Times of Tribulation: Christian End Times Thriller (The End Times Saga, #7) (17 page)

“How come God will allow this to happen? Why does Satan get to rule the Earth for the time he does?” asked one of the women.

“God allows this because He wants only those that are completely committed to Him to be in Heaven. Would you want just anyone to be with you for eternity?”

“Probably not. If you let everyone in, who could you trust to be whole heartedly committed to worshipping God?”

“Exactly. Those people who say that anyone can go to Heaven if they just live right and do good things for their fellow man are wrong, because what would’ve been the point of Jesus dying for our sins?”

“I guess Jesus doing what He did would’ve been a waste of time, if everyone could go to Heaven.”

“Yeah, it would’ve. Now, we’re going through the Tribulation to sort the wheat from the chaff, basically those that are redeemable versus those that are not. As you’ve seen, there’s way more of the unredeemable than there are of us, which breaks my heart. All we can do is bring unbelievers who never rejected Christ in the first place into the fold so they too can live with God for eternity. When the Patriarch does pull off his resurrection trick, don’t be alarmed, because it’s all in God’s plan.”

“Do you think the Patriarch and his people will kill every single believer they find on the spot without any kind of trial?” asked Janet.

“Yes, I do, and they’ve already started, from what we’ve seen on TV. Whoever doesn’t take his marks will face almost immediate execution. Believers during this time will be rewarded for being martyrs for the cause of Christ because they dared face down the enormous pressure of the global community and the Patriarch,”

“I really wish I had known all this before the Rapture and the Tribulation, I don’t like having to live through this period of time.”

“I think we all feel the same way. Anyway, all we really need to know is that God wins in the end.”

The other women all said “amen” and then Gwen said, “Let’s join hands and pray. Heavenly Father, we come to this day to ask for continued protection from the forces of evil. Please forgive us of our sins and help us to remained focus on you. Please protect other believers around the world as they face persecution and death. We look forward to your coming and please come quickly. In your name, amen.”

Gwen approached Janet, asking, “So, how’s it going with Pete? Is he leaning towards asking Christ into his heart?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I think he’s almost there, and then he pulls back. That man is so stubborn sometimes and hardheaded, but I think he’ll convert before the time passes for him to do it.”

“Well, Josh and I will keep praying for him.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it, I really do.”

Two days later, UETN broke into programming again. “We have amazing news to report! The Patriarch has risen from the dead. There seems to be a different air about him, like he’s filled with more confidence than he ever had before. He also arose with some kind of new power, which he also gave to High Priest Josten. This power seems to be in the form of calling forth fire from the sky and I think it’s a very exciting development. The people who were filing past the coffin of the Patriarch reportedly were shocked at first by his rising, but then they fell to their knees, and began worshiping him like a god. We had a camera and our reporter Ezra Goldstein there as the event unfolded, watch the moment and rejoice with the rest of the global community that our leader has come back to us,”

The video showed the Patriarch dramatically rising from his coffin, the mourners shocked to see it happening, and then the moment when they began to drop to their knees to worship him. The reporter that was tagging along with the cameraman, approached Karimi as he was helped out of the coffin, and asked, “Patriarch, what do you want to tell the world?”

“In this time of need, I’m here to lead the way and to save you from yourselves. As you’ve seen, I have risen, proving to you that I am your god. I will no longer tolerate those that follow that other man, that false prophet, the one who claims he’s the Son of God. Nor will I tolerate those that practice Judaism, unless they convert and worship me. I am the Chosen One! To prove to you that I have the power that I say I have, I will give a portion of it to my prophet, Kevin Josten, who will lead you in worship of me and my godhood. High Priest Josten step forward,”

High Priest Josten stepped forward, looking to some who watched like an outlandishly dressed peacock, while everyone could tell he was proud of his position and proud of what he was wearing. The Patriarch’s hand rose to Josten’s forehead, with the now risen leader saying, “I now give to you just a small bit of my power so you can effectively lead the people in the worship of me. Use it wisely, High Priest.”

