Seven: Chapters 25–26 :: By Alice Childs 

CHAPTER 25

“After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.  Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:” (Ezekiel 38:8-10, KJV).

I remember Grandpa and Grandma talking about how people of their generation remembered where everyone was the day President John Kennedy was shot. That was a day that burned itself into the psyche of the people of their generation like the day Pearl Harbor was bombed had been for the generation of World War II, or September 11 for those of us who were children in my generation. The day burned into our minds now is Saturday October 19.

Mitch, Trail, and I were going back to the girls’ house the next morning where Clyde, Will and Mike were going to join us. We didn’t have much in the way of an agenda that morning; we were just going to enjoy each other’s company and planned to have a bit of Bible study and prayer time together – something that was becoming a weekly habit among the core of us. We never seemed to be able to set a particular day or time because we all stayed so busy, so we met whenever most of us could get together. Eva and Carter were working at the farm today along with some of the other guys from town, but Izzy joined us. Lilly had made a huge pot of coffee, and Sarah was slicing the cake from last night. She was teasing Trail that she was imposing a one-piece limit on him to which he replied, “I’m totally down with that as long as it’s a big piece.”

We just chilled, enjoying our cake and coffee before we got started. While we were clearing up, getting ready to begin our Bible study, Carter called Byllie on her cell phone. We all saw her face go white as she said only one word in a voice just above a whisper “Oh” was all she said. Lilly and Sarah jumped up and led her to the rocker by the fireplace where they got her to sit down.

“What is it?” asked Lilly as Sarah ran to get Byllie a drink of water.

“Carter said to turn on the news,” said Byllie, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. This was the news being reported:

“On Saturday, October 19 at 10AM Eastern time – 5PM Israeli time, a united coalition led by Russia, Turkey, and Iran invaded the nation of Israel, coming in from the Golan Heights.”

The war of Ezekiel 38-39 had begun. Ominously the news continued:

“Around the same time the Israeli invasion began, the American cities of Washington DC and New York were struck by multiple nuclear warheads launched from a deep underwater stealth submarine located about 200 miles off the coast of Virginia. The nationality of the submarine that launched the missiles, whether Russian or Chinese, is unknown at this time,” the ABC News anchor said.

In one hour’s time, both the governing and financial nerve centers of the United States of America were struck a mortal blow, while in Israel, God Himself came to the defense of His land and chosen people.

The news didn’t seem to know which major news story to cover first. We had to resort to channel surfing, switching back and forth from one channel to another, as we tried to keep up with events unfolding here in the US and in Israel.

Since I need to record everything, I’ll begin first with the events closest to home, the destruction of our seat of government and the financial nerve center of America. We were expecting the Ezekiel Invasion, but this? None of us were in the least prepared for a nuclear attack on America at the same time. In Israel, the almost three-thousand-year-old prophecy of Ezekiel was occurring in front of our eyes as was the destruction of our own country. The attacks on Israel and America happened almost simultaneously.

What we found out about the nuclear strike on Washington was that the Pentagon took a direct hit. It was now gone as were the Capitol Building and the White House. The city of Alexandria, Virginia, and surrounding cities in the Virginia, Maryland, DC area were gone as well. Arlington National Cemetery, the Mall of Washington – gone, along with all of our national memorials. The National Archives that housed the copy of the Magna Carta, the originals of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution – gone forever as well. Water from the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay rushed in to fill the newly created craters, causing major flooding and returning the entire DC area to the swampland it used to be.

The strike on New York was centered on Manhattan Island. Gone in an instant was Wall Street, the headquarters of most major banking corporations, the financial center of the world, the corporate headquarters of numerous multinational companies. The headquarters of the UN – gone. Also gone was perhaps the greatest iconic symbol of the United States – the Statue of Liberty.

The one bright spot, if it could be called that, was that the president was out of Washington DC. At the time of the attacks, he was at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, having been moved to the Colorado complex after the rapture happened. He has remained there since. I guess Colorado is our new seat of government, if the United States has a government left.

All this damage was caused by what they suspect might have been a lone wolf sub whose nation of origin might never be known. The further devastation and loss of life brought us all literally to our knees in prayer. How many of those who died were lost and are now in Hell?

As awful as what occurred in America was, especially to us, what occurred in Israel was beyond belief, and for us believers was astounding to see. What God did in Israel was a tremendous testament to the power, might, and faithfulness of God.

We watched as multiple news relays aired the destruction of Washington, New York, and the Ezekiel invasion. After we got the basics of what happened in America, we tuned to the BBC’s coverage of events in Israel. In an enormous and overwhelming air and ground invasion entering Israel through the Golan Heights, a coalition led by Russia, Turkey, and Iran descended on tiny Israel like a great dark storm. Had we believers not already known exactly what this event was and how it was going to end, no one would have given tiny Israel any odds on her survival.

The invasion was sudden and overwhelming. What was even more shocking was to see how quickly and thoroughly the Lord brought an end to this invasion, all without the IDF or any other military power intervening. As soon as the Ezekiel coalition entered Israeli air space, suddenly the invaders’ guidance and munitions systems began targeting each other. On the ground, the earth began to tremble as an earthquake of unimaginable proportion began. The very earth seemed to come alive and open up, swallowing the invading armies. No one has ever witnessed anything like the events that happened in Israel on that day. It was clear as crystal that this was a supernatural event because nearby Israeli homes and buildings were not phased at all. No plane hit any Israeli home; no Israeli home was damaged in the earthquake. This was just incredible. Only God could have so utterly destroyed Israel’s enemies and so completely protected Israel.

