The Complete 8-Book Guardians Adventure Saga

by Summer Lee

  “Get out of the house, Martha!” Amanda screamed as she ran down the stairs.

  And then, the doorbell rang—over and over. Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong. Loud pounding on the front door ensued at the same time.

  Peering from between my blinds, I looked out my upstairs bedroom window to the action below. There were about six or eight soldiers down on my front lawn and they were wearing uniforms I had never seen before.

  Amanda answered the door and sacrificed herself to save me.

  With horror, I saw two soldiers carry Amanda out to the street and put her in a police van, where several of our neighbors were stuffed in, all hysterical. All Christians.

  I heard soldiers coming up my stairs, so I hid in the back of the closet, behind my clothes, behind my yellowed wedding gown that was shrouded in plastic.

  “Do you think anyone else is here?” asked an officer.

  “I was told that only one woman lives here,” said the other one.

  “Then let’s just go. We already have a woman. I’m sure it is her.”

  They left my home and my neighborhood. Suddenly, I was alone—very much alone. I was the only one left in my section of town. It got quiet. Real quiet.

  I was glad my husband was not on their list, however, I was worried, too. I hoped he and our son were safe. And our daughters, too. I tried to calm down and think of what to do. I was certainly afraid to make a phone call.

  I heard a voice in my head. “The Bible says when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” I could feel the silence. I could smell it.

  The voice in my head continued, “The Apostle John saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.” I looked around but saw no angels.

  Would I hear the trumpets sound? I began to tremble.

  The voice in my head said, “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. The Lord had accepted your prayers.”

  And then, silence.

  I remembered that the Apocalypse said, “Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth.” I wondered if that was happening. I looked out my window and saw nothing.

  I came out of my hiding place and heard a voice say, “And there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”

  I turned. It was Walker. I crumpled at his feet.

  He said, “Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.”

  I said, “The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

  Walker said, “The Bible says that second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

  I remembered that the Word of the Lord said, “Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.”

  He said, “Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them, but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting.”

  This prophecy is about to be fulfilled. I said, “The Bible says that in those days, people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!”

  “This is what the tribulation will look like,” Walker said. “There will be locusts that will look like horses prepared for battle. They will wear what looks like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces will look like human faces. They will have long hair like women and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They’ll wear armor made of iron, and their wings will roar like an army of chariots rushing into battle. They’ll have tails that sting like scorpions, and for five months, they’ll have the power to torment people.”

  I said, “Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—The Destroyer.”

  Walker said, “Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.’”

  I replied, “Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.”

  He said, “I heard the size of their army, which were 200 million mounted troops.”

  At that point, my eyes bugged out. I had a hard time digesting that number—200 million.

  Walker said, “The Apostle John said something unbelievable next.”

  I remembered it was about evil horses. I closed my eyes and listened. Walker said, “And in my vision, I saw the horses and their riders. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.” Walker paused and his eyes filled with tears. “But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.”

  Walker walked over and turned on the television. “You need to hear this,” he said, turning to a news channel.

  The newsman said, “Communist forces are returning to past corruptions as when they were led by Mao Tse-tung, who was the principal Chinese Marxist military and national leader that led his nation in a communist revolution. Just as the Chinese civil war cast a sinister chill over world affairs then, communistic ideals loom in America now.”

  “Under the guise of socialism,” I said.

  The newsman cleared his throat and continued, “More serious is the news from the World Government House, which is that everyone needs to be marked in their skin before they will be able to shop. Christians have called this the Mark of the Beast. But that is not politically correct and such talk will not be tolerated. Everyone in the United States has to accept the mark in order to buy groceries.”

  Walker looked at me and said, “Calculate the number of the beast—it will compute to 666. It is the number of man.”

  “As 777 is a number for God,” I said.

  “Martha,” said Walker, “if people don’t take the mark, they won’t be able to provide for their families.”

  “I know. I just published an article yesterday and told my readers not to take the mark. I made it clear that if they do, they will go to hell.”

  “Evil leaders have forced obedience of citizens in Europe for a while. If sanctions on an individual level are here in our country, all citizens will have to obey our government.”

  “Or die.”

  “Or die,” he echoed.

  “The technology has been here for a long time. There are laws in place all over the land right now for people to use a credit card to purchase everything we need. All they have to do is change the law from cards to bodily marks.” I paused. “The big brass is expecting a total economic collapse soon. The officer also mentioned that a firearms confiscation
protocol would be used for gathering gun show surveillance.”

  Walker said, “Government control will be arresting anyone who still believe in a God of creation. And they will do it—all over the world.”

  The news on the television continued: “Good news for all of you Jews across America. Your temple is being rebuilt in Jerusalem. Work started this morning.”

  I was stunned. “Sounds like even more Bible prophecy is being fulfilled,” I said.

  My thoughts were of Amanda, who had been arrested in my place. I was overwhelmed by the guilt of this.

  “I’m going to go get Amanda out of jail and take her place. This isn’t right,” I said. “It was me they were after and she gave herself up to protect me.”

  “I’ll get her out of there,” Walker said. “And then I will take her to the Middle East, where we will fight them, she and I. And others like us. Warriors of God, we are his angel army.”

  My jaw dropped in surprise. “It’s the fifth seal which tells about those who were slain for witnessing. The two witnesses who are slain in Revelation were from heaven. They had supernatural power. That is you and Amanda, right?”

  Walker nodded. “We are not the ones to fulfill word. But we have a job to do at that time.”