Light appeared between the Patriarch’s hand the High Priest’s forehead. The light seemed to travel through Josten’s body, even causing his eyes to have an otherworldly glow for a few seconds. Josten’s countenance seemed different to those who watched, but they weren’t sure how they’d be able to describe it to anyone who hadn’t seen it happen. The Patriarch lowered his hand, and with a commanding voice, said, “High Priest, demonstrate your power. Show the world what I, your god, have given you.”

Josten headed for the open air, where a pile of books had been setup for the next bit of deception he and the Patriarch had devised to fool the people into believing the Patriarch was a god and the High Priest was his messenger. The camera panned the books as Josten said, “These are banned books that talk about that man we know to be a false prophet, along with Torah’s and other Jewish religious books. These have been confiscated from those who follow that false prophet or could potentially follow Him. Watch as I consume these books with fire out of the sky.” Josten raised his arms towards the sky and said, “Fire! Come forth and consume!”

A stream of fire appeared out of the sky and consumed the books. The people who had been mourning for the Patriarch in person cheered as the fire burned the banned religious material to ash. Around the world, other unredeemed also took joy in the book burning, while believers felt shock and sadness over what just happened, but they knew that God was in control. The camera focused back on Josten, who had an evil looking smile plastered on his face, who said, “Did you see the power of our god? He is the one who will save us from our backward ways and lead us to paradise in the after-life. He wants what’s best for all of us, will you follow or will you resist? Join me in worshipping him as the Christ. Your life depends on it.”

The camera followed Josten as he returned to Karimi’s side. The reporter asked the Patriarch, “Patriarch, what do you command us to do to please you?”

“To please me, all must worship my image, which will be rebuilt in the coming weeks. All must take the mark of loyalty and the mark that will enable you to buy and sell, this will be mandatory, including everyone who lives in Israel. Israeli’s will no longer be exempted from taking the mark. Those of you found without these marks will be executed, immediately for some, while others will be made examples of and then executed. The followers of the false prophet and his witnesses are to be turned in immediately, including former President David Cohen. Remember, we must have peace, harmony, and unity in this world so our children can be returned to a world without poverty, hunger, and hate. I have spoken.”

“Thank you for your time, Patriarch. This is reporter Ezra Goldstein of the United Earth Television Network reporting from Jerusalem. Now back to you at the studio.”

In Puerto Rico, Wayne Davis watched the supposedly miraculous resurrection with some annoyance and a little bit of jealousy. Turning off his television and with no one else in the room, he said, “Oh, that’s just wonderful. The Patriarch returns and I’m still stuck as an administrator over a pathetic region. I so wanted that job. I bet Josten knew all along this was going to happen. Oh well, what’s done is done, and I’m committed to the cause. I wonder what’s going to happen next?”

Chapter 18

“Administrator Davis, we’re here to install the hardware that’ll project the Patriarch’s image so the people can worship him the way he wants. For now, we’re supposed to install the hardware for the image in a central location in each of your region’s major cities. In the near future, after we’ve installed these in major locations and we have more of a supply of parts, neighborhoods will get their own imaging systems. Is there such a location where we can begin installing the hardware?” asked the head Union of United Earth engineer, Bruce Kim.

Wayne hadn’t the slightest idea this was going to happen, since the Patriarch or the High Priest had seen fit to send a memo or any official documents about the project. While he knew the Patriarch issued a decree that everyone would worship his image, he thought the statue in Babylon would’ve been rebuilt and everyone would have to bow down in that direction. Wayne wondered if he was being shut out purposely by the two men, but he knew he couldn’t prove it. He asked, “What purpose does this new hardware serve when it comes to worshipping the Patriarch?”

“The Patriarch decided that having 3D holographic images of himself around the world would be easier than making people bow down to something they couldn’t see hundreds of thousands of miles away from where they were. These holographic images can be taken over by the Patriarch himself when it suits him, so that anyone worshipping at the time will hear what the Patriarch has to say and how he feels about his people. The hologram itself can be programmed to be interactive, but it is limited, and the artificial intelligence required to have what the Patriarch wants for this hologram is years away. The Patriarch and High Priest feel that this is more of a personal way of people getting to know their god,”

“Okay. How do they know if anyone will actually show up?”