In addition to the earthquake, the sky began to – how can I describe it? – rain fire. I’ll just record what scripture has to say. I can’t even begin to describe what we saw happen. There is absolutely no way that any nation can have done this. This was obvious testimony to the entire world that Israel’s defender was God Himself.

“And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:  And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

“And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

“And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 38:15-23, KJV).

“Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

“And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.  So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

“And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon–gog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon–gog. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

“And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.

“And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.  Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God” (Ezekiel 39:1-29, KJV).

By the end of what we came to call ‘Ezekiel Day,’ God had indeed risen to defend His people Israel. Moscow and the might of the Russian army, indeed the might of the entire Ezekiel coalition, lay in absolute and utter ruin. Also, the military, political, and global strength and hegemony of the once great United States was gone forever. Completely inadvertently I am sure, even our president’s response to the Israeli invaders was a fulfillment of prophecy. Both our president and King Salman of the Saudi kingdom’s responses, although expressed in different words, were in essence the same: “What was the purpose of such an unconscionable action?”

Our own president, addressing our crumbling nation from deep within his underground bunker in the Colorado mountains, the seat of our new government, I guess, added,

“Surely the reason for such a desperate attack can only have been spurred by extreme jealousy and envy, coveting Israel’s burgeoning riches and her growing economic strength. The lightning speed of this invasion, coupled with the grave ordeals we are facing within our own country, have prevented us from being able to come to the aid of our ally Israel. However, it seems apparent that Israel’s God needed no help in defending the land and the people He calls His own. The question that comes to mind in the aftermath of this unprecedented display of God’s sovereignty is this: was the attempt to plunder the spoils of Israel worth the price the invaders paid? The answer is clearly a resounding NO.”

CHAPTER 26 

Journal Entry Wednesday November 6

Okay, Journal, I think I’ve finally gotten caught up recording all of the momentous events of last month, from the rapture to the destruction of Washington, and Ezekiel Day as we call it among ourselves. So far there have not been any further major upsets; at least not so far in these first six days of November; although, I expect that this brief pause of quiet will end soon.

The West Coast is still in extreme crisis. Fears are rising that Mt Rainier, which is becoming more unstable by the day, will soon erupt. If that happens, the destruction will be catastrophic even above the holocaust that has already occurred and is continuing to unfold all throughout the Pacific Northwest and the entire West Coast.

In addition, there is now the reality of the unimaginable loss of life in and around what was until Saturday our nation’s capital, and to New York, the financial center of the world. It’s hard to look at news video footage of the – I hate to keep using the word ‘devastation’ but it’s the only word that fits – the total devastation of what was once our West Coast, Washington DC, and New York, along with their surrounding cities and communities. All this carnage is more than our minds can comprehend. There comes a point when the mind simply shuts down, unable to absorb another emotional hit. The brain can recognize the information and can intellectually process it, but the heart goes numb and starts to build a protective cocoon around itself. Between the continuing loss of life from the multitude of West Coast disasters, the ongoing rioting and looting in cities all across America, and now the destruction of DC and New York, there’s no way to even begin to grasp the magnitude of the death toll in America. Whatever it is now, it is beyond our ability to process; and the Tribulation has not even begun.

On the home front, our town meeting today was a highly emotional one. I was surprised to see a full crowd assembled yet again, but I guess banding together for as long as we can is a comforting and a very human response to tragedy. Many of those who came looked shell-shocked. Some sat quietly, wide eyes staring ahead blankly, while others were as jumpy as a cat on hot pavement. The couldn’t-be-still ones looked to be on the verge of hysteria or maybe something worse. Thank God for Clyde and Mitch and Will. They were like rocks – no, they were like anchors.

Clyde, I had noticed, had donned his old uniform and badge. He also wore his sidearm. This I knew was not vanity or hubris on his part. Clyde knew instinctively that people needed to see an authority figure. He knew that being uniformed and armed would send a psychological message – not that Clyde would have thought of it in those terms. Clyde just knew people and how they behave. I am also sure the Lord is leading him.

At our weekly Bible studies whenever we can all meet together, hearing Clyde pray in his simple, mountain-country brogue has become a true blessing and encouragement to me. He reminds me so much of Grandpa – so much it hurts. There was never any pretense with either of those two strong men who have shaped my life. Clyde, like Grandpa was, is a simple, unpretentious man; their love was and is country-gruff; ineloquently expressed, but totally sincere. Clyde comes across as gruff and standoffish but, in reality, he has a tender, kind, and loving heart. He is also, however, uncannily shrewd and observant. He is quite frankly one of the best at ‘reading’ people of anyone I’ve ever known. We all love him. Sarah in particular has taken to Clyde as a grandfather figure; Clyde loves it. And as I said before, he adopted her too from first sight. I thank God every day for him.

