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

by John Price

  Alfred’s assistant couldn’t contain herself, “Praise be to Allah. Look at that enormous city. Almost three million souls….Praise be to Allah.”

  “Yes, my dear, three million souls. All of whom will be offered as a sacrifice to Allah….It’s time now to do two things….Notify our friends to deliver to Yousef the special coffee table, the two inch thick lead covered one, as you know. And arrange for Yousef to deliver the furniture package to this lovely new home.”

  “Yes, in paradise this will be hailed as one of the highest places of sacrifice for Allah. When we are given the day and the time, this room will light up the sky and this corrupt city with Allah’s sword of nuclear destruction.”

  58

  Park Cities Area of Dallas, Texas

  The replaceable letter sign in front of Jack Madison’s Highland Park church stated that Sunday’s sermon title would be THE WARNING. As Sunday approached rumors began to spread among church members. The whispers were that their favorite pastor, who had been back in his pulpit for several weeks since being released from prison, was going to make a major announcement. So many people attended Sunday’s first service that folding chairs were brought into the back and sides of the sanctuary. The word was out - Pastor Jack’s sermon this week was not to be missed.

  As Jack Madison stood and approached the pulpit to deliver his sermon he knew that he was about to radically change not only his future life, but potentially the futures of the many who would hear his words, in the sanctuary and by way of television. He quickly sent up one last prayer, smiled, cleared his throat and said, “He is risen!”

  The congregation responded in the centuries-old response, “He is risen, indeed!”

  “My brothers and sisters in Christ, I come before you today with a heavy heart. But….candor demands that I also disclose at the same time that I am very excited about what we are going to discuss on this bright and sunny Sunday morning. You know that the title of today’s sermon is The Warning. I see that we’re blessed this morning by an overflow gathering of the saints. Some may be here, I suspect, to learn what the pastor is warning about? Well, let me begin by saying that I will not be conveying to you a warning from me, from Jack Madison. No, today’s sermon is based on God’s warning. His warning from His Word to His people.

  Several in the congregation exchanged puzzled glances, wondering what warning from God their Pastor was going to discuss. Was he going to preach on the need for a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ? Jack Madison was known for never missing an opportunity to lead people to salvation through Christ. He soon answered their unspoken question.

  “I am not referring to the clear warning that God gives in His Word that human beings need to be saved, before they depart this life. Jesus is God’s only way to be saved. If you’re here this morning and you can’t say with an assurance that you have asked Jesus into your heart to be your personal Lord and Savior, then today is your day. It’s a simple but critical decision. When we close later in prayer I’ll give you the opportunity to ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior.

  “Many are understandably asking - about what is God warning us? Many of you know that our men’s accountability group has been studying God’s prophecies concerning the identity of Mystery Babylon, also called the Daughter of Babylon and Babylon the Great. Those 223 verses, written by five prophets in both the Old and New Testaments, describe a rich, powerful and influential end times nation. Scripture describes this nation as the hammer of the whole earth, the great voice, the center of world commerce, a melting pot of a nation where the other nations of the world stream to meet, a nation of great wealth and luxury, which mounts up into the heavens and has a large Jewish population. Does any of that sound familiar?

  “We thought so, too. In our study we looked in detail at the thirty clues given us as to the identity of Mystery Babylon. Each one fits squarely our beloved nation. I wish it weren’t so. I wish that the Daughter of Babylon was some other nation, some other institution, anything but America. But, alas, that doesn’t appear to be the case. God says that this end times nation was used in the past as a golden cup in His hand. That was certainly the case in decades past as America’s missionaries reached out to the world. But, these prophecies also tell us the golden cup is now full of evil and abominations.

  “Does that thought bother you – that our country could be the source of abominations to the world? It sure bothers me. I’m a patriotic American who loves my country. But, we have to face the facts. Once the U.S. Supreme Court said it was legal to kill God’s little creations in the womb, the rest of the world has followed, for a total since 1973 of over one billion….that’s with a B…. aborted human beings world-wide since Roe versus Wade. To compound this abomination the U.S. has used millions of our dollars to bribe other nations to change their laws against abortion and allow abortion on demand.

  “Hollywood has gone from making movies lifting up people’s spirits and praising God, instead to glamorizing adultery, sexual licentiousness, drug use and excessive violence. America is now the world’s largest user of illegal and mood altering drugs. The list goes on. These abominations have happened in just the last few decades. America is not the country that it used to be. It has become in our lifetimes what the Bible calls the Mother of Abominations. How truly sad. We would be missing the signs of our times if we missed the major changes in America in our time on this earth.

  “As difficult as it is to acknowledge how far our country has fallen, an even larger problem for American Christians is the prophecies that persecution will grow in this end times nation, with violence and strangers in the sanctuaries of God. We’ve already witnessed the fulfillment of these prophetic verses, even in this very church, as you know. I know, some of you are undoubtedly thinking, ‘pastor with all this bad news, can it get any worse?’ Well, actually, it can. Thus, the title of today’s message - THE WARNING. In the prophecies foretelling the future of the Daughter of Babylon God gives us a warning ten separate times.

