by Len du Randt
Malcolm’s throat was dry. He didn’t know the answers to any of her questions. He instead prayed silently that Adonai would lead them and protect them from Victor’s coming wrath. He believed in his heart that he and Mary were two of the hundred-forty-four thousand chosen ones, but he still didn’t know what God wanted of them, or why they had been chosen.
‘In time, all will be revealed,’ he said with a coarse voice.
Time crawled by, and so did the traffic. A little more than an hour later, Malcolm stopped at the N-Force border patrol.
‘Where are you heading?’ The officer asked Malcolm as he scanned his smart card for his details.
‘We’re going to visit some family in Jordan,’ Malcolm answered. He wondered if lying would implicate him in the eyes of the Lord. He prayed that it wouldn’t.
‘Which city?’ The officer asked as he scanned the inside of the car.
‘Erm...Irbid,’ Malcolm said, praying furiously in his mind that the border guard would let them pass. Please Jesus, he pleaded in his mind, make this man unaware of what’s been happening, and let us pass. We are your sealed ones.
‘Any idea why thousands of Jews would suddenly want to up n’ go all at once?’ The guard asked, seemingly unaffected by Malcolm’s prayers.
‘Really?’ Malcolm said with a coy expression on his face and stuck his head out of his window to look at the cars queued behind him. ‘I didn’t really notice, you know. Maybe they all have families in Jordan?’
The guard just stared at Malcolm. He then looked at Mary, who just smiled back at him sheepishly. After a long moment of silence, he finally spoke again: ‘Step out of your vehicle, please,’ he said.
Oh Adonai, Malcolm prayed. His legs became temporarily paralysed and eventually he forced himself from the car. Please help me, Jesus!
‘Open the trunk.’
Malcolm reluctantly opened the trunk and took a step back.
The border guard stared at the boxes and suitcases for what felt like hours. He eventually closed the trunk and handed Malcolm his smart card.
‘Drive safe, sir,’ he said as he turned toward the next car in the queue.
‘Y—yes. I will. Thanks.’
He got into the car; his hand shaking as he turned the key in the ignition.
‘What just happened?’ Mary asked as the car spurted to life.
‘Timothy was just proved right once again,’ he said as he drove their car into Jordan.
- - -* * *- - -
‘Do you have anything to declare?’ The border guard asked Benny.
‘Nothing that I can think of,’ Benny answered, as he pretended to be thinking hard.
‘Would you mind stepping out of the vehicle?’ The guard asked and stepped away from Benny’s door.
‘No problem at all, sir,’ Benny said and got out.
If the guard discovered his weapons and ammunition, they would shoot him on the spot. No one but N-Force were allowed to possess firearms, and he had enough in his trunk to fortify a small city.
‘Please open your trunk, sir,’ the N-Force guard said in a stern voice.
‘Are you sure this is at all necessary?’ Benny asked as he walked to the back of his car.
‘Keep moving, and keep quiet,’ the guard warned him. ‘Now open it.’
Benny unlocked the trunk and took a step back, taking the hilt of his hidden dagger in his hand; just in case. Should the guard discover the guns, he would have no qualms about silencing him before he could make a scene. But he would prefer to avoid that scenario.
The guard lifted the blanket that covered the guns, and stared at the weapons. He gently rubbed his fingers over the barrels, and then opened a bag filled with ammunition.
Oh Lord, Benny prayed. This is it! I have to act now! Please forgive me...
Benny was about to pull out his dagger and slit the guard’s throat, when the man suddenly closed the bag and shut the trunk.
‘Drive safe, you hear?’ the guard said, and Benny had to repeat the words in his mind to make sure that he had heard right. He released his grip on the dagger and gave a nod before moving to the front of the car. Not once did he take his eyes off the guard, who had already started toward the next car.
I don’t know what You did and how You did it, he prayed as he sped off into Jordan, but thank You!