After Will opened the meeting in prayer, Clyde took the podium and introduced the new Norrisville police force: Dewey Upshaw, Assistant Chief; Lt. Rod Weaver; and new officers Jim Casey, Vern Sadler, Norm Baker, and of course Clyde himself, the Chief of Police. He also introduced Paul Digger and Bill Rogers as auxiliary backups who are training to be added as officers by the first of next year. Clyde emphasized the point that Norrisville’s current police force is now twice as big as it was before the rapture. The new add-ons either had been or were now being trained by Clyde and Dewey.

The new Norrisville PD was better equipped, thanks to all the new ammunition found in the homes of the missing. In addition, NPD also now boasted a larger fleet of vehicles at the town’s disposal from among all the left-behind cars. He and Dewey were outfitting each new two-man patrol car with walkie talkies for the cars that weren’t the two actual patrol cars. Lois Burgess was going to act as daytime dispatcher until another one or two volunteers could be found. Lois and Lila Pruit, two older women in their late fifties, were already working on painting NPD lettering on the doors of the “new” patrol cars, using spray paint and stencils so they could be easily identified. Clyde made a point of going into details like this on purpose. He wanted the town to know that, regardless of how things were in other places, at least for the time being, things here were as settled as they could be.

Next Mitch spoke and gave a rundown on how each of the committees were progressing. He gave excellent reports on the clothing, bedding, and winter blankets’ storage at the school that was almost complete. Many homes had fireplaces, but some did not, so Mitch made a point of telling the town that we were storing extra supplies for those who might need warm bedding or clothing in the coming winter months. Byllie, Cindy, and Karen wanted everyone to know that clothing, shoes, and such items would be ready when needed. The Norrisville Rapture Recycle Center, as they had named the new resource repository at the elementary school, would be open beginning next Monday November 11. The store hours would run Mondays–Fridays from 10:00 AM to 5 PM.

Mitch then announced the reopening of the Norrisville Medical Clinic whose hours would be: Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. On Wednesday the hours would be the same as Mondays in order to accommodate the town meetings. All services would close at 5:00 PM in order to observe the 6:00 PM town curfew Clyde had set. Mitch emphasized that Trail and the girls would, of course, be on call for any genuine emergencies.

The town’s two nurses, Sarah and Lilly, were going to open the Clinic after lunch at 1:00 PM on Mondays, except in emergencies, so they could offer classes every Monday morning from 10-12 at New Hope Church. These classes would be teaching basic first aid, CPR, nutrition, mountain medicine and home remedies from days gone by, such as how to use garlic as a natural antiviral, or how to make a healing balm from the buds of the cottonwood tree. This salve was something I’d told the girls about. My Grandma used to make this. She called it ‘Balm of Gilead’ salve. Skills like these are survival skills that every person or household would do well to learn since we have no real medical doctor in town. In the coming days, we will eventually be scattered, so learning the skills to survive for as long as we are able to do are good skills to learn. Besides, learning and doing together keeps people busy. Clyde says keeping people busy is essential to individual health and the health of the town. He said busy people don’t have time to be causing trouble.

Bringing the townspeople concrete information regarding projects that had already been completed went a long way in helping to calm the townsfolk’s understandably frayed nerves. By the end of the meeting, there was even some excited buzz among the crowd over the Rapture Recycle Store and the Norrisville Health Clinic classes. This idea of giving a detailed progress report was a stroke of genius. The two men behind it, of course, were Clyde and Mitch.

Will finished the meeting by carefully going over the Biblical prophecies that had just been fulfilled and giving us a heads-up as to what was likely to come next. Neither Will nor Clyde or even Mitch ever pulled any punches or gave anyone a false sense of hope. When they speak, they are always brutally honest about what we will be facing, yet they also always temper those harsh warnings with practical knowledge and a reminder that, come what may, Jesus is victorious and will be returning to earth in only seven years’ time. They also give constant encouragement to us all to pray without ceasing. At this meeting, Mitch reminded everyone that from now on for as long as God permitted, our lives would be in a constant state of flux; that as time progresses, we will all be facing mortal danger as the last seven years count down to the physical return of the Lord Jesus. Mitch’s personal motto which he persistently reminds us of is this: ‘Faithful unto death.’

After the meeting ended, Sarah and Lilly headed over to the clinic to gather supplies and type up a syllabus for the new classes they would be teaching the following Monday. Byllie, Karen, and Cindy were going back to the schoolhouse to put the finishing touches on the Rapture Recycle Store, readying it for its Monday debut. Mike, Carter, Eva, Izzy, Vin Sawyer and a couple of other men, Leroy Whitten and Orson (Jet) Reese, were all headed to Amos’ farm to help with butchering and preparing the meat from two of Amos’ hogs. Mitch, Trail, Will, Clyde and I walked across the street to Will’s place for some lunch. I was glad for the invite. I was hungry, plus I had a few questions I wanted to ask Will’s opinion on.

Will’s brick ranch had an open concept area – a big kitchen, open to a dining and den combo area. It was comfortable. Will fixed us tuna sandwiches made with lots of mayo, served on what I call that frilly lettuce; you know the dark green leafy kind that looks all wrinkly? I have no clue what it’s called. Then he sliced a couple of huge beefsteak tomatoes he’d gotten from Mike. He piled all this onto the unhealthiest food on the planet – white bread. Of course, white bread has no redeeming nutritional qualities whatsoever, which is why it is the only suitable choice for sandwiches. Who wants to eat ‘healthy’ sandwich bread? To go along with these perfect sandwiches, he offered us dill pickles and potato chips. It was awesome.

