THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2)

by John Price

  An hour later Jack gave Debbie a huge hug to celebrate their passing the international jurisdiction line. They were now officially out of the Daughter of Babylon.

  44

  CAMP CHARLIE - FEMA RE-EDUCATION CAMP

  KANSAS CITY, KANSAS

  Dwayne Hatch was not only a guard at Camp Charlie, he was also a re-education instructor tasked with correcting the thinking of the Camp’s detainee inmates. Dwayne’s background was in education. His major at Sarah Lawrence College, one of the nation’s most liberal universities, was in diversity studies with a minor in Marxist economic theory. He was hired by the CCC because he scored well on his hiring interview. He was asked during the CCC’s qualification stage several questions about America and its people. He provided acceptable answers to questions such as ‘would you be willing to shoot American citizens, labeled as terrorists, if ordered to do so?’ Based on his responses, Dwayne was quickly hired.

  Today’s class was called to order as the clock displayed digital numbers of 8 AM. The class consisted of forty-seven inmates, mostly men, but ten of whom were female. Instructor/Guard Hatch began by saying, “Hold up your hand if you agree that America’s founders were white, ultra-rich, slave owning, bigots who tried to impose their religion on everyone in the Colonies.”

  Everyone in the room held up their hands, with the exception of Bill Benner and two seatmates. Instructor/Guard Hatch was not amused, saying with a scowl, “Benner, you still don’t get it. You and your buddies are wrong again. Everybody knows this country was founded by the dregs of society….a gang of misfits who couldn’t get along with England. Ungrateful. Religious fanatics. Selfish aristocrats. A sad group of….”

  “Officer Hatch,” Bill Benner interrupted, “You know we’re never going to agree with you. Your knowledge of U.S. history is a joke. Twelve of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence had their homes ransacked and burned. Five were captured by the British and executed. Nine were wounded fighting in the Revolutionary War. I could go on, but it’s a…..”

  “STOP. No, Benner, don’t go on. You do this every class. Look around, except for you and your two political sweethearts there, everyone else has gotten the word. Camp Charlie’s main job is to beat some sense into your thick skulls. RE-education, Benner. RE-education. You were taught a lot of stupid things when you went to American schools. Stuff created to make you loyal little patriots, so called. But all lies, Benner, all lies. The enlightened nations of the world show just how bad the U.S. is. Look at Russia, or China, or Cuba, to name a few. Everyone’s equal. Everyone’s the same. No rich white Christian bigots running everything. Why, just look at….”

  “Now you stop, Officer Hatch. Get on a plane and go visit those workers’ paradises you just listed. The leaders own dachas, jet planes and homes on the Riviera. The people may be equally poor but the leaders are fabulously wealthy. Socialism, communism, none of these isms has ever worked. Just open your eyes and you’ll….”

  “Benner, we’re done for today. For a guy who thinks he’s so smart, you sure are dumb. Almost everybody here has figured out how this re-education thing works. If you agree with the administration’s views, you get one point for each class you attend and hold up your hand in agreement with the question. If you refuse, you get minus one point for each class of opposition. Camp privileges, as you will know by now, are granted based on those running scores. But, as you know, Benner, the most important thing is that if you get to four-hundred points in your two year sentence here, you’re released, you’re a free man, safe to go back out into society. But if you don’t earn enough points, you stay at Camp Charlie until you do. What part of that don’t you get, Benner? Huh?”

  “Officer Hatch, I’ll never agree to your un-American lies and falsification of our history as a country. Never. Keep me here forever. If America gets re-educated the way this administration wants, I don’t want to ‘be out in society’, as you say. Wouldn’t be a fit place to live. Lying about America’s history isn’t my idea of re-education….know what I mean?”

  Hatch stared at Benner, pondering if he should say it or not. Finally, he decided that he would. Benner got under his skin as he made Hatch look ineffective as a re-education instructor. “Benner,” Hatch snarled, “I didn’t know if I should tell you this, but what the heck. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. The Camp Commandant told the guards yesterday in a meeting that Director Mortman….you know….the head of the CCC….is finishing up a new re-education procedure for people like you, Benner. The uneducable, the stupid, the boneheads who will never be re-educated to agree with the administration. No more mister nice guy. No more nice little class room debates.

  “Do you know what water-boarding is, Benner? OK, maybe we can’t use that….yet. But how about NOISE.? You are going to wish that we were allowed to water-board you when your eardrums explode from the 180 decibels of focused noise. We may not be able to give you a swirly yet, but there is no limit to the amount of noise that we can force you to endure. Of course, it may take weeks of steadily increased disharmonious noise before we increase the sound pressure level to the point that causes your eardrums to rupture and you bleed out while strapped down to the re-education chair. You are still on blood thinners for your high blood pressure right, Benner? We’re going find out pretty soon how much pain you’re willing to endure to continue to hold your radical right wing beliefs. Are you ready for NOISE, Benner? Huh?”

