before walking out the door.
Tears swim in her eyes as she looks at Elliott. “I just wanted him to know what we know. I wanted him to know Jesus.”
Elliott nods, and she goes into the bedroom, gathering a few things in a bag, her hands shaking as she collects them. Where can she go? It feels like her heart is being squeezed inside her chest, but she makes sure that she packs every picture of her mom and dad and Sarah and reaches for each special gift her family ever gave h
er. Elliott and Micah each carry a duffel bag filled with her belongings when they leave the apartment. Emma’s head is reeling as she closes the door and walks down the stairs. What has she done? She needs Matt. She needs the apartment. Approaching the front door, she hears someone running down the stairs and calling out to her. Emma looks up to see Brandon with a backpack over his shoulder.
“Matt came upstairs and said you were leaving,” he says breathlessly. “I need to leave too.”
She hugs him and turns to look at Micah. “I didn’t think this through,” she says, her voice catching. “I have no idea where to go.”
“I know a place,” Elliott says.
CHAPTER 29
Israel
Zerah enters his parents’ home and goes below to the bomb shelter. They gasp as he opens the door. Rada and her children are still there, and they all look tired and much older, their faces creased with worry. Fear and uncertainty are taking their toll. “Zerah,” his father says, “where have you been? Two soldiers have been here looking for you. They said you did not report for duty yesterday.”
Zerah has such love for his family that it’s hard to imagine the gulf that will come between them now, but he has no choice; he’s no longer his own. “I was headed to my post,” he says, taking in their faces. “I was headed there when an old man stopped me.”
“What old man?” his mother Ada asks.
“An old man of Hashem.”
His father waves his trembling hand in the air. “What are you saying? Why did an old man stop you? And why didn’t you report for duty?”
He reaches for his mother’s hand and takes a breath. “There were soldiers on the street. We were walking to our posts when I heard my name. It wasn’t the soldiers who were calling me. It was the old man. As I was about to pass him, he grabbed my arm, calling me by name again.”
His mother looks confused. “I don’t understand. Was he someone from work?”
Zerah shakes his head. “No, Mom. He was a man of Hashem. He told me things that I had been thinking. He even brought up all of you. He told me that I am one of Hashem’s 144,000 servants for this time.”
“For what time?” his father says, looking quizzically at him.
“This time of the end.” His family is speechless. “We are in the end. Time is running out.”
“He was a crazy old fool, and you were a fool for listening to him!” his father bellows, angry at his son.
“He also brought up Dr. Haas.”
“Why?” Rada asks, hanging on to his words.
“He told me that she and the others who have disappeared from here in Israel and around the world are with Yeshua.”
“Blasphemy!” his father screams, covering his ears and moving away from them.
“Papa, listen!”
“Get out! Get out of my house!” he roars. Zerah’s mother begs Chaim to hear him out, but his father’s shouts intensify.
“Yeshua surrounded me with a great light,” Zerah yells, hoping his family can hear him. “He sealed me for his work.”
His father screams, tearing his shirt. “You are dead to me. Get out! Leave and never come back to this home!” Zerah’s mother and sister and niece and nephew plead with him to stop.
Zerah’s eyes fill as he opens the door. He walks upstairs to leave, and his mother and Rada and her two children follow, begging him to stay. He turns to them and, glancing to his mother, says, “I’m no fool. You and Dad didn’t raise fools. I am educated. I’m a doctor and researcher. I’ve never trusted the shifting of the winds. Everything had to be calculated and reasonable and have an intellectual conclusion. This has none of those things, Mom.” She’s crying, and he holds her hand. “Yeshua came to me on the road and he sealed me for His service.” Rada covers her mouth, weeping. “Don’t cry, Rada. Everyone who is in Yeshua will live with him forever.”
A pounding on the door makes them jump, and Zerah’s mother grabs his arm when he moves to open it. “Don’t,” she whispers.
He lays his hand on top of hers and leans in to give her a kiss. “It’s okay. I have to do what Yeshua has asked of me.”
Two armed soldiers are at the door. “Sergeant Zerah Adler?” One of them says.
“Yes.”
“We’re here to escort you back to your post.” They couldn’t officially designate him a deserter; for all they knew, he had been in an accident or was in the hospital.
“I’m sorry. I can’t go with you.”
The soldiers don’t flinch. “We are under fire and on the brink of war, Sergeant, and you’re to come with us.”
“I love my country. I gave service to my country and would do it again, but I can’t do it now. Hashem has called me to his service.”
Zerah’s mother steps in behind him, putting her hand on his back. “Please, Zerah. Please go with these men.”
He turns and kisses her head and reaches for his sister, kissing her forehead, before stepping outside. The soldiers turn to the left, indicating the direction of their vehicle, but Zerah turns to the right, walking away from them. “Sergeant Adler!” one of them yells after him.