What made lunch even better was that we all ate sitting in his living room and not at the table. For some reason, women insist on everyone eating at the table. I don’t know why that is. It’s a mystery to me. But it being ‘just the guys’ today, we could eat wherever we landed – like on the floor where Mitch and I were sitting; in a recliner as Clyde was doing, or in one of those giant chair-and-a-half things that Trail fell in love with and proclaimed as his from now on anytime we came here to Will’s house; or on the couch with feet propped up on the coffee table as Will was doing now. Sandwiches always taste better when you can slouch or prop your feet up to eat them. Wonder why women never seem to get that?

Anyway, as we ate, I finally asked Will the question I had been mulling over ever since we heard about the destruction of the West Coast.

“Will,” I began, “if the confirmation of the covenant is the event that begins the Tribulation, and if the real destruction begins after Jesus breaks the first seal in Revelation 6, then why has America been slammed so hard beforehand? I mean I get the connection between the rapture, the earthquakes and the EMP thing, but why is America seeming to be hit with worse and continuing damage while the other places who were initially affected seem to have settled down a bit after the initial rapture… ”  I paused, trying to think of the right word… “disturbances,” I said. “We seem to still be taking it on the chin. Why is that when technically the seven-year countdown has yet to begin?”

“That’s something I’ve been pondering too, Bobby,” Will replied. “I’ll tell you what I think is going on. This is only my conjecture, mind you, so I could be wrong, but what I think we are witnessing with all of the continual disasters hitting America from the moment the rapture occurred to now, is this: I am personally convinced that God is judging this nation. I think the rapture itself was a judgment, not just on America but the world. However, for America, which once was the bastion of freedom – the repository of the gospel; the nation most blessed and mandated with the freedom and ability to spread the gospel; the nation raised up by God to protect His people Israel – for all these reasons and more, America, which once embodied and did all these things, rotted from within and abandoned her calling and her God. Remember what scripture says in Luke 12:48, I think it is?

“To whom much is given, much will be required” or something along those lines. That’s not the exact quote, but it’s the gist of it. See, it’s my belief that the full judgment of America that God seemed to hold at bay for so long has finally come. Even before the rapture, God had been sending the world, not just America, warning after warning – precursors if you will, of events that are about to occur in full force during the Tribulation. It’s my belief that those were His ‘final warning’ before He snatched away His Church in the rapture. Tragically, very few of the lost world, particularly here in America, seemed to care or pay any attention. We sure didn’t or we wouldn’t have been left behind. Well, we all care now. America, as a nation, is now under judgment in my opinion; and as bad as it is now, it will only get worse from here on out.

America had to be removed from being a global superpower. We accomplished that ourselves by our own rebellion; and Jesus finished it off when He removed the Remnant Church who, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the Church, was the backbone of this nation. America has fallen and is now under divine judgment for her own national sins. It’s now time for Europe to rise – the ‘ten toes’ of the two ‘legs’ of the old Roman Empire. Kinda like that old Greek myth of the phoenix rising from the ashes of history, a 10-kingdom conglomerate that I personally believe will be comprised of nations from both the Western and Eastern European ‘legs’ of the old Roman Empire that will soon be arising from the ashes of the old Roman Empire.

How all of that meshes together, we don’t yet know. What we do know is that this 10-kingdom beast is likely already here and probably has been present, in a secret or hidden-shadow position, ruling from behind the curtain of global scrutability for a very long time. This ‘shadow kingdom’ will come to the forefront very soon now that there is a power vacuum left by the fall of the US and the defeat and ruination of Russia, Turkey, and the majority of Iran. There’s a huge power vacuum for sure; and soon, into that void, will stride the man whom we call the Antichrist.

Watch Europe, guys, the west and the east. Watch for the man who will very soon come forward – a wolf in the guise of a sheep, bringing with him a symbolic ‘bow’ in the parlance of Revelation 6; a ‘bow’ that I think represents the covenant that will be to Israel a ‘covenant with death’ – a false covenant that mocks God’s covenant with Israel; a false covenant that also mocks, in imagery, God’s covenant to Noah of the rainbow. Even before the rapture, we saw Satan’s contempt for God’s rainbow by preventing its symbology.”

Will continued, leaning forward with eyes intent. His quick, astute grasp of any situation, coupled with his almost professorial way of speaking, was mesmerizing. Will could speak off the top of his head, so to speak, the way some people write. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Will ended with these words: “Somewhere out there is a man, very likely more than just a man, who is biding his time… waiting. Any time now, it will be his time to stride onto center stage of the world. We will know him for the deceiver he is when he approaches Israel bearing the ‘bow’ of a false peace covenant.”

All the remainder of lunch, I kept mulling over his comments. His musings struck a chord with me. I could see Trail nodding in agreement too. God’s judging America made sense to me.

We left Will’s house; Clyde back to the PD; Mitch, Trail, and I back to our house/clinic. How long will it be, we were all wondering, before the next big event will occur or the next calamity befalls our nation or the world?

 

Seven: Chapters 22–24 :: By Alice Childs

CHAPTER 22 

Journal Entry: Sunday, November 3

It was only two days after we had heard the president’s address on that Sunday, October 13, that we were hit with even more jarring news. The next thunderbolt of news came from the Middle East and confirmed absolutely (as if we needed any further confirmation) that we really were on the brink of entering the seven-year Tribulation.

