At 32, she couldn’t help but wonder how her 34-year-old husband would react to the news upon learning that soon after becoming a grandfather at the hands of his twelve-year-old daughter, his wife would make him a father again. Theirs was a common “post-Rapture” tale.
Julio Gonzalez owned a successful construction business in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon being invited to move to safe house number one with his family, he donated all his equipment to the ETSM, and was told it would be delivered to a safehouse somewhere in New England. He just didn’t know where.
With his vast experience in both residential and business construction, Julio was promoted to foreman the day he arrived.
Meera Singh took a few moments before her next appointment to talk to her two new patients.
Tamika Moseley sat quietly in the corner observing, learning, all the while trying to conceal her astonishment.
Dr. Singh leaned back in her chair and looked at the young adolescent, “Care to tell me how you got pregnant?”
“Like many young girls my age,” Leticia said, twirling her black wavy hair with her fingers, “I foolishly participated in Romanero’s contest last March. Without my parents’ knowledge, I broadcasted my half naked body live on social media in my girlfriend’s basement, telling my viewers I was looking for the right boy to get me pregnant.
“Many laughed at me saying I was just a kid and I should go home to my Mommy and Daddy. But I kept insisting that I was woman enough and I was ovulating and wanted to conceive as quickly as possible.
“At one point, I had more than ten thousand viewers. Many let me know they were willing to get me pregnant. Some said things to me that really scared me.”
Meera Singh said, “Things of a sexual nature?”
Leticia nodded yes.
This was Marta’s first time hearing every detail of how her daughter had conceived. She couldn’t believe how matured and grown up Leticia sounded. She certainly didn’t look mature. Whereas some of her girlfriends had highly developed bodies that made them look more mature than their actual ages, Leticia was still a scrawny and flat chested kid.
She was too young to be called “beautiful”. She was cute and spunky, and acne-free. If anything, she looked younger than her age, and far too innocent to even be in the conversation let alone have the physical ability to conceive.
A couple years ago, she still believed in Santa Claus and had Hello Kitty bedsheets on her bed. Now she was just weeks away from making Marta a grandmother. It was the irony of ironies.
What happened to my little girl?
Leticia rested her hands on her lap, “I finally settled on some smooth-talking 26-year-old man, not boy. But only because he was willing to drive two hours to Providence before I changed my mind.
“After checking into a hotel, he picked me up at my best friend Blanca’s house, where I told my parents I was sleeping that night.”
Leticia glanced at her mother and saw the disappointment on her face. Her eyes quickly volleyed back to Dr. Singh. “At first, Blanca went along with it. It was fun! That is, until we met him at the gas station down the block from her house and he offered to ‘knock her up’ too,” Leticia said, using her fingers as quotation marks.
“That’s when she was no longer amused. Blanca grabbed my arm and begged me not to go with him. I could tell she was scared for me. This man gave her the creeps. Plus, he was stoned out of his mind and shouldn’t have been driving in the first place.”
Leticia sighed, “Even that didn’t stop me from getting in his car. As we drove off, Blanca cried her eyes out.” She sighed, “Anyway, after doing what he went there for, he made it crystal clear that if I got pregnant, he wanted nothing to do with the child once it was born.”
Leticia shook her head. “Said he was too immature to be a father. I was like, hello, I’m only eleven!”
Marta Gonzalez shifted uncomfortably in her chair again. She had difficulty wrapping her mind around the words coming out of her daughter’s mouth. Being pregnant again only exasperated the situation. She felt nauseous and didn’t want to hear anymore.
On the other hand, she was glad her daughter was finally talking about it. Up until now, mostly out of shame, she kept it buried deep inside. By getting it off her chest now, hopefully it wouldn’t come back to feast on her at some point in time.
Marta was just thankful Julio was out working with the others. She knew her husband enough to know that if he was here his hands would be balled up in a fist looking for something to hit. Or someone.
It was a “Daddy” thing.
Leticia grimaced, “But it’s not like I was looking for a relationship with him, so I was okay with it. All I wanted was to get pregnant. Can’t believe I lost my virginity to that man! I cried myself to sleep so many nights wondering how I could be so stupid. Because of him, I felt pain down there for a very long time…”
Tamika silently gasped. She wanted to hug the young girl; her mother too, all the while wondering how many more young girls were in the same predicament and would join the ETSM in the coming days and months.
It was a sobering thought.
Will I ever have children again? Tamika pushed that thought from her mind. For whatever reason, she was silently grateful to no longer be the youngest person living on the property. She felt comforted being sandwiched in between older and younger residents.
Leticia went on, “Funny thing is, once I knew I was pregnant, it’s like my baby papa…excuse me, my baby’s father, had a sudden change of heart. Suddenly, he wanted to be part of the child’s life. But by that time, I was already a Christian. There’s no way I’m exposing my child to an unbeliever and known heroin dealer!”
