There are three bedrooms. She checks the water in the two bathrooms, then in the kitchen. Water pours from all the faucets! Emma looks at the open cupboards and her mind is firing too many ideas at once. She’s so hungry; she can’t remember the last time she’s eaten. Cans of tuna fish sit in an open cupboard in front of her and she opens one, finding a jar of mayonnaise to mix into it. “Thank you, God,” she says.
Emma doesn’t want to take more time looking for more to eat, searching instead for any money that may have been kept in the home. She apologizes again to Mrs. Ramos and her husband. “This isn’t me,” she says. She finds a hundred dollars or so in a small wooden box in their bedroom closet, and fifty-some dollars in a jar in the kitchen. She shoves the money into her pocket and returns to the garage, locking the house door behind her. She holds her breath as she lifts open the garage door, backs the car out, races out to pull down the garage door, and prays that no one will break into this house.
Her eyes track all movement on the sidewalks and the alleys and she’s fearful as she drives, not wanting anyone to take this car from her. As she passes one alley she does a double take, looking behind her as she passes. She thought she saw a little girl near the dumpster in the alley. Emma tries to shake it off, but the feeling nags at her that the little girl is alone, and she finds a place to turn around. She parks in the alley and exits the car, locking the doors. She looks down the alleyway and sees the little girl, who appears to be around eight or so and has long black hair and light brown skin. She’s sitting against a building and there are mounds of garbage around the dumpster.
“Are you out here with anyone?” The little girl jumps at hearing Emma’s voice and gapes at her. “You need to be inside. Do you live in this building?” The girl shakes her head. “Well, where do you live? Is it close?”
Her little shoulders lift in a shrug. “I don’t know.”
Emma turns to make sure the car is okay and they’re alone in the alley. “Where is your mom or dad?”
“I don’t have a dad, and my mom said she’ll be back.”
Emma steps closer to the girl, looking back over her shoulder as she does. “Where did she go?” The girl doesn’t answer. “Did she just drop you off here?” The girl nods. “When?”
She lifts her shoulders again. “The moon was out.”
Emma’s eyes widen. “How many nights have you been here?” The girl doesn’t answer, and Emma looks around. “Where did you sleep?”
The girl points to the dumpster. “Behind that.”
Emma imagines the rats that must be feeding on the trash and her stomach turns at the thought of a little girl sleeping among them. “Is there any place you can go? Do you have a grandma and grandpa?”
“I have a grandma, and she left with everybody. Mommy tried to take me there, but she was gone.”
Emma glances again at the car before kneeling down. She needs to get out of this alley and back into the car before someone sees it. “My name’s Emma. What’s yours?”
“Lia.”
“Lia. Are you afraid out here?” Lia nods. “Yeah, I would be too. Do you think your mom is coming back?” Lia looks at the ground, unable to respond, but Emma knows the answer. “I’m sure your grandma told you never to talk to strangers or ever get in their car with them, and I would tell you the same thing, but I’m afraid to leave you here on the street. There’s a little boy in our apartment named Micah and I bet he would love to meet you. Would you like to come meet him? I can give you something to eat, and then I promise that we’ll come back to see if your mom is here.”
Lia nods, and Emma hurries her to the car. She looks so tiny sitting in the passenger seat. Emma doesn’t know what she’s done, but as she imagines leaving Lia with the rats and the dumpster and in the darkness of the alleyway, she shudders at what could never be undone and drives for home.
To discover more about the biblical facts behind the story, read Where in the Word? on page 277, or continue reading the novel.
CHAPTER 37
Queens, NY
Brandon walks with Elliott out on the streets, and as they pass the many people shuffling by to stand in a food line or wait outside the doors of a church or mission for a place to sleep, he notices that Elliott is looking each man and woman in the face. He can’t simply walk from here to there anymore because it’s not about his destination, but theirs. These people whose faces are etched with concern, worry, fear, loss, and pain take Elliott to the streets all day every day.
Brandon is jostled from behind as people pass them, and Elliott looks at him. “There are a lot of people here. I can’t let them slip by.” He puts his hand on Brandon’s shoulder. “You need to know that nothing can harm me. You don’t need to help me.” Brandon opens his mouth, but Elliott steps up on a light pole, watching the people coming toward him, racing for the food line that won’t have enough food for most of them to buy. He wraps his arm around the pole and adjusts his glasses with the other hand, while holding his Bible.
“Please know that God loves you very much,” he says to the passing crowd. Most people ignore him. “He loves you very much and wants you to know what’s ahead. Many of you no longer have loved ones here.” That stops many people. “Jesus called for his own, and that’s why they were snatched away.” He holds up the Bible. “God told us in the beginning what would happen in the end.” Several more stop and look up at him. “None of this is a surprise. God knows how all this is going to end. He’s known it since the beginning and has tried to tell us. He wants you to know today that he loves you very much and that his Son Jesus is coming again.”
