They plunged through the door and into the street, not caring that the GC was nearby. The sight in the sky took their breath away. Judd put an arm around Vicki and hugged her.
“A cross,” she whispered. “Of course!”
Judd couldn’t take his eyes from the yellow pulsing light. He wondered what was happening at the Temple Mount right now and in the desert with Carpathia’s army. Could the GC sense their end was near?
“Wait a minute,” Vicki said. “What are you doing? You have a broken leg and you just …”
Judd stared at her. “And you—we just ran up those stairs, but …” He put all his weight on his bad leg. No pain. He wasn’t even sore. “I thought for sure it was broken.”
Vicki felt the back of his head. “There was a big knot here. What happened?”
Judd’s eyes grew wide as he pulled Vicki’s pant leg up and unwrapped her bandage.
“What are you doing?” she said. “I want to keep it covered so it won’t get infected.”
“You were limping on this, right?”
“Yeah, but—”
Vicki’s mouth dropped open. Her leg looked perfectly normal. No skin tears, no blood, no scars. Not even a scratch.
“We’ve both been healed!” Judd said.
They jumped and giggled like schoolchildren. Judd felt ten pounds lighter.
“What do we do?” Vicki said, unable to stop smiling.
“Jesus is supposed to come back to the Mount of Olives, right?”
She nodded. “And he’s going to split it in two.”
“Okay, there’s got to be another mount close by where we can see everything.”
“Mount Scopus,” Vicki said.
“Mount Scopus it is,” Judd said. “Let’s go.”
Lionel picked up the canteen and screwed on the lid as he watched the cross. It was a symbol of how far God would go to show his love.
Lionel felt pressure on his left arm, and the one Zeke had made for him pushed forward.
Sam yelled and pointed, startled by something on Lionel’s clothes.
Lionel brushed his hand against his shirt, thinking there might be an insect on him. “What is it?”
Sam stared at Lionel’s left arm. Lionel raised it. His arm had returned. Two hands.
A miracle!
Lionel raised both hands toward the cross and fell to the sand, overcome with thanksgiving.
40
JUDD and Vicki ran through Jerusalem with the pulsing, flashing cross lighting their way. Judd knew the Unity Army controlled the city, but he didn’t care. His Lord was coming, and Judd wanted to see him.
They rounded a corner and noticed several dead bodies. To Judd’s amazement, one of them moved. He and Vicki rushed to the man.
When he saw the mark on Judd’s and Vicki’s foreheads, he smiled. “I was shot and fell here. I pretended I was dead—and nearly was. But just now I felt something strange.” He pointed to his chest. “Look. The hole where the bullet went through isn’t there.”
“We were healed too,” Vicki said. She explained where they were going.
“I’ll go with you and show you a way around the Unity Army,” the man said. “My name is Ehud.”
The three raced into the night, wondering what they would find around the next corner. What would God do to top what he had already done?
Lionel was so excited about his arm that he didn’t notice what was happening behind him.
Zeke rushed up and yelled, “You two fall back. They’re coming!”
“What?” Lionel said.
But it was too late. The cross in the sky had set something in motion with the Unity Army, and Lionel heard hoofbeats on the sand. He glanced back as horses galloped toward them.
“Big Dog One to all units,” someone said over a radio Zeke had on his shoulder. “Hold your fire. Wait. On my command.”
“What’s he thinking?” Zeke said. Then he hollered at the rebels in front of him, “You heard him—hold your fire!”
The men grumbled, pointing at the oncoming army, a death machine rolling across the desert. The radio crackled with protests.
“Hold, hold, hold!” Big Dog One shouted.
“Permission to speak my mind, sir,” someone said.
“Denied. Follow orders.”
Lionel backed up while he and Sam watched the human tornado heading straight for them. The front line closed the gap in seconds. In the eerie, yellow light, horsemen pointed rifles. Others wielded swords that glinted yellow off their sharpened edges.
Suddenly, a shot. Then all riders opened fire. Bullets pinged off rocks. Lionel shouted for Zeke to get down, but the man stood tall. The army rushed through the line of rebels, and the lead rider raised his sharpened sword and plunged it down at Zeke.
Lionel put his head in his hands. When he had the courage to look, he saw Zeke still standing. How could the lead rider have missed?
Sam stood, smiling and waving, daring the army to hurt him. He jumped on a rock, both hands in the air, yelling at the top of his lungs.
A rider flicked his sword out and took a swipe at Sam as he passed. If Lionel hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t have believed it. It was as if the blade went straight through his friend’s body. Sam didn’t crumble in pain and blood didn’t spurt from his wound, because there was no wound.
Others stood against the gunfire, unhurt by bullets that simply passed through them.
“Come on up!” Sam called to Lionel. “Either these guys are really bad shots, or God’s up to something!”
Lionel climbed onto the rock as another wave of riders approached. A man fired at Lionel at close range.
When Lionel didn’t move, he fired again. The soldier looked at his weapon and paused. Riders swept into him, knocking him from his horse.
Lionel reached down and helped the soldier up.
The man pulled out a pistol and fired again. “Blanks. They’re all blanks.”