Dr. Singh raised an eyebrow, “Heroin dealer?”
“Yup. That’s what he told me. He practically worshipped Romanero for making heroin a legal drug.”
“What do you think caused the sudden change in him?”
“Not sure. Papa thinks he wanted the publicity, like having a son might benefit him financially.”
Meera Singh nodded thoughtfully. “How did you end it with him?”
“By not answering his calls or replying to his text messages. Believe me when I say, this didn’t make him happy. Got so mad he threatened to harm my father if I didn’t reply to him. Scared me half to death.
“When I told Papa what he said, Papa called him on the phone begging him to come by the house so he could teach him a lesson for what he did to me.” Leticia grimaced, “Just thankful it didn’t come to that…”
Dr. Singh sighed. Here she was talking to an adolescent girl who was about to become a mother at the absolute worst time in human history. If it happened before the Rapture, the vile man who impregnated her would have rightly been charged with sexual molestation on an underage girl and sent to prison for a very long time.
But since monsters like him had the full blessing of Salvador Romanero, and even the Pope, no one could prevent these perverts from prowling the countryside looking for girls to molest, not even parents of the victims.
Leticia leaned up in her chair, “I assure you, Doctor, this wouldn’t have happened before the Rapture! No way! I was still Papa’s little girl. We did everything together.” The expectant mother rubbed her belly, “Now look at me. What a difference a year has made…”
Tears formed in her eyes, “Like everyone else, I was forced to grow up fast. Part of why I got pregnant was that I missed my brother J.J. so much. When he vanished, it freaked me out. The other reason I did it was to perform my civic duty to help repopulate the planet. When Romanero said pregnant women would receive free hospitalization, plus a lifetime supply of diapers, I wanted to do my part in my brother’s honor.”
Mary leaned over and hugged her daughter.
“Anyway, just as I was entering my second trimester, I had my twelfth birthday. It was just before Universal Children’s Day. At that time, I knew I could leave my parents’ house whenever I wanted and be taken care of by the Global Community.
“I was reminded at each doctor’s appointment that they were willing to provide me with my very own fully furnished apartment with all expenses paid. Not bad for a twelve-year-old. But only if the father didn’t live there. Otherwise, the offer was off the table.
“They made it sound so good. After arguing with my parents on the day of the explosions, I told them I was leaving and never coming back. I packed whatever belongings I could fit inside my backpack and went to watch the fireworks with my friends in downtown Providence.
“I was heartbroken about leaving my parents but excited about living on my own and raising a child for the betterment of humanity. My plan was to go to the hospital the next morning to accept their kind offer. I even thought about leaving Rhode Island and perhaps living overseas. I had so many options. Imagine that, not even a teenager yet…
“Then came the explosions. At seven months pregnant, I was terrified and wanted to be at home with my parents. Thankfully I escaped without injury. But I lost two friends that night. They wondered off shortly before the fireworks looking to pick up chicks. Josh died in the explosions. Stephon died the next day from exposure to sarin gas.
“When I made it home, my parents were waiting at the front door for me. There was no cell signal, so they couldn’t call or text me. I collapsed in their arms and we all started crying. Instead of scolding me, they kept thanking God for keeping me safe and alive.
“That’s when I first felt convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit and started reading the Bible, something I never had an interest in before. For the first time in my life, I realized how sinful I was, and where I’d end up if I didn’t make an about face in life.”
Leticia started weeping. “I repented of my sins in my bedroom and trusted in Jesus for my salvation, then went downstairs and apologized to my parents for what I did to them.” Seeing her mother crying, she said, “Love you, Mama.”
“Love you too, hija.” Meera handed Marta a few tissues to wipe fresh tears from her eyes.
Leticia went on, “I felt so broken. Even though the father of my child had no business touching me in the first place, I was accountable for my own foolish actions, despite what my doctors and nurses kept telling me.
“While they were right, I was young and impressionable and he had no business touching me, I made the decision on my own before he drove to Providence, even against Blanca’s strongest protests.
“I was the aggressor, not him. It’s like they were hiding behind a veil of denial or something.” Leticia sighed, “Should have never exposed myself like that for the whole world to see.”
Meera Singh leaned back in her chair. She couldn’t help but be impressed by her patient’s willingness to take her share of the blame.
Surely it was the Holy Spirit convicting her. Sadly, many young girls and women were just as guilty themselves, for seducing and even raping young boys and men against their will just to get pregnant, so they could take full advantage of the many benefits Salvador Romanero was offering all new mothers. Their actions were purely selfish without the slightest thought for the men who impregnated them.
“Does Blanca know you’re a Christian?”
Leticia nodded yes. “Blanca’s parents are staunch Catholics. But they didn’t agree with the Pope calling on young girls to get pregnant. When they knew I was pregnant, they forbade her from seeing me or talking on the phone. When I became a born-again Christian, it only got worse between us.” She lowered her head, “Never even got to say bye to her.”