- - -* * *- - -
‘Understood, sir!’ One of the N-Force border patrol guards yelled into his two-way radio.
‘I am sorry,’ he told the driver that wanted to cross the border into Jordan, ‘but we have just received orders to not let anyone pass the border anymore.’
‘Why not?’ the driver asked.
‘You are not entitled to ask questions,’ the guard replied sternly. ‘You will turn your vehicle back, and report to the nearest N-Force station, is that understood?’
‘But I...’
‘Understood?’
‘Yes.’
The man reluctantly turned his car around, but instead of heading to the nearest N-Force station, headed toward Tel Aviv International airport instead.
- - -* * *- - -
Malcolm was still dazed about crossing the border without incident. He didn’t know where he was going, but knew in his heart that the Lord would guide him to where he was supposed to be.
‘What happened back there?’ Mary asked, still visibly shook up.
‘I don’t know,’ Malcolm answered truthfully. ‘But what I do know is that we’re here because HaShem made us pass. There was no way that we were supposed to get through that.’
‘And where are all these people going?’
‘I don’t know, my love,’ Malcolm said. ‘But I feel that we’re all guided by the same force.’
Night fell, and Malcolm pulled over to where small encampments of cars were gathered.
‘We’ll camp here for the night,’ he said. ‘And when morning comes, we can make an educated decision of where we want to go.’
Mary agreed to this, and as Malcolm set up their tent, she baked them some beans over a camp fire.
- - -* * *- - -
‘Did you see the news?’ René shouted to Trevor from her cubicle.
‘Nope,’ he said as he finished an email. ‘What’s up?’
‘Thousands of Jews have left Israel in a big hurry. It took N-Force some time to figure out that there was something behind this sudden exodus.’
‘Why? What’s going on?’
‘They’re not sure yet, but they think that the Jews are planning on nuking Israel, and want to get to a safe distance before doing so.’
‘It doesn’t make sense,’ Trevor said. ‘Why would they flee from a country that they have struggled so hard to get, and then just bomb it?’
‘I’m not sure,’ René said, ‘but something got the Jews running.’
Trevor wondered what could have caused the Jews to suddenly flee, and wondered if it had something to do with Victor’s claims. One didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that they were fleeing, and not just running for cover. He wondered what ‘end time’ connection Andrew would link to this. He logged onto the GMN website and read the article himself.
‘It says here that many of the Jews trying to get out of the country were shot on the spot.’
‘Serves them right,’ René said emotionlessly. ‘If they want to nuke the city, it’s better to stop them by any means necessary before they get a chance.’
‘Yeah,’ Trevor said absentmindedly. Something was amiss with this picture, and for some reason he wanted to hear Andrew’s opinion on it.
- - -* * *- - -
‘Hey, Trev,’ Andrew said. There was a hint of excitement in his voice. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine,’ Trevor said, trying to cut down the chitchat. ‘Listen bud, the reason I’m calling is to hear your opinion on the Jews fleeing Israel. It’s quite sudden.’
‘You saw it too, eh?’ Andrew said. ‘I’m busy watching it on GMN. Exciting stuff.’
‘So what’s up wit
h that? What does your...Bible tell you about it?’
‘Once again, I cannot tell you over the phone,’ Andrew said. ‘But it is linked to what Victor said in the Temple.’
Trevor sighed. ‘Okay,’ he said finally. ‘We’ll discuss it on Saturday.’
‘I’ll tell you everything on Saturday; I promise.’
‘You better.’
‘I will. Promise.’
They hung up and Trevor reread the article on the website. He wondered how this linked to what Victor has said, and even if Andrew’s answers would be legit. He figured that only time would tell, so he closed the website and loaded a game.
- - -* * *- - -
South Africa: Two Days Later
‘And in our studio tonight, we have two very distinguished guests,’ a well-dressed presenter announced on a GMN talk show.