  “Walker! I don’t want you and Amanda to die! You don’t need to do this. Jesus died on the cross for this.”

  “I am an angel and I have a job to do, and Amanda does, too. It is our joy to serve God, even in this. And we shall see you soon, Martha, in Heaven, and you shall know God’s love, firsthand. Selah!”

  I knew that last word meant, “Stop! Listen!”

  “Walker, I’m not ready. If only the people would repent, we could save more of them!” I said. I could not understand why people would not repent. Were they so deceived? I thought about Jesus saying that we should pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest. So, I had prayed for Amanda while she was away. Now, I said a silent prayer. It was as if Walker read my mind.

  Walker said, “Fret not. Humans who do not believe will continue to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they will not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

  I said, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.’”

  “And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.” I knew that this was from Revelation 8 to 11.

  Walker spoke: “John said, ‘I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice, he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the wine-press of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

  Tears stung my eyes.

  He said, “I will go now and get Amanda out of the jail. She and I have much work in Israel.”

  I grabbed Walker’s arm just before he left, “As we look at present-day events, I am aware that the whole world is in distress. The horses are:

  Galloping, galloping, galloping.”

  And they truly were.

  Epilogue 2

  Walker and Amanda were gone, and I knew they had gone to fulfill their destiny as angel witnesses in the Holy War that had been in motion for longer than two thousand years, longer than the days of Isaiah, perhaps even to the beginning of the world.

  My messages had gone out to various media and perhaps, to little avail. I had no way of knowing if my articles had helped anyone. However, my research was not all for naught, for it had brought me to this very moment, at the cusp of the very end.

  I looked at the Judean date palm tree that Amanda had given me and tears spilled from my eyes as I realized the secret that I had kept from Amanda and Walker now needed to be put into motion.

  I would use prayer as my final media. I would use God to spread the word. Not technology!

  It was the only way to have any certainty of answers. My prayer would begin the chain reaction of the faithful. I just knew it in my heart. I believed it. I lived it!

  I realized that all of this time, since Walker and Amanda had come, I had prayed, but not in joy. I had been so focused on my serious mission from Walker and God that I had forgotten the most important thing of all: Praise!

  I remembered the verse marked by a raindrop just before Walker had ridden out of the clouds to meet me: “I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.”

  The answer had been there all along.

  And I thought of other verses that I had often read over and over in Psalms: “Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth: Sing forth the glory of his name: Make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How terrible are thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. All the earth shall worship thee, And shall sing unto thee; They shall sing to thy name. Selah.”

  And I thought of another verse that, to me, was also a message: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

  Even in the midst of all of this darkness, there was light and it was God’s light. I would pray something very simple and through God, others would hear him say the word in their hearts as I heard God’s voice in my heart. And we would lift our voices.

  There was one special word that I knew I would pray. It was a Middle English word that had come from a Latin word, that had come from Greek word, that had come from a Hebrew word, and likely, that had come directly from the breath of God. This full-circle word connected many of the peoples who had the word in their own languages and in their own tenets. It was a word that would break through my frustration of the “techno-Babel” that had stymied and hindered me as I grasped at facts and analyzed complex theories; it was a word that would resound in many, many hearts when I prayed it. Because it was the simple truth.

  Amanda had tried and tried to tell me to keep my language simple for the people. I had not listened to her. I hoped it was not too late. Now, I would not be eloquent, or intellectual or scholarly. It would be a word from my heart, a word that had appeared in Mark 11 and in John 12. And it would be a word that was buried in the symbolic message of this little date tree from Jerusalem. Amanda had wanted me to guess the word. She had apparently not been allowed to tell me, but I knew what it was, as soon as I saw the little date palm tree. I knew it. God bless us all, I knew it!

  I picked up the tiny date palm from the Holy Land and knelt in my house with the clay pot in my hands. And then, I remembered what the crowds had said to Jesus when they had welcomed him before the Crucifixion, with palms fronds cut from the great-grandmother tree of this tree and waved at him in joyful greeting.

  I said, joyfully:

  “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’”

  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord!”

  “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

  “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!”

  I then prayed the one word over and over, only that word, perhaps for hours, days, or weeks. It could have been years that I said the word. I did not know how long I said the word with tears pouring down my cheeks for the Lord of Heaven, for Jesus, for God. I only knew that I was hoarse, joyful, sorrowful and deeply obedient. It was humbling and harrowing. It was ecstasy and agony. And, it was the end of all that I would ever know in this body.

  I heard the sky booming and I heard the trumpet, but I kept praying, afraid to stop.

  As I repeated the word, “Hosanna!” the Holy Spirit descended upon me, filling me and I began to hear, “Hosanna! Hosanna!” shouted in unison from every corner of the town, and the state, and the country, and even the world. Over the entire earth, the faithful were one voice, awakened by my one-word prayer, but with God as our connecting hotline.

  Now that other voices joined mine, I earnestly prayed this word that resounded with power, with brilliant white light and with shouts of glory and fulfillment as Jesus came to earth and bore up the faithful into the Rapture—the quick and the dead rose in a mighty force, all shouting the one praise word from the first coming that was now a welcome to Jesus during His Second Coming.

  All of his faithful were caught up in the rapture and, as promised, even the Jews.

  And…even me.

  Hosanna!

  The End

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  THE SHROUD OF TURIN

  A novel by

  Summer Lee

  The Reluctant Hero Series #1

  The Shroud of Turin

  Published by Summer Lee

  Copyright © 2015 by Summer Lee

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes