Chapter 85

Journal Entry: January 5, 2025

Six years ago this very day, Lucius Draken signed a false peace covenant with Israel for a period of seven years. This one act, after the rapture of the Church, clued in all of us left-behind new believers that he was indeed the long-prophesied Antichrist. We are nearing the end of the last seven years. During this time, we’ve lived through the seven seal judgments, seven trumpet judgments; and now the first of the terrible bowl or vial judgments, as they are called in the King James Version of the Bible, is at last upon us. The last seven judgments of Revelation have begun.

Abba Lord, bring us through them. Help us to remain faithful even unto death. 

During these seven years we’ve seen the world, including our nation, suffer God’s increasing judgments. We’ve watched as our nation has been severely and rightfully judged. We’ve watched as our little mountain town slowly died. We’ve seen loss of life on a scale and magnitude we could have never imagined, and we’ve lost the majority of those closest and dearest to us. We have had those we love give their lives to protect ours. We’ve witnessed firsthand, many times over, God’s miraculous protection and provision. We’ve suffered hunger, deprivation, betrayal, and loss. But none of that can compare to what we have gained and will gain once these last seven years are finished and the Lord Jesus sets up His kingdom on a renewed and renovated earth.

Six years ago today, Lucius Draken, the Antichrist, was revealed to a lost, post-rapture world, thus beginning the first seal judgment. Today, the first of the final seven judgments of God began. From now until the end, this is the new ‘normal’ to which we three – all of our mountain family who are left – have finally adjusted. Yet even this new routine will shortly come to an end.

I wrote in my last entry that I’d been sensing in my spirit that some kind of change was coming, but that I hadn’t mentioned my uneasiness to either Sarah or Trail. I wanted to wait to see if maybe the sense of unease I have been having was just me being me, or whether they too might be having the same sense of unease as I’ve been having. On January 1, 2025, the night of the first day of this new year, God confirmed to us that change was indeed coming, sending each one of us individually a clear message. It came to us in a dream.

Journal, I admit that I’m a bit afraid and more than a little sad; yet, at the same time, I’m also excited beyond my ability to convey. You see, now I’m sure that God was indeed preparing us for whatever lies ahead. And what does lie ahead? I don’t know the details, but it is probably a mixture of great sorrow and even greater joy. Here’s what happened.

Our daily chores never vary. We work from ‘sunrise’ to ‘sunset’ – which is next to impossible to distinguish now because the skies remain dark, the atmosphere once again filled with ash and volcanic debris. Ever since the Yellowstone caldera erupted for the second time, the atmosphere has been choked with ash and volcanic detritus; also, the additional debris from the eruptions of Mt. Etna, Vesuvius, and the Alban caldera have only added to the atmospheric pollution. Our reprieve is over.

How grateful we are to God that He has given us such a good harvest over the past two years. It has sustained us, although our food supplies continue to decline no matter how careful we try to be.

Our last hen died just before Christmas last year. She was old and, frankly, we couldn’t believe she lived as long as she did. We will miss her and the fresh eggs she gave us, but in a way it’s a blessing knowing that she won’t be suffering what’s to come. This too is part of God’s preparation for us.

We don’t burn the oil lamps except for a couple of hours a day. We have a good supply of candles laid by, nearly 40 of them in differing sizes, so we’ve learned to work by candlelight. Lamp oil and wicks are precious commodities, so we save lamp oil for the lanterns and for the times when we really need the lamps lit. As a result of our dwindling stores of both oil and food, our days are spent maintaining and preserving what we have to survive.

Sorry Journal, I see I’m heading down another rabbit trail. Anyway, the night of January 1 of this new year 2025, we had all gone to bed when I awoke around 3:00 AM from the most vivid dream I’ve ever had.

I got up and went to sit in the great room to ponder on it awhile. After a few minutes, Sarah got up and joined me. Within a few minutes after she came in, Trail came down the stairs trying to walk as quietly as he could until he saw that Sarah and I both were already up.

The whole thing felt surreal. I almost expected Uri to come in from the front porch. This morning was way too similar for comfort to the day two years ago when Uri told us about what happened to Clyde and the rest of our cabin family.

“Oh hey,” said Trail. “I hope I didn’t wake y’all.”

“Not at all,” said Sarah, smiling. “I woke up and found Bobby gone, so I thought I’d see if he was sick or something. Besides,” she paused and said rather sheepishly, “I had a dream.”

“You and Martin Luther King, huh?” Trail said, jokingly, raising the ghost of a smile to Sarah’s face. “Truth is, I had one too – a really odd one; sort of a dream/vision I guess you could call it. I’ve never had a dream that was so clear and one in which I remember every detail,” said Trail, his jovial mood turning somber.

“I had one too,” I said, quietly. “Did y’all’s dreams involve visions of fire on the mountain and a command to prepare to leave?” I asked, looking from one to the other of them. Sarah’s open-mouthed stare and Trail’s slowly nodding head told me all I needed to know. Here was the confirmation I’d been waiting for. A big change is indeed headed our way. We just don’t know when.

“I can see we need to talk,” said Sarah, quietly. “I’ll put the kettle on the fire and make us some tea.”

“I’ll build up the fire,” said Trail.

After we were settled around the fire with our mugs of hot tea warming our hands, I began.

“I’ll tell you my dream. If the ones you two had differ from mine, then say so,” I said.

“My dream,” I said, “began like a movie. It was like I was watching each of us including myself – like we were in a movie, but I was also an observer. I was aware that I was watching – observing what was happening, yet the Bobby in the dream was really me too. I’ve never seen myself from an outside objective perspective before; and yet, at the same time, I was aware of being both part of the action and an outside observer of the action. It was a weird and disconcerting feeling.” I paused, waiting to see if either of them would say, ‘No that’s not what I dreamt,’ but neither of them said anything; so I assumed this was what their dreams were like too, only with themselves as both observer and participant.

“Anyway,” I resumed, “I saw us going about our regular chores. I couldn’t tell the time of day or even the season, nor did I sense any particular date, but I did get an overall impression that it was not too far into the future. Anyway, we were all going about our regular routine: I was bringing in a second load of firewood from the barn to stack in the woodbox, having just brought in an armload. Sarah, you were sitting on the couch in the great room sewing or mending or something, and Trail you were… ”

“I was sitting on the floor near the fireplace sorting through my tackle box looking for sinkers,” interrupted Trail.

“Exactly,” I said. “Anyway, we heard this buzzing, whirring sound far off in the distance but getting closer. Sarah, you said…

“I dropped my needlework” Sarah said, “and ran to the front door. I said, ‘That sounds like airplanes! A lot of them of them by the sound! Guys, they’re coming this way. We need to grab our bags and go – now!'”

In our dream, we grabbed our backpacks, our quiver and bows, and the two other bags that were filled and kept near the back door. One bag was filled with dried meat and fruit, and another with a few survival essentials and Trail’s medical bag.

Taking up the narrative again, in the dream I said to Sarah and Trail, ‘Go! Don’t stop to get anything else. Don’t even stop to put out the fire. Grab the backpacks, our quivers and bows, and the other two bags and go! We’ll head out the backdoor and into the woods. Take the deer trail through the woods. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t stop till you get to Qumran.’

After a time, in the dream, we were all standing…somewhere looking back toward Yellow Top. The air was filled with the smell of smoke and burning wood. There was the ominous glow of fire in the distance about 10 – 15 miles to the west of wherever we were. The fire looked to be coming from the direction where our cabin would be. The last thing we heard in the dream was a voice saying, ‘Here you will be safe. The fire will not reach you.’

“In this dream, did either of y’all hear a voice telling us what to pack and keep ready at all times?” I asked.

“Yeah,” said Trail. “Yes,” Sarah nodded in assent.

“Wait,” I said, “let’s get some paper and write down what each of us heard that we should pack to take with us.”

When we all finished writing, this was what we’d all heard in our dream or night vision or whatever it was. We were to pack:

• Two or three changes of clothes apiece
• Winter garments
• Our study Bible
• Candles – 10 apiece
• Flints, and matches in plastic bags
• Bowie and hunting knives
• Quivers and arrows
• Sleeping bags, blankets, and quilts
• I small pot and 1 large pot
• Trail’s medical bag
• One bag filled with smoked meats, venison jerky, dried fruits, 2 jars of honey, and as much dehydrated vegetables as we could pack in the bag
• Our canteens and mess kits
• Fishing line, sinkers, and hooks

My list differed from theirs in only one way. I was told to bring my backpack that contained all my completed journals, the rest of my blank ones (only seven left now), and the remainder of my pens.

“Hey,” said Trail suddenly, “Do either of you remember what God told us to do about the laptop?”

Both Sarah and I nodded.

“We’re supposed to smash it, then throw the pieces into the river,” answered Sarah. “Of course, once we do that, we won’t know what’s going on anywhere else.”

“We won’t need to know, babylove,” I answered, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze. “I think it will be fairly easy to figure out where we are on God’s timeline by what we will see happening and from reading our Bible.”

“It’s obvious what the dream means. We know Draken has both surveillance and tactical drones by the hundreds of thousands like the ones we’ve seen on the deep web. He uses them in vast numbers, spying on people, taking pictures and location coordinates, and God alone knows what other data they gather or what capabilities they have. What we heard, will hear, could be a huge squadron of drones and not aircraft, or it could be planes. I don’t think it really matters what they are. What their coming will signify is that when we hear them coming, that is our cue that it’s time to leave Yellow Top. Whatever it is we heard, will hear, we know they will be coming and we will need to leave in a hurry; kinda like the Jews who had to be ready to leave immediately once Draken desecrated the Temple,” I said

“I get that. But what does Qumran mean? Where is it? What is it?” asked Sarah, her brow furrowed in thought.

“The only Qumran I know of is the system of caves in Israel where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Surely God’s not going to send us to Israel… is He?” Trail asked, perplexed.

“I don’t think so,” I said, pensively. “We don’t know what it means now, but I think when the time is right, we will know.”

That very morning after we ate breakfast, we gathered our backpacks and two other big bags and filled them with everything we were told to pack, and placed our sleeping bags with them. I brought my bag with all of my written notebooks, pens, and extra blank books, and kept it with our other bags. The food bag we decided to rotate with fresher food as needed, but we would keep it as full as possible with what we have left.

Once everything was packed and lined up near the back door ready to grab at a moment’s notice, we all immediately felt better. I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. We’ve done what we can to prepare for whenever the time to leave comes. Now we wait.

All that happened on January 1, 2025. Today, January 5, six years to the day of Draken’s “peace plan,” the first of the last seven bowl judgments began. I’ll just write what scripture says it is. Looking at the results of it on the deep web is sickening. Still, God has continually warned over and over and over about the consequences of taking this mark. He even sent an angel flying throughout the earth, giving the everlasting gospel and warning the people of the earth not to take Draken’s mark; so those who are now suffering have only themselves to blame. Even in the midst of His great wrath, God still extends His great mercy. But for the bearers of Satan’s mark, their eternal doom is already set and sealed.

If the pattern of judgments in the past six years is any indicator, these last ones will likely also come in pairs and happen in rapid succession. We really are nearing the end, but the most terrible judgments are yet to come.

Lord help us to stay faithful, even unto death, no matter what the cost. 

One of God’s angels sent the first of the last seven bowl judgments today. All over the earth, the followers of Draken are in great physical torment. This first vial judgment impacted everyone who carries within their hand or forehead the Mark of the Dragon.

“And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image” (Revelation 16:2, KJV).

CHAPTER 86 

Journal Entry: Wednesday, April 23, 2025

“And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea” (Revelation 16:3, KJV).

Hello Journal; sorry it’s been a few months since my last entry. Truth is, we are always busy looking for food now. Our supplies are running low. Ever since Yellowstone blew the second time, the animal population which was just beginning to rebound, has crashed again. We’re having to go farther and farther out to hunt and trap. Our usual 5-6-mile hunting area is nearly depleted of game and wildlife. We still have the river nearby for fish, but that source of food will soon be gone too. Let me explain.

Last month, the second of the bowl judgments occurred. Whereas the first bowl judgment affected only those who carry the mark of the Antichrist in their hands or foreheads, the next judgment affects the entire world; unbelievers and believers alike. This latest judgment has poisoned the world’s oceans and seas. All saltwater seas and oceans have become so contaminated that every living thing in them has died. Seabirds and other life that depend on the oceans for food and sustenance have also died or are in the process of dying. In Revelation, it says that the sea has been ‘turned into blood.’ That’s exactly what has happened. I can’t imagine how terrifying and sickening the stench must be from billions upon billions of dead marine and aquatic life in all of the world’s oceans; their dead carcasses rotting and festering in utterly putrid saltwater slime; their masses of corpses rotting in every ocean of the world – all of them. Even oceangoing vessels will not be able to sail in disease-infested dead waters.

In all the previous judgments, it seemed to be that the disasters were regular natural occurrences, although on a far, far greater scale than normal; by that I mean that the judgments were the result of things such as fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, asteroids, tidal waves, and such – all naturally occurring geological or cosmological events, except much greater in scope than usual.

This last set of judgments appears to be completely supernatural in origin. For example, this second bowl judgment of all sea life dying could only happen by supernatural causation.

As devastating as all ocean life dying is, it’s the next judgment that has us really concerned. While the second bowl judgment killed every living thing in the earth’s oceans, the next one will kill every living creature in all freshwater lakes, rivers, creeks, streams and fountains. This means that the animals and people who depend upon water to live (and every living thing does) will die as a result of having NO fresh water.

We wonder how God will preserve the remnant of believers, both Jews and Gentiles, during this year. We do not know, but we know that in some way He will because it’s certain that human beings cannot go more than three days without water before dying from thirst.

It’s almost certain that Draken and the elites of his EP forces already have well-stocked bunkers filled with food and drinkable water for themselves, but there’s no doubt in our minds that – just as God provided manna and fresh water to Moses and the children of Israel in the desert when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt – the same Lord who delivered the children of Israel will provide both food and clean water for all His remnant people, Jews and Gentiles alike, those few He will bring alive through to the end of the Tribulation. We ourselves may not make it through the remainder of the Tribulation alive, but God always has a remnant. We place all our trust in Him.