Almost immediately after the president’s speech, all major news outlets resumed their regular programming, but it was all news everywhere. There was no other programming at all. Naturally, the news was filled with nonstop coverage of the exponentially expanding disasters on the West Coast and film coverage of the rioting taking place in all major cities across America and in cities around the world. Hearing about the destruction was bad enough, but watching the continual footage was almost debilitating. There was continued instability all along the West Coast with as yet no letup in the fires despite an already overtaxed federal government doing its best to provide aid. There was simply too much going on. Now there were rumblings from Mt Shasta and Mt Rainier that seemed to indicate that those volcanoes may be threatening to erupt. Although an eruption from Shasta would be horrific, if (or when?) Rainier goes, it will be disastrous beyond belief in addition to everything else. Everyone is concerned about the increasing rumblings.

We couldn’t stand to watch the news except for short periods of time; the carnage was dismaying. The West Coast has been just…obliterated. Conditions in the cities look like war zones, although the president’s directive of martial law was beginning to make some headway with the national guards of each state starting to bring some order out of chaos, especially in smaller cities. The situation in the large cities, though, remains highly volatile. We thank and praise God every day that we live up in the mountains in podunk little Norrisville.

The following Tuesday Mitch, Trail, Mike, Will and myself were gathered at the girls’ house putting our thoughts together for the following day’s weekly Wednesday town meeting. We had been joined by Izzy Blake – the older lady who had volunteered to help Byllie and Mike coordinate food and resource distribution. Carter and Eva were at the farm, while Clyde was with Dewey and Rod at the PD. They were meeting with Jim Casey, Jimmy Morgan, Vinnie Sawyer, Vern Sadler and Norm Baker to determine if any of these men would be qualified to add them as auxiliary officers. Both Jim Casey and Norm Baker would be solid, I thought. Vern too was reliable. I knew Jim, Vern and Norm had level heads and knew how to handle a gun. Vinnie Sawyer was smart and a hard worker, but he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from two feet away, and Jimmy Morgan could shoot but wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to being observant or thinking on his feet. I knew Clyde would sort it all out.

The rest of us had gathered in the girls’ den. Mitch and Will had been setting up a computer connection in the girls’ spare room. He wanted to link it to the setup he had at Doc’s – I mean our place. He told us that he was going to bypass the big search engines to set up some of the Christian websites online by mirroring them or rerouting them using the deep web or dark web or something like that. I really had no clue what he was talking about.

“Mitch,” said Trail. “Bobby and I want to know how y’all are going to do all that.”

“Trail, if I had 20 years to explain it to you pool cues, and if y’all both had complete brain transplants, y’all still wouldn’t have a clue,” Mitch said, grinning. “Do y’all even know what a VPN is?”

We both looked at him blankly.

“I didn’t think so,” said Mitch. “You boys just finish your coloring and let Will and me, the thinking men of this outfit, do all the heavy brain work.” Trail threw a pillow at him as everyone laughed.

After an hour or so, we had just about finished our planning session and were ready to stop for a break, when both Mitch and Will came downstairs. The lighthearted banter from earlier was gone. Both of them looked pale and shaken.

“Bobby, turn on the TV. There’s something y’all need to hear,” said Mitch.

CHAPTER 23

We tuned in and heard the following report from one of the cable news channels:

“At 10:00 PM Israeli time, a barrage of missile attacks launched from Damascus, Syria, hit the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Nazareth. Nazareth, the city known as the birthplace of Jesus, along with the former Israeli capital of Tel Aviv, both suffered severe damage in the surprise attacks with Tel Aviv being left in ruins from the unexpected Syrian attack.”

We hardly had time to adjust to the news coming out of Israel when the next round of news came across the air.

“This afternoon at 4:00 PM Eastern time – 11:00 PM Damascus time, it is being reported that – in retaliation for the earlier strikes on Nazareth and Tel Aviv – Damascus, Syria, has been hit by a high-yield nuclear detonation launched from Israel. The ancient sprawling city of Damascus, the longest continuously inhabited city in the world, has been utterly obliterated.

The governments of Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkey have severely condemned the Israeli government for launching a strike against Damascus. Iran is promising a swift retaliatory response against the state of Israel.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s condemnation of Israel’s nuclear response in Damascus called the Israeli government’s actions a case of ‘outrageous and unprovoked aggression.’ He further stated that it was time for the Arab world to ‘take care of the infidel usurper Israel once and for all.’ Rouhani stated that the Israeli occupation of Palestine ‘must finally come to an end.’ He called for the entire Muslim world to band together to destroy Israel from the face of the earth so that even the name of Israel would be remembered no more.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking on behalf of the Israeli government, called the Israeli strike on Damascus ‘inevitable’ given the continued aggression and escalation of Iran and its proxies such as Syria. Netanyahu also stated that the increasing missile attacks coming from the Damascus area targeting multiple cities in Israel, particularly Israel’s northern cities, were intensifying the threat to Israel to an ‘unacceptable and unendurable level.’ Netanyahu went on to say that these latest rounds of attacks demanded that Israel take the ‘ultimate step’ to protect and secure the Israeli people from Iran and its Syrian proxy’s escalating aggression and hostility.