  45

  Small Group Bible Study, Home of Max & Liz

  Pelham, Alabama

  Following the death of Hannah’s uncle the small group thought it best to hold the next meeting at Max and Liz’s house, giving Hannah and Gary a break after the tragedy hit their family. Pelham was a suburb south of Birmingham, not far from their church. Tonight’s mood was somber, coming only days after learning of the unexplainable shooting of the well-known Christian leader in North Carolina.

  As he normally did, Scott called the group to order with prayer, “Father, we come to you tonight with heavy hearts for Hannah and her family. We continue to ask that you be very close to them and help them get through this tragic shooting in their family. Father, we also want to pray about what’s going on our country. We see and hear in the news that our Christian brothers are increasingly being blamed for the car bombings. We don’t know all the facts, Father, we don’t even know if these are actually Christians, or not. We do know that you don’t favor violence and bloodshed, so we pray for justice, but also for the true facts to come out. As we study your prophetic warning tonight to flee the Daughter of Babylon, we pray for an extra measure of your wisdom. We don’t want to be disobedient to your warning, yet we also want to make sure we understand your warning. That’s why we pray for your wisdom which you promised to give to us liberally when we ask for wisdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

  “Scott, before you get started,” Hannah interrupted, “Gary and I just want to thank you guys for all your prayers, and calls and….and….watching our dogs. You’re all very precious to….I can’t….Gary….you talk.”

  Gary picked up, “Hannah’s right. We are so appreciative of your showing us how the body of Christ pulls together and expresses God’s love to those of us who were, and are still, hurting. Thanks, guys.”

  Scott moved on, “You know we’re still here for you, whatever you need. OK. Let’s open our Bibles and look at the ten warnings that God gave to Christians and Jews. The first….”

  Liz interjected, “Scott, when I was studying this last night….oops….sorry to interrupt you….but when I saw that of these ten warning verses three verses were aimed at America’s Jewish residents, it made me stop. After I thought about it, though, I realized that the Jews are God’s people, the originally chosen race, so it only made sense that God would warn them also to flee from coming destruction. Taken together, then, the ten warnings cover God’s people, whether Jewish or engrafted into Israel, as Christians. I wanted to bring that up. I just thought it was kind of neat, you
know what I mean?”

  “No problem, Liz”, Scott replied, “I’m glad you added that point. It also hit me that God is interested in warning all of His people, not just the engrafted ones. Who is willing to read the seven warning verses for Christians? Max? OK. Go.”

  Max pushed his new reading glasses up a bit, leveled his Bible so he could read and read the following verses:

  “Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock.” That’s from Jeremiah 50:8.

  “Let everyone flee to his own land.” Jeremiah 50:16.

  “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will pay her what she deserves.” That’s in Jeremiah 51:6.

  “We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the clouds.” I know we’re going to discuss this, but doesn’t that first part just grab you? ‘We’, the Trinity I think that means, ‘would have healed Babylon’. Wow. Sorry, Scott, got to preaching there. That’s in Jeremiah 51:9.

  “Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.” That’s from Jeremiah 51:45.

  “You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the Lord in a distant land, and think on Jerusalem.” Source here is Jeremiah 51:50.

  “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so you will not receive any of her plagues.” This is apparently a New Testament part of the warning. It’s at Revelation 18:14.

  Scott thanked Max, “Muchas gracias, Senor Max. Who volunteers to read the three parts of the warning to Jewish residents of the Daughter of Babylon? Marty? OK. Go.”

  Marty used an iPad for her lessons, so she rubbed her finger across the screen and started reading. “Notice in these three parts of the warning that the three Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah refer to Israel as Zion and Jacob, traditional names for God’s chosen people. The first part of the warning is at Zechariah 2:7:

  “Oh Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon.”

  “Next is Isaiah writing at 48:20, “Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.’

  “The third is at Jeremiah at 50:5: “They will ask how to get to Zion. Then they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to me. They will enter into the covenant I make with them. It will last forever. It will never be forgotten.”

  “Thanks, Marty. Good job. The first two you read seem fairly clear on their face. Zion – escape if you live in the Daughter of Babylon and ‘leave Babylon, flee’. I’m not as sure that I get the last part of the third verse, the one from Jeremiah. Apparently God is saying that the Jewish residents of the Daughter of Babylon will ask about how to get to Israel and will head that way. The last part of the verse may be for a time in the future when Jewish people turn to God in a covenant when Jesus returns? Any thoughts?

  Tom asked, “one part of the verses that Max read I don’t understand….or, let me re-phrase that….I think I do understand it, but I’m not too sure I like it.”

  Liz said with a smile, “Like God is interested if you like His prophecies?”

  “OK”, Tom smiled back, “I know….I know….I don’t get to vote….That’s not what I meant. Let me start over….In Revelation John wrote….here it is….’Come out of her my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so you will not receive any of her plagues’. Look, I get the not receiving any of her plagues part. What I’m struggling with is the ‘flee’ so we ‘don’t share in her sins’ part. Does that mean that if I’m still living in a wicked nation that’s exporting to the world abortion, and pornography, and who knows what all, that I’m sharing in her sins? Does anyone else get that from this part of the warning?”