“No,” Lionel said, “it’s just that your bullets don’t work here.”
The man turned to run but was caught in the stampede. Horses couldn’t take the steep landscape, and those at the front stalled and turned back. Others kept coming, creating a horse traffic jam.
In the chaos, Lionel and Sam climbed down and joined the rebels who calmly walked through the enemy throng.
Zeke found them and slapped Lionel on the back. “We’re heading back to the others. Gonna wait on Jesus with our friends up top rather than down here with the GC.”
Sam gave a fake cough and waved a hand in front of his face. “Yeah, these guys are kicking up too much dust.”
Conrad and Shelly made it to Enoch’s house with others from different hiding places. Charlie had taken Phoenix to Enoch’s basement, and the dog was barking his head off.
“You sense it too, don’t you, boy?” Conrad said to the shaking dog.
Charlie pulled Phoenix onto his lap and that seemed to help. “You think he knows Jesus is coming?”
“Wouldn’t doubt it,” Conrad said. “If dogs can sense an earthquake, I’ll bet they can sense the King of kings.”
“You think he’ll get to see Ryan Daley again?” Charlie said. “He’s the one who found Phoenix in the first place.”
“I hope so.”
“What about animals in Jesus’ kingdom? Dr. Ben-Judah taught that people could live a long time, even hundreds of years. What does that mean for animals like Phoenix?”
“Well, this is a guess, but I think dogs will live a lot longer, just like people. Dogs and other animals don’t have souls, but it does say in the Bible that the wolf and the lamb are going to lie down together.”
“And isn’t there supposed to be less effects of sin, you know, diseases and sickness and all that?” Charlie said.
“True. Plant life is supposed to grow like crazy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if old Phoenix here grew old with the rest of us.”
Charlie smiled. “I can’t wait to see his reunion with Ryan.”
Vicki followed cl
osely behind Judd and Ehud as they made their way through Jerusalem. They rushed down the Via Dolorosa, hit Carpathia Way, and headed for the Damascus Gate. When they found a few Unity Army soldiers there, Ehud led Judd and Vicki east to a breach in the wall and they climbed over.
The cross stayed behind them, lighting the way. Vicki wondered if this was the same kind of light given off by the star announcing Jesus’ birth.
They stayed off the main roads, circling the Old City at a safe distance. After they passed a museum, Ehud motioned them northeast to a road renamed Fortunato Boulevard. Vicki chuckled because every block sported a likeness of Leon, the Most High Reverend Father of Carpathianism. Each banner showed him in a different outfit, and in the glowing yellow light, he looked even more ridiculous.
“How much farther?” Judd said.
“Mount Scopus is right this way,” Ehud said.
“What if the troops are there?” Vicki said.
“If I’m right, they’ll have moved past it, but if not, I know a place where we’ll be safe.”
Lionel wanted to go to the tech center to see the latest from Chang on Jewish conversions and hear any word from Judd and Vicki, but the stream of people climbing up the side of the mountain changed that. Thousands made their way to the top of a mount overlooking the valley.
“Where’s everyone going?” Lionel asked an elderly man who had stopped to catch his breath.
The man pointed up. “The elders … they asked us to stay in our groups … one hundred groups of a thousand. … We’ll be going up to the north, over there.”
Sam got on one side of the man, Lionel on the other, and they helped him keep up with the others. Lionel was amazed at how orderly everyone was. No one pushed or shoved.
When they reached the top, they helped the man find his place and moved to the edge of the mount. The view of the cross and the Global Community troops was incredible.
“Carpathia’s supposed to be out there somewhere,” Sam said. “They should be attacking pretty soon.”
“Bring it on,” Lionel said. “Just means Jesus will come that much sooner.”
Conrad and Charlie joined the others gathered in Enoch’s backyard. The man usually didn’t go outside during the day, but no one seemed afraid. Everyone focused on the sky, wanting to know if they could tell when Jesus returned.
Enoch kept his voice low. “Well, the Bible says the whole world will know when he comes. Revelation 1:7 says, ‘Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him—even those who pierced him.’ ”
“How’s he gonna ’complish that?” a young man said. “Holy Land’s on the other side of the world.”
“Don’t you think they’re seeing what we’re seeing now?” Enoch said.
“I guess, but like when the moon is out, people over there see the other side of it, right?”
“They could be seeing the other side of this cross too. We have no idea how massive it is.”
“Or if there’s more than one,” Darrion said.
“How’s that?” Enoch said.
“God can do what he wants, right?” she said.
And they all chimed in, some asking questions, others nodding or saying, “Amen.”
“He could put ten crosses in the sky to make sure everybody sees one,” someone said.
“But there’s only one Jesus,” another said.
“Yeah, but he can show up anywhere he wants at the same time. Just like he was only one man but he died for everybody, he can appear to everybody too.”
“Now you’re talking,” Enoch said.
“Is he gonna kill a bunch of people here, like he is over there?” Charlie said.
“I’m afraid he is. If they’re working for the Antichrist, they’re in serious trouble.”
Judd noticed signs for a hospital and a university as he followed Ehud and Vicki toward Mount Scopus. He hoped they would make it to the top before the return of Christ.
