by Irvin Baxter
As they sat down to the table a short time later, David mentioned to Lydia what had dawned on them in the garden. “We just realized it has been almost three-and-a-half years since Arachev made his messianic claim. You know the Bible says that’s how long the antichrist will be permitted to continue.”
Lydia’s eyes grew wide with excitement. “I probably should tell you what was on the news this morning. The United Nations has decided to send the forces of the World Community into Israel to settle the dispute over Jerusalem once and for all. Does that mean anything?”
“Does it mean anything?!” David exclaimed. “I’ll tell you what it means! It means we are on the brink of the Battle of Armageddon! I know what we’re going to be preaching about today. We must get a message to our Internet contacts immediately. It looks like today is the day that we deliver the final warning!”
Roger and David made their way to the Mount of Olives. Apparently Arachev and the Global Police never dreamed that they would show up at their regular preaching point since warrants had been issued for their arrests. With the news that morning filled with stories about the arrests of the Endtimers, no one expected to see Roger and David out in public—and on the Mount of Olives, of all places! When the crowd saw the two preachers, they immediately began to gather around.
Roger opened his Bible to Revelation 16:15-16 and read, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
Roger looked around at the crowd with a boldness he had never felt before. “The title of my sermon today will be ‘Final Warning.’” A murmur swept through the crowd. Eyebrows were lifted as the impact of the sermon title drove itself home in each person’s mind.
Sensing that he had the crowd’s undivided attention, Roger began to speak. “David Freeman and I have been preaching for the last three-and-one-half years about events that have occurred here on earth and about those things soon to come. The things we have been warning you about are now upon us.”
“Slightly over three-and-a-half years ago, we told you that a time of great religious persecution would begin when a global political leader stood in the Third Temple claiming to be the Messiah. A few days after that warning, Michael Arachev stood in the Temple and claimed to be Messiah and God. All of you have since witnessed the religious and political oppression that we warned you about.
“At that same time, we told you that this time of persecution, called the Great Tribulation in the Bible, would last for three and one-half years. Check your calendars. That time is now complete.
“During the time of our preaching, we have taught repeatedly that all of these events would culminate with the Battle of Gog and Magog, also known as the Battle of Armageddon. We have been very specific that the Battle of Armageddon would be triggered by the invasion of Israel by the forces of the World Community. If you listened to your news this morning, the forces of the World Community are, at this moment, gathered on the banks of the Euphrates River preparing to invade Israel.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we stand today on the brink of the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus to this earth. The time has arrived for the fulfillment of the Scripture that I read a few moments ago. Let’s read it again: ‘Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.’
“My dear brothers and sisters, this is your final warning. If you have not yet been born again, you must do it before this day is over! Please do not disregard this message. This is your final warning!”
In the urgency of the moment, David and Roger did not notice the Global Police converging on them from their left. As soon as the crowd saw the police, they scattered in every direction. David heard the lead officer shout, “There they are. Get them!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Roger saw Attorney General Suslov. Suslov had been livid when he realized that both Cornell and Freeman had eluded him. It had been so humiliating since he had promised Arachev that they would be arrested. Suslov did not like being humiliated!
Roger was shocked when he saw Suslov pull the machine pistol from beneath his trench coat. As the bullets ripped through his body, Roger’s eyes looked upward from the Mount of Olives toward the sky. His last thought was, Resurrection—three-and-a-half days.
When Suslov had told Arachev the day before that both Cornell and Freeman had eluded them, he actually thought Arachev would have a heart attack. Suslov had never seen him so angry. It was only then that Suslov realized how much raw hatred was bottled up inside this man toward the two preachers who had brought such havoc to the New World Order. It was therefore with great satisfaction that Suslov pulled his cell phone from his pocket and placed the call to Arachev’s private number. When Arachev answered, Suslov merely said, “Mr. President, Cornell and Freeman are dead.”
For a moment there was silence on the other end…then jubilation. “Terrific, Suslov!” Arachev almost shouted. “I knew I could count on you. Great job!”
“Mr. President, what should we do with the bodies?” Suslov asked.
“Where are they now?” Arachev inquired.
“Lying here in the street on the top of the Mount of Olives. You know—where they always came to preach,” Suslov informed him.
“Are you telling me that Cornell and Freeman were up there preaching in broad daylight, knowing that we had issued warrants for their arrests?” Arachev questioned incredulously. “How stupid could they be?”
“Listen, Suslov,” Arachev continued, “since Cornell and Freeman liked to go up there to preach so much, I think we should leave them lying right there for all to see. Place the bodies under guard day and night. Let the whole world see that they are dead. We won’t leave any room for any more of their hocus pocus. We’ll hold the spot open to public view for four days so that no one can conjure up fantastic stories about their rising from the dead after three-and-a-half days. That’s the rumor going around.”
Hmm. Suslov thought. Arachev hated these guys’ guts! “Will do, sir,” he said aloud, and flipped the cell phone shut.
Turning to Solano, Suslov ordered, “Pick your most trusted men to guard these bodies. They are to remain on public display for the next four days. Have no less than six men on guard around the clock. If anything happens to these two bodies, it will mean the death penalty for those on duty.”