Because of the coming judgment of all freshwater being ‘turned into blood,’ we three are discussing making an overnight journey to look farther afield to see if we can find game, vegetation, or maybe some kind of water source somewhere that might not become polluted. Sarah had suggested that we guys go on this scouting expedition while she stayed home to tend to the homestead, but both Trail and I nixed that idea immediately. Neither of us feels comfortable leaving her here alone for the two, possibly three days we will be out scouting. Trail offered to go alone, but neither Sarah nor I were in favor of any one of us being on our own away from the other two should something unforeseen occur. Finally, we decided that all three of us would make a two-day excursion farther up to scope out what’s around and to see if game is any more plentiful farther out.

We brought out our maps and plotted our course. We decided to head north/northeast up into Piney Ridge, a spiny, fir and spruce-covered range about 20 miles from here. We decided to leave early tomorrow morning around 6:00 AM. Lord willing, we plan to go about 10-15 miles out to gage the prospects. We don’t want to go much farther than that for now. This is really only a scouting expedition. If there’s an abundance of game there, then we’ll have to decide what our options are and how to adjust to that situation. Even if we don’t find any game, we still need to know the lay of the land. In the past, I’ve hunted up on Piney Ridge with Grandpa and Clyde, so I’m somewhat familiar with it; but it’s been long years since I last was there, so I need to refresh my memory.

We will pack for a two-day camping trip. We’ll take meat and bottled water enough for a couple of days; our only remaining 3-man tent, our bow and arrows, and our guns – just in case.

Gotta get to bed, Journal. Catch you later, Lord willing.

CHAPTER 87 

Journal Entry: Friday, May 2, 2025

We are back from our excursion, Journal. Thanks to the Lord’s protection, good maps, a compass, and my own good head for direction. (I’m not trying to brag, but I’ve always had a sort of compass in my head. I rarely get lost). We made our way almost as far as Piney Ridge. We didn’t find much game anywhere, but we did find something just as important; maybe even more so. I’ll tell you about it.

We left the cabin at 6:00 AM. It was, of course, still dark, so we took our high-beam flashlights and used them sparingly. It’s always dim most of the time now, and because of the polluted atmosphere, we aren’t able to travel as fast as we ordinarily could have. We are all in good physical shape, having been forced by the circumstances of our lives to be much more physically active; but our diminished calorie intake impacts our stamina, slowing us down, and the ash that’s always in the air necessitates us having to wear breathing masks or bandanas over our faces when we are out for prolonged periods of time. This keeps us from going at peak speed. Still, we walked at a steady clip and managed to go a good 15 miles in under eight hours. We can make the trip faster in the future now that we know our way and have managed to set a trail.

We made our campsite in a small clearing that was secluded amongst a dense thicket of conifers. It was a good spot. Sarah cleared the area and started a campfire while Trail and I set up the tent. We could have gone farther, but we decided to take a break for the rest of the day. We wanted to have a good look around the area tomorrow before deciding whether to head home or head on up to Piney Ridge, which was not that far off.

We weren’t seeing much evidence of game anywhere; no deer tracks or animal scat. The trees and vegetation are beginning to die off too. The grasses are brittle and brown, and even the great conifers are showing signs of dying. What was even more unnerving was the nearly complete absence of birdsong and insect noise. The absence of those, coupled with the dimness of the daylight and the dying vegetation, gave us the feeling of being on some dead alien planet, or, in my mind, reminded me of the description the narrator gave of the area surrounding the House of Usher in E. A. Poe’s tale, “The Fall Of The House Of Usher.”

This place felt just as barren and desolate as that described in Poe’s story.

The ubiquitous background sounds of birds, the constant buzz of insects, and the croaks of tree frogs are background sounds so normal, they go almost unnoticed by us until they are no longer present. What is usually merely subliminal background noise becomes a silence that is jarring when it’s absent.

The effect of both the darkness and the utter quiet was unnerving in a visceral way. After a bit of exploration, we made a campfire, ate some venison jerky, and went to bed.

The next morning, we took our time exploring the area. We were in a little hollow in a small clearing almost completely encircled by huge 60-foot pines and spruce. Trail headed further into the trees behind our tent while Sarah and I took our bows and quivers and decided to look for rabbits or quail or something, anything. We were searching for some kind of fresh meat for breakfast. After about an hour and a half, we managed to shoot a couple of small rabbits. There didn’t seem to be any more game here than we have at home.

We went back to the tent to find Trail sitting on a log, smiling, a big 1,000-watt mega smile at us.

“Ahhh, I see y’all caught breakfast. Well let’s eat! I’m famished,” he said.

“What’s that Cheshire-Cat grin you’ve got plastered all over your face?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m too hungry to tell you now,” Trail said, grinning, but evasive. “I’ll skin the rabbits; and after we eat, I’ll show you what I found.”

So we skinned the rabbits which I cooked over an open fire. The fresh meat tasted wonderful and flooded our bodies with energy.

“Alright, Grand High Mysterious One,” said Sarah, grinning at Trail, “What’s the big secret? Where are you taking us?”

“Follow me. I think I’ve found Qumran,” said Trail, grinning from ear to ear.

About 200 yards into the thick woods behind where we’d set up our tent in the clearing, Trail stopped and spread out his arms. I looked around and saw…nothing but more trees.

“Did you ram your head into a tree?” I asked. “I’m only asking because I don’t see anything except trees, rocks, and more trees,” I said.

Sarah, who was more carefully looking around, at last gasped and said, “Oh, Trail, I see it! You’re wonderful! How ever did you find it? Do you think it’s safe to go inside?”

“See what?” I asked, since I still didn’t see anything at all.

Walking over to a large boulder situated between and a bit behind two immense fir trees, Trail pointed to a rocky ledge that had some kind of vine overhanging it. He bent down and swept back the vines to reveal the entrance to a cave. The entrance was practically invisible since the rock ledge that protruded over the opening by a good three feet overshadowed the opening. The vines made sort of a canopy or curtain in front of it.

“Wow!” I said, impressed. “How’d you find this? It’s almost impossible to see unless you know where to look.”

“Well,” said Trail, “I was wandering around when I tripped on my bootlace. It had come untied. As I bent down to tie it, I felt a breeze coming from somewhere. I groped around till I saw the opening. I shined my flashlight inside and saw that, after the opening, it slants downward a bit and then appears to open up. I didn’t go inside to check it out. If I’d gone in and it dropped off, y’all would never know what happened to me. I don’t believe that our finding this cave was an accident. I think God led us all here so I could find this cave. Of course, we need to make sure it’s safe. I’ll volunteer to go in and check it out if you want.”

“Not without some safety equipment. We need some rope in addition to our three good flashlights. Now that we know where it is and how to get here, we should head back home today, gather what we need, and hike back up tomorrow. By going back today, coming back tomorrow, then heading home again after that, we’ll be setting the path in our minds. It’s still a longish hike, but the more often we make the trip, the faster we will get. If this is the cave we were talking about in our dream, then I’m sure God will confirm that to us. Let’s go home. I’ll mark a trail that only we would recognize as being a trail; and when we come back tomorrow, we can see what we find inside.”