‘We’re just in time,’ Trevor yelled to René, who was still in the kitchen finishing the last touches of her dinner before joining him in a comfortable position on the sofa.
‘To my left, we have Pope Alexander the Ninth, elected from Arch Bishop a little over three years ago.’ The crowd clapped and cheered and the presenter gave them time to finish. ‘And on my right, we have Pastor Richard Fisher from the Christian Today Evangelical Society.’
‘That’s a mouthful,’ Trevor quipped.
‘Both men are here to debate the...validity...of President Yoshe’s claim a few days ago in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. But before we give them a chance to speak their minds, let us view the claim for ourselves.’
A short video clip of Victor’s speech in the Temple showed the last few seconds of Victor claiming to be God, and then showed him leaving the Holy of Holies. Watching it sent a chill through Trevor’s spine, and he felt uncomfortable. Since the speech, something about Victor bothered him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it just yet.
‘All right gentlemen,’ the host said, ‘Is President Yoshe’s claims based on truth, or insanity?’ He pointed toward the pastor sitting to his right. ‘Pastor Fisher, your thoughts?’
‘When we read the Bible,’ the pastor began his defence, ‘we see that there is only one God. We also see that God is divided into three distinct...persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three together are God. It is impossible to take even one of them out of the equation. Thus, you cannot have one man, no matter whom he is, claiming that he is God; because God is Spirit.’
‘Confusing, but okay,’ the host said, then turned to Antonio. ‘Your thoughts, Pope Alexander?’
‘Firstly, Pastor Fisher,’ Antonio said and leaned a bit forward. ‘The book that you are referring to, the Bible, cannot be used as a base for your defence, since it is, in itself, an untrustworthy source. The alien attacks proved this. Also, it is written with so much double meaning that anyone could interpret it to say whatever they wanted it to say. You only need to look at the various cults and denominations within Christianity itself, each with their own ‘Bible based’ doctrine to see the truth behind what I am saying—’
Pastor Fisher cut in without allowing the host to ask another question. ‘The differences in the various denominations are only to separate the body parts from one another. The Church is the body of Christ. If all churches were the eyes, who would speak? If all churches were the nose, who would hear? They differ in methods of worship and lesser important doctrines because God knew that each person is unique. But the overall doctrine of God and salvation stays the same.’
‘Thank you, Pastor Fisher,’ the host said with a sarcastic bite in his voice. He didn’t like being interrupted, or when people tried to hijack his show. ‘Let’s stay on topic, shall we?’
Both religious leaders agreed.
‘Pope Alexander, do you believe that President Yoshe is God?’
‘Absolutely,’
‘In what sense do you mean it when you say that he is God?’
‘He is the sovereign creator and life force of everything that exists. He has total control of all events, and this even includes the weather.’
‘But weren’t you the one who made it rain in Israel?’
‘Everything I do,’ Antonio said, ‘I do because he enables me to do it. He gives me power.’
‘He? As in President Yoshe?’
‘That is correct, yes.’
‘He is a fake,’ Pastor Fisher interrupted, ‘an Antichrist!’
‘My dear friend,’ Antonio said with a sly smile. ‘Did you not until recently proclaim him to be the Messiah; the Christ?’
Pastor Fisher dropped his head. ‘I...I have,’ he admitted.
‘And now you oppose him?’
Pastor Fisher didn’t say anything.
‘And if you oppose the Christ...doesn’t that then make you the Antichrist?’
‘It’s different,’ Pastor Fisher finally protested. ‘I was blinded by the lie!’
‘And what makes you think that you’re not blinded now? That you were in the truth, but because of pride and arrogance, you chose to oppose the one you proclaimed to be the Christ?’
‘That is not so,’ Pastor Fisher defended. ‘The Bible tells us that there is one Christ; one mediator between God and man. There is such a man, but that man is not Yoshe. That man is Jesus. Jesus alone is the Christ.’