The Prime Minister has called for the IDF, IAF, and Israel’s Iron Dome defense systems to maintain at their highest level of alert. All Israeli citizens are being told to either go to or remain in their homes and take shelter.

The government of Israel accused Syria and Iran of ‘sacrificing Damascus’ by their own repeated and escalating attacks on Israel in order to provoke and force Israel into making a preemptive strike, thus giving Iran a casus belli to strike Israel in the eyes of the world. Netanyahu continued, “Since Iran was willing to use Syria and Damascus as ‘expendable aggressors,’ Israel had no choice but to end the Syrian threat once and for all.”

The Israeli Prime Minister further stated that the continued barrage of longer range, more accurate missiles launched from Damascus constituted continued and unprovoked acts of heightened aggression so that Israel had no choice but to respond to with ‘any means necessary to resolve the threat once and for all.’ Netanyahu stated that his mandate is to protect the nation of Israel from the ‘continued and ratcheting escalation of aggressive maneuvers from Iran and its proxy states which include Syria. He said that “Iran’s continued and unabated goal has always been nothing less than the complete annihilation of the state of Israel.”

The government of Israel has issued a warning that if Iran or any other of its proxies attempt to launch any further retaliatory strikes against Israel, Israel will respond with ‘decisive and devastating force.”

Over the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours, we stayed glued to our televisions. Iran responded by launching a continuous barrage of non-nuclear surface-to-ground missiles, most of which Israel’s Iron Dome defense system was able to deflect and destroy. The news reports continued:

“In the continuing and escalating series of attacks in the Middle East, the Israeli port of Haifa was struck and severely damaged from missiles fired by Iranian-backed Hamas. Israel immediately countered by striking at the heart of Iran’s most dangerous threat – Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor facility. The weapons that Israel used were conventional; however, Iran’s Bushehr facility, built along the coast of the Persian Gulf, was built over the confluence of three highly unstable tectonic plates. Israel’s destruction of the Bushehr nuclear facility apparently triggered a high-magnitude earthquake that exponentially multiplied the severity of damage done to the reactors. As a result of the Israeli hit on Bushehr, the ensuing earthquake caused massively high levels of radiation to be released into the entire area surrounding the facility. Satellite images showed a huge area of destruction. Those left alive have been forced to scatter into any nation that will take in the surviving Iranian refugees.”

On Wednesday the 16th, the church was again filled to capacity. The mood was solemn. The people of Norrisville who had just begun to adjust to the rapture and the subsequent ruination along the West Coast and in the cities, once again had the foundations of our world knocked off kilter by the continued relentless fulfillment of prophetic events about which Will had just taught us the previous week. Will concluded the meeting by reminding us again of other, even more calamitous events which were yet to come.

“You know,” Will said in closing, “when I was the ‘senior pastor’ here at New Hope before Rapture Day, I was the biggest fool on God’s earth. I was pompous, arrogant, condescending, and above all, a pride-filled, ignorant fool. I thought I was destined for greener pastures. I had my eye on becoming senior pastor of a mega church somewhere making mega bucks. I couldn’t wait to leave this little speck of nowhere stuck up in the mountains. Of course, I was as lost as last Tuesday, as is obvious by my having been left behind. But see, what I didn’t credit or even care was that Hank Brock, my assistant pastor, was the real deal – a genuine believer. I treated him contemptuously; and for that I will forever be sorry.

I had no idea just how well-versed in Bible doctrine and eschatology – the study of end-time events – Hank really was. He knew I only had a head knowledge of scripture at best, and not much of that. I think Hank sensed, or the Lord led him, to leave a full outline of what he knew was coming. You see, Hank left for me a desk drawer full of teaching outlines, sermon notes, and lists of resources all related to the pre- Trib rapture and other end-time events. The bookshelves in his office were filled with commentaries by the likes of Matthew Henry and H A Ironside; with books from such Biblical scholars as Dr John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost and many others. His bookshelves were filled with books and commentaries that approached the subject of Biblical doctrine and eschatology from a literal perspective, while the content of my office was filled with post-modern garbage and self-promoting prattle – the post-modern narcissism of wanting to have the best of everything now.

After Hank and the others were raptured, his office became a gold mine to me. In going through his desk, I found that he had also written me a long personal letter explaining to me salvation according to the scriptures, and events to look for after the rapture. Hank knew I was lost. I think Hank suspected that it would take something as earth-shaking as the rapture to get my attention and open my eyes to the truth. I’m telling you all this because I want you to know that even though he’s gone, Hank is still, in a way, continuing to pastor this church – continuing to be a pastor to me as well.

Since my salvation, I have been studying my Bible like I never have before. Through studying scripture, and perusing Hank’s notes and resources, the Holy Spirit is opening the scriptures to me in a way I’ve never experienced.  I am not a scholar. What we learn here in our services and meetings, I am learning right along with you. From now on, we will be living events that were prophesied nearly three millennia ago by prophets such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah among other Old Testament prophets, as well as the Apostle John in 95 AD. We are living the fulfillment of these ancient Biblical prophecies.”

Walking from behind the podium to stand in front of the assembled group and address them eye to eye, Will continued.