We did just that. Our ‘Qumran’ turned out to be a perfect place to hide out when the time comes that we will need to bug out. The opening beneath the overhang of the rock is a good 4 feet high and 5 feet in width. The ingenious way the rock ledge overhangs it, the vines that cover the opening, and the shade of the trees that keep it hidden make it a perfect hideaway. Trail and I have to crawl in on hands and knees, but Sarah can sorta duck walk in. There’s a gentle downward slope for about 20 feet, then it levels out and opens up into a cavern that has a ceiling height of about 7 feet! The cavern is a good 12 X 16 open area. There’s also a branch off to the right that’s about 6′ high that goes on a good way, sloping downward. What we found was a slightly smaller cavern which had a spring of fresh, cold groundwater bubbling up from the earth.

Farther on down, there was another cavern area with a bigger opening to the outside that came out a good quarter mile from the original opening. This meant that the cave hidden deep in the forested thicket was cross-ventilated, had fresh water from an underground spring, and had at least two entrances that were both well-hidden from obvious sight. And to think, this place was just 12 or so miles from Yellow Top.

We came back several times until we knew the way by heart. It was still a hike, but we felt sure now that we would be able to locate our own ‘Qumran’ anytime we would need to. We brought our sleeping bags, some bed rolls, two lanterns, two flashlights with extra batteries, our supply of candles, and David’s Bible that Trail and I had given Mitch. We wrapped all these things in plastic bags in several rain- proof tarps and stored them in what we called the Qumran great room so when the time came for us to run here, we’d have that much less to carry.

We had one more task to complete as soon as we got home. We all three sensed very strongly that it was time for us to get rid of the computer. When we got home, we took it out to our favorite fishing spot. There, Trail took a big rock and smashed it to bits. Then we all went down to the water’s edge and hurled the smashed pieces of it into the fast-running current of the river. Now, all we had to do was stay home and wait for God to tell us when to leave.

It breaks my heart to know that, according to the dream, the cabin is likely going to burn; but as both Sarah and Trail keep reminding me, Jesus’ coming kingdom is going to be far more beautiful than even Yellow Top in all its glory could ever be.

CHAPTER 88 

Journal Entry: Tuesday, July 29, 2025

“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments” (Revelation 16:4-7, KJV).

On Wednesday, May 21, the third bowl judgment hit. We awoke to the overpowering stench of rotting fish and other animal life. Our little creek that had sustained us was fouled with the bodies of rotting minnows, frogs, tadpoles, and Insects. The dead carcasses of birds, possums and raccoons were lying around too. We tried to go out to look at the French Broad, but the stench was so overpowering we couldn’t get near the river.

Since we had been expecting this, we had been careful to fill to the brim every water barrel, both bathtubs, the kitchen sink and every available jar, glass, pitcher and bowl we have and do our best to keep them topped off. Even this amount of uncontaminated water will not last for any great length of time, though, and we know it.

Partly to get away from the stench and partly to make sure and set our minds at ease, we hiked up to Qumran and checked out our little underground spring. The water bubbling up out of it was fresh, sweet, and clear. We thanked God for His mercy and provision, then we drank until we sloshed. God has once again provided for our needs. How merciful He is to us! Once we knew our cave water source was uncontaminated, we went home with a much easier mind.

It’s been 10 weeks since the third bowl judgment came. We’ve had to keep the windows and doors shut tight because of the stench. It’s still bad, but it’s getting better – somewhat.

We are gathering another bag of food to take with us to Qumran when we go. We try to make a trip up there at least once a week, ferrying what we can before we have to come in earnest. As I said, we’ve already taken a lot of things such as our sleeping bags, blankets, winter clothing, our tent, and other stuff wrapped in waterproof tarps and stored them in the first big chamber; what we call the great room. When we cook, we’ll probably have to make our fires outside the cave, but that’s just an inconvenience and not really a problem, or we can build a fire close to the other entrance, what we call the back door.

We’re packing as many blankets and quilts as possible too. We don’t know how cold it may get. There’s several more months to get through should the Lord allow us to live to the end of the Tribulation. We expect the rest of the bowl judgments to come quickly.

CHAPTER 89

Journal Entry: Sunday, August 3, 2025

Daylight, what there is of it now, is fading fast. I’m writing this by lantern light, so I’m trying to hurry because I don’t want to waste precious oil. It’s peaceful. I look over and see Sarah and Trail busy sorting through our things, arranging neatly all our worldly goods that are left to us now.

We awoke early this morning around 5 AM. Sarah made us one of our favorite meals; oatmeal with honey, some dried figs, and a little bit of fried salt pork. This morning we didn’t drink our usual cup of hot tea with breakfast. Today we had a treat. After Trail built up the fire, Sarah got out our campfire coffee pot and brewed us some real coffee. Having real brewed coffee is, for me, a treat worthy of that Christmas morning excitement I’d get as a kid. Sitting around our kitchen table, it was almost like old times, except for all the empty chairs where Mitch, Izzy and the rest used to sit. Still, in all, a real breakfast and two cups of coffee was a wonderful way to start the day.

The stench from the dead creek and the much bigger dead river is at last beginning to dissipate somewhat. The smell seems to be lessening, or maybe it’s just that we’re getting used to it. We no longer have our laptop, so we can’t check in to see how the rest of the world is faring, but it’s certain that an untold number are dying for lack of water. I think often of God’s remnant Jews that He is hiding in Bozrah, and wonder how God is feeding and providing water for them, and for the other Tribulation believers scattered all across the earth. As we ponder all these things, we pray for our brethren. There can’t be many of us left, and none of us knows whether we will be among the few who will survive these last months.

We talk often about the coming kingdom. How we long to see our friends and family who are now in Heaven awaiting the time when we will all be reunited together in Jesus’ coming kingdom. We cannot wait to see God’s beautiful earth restored to the perfection it was at creation. What’s left to us here is utter devastation and ruin with more to come.

Physically, we are all exhausted. Emotionally, we are wrung out. But spiritually, our joy overflows with the knowledge that very soon all this death and destruction will be over, and Jesus’ promised return will usher in His thousand-year reign as Absolute Monarch over a cleansed, renovated, and reconstructed earth; an earth such as no man has seen since the days of Adam before the Fall! How our hearts rejoice in this knowledge, and how we yearn for it to become reality.

After our early breakfast, we all went about our daily chores. Journal, in my pre-rapture life, I never imagined how easy I had it. I think back to the times I’d complain about being tired, not knowing back then that I had no idea of what tired really was, and I had certainly never been really, truly hungry before.

After breakfast I headed out to the barn to bring in more wood to replenish our woodbox. Our fireplace is such a blessing. As I’ve said before, we keep a fire in it all the time for both warmth and for cooking. Sarah has become a real pioneer wife; an expert at cooking in the fireplace. As I headed out to the barn, Trail was puttering around in his room looking for something, and Sarah, as usual, was busy getting started with one of the hundreds of things she does for us to keep our home running. She’s an amazing woman. I love her with all my heart. To Trail, she’s become the little sister he always wanted but never got. He used to tell us that when he was little, he’d beg Mama B for a little sister. He always said he already had brothers in Mitch, David, Jack and me, so he didn’t want any more boys; but he longed to have a little sister. Now he says God gave him three: Lilly, Byllie, and Sarah. Now that Lilly and Byllie are no longer here, Trail dotes on Sarah and she on him. We are the Three Musketeers of the Tribulation, as we laughingly call ourselves.