  “Before we see what He is warning us to do, let’s look briefly at what will happen to the Daughter of Babylon. What will happen to this end times super power? Simply put, the prophets, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tell us that the Daughter of Babylon will be asked by Israel to come to its defense when Israel is invaded. Ezekiel tells us in chapters 38 and 39 that once Israel has entered into a peace agreement and is dwelling securely she will be invaded by Russia, Iran, Libya and other named nations in scripture. Interestingly, Russia has a large Muslim population and each of the other named countries is predominately Muslim.

  “Needless to say, America is the only nation on the globe with a military defense agreement with Israel, which was signed as part of the Camp David Accords in 1979. The prophets say that even though Israel will plead for help, cry out to the Daughter of Babylon to come help save it, the Daughter of Babylon will betray Israel, stab it in the back, allowing many Israelites to die, before God Himself intervenes and saves Israel. God has never repealed Genesis 12:3. That’s His promise that He will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. When the Daughter of Babylon ‘betrays’ Israel as Isaiah phrases it, God will allow two of the same nations that invade Israel, according to Jeremiah, to destroy the Daughter of Babylon in one day, one hour, one moment.

  “Back to God’s ten warnings. Ten times He tells His people, Christians and Jews, to flee the Daughter of Babylon, to flee and ‘run for your lives’, warning us not to share in her sins and her plagues. God doesn’t waste His words. He means what He says. He loves His people, and thus, He wants to protect us. Flee can only be interpreted in one way – flee. Some may object that due to family, possessions, jobs, etc. they can’t, or don’t want to flee. It would appear, though, to be a clear matter of obedience A half a million Jewish residents of Germany saw the danger coming in the 1930’s and they fled from it. See Proverbs 22:3. Six and half million didn’t flee, two thirds of whom were then killed.

  “I could go on,
but the clock tells me that….”

  A parishioner on the front row called out, “Go on pastor, go on.”

  Pastor Madison, smiling, replied, “We have a second service coming in soon, so as much as I would like to go on, I do have to wrap this up. I’ll post an extended more complete version of this message on the church website, along with links to study and research materials. But, before I close, I need to tell you that the Madison family is putting our faith to work by obeying the verses I just referenced. We are fleeing America…..”

  Jack Madison waited to allow the hub bub among those in the congregation to die down, saying quietly, “I know. I know. It’s not a normal thing for a pastor to voluntarily leave the flock. This shepherd, though, is saying to the flock to do your research, pray and consider following us by also fleeing, just as God said. We will be joining my father and mother who have left the country, in spite of obstacles against their doing so. We expect similar challenges to our leaving. It’s not an easy thing to do, but we do it out of obedience. We ask for your prayers as we seek new ministry opportunities offshore. We love you all. God bless you every one. Let’s close in prayer.

  “Father, we don’t pretend to know what lies ahead of us as we move out of America in obedience to your Word. But, we do know that you love us and you’ve given us your warnings for your good purposes. Bless this assembly of believers and guide each one to seek wisdom from you as to what you would have us to do in the days ahead. But Father, more important than where we live and whether we should flee is the question of where we will dwell for eternity. I pray that for any person who may be here today who has never asked your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into his or her heart as their personal lord and savior, they will do so now. You may wish to pray a simple sinner’s prayer, such as, ‘Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins, which I confess. I ask you to come into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. I pray that you will be with me and guide me in the days ahead’ In Jesus precious and powerful name. Amen.”

  Not a single person in the sanctuary stood to leave. ‘Shocked’ was the word most used to describe their reaction to what they had just heard. Later, the word most used by those who heard the message was ‘scared’.

  59

  Mazah Highway (Route 7)

  Damascus, Syria

  The distance from Damascus, the capital of Syria, to Haifa in northern Israel is only about seventy miles. Syria’s Mazah Highway, route number seven, covers thirty of those miles. Damascus, considered the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city, is populated by over two and half million people in its metropolitan area. The city is mentioned early in the Bible in Genesis 14.

  Several metal-clad warehouses cover almost twenty acres near the intersection of Mazah Highway and Hafez Al Asad, south west of Damascus. Satellite surveillance over the prior three years confirmed to US and Israeli forces that substantial quantities of military armament had been moved into the warehouses. Further evaluation of the satellite images confirmed that the equipment was of Russian manufacture. Israeli intelligence kept a close watch on the Syrian installations. U.S. intelligence paid minimal attention to the Russian weapon cache, concluding that US security was not implicated.

  The Russian officer in charge of the Russian weapon installation was Colonel Vladimir Nikolaevich, a veteran of Afghanistan’s war with Russia. The Colonel’s primary responsibility was to insure that the several hundred tanks, troop carriers and artillery were in prime operating order. Ready to be used. Only awaiting word from Moscow. Colonel Nikolaevich was also entrusted with working with Syrian officials to ensure that the Mazah Highway was not only passable but without any significant potholes or impediment to travel for the Russian equipment to be moved along the highway to Israel. Only awaiting word from Moscow.