“You know how every person that’s been barcoded has also been embedded with a microchip in their forearm?”

“Yes, I’m aware of that,”

“For now, we’ll be using a scanner at the entrance to each holographic display that will pick up each chip and record the biometric data of the person coming to worship that day. Each person is required to worship four times a week, so if they don’t show up, we will know,”

“I think I know the answer to this, but what happens if someone misses any of their required worship periods?”

“The punishment increases with each offence. The first time, the offender will be strapped to a pole in the nearest public square, whipped, and left there for a week. The second time, one of their hands and a foot will be cut off, along with an eye being plucked out. The third and last time, they’ll be executed using the normal method of beheading. So far, from what I’ve heard, the threat of these punishments have been very effective. Around the world, people who hadn’t taken either marks have been lining up to take them and doing what they need to do to stay in their Patriarch’s good graces,”

“Yes, I’ve seen that here. Do you know if sacrifices are required to the hologram?”

“From what I’ve seen, there’s been mostly animal sacrifices, what’s left of the animals anyway, plus people leave fruits and vegetables. So far, I haven’t heard of any human sacrifices,”

“I see. Do you know about the hunt for the remaining malcontents?”

“Not really, sir, but I have seen the results of it on TV and it does make for some great entertainment. Okay, once my people are finished installing the hardware, we’ll continue on to other cities in your region. Sometime in the next few months, we’ll begin installing it in neighborhoods. For now, we just need the central location to install the hardware,”

“All right, you can use the biggest sports stadium we have on the island. Do what you need to do to setup what you need,”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Administrator.”

“You’re welcome. Peace and blessings to you.” Both men shook hands and Kim went off to do what he had to do.

Five months later, every major and some minor cities on Earth had the hardware in a central location that would project the 3D holographic image of the Patriarch. Wayne made the announcement to his region when the equipment had been installed that all would have to appear before the image in their cities, with set times based on alphabetical order of their last names, and then he explained the consequences. He was eager to see how many would defy the orders set forth by the Patriarch.

The first few times everyone had to worship together, Wayne and Priest Nelson kept an eye on the biometric data of who did or didn’t show up at their required times to worship the Patriarch’s image. Even though the leadership of the Union of United Earth made it clear to the citizens that they’d be punished for defying orders, some always tested the limits. For the North American region, nearly ninety-nine percent of those marked showed up the first time for worship. Of those who didn’t, security went to their homes, arrested them, and dealt out the punishment. Being publicly whipped and humiliated worked for many of the stubborn within the global community, but there was always one or two whose punishment went to the second level, which got their attention, and they too joined the global community in the worship of the Patriarch. Davis and Nelson stopped keeping an eye on the data after they felt the security forces were effectively intimidating the people into doing what the Patriarch wanted.

The United Earth engineers also installed the 3D imagers in neighborhoods and at each Universal Congregation building five months after installing the main one at the central locations. A family in each neighborhood were promoted as watch captains. Watch Captains were used to keep an eye on their neighbors and would report those that didn’t show up at their regularly scheduled worship time. They were very effective when it came to making sure each global citizen were faithful in worshipping Karimi as their god.

Administrator Davis reported to his local Universal Congregation building shortly before he went home for the evening to do his fourth and final worship of the Patriarch for that week. As he was worshipping, he heard a woman scream and other people start wailing and crying out as if they were in some kind of horrible pain. The person next to Wayne collapsed and he watched in horror as worshippers began being covered in painful looking sores, blisters, and boils.
What’s going on? Maybe I should get out of here before that happens to me.
He thought to himself, as he started standing up so he could leave. Before Wayne walked a step, pain like he never felt before shot through his entire body and he was instantly covered with various skin diseases and sores. He collapsed to the ground, curled up in a fetal position, and then passed out.