‘Are we still on about the Bible?’ Antonio said mockingly and the crowd chuckled. ‘Didn’t I just refute that book of hatred and lies? Who can take a book seriously that promotes fairy tales, racism, murder, adultery, and more? That book is an anarchist’s cookbook, and if it were up to me, I’d have them all burned; also those who read it.’
‘It only promotes those things if you read it out of context. Like you just now said: one can prove anything if he reads it out of context.’
‘You’re taking my words out of context, Pastor,’ Antonio said. ‘I said that the Bible is written with so much ambiguity that you could make it prove anything you claim; within—or out of—context. If something good happens, it’s God’s will. If something bad happens, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Anything and everything can be justified with that book, and some of the world’s worst atrocities have been committed by using the Bible as an excuse for doing so.’
Pastor Fisher balled his fists. ‘No matter what the context, the Bible still perfectly states that Jesus is the Christ.’
‘Speaking of Jesus,’ Antonio said. ‘Wasn’t he supposed to be God?’
‘He still is God,’ Pastor Fisher confirmed. ‘And will always be.’
Antonio frowned. ‘And where is he now?’
‘He is sitting at the right-hand side of the Father in Heaven.’
‘And do you think that he could take a minute off his busy schedule of sitting around to join us here today?’
The audience cheered and clapped, igniting more emotion in Pastor Fisher than he had hoped to display.
‘That’s blasphemous! You cannot even suggest something like that! God doesn’t react to the snap of a mere mortal’s fingers!’
‘That’s because a dead ‘God’ cannot react at all.’
The crowd loved it. They cheered loudly.
‘Let me show you how it’s done,’ Antonio said. He closed his eyes and interlocked his fingers. With a heavy voice – more to mock the pastor than anything else – he prayed, ‘Oh God of Heaven and Earth, please take the time to join your servant here today.’
For a few seconds nothing happened, and then, in the blink of an eye, Victor was standing next to the host. The audience cheered and shouted at the top of their voices, and some of the girls started crying as they reached out to him.
The host wanted to calm the people with a stern warning, but Victor stopped him. He soaked in the cheers and praises, and the host used the time to arrange for another chair to be placed on the stage. A few minutes later, Victor was seated next to Antonio.
‘You called?’
The audience cheered again, but this time the host did calm them.
‘My Lord,’ Antonio said and kiss
ed Victor’s hand. ‘Thank you for gracing us with your presence today.’
Victor just smiled.
Antonio turned to face the perplexed Pastor. It was clear from Fisher’s facial expression that he didn’t expect this to happen. ‘All right Pastor,’ Antonio said. ‘I have called on the God of Heaven and Earth, and Lord Yoshe appeared. Why don’t you call on your Jesus and make him appear?’
The crowd cheered again.
‘It doesn’t work that way!’ Pastor Fisher exclaimed, still flabbergasted by the sheer presence of Victor.
‘Why not?’ Antonio asked. ‘Because he is incapable of doing so?’
‘No,’ Pastor Fisher said.
‘Or is it perhaps because he really is dead, and that he isn’t any more God than a tree stump could be regarded as God? Could it be that his disciples turned him into God so that their troubles and persecutions wouldn’t be in vain?’
‘No!’ Pastor Fisher shouted out. ‘Jesus has risen! He is alive!’
‘Says who? Your Bible?’
The audience laughed. Even the host chuckled.
‘I have shown you my God in person. Why can’t you do the same for me?’
‘Blessed is he who has not seen, yet believes...’
‘Blah, blah, blah!’ Antonio made sure that the audience cheered loudly before continuing. ‘Stop quoting that stupid book of hypocrisy and give me some scientific facts!’
‘The Bible is a reliable source of information!’
The host interrupted the two in order to avoid the argument from turning violent. He directed his next question to Victor.
‘Sir, with all due respect, did you just wake up one morning and say, ‘I’m bored. Hmmm, hey! I know! I will be God’?’