  60

  American Hawk Sporting Goods

  Seven Corners Mall - Falls Church, Virginia

  “The duty of a patriot is to protect his country

  from his government.”

  Thomas Paine

  The whirring of the box fan in the secure storage room at American Hawk was the only sound in the ironclad room. General Douglas Toussaint had just revealed to Senator Charles M. Quarter that only an assault on the White House had a reasonable chance of success. The Senator was munching over what he had heard.

  “Look, General, I fully understand that the Founders didn’t trust human nature, so they built in checks and balances in the government they constructed. But, because they knew that a tyrant could arise at any time, they made the right to keep and bear arms the second most important right, after the First Amendment rights of religion, speech, press and assembly. The Second Amendment was the ‘fix’ they gave to the people if Americans found themselves under a dictator. Remove him by force of arms, if necessary. I get all that, so, I’m willing to listen. Willing to be persuaded, but attacking the Executive Mansion would be a first….at least since the Brits burnt it in 1812. Tell me why your military strategists have concluded that assaulting the White House is the best strategy and might actually work.”

  “Here’s what we ultimately decided. If the White House complex were being built today there would be no possible way to ever breach it with an armed assault. But, like most things in DC, changes were made over time, and not all of those changes have added to the security of the structure. The key to our successful assault is the South Lawn. Thomas Jefferson added the mounds on both sides of the expansive thirty five acre lawn. Ulysses S. Grant drained what was then a swamp at the south end of the open lawn area. FDR hired famous landscape architect Frederick Olmstead to re-design the South Lawn. He planted large trees on the close perimeter to the White House for privacy purposes, but he left open the entire South Lawn, all the way from E Street right up to the building itself, so as to ‘give generous sight lines’ of the White House’s south façade. In fact, until after the second world war the South Lawn was open to the public, believe it or not.”

  “Are you saying that the assault will come across the South Lawn? Explain how that’s better than a direct frontal assault through one of the two front gates on….what is it?....Pennsylvania Avenue, of course.”

  “Good question. But, don’t forget that after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Secret Service closed Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to all vehicular traffic, though pedestrians are still allowed. Cars and trucks have to drive around Lafayette Park up to H Street. That entire area on the north side of the White House has been secured. Double secured. They installed hydraulic driven steel vehicle barriers at all gates which can be instantly raised, stopping any vehicle. Bad place for an assault.”

  “I’m beginning to understand your point, General. When FDR and Olmstead left fully open the South Lawn, they also left open an unhindered line of assault to the White House. Am I getting your point?”

  “Chuck, that’s correct. But it’s even better than you might expect. When Teddy and William Howard Taft built and remodeled the West Wing they had the President’s office located centrally inside the West Wing. FDR added a second floor to the West Wing, and most importantly, he re-located the Oval Office to the South-East corner on the back of the West Wing. It’s been said that FDR made the change that so he could slip back and forth to the main house, without being seen by the West Wing staff. Whatever his reason, he located the President’s office in a vulnerable spot. It adjoins the Rose Garden which looks directly down the South Lawn to E Street.

  The Secret Service installed three layers of bulletproof glass in the Oval Office to avoid a sniper taking out the President. But, here’s my primary point as to our line of assault. By breaching the metal fence on the south west end of the South Lawn, close to where West Executive Avenue adjoins the fence, we can be at, not near, but at the Oval Office in a matter of just a few seconds. Adjoining the Oval Office on the east side are the large window-doors of the Roosevelt Room. Our troops can be fully in the West Wing, through the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room window doors
, in less than a half minute. We found an interview with a spokesman for the Secret Service who said, ‘Unless you want to turn the President's house into a walled-off fortress, there just isn't much you can do about ‘jumpers’ – except try to stop them on the lawn.’ We’re going to bring in armed men, not wall jumpers.”

  “Doug, I get over to the White House, infrequently of course since I am not the President’s favorite Senator. As I recall, the South Lawn is a fair poke up the sloping grass to the building. How can you breach the wrought iron fence and get to the building that fast? I’m just asking.”

  “Sure. I understand. You need to hear the core of the assault plan. We will recruit three hundred veterans. Patriots. All single. All in top physical shape. They’re available. We’ll covertly load the men in three trucks, one hundred in each. Each will load at a location where it won’t look unusual to see several individual men walking into a building, like a gym, a friendly police department or here at this store. The trucks will be those soft-sided vehicles used to transport BMWs, Mercedes, you know what I mean. We’ll outfit each truck with a cattle flinger type v-shaped prow, to bust down the fence, which is almost sixty years old. Once the fence is breached, the run up to the White House should take about twenty seconds. The trucks can accelerate and reach the West Wing quite quickly. Frederick Olmstead designed us a nice clear highway. Once there, the troops pile out of the trucks and enter the West Wing through the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room.”