In less than 30 minutes, CNN, BBC, Reuters, and most of the other news services were swarming the Mount of Olives. The pictures of the bullet-riddled bodies of Roger Cornell and David Freeman were instantly broadcast around the world.
Chapter 27
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.…And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16:12,16
Inside the control room of Turkey’s Ataturk Dam, Omer Tariq waited tensely for the call to come. He checked his watch—8:30 p.m. It should be anytime now. Though he was expecting it, the fateful ringing of the phone still caused him to leap with a start from his chair. The voice on the other end gave the required passwords—“three wise men.” Omer hung up the phone and immediately began the routine that would raise the dam, totally cutting off the flow of the Euphrates. In 15 minutes, the huge, surging river had slowed to a trickle.
By 11 p.m., the water in the Euphrates at the chosen crossing point had dried up. The weather forecast was right on the money—overcast skies, no moonlight, with heavy fog. Air reconnaissance and spy satellites were worthless.
The tanks, half-tracks, bulldozers, and troop transports began to move quickly across the river bed. The commander of the International Forces, Vladimir Zhuganov, watched proudly as the operation proceeded virtually without a hitch
. By midnight, the dash for the northern border of Israel had begun.
At top speed, the trip from the Euphrates to Damascus, Syria, would take about four hours. As the convoy moved southward and westward, some of the troops tried to catch a few winks of sleep. Others talked.
Nikoli Anderov, a young soldier from the Ukraine, turned to Boris Ustinov from Russia. “You think this operation will be over in a few days like they are telling us?”
Ustinov shrugged. “Sure. Why not? No one can stand before the might of the World Community. Milosevic learned that the hard way! You agree?”
Nikoli shrugged tentatively. “I don’t know. You would think so. But I got a call from my mother two days ago when she learned I was being sent to fight in Israel. She begged me to do everything I could to get out of being part of this operation. She claimed that this was going to be the Battle of Armageddon prophesied in the Bible.”
“Was she serious?” Boris asked incredulously.
“Yeah, man. She even tried to talk me into going AWOL!” Nikoli half laughed. “I told her that would get me court martialed, but still she didn’t care. I’ve never seen her act so crazy about anything before.”
“I don’t believe in all that Bible prophecy junk. I wouldn’t worry about it, if I were you. You know how superstitious old people are about their religion.” Boris tried to act cocksure of himself, but Nikoli thought he heard a little fear in Boris’s voice.
“Boris, have you ever heard anything about this supposed Battle of Armageddon?” Nikoli questioned.
“Oh, I’ve heard of it before, all right. But I don’t believe it for a minute,” Boris replied. “Hey, man, this conversation’s starting to get on my nerves. We’d better grab some sleep.”
Boris turned onto his left side, stuffing his jacket under his head for a pillow. But Nikoli was wide awake now. His mind was racing like a runaway freight train. “Armageddon…blood to the horses’ bridles…winepress of the wrath of God…a heavenly army on white horses…” What he had learned at church as a young boy all came flooding back. Was he getting ready to fight against Jesus Christ Himself? Nikoli noticed that Boris wasn’t sleeping much either. First he turned this way and then that. Nikoli actually thought about trying to pray as the convoy raced toward its appointment in the Plain of Megiddo.
Around 4 a.m. the first of the International Forces began to wind its way through Damascus. The Golan Heights were reached by 5 a.m. “Right on schedule,” Zhuganov proudly observed.
The trip across the Golan Heights was a piece of cake. The Syrian Defense Minister, Maher Hassad, grinned at Zhuganov. “If it weren’t for the agreement that returned the Golan to Syria, we’d be fighting for our lives right now. People say that the Jews are so smart, winning all those Nobel and Pulitzer prizes and all. Do you know what we gave them for all this priceless territory? A piece of paper! One pathetic piece of paper with President Zahmud’s signature on it! And Zahmud made them think he was doing them a favor! For one piece of paper, Israel gave us this entire territory so critical to her security. Without the Golan, this invasion would be absolutely impossible. But Zahmud wore them down. He just waited and waited while the international community kept putting the pressure on.”
By daybreak the most powerful army to ever invade the nation of Israel stood poised to unleash all its fury on the northern border. The plan was to strike at first light and move as fast as possible to the Plain of Megiddo. Naval forces would simultaneously launch an invasion from the Mediterranean Sea near the Port of Haifa. The two forces would meet at Megiddo. Zhuganov turned to Hassad. “I’ve heard that Megiddo is the place from which Armageddon gets its name. Is that true?”
“Yes. You know that Lord Allenby, who invaded Israel during World War I, was given the title Lord of Armageddon. At the time he actually thought he was fighting the Battle of Armageddon.”
“Really?” Zhuganov replied. “Well, we don’t have to worry about anything like the mythical Battle of Armageddon. The Israelis don’t stand a chance. We have them so outmanned and outgunned that they won’t know what hit them.”
Hassad’s mood suddenly turned dark and serious. “It’s obvious you’ve never fought the Israelis before. I have. Strange things happen when you fight against them. It may not be as easy as you anticipate.”