Anyway, I had just brought in a second armload of wood. Trail was sitting on the floor next to the fireplace tinkering with his tackle box, and Sarah was on the couch threading a needle, her lap filled with the never-ending mending that she’s constantly doing.

Suddenly, we heard a buzzing, whirring sound like the sound of a million bees or locusts off in the distance. The sound was loud enough that we could hear it even inside the cabin. Though the doors were shut, we had the front windows cracked open a bit to circulate some air. Even with the stench of the dead creek and river still hanging in the air, it had finally dissipated enough that we could open the windows and let in some air during the day. Sarah heard the noise before either Trail or I did. She jumped up and ran to the front door and looked out.

“That sounds like airplanes,” Sarah cried. “A lot of them by the sound! Guys, they’re coming this way. We need to grab our bags and go – now!”

“Go!” I said as Sarah dropped her mending on the couch, Trail grabbed his tackle box, and we all three ran to the back door where our bug-out bags had been packed and ready for this very time, ever since the first day of the year.

“Don’t stop to get anything else. Don’t even stop to put out the fire. Grab the backpacks, our quivers and bows, the other two bags and go! We’ll head out the backdoor and into the woods. Take the deer trail through the woods. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t stop till you get to Qumran.”

Talk about deja vu! We’ve all lived this day before – in our shared dream. Today, the past caught up with the future; or the vision caught up with reality.

This is it, I thought, as I ran after my wife and best friend, heading into the woods behind the cabin; we’re leaving home for good.

We grabbed everything we had packed, including our quivers and bows and Trail’s tackle box he was carrying, then we fled.

Our time on Yellow Top is over. From now until the end, whatever that may be for us, our new home is a cave beneath a rock, deep in a pine forest thick with spruce and fir trees.

In a few hours’ time, we had made it safely to our ‘Qumran.’ The next day we smelled smoke in the air. The three of us stood in the clearing that evening, looking back towards Yellow Top. From there, we could see the faint orange glow of fire and smell the pungent, stinging odor of burning wood. I sat down heavily on the ground. After a minute or so, both Sarah and Trail silently came over and sat down on either side of me. Sarah held my hand and Trail put his big hand on my shoulder. None of us said anything; none of us cried, but we each felt the weight of loss lying heavily on our hearts. We’d all just lost our home, but I had lost the only real home I’d ever had in my whole life. Grandpa and Grandma’s home had been my only real home. Now it was gone. Mercifully, Jesus had prepared us ahead of time that this day was coming.

With my heart aching, God gave me the strength and the peace to thank Him for warning us ahead of time that this loss was coming. Even in the midst of losing my home – our home – we could all thank Him for providing a means of escape from Draken’s planes or drones, or whatever they were, that would surely have found us out had we not been forewarned. We are learning that even the greatest hardships and most heart-wrenching losses are used by God for our good and for His glory.

TO BE CONTINUED: 11 more chapters to go.

alice.joan.childs@gmail.com

PART 5 – GREAT TRIBULATION

CHAPTER 78 

“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe” (Revelation 14:8-15, KJV).

Journal Entry: Friday, September 15, 2023

It’s been an entire year since we lost Mitch, Clyde, Little-John, Byllie and Lilly; almost a year since Uri left us, and nine months since we lost our Izzy. The tree of us left; Sarah, Trail, and myself have adjusted to their absence as well as we ever will this side of the Lord Jesus’ kingdom. Our days are filled from dawn to dusk. The only time I have to write is when everyone else is asleep. My entries may of necessity be fewer and farther between, but I am committed to being the scribe – the archivist God has called me to be.

In Israel, the slaughter of Jews all over Israel continues as does the slaughter of believers worldwide. There’s no longer any pretense of a diversity of opinion or freedom to worship or holding a differing opinion. I’ve been thinking back to the election years of 2016-18 when this intolerance and hatred really began to flourish. The hatred and vitriol we are experiencing now makes the other look like a kindergarten dispute. Now, all must worship the Dragon and take his mark or else they die. There’s no in-between. The deep web is filled with images of hundreds of thousands who are daily being or have already been beheaded merely because they love the Lord Jesus and refuse the mark of the beast. There’s no safe place on earth any more.

As I’ve mentioned before, we are learning more and more every day to look at everything from an eternal perspective. In doing that, it appears to us that God is using physical death during these last seven years as protection for His Tribulation saints; as relief and release from the constant torment, suffering, and the horrors of God’s wrath that are yet to come. We are learning that there are things far worse than physical death. For us believers, Satan can only kill our bodies, and those only once. But for those who have taken the mark of the Dragon, there is no hope and no forgiveness for them. There is only eternal damnation; eternal torment, and eternal separation from God. We more fully understand day by treacherous day the sweet meaning of this verse:

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:55-58, KJV).

Although we are much safer here than just about anywhere else, we have accepted the hard fact that eventually we too will very likely be forced to leave our much-loved mountain and go on the run. Until then, though, God has provided plenty of food for us that should, Lord willing, carry us through the winter and well into next year, or perhaps even longer.

Our garden this summer produced an abundance of produce. Even our corn and buckwheat crops were abundant. We can now have bread, Journal! How we’ve all missed bread!

As soon as we harvested, we replanted everything, adding onions, garlic, peppers, cabbages for sauerkraut, and turnips.

Now, within a few days we are about ready to finish reaping our second harvest, when once again we will help Sarah preserve our food. We will grind our corn and wheat, and smoke the meat we catch. Over this summer, God has blessed us with at least 50 lbs. of trout; probably 10 lbs. of rabbit, 3 feral pigs for both meat and lard, venison and the hide from an eight-point buck, and a gift that stunned us most – an elk!

Before Rapture Day there were some elk in this area of North Carolina, but they weren’t plentiful by any means. But to us, when we speak about this day, we call it Elk Day. Okay, so we’re not very original, but hey, it was an especially auspicious day, so we named it to keep in remembrance how God had a nearly 500 lb. elk just walk up to us out of nowhere and stand placidly to be shot. All this overabundance of bounty makes me think of the story of Joseph in Genesis 41 where Joseph, under God’s divine provision, saved Egypt and his estranged family by ordering the Egyptians to store up extra grain during seven plentiful years because of a seven-year famine that God revealed was coming.

That day, the three of us had been out hunting turkeys which we weren’t finding, when over a ridge not 30 feet in front of us stepped this humongous bull elk. He just stood there almost as if waiting on us to shoot. We three absolutely have no doubt that God led him straight to us. We had our rifles; we always carry them in case we run into a bear or a cougar, but we have a rule that we are never to fire them unless it is a life or death situation.