He wondered about his friends—Jamal, Lina, and the others he had come to know over the past few months. Had they all been killed? Would he see them again? He pushed the thoughts from his mind and kept going.
“Stop, rebels!” someone yelled behind them.
Judd turned, catching a glimpse of a Unity Army patrol. They rode in an uncovered vehicle, and a soldier aimed a gun at them.
Judd shielded Vicki, and Ehud put up his hands. “You guys run,” Judd whispered.
The vehicle drove closer.
“Don’t you remember our promise?” Vicki said. “We stick together.”
“I’m with you two,” Ehud said.
A soldier threw a cigarette on the ground and cursed. “Let’s kill them now and get it over with.”
“You know our orders,” another said.
“Yes, but who’s going to know?” the first said. “Just three more heads to chop off later.”
A tall man bounded from the vehicle and motioned to the others. “Load them up.”
“Where are you taking us?” Judd said as he jumped into the back of the vehicle.
“To the Temple Mount,” a soldier said. “You can watch the rest of the rebels die.”
As the vehicle pulled out, Judd looked at the pulsing cross in the sky. “Come, Lord Jesus,” he whispered.
41
JUDD thought the Unity soldier might be lying to them about going to the Temple Mount, but that’s where they were taken. Along the way, citizens came out of their homes to applaud the soldiers.
They passed several makeshift jails—some inside buildings, others inside barbed-wire fences. It was to one of these outside holding areas that Judd and Vicki were taken. Soldiers took Ehud inside a row of buildings.
“The King is coming!” Ehud shouted as he was led away. “I’ll see you when he returns.”
Screams came from inside the buildings.
“What is that place?” Vicki said.
Before Judd could answer, a woman behind them spoke. “That’s where they torture us, trying to get information about rebels inside the Temple.”
The woman, who did not have the mark of the believer, told them about the battles she’d been in and how valiantly the rebels had fought, even against overwhelming odds.
Vicki looked at Judd, and he winked at her. They were thinking the same thing. God had brought them here to reach out to people before the return of Christ.
Lionel stared at the sky and noticed movement on a ledge above. Chaim Rosenzweig and the elders stood where most of the remnant could see them.
“Brothers and sisters in the Messiah,” Chaim said. “We gather here in this historic place, this holy city of refuge provided by the Lord God himself. We stand on the precipice of all time with the shadow of history behind us and eternity itself before us, putting all our faith and trust in the rock-solid goodness and strength and majesty of our Savior.
“May the Lord appear as I speak. Oh, the glory of that moment! We stand gazing into the heavens where the promised sign of the Son of Man radiates before us, thundering through the ages the truth that his death on the cross cleanses us from all sin.
“Within the next few minutes, you may see the enemy of God advancing on this fortified city. I say to you with all the confidence the Father has put in my soul, fear not, for your salvation draweth nigh.
“Now many have asked what is to happen when Antichrist comes against God’s chosen people and the Son intervenes. The Bible says he will slay our enemy with a weapon that comes from his mouth. Revelation 1:16 calls it ‘a sharp two-edged sword.’ Revelation 2:16 quotes him saying that he ‘will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.’ Revelation 19:15 says that ‘from his mouth came a sharp sword, and with it he struck down the nations.’ And Revelation 19:21 says the army ‘was killed by the sharp sword that came out of the mouth of the one riding the white horse.’
“Now let me clarify. I do not believe the Son of God is going to sit on his horse in the clouds with a gigantic sword hanging from his mouth. H
e is not going to shake his head and slay the millions of Armageddon troops with it. This is clearly a symbolic reference, and if you are a student of the Bible, you know what is meant by a sharp, double-edged sword.
“Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God ‘is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.’
“The weapon our Lord and Messiah will use to win the battle and slay the enemy? The Word of God itself! And while the reference to it as a sword may be symbolic, I hold that the description of the result of it is literal. The Word of God is sharp and powerful enough to slay the enemy, literally tearing them asunder.”
Lionel felt chills as a million people cheered and applauded. With the cross in the sky, God’s remnant around him, and the enemy collected in the valley, Lionel couldn’t help but feel the emotion. When someone began singing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” he could barely choke out the words.
As the song echoed down the mountainside, Lionel noticed a motorcade thundering toward them across the desert. Jets screamed overhead, and it looked like Carpathia was ready for the attack.
A Humvee pulled up a steep slope, and someone got out. A light flashed on the man who drew his sword and raised it above his head.
“That’s gotta be Carpathia,” Sam said.
Singing stopped and everyone looked down on the showy sight. The remnant reacted strongly when Nicolae said, “If there really is a God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and if he truly has a Son worthy of facing me in combat, I shall destroy him too!”
People gasped.
Nicolae challenged God, daring him to come against his army. It was insane, and yet Carpathia continued. “Be prepared to advance upon Petra on my command. Leave no man, woman, or child alive. The victory is mine, says your living lord and risen king!”
“Let’s pray,” someone said near Lionel. He bowed his head and prayed. “God, you are the supreme ruler, and you’ve promised to return and defeat your enemies. I pray you would do that right now.”
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