Brandon notices that a couple of young men bolt away from the group and wonders why they took off so fast, but a few moments later he understands when a mob of people with knives and guns show up. It’s obvious that the two young men had gone to find these assailants, who are brandishing weapons and cursing and screaming at Elliott and anyone listening to him. These hostiles perfectly reflect the gangland violence that is erupting in the streets of New York City and around the country every day.
“You’re a Jew!” a young man with fierce features and pronounced eyebrows shouts.
Elliott steps down from the pole, facing him. “I am a Jew. My Savior and Messiah Jesus Christ is a Jew, and he died so that all of us could live, and he’s coming back for…” The armed mob is outraged at his words, and many in the crowd shrink back in fear. “Don’t let them frighten you,” Elliott shouts. “This message is for you, it’s for them, it’s for anyone with ears to hear. Today is the day of salvation in Jesus.”
The mob screeches at his words, yelling on top of one another. “You Jew pigs are killing people!” one screams.
Brandon shouts from the back of the crowd to warn Elliott, but the attackers are already lunging at him with knives. Many in the crowd run and scream as sharp blades, long and glistening, slice through the air at Elliott, only to stab bystanders and other assailants, their roars becoming more vicious with each failed and bloody attempt to knife Elliott. Brandon shouts for them to stop; his heart feels like it will burst through his ribs as he prays, climbing up onto a window ledge to get a view of Elliott. He can’t believe what he’s seeing; Elliott is unharmed.
“Please put away your weapons,” Elliott says in the midst of the clash. “I’m not here to harm you or anyone else. I’m here to tell you that Jesus is coming back again for all who believe.”
The fierce man who was the first to shout at Elliott screams curses and fires his gun, but Elliott is unfazed, the bullet striking a gang member right behind him. The man falls to the ground, shrieking, and the man with the gun pulls the trigger again and again as he aims at Elliott’s chest, only to shoot another armed assailant behind him. The man crumples to the sidewalk. “Please put away your weapons before you kill each other,” Elliott says, addressing the attackers more like a diplomat than someone whose life is in danger.
Brandon looks on in wonder and amazement while one man on the periphery of the violenc
e records it on his cell phone. In the end, the attackers are bloodied, stunned, and raging against one another while the crowd grows and gathers closer around Elliott, astonished by what they’ve witnessed. The sidewalk looks like a crime scene covered with so much gore, the blood-soaked reality of the city’s new normal. While some in the defeated pack limp away, holding hands over their injuries or dragging away their wounded as they curse and scream at Elliott, others of the bloodstained horde turn their backs on their comrades and listen to Elliott. He speaks to the growing mass of onlookers, numbering at least a hundred or more by now.
Elliott speaks for less than ten minutes, saying things like believe, love, repent, turn from sin, seek, look up, follow Jesus, and He’s coming again. The words don’t fall on the listeners like lies, exaggerations, or madness, but rather like truth from a friend, and although some walk away dismayed or disgusted, most of them believe. Elliott tells the crowd to get together in groups and pray and read Scripture so they can help one another in the coming days and tell others about Jesus.
A man rushes from the back of the crowd toward Elliott and Brandon opens his mouth to shout a warning, but realizes his words are feeble here amidst the crowd and the noise. The man stands in front of Elliott for a moment before embracing him, lifting him off his feet. Elliott laughs and pats the back of the man’s head as they hold on to each other.
“It’s Simon!” Elliott shouts to Brandon.
CHAPTER 38
Queens, NY
Brandon and Simon walk through the streets with Elliott, stopping to watch and listen as he preaches along the way. The time is coming when he will no longer have a place to call his home, and who knows…some of these people may offer him food, help, or a bed for the night.
Simon is mesmerized as he listens to his longtime friend. For as long as he has known Elliott, he has been quiet and shy, happiest just mulling about in the shadows. But now he’s bold and unafraid of anybody or what they could possibly do to him. Every word out of his mouth is spoken with courage and power and great compassion. When people curse at him, it doesn’t faze him. When they scoff and laugh, he talks louder. They aren’t in control of him; God is, and this leaves Simon speechless. To ponder the greatness of God and the power of Christ has left Simon undone, and his eyes pool over while watching his friend. “How did those knives and bullets miss you?” he asks when Elliott finishes with a group.
Elliott shakes his head, still amazed by it all. “I’m sealed with Hashem’s protection.” He uses the Jewish words for God and Jesus when speaking to Simon.
“You’re not afraid?” Brandon asks, trying to keep pace with them on the crowded sidewalk.
Elliott stops, thinking. “I was afraid the first time I went out to the streets, but not anymore. I see the weapons and hear the anger and hatred of many people, but Yeshua sealed me for this work, and I’m no longer afraid.”