As we three knelt stock still and became statues, Sarah and I whispered together, trying to decide if we could take the shot and whether or not we thought we might be able to bring it down with our bow. We didn’t want to cause this magnificent animal any unnecessary pain or suffering, but this much meat along with the hide, sinew, and magnificent antlers with which we could make arrowheads, scrapers and primitive knives and such was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

I whispered as quietly as I could to Sarah that we’d need to use a sturdy broadhead arrow. I told her we’d need to wait for the animal to turn broadside to us, or if it didn’t, we would have to risk moving and thus scaring it off. Elk move fast. Whichever of us took the shot would try for a double-lung shot just behind the elk’s front leg and about a third of the way up the chest. A double-lung shot would bring the animal down quickly and cleanly and would prevent its running off or any prolonged suffering. Since Trail is not very good with the bow, I knew it was going to be up to either me or Sarah. I felt confident that Sarah could make the shot, but she said she’d rather pray for me as I took the shot. We waited as quietly as we could, when finally, almost as if ordered to do so, the big bull turned broadside to us and presented us with a perfect target.

“Father,” I heard Sarah breathe almost inaudibly, “You sent us this elk. Please give Bobby strength, and clear sight. Guide the arrow, Lord; please help us get this shot, and please don’t let this beautiful animal suffer.”

I lined up the shot just behind and a bit up from the back of the front leg. I drew in my breath, let it out slowly, and released the arrow. It was a perfect double-lung hit.

“Thank You, Abba Lord, for this gift,” I whispered.

We three spent the next few hours working quickly to field-dress the elk. While Sarah and I dealt with the meat, getting it home, butchered, salted, herbed and into the smokehouse, Trail went back and took the antlers – we estimate almost 40 lbs. in themselves! Trail skinned the hide and drug the rest of the carcass far into the woods away from the cabin and our usual hunting area.

This huge elk hide, along with the two deer hides we had already tanned and the 4 rabbit skins we’ve finished, will clothe us all during the coming winter.

During those hectic days after the first harvest, we worked to can, pickle, and dry our vegetables; grind our corn and wheat, and smoke our meat. We spent the rest of our time tanning the hides. Lord willing, we will use the antlers to make more arrowheads, knives, and scrapers to use tanning hides. How incredibly blessed we have been to have family and friends such as Grandpa and Grandma, Clyde, Chief Little-John and Izzy who among themselves knew the old ways and taught them to us.

Lord willing, when our final harvest comes in, Grandma’s root cellar should be full of canned, pickled, and dehydrated produce; our attic rafters filled with hanging onions, garlic, and peppers, and our larder packed with all manner of dried meat and fish. That night after we shot the elk, we grilled fresh elk steaks and ate fresh corn and wild greens, and had tea made from water from the creek.

How blessed we are, and how we pray for our brethren who are starving. We’ve been hungry before too, and will almost certainly be again; but for now, our hearts are bowed into the very dirt by God’s gracious favor to us. I wish we could share our bounty with our suffering brethren, but we firmly believe that God is in some way providing for their needs just as He is for ours.

CHAPTER 79 

Journal Entry: Saturday, November 25, 2023

“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalms 136:1, KJV).

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and what a wonderful feast we had! Dead-Eye Sarah as we lovingly call her, went out the day before and shot us a turkey so we could have fresh meat.

We dressed the bird and roasted it in the fireplace. We had turkey, corn, beans, and cornbread for our Thanksgiving meal. It was one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten. Trail and I ate so much we literally groaned as we made our way to the couches in the great room after helping Sarah clear away what little remained of the food.

It’s winter again for sure, and this one looks like it might be another harsh one. Tomorrow, Trail and I will go fell another tree and cut more wood. It’s been snowing off and on since the last couple of days of October, but it looks like it’s going to start snowing in earnest from here on out. The snow is still grayish, and we certainly wouldn’t eat it or catch it to use for water, but it’s not the ugly blighted snow that we’ve had for the past couple of years.

We now must take our pick axes and break through the ice in the creek to get fresh water every day. Our days are filled with getting water, chopping and stacking firewood, tending to the hens, making arrowheads and knives out of the antlers of the deer and elk, and using sinew to restring our bows.

Sarah hunts for turkeys, checks on our vegetables, mends our clothes, and is making me a coat from the elk hide. She’s also crocheting us all new hats to go with the scarves she has made us.

We stay so busy that we fall into bed exhausted at bedtime and are all usually asleep the instant our heads hit our pillows, yet I don’t believe three happier or more contented people exist than we three.

CHAPTER 80 

Journal Entry: Tuesday, Jan 30, 2024

“And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs” (Revelation 14:16-20, KJV).

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God” (Zechariah 13:8-9, KJV).

“I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them” (Micah 2:12-13, KJV).

As you can see, Journal, I’m not dating these entries by Draken’s new declarations changing the years. I’m not going along with his insane ‘Year One of the Era of the Dragon’ crappity doo dah, which according to him began on July 5, 2023.

On the mountain, we’ve just been hunkering down, trying to get through winter. Having our larder full has been such a blessing. We still eat only twice a day and are careful with our stores, but we don’t at all feel deprived. God has blessed us greatly.

Draken’s ‘mark’ system is in full swing as are the multitude of deaths of those who refuse it. The most tragic thing, though, is not the deaths of those believers who refuse to take it, but the twice or triple as many more who willingly accept the mark, and as a result, eternally forfeit all hope of salvation.

Watching the continued fall of Jerusalem is heartbreaking. The valiant IAF – who assisted many of the remnant Jews who were fleeing into Petra/Bozrah from the overwhelming EP ground forces – as well as the IDF, have fought valiantly for Israel, but we are watching as the foretold downfall of Jerusalem takes place. It’s heartbreaking to know that even after all that’s happened, two-thirds of Israel will still refuse to believe on Jesus as their Messiah and thus be doomed to an eternal Hell. How we long for Jesus to return!

We’ve been intensely interested in the book of Revelation, especially since we are living it. We know that we’ve passed the midpoint since Draken has already defiled the Temple by installing his A. I. image Singularity, in the Holy of Holies. What we await next is the downfall of religious Babylon. Scripture tells us that the ‘beast’ who we know is Draken and his forces hate the ‘whore’ which is the embodiment of all of the false religious systems of the earth.

In a stunning move that took almost everyone by surprise, Draken and Gulden sent EP troops into the Vatican and arrested the aging, ailing pope, the entire College of Cardinals, and slaughtered the Vatican guards. On Gulden’s orders, the Vatican was ransacked; and literally tons of gold, silver, precious gems, priceless works of art and other ill-gotten artifacts and  treasures that the Roman Catholic Church itself had stolen, purloined, and plundered from other countries were in turn stolen, plundered and pillaged by Draken’s forces and carried to Neo-Babylon to be housed in the Temple of the World. All statues, paintings, and iconography depicting Jesus (even though all those things were in themselves idols as well) were, nevertheless, destroyed. The pope and all Roman clergy were rounded up and charged with committing blasphemy against Draken and the Order of the Dragon and summarily executed. Oh, the irony!

Since Satan wants sole worship, we are expecting to see anytime now the destruction of the city of Rome itself, along with the ouster of all other forms of religion from the earth that is already taking place. Very soon after that, the last and most dreadful group of ‘seven’ judgments – the bowl or ‘vial’ judgments – will commence, along with the utter destruction of Babylon which has become the commercial colossus of the world, far surpassing what even New York had been.

Journal, events are going to get much, much worse before Jesus returns and brings in the kingdom.

Lord, please strengthen and deliver us all! 