His first view of the beautiful Sea of Galilee almost took Zhuganov’s breath away when he topped the last hill of the Golan. If this is what the Promised Land looks like, no wonder men have been fighting over it for four thousand years! Eight miles long and thirteen miles wide, the Sea of Galilee lay like a haven of peace in the middle of a turbulent, violent world. So this was where Jesus walked on the water…or so they say. The City of Tiberius nestled beautifully on the southwest end of the Galilee. Looking at the City of Tiberius, named after Tiberius Caesar, created a certain sense of awe in the commander’s heart. What a historical place! Caesar and Jesus, Capernaum and Bethesda… Zhuganov jerked his thoughts back to the task at hand. “We’re going to make a little history of our own today,” he told himself. “We’re going to remove the last obstacle to our longtime dream of the New World Order!”
The element of surprise that the forces of the international community achieved by the drying up of the Euphrates was almost complete. That maneuver was an absolute stroke of genius. Israel was simply unprepared for the massive attack that now plunged across her border, totally eradicating all resistance in its way. The Israeli Army had no choice but to fall back to the Plain of Megiddo to set up its defense.
When Zhuganov’s command vehicle topped the hill overlooking Megiddo, he could literally feel the rush of adrenaline that surged through his body. What an absolutely perfect theater for war! Seven kilometers wide, fifteen kilometers long, and mountains on every side. No wonder some of the world’s most famous battles had been fought there.
Already a ferocious tank battle was in progress out in the valley. The roar was deafening. Jets screamed overhead as they attempted to support their tank units. Now this was war!
As the international force from Haifa entered Megiddo from the western side, the Israelis suddenly realized they were fighting a two-front war. Knowing how deadly that can be, the Israeli armored unit began to drive southeast toward the mouth of the Jordan Valley. Having anticipated this move, the Russian troops were there to head them off. However, an Israeli unit coming up the Jordan Valley from the south allowed Israel to break through, creating an escape route for its forces trapped at Megiddo.
Zhuganov had to admire the Israeli troops. Repeatedly, he was sure that certain Israeli units were trapped with no way out when suddenly some kind of brilliant maneuver would allow the unit to reconnect with Israel’s main forces. So this was the vaunted Israeli individual initiative he had heard so much about! Not that it mattered. He would grind them down, kilometer after torturous kilometer.
Israeli soldiers knew every inch of their terrain, and they knew how to exploit it to the maximum. Yet, little by little, the Israeli Army had to retreat down the Jordan Valley—closer and closer to Jerusalem.
In her long and turbulent history, Israel had never seen an invasion that compared to this onslaught of the World Community. The level of firepower brought to bear upon the tiny nation of Israel was so overwhelming that it pushed soldiers to the brink of insanity. And the attacks were so unrelenting! The Russian troops, who played the dominant role in this invasion force, had that same tenacity that had brought the mighty Nazi juggernaut to a grinding halt.
The speed of the advance of the global forces was stunning. The Israeli Army, as always, fought brilliantly. The closer to Jerusalem the enemy came, the more desperate the resistance became. Just when it would seem that the conflict had reached its highest possible intensity, somehow it would be ratcheted up even higher.
When the global forces advanced to within 20 kilometers of Jerusalem, the highest of Israel’s military officials and political leaders gathered at command headquarters to determine the final strategy for Israel’s las
t stand.
Chapter 28
As Ramon, Sheves, Levy, Mordechai, Natanya, and Alon entered the room, the grimness of the atmosphere was palpable. Political affiliation was absolutely irrelevant now. If Israel’s situation were not so critical, the unity between the leaders would have been a wonderful thing. There was no bickering or one-upmanship whatsoever. But now, four thousand years of Israeli history bore down upon them like a ton of bricks right in the middle of their shoulders. Every man present felt it.
As Abba Shomron lumbered into the room, all eyes fastened on the man who had fought in every one of Israel’s wars, beginning with the War of Independence in 1948. Every person in that room knew that, when it came to military heavyweights, he was the warrior giant of the modern nation of Israel. What was he thinking? Was there one more brilliant plan behind those shrewd eyes?
Israel was almost out of options, and they all knew it. Israeli intelligence was telling them that, by the end of this day, enemy forces would be within five kilometers of the walls of Jerusalem.
It had been a long time since Israel’s Chief Rabbi had been asked to attend a meeting at this level; but, given the gravity of the situation, it had seemed to be the right thing to do. The Prime Minister surprised all present when he asked the Rabbi to open the meeting with a word of prayer. However, not one voice of dissent was raised to this suggestion. Even to the most secular Zionist in the room, the prayer was appreciated.
Rabbi Richman’s voice was deep with emotion as he began. “O Lord our God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we have sinned. We have disregarded Your instruction, and we have every man done that which was right in his own eyes. As a result, we have come to our present calamity. Now, O Lord, we come begging Your forgiveness. We have been a stiff-necked and rebellious people. But now we remember Your words, ‘If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’ O Lord God, hear us! Forgive us! Heal our backslidings. At this time, grant wisdom and insight to these our leaders that they may lead Your people Israel through this valley of our darkest hour. Amen.”