“At least you’re not alone. Many young girls like you are living in safe houses without their parents. You should consider yourself blessed.”
Dr. Singh looked at her watch. It was time for her next appointment. She wanted this one to end on an upbeat note. “Tell me about Joaquim?”
Joaquim Guzman was a 15-year-old farmhand/IT technician at the Kennett Square safehouse. His parents worked at the farm until they were taken in the Rapture. Suddenly with no place to go, the farm owners took him in. That was where God changed his and the owners’ hearts.
The first time Joaquim and Leticia met, he delivered dairy products from the farm to safe house number one.
Leticia beamed, “I know we just met, Doctor, but we’re in love. He truly cares about me and wants to help me raise the baby. I know I’m only twelve, but I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Marta dried her eyes. Her daughter was just being emotional. Her hormones were out of whack from the pregnancy. They could discuss it later. Now wasn’t the time.
Marta said to Meera, “Thanks for providing this moment of healing for us.”
Meera said, “I needed it just as much as you did.”
Tamika said, “Me too.”
Dr. Singh motioned for everyone to join hands in a brief prayer. After that, they group-hugged and went on with their day…
15
IN JERUSALEM, THE TWO long-haired, sackcloth and sandal wearing Witnesses kept prophesying, preaching God’s salvation message and speaking judgment over the House of Israel, depending on who was listening. To defiant rabbis and orthodox Jews, it came as judgment.
Their deep, scratchy voices boomed all throughout the Wailing Wall vicinity. Everyone within a quarter mile of the religious site heard their full-throated messages loud and clear; it practically shook the air!
It started the moment the false peace treaty between the antichrist and the nation of Israel was signed.
They hadn’t shut up since…
Not only did God’s Two Witnesses have the power to devour their enemies with fire from their mouths, according to Revelation 11:6, they had power to shut up the heavens so no rain would fall during the time they were prophesying, and power to turn water into blood and to strike the earth with every other plague as often as they wanted to.
But until the last of the 144,000 men under their tutelage were converted by the Gospel message, and consequently sealed by God and sent on their missions, aside from consuming anyone trying to harm them with fire, all other powers were being harnessed for the time being.
The restraint they showed lined up with Revelation 7:2-3: “Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
That time was fast approaching…
Once the 144,000 were sealed, and the Two Witnesses started turning water into blood and sending various plagues to the earth, the hatred toward them would increase exponentially.
The verses the Two Witnesses recited the most since materializing in Jerusalem—seemingly out of nowhere—were Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. They also frequently quoted Psalm 22. Of all the prophecy they spoke, by far, these verses angered their protestors the most.
The reason so many practicing Jews, including many rabbis, lashed out so vehemently whenever those passages were recited, was that they were forbidden texts in most Jewish circles, never to be read publicly or in private!
Each week when Jews gathered in synagogues worldwide, two portions of Scripture were read aloud—one from the Pentateuch (the Torah), and the other (the Haftarah) which was a selection of texts recorded by the prophets. This part was often sung in a chant in Yiddish.
Up until the 17th century, Isaiah 52:13—53:12 was included in the scheduled Haftarah readings. But it often led to great confusion, which resulted in its removal from the annual rotation, to avoid further heated arguments among them.
From that time on, Isaiah 52:13—53:12 was never read publicly on the Sabbath, or during the Jewish festivals or fast days. Once they arrived at Isaiah 52 in the scheduled reading, they stopped at verse 12.
The following week, they skipped over the last 3 verses of Isaiah 52:13-15, ignored all of Isaiah 53, and picked up at Isaiah 54.
Over a year’s time, every verse of the Torah was read
in canonical order. Much like how the Catholic Church had “scheduled readings” in the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist, the same was done in most synagogues. The end result of their defiance to the Word of God was that multitudes of devout Jews were unfamiliar with these crucial passages.
The way they were hidden from so many, in such plain sight, one might think Satan had recorded it instead of God’s own prophet, Isaiah.
Undeterred by their detractors, the Two Witnesses recited these forbidden texts many times throughout the day. This wasn’t done to agitate their protestors, as much as it was to reach those whose hearts God was changing, namely the 144,000, before calling them into service.
As always, they took turns quoting these forbidden prophecies among the growing crowds of Israelis, often changing the pronoun from “he” to “Messiah” or “Yeshua” to further demonstrate their point.
From memory, one of them quoted Isaiah 52:13: “‘See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.’”
Then the other quoted verse fourteen, “‘Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being, and his form marred beyond human likeness…’”
Then the other quoted verse fifteen. “‘So he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him.’”
He paused, then with added emphasis went on, “‘For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.’”
The last part of verse 15 was like a trigger, which caused each of the 144,000 to listen with greater interest.
Then, without skipping a beat, the other quoted Isaiah 53:1, as these portions of prophecy were connected, “‘Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’”
Then the other quoted verse two: “‘He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.’”
The Sealing Page 10