  Max nodded his head and replied, “Yeah, Tom, I think that’s exactly what it means. Ever since I read that last week I’ve been really troubled in my spirit. I don’t know if Marty’s on board 100% yet….you can speak up for yourself, honey….but I’m convinced that we need to give more than serious thought to moving out of the country. How many times have you read God giving a warning like this in scripture? Once? Two or three times? Many times? Sure. But ten times? I’m convinced that He really wants to get His people out of a decadent situation which will hurt us. Look at that verse again. He says to ‘come out’, but why does He say to come out? ‘So’, He says, you will not share in her sins, so you will not receive any of her plagues’. It’s more than just not sharing in the sins of the Daughter of Babylon; it’s also avoiding the bad impact on His people of her plagues. Who sends the plagues? God does throughout scripture. Why? When His people mess up and walk contrary to Him. Because He….”

  Tom interjected, “Max, sorry, but it just hit me….Some of these parts of the warning say to flee to avoid destruction but this part of the warning says to come out of the Daughter of Babylon to avoid any of her plagues. Plagues come on a nation before its destruction. You know, additional warnings, like Moses telling Pharaoh what’s coming if he ignores the plagues being inflicted on his nation and its people. We’ve all discussed how the weather in the last few years has been so violent and destructive of people and property. We’ve talked about how the economy stinks, with so many out of work, and the growing national debt because we spend 40% more than we collect in taxes. We’ve commented on how so many people seem to get sick, Scott’s recent bout with the flu, in spite of a flu shot being a possible example of what I’m trying to say. I’m not saying Scott had some un-confessed sin, but he is living in a country where sin is rampant. It could mean that its plagues will land on God’s people, too, not just the unsaved. Could that part of the warning from Revelation have that meaning? Anyone else agree with me?”

  “Whew.” Sally said, “You guys are a sack of smiles. I can read. I get what these parts of the warning say….but to be honest about it, I don’t want to even think about moving. I don’t want to leave America. I’m not going to move. We’ve got family here, don’t cha know?”

  Max leaned forward in his chair, looked at Sally, waited, then said, “My dear sister, who doesn’t have family? I’ve thought about this in some depth, actually a long time before I read this book and before we started this Bible study. I’m convinced that it’s the right thing, the prudent thing, to do. The Bible says that ‘the prudent see the danger coming and flee from it’. Let’s talk a little history. When Hitler was coming to power in Germany, many Jewish residents saw the danger coming. Germany passed laws to oppress Jews, limited how much currency they could take out, took away their guns, eventually they prohibited Jewish residents from leaving Germany. But approximately five hundred thousand Jews fled Germany before the immigration doors were shut. Two thirds of the Jewish residents who didn’t flee ultimately were put to death. Every Jewish person who fled had family. Most left some or all of their family behind….but they did the right thing and….they lived. I read about a Jewish businessman in Holland who saw the danger coming, realized Hitler was serious, sold his paint factory and moved to Canada. He lived into his 80’s and eventually had over seventy descendants who lived because he fled and they all lived. My view is that I need to be obedient….do what God has told us to do….and be a leader in our family. I will pray that every family member eventually flees, also, but I can’t live their lives, I can only live mine, under God’s guiding hand.”

  Tom, addressing Liz, asked, “Are you on board with Max? Are you ready to leave your parents, and other family? Are you ready to move offshore?”

  “Tom, we’ve had some long discussions, and I’m warming up to the idea, I must say. These bombings, supposedly by Christians and gun people, will lead to more violence and, I’m sure, to increased repression of people
of the faith. Already most American pastors are scared silly to preach about traditional Biblical marriage. Might be a violation of the McAlister Hate Speech Law, right? I don’t see things improving, frankly. The economy is in the pits and getting worse. To follow up on what you said about plagues, I think that’s exactly what’s been happening in the United States. God’s been sending His plagues to warn us, and we’ve been ignoring them….and Him. So, to answer your question in one word, Tom, I’m not quite ready to say, yet, but I’m getting closer.”

  Scott concluded the study by suggesting, “Look, I’ve talked to each of you, separately, at different times about this whole question of fleeing. Next week, we’ll all talk together about it. If you fled, where would you go? How hard will it be? Do you sell your ‘stuff’, the word the Bible uses for our possessions? What about ministry opportunities overseas? Lots of things to consider. Let’s go to our prayer groups. God bless us. As Tiny Tim would say, God bless us, everyone.”

  46

  Mountainback Church

  Phoenix, Arizona

  “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

  God will not hold us guiltless.

  Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  (German Pastor martyred in 1945)

  Pastor Mick was never so sure of anything in his life. He knew that he had been chosen by providence to lead America’s churches away from an excessive, even harmful, reliance on what some said the Bible taught about marriage. Pastor Mick had been on the phone for several days to other evangelical pastors whom he knew across the country, lining up their support for his joint statement. Not everyone he called agreed with him but he was able to persuade over two hundred pastors to sign on. His main argument was that same sex marriage was not an important enough issue that the church should give up its God given commission to preach the gospel just to oppose this practice. Those who refused to sign on to Pastor Mick’s public statement argued with Pastor Mick that the Bible is abundantly clear on the issue and that giving up on this issue would only open the door to even more compromises of God’s Word in the future.