He doesn’t stop, and the two soldiers run after him. Zerah’s mother and Rada step out onto the stoop, closing the door to keep the children inside. “Zerah!” his mother shouts.
One of the soldiers reaches for Zerah’s arm but misses. “Stop!” he yells, trying to grab him again.
“Zerah, stop!” Rada screams. She and her mother shout out his name and the other soldier grabs his arm, only to lose his grip. They run after him again and jump for him, their bodies landing hard on the ground. They scramble to their feet and try to secure him, their arms swinging in the air but never making contact with him.
“Sergeant Adler! Stop where you are!” Zerah turns to look at the soldiers as Rada and his mother plead with him to stop while the soldier barks, “Get in the vehicle!”
“I can’t do that,” Zerah says. “I haven’t lost my mind. I’m not turning my back on my country, but guarding the Wailing Wall isn’t my post anymore. That’s not what Yeshua sealed me for. I’m sealed for his work.”
The soldiers rush to him and one of them says, “You’re a deserter, Sergeant Adler!”
Zerah shakes his head, smiling. “I am not. I’m not deserting my country. I’m here to give life and truth to my country.”
The soldiers try to grab Zerah’s arms from behind in order to escort him to the vehicle, but they end up stumbling into and wrestling with each other. Zerah turns to walk down the road as one of the soldiers puts his hand on the Jericho 941 in its holster, but the second soldier stops him, shaking his head.
Rada and her mother stand astonished, their bodies shaking. “What just happened?” Ada asks, breathless.
“Hashem protected him, Mother,” Rada whispers. “Just as he said. Hashem protected him.”
They stand crying and holding one another.
CHAPTER 30
Queens, NY
As Emma and Micah settle into Kennisha’s apartment and Brandon unloads a few things inside Elliott’s, Elliott climbs to the roof of the building and holds his phone just so, trying to pick up any news. A story partially loads: Israel Destroys Damascus.
Israel launched two short-range ballistic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads, an action that has never been taken in the history of the nation. Due to the warheads that were being brought up from under Damascus, the resulting nuclear explosion levelled the city, completely destroying it. The article says Syria was “blindsided” and calls Israel’s actions “sinister and deadly in an already-volatile climate.” Images from Syria show smoke and ash smoldering over what once was the world’s oldest city. Israel is named the aggressor and its people called murderers, while Syria’s, Iran’s, and Palestine’s culpability are denied.
The rest of the story doesn’t load, and despite walking to each corner of the roof, Elliott can’t pick up any more signal. He saves the story as a photo before it disappears off his phone. He takes time to pray
, then runs back down the stairs. “It’s Isaiah 17,” he says, bursting through the door at Kennisha’s and reading the news story to her, Brandon, and Emma. They look at him, waiting for an explanation. “Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. That’s Isaiah 17,” he says, opening his Bible and finding the chapter. “In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone!” He glances up at them. “Damascus has been attacked before. It’s been damaged, but it’s always been rebuilt; it’s always been on the map. Isaiah 17 said that one day it will no longer be a city but a heap of ruins. This is fulfilled today. Damascus has been destroyed.”
“What’s going to happen now?” Brandon asks, his voice laced with dread.
“The entire Middle East will be at war,” Kennisha says, whispering.
Emma feels as if she has been reunited with a long-lost friend with Kennisha. They are a ragamuffin group, barely hanging on, but Emma senses that they could be strong together…even now, as war erupts around Israel and throughout the world.
To discover more about the biblical facts behind the story, read Where in the Word? on page 253, or continue reading the novel.
CHAPTER 31
Rome, Italy
Following the destruction of Damascus, war is raging against Israel and loss of life is mounting on all sides. Lebanon has joined in the fight with what’s left of Syria, and President Khoury of Lebanon and Syria’s President Kalif speak venomously at a news conference, saying, “The Zionist pigs will be destroyed once and for all,” and the media surrounding them cheer. “We will finally take back the land that belongs to every Arab!” Kalif shouts above the applause. There is no room for misinterpretation: They are speaking for all nations who hate Israel; they seek the total extermination of the Jewish state and her people.
Iran’s President Manesh hails Presidents Khoury and Kalif and other fellow leaders as heroes because they “will not rest until the annihilation of Israel is complete and the Mediterranean Sea runs red with the blood of the Jews.” Many of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard died in Damascus, cutting short their immediate plan of destroying Israel with nuclear force, but Iran is moving weapons and thousands more of the Revolutionary Guard into northern Syria to bring an end to Israel once and for all. Iran’s leaders and military advisors, along with those of Russia, Turkey, Sudan, and other countries, are meeting to determine the swiftest possible action for bringing total extermination.
The Time of Jacob's Trouble Page 13