“I want to close our meeting today by reminding us all of the recent, literal fulfillment of events that were prophesied long ago; events that we have witnessed. We now await the fulfillment of other events that will shortly be coming to pass. We are very close to the invasion of Israel from the Golan Heights by a coalition of nations led by Russia, Iran, and Turkey among others. This invasion will be the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39. We have just learned of the destruction of Damascus which was prophesied in Isaiah 17:1, and the destruction of the ancient Biblical area of Elam which today was the locale of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility. That event was the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:34-38. At any time now, we should be expecting the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39 to commence. In that short conflict, it will be God Himself who will intervene to rescue Israel from what would otherwise be certain annihilation.

After this event occurs, we can expect the man who will be the Antichrist to rise to global prominence and power. He will confirm a covenant between Israel and himself, backed by what the Bible in Revelation 17:10-13 calls a 10-kingdom confederacy. The Antichrist, led and backed by these 10 ‘kingdoms,’ will guarantee Israel’s safety and secure Israel’s right to rebuild her Temple on its ancient site. The confirming or strengthening of that covenant will be the event that will begin the countdown of the last seven years before the Lord Jesus returns. Israel will make what the Bible calls ‘a covenant with death.’ Make no mistake, although this man will appear to be Israel’s defender, he will in truth, be the very one whom the Bible calls, ‘the man of sin’ who will, in three- and one-half years’ time, betray Israel and finally become indwelt by Satan himself. Never forget that this man will be the consummate deceiver,” Will finished.

We didn’t know at that Wednesday’s meeting just how quickly that invasion would take place. We knew the Ezekiel war was coming, so we were somewhat prepared for it to happen. What we didn’t know about were the other events that would occur along with the Ezekiel invasion – events that would, in one fell swoop, remove the United States from ever being a global power again.

CHAPTER 24 

Friday, October 18, began for us as a stunningly gorgeous day. I slept in until noon. I had been on patrol with Dewey all night. I was glad Clyde was getting a good response of volunteers qualified to be auxiliary officers. I wanted to help Byllie, Mike and Izzy with the resource scouting and setting up the school. Pooling all the town’s resources was by far the biggest task we were facing. All clothing, extra bedding and blankets, quilts and stuff were to be stored in the school; all medicines, medical supplies and such found in the abandoned homes were to go to Trail at the clinic. Any ammo and guns left in any homes went to Clyde and the PD, and all food items, cookware, and sundries such as matches, lighters, paper products and stuff like that went to Mike’s. We had already set up a system of barter for those who needed any of those things. What we bartered was work for needs. Clyde made it very clear that the barter system was both fair and firm. If you didn’t pitch in and work in some capacity, you didn’t eat. It was as simple as that. He especially drove that point home to the five teenagers.

Izzy Blake was turning out to be worth her weight in gold. She was a natural organizer. She had already coordinated with Carter and Eva and had set up groups of women doing canning, food dehydration and smoking using both the big kitchens at the Pines and the school. She oversaw all the food prep for the winter which would then go to Mike’s. Izzy along with Mike, Eva and Carter worked with everything that pertained to harvesting the crops and the butchering of meat and such while Byllie Duncan, Karen Parnell and Cindy Lane took care of sorting out the items in the school, and forming sewing and quilting committees to work during the winter months. Vin Sawyer, Paul Digger, Rusty Palmer and I were the dray horses that schlepped all the big stuff from homes to the school. We didn’t mind a bit but it was laborious work at times. Still, we were pulling together. It was good to see. Clyde had told me yesterday that last night would be my last night being a part-time deputy, and I was glad to give up that position.

After I got up, I went downstairs to the clinic to help Trail, Lilly and Sarah sort and restock the clinic and pharmacy. I hadn’t had much time to see Sarah, so I was happy to be able to be around her and be helpful. They were all well underway revamping the clinic when I got down there. It was clear that all three girls, Sarah, Lilly and Byllie were becoming fast friends. I jumped in; and within a couple of hours, we had made a lot of progress.

We decided to take the rest of the afternoon off and meet back at the girls’ place for dinner around 7:00. The girls had promised to cook us a real spaghetti dinner that didn’t come out of a can. Byllie, as we were learning, was a better than good baker. She had baked a huge double-fudge chocolate cake. She threatened Trail with six kinds of death if he even glanced in the direction of the kitchen before supper. As Trail and Mitch tossed a football around in the backyard of our house, I asked Sarah if she’d like to go for a walk. We decided to walk over to the playground of the elementary school. We waved to Byllie, Karen, and Cindy who were sitting outside in front of the school sorting clothes into big piles on sheets spread out on the ground. Sarah and I walked around back to the playground. We sat on the school’s ancient old merry-go-round – you know, the old kind that goes around at the speed of vomit and causes your brain to scramble inside your head like an egg.

“Wanna take a whirl,” Sarah asked teasingly?

“Not on your life,” I said, grinning. “Mitch, Jack and David loved riding this instrument of torture, but Trail and I always had better sense.”

“Well, I am a nurse; so if you’re game…”

“Absolutely not,” I said, smiling.

“Just kidding. I never could ride one of these either. Let’s just sit here and keep it steady,” she said, her dimples widening as she smiled.

“Bobby,” she finally asked, her smile fading as her brow furrowed, “how long do you think it will be before the Ezekiel war starts, and how long do you think our little ‘bubble of protection,’ as Clyde calls it, will last?”