“How do you know what to say?” Simon asks. “You’ve answered so many questions. How do you know how to do that?”
“I’ve already read through the Bible and Hashem brings the verses back to me. The Spirit of Hashem speaks through me. He even teaches me in my dreams.”
Simon snaps his head to look directly at him. Dreams have always been a vital part of their culture, but he’s never experienced any like Elliott is talking about. “Every day?”
Elliott nods. “Hashem says he’s going to pour out dreams and visions all over the world.”
A middle-aged man and a young girl catch Brandon’s eye as they walk past. She appears to be his daughter, but there’s something in the way that the man handles her with his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, seeming to drag her along, that makes Brandon take notice. He watches as the man and the girl walk further down the street and meet another man who is around forty or so. Brandon can’t see exactly what’s happening, but it looks like something is exchanged between the two men before the first man walks on without the girl. The second man grips her arm and leads her across the street to avoid the crowd that’s gathering around Elliott, who’s preaching again. Brandon moves around the group to see where the man and girl are going, breaking into a run when he sees the door of a passenger van open with what appears to be other young girls inside. “Elliott!” he screams, darting across the street.
Elliott leaves the group, bolting after Brandon. As the young girl is being forced inside the van, Brandon leaps for the man, pulling him away from the girl before he can get her inside. Elliott yanks open the driver’s-side door and tries to pull a man the size of King Kong out of his seat. Unaccustomed to fighting, Brandon takes solid, heavy blows to the face as the abductor curses at him.
Simon runs to help and smashes his fist against the side of the abductor’s head. Elliott scrambles over the driver to grab the keys, and the driver attempts to beat him off; his punches land hard into the van door, steering wheel, and windshield. A couple of men from the crowd Elliott was speaking to realize what is happening and rush in to help Brandon and Simon, hitting the abductor in the head and the stomach to keep him away from the girl. He runs down the street and the driver flees from the van as well, running through an alleyway.
Elliott turns to see two young girls, no older than eleven or twelve, staring at him from the back of the van. “It’s all right now,” he says. He gets out of the van to check on Brandon and the girl. Brandon is gasping for air and his face is swollen and red; his left eye, nose, and lips are bleeding. “Are you okay?” Brandon nods, leaning over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Elliott looks at the young girl and can see that she’s no older than the two inside the van. He puts his hand on her shoulder. “Have you been hurt?” She shakes her head. “Do you have parents?”
She nods and begins to cry. “My mom.”
“We’ll get you back to her.” He leans his head inside the van, looking at the two girls. “Do you live here with your mom and dad or a family member?” They shake their heads, and Elliott turns back to Brandon and Simon.
“What do we do?” Brandon asks.
They use the van and drive the young girl, Lorena, back to her mother, who falls to the ground when she hears about what happened. Elliott speaks with both of them before leaving, and they place their fears and lives in the hands of Christ. Lorena’s mother hugs all of them again, even the other two young girls, kissing one cheek and then the other before she lets them go. Elliott drives to the closest police station, but there’s no use in getting out. The line to get in winds down the street, and he and Brandon and Simon know it won’t do them any good once they are inside anyway. The lack of police officers is clearly evident in the streets, which means there is a lack of them inside the precinct as well.
“If we were Emma, she would bring them home,” Brandon says, his eye swelling shut.
They drop Simon off near his home, and Elliott gets out to say good-bye, hugging his friend.
“Thank you, Elliott.” Simon’s voice is full of emotion.
“The Holy Spirit helps lead you through the Bible,” Elliott says, gripping Simon’s shoulders. “Read it. Share the gospel of Yeshua with your family and friends.” He hugs Simon, pounding him on the back. “Hashem will give you dreams, Simon. He will pour out His Spirit on you.”
CHAPTER 39
Ashdod, Israel
The sounds of explosions fill the air outside Dr. Haas’s house. Zerah keeps his eyes on the Bible, reading every word again in Ezekiel 38:
After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel…Its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you…you will say, “I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars
or gates”…Thus says the Lord GOD, “On that day when my people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?…and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes…”
Zerah looks up from the Bible, glancing outside to the empty street. These words were here within this book his entire life, but he never knew about them until now. Israel was brought out from the nations. There is no other country on the planet whose people were dispersed around the world, only to come back into their land nearly two thousand years later. Up until the two-state solution was implemented with the Palestinians under the guidance of President Banes, Israel was protected by barrier walls along the Gaza Strip and West Bank, but those walls came down in a good-faith effort to show that the people of Israel believed in both the treaty and the Palestinians. They were now a people without walls protecting them from terrorist groups like Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Liberation Front, among others, but because of the peace covenant, had been living securely, just as Ezekiel foretold. Zerah glances down at the Bible, reading again: “You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land.” According to Scripture, Israel would be attacked by many nations gathered against them.
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