CHAPTER 81 

Journal Entry Friday March 29, 2024

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:1-13, KJV).

I’ve been thinking a lot about Uri lately. How I wish he and Will both could have made it here to Yellow Top so that all of us could have been together; but as the Lord through Sarah and Trail constantly reminds me, we will all be together soon, and we won’t just be reuniting with them, but also with Grandpa, Grandma, David, Clyde, Chief Little-John, Mama B, Sarah’s brother and sister-in-law and niece, and with Big Mike – with all of our family of God. Even more, we will at last get to meet our Lord and King face to face in His kingdom! Remembering this is what makes all the terror, loss, and torment worth it all.

Trail was reading to us last night from Revelation 14, and it struck me that since Revelation is unfolding in a chronological manner, in reading about the 144,000 in chapter 14, it certainly appears that by the midpoint of the tribulation they are all in heaven with Jesus! Uri, being the humble man he was/is, never spoke much about all that he endured, but Trail told me once that when he was treating Uri after his fall, that Uri carried a lot of scars on his body; mostly on his back. He said he figured that Uri had suffered far more than he ever let on to any of us. I don’t doubt that this is true.

Oh, how I hope and pray that my understanding is correct and that Uri and all the rest of Jesus’ brethren are in His presence now away from the horrors here and the dreadful judgments yet to come.

The beheadings of believers worldwide is unbelievable. Draken and Gulden have ordered that all statuary, icons, friezes, paintings and such from all religions is to be purged. The only statue to be allowed in the Temple of the World is the huge Baphomet that stands to the left of the Pergamum Altar. It, the Altar of Zeus, and the huge papal throne are to be the only things inside the huge rotunda. However, throughout the complex in the Temple of the World, all of the loot raided from the pagan Roman Catholic Church is now housed and displayed in Gulden’s pagan temple.

Sadly, as I’ve said before, the overwhelming majority willingly and enthusiastically take the mark and follow Draken. Some take it out of what they believe is a necessity; some take it out of fear, but all who take it are eternally doomed.

Here at home, we are going to attempt another planting this spring. It’s been a harsh, hard winter and we’ve no way of knowing what this spring will be like; so whether or not God will grant us another garden, we don’t yet know. As in everything, we pray and ask God to guide us.

CHAPTER 82

Journal Entry; Friday, May 24, 2024

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of Lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:1-18, KJV).

I remember doing a history term paper my senior year in high school on the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii Italy in 79AD. The sudden devastation of the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum fascinated me. I remember seeing pictures of people in Pompeii whose bodies had been covered and preserved in hardened layers of superheated pyroclastic ash and pumice. The poor inhabitants of Herculaneum who were 11 miles closer to the eruption than those in Pompeii died instantly, their blood literally boiling in their veins and their brains exploding from the 400-900° pyroclastic gas and ash that traveled hundreds of miles an hour, reaching them before they could escape, or overtaking them in the places where they had sheltered. Those people had absolutely no chance of escape.

The utter terror of seeing powerful volcanoes erupt on film has always held a grim fascination for me. I remember watching footage of Mt. St. Helens with Grandma. I wasn’t born when Mt. St. Helens blew, but Grandma told me about it, and I looked at the footage online and on TV. The incredible force was breathtaking, but what happened to Pompeii made Mt. St. Helens look like a firecracker in comparison.

Vesuvius left a scar on Italy for centuries and was the worst recorded volcanic eruption in Italy’s history; that is until May 3, 2024 when an earthquake from a previously unknown faultline undiscovered underneath the city of Rome struck without warning.

With a magnitude of 10.2, this slate-wiper of a quake set off volcanic eruptions of Vesuvius and Mt. Etna. The worst, however, was the eruption of the Calli Albano caldera in the volcanic district; a nine-mile semi-circle of hills just outside of Rome. The Alban Hills magma chamber, part of an ancient caldera, detonated, spewing mega tons of volcanic debris was what triggered the powerful eruptions of both Vesuvius and Mt Etna. All of the so-called experts had been assuring people for decades that there was no real danger; that these volcanoes could not possibly erupt for a thousand years or more, or that the fault line running beneath Rome was too small to cause anything more than minor earthquake activity. It’s obvious to us they never read the Bible or believed in the God whose very Word can cause the ground to tremble and all of creation to move at His command.

When the earth shook and caused these volcanoes to blow, Rome, the ‘eternal city,’ was leveled into rubble in a day’s time. The wicked, blighted, evil heart of Rome, Vatican City, that dark repository of ancient Babylon’s depraved and pagan occult religions, had for centuries been housed and protected in Rome, overseen for millennia by a succession of false ‘popes’ who were all antichrist forerunners serving an antichrist system, preparing the world for the eventual coming of THE Antichrist. In this judgment, that citadel of evil, Vatican City, was utterly destroyed. St. Peter’s Square, St. Peter’s Basilica, the many Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel; all of the edifices of this false and utterly pagan ‘church’ were completely destroyed; what little was left in them after Gulden had earlier ransacked the Vatican vaults and himself stolen Rome’s stolen wealth. All of Vatican City and Rome itself was completely destroyed.

On May 3, Trail came running outside calling for Sarah and me to hurry inside. He’d just logged onto the deep web; video of the burning of Rome was everywhere.

“Bobby, Sarah,” he called. “Y’all need to see this. I’d say that the judgment of God on Rome has started.”

Boy, was he right! Rome, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, which has for centuries been the hiding place for all the pagan religions of ancient Babylon; her judgment has finally arrived.

“Look, there’s nothing left! Rome is gone!” said Trail, practically yelling. I didn’t blame him. The sight we were witnessing was almost beyond what our minds could process.

“The whole city is in flames!” cried Sarah.

“Guys, I think we must be on the cusp of the last seven judgments beginning; the bowl judgments. I wonder how many of those people now deceased were lost, do you think?” she asked, stricken. Trail only shook his head as I shrugged. We just didn’t know.

For the last few weeks, we’ve been monitoring the news reports. The volcanic and earthquake activity in Italy is still going strong, showing little signs of let-up. And, ominously, here in America, Yellowstone has once again started to rumble. When Yellowstone erupted several years back, it was big enough that it devastated the Northwest well into the heartland; well, what was left of the Northwest after everything else had already obliterated it. But at that time, as bad as it was, Yellowstone hadn’t blown to its full capability. Now the caldera was rumbling again. If it goes, even if the blast is less than last time, our atmosphere will be polluted again, and this time likely won’t recover until Jesus returns.

“Trail, do you think we should try to plant this year?” I asked, thinking of last year’s unexpected bounty and wondering if we had any hope at all of anything growing.

“I think we’ve got to try. We also need to step up our hunting and fishing while we can; step up our efforts for a while,” said Trail.

“Yeah, I agree, and we need to cut more wood; try to fill the shop and the barn. We’ve probably got four cords now, but if things go south, we’d better cut now and fill the barn and shop so the new wood can dry,” I mused. “I also want to get up on the roof and check to see how it’s holding up. We need to check the shop and the barn roofs too just in case.”

“I can go now and reset our traps and snares,” said Trail. “Then I’m going fishing for a bit unless you want to check the roofs now. I can fish and set the snares tomorrow. Want to get up on the roofs now or later?”