“I don’t know, ” I replied, “but from what I can understand of scripture, once the Antichrist comes on the scene and confirms the covenant, then according to Revelation, things begin to happen quickly.”

“I wish everything could stay the way it is right now,” said Sarah, sighing and turning her face up to catch the sun.

“I wish we could wrap up both Norrisville and this little slice of time in a bubble – a slice of time suspended like a bug in amber until Jesus comes back. I know that’s awfully selfish, and I don’t mean that I am not anxious to meet Jesus and see my family, because I really am. It’s just that, well, for the first time ever, I’ve finally gotten out of the hellish rat maze of the city. I was so burned out working in the ER and living in the non-stop asylum that is city life in Atlanta. I was sick to death of trying to patch up young men and women with multiple gun or knife wounds – babies, and children who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, teens and young adults who had already given up on life – the walking dead shuffling through a culture of nihilism where they believe that they have no future; nothing to live for; no hope and no way out but death.

Atlanta – although nowhere near as bad as say, Chicago – was well on its way to becoming as big a killing field as the other major US cities already are. I didn’t want to see it become another Chicago, or Los Angeles or San Francisco. These young victims who grow into emotional zombies, if they live long enough, came in and out through the ER like it was a revolving door; kids who all had the same expression – the cold, dead eyes of a shark; gazes that held nothing of humanity in them. I was tired of trying to save the same kids over and over who had already died inside until finally their broken, dying bodies caught up with their already dead souls. After a few years, all I could see awake and asleep in my dreams were the faces and mangled bodies of kids whose eyes were flat and emotionless and whose bodies were scarred, empty shells housing a giant howling fury of hate and despair.

When I came here to visit, I was immediately struck at how different it is here – how peaceful and laid- back life is here; the beauty and serenity of the mountains in this tucked-away little town of Norrisville. I knew after my first night here that I would make any trade off, moneywise or other, to get away from Atlanta. I thought Norrisville was the perfect place to – I don’t know, recover my sanity? heal my own cynical and dying soul? I don’t know. I thought if I did decide to come here for good, maybe I would be leaving Hell behind back in Atlanta. I guess I never realized that Hell would be coming to Norrisville too.

What I’m trying to get at is that, even after all that’s already happened and with all we know is soon going to be happening, I’m the happiest and most at peace I’ve ever been right here, right now, among all of you. Of course, knowing Jesus as my Savior is where true peace comes from. I know that now, and God placing me here right now has filled that longing deep inside, even though I know that Norrisville won’t be immune from the Tribulation.”

Here she paused, and looking me full in the face, she said, “Then there’s you, Bobby; you’re part of my little bubble too. Looking back, we all could be in heaven right now if we hadn’t been so prideful and so…so stupid. I guess we all regret that more than anything, but if I’m going to live my last seven years going through all the horrors of the Tribulation, then for as long as God allows me to live, I can’t tell you how grateful and blessed I am to be living through them here with you. I think I’m falling in love with you, Bobby.”

I leaned over and wiped away a single tear that slid down her beautiful face. She looked at me, those stunning blue eyes shimmering with tears that threatened to spill over the rims of her eyelids and said, “See, that’s another reason I wish we could stay in this little bubble. I think I’ve finally found home – a home on this earth, and even that’s going to be gone soon.”

Sarah’s tears were untamed now, flowing freely. I put my arm around her and just held her while she cried. Finally, I said, “Sarah, I have loved you from the moment you lifted your head and looked up at me the day you threatened to blow my head off.” That drew a sad, sweet smile from her.

“We are all here because of our own folly in rejecting Christ,” I continued, “but God has protected us and may still for a while. He has brought us all together here in this place; and come what may, we do have a life, a home, and well, we’ll see what comes next. But if it’s possible, and if God allows it, then maybe we can build a life here together for as long as possible. Let’s see how things go; but whatever happens, don’t lose heart, sweet Sarah. I love you too, Sarah Arrowood. Sarah…my Sarah.”

We walked back to the girls’ home hand in hand. Why bother pretending that she and I weren’t exactly what we were, a guy and girl in love – at the beginning of the apocalypse.

As the girls cooked supper in the kitchen, Mitch, Trail, and I talked more about the situation in Israel and where it might go from here. After we had all eaten our fill near to bursting, we resumed a game of Monopoly that we’d all had going on for the past three nights. Byllie was skunking us all. Around 9:30, we got around to the chocolate cake and coffee. After two plates of spaghetti with two slices of garlic bread, Trail ate two pieces of cake with a cup of coffee when the girls served dessert. Lilly and Sarah both told him that if he was going to explode, to go outside and do it; they’d just cleaned the house.

At 9:00 we turned on the TV to see what latest atrocities the news might hold in store. The situation in the Pacific Northwest was moving from concerning to alarming. Mt Rainier was becoming a real threat. Around 10:00, we all said our goodbyes, we guys heading to our own home at Doc Barnett’s. As it turned out, the next big disaster that came didn’t happen on the West Coast at all – not then anyway. In twelve hours’ time, the last vestiges of the great United States of America were swept into the dustbin of history.

In one moment of time, the balance of power shifted from American superiority to the rising multi-headed beast of the end times that was, even then, rising from the ashes of an old empire. In the Middle East, Israel was invaded and God came to her rescue. That next morning, everything changed.