“Yeah, let’s both check the roofs today since we have some decent daylight. Sarah, you grab your bow and quiver and let’s see what you can bag today. We’ll all go hunting and fishing tomorrow,” I said as Trail and I headed out the door, and Sarah went to retrieve her quiver and arrows.

We decided that this year’s Planting Day would be Monday, the 6th of May. We’d plant what we could and leave the results in God’s hands.

The next day, Trail caught a string of little-mouth bass and three good-sized trout. Sarah shot a brace of rabbits and a quail. All the roofs were in good shape, and on May 6 we planted another garden, though not as big as last year ‘s.

Trail and I cut and split wood every day now. Lord willing, by month’s end we’ll have the shop pretty much full. Then we can get to work on filling the barn by the end of summer.

Sarah’s working on keeping our water stores topped off, sanitized with the chlorine bleach we keep for just that purpose, and boiled for us to drink. We will have to wait and see whether our weather holds or whether the additional ash in the atmosphere puts us back into a volcano winter. It’s not lost on us that we are already 5 months into the fourth year of the last seven years before Jesus returns, and the terrible bowl or vial judgments have yet to begin. Surely it won’t be long until they do.

CHAPTER 83 

Journal Entry: Thursday, July 11, 2024

A week ago, Yellowstone blew again. Before it erupted, in a detonation bigger and almost as devastating as the last one, we managed to harvest most of our vegetables as well as most of our corn, but the buckwheat crop was lost. We were also able to get more venison and fish to replenish our smoked meat stock. Our skies are once again filled with ash, so for the next few weeks we are housebound with our doors and windows sealed. We’re keeping our excursions outside to the barest minimum of what’s necessary. God blessed us in that we were able to get the barn and the shop filled with cut and stacked wood. How grateful we are that our food supply is holding out. What we do have to conserve now is lamp oil and wicks. Izzy had been farsighted in holding some back, and we’ve tried to be frugal in our use of it, but our supply grows smaller by the day.

Both Trail and Sarah have decided that it might be best if I simply take an hour or two every day that I feel led to write and do my writing during daylight hours. I don’t like doing that since there’s always so much that needs doing during the day, but there’s no getting around the fact that our lamp oil is getting low and cannot be replaced once gone. Both Sarah and Trail constantly remind me that keeping these journals (23 of them so far, not counting this one I’m writing in now) is what God has, for whatever reason, called me to do. So they have both made it plain that I need to carve out at least an hour during the daylight hours to write without using the lamp whenever I feel the Lord impressing me to write. I’ve agreed to do that, but I am going to continue to space out my entries maybe even more than I am now. It’s not just the lamp oil that is nearing the limit; My journals and pens are thinning out too, and there’s still about two years, give or take, left to go; so I’m going to do my best to conserve paper and ink. I’m also going to try not to chase so many rabbit trails when I write (yeah, right!).

During that first post-rapture Christmas back in 2019, each one of the girls gave me a box filled with a dozen big spiral notebooks and over a dozen pens in each box. I remember thinking how excessive all those notebooks and pens seemed to me then. How I’d laughed then thinking to myself that, although I knew I was supposed to keep a journal, I was sure that I’d never be able to fill that many notebooks; yet here I am in 2024 worrying that I may not have enough! I’ll certainly record anything the Lord impresses upon me to write that’s pertinent, and I’ll record the last seven judgments when they begin for sure, but I’ll do my best to be a good steward of what limited resources I have left and trust God for the rest; after all, He’ll send me what I need when I need it. Remember, Journal, He sent us a moose!

CHAPTER 84 

Journal Entry: Monday, October 28, 2024

It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Journal? Well we are trying to be good stewards of our dwindling resources. Not much has been happening on the mountain, just our day-to-day living. We’re holding our own as far as food, lamp oil, and my notebooks and pens are concerned, although our cache of all of these things is dwindling. We do our best to be careful with everything. I’ve almost forgotten what it was like to just jump into Big Bertha and head into town to Mike’s to buy groceries or notebooks or pens if I wanted them. Whoever could have guessed that – in the 21st century – lamp oil, wicks, pens and notebooks would become such precious commodities? Still, in all, we are greatly blessed and in so much better shape than the majority of our brethren who are facing horrible persecution, and deprivation of the basics such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.

Trail was leading our Bible study last night back in Revelation. We don’t just read Revelation and nothing else, though it may seem so when I write. We’ve actually been studying in the book of Ruth for the past month, learning about how Jesus is our ‘kinsman redeemer’ – a beautiful story and a picture of Jesus and the Church in the Old Testament story of Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi. However, reading Revelation is like reading current daily news to us. It is our signpost and marker of where we are and what’s coming next. Because we are living in the very pages of Revelation, we read it every day as well, regardless of where else we are studying in our Bibles. If we are ever discovered, merely owning Bibles will mean certain death for us. Should that happen, it will be our greatest honor to die for the name of the Lord and for His Word.

It’s clear to us that what’s coming next, which can happen at any time, is the beginning of the bowl or vial judgments – God’s seven last and most horrific judgments before His return. Honestly, we’re all a bit surprised that they’ve not yet begun. But they soon will. Oh yes, they soon will. Of that there is no doubt.

As Trail was reading last night, he commented on the passage in Revelation 15. It is a comfort to us and a reminder to us of the untold number of Tribulation Saints, our brethren in Christ, who have already been martyred for their faith, as any or all of us may soon be as well. What a comfort to know that all Draken, and Satan through him, can do is kill our bodies. That’s the worst he can do. As the Apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ but to die is gain!” Draken can only kill our bodies; he cannot touch our immortal souls.

It’s our belief, based on what’s already happened and what is happening now, that we are poised on the verge of the events recorded in Revelation 15. Of course, those things are taking place in Heaven, so we on earth can’t know for sure until the first bowl judgment actually begins, but we all three feel that we must be very close.

I’ll write out the whole chapter here, journal, so I can refer back to it whenever the first bowl judgment begins. Things from here on out are likely to happen rapidly once they begin.

Now, pardon me a personal indulgence, but I’m going to record what I can only describe as a growing sense of – what? unease? urgency? a feeling of impending change? I don’t know what to call it. I’ve not mentioned this feeling to either Sarah or Trail yet, partly because I’ve always been the ‘worrier’; the one who can think of every possible thing that could go wrong in any situation. That’s just my nature. Still, I’ve kept this feeling to myself partly because of that tendency on me and partly too because I want to wait and see if either of them say or even hint they too are feeling a similar sense of impending change headed our way. Maybe it’s just me being me; I don’t know, but more and more I’m beginning to feel antsy. More and more often now, I feel like there’s a fish hook caught in my brain, tugging at me, making me feel as if I need to be doing something, but I don’t know what the something that I should be doing is. It’s a frustrating feeling!

We all pray every day for God’s clear will and direction to guide us, so I know that, when it’s time, He’ll make our pathway clear to us in His perfect timing. In the meantime, we will keep doing what we’ve been doing and pray unceasingly for our suffering brethren worldwide. The beginning of the end is close at hand. Of that we are all certain.

“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled” (Revelation 15:1-8, KJV).

TO BE CONTINUED (16 more chapters to go)

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